‘No, not a tree either.’

‘Well, in that case,’ the six-year-old said, with the world-weary sigh of an old man, ‘you’d better come with me.’

Hazel was surprised to see Elle Harte. Surprised was putting it mildly.

Upon hearing that Elle had left town, she felt somewhat guilty, supposing her outburst may have had something to do with it. She thought that they would probably never see Elle again, and here she was on Hazel’s front step looking for all the world like she had ridden a horse here.

‘Elle!’ she cried. ‘What in the world? You look like a wild woman. What are you doing here?’

‘For starters,’ her old friend replied, ‘I come in peace. Secondly, let’s have a proper catch-up in our old stomping ground. Third, I need your help, because everyone in this town thinks I’m some kind of imbecile, and I don’t quite know how to win them over.’

Hazel was exactly the dose of fresh air and practicality that Elle needed. She hadn’t changed much at all since their school days, and still looked upon most things with a wry and accurate eye. However she was also deeply sympathetic and not given to holding a grudge.

‘When I think of how you looked in that suit,’ she said, ‘coming in here like you’d never clapped eyes on me before and that we hadn’t spent most of our teenage years smoking in that corner. It would be funny if it weren’t so serious.’

‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing,’ said Elle. ‘It was one of the most awful days of my life. I just fell back on the facts, hard and simple. I must have come across like such a cold fish.’

‘I do think your idea is a good one, though,’ said Hazel. ‘And Glenn and I are more than happy to help out. Have been all along, actually,’ she said with a twinkle. ‘But there’s the matter of everyone else. Not to mention . . .’

‘Doug Grant,’ finished Elle.

‘I’m afraid so,’ said Hazel. ‘Unfortunately the bank manager is the one you need most, and the person least likely to be won over.’

‘Well, I’ll have to see if I can dig out that store of charm I keep locked down deep,’ Elle sighed.

‘It might take more than charm, though. That man speaks in money, thinks in money and if you cut him open, he would probably bleed money.’

‘Unfortunately that’s the very thing that I don’t have,’ said Elle, sighing afresh.

‘Don’t lose heart too soon,’ said Hazel. ‘It’s your Shakespearean flaw. The hardest bit is over. You’re back. You’ve got the plan. Now all you have to do is make it happen.’

‘Do you mind telling me what you think you are doing?’ Colin enquired.