‘Well done,’ said Elliott, putting Dusty down, who happily trotted off to join the others.

‘Is that it? Did I do it? Did I fix a goat?’

Elliott laughed. ‘Yeah, you fixed the goat.’

Darla punched the air. She was feeling elated. ‘I think maybe we should celebrate with wine rather than coffee.’

‘Not for me.’ He yawned deeply. ‘In fact I think I’ll skip the coffee thanks and go straight back to bed.’ He checked his watch. ‘I need to be up in three hours anyway. Unless a ewe has me up before then.’

‘Oh, I won’t bother you again.’

‘No, a ewe. Not you.’ Darla wasn’t sure what he was on about and it probably showed on her face. ‘Never mind. I’m off to bed. Night, Darla. Night, Dusty.’

‘Okay. Thanks,’ she said.

‘You coming?’ he asked, holding the pen door for her.

‘I think I’ll just get her some food to say well done.’ She was far too excited to sleep now anyway. She felt like she’d made a breakthrough by helping Dusty albeit with a lot of assistance from Elliott.

‘Please yourself,’ he said and with another mammoth yawn he left.

***

Ros opened her front door at the end of a long day to the smell of herbs and spices. She loved that Cameron cooked sometimes, especially as it was always a little surprise as to what he was making. There was no sign of him but her lidded casserole dish was in the oven. She put down her bag and went to have a nose. She reached for the oven door but was interrupted.

‘Caught you!’ he said, coming out of his bedroom.

‘Hi, something smells amazing.’

‘Good. It’s lamb tagine. It’s been cooking most of the day so it should be . . .’ He kissed his fingers. ‘How was your day?’

‘Tiring.’

‘Are you still really busy?’ he asked as he flicked the switch on the kettle.

The obvious thing to have done at this point was to simply say yes but it wasn’t the truth. And despite the mountain of lies they had told her father and a variety of other people who had got caught up in their deception, she really wasn’t one for lying. ‘I’m trying to interact with my colleagues more. And it’s exhausting.’

Cameron laughed easily as he leaned back against the worktop. ‘They can’t be that bad.’

Ros tipped her head at him. ‘Today I have listened to Jeff tell me in detail about his clematis.’ Cameron chuckled. ‘No, it’s not funny. Jeff is very serious about his clematis. Especially the timing of pruning. But that wasn’t the most taxing conversation I had today. I am trying hard to be civil to Alastair.’

Cameron grimaced. ‘I bet that’s a stretch.’

‘Thank you for noticing. It is rather. Apparently he’s one of those people who are into conspiracy theories.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Please tell me you don’t subscribe to them.’

‘No, you’re good. What does Alastair believe then?’

Ros shook her head. ‘Amongst a great many other things, he believes that man did not land on the moon, lip balm contains an ingredient that actually dries out your lips rather than moistening them and that the king is part alien.’ She could hardly believe she was repeating Alastair’s ridiculous suggestions.

Cameron laughed. ‘Although those ears aren’t human.’ He mimed pulling his out for comic effect.

‘Stop it,’ said Ros. ‘I couldn’t challenge him for fear of undoing any progress I’ve made by small talk. Which meant I had to listen and nod. I have never been so grateful to hear a fire alarm in my life.’

‘Did you set it off?

‘Tempting but no. Although, I might if I get trapped like that again.’

‘I’m really proud of you,’ said Cameron, making the tea. Ros tried to shrug off the compliment but he shook his head. ‘Credit where it’s due. I know this doesn’t come naturally to you so I’m well impressed that you’re persevering. It’ll pay dividends in the end.’

‘I hope so. I’m also working on how I can make risk management more accessible and fun. Although I think the latter is a step too far.’

‘Maybe I can help with that. We can go over it after dinner if you like? I’ve got no other plans.’

She really couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do.

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was Darla’s turn to get an unexpected call in the wee small hours when her phone went off at four o’clock on a rare day off. ‘Oh come on!’ she grumbled as she tried to grab the phone but instead knocked it off the bedside cabinet and onto the floor. Darla hung almost upside down as she tried to reach it without actually getting out of bed because that would definitely wake her up fully. With any luck she’d be able to fob off whoever it was calling so ridiculously early and go back to sleep. She hit the answer button, with her head still hanging over the side of the bed. ‘Hallo?’

‘Darla, great, you’re up. I need your help,’ said Elliott.

‘No, I’m not up,’ she said, scrunching her eyes up in a feeble attempt to stay sleepy. ‘It’s my day off and—’

‘Brilliant, I was worried you’d be dashing off to work. Can you come straight up to the farm?’

‘What, now?’

‘Great. Thanks, see you in about five minutes then.’

‘Hang on, wh—’ But it was pointless because the phone had gone dead. Darla huffed as she threw herself back onto her pillow. It was no good. However much she wanted to have a lie-in, there was no way she would be able to go back to sleep now, mainly because she was curious as to what on earth Elliott needed her help with. And after he’d coached her through helping Dusty the other night she could hardly let him down.

She had a quick wash, got dressed and headed off to the farm. She figured it must be urgent if he was asking her for help. She couldn’t imagine she was high on his list of people to rely on. An image of her trying to catch Dusty shot into her mind, closely followed by her chasing chickens in a soggy sarong. It seemed unlikely that it would be animal-related; she knew Elliott’s feelings on her failings in that department. Perhaps it was a cleaning emergency. Whilst she wouldn’t be impressed if he’d woken her up for that, she did know that was something she could handle. What she didn’t want was to be useless at whatever it was he needed help with. She wasn’t sure why it mattered but she cared what he thought of her and an opportunity to prove that she wasn’t a complete idiot would be good. It was cold and still quite dark as she walked the lane, making her zip her jacket right up and bury her hands in the pockets.

The farmhouse was in darkness but as she approached she could see a light from one of the barns. She walked across the now dry concrete and smiled to herself at the just visible chicken footprints. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting as she walked into the barn but she definitely wasn’t prepared for the sight that met her; rows and rows of pens all full of sheep and lambs, most of which were sleeping. At the far end she could see someone bending over, who looked like they were graffitiing a sheep with a paint aerosol.

‘Is this the farming equivalent of Banksy?’ she quipped.

‘Bloody hell!’ said Elliott, jumping in fright. ‘You shouldn’t creep up on people.’

‘Good morning to you too. No, please don’t thank me for coming to your aid at a moment’s notice in the middle of the night. It’s my absolute pleasure.’ She fixed him with a sarcastic smile.

‘Yeah, well. Thanks for coming and all that. I figured I helped you so it’s . . . tit for tat.’

‘And which one does that make me?’ asked Darla, putting her hands on her hips in mock disapproval.

‘I don’t know,’ said Elliott with a frown. It was clearly too early for frivolity. ‘I’m swamped here and Lee’s girlfriend has gone into labour as have three ewes. I can’t manage and that puts lambs’ lives at risk. And that’s where you come in.’ He pointed at her with the aerosol. ‘You, not a female sheep.’

‘I know I’m not a female sheep.’ Darla felt on edge. ‘I’m also no midwife. You know that right?’ Darla had quite a phobia when it came to blood and gore.