At the end of the row, the village shop was definitely open, with piles of goods lined up on the narrow pavement outside. From buckets and mops to bags of potatoes and with an ice-cream advertising plaque, a lottery sign and a rack of newspapers attached to the wall, it was clearly one of those places that sold anything and everything. Madi peered in through the window and was amused to see a pair of eyes looking right back at her. She was about to walk past, leaving any shopping until her return journey, but a head appeared at the open doorway and a hand beckoned her in.

‘Ah, you must be Prue’s friend. My daughter, Sian, said she’d met you. Come on in and rest your legs a while.’

Madi smiled. The jungle drums had clearly not been slow to beat out news of her arrival and, having only walked a hundred yards or so from her front door, her legs were not yet in need of a rest, but she went inside anyway.

‘Now, my dear, let me introduce myself. Patty Martin, that’s me. Shopkeeper, postmistress, dog walker, mobile hairdresser. You name it and I’m probably it. I run the local branch of the W.I. as well, if you’re interested. We’re always happy to welcome guests.’

‘Well, you certainly keep busy!’

‘I try. Not one of those who can sit about doing nothing. Idle hands and all that! I help out in our little lending library too, when I can. Not that it’s the sort of library you’re probably used to, but we do our best. Donated books mainly, stored in a corner of the village hall, but it can be a lifeline to the older folk, and those that live on their own. We open twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, just for an hour or so in the afternoons, if you fancy borrowing something to read while you’re here.’

‘Thank you. I’ll keep it in mind. Maybe just a newspaper for now?’ Madi went back to the still open door and pulled one down from the rack. ‘And I was going to wait until I came back past later to pick up a few other bits …’

‘Of course, but if you want to do your shopping now I’m happy to hang on to it for a while until you collect it.’

Madi nodded. ‘Okay.’ It would have seemed rude somehow to say no.

‘Just grab a wire basket from over there. Shout if you can’t find what you want. It can be a bit of an Aladdin’s cave in here until you get used to the layout. Not enough space, but I pride myself on offering a wide choice.’ The woman slid back behind her counter and picked up what looked like a piece of half-finished crochet. There were no other customers in sight.

Madi wondered how a place like this could possibly make any money but she was grateful it was here, nonetheless, saving her a drive to the nearest town.