Page 23 of The Village of Lost and Found
As he headed across the middle pedestrian bridge over the river, he reminded himself that he really needed to get his act together.
Most of all, he needed to try and write something decent again.
His most pressing concern was that his friends and colleagues might soon begin to see through his thin veneer of forced jollity and discover the mess beneath. Especially Lucy, who, whatever she might have told him at her interview, was definitely bright enough to figure it out for herself.
He yawned. What he needed more than anything at that moment was a large coffee and some carbohydrates.
He relished the peace of the early morning before going inside Cranbridge Stores.
‘Good morning!’ called out Amber brightly from behind the counter.
‘Ooof!’ he groaned. ‘Do you always have to be such a morning person?’
Amber smiled. ‘When we’re opening up at 7 a.m., I have to be. Now, what about breakfast?’ She gestured at a tempting pile of pastries nearby. ‘Or I’ve got some bran muffins and healthy flapjacks if you’d prefer.’
Tom gave her a look. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
She gave him a soft smile. ‘You know, eating a little more healthily wouldn’t kill you.’
‘I honestly believe that it might.’ He gave her an exaggerated shudder. ‘So step away from the bran and get me some of those custard-filled doughnut thingies before anyone gets hurt.’
Amber tutted, but it was done gently, as was everything she did. She had arrived in the village the previous autumn and they had enjoyed friendly banter ever since. Not that it would ever go any further, of course. He liked her like a sister and Amber was in love with one of his best friends.
At that moment, his friend arrived with a face like thunder.
‘Morning,’ said Tom, raising his eyebrows at Amber at Josh’s fierce expression. ‘You look like I feel today.’
‘Have you heard?’ asked Josh, marching up to them.
Tom realised that Josh was incandescent with rage.
‘Heard what?’ he asked, suddenly worried. He had never seen his friend so angry.
‘About the new quarry!’ said Josh, absolutely fuming.
Tom frowned. ‘What are you talking about? You mean, the small sand quarry on the other side of Aldwych?’
Josh shook his head. ‘I mean, the brand new one that they’re planning to build just outside Cranbridge! Next to Henry Smythe’s farm!’
Amber looked shocked. ‘What kind of quarry?’ she asked.
Josh sighed and leaned heavily against the counter. ‘From what Sam, the farmer, has just told me, the large and very noisy kind. They want to extract some kind of minerals from the land.’ He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘I mean, jeez. We’ve just got this place up and running, starting to make a healthy profit and now this. It’s a nightmare.’
Tom was shocked. How had he not known about this? He was supposed to be on top of all the local news and he couldn’t even do that, it appeared.
‘OK,’ said Amber slowly as she placed the coffee and pastries on the counter. ‘I don’t understand how this affects us though.’
Josh looked at his girlfriend. ‘It’s not good,’ he said, obviously trying to calm down somewhat. ‘I looked into this kind of thing in my previous job.’
Tom took a sip of coffee, trying to wake up his brain cells and process all the information he was being given. Josh had been a successful environmental business consultant before taking over running the shop. He had always been very serious about the environment and climate. No wonder he was rattled.
‘It scars the natural world and does no good at all for anyone other than the money men who own it,’ carried on Josh.
‘Wouldn’t it bring in extra workers near to the village?’ asked Amber, trying to sound positive. ‘More customers into the shop perhaps?’
Josh shook his head. ‘You should see the amount of heavy machinery that these things need. I’m talking massive amounts of lorries and trucks thundering up and down. Let alone the noise that’ll ruin the peace and quiet. And then there’s the air pollution. It’s an environmental disaster.’
‘Right next to our lovely village?’ Amber looked shocked. ‘They can’t, can they?’
