Birds Of A Feather Episode 23
When Jess took her dog, Alfie, for his afternoon walk, she was surprised to see smoke coming from Ed’s van, which was still in the car park at Folly Farm.
But this time, the smoke wasn’t coming from the engine, but from a chimney she hadn’t noticed before.
It was, she assumed, the flue for a wood-burning stove, such as the one she’d seen in Frank’s van.
Curious, she knocked on the van door. After a few seconds, it opened and Ed’s brother stood there.
“Sam! What are you doing here?”
He shrugged.
“Shauna kicked me out. This morning she had a massive row with Frank. After he left, she turned on me. Said I was a waste of space and didn’t want me anywhere near her or her kids.”
Jess had felt the force of Shauna’s fiery nature and felt sympathy for Sam.
Was the row about her, she wondered.
“But what are you doing here?” she asked again. “You’re not intending to stay here, are you?”
He shook his head.
“Frank’s going to fix the van for me. Ed said I can use it for as long as I want. Once it’s fixed, I’m off.”
Jess’s heart gave a jolt. So Frank was coming back!
“Mind you,” Sam went on. “Frank and Maureen are ready to move on, so I might just follow them.”
“Where are they going?” she asked, but before he could answer she turned at the sound of a car.
It was her friend, Maggie, and her husband returning home from honeymoon.
Tom looked fit and bronzed after their four weeks in Mexico, but Maggie looked pale and tired.
“It’s so good to see you.” Jess had to raise her voice to make herself heard above Alfie’s welcoming barks. “How are you?”
Maggie pulled a face.
“I picked up a bug while we were away and I feel totally washed out.”
Jess hugged her friend.
“I’m so sorry. But did you have a good time before the bug?”
“It was wonderful,” Tom replied. “I’ll take Maggie indoors and get her settled in bed, then I’ll come to the tea room and catch up on all the news.
“Including,” he added quietly when Maggie was out of earshot, “whoever appears to have taken up residence in the car park.”
He picked up the suitcases and followed Maggie into the house while Jess walked to the tea room.
As she did, she passed Rob’s unit and looked in to see if he was back. The door was unlocked but there was no sign of him.
“Was that Tom and Maggie I heard?” Paloma asked as Jess went in.
Jess nodded.
“Maggie’s not well. She picked up a bug in Mexico so she’s going to have a lie down. Tom’s joining us later.
“Have you seen Rob since this morning? I’ve just been past his unit and it’s unlocked. All his tools are still out and everything.”
Paloma shook her head.
“It was strange, him taking off like that, wasn’t it?”
Jess bit her thumbnail.
“You don’t suppose he’s done a runner, do you?”
“Of course not,” Paloma said firmly. “Why would you think that?”
“Oh, I’m just seeing problems where there are none, I suppose. It’s just that there’s something not quite right about him.”
“What do you mean?” Paloma asked as she began to stack the plates she’d taken from the dishwasher.
“He said he’s a stranger to Little Billington, yet when he was talking about Billington Grange he said something about the York paving.
“That’s something he could only know if he’d been there.”
Paloma nodded.
“It’s funny you should say that. The day he arrived, I asked him if he found the place OK, as people have trouble finding it.
“He said he’d had no trouble at all.
“I think you may be right, Jess. He’s been here before.”
Jess sipped her tea, her expression thoughtful.
“You’ve been in the village longer than me. Did you recognise him?”
Paloma shook her head.
“There was something about him that was vaguely familiar, but if he’d been in the village before then Elsie would have recognised him, that’s for sure.”
Jess smiled at mention of her elderly neighbour.
“You’re right. Well, he paid his rent two months in advance and he’s left some expensive equipment in his unit, so there’s nothing to worry about, is there?”
Even so, it was a bit unsettling, so she promised herself she’d ask Elsie about him the next time she saw her.