Page 18 of A Country Practice Christmas
‘You should have mentioned if you weren’t up for wildlife encounters. We regularly spot a python in here that could take down a medium-sized dog.’
‘Now you tell me.’
But she was smiling as she said it. Not everyone would be as calm when told they were sharing shed space with a huge, lurking snake. He wondered what would happen if he suggested they get together later. Like, not at the pub. Would she smile then, too?
‘Um, Will.’
‘Yep?’ Maybe she’d read his mind. Maybe she was about to say,Hey, forget the leg, I really came over today to see if you fancied a walk later. A milkshake. A coffee that you haven’t had to make yourself.‘When you say Carol is the best one to talk to the tennis ladies …’
Or not. He told his brain to stop with the foolish ideas and just answer the question. ‘Everyone loves Carol. She’s been in Clarence longer than pretty much anyone, she’s on every committee and she has a heart of gold. Why? You’re not still worried she can’t look after herself, are you?’
She hesitated. ‘Something … well … Iamworried about her. And I don’t know who else to talk to about it, on account of the fact that you are the only other person in Clarence that I know.’
‘Is this about the spat at Clarence Gardens?’
‘You know about that?’
‘Honey, this is a small town, and I’m the publican. I know everything to some degree.’
‘I see. Do you know what the spat was about?’
He tried to recall. Gossip flowed as freely as lager in the front bar of the pub, and he tended to let it flow in one ear and out the other. ‘Was there a broken plate involved?’
‘I’ll fill you in. Where to start? Okay, Carol agreed to come with me out to Clarence Gardens, where my mum thinks Carol ought to move, and Joan Sloane, who the spat was with, is some sort of bigwig there on the residents’ association.’
That was the second time he’d heard that name. The first time had been from Carol herself, and now he thought about it, her tone had not been warm.
‘Anyway, things got a little ugly.’
‘But not over a broken plate I take it.’
‘The plate was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire. You’ll think this is crazy. I can’t believe I’m even saying it. But the whole commotion erupted overfruit cake. Carol accused Joan of stealing her recipe.’
He smiled. Then he laughed.
‘What is so funny? You didn’t see the sugar bowl go flying.’
‘Carol has won the annual Christmas Cake competition at the Twilight Markets every year since 1960-something, according to local legend. Except—’ he let an imaginary drumroll underscore his pause, ‘—for last year.’
Jodie appeared to digest this. ‘Who won last year?’
He shrugged. ‘Look, I was there, so you’d think I’d remember, but I was probably unplugging a drain or spearing a keg or slicing pickled cucumbers at the barbecue station when the results were announced, but you know what I’m thinking?’
‘That this Joan Sloane woman won?’ Jodie pursed her lips.
He nodded.
‘How will we find out? Is there a local newspaper that would have published the results? Or a committee member you can ask who won’t dob on us to Carol?’
‘I’ve got a quicker way. My mother has her fingers in as many pies as Carol does—I can ask her who won last year.’
‘While you’re at it, perhaps you could ask her if she knows why Carol went off her rocker. She’s refusing to tell me anything, but she is rattled, Will.Rattled. I don’t like seeing her this way. But that’s not all. Later that day she went off to some building in town where historical records are kept, and she took something that Joan had donated. She’s been very secretive and very unhappy ever since.’
Will rested a hand on Jodie’s arm just for a moment. Not a professional hand—more of an it’s-going-to-be-okay hand. ‘I’ll call Mum and ask her what she’s heard, and let you know.’
Robbo and Patty Miles lived in one of the multiple occupancy communes that dotted the hillsides around Clarence, and while they were still keenly into self-sufficiency and homegrown produce, their stance on such things as mobile phones and internet connections had softened over the years.
Will’s dad answered the phone, and immediately put the call on speaker. That’s how his parents rolled: always together, all the time.
