With great excitement they had contacted the legal firm and the next day were in Devon inspecting the two-bedroomed cottage, sorely in need of modernising.
Anne Harvey finished her inspection of her dilapidated inheritance and took a deep breath. Then, as they stood in the wilderness of the large garden looking at the whitewashed walls of the rickety cottage, she calmly announced, I should be quite happy to live here.
Husband and daughter stared at her. But it was her husband who, clearly adoring his wife, commented quietly, You always were an optimist, old love.
Conversation on the drive home consisted almost entirely of the three of them moving to Devon, and of how much the modernisation of the cottage they could carry out themselves. Also, what sort of job prospects did father and daughter have in the Devonshire village, which was miles from anywhere?
They had left their Georgian home very early that morning. They returned to find that the postman had delivered a letter bearing another piece of good news. One of Elysss fathers few remaining premium bonds, which he had held for years and forgotten about, had come up.
The money which the premium bond had yielded was not a vast amount, but enough to ease the strain of these last few months. Although once the general euphoria they had all felt at this piece of good luck had worn off, Elysss father was all for giving the money to her, to go towards replacing the amount which she had insisted on putting into the kitty.
No way, shed declared firmly. Youll need all of that to put the cottage back into She broke off, a sudden thought coming to her. The idea of her father going to work for someone else after all his years of being his own boss had seriously worried her. Unless... You know, if you were really, really careful, I reckon you could eke that money out and live on it until youre old enough to start drawing your pension. You wouldnt have to get a job and...
Elyss is right! her mother took her up straight away. Clearly she had been experiencing the same worries as her daughter about her husband working for someone else. Ive got all the clothes I shall ever need, and provided we dont hold any outrageous parties... she tossed in to lighten the atmosphere. They had never gone in for wild parties, and more than a half dozen people in the cottage would make it overcrowded.
Her husband smiled, and Elyss could see that her father was taken with the idea. He had a good years work in front of him licking the cottage into shape. That would give me a chance to look at the wiring. And the plumbingand that ceiling that looks as though it might fall down at any time.
It would be nice to have you home all day, Anne Harvey smiled. And, least her husband thought her soft, she added, If you were very good, Id even let you help me with that jungle of a garden!
It seemed settled, but the next day, while her parents were discussing where Elyss was going to sleep until the ceiling in the bedroom she was to have was fixed, Elyss saw the advert for a fourth person to share a flat.
At first she paid only scant attention to it. But when she began to wonder about her chances of finding a job in Devonshe had very good experience in administration and in assisting in the running of a company, but not a single solitary paper qualification to prove itshe started to realise that she might do better looking for work in London. It would be a wrench leaving her parents, of course. But... It was then that she started to believe in the saying, Everything comes in threes.
For it was luck, pure and simplethe third piece of luck for them as a familythat within the next hour Howard Butler telephoned. He was a fruit and vegetable wholesaler who had dealt with her father for as long as she could remember.
Good morning, Mr Butler. Did you want to speak with my father? Elyss enquired.
Not this time. Its you I want to talk to, he stated, and went on to tell her how he was having a few office problems and needed somebody who knew what they were doing to come and sort things out. I was about to advertise, while at the same time wondering who in the trade I might be able to poach. Plainly he had no compunction about head-hunting. When it suddenly struck me that youwho must know the business inside outmight not yet have started looking for a new job.
Um, I havent, actually, Elyss said, starting to feel quite excited.
I couldnt pay as much as your father paid you, but if youd like to come and...
Youre suggesting I come for an interview? She couldnt believe it!
I shouldnt think theres any need for that. I observed you at work when I visited your fathers office. The jobs yours if you want itstarting the first of next month.
Heavens! Elyss did some rapid thinking. It was certain she was going to have to get a job. There was absolutely no way she was going to live off her parents in Devon while she looked around for work. Ermay I think about it? she enquired, feeling she should say yes straight away, but also feeling sensitive as to how her parents were going to take the news that she might not be going to Devon with them.
Let me know tomorrow, Howard Butler agreed, and, experiencing a mixture of emotions, Elyss put the phone down and turned round to find both her parents watching her.
What was that about? her mother asked promptly.
