Cashback

by Duncan James

  ***

  When they eventually got to the farmhouse near Dunsfold, Robin's mother was almost waiting at the door for them, having heard the car on the gravel drive, and made a great fuss of both of them. Robin's trusty small black Labrador heard the commotion, too, and came tearing through the house from the kitchen, skidding on the polished wooden floor as he did so, ears back and tail wagging furiously. More fuss! Robin and Digger were devoted friends and both missed one another greatly when parted. Once together again, though, they were inseparable. By some sixth sense, Digger knew that Robin and Marian were inseparable as well, and had somehow managed to win Marian's affections from their first meeting. Now, the three of them were constant companions when they were together, with Digger bustling about following them wherever they went, in eager anticipation either of a decent walk or having a fuss made of him by one or both of them.

  Gill bustled them both inside, and closed the heavy oak front door behind them.

  "I'll get the kettle on while you take your bags upstairs," she said. "Your father will be home soon, I hope," she said to Robin, "but it takes him longer now he's moved to Farnborough."

  Digger was made to sit at the foot of the stairs.??

  "Shan't be long," Marian said to him.

  "I hope not," said Gill, "I've made scones, and I'm dying to hear all your news!"

  The three of them - well, four, actually, if you included Digger - were soon relaxing in front of the early-autumn log fire, flickering warmly in the old brick inglenook fireplace. Robin and Marian were on the leather sofa, facing the fire, while Gill, satisfied at last that they really didn't want more tea or another piece of her fruit cake, settled in her armchair to one side. Digger had concluded long ago that another morsel of cake was out of the question, and had settled in front of his two favourite people, lying across their feet, dozing contentedly.

  "It's so nice to have you down for the weekend," said Gill. "Denis and I have really been looking forward to seeing you both again."

  "It's lovely to be here, too," said Marian. "You always make me so welcome, and Robin especially needs the break. He has really been working far too hard these past weeks."

  "I'm sure you've been looking after him, though," said Gill. "He always says he couldn't manage without you. He really wasn't getting on at all well in his flat at Oxford until you arrived on the scene, you know."

  Marian grinned. "He certainly wasn't in very good shape when I first met him there, I must admit," she said.

  "Feeling very sorry for myself, I was," agreed Robin.

  "What's caused you to work so hard, anyway?" asked his mother.

  "I've been playing around with a few ideas for making a bit of money, as a matter of fact," said Robin, "and what with that and studying, we've both been burning the midnight oil a bit."

  "We'll soon have to concentrate on our finals, though," said Marian, "and we haven't really started any serious planning for our gap-year trip to Africa, either. We'll have to start thinking about that soon, I suppose."

  "Well, it's an odd coincidence," said Robin's mother, "but the people we have invited to lunch tomorrow - old RAF friends of ours - are going to Africa soon. He's still serving, and he's been posted to Zimbabwe as Defence AttachE, or something. You've met the Bowmans, haven't you Robin?"

  "A long time ago," he replied. "We hadn't actually planned to go to Zimbabwe on our trip, in view of what's going on there, but it will be nice to know someone in Africa, in case we get stuck."

  There was the sound of a car on the gravel drive. Digger lifted his head, but decided not to get up, after all. Normally, he would have skidded off down the hall to greet his master, but not today - not with his best friend home for the weekend. He did, though, get to his feet when Denis came into the room, and ambled over for a pat on the head during all the hugging and kissing and hand shaking.

  "You're a fair weather friend, you are Digger," said Denis. "Your dog normally just about knocks me off my feet when I get home, Robin."

  "I could probably rustle up some tea out of the pot, if you'd like a cup," said Gill to Denis.

  "Not likely," he replied, looking at the old Grandfather clock in the corner. "It's gin time! I'll just nip upstairs to change, and then sort out a drink before dinner."

  "I've got a leg of lamb in the oven," announced Gill. "I thought we could have it cold with some salad tomorrow - we won't want too much, as we're having a curry lunch on Sunday. I hope that sounds all right."

  "It sounds delicious," said Marian. "Roast lamb is one of our favourites. It'll be a rare treat for us."

  "By the way," said Denis to Robin, "I've had a word with the Padre, and as it happens he's on the river tomorrow, so will be delighted to meet you there. I wrote it down somewhere, but I think he said beat three, which means that you have half a mile on the Test as well as the end of the Anton. He said you knew where it was, and that he'd meet you on the river about ten-ish."

  "Sounds about right," said Robin. "I've been looking forward to a relaxing few hours, and there are one or two things I need to talk to him about."

  "Well, we're all out and about tomorrow," went on Robin's mother, "so I thought a salad would be easy, and I've done a hamper for your lunch, Robin - enough for Frank as well, who said he'd take some beer and a bottle of wine."

  "Oh!" said Robin. "It's going to be one of those days, is it?"

  "Don't drink too much if you're driving," said Marian.

  "I do wish you were coming, too," he replied.

  "So that I can drive, I suppose!" she laughed.

  "Not at all. I just know you'd love it on the river, that's all. One day I'll get you hooked on the sport."

  "Well, I'm very glad you're not hooked yet," said Gill to Marian. "I rather hoped we could do a bit of shopping in Guildford, and have a chat over a coffee while we're there."

  "And I'm on gardening duty here," said Denis. "Someone has to cut the lawn to tart the place up a bit for Sunday. Now I really must go and change."

  He gave Marian a gentle squeeze on his way past. "It is nice to see you again," he said. "And you stay where you are, Digger."

  As it happened, Digger had never intended to do anything else.