Haunted by Love

Chapter 10: Samhain Night

We pile through the door into the kitchen, pink cheeked and happy, pulling up abruptly when we see Tom and Danny sat at the table drinking tea. It occurs to me that it's a bit early for lunch and this may be why Ruth is still without electricity since they don't exactly appear to be pulling out all the stops to get finished tomorrow. However, despite the urge to say something I bite my tongue, figuring that it's not really my place.

"Early lunch?" Ruth asks, echoing my own thoughts.

"Oh, yes, well with all the dust Danny an' me needed a drink so we thought we'd take a lunch, er, early like." I suspect these two have been shirking, and not for the first time, and I have an idea.

"That reminds me Ruth, you never did guess who it was I met in the BBC canteen the other week when I was at lunch." I give her a surreptitious wink. She looks a little confused but plays along.

"No... well, I didn't want to join in with your 'Guess which celebrity I met' game. So, go on then, who was it?"

"Well," I reply to Ruth knowing that Tom and Danny are listening, "it was one of the presenters, Jack Bowles, from the Watchdog programme." I pause and Ruth looks non-plussed, as I'd guessed she would. "Oh, of course, you've no telly. Well it does consumer protection stories, you know: exposing scams and rip-offs and companies who treat their customers badly, like builders who do poor work and the like. He was saying that they're always having to look for new stories..."

"Right ladies, if you'll excuse us, Danny and me must crack on and get back to work." Tom stands up so abruptly his chair topples over behind him. He hastily retrieves it and ushers Danny out ahead of him.

"Tom, the electrics will be done before you go home tomorrow, won't they?" Ruth asks, fighting to control the smile on her face.

"Oh yes, a proper job too." He assures her before hurrying away.

"Thanks, Beth; that was very clever. You just earned... I don't know what but I'm sure I'll think of something in bed tonight!"

"Hmm, I might just hold you to that! In the meantime I was going to help you decorate so shall we get started?" I ask as I remove my coat.

"Okay. Shall we change into old clothes? I can let you have the ones you wore the other day."

"Back to 'refugee chic' then," I smile. We both head upstairs into what is, or will be, the master bedroom to change, while resolutely ignoring the two men working in the other bedroom and what they might be thinking. Back downstairs we begin by emptying the dresser before trying to move it. There isn't a huge amount – mainly a dinner service and some serving dishes plus one drawer full of cutlery – but the dresser is a very solid piece of oak furniture. "Have you had this dresser long? Did you bring it with you?" I ask as we prepare to move it.

"Oh no; it was here when I bought the cottage. It was filthy, all dusty and covered in cobwebs and dirt, but when I cleaned it up, as you can see, it's in very good condition. There's not even any woodworm."

"So have you moved it before? It looks bloody heavy!"

"I didn't even attempt it, not on my own; I just cleaned it where it stands. Are you ready?" We get into position. "Remember, we're just trying to slide it out from the wall." I nod and, with a count of three we heave... and fail to move it even a millimetre. "Shall we give it one more try before we ask Tom and Danny?"

"Definitely; we're strong, independent women!" I reply with a smile. "I just hope we're strong enough!" We try again, fingers hooked between the dresser and the wall and pulling hard. This time there is some movement.