Page 18 of Match Point in Crumbleton

‘What about this?’ said Cath, popping an old naval captain’s hat onto her head.

‘Erm… well… I guess if you plan on doing any nautical-themed displays, it might come in handy. And it might have some history to it,’ said Andy.

‘It’s a keeper, then,’ said Cath.

‘Yeah… though you might want to take it off,’ said Andy, struggling to keep a smile off his face.

‘Why?’ said Cath with an exaggerated pout. ‘Doesn’t it suit me?’

‘Oh, it definitely does,’ said Andy slowly. In fact, she looked decidedly cute in it, but… ‘I just think you might want to wipe that splodge of ancient seagull poop off it before it goes on display… or on your head!’

‘Eww, gross!’ said Cath, grabbing the hat and whipping it off before inspecting it at arm’s length. ‘Nice!’ she laughed, noting the ominous white stain.

‘It could be paint?’ said Andy.

‘Nope, I think you were right with your first guess!’ laughed Cath, popping it on the “display” pile, nonetheless.

Andy checked the bottom of the cardboard box he’d been emptying for any lurking leftovers, and then with a little cheer, he turned it over to slice the tape neatly with a pair of scissors.

‘That’s another empty!’ he said triumphantly.

‘Phew. Well… we’re getting somewhere,’ said Cath, putting her hands on her hips and stretching her back.

‘The joys of teamwork, eh,’ said Andy, dusting his hands together.

‘Yep. And here’s another empty,’ said Cath, bending down and removing an old KitKat tin from the bottom of the box she’d been working on.

‘Chuck it here,’ said Andy, holding out his hand for the box.

Cath tossed it to him and Andy broke it down. Bundling all the cardboard up together, he carted it over to the already impressive stack beside the door.

‘What’s up?’ he said curiously, noticing that Cath was still staring at the floor when he came back.

‘How long have we been at it?’ she said, glancing at him.

Andy shook back his sleeve to look at his watch. ‘About… two hours,’ he said. ‘Why?’

‘Because it’s taken us two hours to make our way down through the layers to our very first patch of newly cleared carpet,’ said Cath.

‘Blimey!’ chuckled Andy, glancing at the spot Cath was pointing at. ‘I always thought the carpet in here was a kind of motheaten grey!’

‘Erm… try dark navy,’ said Cath, scrunching up her nose. ‘That gives us some idea how long that stack of boxes has been sitting there!’

‘And how long it’s been since anyone ran a hoover around this place,’ said Andy.

‘I’ll add it to my to-do list,’ said Cath, running her fingers through her hair. ‘Though I haven’t actually spotted a hoover yet.’

‘You know what this means, right?’ said Andy.

‘That it’s going to take ages to get this place open to the public?’ said Cath, looking like she was slowly deflating.

‘Nope,’ said Andy, shaking his head. ‘It means it’s time for us to celebrate.’

‘What—just because we uncovered our first bit of carpet?’ said Cath.

‘Exactly!’ said Andy. ‘Celebrate the small wins. Besides, it’s lunchtime. My treat, if you fancy it?’

He crossed his fingers behind his back and watched as Cath stared around her at the piles of chaos. They were marginally more organised than when they’d started a few hours ago, but in reality, they’d barely scratched the surface. Andy could see that Cath was loathe to take a break, but she also looked tired and overwhelmed.

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