‘Not yet. I came straight here.’

‘Give me your phone.’

‘Becky, wait.’ I put a hand out. ‘The band is about to start. And then the bonfire. We can wait three hours and not ruin the day.’

‘We can call Brenda, have a discreet chat in the farmhouse and that won’t ruin the day either, but it might save you from being impaled by your own kitchen knife!’

‘And then what – she calls a load of back-up uniformed policemen, who whizz up the drive in their police cars, before stampeding through the orchard, hunting through the crowd and accosting anyone looking suspicious? The whole village would know in seconds. Let alone the Nora Sharp factor. Can you imagine how she’d spin that chain of events? No super-cute posts from Dinky and Tammers could counteract that.’

Becky thought for a moment. ‘Okay.’ She checked the time on her phone. ‘It’s just after five. We light the fire at half past, and then the band starts at six. We give people an hour to enjoy the music, and call the police at seven.’

I nodded. Surely two hours wouldn’t make that much difference?

Becky hadn’t finished, though. ‘On one condition. No, actually two. We ask Mum and Luke to keep an eye out for anyone they don’t recognise. Between them they must know just about everyone in Ferrington. And…’ She took hold of my hand. ‘This is how close you’re sticking to me until I can hand you over to a police officer. Seriously. This close.’ She waved her other hand between us to confirm the distance, which I estimated as about sixteen inches.

‘Okay.’ I attempted a smile, but before I knew it I was bawling.

‘Oh, sweetheart.’ Becky wrapped her arms around me. ‘It’s going to be fine. I’m being overly cautious because that’s my job as your friend.’ She rubbed my back as she spoke. ‘Honestly, it’s fine.’

‘I know,’ I sobbed, leaning into her shoulder. ‘I know it’ll more than likely be nothing. I’m not even crying because I’m upset, or I’m scared.’ Though I was, of course, both those things, my overwhelmingly predominant emotion was something different altogether.

‘I can’t remember the last time someone had my back. That you’d insist on sticking this close to me…’

‘Well, maybe not this close.’

‘That you’d stay anywhere near me at all… the only person who I could ever rely on like that was Charlie. And to be honest, she meant well, but in practice, being reliable wasn’t really her forte.’ I did a big sniff to avoid getting snot on her top, which under the circumstances was the least I could do. ‘Thank you.’

Becky squeezed me even tighter for a second before pulling back and handing me a tissue. ‘You’re very welcome.’

‘I think I love you, Becky Adams.’

She winked. ‘That’s good, because I know I love you. Now, a funeral pyre awaits. I’ll message Luke and my mum once we’re safely surrounded.’

34

I tried not to think about how easy it would be to slip a knife into someone’s back while hidden in a crowd. If this stalker was here, I knew they would want to confront me rather than remaining anonymous. As we made our way over to where the bonfire was safely cordoned off in one corner of the meadow, my eyes continually scanned the remaining few people wandering up to join the crowd. The villagers were waiting solemnly in an arc around the pile of wood about six feet high, and we deliberately positioned ourselves well away from Nora, typing away on her phone. Daniel, standing on the far side of the rope fence, waited for the last few stragglers before calling everyone to attention.