Lavender Lane (Larch Tree Lane #4)

Chapter Nineteen

By noon, the three cottages that needed to be occupied first were immaculate and the cleaners had moved to start work on the others. Arthur was to be brought to Lavender Lane later that afternoon.

A young woman called Glynis was brought in during the early afternoon to act as a general helper for appearances’ sake. Nina briefed her about keeping an eye on him and his old friends. She seemed a cheerful sort, which never hurt when caring for people who needed some sort of help, or even when only acting as a watchful companion.

‘Yes, I can see to food and cleaning the cottage but I bet none of these particular oldies will want me to do much by way of personal care.’ She winked at Nina. ‘Well, I’ve met them before and they don’t really need much help, do they?’

‘No. But it’ll help if you bring meals down from the big house and generally keep the places tidy. They said they didn’t need much personal help but it would look better to have someone else around, keeping an eye on things. You come very highly recommended for your ability to do that.’

She beamed at Nina. ‘Thank you. I do my best and I’ve had one or two of these security jobs before. So this time I don’t have to cook for Arthur or the others at all?’

‘No. We’ll provide the meals for everyone, you as well. And we’ll make sure there are snacks available in each cottage too. We have a trolley with insulated compartments for you to bring them to and fro on.’

‘Sounds to be a very easy job. I shall feel guilty that I’m not earning my money if there’s nothing much for me to do here.’

‘Well, we assume you’ll keep your eyes open for anyone lurking around or anything that looks odd or out of place. We don’t want intruders actually getting in, do we? And if people like you are seen moving around and looking busy that’ll help to deter them. You’ll be earning your money just by being here, really.’

‘I’m glad you think so.’

‘I do. But if you could bustle up to the big house occasionally, either carrying something or bringing something back, that’d help too, I’m sure.’

‘Good to know. I hope you’ve got a good cook. He likes his food, Arthur does. I’ve known him for years, even before I got into this sort of job. Eeh, I envy him. He never puts any weight on either, though he’s always been a hearty eater. Talk about lucky.’ She looked down regretfully at her own slightly plump body. ‘I have to watch what I eat all the time.’

‘Well, we have an excellent cook so I daresay Arthur will continue to enjoy his food while he’s here but it’ll be healthy food so you should be all right too.’

‘All right.’ But she sounded dubious. ‘Where do I sleep, then? I shall need to unpack my own things.’

‘There’s a small loft bedroom in Arthur’s cottage. Will you be all right with that? His bedroom is on the ground floor. The cottages are all different inside. You may as well go and sort out your belongings now, while you’re waiting for him to arrive. The stairs are rather steep, I’m afraid, but there’s a comfortable armchair for you up there in case they need a bit of privacy.’

‘The stairs don’t matter. I’m fitter than I look. And if they need private meetings, I can sit upstairs and keep an eye on the street in case anyone tries sneaking around. There are a lot of nosy people in the town, most of them harmless but they still like to see what’s going on.’

‘Well, there are plenty of books if you have time to fill, and more in the big house if there’s nothing here that takes your fancy.’

‘And I’ll have my fancy new phone that my niece has been teaching me to use. It’s amazing what you can do on a phone these days, isn’t it?’

‘It certainly is. Don’t tell anyone you speak to on it where exactly you are, though, or anything about this place.’

‘No, dear. I won’t. The supervisor put an app on my phone to keep that sort of thing from showing by mistake even. I’ve worked in similar jobs before and I do have experience in keeping a low profile as well as security clearance, remember.’

‘Of course you do. I’m probably fussing too much.’

Glynis patted Ilsa’s shoulder. ‘Better safe than sorry, eh? I’ll go and sort my room out now.’

Later that afternoon, Ilsa waited to see Arthur settled in. Once he was inside, he studied the bay window.

‘This is a special sort of one-way glass, so I can watch the world from that nice armchair without being seen.’

‘Yes. They won’t be able to see anything from outside,’ Ilsa told him.

‘Good spot to sit. I’ll be able to see anyone coming towards the precinct from the car park long before they get here. Not that many people will be coming near the place yet but I’m nicely situated to keep an eye on them when they do.’

Glynis came down to join them just then and Ilsa was pleased to see the two of them chat and laugh like the old friends they clearly were.

His smile vanished abruptly, however, when Glynis asked what time he’d like to take a nap. ‘I never did go in for naps when I was younger and that hasn’t changed as I’ve grown older. I told you that last time we worked together. I know you like your naps, so go ahead and take a snooze whenever you feel like it.’

‘I will if I can take it in one of those lovely big armchairs in your sitting room, then I’ll be close by if you need me.’

