Thirteen
Aminuteortwobefore the paramedics arrived, the power came back on.
‘It happens here sometimes,’ one of them told me. ‘It normally only lasts for ten minutes or so.’
I’d intended to tell them exactly what had happened, but before I got a chance, Jasper had explained. Although he’d been liberal with the truth. For my sake no doubt.
‘I’d come to close the window. Marcus, the owner thought his fiancée had left a key, but it wasn’t there. Erin’s staying in the cottage at the other end of the row and heard me arrive. She’d come to see if she could help. I’d climbed a few rungs up the ladder when it must’ve slipped on the wet grass, and I’d fallen, knocking into her on my way down. You can check the texts on my phone to see I’m telling the truth, but Erin’s a police officer, so she would’ve arrested me if anything untoward was going on.’
They both knew Marcus. He was clearly a popular guy. They didn’t seem that concerned about why the accident had happened, just about how Jasper had landed, but one of them did check the text from Marcus that had asked Jasper to come and close the window.
‘Not the brightest thing to do during a power cut,’ the man said. ‘And, without a key how were you planning to lock the front door on your way out?’
‘It’s self-locking.’
‘We’ll take you to the hospital in case of a concussion, and they’ll reset your nose,’ the other paramedic said.
They then asked Jasper some questions and carried out a brief examination to check for other injuries, asking if he needed pain relief, but he said he’d wait until his nose was reset.
‘Could you take a look at Erin’s shoulder too, please?’ Jasper asked, to my surprise.
After examining it and asking if and where I felt pain, the paramedic said, ‘Seems fine to me. Nothing appears to be broken. But if the pain returns or you experience any other problems, go to your doctor, or call us if necessary.’
‘Thanks. I’ll be fine.’
I didn’t mention I hadn’t got a phone. I was too concerned about Jasper. I’d considered asking if I could go with him, but I was still in my pyjamas, and besides, after I’d broken his nose, I wasn’t sure he’d want me there.
‘Put your number in my phone,’ he said, handing it back to me. ‘I’ll call you later to let you know I’m okay. Try to get some sleep.’
Sleep was the last thing I could think about, especially as I had to reset the time on several electrical appliances after the power cut, some of which, like the space-age coffee machine, took ages, although things like the oven and the microwave were simple.
When I finally went to bed I kept going over and over what had happened, wondering if I could’ve dealt with the situation differently, so that kept me awake for a while. I definitely could’ve handled it better, there was no doubt about that.
Then, when I was finally drifting off, I remembered that, thanks to me, the window at End Cottage was still wide open. I’d seen Jasper briefly glance up at it before he’d left with the paramedics, but he hadn’t said anything else about it.
As soon as it was light, I dressed, and went to End Cottage to see if I could lift the ladder and steady it somehow. There were some bricks around the flower border beneath the front window so I took a couple of those and once I’d stood the ladder, which was surprisingly light, upright, and got it at the correct angle, I placed the bricks around its feet. Then I wobbled it about a bit to check it wouldn’t slip, before carefully and slowly climbing it rung by rung. It wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought.
The hard part was getting from the ladder into the window and I did worry that the ladder might slide sideways when I did so. Thankfully it didn’t and I managed to clamber inside, although none too gracefully. Nil points for style, I’d imagine. I’m sure Jasper would’ve made it all look easy.
Nevertheless, with a feeling of pride that at least I’d done something right, I closed the window, went downstairs, and shut the front door behind me, checking it several times to make sure it was locked. Then I put the bricks back in place, and managed to carry the ladder back to Far Cottage. I laid it on its side along the hall. I didn’t want to leave it outside, just in case.
After that, I went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours, getting up and showering around seven-thirty. I had breakfast, and then made my way to Sam’s house, arriving around eight-thirty, partly to tell them what I’d done, and partly to see if Lucy had got my phone.
‘You did what?’ Lucy shrieked when I told them all about last night and this morning.
Sam was clearly trying not to laugh. ‘And this is the man you said you fancied? The one you threw hot coffee over in the doorway of the café? Do you always try to injure men you’re attracted to?’
‘It was hot tea, not hot coffee.’ I corrected. ‘And how was I to know he wasn’t trying to break in? Anyone could’ve made the same mistake.’
‘Most people would’ve called the police.’
‘Iamthe police. And besides, Lucy took my phone.’ I waved it in the air, having retrieved it from her a few minutes earlier.
‘Point taken. Is the poor guy okay?’
I screwed up my eyes. ‘I hope so. As I said, the paramedics said it was just his nose that was broken. And it should heal in a few weeks. But they took him to the hospital just in case due to the fact he’d fallen from a ladder and landed on his face.’
Lucy shook her head. ‘But you said he asked the paramedics to take a look at your shoulder. Is that okay? Did you break anything? Other than Jasper’s nose.’
