It was dark and raining. Maggie zipped up her floral mac, slung her bag onto one shoulder and stepped out. The village was quiet now. It had been quite busy first thing when she’d arrived. Well, not exactly busy but there had been a few people milling around, which for Compton Mallow was positively teeming. She strode down the little cut-through between two cottages with her head down against the rain. Her thoughts were on what to cook for tea. She had some leftover cottage pie but she didn’t fancy that. Maybe she’d have cheese on toast. She liked cheese on toast. The only downside was that it was quick and what Maggie needed was things that filled up her time.

She heard footsteps up ahead and glanced in that direction. A hunched figure was coming her way. They looked up and she recognised him as the young man who’d visited the library earlier. She smiled as they skirted to the sides to make enough room to pass each other comfortably. The boy gave her a fleeting glance before returning his concentration to the ground. Maggie wondered what he’d come back for.

Another person was following him a little distance behind. They were of a similar size and build with their head bent and covered by a black hood but they didn’t move to the side as he had done, instead bumping her arm and dislodging her bag from her shoulder. Before she could right it her handbag was being tugged away. She reacted immediately by dropping her weight to the ground. She wasn’t going to get pulled over. The bag snatcher was wrong-footed by the deadweight of the woman attached to the bag.

‘Hey!’ She hollered hanging on tight to the strap and finding herself being propelled along by the hooded figure. Anger coursed through her. She loved that bag and she wasn’t going to lose it.

‘Let go!’ shouted the hooded figure playing tug of war with her.

‘Piss off!’ yelled Maggie. She was losing her hold. Her fingers didn’t grip like they used to. She was in a bad position. She couldn’t do anything from down here. She heard someone running towards them. Maybe an accomplice? On his next tug she went with the bag and let him haul her to her feet, surprising him and giving her a second to lash out.

‘Ow. Shit!’ yelled the second person, taking the brunt of Maggie’s punch. As she only had one hand on the bag the snatcher whipped it free and fled. Their pounding steps echoing down the alley back the way they had come.

Maggie turned on the second person, her fists held aloft. She was prepared to fight this time.

The other person quickly held up their hands in defeat. ‘I was trying to help,’ he said, his voice distorted.