Free The Country Escape by Fiona Walker Page A

it.
    In turn, it was clear that Russ thought Dawn was shallow and whingeing, believing that her obsession with the body beautiful was a sign of self-absorption. She also suspected that he saw her role as silent witness to Kat’s history as a threat. After all, Dawn had known Nick. She’d stood by and let things get so bad that Kat had been forced torun here. For Kat’s sake, Dawn decided to make an effort and include Russ in the warm spill of her friendship. ‘As the curry’s a bit burned, why don’t I treat us all to an Indian takeaway? There’ll be veggie options for you, Russ, and I know Kat loves a hot one – remember the Phall-lick from Balti Towers on the high street, hon? You still hold the Watford Pussy Posse record.’
    ‘Tania’s hennight,’ Kat remembered. ‘I was on the loo for a week.’
    ‘Worth it to fit in that size eight dress from the Karen Millen sale.’ Dawn got up, spilling elderly terriers, and wandered into the corner that was draped with saris. ‘Have you got any takeaway menus?’
    ‘If you can find one that’ll deliver around here I’ll eat my foot,’ Russ muttered.
    ‘Surely, as a vegan, you don’t eatcheese,’ Dawn said brightly, then realized her humour was getting too sharp, picked up a feather fan and started an Indian dance.
    Now holding the kitchen door open for Daphne, who was taking her third rain-sodden pee break in an hour, Kat was uncomfortably aware that her two closest allies loathed each other on sight. Russ wore the calculating look he adopted when lined up in the pub withthe village ‘earthmen’, the Brom and Lem Hunt foot followers who enjoyed baiting him, just as he relished outwitting them in return. Dawn’s face bore the cheery, professional I-take-no-shit expression she’d reserved for dealing with quarrelsome elderly patients when she was still nursing. It was her own fault for suggesting Russ join them for supper, Kat thought. He’d offered to give her some space,but she’d really wanted them to meet, never imagining there’d be such instant antipathy.
    ‘Tell you what, let’s call a cab and I’ll treat us to a night out in Hereford,’ Dawn suggested, eager to find bright lights and busy bars full of strangers.
    ‘We have no phone,’ he reminded her, his voice developing a devilish edge. ‘There’s no way to contact the outside world in this little backwater.’
    ‘Can’t you use your walkie-talkie in the tree-house?’
    ‘I have a better idea.’ His dark eyes flashed as he looked at Kat. ‘Why don’t we take Dawn into our arms tonight?’
    Dawn let out an amused snort, but her eyes darted nervously towards her friend for reassurance. It was obvious Kat found Russ seriously sexy, but this was way beyond their friendship boundaries. ‘This is a joke,right?’
    Kat laughed. ‘He’s talking about the Eardisford Arms, our local pub,’ she explained to Dawn, grateful for the suggestion. She was sure they would get on in a more relaxed atmosphere with a roaring fire and some rocket fuel in their bellies. ‘It serves a mean T-bone, and the scrumpy’s fantastic. We don’t have to worry about drinking and driving because the roads are private all theway there. Let’s get rat-arsed.’
    Dawn cheered. ‘I’ll just get changed. Give me five.’
    ‘It’s not really a dress-up sort of a…’ Kat’s words trailed away as her friend shot up the stairs two at a time, heading joyfully for the Topshop dress, ‘… place.’
     
    For all his boring lectures, Russ was very generous at buying rounds, Dawn conceded, as she lifted her third pint ofscrumpy to her lips. In fact, her opinion of him was rapidly changing in the light of his behaviour in the busy little pub. He’d been keeping the friends regularly supplied with drinks and bar snacks in their quiet corner of the snug, crouching at the table for a quick chat each time he returned to them, then drifting back to talk to his cronies at the bar where he’d left his drink. It was