‘Remanded in custody, so it says here’ Kath folds the local newspaper to a more manageable size and lays it on the table.

‘I thought it were all cut and dried?’ Edna peers, trying to read the report upside down.

‘They don’t just bang ‘em up, you know, they have to do their enquiries otherwise how could they have people helping them with them?’ Jessie says innocently.

‘Do they still do that, even though they were virtually caught in the act?’ Sandra asks, looking over her shoulder from where she stands at a nearby bookshelf.

‘They don’t just turn over’

‘I think you mean roll over’ Kath corrects with a grin

‘Same difference. From what Nathan’s told me, I think it’s a bit bigger than them two getting duffed up. Even if those men…’

‘Alan Curtis, twenty six, Wayne Monaghan, thirty three and Mason Brown, forty two, according to this…..…pleaded guilty… da di da di da…false imprisonment and attempted murder…’ Kath reads.

‘Even if they’d pleaded guilty straight off, there’s the whys and wherefores to be looked into, all sorts…They’ll have those men in big Babygros finding hairs with tweezers and things’ Jessie says knowledgeably.

‘Hmm… Good Lord….to think what could have happened. Makes my blood run cold’

‘It wasn’t just a barney, they were sent to sort Nathan out’

‘What’d he done that was so wrong?’

‘You know as much as I do on that score. Don’t think Nathan’s got the whole picture even now, don’t think anyone has’

‘Who sent ‘em then?’ Edna looks wide-eyed.

Jessie spreads her hands and shrugs ‘Nathan’s convinced that Vince Wilson’s at the bottom of it all…’

‘Say’s nothing here about him being arrested…’ Kath scans further down the page.

‘There’s time…’

The Village Library

Chapter Six

Samms Plant Hire, Oatfield

‘Who does he think he is?’ Gemma scowls, her eyes glittering angrily. ‘I’m not at school now and I’m not going to be treated like some junior!’

‘Then stop acting like one’ Ingrid snaps ‘You’ve got away with too much for too long’

‘Well, honestly! What right has he…’

‘Every right! This used to be his firm until he handed over to Nathan. He’s forgotten more about running this place than you’ll ever know’ Ingrid slams the filing cabinet closed and slaps a folder onto her desk. Her chair squeaks in protests as she plonks herself down.

‘Seems like he’s forgotten everything. It’s not the 60’s now, you know. Women are equals in the workplace, I have rights!’ Gemma says huffily.

‘And he has every right to expect you to do your job…’ Ingrid fixes her with a stare ‘And I can assure you, he would have you out there twelve hours a day digging footings any time you wanted to…if you’re that serious about wanting equality that is’

‘I have to keep in touch with my friends!’

‘Gemma’ Ingrid sighs wearily ‘Nobody minds the occasional personal call, it was telling him he’d have to wait a minute while you finished your conversation that annoyed him. It damn well annoyed me too! If he hadn't've given you a bollocking, I would've’

‘I don’t know why he has to poke his nose in. We’re managing. It’s not as though Nathan not being here makes that much difference’

‘No, Gemma, I am managing, Dave is managing, and the whole bloody workforce is managing while you think it’s an excuse to do even less than you usually do! Nathan works like stink. It’s not just a case of him being out there grafting alongside the lads is it? He runs the company too. You know that as well as I do’

‘We run the company, while he sits in there drinking coffee’ Gemma pouts belligerently.

‘WE don’t do anything! I might be capable of running the company temporarily but frankly you wouldn’t know where to start and you’ve made no effort to find out either’

‘Why should I?’

‘Oh, I give up!’ Ingrid sighs again and reaches behind her to take a ledger from the shelf. ‘You really are heading towards a second warning, you know. This could’ve been a chance to show Nathan you were worth keeping on. We’ve all been putting in extra hours but you can’t wait to be out of here from the time you turn up in the morning. When you do turn up, that is. You were late again this morning. That really is taking the piss’

’I had things to do’ Gemma says airily, inspecting her nail varnish.

‘Then do them in your own time, not ours. You can work late to make up for it’

‘I will not!’ Gemma objects hotly.

‘Then I shall be talking to Nathan about docking your salary’ Ingrid says casually as she scans the ledger, running her pen down the page.

‘Oh, no you won’t! What right have you…’

Ingrid marks her place in the ledger with her finger and looks up. ‘You’re good with these rights of yours aren’t you? Why should Nathan pay you for hours you haven’t worked? Where are his rights in all this?’

‘I don’t have to stay here and put up with this crap’ Gemma pushes back her chair and pulls her handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk. ‘I’m leaving!’

‘Feel free…but I’m telling you now, you walk out of that door and there’s no coming back’ Ingrid returns to her work and starts to transfer the information from the ledger to the folder.

Gemma pauses by the coat rack, her face pink with annoyance. ‘You think I’d want to? You can stuff your job!’

‘Fine’ Ingrid says without looking up.