Free Cupid's Way by Joanne Phillips Page A

own house, couldn’t you? If you wanted to, I mean?’
    ‘I certainly could. In fact–’
    Whatever Zac had been about to say was lost amidst a loud clanging sound. Evie put her hands over her ears and turned to glare at her gran.
    ‘Right, everyone,’ Mavis shouted. ‘It’s time to stop gassing and get started. We all know what we’re here for. Dynamite Construction wants to bulldoze our homes into the ground – they want to destroy a hundred and fifty years of history, rob us of our memories, take away our very sense of security. They want to–’
    Frank interrupted, wrapping his arm around Mavis’s shoulders and hugging her tightly. And not before time – she’d started to get teary again and was looking a little wobbly.
    ‘What they want to do is wrong, plain and simple,’ he said. ‘And it’s up to us to stop them. Right, folks. Ideas?’
    Mavis whispered something in his ear, and Frank turned to Evie. ‘Maybe you could summarise it for us, Evie. Tell us what we’re up against, what the next steps are likely to be, that kind of thing. And then we’d like to hear your ideas for a plan of action.’
    Everyone cheered at the word “action”, and Evie forced a smile onto her face. She’d deal with Frank and Mavis later.
    ‘Okay, here’s what I understood from yesterday’s meeting.’ She repeated word for word what she’d told her gran the day before, but when she got to the part about a compulsory purchase order the residents all started to talk at once.
    ‘They can’t do that,’ Bob Peacock called out. His son, Alun, who resembled a boxer on the wrong side of the ropes, punched his fist into his palm and said,
    ‘They’ll have to get past me first.’
    Evie held out her hands. ‘We’re a really long way off that, and it might not come to it anyway. I just think it’s best if we know what we’re up against.’ She paused and glanced back at Mavis. ‘The thing is, if it was just more houses or another shopping centre, they wouldn’t stand a chance. The council aren’t interested in destroying our heritage. It’s not in their interest to give planning permission for something so controversial.’ Evie had to raise her voice above the jeers, and Frank shouted for them all to pipe down and let the lady speak.
    ‘Believe me, I’m just as against this as all of you,’ Evie said, keeping her voice low but insistent. ‘Some of you don’t know me very well, but I’ve been involved in conservation for years.’
    ‘She’s right,’ Bob Peacock said. ‘I remember her giving me hell when she was a kid, going on about landfill and recycling and all that nonsense.’ Bob’s wife elbowed him and told him to shut up, but Evie nodded.
    ‘It’s true,’ she said. ‘I was a right little activist back then. And I’m no less passionate now. Cupid’s Way is worth preserving, and not just because my family live here but for its history. But the problem we are facing here is serious. Dynamite Construction want to build a medical centre, not more houses. They want to bring essential services to the local community, and it’s going to be hard to make a case that they aren’t needed.’
    ‘Why do they want to build it?’ Sarah Lowry said. It was the first time Evie had heard her speak. She had a soft voice, almost girlish, but everyone fell silent to listen. ‘I mean, what’s in it for them?’
    Evie smiled, and this time it was genuine. ‘Sarah, you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s exactly what’s been bugging me, and first thing Monday morning I’m going to make some phone calls and see what I can find out.’
    ‘That’s my girl.’ Frank started clapping and the others joined in. Evie felt her face burning, and she grabbed her granddad’s hands to make him stop.
    ‘I can’t promise anything,’ she told them. ‘I only said I’d try and find out.’ But their hopeful faces were so full of joy, Evie didn’t have the heart to squash it. She allowed Bob Peacock to pat her on