The Beast of Bracksley Woods (4 page)

Just as she neared the gates of the farm Trigger shot forward. Debbie wasn’t particularly looking where she was going and the sudden jerk took her by surprise. She stumbled forward and tripped on the lead and pitched forward landing full length in a puddle. She was so surprised that she let go of the lead and watched in horror as Trigger streaked away. She lay stunned for a minute but finally managed to climb to her feet. Her knee was grazed and there was mud all down her coat but Debbie‘s wasn’t concern so much for herself As she looked round for Trigger, she saw a man heading towards her with a german shepherd trotting along beside him. He had caught Trigger and was bringing him back to her.

“Are you all right Miss,” the man called in a gentle Irish brogue. “This young rascal needs a good talking too. You took a bit of a tumble there me dear young lady, you are not hurt? Well, at least that’s good,” he added,” as he came toward her.

“I think so. Oh thank you. You’ve caught him. Thank goodness. I thought I had lost him” she breathed as he got up to her.

“Are you all right miss?” the man asked looking concerned. “Are you taking Trigger for a walk, or is he taking you? Where’s me dear old friend Greg then, not with you?” He queried looking round.

“Actually, I am supposed to be looking after Trigger but he seems to have the devil in him today,” Debbie answered looking at the man more closely. “Do you know Greg, then?”

“Yes, to be sure I know him. Me name is Kevin Sullivan and this is Danny, me little helper. I am the local RSPCA Inspector. Where is Greg? I’ve just come back from a bit of a break,” he said. “I was just about to call in to have a chat. Do you know when he will be back?”

“How do you do Mr Sullivan,” Debbie said. “I am afraid he is in hospital. He had an accident last week and is recovering with a broken arm and a broken leg. I don’t think he will be doing much in the immediate future, that is why I am looking after Trigger. You see, it was me who found him.” She explained.

“Oh dear me,” Kevin said, “that doesn’t sound very good. Perhaps I should hotfoot it to the hospital.”

“I am going there myself this afternoon. I just came up here to collect the post for him. If you would like, I could give you a lift since I am going the same way.”

“Well, to be sure, that’s mighty generous of you me dear girl, we might as well use one vehicle instead of two. I have my own van and we could use that if you prefer. What about this little hooligan, do you leave him in the house while you are out.”

“No. I take him with me and leave him in the car while I am visiting,” Debbie informed him.

“Well, how about taking my van and saving your petrol. Danny can keep an eye on Trigger for us. They can stay in the van together. By the way, me dear, what is your name?”

“Debbie Richards, at your service.”

“Right then Debbie, that’s a date. If you tell me where you live, I’ll pick you up about two o’clock.”

“I had better collect the post now I am here, than I will make my way home.”

“I’ll walk that way with you and then I shall know where to pick you up,” Kevin replied with a grin. He followed Debbie and watched as she collected a handful of post. All the while Debbie held Trigger firmly on the lead.

Kevin watched as Debbie started back towards the road. “Have you ever kept a dog of your own?” he asked conversationally.

“No, I’m afraid not.”

“Well, you ought to think about obedience classes,” He informed her. They would teach you how to handle a dog properly. Look at old Danny boy here, he is a tribute to good behaviour. As good as gold although I say so meself.”

“Oh really,” Debbie answered sharply wondering what it had to do with him.

“I must admit, it was a bit of bad luck Trigger seeing me. He knows me quite well and he obviously has got you marked out. He would never have done that with me or Greg. He was just testing you to find out how much he can get away with. Until you set him boundaries, he will try and take advantage. Just be firm with him and let him know who’s boss.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Debbie said rather stiffly.

“Oh dear ’un all, me and my big mouth. I didn’t mean to preach at you,” Kevin said apologetically.

They trudged along in silence until they reach Debbie’s gate. “Here we are then,” she turned to look at him properly to bid him goodbye and noticed his mop of red hair for the first time. “I’ll see you later.”

True to his word Kevin picked Debbie up at two o’clock and with Trigger safely in the back of the van with Danny, they drove to the hospital. On the way Debbie filled Kevin in with a few details of the accident. “Well, it doesn’t look as though Greg will be out and about for a few weeks, does it? We shall have to do the best we can.”

