‘I’ve just seen the Watson woman going down the road,’ Ross said as he came in from the garden. ‘I expect she’s going to join up with her son at the Craigmonie.’
‘He’s certainly causing a few ripples,’ Ally said as she continued to cook supper. ‘I’m betting he’ll be in the bar this evening, as both you and Queenie predicted. I’ve just had a visit from Morag; did you see her come in?’
‘I did,’ Ross admitted with a grin, ‘and I took one look at her face and decided to stay out until she’d gone!’
‘Apparently, Joel has already been knocking on her door, having got some addresses from Queenie, and she is notpleased,’ Ally said, rolling her eyes. ‘She’s off now to have a go at Queenie and, in her own words, take her custom elsewhere!’
‘That won’t last long,’ Ross said. ‘It must be twenty miles to the nearest grocer, and she doesn’t drive. Poor old Murdo!’
‘All because he dared to ask to speak to Bobby,’ Ally told him. ‘And Bobby was in, but would have been annoyed to be disturbed when he was playing with his video games, according to Morag, so she said he wasn’t in. She really spoils that son of hers.’
‘You’re right. He’s the youngest, of course, but the rest of his siblings are all doing OK. I mean Micky’s no saint, but at least he does some plumbing and has a wife and daughter and a mortgage. And then there’s Debbie, whose husband Sam is a waiter in the Craigmonie dining room, you know? And Gordon very sensibly left the McConnachie household and went off to work on the oil rigs and lives in Aberdeen with his wife and kids.’ Ross scratched his head. ‘Oh, and I almost forgot Geordie – he must be the oldest of the brood. I’m trying to remember where he went – I think it was Australia.’
‘So she’s hanging on to her youngest,’ Ally said. ‘I suppose it’s kind of natural…?’
Ross sniffed. ‘I’m not sure I agree. Never mind, after supper I fancy a nice quiet evening watching a film or something. Let them all get on with it! What do you think?’
‘I think it’s a wonderful idea,’ Ally agreed, ‘if we can.’
Ally knew she was probably tempting fate because just as they’d settled down after supper to watch some old episodes ofFriends, there was a kerfuffle in the hall.
‘I’ll go,’ Ross volunteered. ‘I’ll be back in five minutes. Pause the TV for a moment!’
Five minutes passed, and then another five minutes, and then Ally switched off the TV andwent out into the hallway to see what was going on. And there stood a tear-stained, exhausted-looking Wendy and an exasperated-looking Ross leading her into the kitchen.
He sighed loudly as he spotted Ally. ‘I think we might need something to drink. Wendy has had a bad experience.’
Still sobbing, Wendy was led into the kitchen and sat down in the chair which seemed to have been occupied all day with people with problems.
‘What would you like to drink?’ Ally asked Wendy. ‘Brandy?’ Ally glanced at Ross, who’d opened the door of the drinks’ cupboard.
‘Yeah, great,’ Wendy replied.
‘Whatever’s the matter, Wendy?’ Ally asked solicitously as Ross handed her a drink.
‘It’s Joel – I’ve had to leave him in his bedroom with swollen eyes and bags of ice. He asked me to go home because he didn’t want a fuss.Fuss! Can you begin to imagine how it feels to have a gang of drinkers attackyour son?’
‘Someone attacked Joel?’ Ally asked.
‘No, not someone; there must have been five of them.Five! What kind of country is this, Ally?’
‘Tell us what happened,’ Ally said, glancing at Ross.
‘Joel only asked some very reasonable questions,’ said Wendy. ‘Like, why were they so jealous that Archie won all the contests, and why were they all there or thereabouts when his own dear father was just having a walk, minding his own business, and had never upset any of them? Allveryreasonable questions, don’t you think?’
‘So what happened then?’ Ally asked cautiously.
‘Well, they all denied having anything to do with it,’ said Wendy. She took a few deep breaths. ‘And then, I guess, maybe Joel lost it a bit…’
‘Lost it?’ Ross asked, frowning.
‘Yeah, well, it had to be one of them, didn’t it? And you canunderstand how frustrated poor Joel was. One of the big guys was goading him, really goading him, copying his actions, his mannerisms, everything…’
‘And?’
‘Poor Joel was annoyed – and upset. I mean he’s probably still suffering from jet lag, for God’s sake. Anyway, he took a swipe at the big guy who was goading him, which sent him reeling. I mean, you can’t blame Joel forthatnow, can you?’
Neither Ally nor Ross uttered a word.
