5 The Witches of East Malling by Steve Higgs

Author:Steve Higgs [Higgs, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

Buying Flowers. Tuesday, November 8th 1515hrs

I had been in the flower shop many times before. The flowers I had bought there though were more often for my mother than they were for a lady I was romantically interested in. Today was different. Today I was buying flowers for an elegant, well-spoken, eligible lady I was taking out for dinner. I selected a simple spray of carnations as they looked healthy and the florist had them in a variety of pink hues. They were paired with an abundance of green foliage and wrapped for delivery. I swiped my card to complete the transaction and left the flowers to be dropped off at Natasha’s address in the morning.

Task complete, I left the shop confident that Natasha would feel suitably positive about her choice to join me for dinner. I decided to head home. Jagjit had asked me to be his best man so I had a speech to consider. I also had the small problem of Hilary to deal with. His presence in my house was nothing more than a minor inconvenience at the moment, but that was because I believed it to be temporary. I needed to get him back on his feet and back with his wife and kids.

Arriving home a few minutes later though, a sense of dread settled into the pit of my stomach.

Big Ben’s car was parked on my drive.

I walked through my front door, stepping over the Dachshunds as I closed it behind me. I expected to hear voices coming from the kitchen or the lounge, but the house was silent. I called out anyway, then poked my head through a couple of doors when no answer came back. The dogs were whizzing around my feet, standing on the toes of my shoes whenever I stopped moving long enough for them to do so. They wanted my attention and I could not tell how long it had been since they were last outside, so I grabbed their leads, popped their collars over their heads and encouraged them back out the front door.

If Hilary and Big Ben were not here, then they were most likely in the pub. I started walking in that direction. It was cool out bordering on cold. The forlorn trees were now all but bereft of leaves, clutching pathetically at one here and one there as they fluttered in the breeze. Soon winter would be upon us and my small dogs would need to wear their specially made coats whenever I took them out. Today, for the short walk I had planned, there was no need for such protection.

I guessed right. I could see Big Ben’s head through the window of the pub as I approached. Both he and Hilary were in our usual spot, a half empty glass of beer in front of each. They looked up as I entered.

‘Chaps.’ I said in greeting. Hilary looked better than he had this morning, not that it would have been hard to achieve an improvement.

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