Elyss looked from one to the otherit still seemed incredible that something like this should just fall into her lap. Ierthink Ive just beenerto coin a phrasehead-hunted. She laughed. It was ridiculous. That was Howard Butler. Hes just offered me a job!
Ridiculous or not, everything moved quickly after that. Her parents did not want her to stay behind when they left, but neither did they want to stand in her way. However, they wanted to know where she would live. And it was then that Elyss remembered the advert for a fourth person to share.
Ring now, her father suggested.
The tenants will be out at their places of work, her mother stated.
But, on the off chance that one of them might work unsociable hours, Elyss rang. Nikki was home and sounded so sweet and friendly that Elyss instantly warmed to her. Elyss arranged to go and look at the flat that evening, when the two other residents would be there.
How did you get on? her mother asked the moment she returned.
You know you were sending to auction the furniture you wont be taking to Devon? Well, can I have some of it?
That had been over five months ago. She had started work at Howard Butler and Companyand had been quietly appalled at the state of his accounting system. How on earth had he ever been able to muddle through? It was a challenge.
A challenge that kept her very busy as she sorted out accounts unpaid and politely chased up the money, and also paid accounts that Howard Butlers company owed. She was currently employed on setting up a more efficient system and ensuring it was working smoothly.
As Howard Butler had said, he couldnt pay her as much as her father had paid her. And what with paying rent, her share of the flats outgoings, and running her car, Elyss found it a struggle to last from pay-day to pay-day. It was a comfort to know that Louise, Victoria and Nikki had the same problem.
Where was Nikki? Concern over Nikkis present unhappiness had been niggling away in the background the whole while. Elyss turned over in her bed to check the time on her bedside digital clock. Grief, it was ten past one! Where was Nikki?
Elyss tried again to sleep, but found her concern for Nikki getting to her. She wondered if Louise and Victoria were awake too and if, like her, they had started to grow anxious about Nikkithe sometimes timid, sometimes funny, scatterbrained, occasionally downright annoying, bag-of-nerves, childlike but most often extremely likeable Nikki.
With sleep nowhere near, Elyss switched on her bedside light and sat up. She wondered about getting up and going to make a warm drink. She could make one for Louise and Victoria too.
Grief! She was getting as dizzy-headed as Nikki. Victoria and Louise were probably fast asleep in dreamland. She stood to risk waking the pair of them if she went clattering around in the kitchen.
She was just about to try again to sleep, when, at last she heard Nikkis key in the door. Thank goodness for that. She hoped Dave had been kind to her and that there was some good reason for him standing her up. Nikki just didnt deserve that sort of treatment.
Elysss hand went to the lampbut she did not switch it off. For just then, and in a flurry of agitationclearly she was too agitated to knock first on Elysss door, which was one of the few house rulesNikki hurried in.
I saw a line of light under your door. This wont wait until m-morning! Nikki blurted out in a rush, tears streaming from her deeply unhappy pale blue eyes.
Oh, Nikki. Nikki, love, Elyss cried, hating Dave for doing this to her. Come and sit down. She waited until the broken-hearted Nikki had seated herself on the edge of her bed, and then gently probed. What happened? Was Dave...?
I d-didnt see Dave, Nikki wailed. I waited and waited and waited, rang his bell, went and tried to phone him, and then went back and rang his bell again, and waited again. And h-he didnt come home!
Oh, Nikki, Im so sorry, Elyss tried to soothe.
S-so am I, Nikki sobbed. I w-was so upset when I drove away from D-Daves place. I just wasnt thinking and She broke off to catch her breath, and with fresh tears spurting, she ended, And, oh, Im s-so sorryI cr-crashed your car.
You cr? Elyss didnt take it in for a second. You crashed my car? she checked, somehow unable to believe what she was hearing.
Im sorry, Nikki wept. I didnt mean to. It just...
I should... Elyss bit down sharp words. Of course you didnt, she said firmly, swiftly getting herself together. Youre not hurt? she checked; first things first! You havent been to hospital or...?
No. No. Not a scratch. H-he put me in a taxi and told the taxi driver to bring me here.
