Page 20 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
‘Course I wouldn’t have a problem if your doe-eyed little girlfriend wasn’t being quite so picky.’
Sam said nothing, but his eyes glittered dangerously.
‘Oh, of course, she’s not your girlfriend, is she, sorry.’ Stephen smirked. ‘Anyway, give her a message from me, would you? Tell her to pull her socks up on the sale; we’re running out of time. Her bloody solicitor won’t progress until he has written confirmation of the mortgage offer, and we haven’t got time to be pissing around.’
‘That’s standard practice I believe, Stephen. Haven’t you done your homework?’
Stephen swiped a piece of toast. ‘Just bloody tell her,’ he growled, and stalked off.
Sam allowed a small smile to curl around the corners of his lips; he liked to see his brother riled, especially when it forced him to show his cards. He hadn’t known until now that Stephen needed a mortgage to buy Appleyard; which was interesting. For the first time in a long time, he saw a way that he might just be able to outmanoeuvre his brother. He would call his solicitor as soon as Stephen was out of the way.
10
Amos and Freya had already made good progress by the time Sam got there, having sorted another whole section of the attic. When he found them, Freya was holding up some threadbare tinsel that had discoloured to a diseased-looking green. She held it between thumb and forefinger in case whatever it had was catching.
‘When you said you weren’t going to bother putting up the decorations, I thought you were being boring, now I can see why. That’s pretty disturbing.’
‘Morning, Sam.’ Freya laughed. ‘It is, isn’t it? I think the box must have got damp, it’s all like this which is a shame because I was looking forward to putting these out.’ She fished inside the box and pulled out two very moth-eaten-looking reindeer, which at one time in their lives had been furry but now had a severe case of alopecia. ‘I’d forgotten we even had them.’
‘Blanked it from your memory probably,’ said Sam with a shudder. ‘Stuff of nightmares.’
‘Look, are you going to stand there criticising my family heirlooms, or make yourself useful and cart this lot over there with the rest of the rubbish?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ grinned Sam, picking up a box. ‘Being serious for a minute, though, are you going to put anything up this year? It seems such a shame not to do anything, especially as tomorrow is Mistletoe Day.’
‘But it’s just one more thing to have to do, when I could leave it all in its boxes, ready and packed.’
‘It wouldn’t take long…and we’d help, wouldn’t we, Amos?’
‘Oh for heaven’s sake, you’re as bad as him,’ she said, pointing a finger. ‘Okay, you win. Take the stuff downstairs and leave it in the dining room, and then I can decide. It’s those boxes over there,’ she added, wafting her good hand at a pile by the door.
Sam did as he was told, a plan forming in his mind.
The dining room was stacked high with boxes already packed, and it took a few minutes to move the others around to make way for those coming down. He was trying hard not to think about what they meant, and how little time he had left. He pulled his mobile out of his pocket as it buzzed with a message. It was from his brother, three words in block capitals.
CALL ME NOW
Sam clicked the sleep button, watching with satisfaction as the screen went dark again.Oops, he said to himself.I missed that one.
He was just moving the last few boxes when Amos appeared with another couple.
‘These are all decorations too,’ he said, putting them down where Sam indicated. ‘Just in case they’re needed at all,’ he added, winking. ‘You must tell me about the customs of Mistletoe Day some time. It sounds fascinating.’
Sam laughed. ‘As if you didn’t know. You don’t fool me, Amos Fry.’
‘And you don’t fool me either, Sam Henderson.’ Amos grinned. ‘One other thing, though. Can I suggest that we go and get the shopping fairly soon, there’s snow coming, and I don’t think we should leave it too late.’
The day outside was clear and blue, just as it had been for days. ‘I know it’s nearly Christmas, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to start snowing. Have you looked outside?’
‘Yes, and I know that snow hasn’t actually been forecast.’
‘But?’
Amos winked again. ‘I tell you it’s coming.’
‘Okaaay,’ said Sam, humouring him. ‘Let’s go and grab the rest of these boxes, and then we’ll see about putting a list together. Not because I believe a word you’re saying about the snow, but because the supermarket will be like your worst nightmare, and I’d rather not leave it any longer.’
Sam had a total of four more text messages and two missed calls by the time they eventually emerged from the supermarket hours later. Freya had wanted to come, but Sam insisted she stayed at home. There would be too many people around all pushing and shoving, and he thought she’d find it very uncomfortable. Instead, she had provided them with a list that made the Declaration of Independence look like a scribbled note on the back of a napkin. The list contained things that neither Sam nor Amos had ever heard of, but they had been determined to find everything she asked for.
