A Village Deception (Turnham Malpas 15) Read Online Free PDF

opportunity to help you out. I’m used to being busy so I’m not very good at hanging around. I just hope you’ll be satisfied with my work.’
    ‘We’re doing each other a good turn. Here we are, this is your office.’
    Jimbo flung the door wide open and Harry thought: Could there be an office anywhere in the world better placed? The room was ablaze with the early morning sun streaming in through a vast window that overlooked the parkland and, in the distance, a lake fringed by trees newly burst into life. Someone was riding a rather splendid horse down to the lake and, unwittingly, brought the whole breathtaking scene to life. The beauty of it all illuminated Harry’s very soul.
    ‘My word! Isn’t that wonderful? And, by the looks of it, waterfowl too. Not black swans, surely? Yes, they are! Marvellous!’
    Jimbo, accustomed to the beauty through familiarity, nodded his agreement. ‘This is your desk.’ It was one of two bright, up-to-the-minute desks with the latest computers. Beside the one he would be using was a pile of paperwork and Harry longed toget his teeth into it and do something worthwhile at last.
    Jimbo sat with him for a valuable half an hour, pointing out the mistakes people tended to make and the ease with which the computer gave out figures with the simple pressing of keys in the right order. ‘Well, how do you feel about it? Is it within your capabilities?’
    ‘I shall be slow to begin with, but it appears to be a very smooth system, well put together. I’m keen on everything being correct, you see. I hate mess with figures, figures have a right to be accurate, that’s what they’re for.’
    ‘That sounds like the kind of person I need. Too many people claim to be computer literate and scarcely know how to switch the damn things on, never mind put in data correctly. I shan’t be hovering all morning, but I will come back in an hour just to check you’ve got the hang of it. Facilities through that door over there. There’s a small kitchen so if you fancy a drink help yourself. Lunch is one till two. You’re free to have food in the kitchen on the ground floor, I don’t like the smell of food in the office, you see. A pound for lunch. The girls are very helpful. OK?’
    Jimbo swung away out of the car park, well satisfied with his newest member of staff. If he made a success of it, he might just offer him a permanent job to take some of the pressure off himself. Perhaps then he might have more free time.
    Upstairs, alone in the office, Harry stood looking out of the window, indulging himself with the view. He imagined what it would be like to own it all himself, to ride that magnificent horse across his own park, across his own field. What would it be like to live in the wonderful house he could just glimpse through the trees? When he’d been up there the other day for his swim, he’d had no idea of the extent of the estate. Money. That was it. Money. Just paying the wages of the people working there would need a stack of it. Up the narrow lane came abattered red van with planks of wood sticking out of the back door. The driver pulled up outside the Old Barn and leaped out, leaving the engine running. Harry could hear him racing up the stairs to his office.
    ‘She’s not here then?’
    ‘Only me, I’m afraid.’
    ‘Harriet, I mean. They said she’d be here.’
    ‘Sorry.’
    ‘I’m Barry, the estate carpenter. If she comes, will you tell her I’ve got the planks and I’ll start on that job for her tomorrow. She’ll know what I mean.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘You are?’
    ‘Harry Dickinson. I’m inputting data for Jimbo, temporarily.’
    ‘Better get cracking then. He doesn’t pay for people to be idle. When he comes back, he’ll expect three days’ work done in half a morning, believe me.’ Barry laughed as though he’d been caught out more than once.
    ‘He’s a right to expect it when he’s paying.’
    Barry nodded. ‘I’ll be off then. Tell her I’ve left the