He? Elyss questioned, taking it slowlyNikki could get her wires crossed at the best of times. Now, if Elyss was any judge, Nikki was in shock. She would be as brief as possible and see her into bed.
The m-man I crashed into, Nikki answered.
Oh, my... You crashed into a man? she asked faintly, pinning her hopes on the fact that if hed been able to organise a taxi for Nikki then he must still be in one piece.
Yes. Well, not him particularly. I smacked into the s-side of his car.
But hethis manhe, and any of his passengers, hetheytheyre all right?
Nikki nodded on a shuddering sob. He was by himselfhe didnt seem hurt. He was a bit short with me to start with actuallycalled me feather-brainedbut then, when he could see I was in a bit of a state, he muttered something that didnt sound very complimentary about my driving. He looked at your c-car and said s-something to the effect that I wouldnt be driving that heap again in a hurry, and sent me home.
Oh, heckby the sound of it, her car was a write-off. Elyss looked at Nikki, half a dozen questions rushing to be asked. But then she took in how beat, defeated, Nikki looked. Added to that, Nikki was ashen and shaking. So Elyss reckoned that any further questioning could wait until morning.
She took Nikki to her room and advised, Get into bed, and, unsure what the treatment was for shock, she added gently, Ill go and get you a couple of aspirins and a cup of sweet tea.
No thanks. I dont want anything. I j-just want to die.
Oh, come on, love. It isnt as bad as that, Elyss said bracingly. Ill go and get you a hot water bottle.
Nikki was in bed when she got back. Elyss handed her the bottle, told her that she mustnt worry about a thingand left her to go and do some worrying of her own.
Her first concern was Nikki, who she could see was extremely troubled. From what Elyss had just observed, Nikki just wasnt up to anything else going wrong with her world. Another disaster, and it seemed to her that her hare-brained flatmate would be even more emotionally distressed.
Well, Nikki would get no pressure from her. Okay, so Nikki had written off her car. Written offoh, grief! How was she going to get to work in the morning?
Perhaps Nikki hadnt exactly wrecked it. Perhaps it just looked that way. And why worry about work in the morning? By the sound of it, she was going to have to spend her morning in arranging to get her vehicle towed away from where Nikki had abandoned it, and in making contact with her insurance company.
For the man Nikki had crashed into to be able to tell the taxi driver where to take her meant that Nikki had obviously exchanged names and addresses. Elyss remembered how, only a couple of months ago, she had written a cheque when her car insurance had become due. Nikki would have been able to tell the other driver the name of her insurance company too, Elyss reflected, looking for good points in the whole of this mess. Because by sheer chance Nikki had had a job interview near to the insurance company. Save yourself a stamp, she had chirruped in that sweet way of hers. My interviews tomorrow; Ill drop your cheque in as Im passing. Nikki had not got the job.
Elysss thoughts stayed with insurance companies, hoping that she hadnt given herself a problem with hers by allowing Nikki to drive her car. She must check that with Victoria in the morning.
Elyss adjusted her alarm to go off a half-hour earlier in the morning. Perhaps with an early start she might not have to take the whole of the morning off work. She fell asleep pondering. If no one was hurt, was one obliged to report an accident to the police?
Having had less than four hours sleep, Elyss did not want to get up when her alarm wakened her. She opened her eyes, rememberedand stifled a groan. Shrugging into her robe, she pattered into the kitchen to find that Nikki was already up.
Oh, Elyss, Im so sorry, she apologised fretfully once more, before Elyss could so much as wish her, Good morning.
Nikki had a little more colour in her face now, Elyss was glad to note, but she still had that anxious, haunted look about her. Try not to worry, Elyss smiled, while trying hard to keep her own worries down. The insurance companies will settle both claims, and I can travel by bus until She broke off. Nikki had gone ashen again. Wh?
Oh, Elyss. I really am so sorry, Nikki apologised yet again, only this time she put her hand in her dressing gown pocket and handed her an envelopeand started to cry.
Dont cry... was as far as Elyss got before glancing down at the envelope; she recognised her own writing. It was the envelope she had addressed to her insurance company a couple of months ago!
A feeling of dread shot through her. Even while part of her brain was denying what Nikkis tears and the sealed envelope might possibly mean, Elyss began to experience panic.