‘Who knows? Business the world over seems full of cheats and liars. It must be endemic in our species.’

‘Well, it’s still disgusting. I don’t know how they think they’ll get away with it.’

‘They won’t, if I can help it,’ he said grimly.

‘Oh, no! I’ve just thought of something.’

‘What?’

‘Elise is due to move into Number 3 as soon as she can organise it. What shall I do? I can’t put her off because she’s got to move out of her present house.’

‘Don’t, then. She can move in and if they win and she gets chucked out, she can stay at the big house till she finds somewhere else.’

‘Stacy too?’

‘We’ll suggest she postpones the move.’

But when Nell rang Stacy, she found that the metal artist had given notice on both the house and her current job, and organised a removal.

‘Is it certain that we’ll be thrown out?’ Stacy asked.

‘No. We’ll fight it tooth and nail, I promise you.’

‘Then I’d get a few months there, whatever?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’d rather come for a while than not at all.’ She hesitated. ‘Could I move in tomorrow, do you think? Or would that be too soon?’

‘Are you sure about this?’

‘Yes. I’ve had a bit of a disagreement with the guy I’ve been working for. He’s not easy to get on with, however clever he is, and he might be able to manage on a few hours’ sleep but I can’t. I rang up the people storing my luggage to check and they can either fit me in to move tomorrow afternoon, or not for another week.’

So Nell agreed that Stacy could take up her occupancy of Number 2 immediately.

It was all coming together. But would it stay together?

‘Don’t give in,’ a voice whispered in her ear. ‘Whatever they say or do.’

Now what did that mean? What lay ahead? Nell wondered. But she wasn’t a quitter so the warning wasn’t necessary to make her keep fighting.

She rang Elise to explain the situation and was greeted with dead silence for a moment or two. Then the feisty older woman said, ‘How about I move in tomorrow as well and we present these sneaky rats with a fait accompli? After all, they won’t be able to throw me out immediately, will they? And I have to get out of this house asap.’

‘Can you arrange to move? Isn’t it a bit short notice?’

‘I was so eager I already checked and as it happens, yes, they can move me tomorrow. I was going to ring and ask you if that was all right.’

‘Then do it. The council people aren’t coming till the day after tomorrow. I shall enjoy seeing their faces when they realise that two of the houses are occupied.’

When she put the phone down she smiled. The more she had to do with Elise, the more she liked her.

When she ended her call with Nell, Elise confirmed her booking with the remover who’d said he could move her and her things the following day as long as she was ready by seven in the morning. She hoped he was as nice as he sounded.