Page 49 of The Village Midwife
‘You’ll do,’ she said. ‘Your trousers aren’t muddy, are they?’
‘No, don’t think they’re too bad,’ Victor said, coming to the table without bothering to check.
They looked a bit muddy to Zoe, but she didn’t say anything, sharing a grin with him that made him look like a naughty young boy.
‘What time did Alex say he was coming?’ Corrine asked as she poured Victor some tea.
‘I thought he’d be here about now, to be honest. Must have got held up.’
‘Speak of the devil…’ Corrine went to the window. ‘He’s on his way over.’
Zoe wiped imaginary crumbs from her mouth and smoothed her hair down, her gaze on the door. A moment later, it opened, and as Alex greeted everyone in the kitchen, his eyes settled on her.
‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you here. How are you doing? Only the other night…’
Zoe’s stomach dropped as she was reminded of Tegan. ‘It’s resolved,’ is all she said and hoped nobody would ask her anything else about it.
‘Good,’ he said, and it was clear that he wasn’t sure whether it was good or not. ‘Billie didn’t feel like coming out,’ he said to Corrine and Victor. ‘She sends her apologies.’
Zoe was sure Billie had done no such thing. She believed Alex’s daughter probably didn’t feel like going out on a blustery night across darkened fields to visit elderly neighbours, but not that she’d sent her apologies. She doubted Billie thought she owed anyone those, and it was clear from their last interactionthat although she tolerated Victor and Corrine, she wasn’t interested in getting to know them.
‘That’s a shame,’ Corrine said. ‘But I expect she gets tired. Did she say anything more about our little job offer?’
‘Not yet,’ Alex said, taking a seat at the table. ‘I’m not sure it’s really her, though, so…’
Corrine nodded and then went to get more plates and cups from the cupboard while Victor, his eyes suddenly keen, leaned across the table to Alex.
‘What did your expert say then?’
‘More or less what I told you on the phone,’ Alex replied. ‘Almost certainly Bronze Age. He only looked at them over Zoom, of course, so I think he was being cagey and wouldn’t be pinned down. To be honest, I’d expected him to be more excited than he was. He said there would be bits and pieces spread all over these hills, so he wasn’t surprised these had turned up.’
‘He doesn’t want them?’ Victor asked, the disappointment evident in his tone.
‘I told him we were going to look for more, and he said if we found anything significant to let him know.’
‘Significant how?’ Zoe asked.
Alex shrugged. ‘He wasn’t very clear on that. I don’t know whether he meant a lot more items, or more important or rare items.’ He looked up at Victor. ‘You’re still game to go hunting?’
‘I am!’ Victor grinned. ‘If he wants more significant, we’ll give him significant! I’ve a mind to search my own land too. If there are things on yours, there’s bound to be some on mine as well.’
‘Imagine if you found a load of treasure,’ Zoe said. ‘What would you do? You could retire on the profit.’
At that suggestion, Victor looked mildly horrified, and Zoe had to laugh. ‘Retire? Why would I do that? Who’d look after this place?’
‘You could give it to Penny, like you’ve been saying for years,’ Corrine put in.
‘Penny doesn’t want it,’ Victor said. ‘Her and Leon would take it on if I asked, but they don’t really want it.’
‘You don’t know that for sure. They don’t say anything because they know you’ll be in your grave before you give it up, and even then you’d be bossing them around from the afterlife.’
Zoe and Alex shared a private grin. She’d had a horrible day, but an hour here in the kitchen of Daffodil farmhouse was making her feel better. She loved Victor and Corrine already, as Ottilie had promised she would.
‘Away with yer,’ Victor huffed. ‘I’ll give it up when I’m good and ready, but there’s plenty of work in me yet.’
‘If you don’t want the money,’ Alex said with a mischievous gleam in his eye, ‘I’ll take the treasure off your hands when we find it.’
‘Ah, I never said I didn’t want the money!’ Victor replied, matching his mischief. ‘I only said I wouldn’t use it to retire. Nobody’s going to see me complaining about a nice new car and some decent boots.’
