Bertie sighed and looked up at the woman. ‘Don’t mind my mum, she doesn’t understand animals.’ He turned back to me. ‘It’s a mouse, Mum, and a field mouse at that. A rat would be five times the size.’
I shuddered at the thought.
‘Let me dispatch this little one outside, then I’ll be right with you.’
‘No!’ said Bertie. ‘Please don’t kill it!’
The woman laughed, a deep, throaty laugh that felt like being spoon-fed treacle. ‘Sorry, dispatch was the wrong choice of word. I’ve got a cage ready and waiting in the yard. I’ll put him in there for now, then release him back into the wild later on. Do you want to help me get him into his cage?’
Bertie nodded. He followed the woman out into the yard, and I looked across at Cass. I’d forgotten about her fear of rodents, but it was plastered all over her pale, clammy face.
‘Where the hell have you brought me?’ I asked, shaking my head. ‘We’ve been here less than five minutes and a woman has abducted my child using very similar methods to the child catcher inChitty Chitty Bang Bang, only with mice, rather than sweets.’
Cass laughed, then her face dropped into a frown. ‘You don’t think there’s more where that one came from, do you?’
‘No, I’m sure it was one lone mouse who’d lost his way and was trying to find his family. His wife’s probably waiting at home, wondering what was taking him so long when she only sent him out for a pint of milk.’ I grinned, and Cass punched my arm.
‘All done,’ said the woman, striding back into the kitchen with Bertie by her side. ‘Those mice are the bane of my life. No sooner do I catch one, than another appears.’
‘So much for one lone mouse,’ muttered Cass under her breath. I hid a giggle behind my hand.
‘Your son said you were looking for me?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘We’re looking for a man named Harry.’
‘Harriet Bowman. Pleased to meet you, but use my full name and I shall never speak to you again. Everyone here calls me Harry, and the kids call me Haribo, which I’m rather fond of.’
I tried to get the measure of Harry, but struggled. She wore a band around her head to hold back a fringe. Her brown hair had been twisted into a messy topknot, which flopped down as far as her ears. If the size of her topknot was anything to go by, her hair must be at least waist-length, if not longer. Her makeup and line-free skin was flushed and chapped in a way that suggested she spent lots of her time outside in all weathers. At a guess, I’d have said she was in her early twenties, thirty at the most.
Despite the cold day, she had dressed for summer. On her top half was a faded blue tank-top, and her legs were bare from the knee down, her thighs covered by wide-legged shorts. The only concession she’d made to the weather was a rainbow-coloured cardigan whose sleeves were different lengths and whose hem was starting to unravel.
‘So, why did you want to see me?’
‘My sister…’
I interrupted Cass, feeling it important I speak for myself. ‘Me and Bertie are going through a few challenges. We’re currently staying with my sister, Cass,’ I said, pointing in Cass’s direction, ‘but there’s not really room. Someone Cass knows said you open this place to people who need a bit of a break but have nowhere else to go. It sounds ridiculous now I say it out loud. Of course, you wouldn’t want a random woman and child pitching up on your doorstep.’
‘Hmm,’ said Harry, looking between me and Bertie. ‘Come through to the dining room. We can drink tea, eat cake and see if we can’t come to some sort of arrangement.’
Chapter Twelve
Ihauled our suitcases out of Cass’s car, wondering what the hell I was doing. Somehow, half an hour chatting to Harry over a slice of lemon drizzle cake had persuaded me that staying at Lowen Farm was the right course of action. In the intervening few days, I’d been seriously questioning that decision. I knew nothing about these people, I’d seen only two rooms of the farm, and Maggie was the only other resident I’d met.
‘It will be fine,’ said Cass, walking over and pulling me into a hug. ‘This is only a stopgap. A short break to get your head straight and figure out what you’re going to do next. I’m only an hour away, and you can come back to mine the second you feel uncomfortable.’
‘I’ll give it a week, and then see how I feel.’
‘Good plan.’
Beside me, Bertie sniffed. His falling out with Jake had been a flash in the pan, and the cousins were distraught at their separation, even if it did only turn out to be for a week.
‘Liv, Bertie!’ Harry emerged from the front of the house. Still wearing shorts, at least she had a jumper on today, althoughthe front hem hung down five inches lower than the back and something weird had happened to the neckline, causing it to droop in one corner.
‘Hello, Harry. Lovely to see you again. Thank you so much for this. We really appreciate it.’
Harry batted away the compliment. ‘The whole ethos of Lowen Farm is to be a resting place for weary travellers, and you, Liv, seem in need of a rest. Now, how about I show you to your room?’
‘Thank you.’
