Escape to the Country by Patsy Collins Read Free Book Online Page B

it."
    "Oh, I couldn't. It's too low cut."
    "'Course it isn't, silly. Covers your underwear doesn't it?"
    Leah decided to buy it. She doubted she'd have the nerve to wear it
without something over the top, but in this weather she'd need that
anyway.
    "What about you, Jayne are you getting anything new?"
    "Not right now. I prefer to buy things for a particular
purpose."
    "Me too," she didn't mention she had a purpose in mind and
that he drove a big red tractor.
    "You'll probably need to replace some of the stuff that got wet
when the roof leaked. Will your insurance cover it, because if not
your landlord..."
    "Leah," Jayne interrupted. "Don't worry about it.
There was nothing in that wardrobe that could be damaged by a drop of
rain. I keep the few fancy outfits I do have somewhere safe."
    "You mean you knew the roof would leak?"
    "It's old thatch and an ancient cottage, so it's hardly a
surprise."
    "If it's not a surprise then there's even more reason for your
landlord to have done something about it before now."
    "He has. It's been regularly maintained, but thatch doesn't last
forever. It's got to the stage of needing to be completely replaced.
That's a major job and not that easy to arrange, but I expect it's
all in hand. Come on now, we don't want to fall out over G-B do we?"
    "No, of course not. He's caused me enough trouble already."
She saw Jayne's face and added, "Sorry."
    "What is it with him? I don't understand how you can so dislike
someone you've never met."
    "You don't like Adam and you've never met him. Maybe it's
something that runs in the family?"
    Jayne looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Maybe.
Now, brace yourself, we're going to get the chicken feed next."
    "Chicken feed doesn't sound scary."
    "It's not. I meant Jim the feed mill's manager. Not that he's
scary, he's just... Well, you'll see."
    "Is Jim the one who sends the Christmas Valentine cards?"
    "Yes."
    They put Leah's purchases into the pick-up and drove to the yard to
buy chicken feed. First they went into the office and Jayne paid for
two sacks of mixed corn, a bag of organic layer pellets and ordered
milk powder to be ready for when she got her lambs.
    "We pay here, then take the receipt to the mill to collect the
feed," she explained.
    "Do they sell dog food too?"
    "Yes, but Tarragon's got plenty for now."
    "I promised him some chews," Leah said. She turned to the
lady on the counter. "I'd like the biggest pack of the best dog
treats you do."
    The woman tapped on her computer. "They're thirty-two pounds
twenty-seven, plus VAT."
    "Fine, I'll have them," Leah said. She had no idea how much
dog food cost, but thirty odd pounds was a small price to pay for
being rescued and introduced to Dishy Duncan.
    "You'll have to stay for months now, Leah," Jayne said. "If
Tarragon eats that lot this side of midsummer he's going to explode."
    They drove round to the mill to collect their purchases.
    A forklift appeared and Leah was impressed to see it carried their
order.
    "Whatever you do, don't giggle, it only encourages him,"
Jayne said.
    Guessing she was referring to the driver, Leah asked, "How did
he know what we wanted?"
    "Well, out here in the country we have these magic boxes that
tell us stuff like that. I think they're called computers. You city
types should get them, I'm sure they'd help with keeping your
accounts straight too."
    Leah could have apologised for having thought everything in the
country belonged in the past or even have pointed out that a computer
seemed to have done the exact opposite of keeping her and Mr
Gilmore-Bunce's accounts straight. She could have if her mind hadn't
gone into shock at the sight of Jim throwing his arms around Jayne
and lifting her off her feet. As Jayne was squealing and giggling
like a schoolgirl it wasn't likely she was aware of Leah's lack of
response.
    Jim, it had to be him, was well over six feet six. Leah could tell
that much by the way Jayne's feet were nearly level with his knees
and yet he