Poppy gave her friend a wry smile. ‘Honestly Cadi, I’ve never seen so much as a blemish on them fair cheeks of yours, never mind a pimple!’

‘Like I say, it’d be just my luck. Besides, we all know that if summat’s going to go wrong, it’ll be me that gets it in the neck.’

Poppy furrowed her brow in confusion, until the penny dropped. ‘You’re not still harping on about Aled Davies are you?’

Cadi folded her arms across her chest. ‘Yes, I jolly well am! That boy tried to run me over in his honking great tractor, and it’s not the first time he’s tried to hurt me neither. Remember when he pulled the chair away, just as I was about to sit down?’ She rubbed her back as she recalled the incident.

Poppy hid her smile behind the palm of her hand. Aled Davies was the son of the local farmer and he was considered by most to be quite the catch. Cadi however, had him down as being a bighead who believed himself better than everyone else, something which she now affirmed.

‘I’m glad he’s not bothered coming today, because he’d probably do something to ruin it for me.’ She fell into quiet contemplation before adding, ‘although I can hardly say I’m surprised. It wouldn’t exactly sit well with him, seeing someone else getting all the attention.’

Poppy gave a shrewd smile. ‘I really believe he didn’t know you were about to sit down when he took that chair away, he wasn’t even looking in your direction, just like when he drove past with the tractor.’

‘Poppycock!’ snapped Cadi irritably. ‘That boy knows exactly what he’s doing, he just feigns ignorance so that he can pretend it was an accident …’

Poppy, believing in fairness, stopped Cadi short. ‘I was there both times, the first time, he was chatting to some of the lads with his hand resting on the back of the chair, he had no idea you were about to sit down because he wasn’t looking in your direction. It was the same when he drove past with the tractor, he was looking where he was going, it’s just a shame he didn’t see the puddle …’

‘Puddle?’ cried Cadi, ‘I’d hardly call manure that had fallen off the back of the muck spreader a puddle!’

Poppy grimaced. ‘At least he stopped to apologise.’

Cadi folded her arms across her chest. ‘I never heard him apologising, and neither did you, you couldn’t have because he was laughing too hard!’

Poppy turned away as she desperately tried to straighten her face. Poor Cadi had been engulfed in the manure and unfortunately, the overall effect had left her looking rather comical. ‘You must admit, it was a little bit funny, and you did get the day off school …’

‘That’s as maybe, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s a mean, spoilt, spotty little oik.’