Agatha shows you her work

Agatha’s mini is in the drive when you get home. You ignore it to change into lighter clothes and grab a drink. Then you can’t resist. You can see Agatha bent over in the garden, dirty denim jeans, a light, maroon jumper that hugs her figure and a kagoule for the damp air. The concept of sneaking up on her races through your mind, and you might have done so, but she clearly noticed you were back. Halfway down the garden and she stops to watch you approach.

“This weather’s not putting you off?”

She laughs. “You’re paying me to garden. It’ll have to be a lot heavier than this before the weather defeats me.”

Of course, you’re paying her, and you told her how much of a sacrifice that was. She’s taken it to heart.

“As you’re here, I’ve got something to show you.”

Hopefully it’s what’s under the maroon jumper. No, it’s not. She leads you to the fence that separates your garden from Faye’s. “These are loose,” she tells you, and then she shows you. She takes one of the panels and effortlessly lifts it and slides it aside. You’re looking straight into Faye’s garden, which is primarily lawn and trees. There’s one flower bed, looking worse for wear in the autumnal way. The gap she creates is large enough for you to step through; a secret way for you to sneak into Faye and Brianna’s garden, or for them to sneak into yours.

“Have you told Faye about this?”

“Not yet. Do you want me to?”

Why is she looking at you like that? As if telling Faye about the fence is weird. You try and ignore the look.

“Can you fix it?”

“I can, although I’m not a carpenter, and I’d have to insist you pay for the materials. It’s your fence after all.”

Hm… You don’t have the money to pay for a new fence. If you told Faye, then maybe she’d agree to split the cost.

“Alright, do nothing at the moment. I’ll think about it. Anything else? I thought you said you were going to get rid of that dead bush?” You point to the large dead rose bush which she had been working on when you entered the garden.

“That is proving harder than I expected. Bigger. Thornier. Deeper roots.”

You can see that she’s chopped some of it back, but there’s still plenty of branches. To be honest, you’re not surprised. The bush is bigger than she is.

“Do you need help with it?”

“You’d help me?”

“Yes, of course. Not today, obviously. It’s a bit too late to start something that big now. But next Wednesday, I can come over at lunchtime and spend the entire afternoon helping.”

She breaks into a big smile. “That would be excellent. I must admit it’s too much for me on my own.”

You’re happy to agree. Then you leave her to finish off her other work. She knocks on the backdoor when she’s about to leave. You wave her goodbye.