Deanna stares out of the windscreen. She can’t put her finger on it but her conversation with Oliver the previous evening has left her feeling out of sorts. Her husband sounded distracted, as if on autopilot.
‘Postie’s here,’ calls Sebastian from the back seat.
‘Hmm?’
‘The postman, Mum!’
Deanna looks towards the electric gates. On the other side – in the real world – the postman climbs out of his van.
‘Go and intercept him before he puts the post in the box, Seb.’
Her son opens the car door. Yelling instructions at the postman, he sets off at a run up the gravelled drive.
Nothing shy and retiring about that one, thinks Deanna. She glances in the rear-view mirror. Where is Charlie? He knows she wants to get away early to miss the traffic. She catches sight of Jamie watching his brother out of the window.
‘Are you looking forward to seeing Granny and Grumps?’
Jamie nods and meets his mother’s gaze in the mirror. He’s so quiet, her youngest. She never really knows what he’s thinking. He looks pale and she wonders if he’s going down with something.
‘Are you OK, Jamie?’
‘Yes, but…’ The boy purses his lips and looks away.
‘But what?’ she asks softly.
‘I miss Dad,’ he mumbles. ‘I wish he was here.’
‘I wish your dad was here too,’ Deanna says, colouring slightly as she remembers telling him not to come back as he would only be in the way. Nagging disquiet gnaws at her. Turning in her seat, she reassures her son. ‘Now that we’re spending August in Norfolk the time will fly by and your dad will be home again before you know it. You can phone him once we arrive, if you like.’
Through the rear window she sees Charlie carrying a huge suitcase out of the house. Deanna smiles at Jamie and gets out of the car. ‘What have you got in there?’ she asks, walking towards her eldest son. ‘We’re only away for a month.’
‘Just covering all eventualities,’ Charlie says, smiling engagingly.
‘Well, put it in the boot. You know I’m keen to miss the traffic.’
She continues to the house and punches in the burglar-alarm code, although she doubts it will be necessary with all the security. Closing the front door behind her, she walks back to the car just as Sebastian skids to a halt in a flurry of gravel, armed with the post.
‘Sebastian, don’t do that! It makes such a mess.’ Giving her son a stern look, Deanna stomps on the skid marks. The boy shrugs and climbs in the car next to Jamie.
‘OK, we’d better get going if we’re to make Fakenham in time for lunch,’ Deanna says, getting in the car. ‘You know what the Dartford Tunnel can be like.’
Charlie closes the boot and climbs in the passenger seat.
From his seat in the back, Sebastian waves the post at his mother through the gap between the front seats.
‘Put it in the glove compartment, Charlie,’ Deanna instructs. ‘I’ll look at it once we’ve arrived. Everyone strapped in?’
She drives the Range Rover towards the opening gates. Braking at the entrance, Deanna checks the track before sweeping out of the drive. The electric gates close smoothly behind her. At last, she’s escaped the gilded prison Oliver has created.
Looking quietly out of the window, Jamie is the only one who notices the dark blue car with his initials on its number plate parked at the entrance to the National Trust car park. He hasn’t seen it for several weeks and wonders where it’s been.
*
Mission accomplished! Sylvie congratulates herself.
Arriving at the start of the week with package in hand, she expected to hand-deliver it to that smug wife of Oliver’s, only to find that a pair of tall gates now prevented her from accessing his property. She walked the fence line looking for a place to enter, but the newly erected fence is impenetrable. When the Doberman picked up her scent and started barking at her from the far perimeter of Oliver’s grounds, she was fearful, but the guard held onto the dog. Thwarted, she scurried back to her car and resorted to Plan B, posting the package that same afternoon.
She arrived early this morning, parked the car and waited. Keeping her binoculars trained on the electric gates, Sylvie observed the postman arrive and pass a bundle of envelopes to a boy, her package included. As she watched the boy run back to the Range Rover, mounting excitement consumed her. Now that self-satisfied cow will get her comeuppance! A malicious smile cracked her face but it was soon wiped off when Deanna ignored the post. Instead, the tall lad sitting in the passenger seat took it from the boy and stowed it away in the glove compartment.
No! She wanted to witness Deanna’s reaction.
Nevertheless, as the Range Rover sweeps out of the drive, Sylvie hugs herself with glee. Her package was successfully delivered. Even though she won’t have the satisfaction of seeing the look of shock on Deanna’s face when she opens the envelope, Sylvie knows it won’t be long before all hell breaks loose. All she has to do now is return to Cornwall and keep watch. She can hardly wait for the fallout. Raising the binoculars one final time, Sylvie scans the grounds and sees the guard walking the fence line with his dog. It’s odd that Oliver’s property is so inaccessible. She used to be able to nip through the post-and-rail fencing, but now there’s a high, welded mesh fence surrounding the estate. She frowns. Has he done this on her account? She breaks into contemptuous laughter. Serves him right. If he’s not going to play ball, then she’s going to make his life as uncomfortable as possible.