“What do you think?”
“I think you could have gone anywhere… You had money, you could have run to Brazil, somewhere they would never find you and here you are in Cumbria?”
“What are you saying?” Amanda raised her voice.
“I’m not saying anything. Sorry… Ignore me, I’m being stupid.” I smiled. “Show me the rest.”
Amanda took me through her plans, she had enough money to buy enough horses and tack to get the equestrian centre started, and, with livery customers, it should make enough to be a going concern. She looked at me nervously.
“So?”
“So, what?”
“So, will you help me? I need you, Adam. Help me get this started, I can create something here which is useful and fun.” She took my hand. “Please?”
“Oh, how could I say no to you?” I smiled. “Okay, I’ll do it, I’ll get involved with this mad scheme.”I was almost knocked off my feet as she hugged me.
23
A Change of Head
“Are you here to gloat?”
“Edwin. I am here to assure you that it’s business as usual.” Patrick smiled, he was looking smarter now, wearing one of his hand-tailored Savile Row suits, having completed a course of cosmetic dentistry.
“How can it be business as usual?” Edwin rumbled, he sat across the plastic-covered table in a prison visiting room, watched by several guards. “You may not have noticed that I am, shall we say, unavailable for many years. Our last shipment was seized and we owe a considerable amount of money to the Hong Kong triads.”
“Yes, you do…” Patrick softly corrected Edwin. “It’s been decided that, as you are no longer in charge of operations, a new face should take your place.”
Edwin roared, standing and throwing the table aside reaching for Patrick who leapt back. The guards pounced wrestling him to the ground and cuffing him. He was screaming abuse as he was dragged back to his cell.
“You are yesterday’s man…” Patrick smiled, straightening his tie.
He hated prison and was glad to step beyond the high fences and back into the back of his car. The other man waited patiently, looking towards Patrick as he sat down. “How did he take your news?”
“How do you expect?” Patrick laughed. “It was a pleasure to seem him squirm, the worthless shit.”
The car sped through the streets of London.
24
The Right People
“So, why would you like to work here?” The young girl looked up, her blue eyes sparkled with mischief, she had red curly hair and, despite a lack of makeup, a beautiful complexion. I was deeply jealous, and it was obvious I wasn’t the only one who had noticed her beauty. I noticed the faraway look in Adam’s eyes.
“Well, I could ride almost before I could walk. I’ve been looking for somewhere to work and your yard looks lovely.” She smiled.
“Any questions Adam?” There was a silence, so I turned around and looked at my brother. “Did you want to add anything?” He blushed, stuttering.
“No, I think my brother has had all of his questions answered. When could you start?”
I’d asked potential staff to send me a video link to show me their riding skills, I felt it would be a quick way to filter out those who had always loved ponies but had never actually ridden. Once they came for an interview they were immediately asked to skip out stables or poo pick the paddock. Two of the girls had immediately turned up their noses and made their excuses so we hired the three who had both mucked in without question and been able to string a sentence together. Something which, to be honest, was more than my brother was proving to be able to in the presence of Kate.
I thought with three working pupils, Adam and I, we would be in a perfect place to manage our growing stable of horses. We now had six riding school horses, a mix of horses and ponies which would allow us to at least get started and we had got four liveries already. It seemed there was a shortage of good livery yards and the lure of the brick stables and good hacking had meant we would soon have a waiting list.
The three new grooms were Kate, the ‘beautiful’ redhead, Adam’s words, not mine although I would admit she was very pretty, I wasn’t as smitten of her as he was. Judith, a local lass desperate to get out of her family home and therefore, away from her four burly brothers and Emily, a teenager from Liverpool who had a wicked sense of humour and was often to be found by her laugh before you saw her. They had settled into the grooms flat above the stable block. It had been clean and serviceable so I’d purchased furniture ensuring that each girl had a comfortable room and clean and tidy shared areas.
I was glad that both Adam and I held our BHS teaching qualifications and intended to get each of the girls qualified just as Anne had done for me. Just the thought of her gave me pause, I hoped she would have been proud of me.
All too soon it was time for us to officially open, naturally, I stayed out of the limelight as Adam had group photos taken for the local press announcing Glebe Farm Equestrian Centre with the staff holding our horses and some ‘action’ shots of him jumping one of them in the arena. I told him I would, quite obviously be more of a silent partner, so my name was not on the website or the letterhead and when we appeared in a couple of welcome articles in the local papers I was nowhere to be seen.
We soon had a
