Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

T he country fair was the highlight of the year. The committee decided to use the playing fields at Stonesend and erected several marquees for beer tasting, selling homegrown vegetables from the local allotment and a much larger marquee for the cèilidh.

Jack hired a burger van and hung bunting outside the pub. It was the best day of the year for him, and the money he made on the fair day was more than he made all year. The smell of candy floss and popcorn filled the air, and folk music from the Morris dancers and loud rock music from the bumper cars pounded through Tom's head.

‘Not your thing?' laughed Beth.

Tom's face was horror-stricken. He'd expected it to be a small fete, not a huge fair. A colourful looping roller coaster made him nauseous just looking at it. Balloons of all colours were being carried around by over-tired toddlers. Music seemed to come at him from every corner of the field. Friends were yelling and screaming at each other. It was a tsunami of noise that he felt might overwhelm him. ‘Not quite, but maybe it's time for me to let my hair down.' He smiled.

Beth had never really enjoyed the fair herself. It was an open sesame to the local burglars. Most of the village attended, which meant many empty houses. Some she knew never locked their doors, never imagining a burglary might happen to them, even though she warned them every year. Then, of course, there were the drunks who got out of hand as the evening wore on.

The smell of candy floss and fried doughnuts made Tom's mouth water. ‘Right, where do we start?' he asked.

‘How about a drink? They do a nice lemonade.'

Under the warm embrace of the summer sun, the funfair came alive.

The scent of freshly popped popcorn wafted through the air. ‘Fancy some?' asked Matt.

Ana grinned. ‘Absolutely! A large bag, please.'

Matt bought the popcorn and they wandered deeper into the fair, the popcorn crunching between their fingers.

‘What do you think?' asked Matt.

‘Well, I wasn't expecting sheep shearing for a start.' Ana grinned. They passed the bumper cars, and laughed as the cars bounced in to each other. ‘Or dodgems.'

Matt reached into the popcorn bag and encouraged Ana to do likewise. She lifted her face up to feel the warmth of the sun, the taste of butter lingering on her lips.

They sat on a hay bale and watched as some kids tried to catch floating ducks in an attempt to win a soft toy.

It was a relief to get her mind onto something else. The loud music and raucous laughter drowned out her thoughts. People were having fun. That's what she should be doing. Maybe Jonny Manners was here. She scanned the crowd but couldn't see him. Their dinner after the shop incident had been really enjoyable. He'd told her about his previous marriage.

‘Too young. We drifted apart as often happens.'

She hadn't shared much. He'd tried, but she'd managed to be elusive as usual. He'd said he like to see her again, so she gave him her number.

‘Enjoying it?'

Ana looked up to see Beth and DI Miller.

‘We're off to the drinks tent.' Beth smiled.

‘I thought you were on duty,' Ana said, belatedly realising her tone had been sharp.

Beth looked at her oddly. ‘I am. They do soft drinks, too.'

Ana spotted Skinner walking with his mates, holding plastic pint cups of beer in their hands. ‘Trouble with a capital T.' She nodded in their direction.

‘We'll keep an eye on them,' said Beth. ‘See you later.'

Ana decided she'd keep an eye on them, too.

Laine studied her reflection in the mirror. The pink chiffon dress hugged her slim waist perfectly, but the hair wasn't right. Maybe she should wear it up in a bun. She'd read somewhere that boys liked to see a girl's neck. It was sexier, the magazine said. After clipping it with a slide, she admired her reflection again. Another dab of blusher, and she was ready.

She removed a brown envelope from the bedside cabinet, took several five-pound notes from it, and slid it back into its hiding place. There would be more to replace that soon enough. One last look in the mirror convinced her that Sajid would change his mind.

Sajid had decided not to go to the fair until his mates persuaded him otherwise.

‘Sajid, you're letting these racist bastards spoil your life. If it has to be us against them, so be it. There are five of us and four of them,' said Kasem.

‘I don't want a race war,' argued Sajid.

‘Nor do we, bro,' agreed Khalid, ‘but we ain't gonna let them stop us from living. Anyway, they may not even be there.'

Sajid thought that wishful thinking, but he did want to go just to see Laine if nothing else. Everyone in the village was talking about how the local shop had been smashed up, and at first, when Sajid had heard they were wearing balaclavas, he'd wondered if it had been The Vigilante. Then he remembered how kind he'd been to him on the coach.

Now, he felt sure it had been Laine's brother and his cronies. Huma had been severely shaken, Sajid's dad had said.

Maybe the lads were right. They shouldn't give in. Instead, they should show these bullies that they weren't afraid of them.