They met Mrs Stellion in the hall, keen to thank them. ‘And yes, I’ve asked Mrs Bassett to prepare you lunch. Such a long morning for you both. Thank you for staying on to help, Gina. You really are such a sensible girl. Coco will need a good walk this afternoon at the usual time – if the rain isn’t too heavy – but come and find me a few minutes early. I’ve been thinking, and I may have some news for you.’

‘Yes, Mrs Stellion,’ grinned Gina.

The implication was that this was news to Gina’s advantage. She just hoped it meant she need never go anywhere near Fellside Farm and its potato fields.

CHAPTER SIX

GINA HAD TIME to kill between eating the sandwiches Mrs Bassett had made and going to hear what Mrs Stellion had to say. Tom and Ellen were in control of the ever-filling buckets, so Gina tacitly opted out of helping with those and, when she saw Dora disappearing into Mr Stellion’s study, decided to take the opportunity to have a look upstairs. There was no danger of encountering Mrs Thwaite that afternoon.

She quietly went up and looked into the silent bedrooms one by one. The first was Mr and Mrs Stellion’s, with books on little tables at either side of the bed, dressing gowns hung on the back of the door, and scent bottles, medicine bottles, brushes and a little vase of roses on the dressing table. From the threshold, Gina inspected the bright room with floral wallpaper and a floral carpet, then quietly closed the door and moved on. How could they sleep with all those flowers busily blooming all around them? No wonder Mrs Stellion often said she was exhausted.

Next Gina found what she decided must be the children’s rooms, although the Stellion offspring were no longer children, of course.

James’s room was plain and rather dark, with a lot of big furniture and a huge model of a Spitfire suspended from the ceiling. When he stayed here, did he wake in the morning and think he was about to be strafed? There were books on shelves and on a stand by the bed. What a lot of books the Stellions had. So much time must be wasted just getting through them all.