‘I don’t know how you can snooze in such a busy area but be my guest if there’s no one else around. I’ll spend most of the day in this armchair, if someone will move it into the bay window for me. That way I’ll be able to read or watch the comings and goings to the Lane and the big house. I enjoy watching folk. Though I mustn’t forget to move about regularly or I’ll get too stiff.’

Glynis moved towards the chair. ‘I can move this now, if you like. This sort of chair is easy to push around.’

‘When exactly will my friend Ben be arriving?’ he asked once he was sitting comfortably. ‘Do either of you know?’

Ilsa nodded. ‘Yes. He’ll be coming soon and staying in the cottage at the top of the other trio, on the opposite side of the central path to you.’

‘That’s good. I’ll maybe totter across to visit him now and then, and he can wheel himself across to visit me.’

He sighed and added quietly, ‘Who’s going to be looking after him? Sadly he needs physical help more than he used to.’

‘His great-grandson Norry.’

‘Oh, good. Clever lad, that one. He’s got excellent hearing and he’s a light sleeper when he’s on a job, so he’ll know if anyone comes prowling round during the night.’

‘We haven’t put CCTV on the outside of the cottages yet because most people who come here value their privacy, and anyway, all the IT systems need updating properly. I should think such equipment is easily available if you want it installed. It’s people with the skill to install it who are in short supply.’

‘Yes. It’s not urgent at the moment. After all, we want to appear rather helpless and old-fashioned, don’t we?’ He gave Ilsa a rather wolfish smile. ‘Don’t look so worried, lass. If there are any major glitches, Ben and I still know how to defend ourselves.’

‘I heard you’d insisted on bringing guns. I’ve been told to emphasise that you’d better have a good reason if you do use them.’

‘We know that. If it makes you feel better, since I gather you’re staying around, I promise faithfully that we shall only use them if absolutely necessary, which it rarely is. We prefer to fool any observers that we’re helpless oldies and have a reputation so far in working for this organisation for managing to do that. It’s what the authorities prefer too, I know.’

She shrugged. It wasn’t quite as straightforward as that. These oldies were very determined to do things their way and for some reason had managed to get permission, so they must have a very good reputation for success in such ventures. All she could do about it was remain very alert.

He smiled at her. ‘Stop worrying. We know what we’re doing. Now, tell me about Prue. When is she coming and will someone be pretending to be her carer? I’m really looking forward to catching up with her again.’

‘She seemed delighted to be invited to stay here and I gather she feels the same about seeing you two. She has been missing your monthly trips to the Lane, which were sometimes just pleasant escapes and occasionally there were incidents that needed dealing with. She said she’d bring her niece to seem to be her carer for appearances’ sake, though just like you, she insists she can look after herself perfectly well.’

Arthur nodded. ‘We’ll liven Prue up a bit like we used to. She’s been a widow for several years now and she never had children, so she’s been a bit lonely while the place has been shut down. I knew it’d suit her to join us here this time and you won’t need to worry about her having a gun because she’s a better shot than I am.’

‘I didn’t hear you say that.’

He chuckled. ‘There are a few other things you won’t hear me say, too, as we chat, but I’ll tell you all that I can.’

‘Well, I hope your friend will enjoy her visit and that none of you will encounter any problems that need drastic remedies.’

‘We’ll enjoy Prue’s company, that’s for sure.’

There was a slight edge to his voice that made her look at him sympathetically and she risked saying, ‘I was reading in the paper only a few days ago that loneliness is a major disease of old age these days.’

‘And boredom too, I’ve found. You sound as if you understand better than most.’

‘I do. Being on one’s own more than one would wish isn’t restricted to oldies, you know. Not all of us come from large extended families.’ Ilsa broke off abruptly. What was there about these people that had made her confide so much in them? She usually kept quiet about her own situation and regrets.

He gave her a shrewd look. ‘I gather you don’t have any close family at all.’

She shrugged and shook her head. To her relief he didn’t pursue the point. She didn’t want to seem in need of sympathy, thank you very much. She’d better watch what she said to them from now on. She coped with what life threw at her and enjoyed the rarer good experiences and times, like this assignment. That must be enough.

‘When exactly will Prue be arriving?’ Arthur asked. ‘You must have more specific information than just a vague tomorrow.’

‘We don’t have an exact time, were only told it’d be whenever her nearest ambulance has a slot free to bring her here.’

He chuckled. ‘As if she needs an ambulance! She’s still driving her own car the rest of the time. She has a cleaner and someone helps her with the shopping but she manages the rest of her life just fine. Which cottage are you putting her in?’

‘She’ll be taking the middle cottage of your trio, Arthur, right next door to you.’

‘Good. And what about that injured lad? He’ll want a bit of company, surely? You can put him in the other middle cottage opposite Prue.’

