He started the engine and pulled away from the kerb.

‘I don’t suppose, after all that cake, that you fancy dinner, do you? In the pub? Oh, not right away. Leave it an hour or so. My treat, naturally.’

He turned his face towards Madi’s, waiting for an answer, his eyes drawn away from the road ahead. For seconds. Only seconds.

They both felt the bump. Tom slammed on the brakes and they leapt out of the car. Madi’s hands flew up to her face and it was all she could do not to scream.

It was Flo, dear, sweet little Flo, lying on her side on the road, her paws outstretched, her tail curled limply behind her. And, if it was not for the trickle of blood slowly pooling around her head, she would have looked for all the world as if she was simply asleep.

Chapter 26

PRUE

Miss Parker’s flat was cluttered and dark.

‘You must call me Emily,’ she said, once the initial awkwardness was over and Prue was sitting with a bone-china cup of weak tea on the small chintzy sofa by the window, the curtains three-quarters closed behind her.

‘Thank you, and I’m Prue, as you already know. It’s very good of you to offer us some help with raising funds for the garden.’

‘Us? I thought you were here alone.’

‘Oh, I am. No, I meant Aaron. You know, from number six. He’s been very good, helping me out …’

‘I see. Not with the cake baking, I assume.’

Prue wasn’t sure whether to smile. Emily Parker had one of those faces that made it very hard to tell whether she was joking or deadly serious. ‘No, of course not. That’s where you come in, I hope.’

‘Depends what this couple want, I suppose.’ Emily handed Prue a thick piece of fruitcake and a small fork. ‘I am rather a traditionalist when it comes to a celebration cake. Fruit or sponge, royal icing and a piping bag. I don’t really hold with this new fad of piling cupcakes into towers or flavouring the sponge with lavender or roses or whatever. I’m happy to donate the flour and eggs and such like. Fruit too, if that’s what they want. It’s not as if any of that costs very much. It’s the time that adds the value, you see. The care, the skill, that’s where the real cost lies, but I am prepared to give of those freely too, in aid of the cause, so to speak. I have time on my hands, and I like the idea of a garden. I like flowers. Roses, in particular. Such a romantic flower …’

‘Thank you. And I’m happy to let you choose some of the plants, if you’d like to. It is your garden, not mine, in the long-term.’ Prue swallowed a mouthful of cake, rich with sultanas and cherries. It really was very good. ‘I’ll speak to Simon.’

‘Simon?’

‘He’s the one who comes to cut the grass and clean the stairs …’