The Mysteries of Brambly Hollow

them to meet some friends: Barbara and Doug Dunn; in fact they were the only friends they had made in Farfield so far. Like Cal and Meli, the Dunns were still relative newcomers to the village, taking over Blue Bells, a B & B opposite Brambly Lodge, a little more than a year ago. Meli had been touched when Cal told her they would be making up a foursome. It couldn’t have been easy for them to arrange cover at the B & B at such short notice. Preceding Cal into the bar, Meli spent a couple of seconds swan-necking as she tried to catch sight of them, as the small bar was unusually busy. Then, from the corner, above the general droning of voices and laughter, Meli caught the unmistakable clinking that sounded like a very large bag of small bones being shaken, and which was in fact the vertigo induced, squeals of fear from the bangles attached to Barbara’s arms, as she hurled them over her head and thrashed them high in the air.
    “ Happy birthday, Meli,” she cried in a booming voice that reverberated between the dark wood-panelled walls of the bar area. A burst of fire crackers would have been more discreet. Meli cringed as several pairs of eyes swivelled round and glanced curiously in her direction. If there had been anyone in the village who had not known it was her birthday, they would have known it now. Surging forward like an excited Golden Retriever, Barbara bounded across the stone floor, flapping her plump hands in front of her, scattering a group of pot bellied drinkers from her path like panicked sheep. As soon as Meli was within reach, she pawed at her shoulders, yanking her into a warm, bosomy hug and planted a wet kiss on her cheek. Doug, trailing behind his wife, waited for her to move aside and then leaning forward gave her a beer scented peck on her lips.
    “ Come on then, before someone nicks our seats.” Barbara grabbed Meli by the wrist and began dragging her along behind her as the men headed off in the opposite direction, worming their way towards the bar. Meli thought it unlikely that anyone with any sense would settle at the table with its half pint of bitter, its double G & T and the navy handbag, all clearly indicating that the table was taken. However, she didn’t say anything, but gratefully sank down into a chair and melted into the corner, out of the limelight.
    “ You look different tonight,” Barbara commented, running her eyes critically over Meli’s face. “Are you wearing make-up? Oh no, it’s because you’re wearing a smile.” Barbara’s full lips turned upwards into a half moon at her own joke.
    “ Hmm, I am,” Meli agreed noncommittally. Although Barbara was the closest thing to a friend in these parts, they were still in the early stages of their relationship, and Meli wasn’t quite ready to bare the entire contents of her soul just yet. She suspected however, that Cal was not so discreet, given some of the stunned silences and pitying looks she received when the four of them were together, and she’d return from visits to the loo, making her think that she’d done something awful, like tucked toilet paper in her pants and was trailing it along behind her, or something equally horrendous.
    “ It’s busy in here tonight,” she commented slipping in a change of subject as she cast her gaze around the crammed bar, taking the opportunity to seek out some of the regulars, particularly Dick Swindon, or any of his boozy associates. Neither were evident. Meli felt herself relax; no embarrassing scenes or oblique looks tonight; no hasty explanations to either Cal or their friends about how foolish she had been.
    “ Darts match tonight. Starting in about fifteen minutes. Fountains Head versus the Hook and Parrot.” Barbara reeled off the information like headlines from the sports page of the local paper. Picking up her G & T she tipped half the contents into her mouth and swilled it over her tongue before swallowing, Meli’s uncommunicative response to her joke bouncing off her like a paper dart from the hide of a hippo.
    “ You’re kidding?” Meli asked, wondering where on earth the darts board was, she’d never noticed one before.
    Barbara emitted a deep chortling sound. “They only put it up when there’s a match,” she anticipated Meli’s thoughts. “I know, it’s hard to believe that you could get two darts teams and their supporters in here, and still manage to find space for their game, but they manage somehow.”
    The two men returned, and Bill