‘Good for Senara. Here, put this mask on. Let’s take no chances. Your next jobs could be fluffy.’
Mike was right. There was new bedlinen to be put on the new mattress, new curtains to be hung in the sitting room where new cushion covers had to be fitted. Then there were new tea towels and towels to be hung up, and a new throw for the sofa to be unwrapped and arranged.
As Amanda moved about the house, she saw it for the first time. Lucy: the paintings everywhere were signed LP. This must be Elodie’s and this one in the bedroom, the girl with the wind flirting with her skirt, was by Marielle surely. These were Zoe and Geoffrey’s bookmarks. The tea towel in the drawer and a mug bore Peter’s careful designs. Lucy was everywhere: five different styles yet all with a family likeness, the Lucy family. Amanda wondered how she had never seen it all before.
Meanwhile, Trelawney was going back and forth to the recycling centre, disposing of bags of garden waste, old stained rugs and carpet, worn-out curtains, and the muddle of years that had been hidden in the attic and crammed into cupboards.
This task also served to keep the inspector out of the way, so that Amanda could employ household magic that still felt too personal to let anyone else see. Mike kept himself scarce with some last bits of weeding, and watering the new bedding plants in the garden.
He insisted that Amanda take frequent breaks. And all stopped for elevenses, lunch and afternoon tea. By 5 o'clock, the house was as fresh as a daisy.
Hogarth rubbed his hands together.
‘Right. Good. Thank you both. Thomas, take Amanda for a slap-up meal, and I want you both at this address,’ — he handed over an envelope — ‘tomorrow evening at 7 pm sharp. Thomas, be at Amanda’s at 5.’ Trelawney was about to break the seal. ‘No, don’t open it until 4 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.’
When Thomas presented himself at Amanda’s door, her first question, after a greeting, was:
‘Well? Where are we going?’
‘The café at Newquay Airport.’
Amanda’s eyes widened. ‘Airport? Do you think ...?
‘Maybe.’
‘Oh! I have to change!’ With that, she vanished into her bedroom, while Trelawney checked the route. Finally, after a couple of failed outfit experiments, Amanda emerged, dressed in her best orange clothes.
At the airport, they stood looking up at the arrivals board.
‘Where’s the flight coming from, do you think?’ she asked.
‘If we’re right, it would be Alicante. There’s a flight there from Barcelona.’
‘We’re supposed to wait in the café,’ Amanda reminded him.
‘We’d better do that then!’
Amanda was too excited to eat, but they had tea. Finally, there was Mike. He was holding the door open for a youthful-looking woman of about Amanda’s height, with long wavy blonde hair, blue eyes and golden skin. There was an air of Christmas about her. Amanda and Trelawney stood up at her approach.
Hogarth came behind, pushing an over-stacked baggage trolley.
‘Aha, hello, you two. Well done.’ He parked it by the table and looked at the lady. ‘These are my good friends, Detective Inspector Thomas Trelawney and Amanda Cadabra. Thomas, Amanda, this is Zoe, Elodie, Peter, Marielle and Geoffrey. Known to the outside world as Lucy Penlowr. My wife.’
‘Oh! Oh!’ cried Amanda in delight, clapping her hands.
‘Yes, we were married today.’
Lucy looked at Amanda and held out her arms. Amanda hugged her warmly. The voice was that of Elodie. ‘Thank you.’ She stretched out a hand to Thomas who shook it, smiling. ‘Our dear, dear friends. How can we ever thank you? You have told the end of our story, given it the happiest of endings, and brought us home.’
‘Come on, people,’ Hogarth adjured them jauntily. ‘Let’s all sit down. What’s the tea like here?’
‘Amanda,’ now it was Marielle. ‘I do hope my darling Michael didn’t bully you too much into doing things you wouldn’t have otherwise done. Oh, of course, he does it so subtly you’d never know!’
‘I promise you I was more than willing to pitch myself into the fray,’ Amanda assured her, ‘as was the inspector.’
‘Indeed,’ put in Thomas.
‘What good friends, you have, Michael.’
‘Shall I get you some teas,’ offered Trelawney.
‘I think we can do better than that at home,’ responded Hogarth. ‘Come on! Let’s all get back to the cottage.’
They drove in convoy and so arrived at the same time. However, Amanda and Trelawney hung back at the door. Hogarth bore his bride over the threshold and set her on her feet. She looked around in astonishment. It was Elodie they heard:
‘But this is beautiful! I think you have all been very busy indeed.’
‘Not all,’ replied Amanda. ‘Uncle Mike was working day and night when he wasn’t telling us your story. He was doing up the house and garden.’
Trelawney and Amanda organised tea and cakes, while Hogarth showed Lucy around the house. Exclamations in different voices echoed down the stairs.
‘Listen!’ Amanda bade Thomas. ‘That must be Zoe. The little girl’s voice asking if there is going to be cake.’
They stood still; ears pricked. Trelawney held up a finger.
‘There’s Marielle saying something about the bedroom .... Peter approving of the new cistern ....’
‘That’s Geoffrey praising the view from the window ... and Elodie saying how glad she was he’d got rid of that dreadful old jacket!’
Finally, they came down the stairs, laughing. Peter observed ruefully, ‘There does seem to be an awful lot of our merchandise around here.’
‘Soon to be all over Cornwall, you’ll see!’ Mike pronounced.
Presently, Amanda and Trelawney excused themselves and drove back to Parhayle.
‘It does take some getting used to,’ Amanda remarked, ‘the five of them all in one body.