“He has asked me to be his housekeeper,” Debbie told him “and I haven’t made up my mind to take the job on yet. I am not working at the moment but I hope to establish a cookery school in the future. Until I can make the necessary arrangements and find suitable premises and enough finance, it will have to remain a dream for now. However, you never know your luck do you? Pigs might fly but I live in hope,” She said with a smile. “In the meantime, I shall do what I can for Greg.”

“Aah. To be sure. Never give up. That’s what I say,” Kevin answered as they drew up in the hospital car park.

Greg beamed with pleasure when he saw Kevin. “So you’re back,” he said. How is everything/”

“Everything is much as I left it. I understand this young lady has been looking after you.”

“This young lady has been a tower of strength. I have asked her to be my housekeeper and I am praying that the answer will be yes.

“I have given it a lot of thought,” Debbie chipped in “and I have decided to partially take you on, at least for the time being. I have to be honest with you. I am making a few plans of my own which I hope may prove successful in the near future.“ She explained gently to Greg. You will have to get someone in to clean for you but I’ll do my best for you anyway,” she finished. “Cheer up. “I’ve brought you some shortbread biscuits and a few little teatime cakes you might like to share with your friends when the tea trolley comes round,” Debbie said changing the subject.

“Thank you my dear. I shall look forward to them.” Then to Debbie’s embarrassment he turned to Kevin saying “She is such a lovely girl you know, she is a treasure, she really spoils me,” Greg grinned at Kevin.

“I can see that me old mate. I wouldn’t say no to one of them meself. Go down lovely with a cup of tea,” Kevin answered eyeing the box of biscuits and small dainty cakes where Debbie had placed them on the locker.

“That is the best news I have had today,” Greg answered.

“I have got some good news for you Greg,” Kevin said cheerfully, “I have arranged for the workman to start work as soon as you say the word.”

“Marvellous! The timing is all wrong though. I can’t do anything at the moment to help,” Greg said gazing at the plaster on his arm.

“Well, I can always keep an eye on things and make sure we are getting a good job if you give me the okay so that the men can start work. You don’t need to worry about anything. Leave it to me, there will be plenty to do when you are up and running again.”

“Perhaps we should warn Debbie what is about to happen,” Greg said.

“Maybe Debbie will change her mind about coming to work for you if we spill the beans now. Kevin gave Debbie an evil grin. “Shall we risk it?”

“I think you ought to know that Kevin and I are going into partnership. We are going to open some boarding kennels and we are also adding rescue kennels. There are no rescue kennels around this area and Paul Norton, our vet who also happens to be a friend of ours, is all for the idea. We have got the required planning permission and can now go ahead with the work. The kennels shouldn’t take too long in putting up but the work won’t interfere with you,” Greg finished lying back on his pillows as though he had made a tremendous effort.

“Of course, I shall be keeping my job on but I expect to have quite a lot to do with the kennels because that is where I shall be bringing all the waifs and strays I pick up, so you will be seeing quite a lot of me in the future if you intend to stick around,” Kevin told her.

“Well, that all sounds very enterprising of you. I don’t think much of what you do will affect me much,” Debbie answered. She was later to regret that thought and find out just how much of their plans would affect her.

Debbie sat by Greg’s bed deep in thought for a while. No doubt there would be a number of people visiting the rescue pens and also the boarding kennels. They were bound to affect her even if it was only for cups of tea. She was trying to think of a way of advancing her own business opportunities. Reminding herself that Christmas was nearly on top of them she suddenly had a brilliant idea. She would prepare herself a leaflet offering to do dinners for people and also put an advert up for making Christmas cakes. She could make a really marvellous Christmas cake. She could do them so well that it would make your eyes pop out. Dragging herself back to reality she asked “Do you think you will be home in time for Christmas? There is only another four weeks to go.”

“Sure to be,” Greg said confidently. “If you could go in and turn the heating on and give the place the once over as soon as we know when I will be released, I should be more than grateful,” “I was wondering, have you made any plans for Christmas? I wondered if you were going away.”

