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‘and I just happen to let you professionally borrow him from time to time, that’s all.’
    For a man in his forties, Phil was a great bear of a man. With his close-cropped hair, dark goatee beard, and a tall, hard, muscular frame, he certainly cut an imposing and at times, fearful figure. But Liz knew beneath the somewhat gruff exterior, beat a heart of gold and in fact, on more than one occasion, he had risked his own life to save her from the Dead. That he had at last found the love he needed in Avery’s arms, gave her a warm feeling of satisfaction. Although, with Avery having his background in microbiology, and Phil being a butcher, Liz did at times wonder how the two men found any common ground.
    ‘Funny, you don’t look like a doctor’s wife ,’ Liz joked.
    ‘I’ve got no qualms about hitting a woman ,’ Phil replied, placing the plate of food for Cam on one of the tables before turning back to Liz, ‘but perhaps, not one with such a precious cargo.’
    ‘Can I?’ he asked holding out his large hands to take Saleana from Liz.
    ‘Okay, but don’t wake her,’ Liz replied, slowly passing over her baby to Phil.
    Phil gingerly lowered himself onto one of the benches and looked down at the tiny baby that suddenly looked even smaller in his large arms.
    ‘You’re beautiful, aren’t you, eh, just like your mummy,’ Phil whispered, softly stroking the fine dark hair of the sleeping child, ‘and your daddy’s a looker too. So you’re going to break a few hearts when you get older, you mark Uncle Phil’s words.’
    Looking up, Phil noticed the adults in the room had all turned to watch his heartfelt exchange with the oblivious sleeping baby.
    ‘What?’ he asked.
    ‘Nothing ,’ smiled Liz, leaning forward to kiss Phil on the forehead.
    ‘Oh good, you’re here, Phil ,’ said Patrick, walking into the room with Imran and damp looking Cam behind him. ‘Did Gabe find you?’
    ‘Yep, and he was carrying something that stunk to high heaven ,’ Phil whispered, afraid to rouse Saleana from her sleep. ‘He told me he was to come out with me to shift the bodies later.’
    ‘Yes , and don’t go easy on him,’ Patrick continued, ‘he’s got a lesson to learn.’
    ‘Suits me ,’ Phil said, turning his attention back to the baby in his arms.
    ‘Now, come on you two, spill ,’ Liz said, stopping Leon’s spoonful of scrambled eggs half way to his mouth, ‘why are you back so early?’
    ‘Well, first off, the Penhaligan house is now the Penhaligan ruin ,’ Leon started, ducking his head down to meet the halted spoon.
    ‘What do you mean?’ Patrick asked, sitting down.
    ‘When we got there, the house was nothing but a burnt out shell,’ Cam replied, swiftly running a comb through his damp hair before turning his attention to the plate of food in front of him. ‘It must’ve blazed for days to reduce a building that sturdy to the smoking shell that greeted us.’
    ‘But how?’ Liz asked . ‘How does a building that huge just suddenly burn to the ground?’
    ‘Could’ve been a lightning strike or sunlight catching a shard of glass at just the right angle,’ commented Phil , ‘but it’s not as if it’s the middle of summer and everything is tinder dry.’
    ‘What about the grounds?’ Patrick asked, leaning forward . ‘Any sign someone had been there before you?’
    ‘Hard to tell, there was a lot of fallen debris from the house all over the front , and the crops growing out the back of the house,’ Leon replied.
    ‘That’s why we only got a few sacks worth,’ Cam added , reaching for a glass of goat’s milk. ‘We couldn’t shift a lot of rubble, not with just the two of us. The orchard is fine though, the fire didn’t touch it, so at least we’ll still get a fruit harvest come autumn.’
    Patrick rested his chin in the palm of his hand , and absentmindedly ran his thumb along the scar that ran from just above his left eyebrow and down most of his cheek. As he did so, he mulled