Page 41 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

Before she could answer, the tractor swerved alarmingly before turning at a right angle straight for the Ducati.

‘Turn the wheel!’ she shouted, running to keep up with him.

Suddenly, the tractor turned and Flora’s shoulder sagged in relief, anxious that Lorenzo’s precious motorbike wasn’t harmed.

But then Flora realised something and stared in horror as Del seemed to be aiming right for the stables in front of him. Once more, the tractor swerved. However, the trailer tied on at the back took out a large corner of the stables. The tractor kept going for a few more seconds before thankfully Del found the off switch.

But as Flora ran over to take the keys before Del could do any more harm, something else was moving. It wasn’t the tractor this time, it was the stable block itself!

The corner Del had run into was beginning to disintegrate in front of their eyes, swiftly followed by an increasing amount of roof tiles all sliding down the now lopsided wooden structure.

At the sound of splintering wood and smashing tiles, Flora and Del abruptly ran in the opposite direction, following the girls as they all dashed away from the collapsing stables.

Finally, Flora stopped and spun around, just in time to see the whole roof plunge to the ground, swiftly followed by two of the walls.

She stared open-mouthed, trying to find the words – any words – but nothing would come. She could only look at the stables, which were pretty much destroyed. There was no point worrying about Nico helping to renovate it now. There was nothing left to be worked on. It was just two walls standing upright.

Dodgy Del came to stand next to her, just as one of the remaining walls folded in on itself and crumpled to the ground. ‘Sorry about that. You haven’t used them stables for years though, have you?’ said Del, with an apologetic smile. ‘Don’t suppose I could still borrow the tractor, could I?’

24

Nico had come running down the hill upon hearing the sound of the stables collapsing and now stood alongside Flora and her friends, who thankfully seemed unharmed.

He stared at the mess in wide-eyed horror. Everyone was standing around looking shocked and stunned.

‘So this Del is a friend of yours?’ he asked in a shocked tone, turning to look at Flora.

‘More like a one-man wrecking ball,’ said Flora with a heavy sigh.

Nico looked back at the abandoned tractor and the back of Dodgy Del, who was retreating from the scene of the crime at a fast pace, after profusely apologising.

‘He means well,’ interjected Harriet, in an optimistic tone. ‘Despite things always seeming to go wrong around him.’

‘Who is he?’ asked Nico, looking back at the stables, which was now mostly matchsticks. Earlier that day, it had been an actual building and something that he had been wanting to invest in. That dream now seemed dead in the water before it had even begun to take any kind of form.

Ryan had come down the hill with Grams and was also staring around him at the destroyed stable block. ‘My cousin, I’m afraid. There’s one in every family, yeah?’

‘Except Del counts as two,’ said Libby, rolling her eyes.

Nico began to walk over to survey the damage, but Flora stopped him with her hand. ‘You can’t,’ she told him. ‘It’s not safe.’

He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘You seem remarkably calm about all this,’ he said.

He, on the other hand, was severely rattled. What if someone had been hurt? What if Dodgy Del had destroyed the campsite instead?

‘I think I’m still in shock,’ said Katy, with wide eyes as she joined them. ‘I can’t believe there’s nothing left of the stable block.’

Grams gave her a grim smile. ‘Well, my husband built those stables many years ago. He was a fine farmer but not so skilled as a builder, unfortunately.’

Libby rolled her eyes. ‘Nothing short of a nuclear bunker would be able to stand up to Dodgy Del. What an idiot!’

But Flora’s steady nature appeared to be working in her favour as she turned to give Nico a wide smile. ‘I guess we’d better make the campsite as much of a success as we can,’ she told him.

He smiled back at her and nodded. ‘Yes, we better had.’

* * *

The following day, Ethan came over to the farm to present the electrical certificates to prove to the authorities that all the wiring had been up to the right specification.