“No, no. I shall be here.”

“That’s a relief. Can I book you to cook my Christmas dinner? Mind you, I shall be having a few guests. Kevin will come, so will Paul. I daresay they will both be on call but at least we can make sure that they get a decent dinner inside them even if they have to go out in the cold.”

“Well, that’s a date then. I’ll put it in my diary.”

“I am sorry to break the party up but I must be getting back. Trigger is downstairs in the van with Danny. Incidentally, you may be interested to know that that young fellow – me – lad disgraced himself this morning. He tripped poor Debbie up,” Kevin said grinning at Greg.

“Oh dear. We can’t have that. He doesn’t usually do things like that. You will have to be firm with him my dear, otherwise he will be ruling the roost before you know it,” Greg told her looking concerned. “I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“It was nothing,” Debbie answered feeling embarrassed and looking daggers at Kevin.” Kevin laughed and got up to go.

“See you tomorrow,” He said leaving Debbie to say goodbye and follow him out of the ward.

That evening Debbie sat down to do some serious thinking. She had a few ideas and wanted to see how they looked on paper. First of all, she would make a couple of sample cakes and photograph them so that she could add them to some kind of leaflet which would advertise the sort of service she hoped to give. She was pretty well equipped in the kitchen but if she intended to do private dinner parties, she may have to take on extra help or even buy in extra dishes, etc. She had no intention of starting anything too big that she wasn’t able to handle on her own. She could make some posters and put one in the village shop and the post office. An advertisement in the local paper would help to get her known. She was sure her activities wouldn’t interfere with her duties at the farm. At least, when Greg got out of hospital, Trigger could go back to his own home.

Debbie busied herself for the next couple of hours transferring her ideas on to her laptop. As soon as she had made the sample Christmas cakes, she would take photographs from her mobile and stick them onto the advert with the prices of what she intended to charge for her mobile dinner service. When Debbie eventually closed down the laptop and sat back, she felt relatively more relaxed and more cheerful about the future. Smiling to herself she thought of the interview with Mr Pickering. She was about to show him just what he had missed by not employing her. Things could work out. It was a challenge. Although she could never forget Mike, Maybe the loneliness she felt wouldn’t be so bad as long as she kept busy.

Debbie kept busy for the next few days putting her plans into operation. She drew up some very eye-catching posters, made three sample Christmas cakes of various sizes, took photographs of them with her mobile phone and scanned them into her computer to add to her poster. She also drew up her price lists in addition to checking all the cooking utensils she would be needing. A few items of equipment needed to be replaced without causing too much extra expense. As she looked over her efforts she congratulated herself on a job well done and ran some posters off to place where they could be easily noticed. As she sat enjoying a well-earned cup of coffee Trigger came trotting up to her with his ball in his mouth. “Okay Trigger. I get the message. You would like to go for a walk.

It was a lovely bright day. Although the sun was out there wasn’t much warmth in it but as long as you dressed up warm, a nice brisk walk was just the thing after being stuck in the house. First of all she would call in the village shop and put her poster up. The photo of the well decorated different sizes of cakes on it looked really good and Debbie hoped might attract someone’s interest. Selecting one of Trigger’s toys she set out.

Mrs Harrison at the shop was delighted with Debbie’s poster. “oh,… they look beautiful,” she enthused examining the posters closely, “You are sure to get a lot of work from that, especially so near Christmas. “And another thing,” she said “Lots of people will want a little dinner party this time of year.”

“Let’s hope so we’ll have to wait and see,” Debbie answered.

“I bet the W.I. would be interested to hear about all your experiences cooking all those posh dinners for the landed gentry especially if one of your customers turns out to be a celebrity. As soon as you got a few under your belt, you could come back and give us a good talk on dinner parties, my duck. The ladies would love that and it is so hard to find speakers these days. You are sure to meet lots of interesting people,” Mrs Harrison suggested warming to the idea.

“Well, I’ll keep it in mind,” Debbie laughed. “In the meantime, I had better make the best of this weather while it lasts. I’ll take a packet of boiled fruit sweets while I’m here, and also this women’s magazine please Mrs Harrison.”