‘Six,’ I told her. ‘I heard them leaving at six.’

‘He’s another one with a puss on this week,’ she observed. ‘That wouldn’t be anything to do with you, would it?’

Since I’d passed up the opportunity to tell Maya what was afoot, I hadn’t felt further inclined to tell anyone. However, I hadn’t dissected my change of heart in too minute detail. The only obvious reason I could think of, which was quite something considering we weren’t really talking, was that I was keeping quiet for Ned’s benefit. There couldn’t be any other explanation.

‘Hey, hey,’ came an excited voice behind me. ‘Check me out.’

‘Abbie!’ I gasped, watching her nimbly negotiate the path on crutches.

‘Oh, good grief,’ winced Sue. ‘Please be careful,’

I knew David had gritted the paths, but I didn’t think the conditions were the best for Abbie to try out her relearned walking skills, even though it was a thrill to see her out of her wheelchair for the first time.

‘That’s exactly what I said,’ said Noah, bustling up behind her. ‘But she wouldn’t be told.’

With a frown knitting his brows and his hair all over the place, he looked totally stressed. Not at all his usual carefree and charismatic self.

‘Don’t worry,’ Abbie puffed, as she stepped into Sue’s hut. ‘I’m done.’

‘Here,’ said Sue, shoving her chair under Abbie’s bottom. ‘Park yourself in this.’

Abbie sank gratefully into the seat, her face a picture.

‘Twelve steps,’ she beamed. ‘Progress.’

‘On thinly covered ice,’ tutted Noah. ‘I call it a death wish.’

‘Hey Usain,’ shouted Theo, from the yard. ‘I couldn’t keep up with you.’

Abbie rolled her eyes, but still looked every bit as happy.

‘Next stop, the ten metres in a hundred minutes,’ she quipped. ‘What have you got there?’ she then asked Theo who was carrying a large cardboard box.

‘More jugs,’ he told her. ‘The Christmas ones, with the hand-painted holly and berries.’

‘Oh good,’ said Abbie. ‘I saw you’d sold out again and I wanted one for my mum and another for my sister.’

‘Great,’ laughed Theo. ‘Two sales before I’ve even opened.’

‘Is Wren with you?’ I asked, looking over his shoulder.

‘Er, no,’ he said. ‘Not today. She was feeling a bit off colour, so she thought she’d leave running the hut to me today.’

‘Again?’ frowned Sue. ‘That’s the second time she’s felt off in a week.’

‘I know,’ said Theo, with a shrug, ‘something obviously hasn’t agreed with her.’

The morning had started off quietly enough, but during the afternoon, the car park began to fill and I was surprised by the number of visitors.

‘Is it usually like this on a Thursday?’ I asked David, who was helping me until I got the hang of netting the trees.