Pete looked surprised then suspicious at some of the things going into her bag. ‘Why are you taking fence staples, Robyn?’ ‘Might need them,’ she said airily. ‘And what the hell are you doing with the lamb docker?’ ‘Er, might pick up some part-time farm work?’ ‘Robyn!’ ‘Oh all right – look, you won’t be needing it for a while yet, will you? I just thought I might get a chance to use it on our dear friend Mr Symons, you never know.’ ‘You’d use the docker on a guy?’ Pete crossed his legs and winced at the very thought. ‘On that dick? In a second,’ she said coolly. ‘He deserves everything that’s coming to him.’ Pete grinned. ‘There won’t be much coming at all, once you’ve finished with him!’ ‘Damn right.’ She swivelled the contraption round her finger and dropped it into an imaginary holster. ‘Right, I’m just going to take a last look around in case I’ve forgotten anything.’ ‘I think I’ll join you. Who knows what you’ll decide to disappear with.’ They strolled out of the farmhouse towards the shed as a winter sun lifted skeins of mist from the valleys.