‘They’re still wondering whether to do that yet, perhaps not until we have external security here sorted out a bit better.’

Arthur merely smiled dismissively. ‘You know we’ll be here to keep an eye on him. Is he walking freely again? If so he’ll maybe enjoy a bit of company. His scars should be mostly healed by now.’

She frowned at him. ‘You’re not supposed to know any details about him coming here, let alone what sort of personal problems he’s been facing.’

Arthur gave her a cheeky wink. ‘Well, now you’re aware that I do know quite a bit and that I’ll be telling the others all about his situation as soon as they get here. That’ll save us all a lot of time and trouble but you’ll need to keep us up to date with anything new that’s decided or that crops up from now onwards.’

‘I will if I can.’

His voice was firm. ‘Tell Sean I need to be kept in the loop about every single detail that changes and send him to discuss it with me if he doesn’t agree to let you do that. Oh, and there’s something else I want to discuss with you, but not till tomorrow when the others are settled in here and I’ve run it past them. Sean dropped me a hint and I like the sound of it.’

‘You’re going to discuss it with me?’

‘Yes. If the others feel as I do about his idea, you will be the next person to find out about it and then you can tell us what you think of doing a little job for us in connection with it.’

She frowned and glanced quickly round. ‘Are there some arrangements you don’t like and need changing? Because if there are, you should tell me at once.’

‘No. It’s another strategy that might be worth trying here as well as what you folk have already set up. Tell Sean I like his idea and will discuss it with Ben and Prue first before we ask what you think, and then we’ll run it all past Sean again. He’s famous for putting interesting little twists into situations. And that’s all I’m going to say about it for the moment.’

He changed the subject again and very firmly too. ‘I gather that this Nina is a nice woman and folk in the valley who’ve seen them together reckon Sean will make her a good husband. He’s done without family for long enough because of his job, don’t you think?’

Ilsa couldn’t hide her surprise at this remark but didn’t say anything else. She’d never been in a situation like this and was finding it much more interesting than her usual jobs. But what could they possibly want her opinion about? Mostly, she just got told what to do, not even asked .

‘Come on, lass. Anyone who’s seen Sean and Nina together can tell how attracted they are to one another. You can’t have missed that.’

‘Well, yes, I had noticed but I’d never comment on it publicly. How they feel about one another is their own business as long as it doesn’t interfere with this project and I’m surprised you’ve even mentioned it to me.’

‘I didn’t want you to think I don’t notice what’s going on around me – all the details, think on – so never try to keep anything from me.’

She breathed deeply and gave him a look of the sort that usually made men back off.

This man merely chuckled again and said, ‘Now, remember that we three oldies will need to speak to you on your own after we speak to Sean and Nina so I’d rather you didn’t discuss the situation here with anyone else until after we’ve had another little chat to you.’

He leant back in his chair, staring at her so thoughtfully she wondered what he was thinking. But he was clearly not going to reveal anything else yet and she’d already figured out that he’d be as stubborn as any boss she’d ever met when it came to getting his own way about something he considered important or necessary.

So she went back to the job, making suitable arrangements for the younger chap who would most likely be coming to stay in one of the cottages later. It was a relief to be dealing with something more straightforward.

Arthur seemed to have been waiting for her to have a think about the situation and she decided to go over everything she knew with him. She’d learnt to recognise people you didn’t mess about with so she said, ‘ If they think it safe, I gather that Ned will be moving in next to Ben, probably tomorrow, and they may or may not bring a guy here to help look after and protect him.’

He looked thoughtful. ‘If they do, he’ll be armed, I hope?’

She hesitated.

His voice was quietly emphatic. ‘I need to know. I am, after all, going to be in the next cottage, right in the firing line if things go wrong.’

There were times when he had such an air of authority underneath that genial old man pose that she wondered what his background really was, so she went on to finish telling him the simple truth. ‘Yes, if they decide he needs a helper, the man will be armed and a strong chap. But I shouldn’t be telling you that so please keep it to yourself.’

‘I will. But remember that my friends and I haven’t survived this long by letting anyone find a way to get at us or our comrades. We try not to give them a reason to even try by seeming old and doddery these days. It’s better to prevent trouble than deal with it.’

She compromised by saying, ‘Sean hasn’t taken any chances with his arrangements, believe me.’

‘He has a reputation for being very capable. And anyway, this will mostly be a standard convalescent or respite home. There will only be the occasional hidden extra purpose.’

She shook her head as she walked back to the big house, wondering what Arthur was planning and what they’d want from her before this was over.

She didn’t want to let these people down in any way. They not only seemed very special, but had all of them treated her so kindly she wished she could stay working with them for ever.