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If there was something Kelly wanted, perhaps even more than her car to be working and perhaps slightly less than a date with Edward, it was for a really big fat cup of coffee. Ideally one with a nice autumn theme, such as a pumpkin spiced latte. Lots of sugar, lots of calories, and an awful lot of caffeine.

‘That sounds like a great idea,’ she said, already hatching in her mind ways she could ask Edward to join her.

‘Just wait here, and I’ll go and get the car,’ he said.

He headed around behind the restaurant building, appearing again a couple of minutes later at the wheel of a sadly unimpressive vehicle that Kelly, in her lack of knowledge of such things, could only describe as a gardener’s van.

‘Don’t mind the mess,’ Edward said, opening the driver’s door. ‘Jump in.’

‘Do you want me to drive?’ Kelly said.

‘No. You’ll have to shuffle across. The lock on the other side’s broken. The door won’t open anymore.’

‘Perhaps a toad got in it,’ Kelly said.

This got a smile from Edward that only served to increase her growing infatuation.

The fact that he was repeatedly doing things to put her off, yet at the same time growing greater in his appeal, made her wonder if, A, she was insane, or B, she was genuinely smitten.

As it was, she climbed in, pushed some leaf litter and some crisp packets off the seat, brushed off some gravel, and then tried to find a cleanish patch to sit down on.

‘Is this how you usually get around?’ she said.

Edward climbed in beside her and pulled the door shut, slamming it a little harder than was necessary when the hinge creaked, resisted, and threatened to catch.

‘This?’ he said. ‘Oh, no. This is Ned’s van. You’re sitting usually where he puts his toad.’

Kelly jumped up, nearly banging her head on the roof.

‘You’d better have a Merc hiding somewhere nearby,’ she said, ‘if you ever want me to forgive you.’

Edward grinned.

‘I don’t have a Merc, but I do have an Audi hatchback. Got lucky with some stock investments a few years back. When all this mayhem is over, if you don’t get sacrificed, as is quite possible, then how about I take you for a drive?’

Kelly felt her heart give a frustrating little flutter, and she was immediately angry at herself for being so easily taken in by his charm.

‘I’ll think about it,’ she said.

28

An Urn with a Secret

Briar Speckles was surrounded by a veritable warren of country lanes, rather like a single remaining meatball at the centre of a large bowl of spaghetti. And now that she was attempting to leave the meatball behind, Kelly wasn’t sure whether she would ever be able to find it again.

Edward, for his part, seemed to know exactly where he was going, anticipating blind corners and narrow passing spots, swerving expertly around potholes and troughs in the tarmac.

‘Either you’ve spent a lot of time driving around here, or you really like driving this truck,’ she said as he swerved around a corner and then backed into a narrow turning space in the hedge just as a large delivery van came hammering around the corner.

‘I’m just trying to impress you with my driving skills,’ Edward said. ‘Plus, you can tell when they’re coming because you can feel the vibrations in the road.’

‘Are you sure?’ Kelly said.

‘Well, I haven’t hit anything yet,’ Edward replied.

‘Touch wood,’ Kelly said.

And without realising what she was doing, she reached out and patted Edward on the top of the head.