‘Gone?Gone where?I thought she was having some time with her mum and dad this week?’
‘No, they gone too, gone Ten’rife, to the villa.The boss say he need “down time”.’
‘He need what?’Katriona’s way of speech was catching, thought Leo.
‘I don’ know what it mean?But they gone, Leo, for sure.’
‘But what about Sophie… she hasn’t gone to Ten’rife, I mean Tenerife, has she?’
‘Oh, no, Miss Sophie, she got other fish to fry.’
Katriona stopped, seeming to suddenly realise that she was talking to Sophie’s fiancé.Leo thought about this, Sophie often took off with her extremely irritating friends at a moment’s notice.Sometimes they booked into a spa for a few days’ pampering, other times they would book a last-minute city break on the Internet and jet off to Palma, or Rome, or Nice.
‘So, where’s she gone this time, Katriona?’
‘Not sure.Packed all in a hurry las’ night.Taxi came, picked her up ’bout ten.’
‘Were any of the others there?Shanice?Cassandra?’
‘No, jus’ Miss Sophie in the cab.She left a right ol’ mess, Leo.Took me bes’ part of an hour to put it right.’
Katriona sighed.Leo thanked her and rang off, puzzled.He hadn’t had much communication with Sophie since she had left with his brothers, but had assumed that she was busy at work.Why hadn’t she told him that she was going away?He rang her mobile, but it switched to answer phone almost immediately.Hating to speak to a machine, Leo thought quickly.‘Soph, it’s me, where are you?Things are going badly here, need to talk to you… call me?’
He decided to telephone Den to see if his brother could throw any light on the situation.After five rings, Den’s answer phone kicked in too, and the familiar voice of his older brother said, in a terrible cod-Irish accent, ‘Oim not in, oim out’ (this was a direct rip off of their local priest’s answering machine’s message, and had always been a family joke) ‘leave yer message after da tone…’
Frustrated, Leo declined to leave a message and dialled his old home number.Surely Josh or Alex would know what was going on?Alex answered quite quickly, to Leo’s relief; at least someone was around.He was beginning to think that the entire community of Geordies had left a sign up somewhere saying ‘Gone fishing’.
‘Good morning, Lamb Signing, Alex speaking, how can I help you?’
‘Alex, mate, at last, someone’s answering!’
‘Leo?What’s up?Problems?’Alex had never wasted words.
‘Oh, God, don’t ask.How long have you got?First of all, do you know where Sophie is?’
‘Sophie?No, not seen her since we dropped her off after we were with you.Think Den’s seen her though, have you tried him?’
‘No one’s in at Den’s.Has he got a new woman in tow?’
Alex pondered for a moment.‘Well, now I come to think of it, Denhasbeen fairly elusive lately.He’s taken on a complicated job in Morpeth.A fleet of vans needed signing quickly, and Den seemed only too pleased to be out of the city for a while.’
‘That’s not like him, is it?The only other time he left town for any length of time was when he got into hot water with that lady from Glasgow and her husband appeared suddenly.’
Alex explained that Den’s defection had left him in sole charge of the business, but that Josh was proving to be an enormous asset, so they were keeping on top of things, just.He’d taken on some hired help, and was beginning to think that he could cope with the family firm if he had to, but it was hard to have so little time to paint.
‘Yes, I bet,’ said Leo, holding on to his patience with difficulty.‘So you’re saying you’ve actually got no idea where he is, apart from somewhere in Morpeth?’
‘No, but he’s just busy working, I reckon, mate.Not seen him with a woman for months, so I don’t think there’s a lady behind him jumping at the chance to get away.He seemed a bit taken with Mab, I thought.Doesn’t she know where he is?’
Leo thought murderous thoughts.If his brother had set his sights on Mab, Leo would surely have no chance.Den had always had supreme confidence with women.Leo remembered a slim, freckled girl from Alnwick, long ago, who had loved him madly until Den came along and turned her head with his Triumph Convertible and his habit of producing cheap champagne at the drop of a hat.But then he thought of Sophie too, and knew that he needed to talk to her before he even considered a serious relationship with Mab.And that was not a comforting thought.
* * *
Leo wandered from room to room, starting various jobs but unable to finish anything.Waiting for the verdict from the council was immensely frustrating, especially as no one could decide where the trouble-making report had come from, and why it had happened in the first place.He had also had a worrying telephone call from his bank manager, who had seen the letter in the paper and was concerned about his investment.
‘I appreciate your concern, Mr Jones, but I can assure you that our problems will be sorted out very quickly, once the council representatives realise that there have never been vermin on our premises,’ explained Leo, rather desperately.
‘Vermin?I wasn’t aware of that.So when do you anticipate beginning to repay some of the capital on your loan, Mr Lamb?I only ask because you led us to believe that your business would be up and running very shortly, and now there seems to be no prospect of trading at all.I’ve also heard that you are having problems with your suppliers.This is not a good start, Mr Lamb, not a good start at all.’
