Free The Village Newcomers by Rebecca Shaw

his Elizabethan banquet. It was going to be the highlight of the social year.
     
    Ford tipped the rest of his drink down the sink, and left the mug on the draining board. Upstairs he found Merc had already fallen asleep. All the same he nestled against her, hoping she’d wake and they could talk for a while, but she didn’t, so he rolled away to the other edge of their vast bed and it took him all of two hours to get to sleep. She’d upset the applecart with that remark, just when he was beginning to feel safe.
     

Chapter 5
     
    ‘Pass the teapot, please, Alex,’ Peter said at breakfast.
     
    ‘Dad! You’ve drunk coffee for breakfast for years.’
     
    ‘I know I have.’
     
    Alex passed him the teapot. ‘Here you are.’
     
    ‘I decided I’d got into a rut, so drinking tea is my attempt to brighten up my image.’
     
    Alex laughed. ‘Honestly! Do you feel you’re in a rut?’
     
    ‘Yes. Time I moved on.’
     
    ‘Literally? Move away?’
     
    ‘Been thinking of it. New challenges, you know.’
     
    ‘So long as it’s not Africa, Dad. I don’t think any of us could cope with that.’
     
    ‘No, I wasn’t thinking of Africa, more Culworth, but not yet. Can’t do anything drastic until you and Beth have finished school. Anyway, for the moment I need to stay in my comfort zone.’
     
    Alex laughed again. ‘Just think: when, or if, Beth and I go to university you’ll be able to move anywhere. Anywhere at all.’
     
    ‘You’re right there. I shall. Now where do you recommend? ’
     
    ‘Canterbury?’ Alex’s wicked grin made Peter smile.
     
    ‘Definitely not. I’m not into corridors of power.’
     
    ‘York?’
     
    ‘Mmm. No, not York.’
     
    ‘I know! The East End!’
     
    ‘That would be a real shake-up. New challenges writ large.’
     
    They both heard Beth clattering down the stairs.
     
    ‘Morning, everyone! What are we doing today?’
     
    ‘Prep?’ Alex suggested.
     
    ‘Certainly not. I’ve loads to do but it can wait. I’m dressed for Culworth.’
     
    ‘If we rush we can catch the bus. Twenty minutes?’
     
    ‘I’m game.’
     
    ‘So am I. Here’s your tea.’
     
    Beth slurped a mouthful of tea. ‘Mum gone already, Dad?’
     
    ‘Eight-thirty clinic.’
     
    Beth moaned. ‘I wish she didn’t work on Saturdays. I used to love Saturdays. It’s the only day in the week when we’re all free.’
     
    Peter protested. ‘It only happens occasionally. Be fair!’
     
    Alex pointed at her cereal bowl with his knife handle. ‘Eat,’ he commanded.
     
    ‘You’re a bully, you are.’
     
    ‘Hurry up. I’m going to clean my teeth.’ He raced up the stairs, eager for the off. He had two CD tokens and £10 in his pocket, and he intended spending it all, though it wasn’t very much cash, not nowadays.
     
    Twenty minutes later they ran out of the Rectory, across the Green and arrived at the bus stop outside the Village Store to find a queue of six waiting. They were teased for being out of breath after running such a short distance. But they hadn’t time for much more because the bus came groaning up Shepherd’s Hill and they all piled on as fast as they could because the driver was so impatient.
     
    ‘He’s almost always late. Today he’s early and he still wants to be off sharpish. We can’t win,’ someone said.
     
     
    Alone in the house, Peter decided that this was his chance to catch up on some reading. So once he’d tidied the kitchen, cleaned his teeth and read his post, he settled down to read a revolutionary book he’d been longing to begin for over a week, Is God For Me?
     
    An hour later and he was deeply involved. He was oblivious to the people going by his study window, the sound of a group of horses trotting by on the regular Saturday morning hack, and the cars pulling up for the Saturday morning coffee hour in the village hall. His book was totally absorbing and well up to what he had hoped it to be.
     
    When the doorbell rang, he went