‘Come in, Trish!’ Bunty trilled, ushering her friend through the front door. Eager to hear the latest village gossip, she soon had the shopkeeper ensconced in the drawing room, equipped with a large glass of Pimms. Bunty had made sure she was well stocked up with the drink, knowing how much it loosened Trish’s tongue. Keeping her well-oiled was the plan.
‘So, what do we know?’ enquired Bunty with a wide smile. By ‘we’ she obviously meant ‘you’ but wanted Trish to feel a sense of camaraderie, involving her too. It didn’t take too much effort to get Trish to chirp like a canary, a couple of stiff drinks and a little flattery usually did the trick. ‘Love that dress by the way, is it new?’
‘Oh yes, thank you,’ Trish replied. ‘I got it in the sale at—’
‘Yes, yes,’ interrupted Bunty, ‘drink up darling, then tell me all the gossip.’ Her eyes twinkled eagerly in anticipation.
After taking two large gulps of Pimms, Trish was off.
‘Well, I’ve met your Jasmine Boyd.’ She leant forward.
‘She’s notmyJasmine, dear,’ Bunty corrected in a flat tone, not caring for the reference.
‘No… well, your… you know,’ faltered Trish.
‘And how did that go?’ Bunty pressed, keen to learn everything she could.
‘Very well,’ Trish’s response made Bunty sit up. Sensing she’d got Bunty’s full attention, she cranked up to full flow. ‘Jasmine came into the shop the other day. She bought bread, milk—’
‘What did she have to say?’ interrupted Bunty impatiently again.
‘She wanted to know if I could recommend anyone to work on her house.’
‘Ooooh.’ Bunty clapped with delight. This earned her a big grin from Trish.
‘Yes, well, of course I mentioned Robin, just like you told me to,’ Trish tapped the side of her nose conspiringly at Bunty, who winked back in approval. ‘And she seemed to take everything I said on board, what a brilliant renovator he was, what a good reputation he had, how well you thought of him—’
‘You mentioned me?’ Bunty butted in sharply.
‘Well… you know… you and everybody else in Samphire Bay who thinks well of him,’ Trish corrected in haste.
‘Hmm.’ Bunty narrowed her eyes in contemplation.
‘Anyway, he put her bathroom in yesterday apparently,’ she finished triumphantly.
Bunty’s eyes flew wide open. ‘Really?’
‘Yes, Jack came in the shop this morning and I quizzed him. Just like you told me to,’ she added.
‘And what exactly did he say?’
‘He confirmed that Robin had been so busy helping his next-door neighbour, he was putting his own renovation on hold.’
Promising, thought Bunty with satisfaction. She knocked back her drink. She didn’t offer Trish a top-up, the shopkeeper had told her enough, everything she needed to know.
‘So, about that charity event…’ Trish gave a nervous cough. She’d promised the vicar to enrol Bunty in the annual Tea by the Sea fundraising party.
‘What? Oh, that,’ replied Bunty dismissively. She vaguely remembered someone mentioning something about it weeks ago.
‘You did promise,’ whined Trish.
‘Yes, yes of course I’ll help, but I’m not serving cups of tea all day long, darling,’ Bunty said stoutly, remembering how her feet had ached like billy-o last year.
‘Oh, but—’
‘Leave it with me. I’ll think of something.’ She glanced out of the drawing room window. ‘I think you’d better be making tracks, Trish. Looks like an early tide could be coming in,’ she lied.
Once left alone, Bunty’s mind began to race, as it often did. Living alone in such a large, secluded house meant that sometimes she looked to alternative methods for comfort and company. Tarot cards was one channel that Bunty used. It had started off as a novelty at first, just a bit of fun, and now it had become more of a habit. One or two of her friends questioned her behaviour, but she’d waived away their concerns.
