Page 27 of Echoes on the Wind (Borrowed Time #2)

“Do you not think this is all a bit much?” Gwyn asked as we walked along the high street the following afternoon. “You could just say you’ve changed your mind. I doubt Awbrey will be paying any attention, given what’s going on with him.”

I’d spent the morning chasing leads about the empty shop just up from the chapel. There was no sign in the window to say it was for let or who owned it, so I’d gone into the haberdashery next door for information. The man there sent me to Mr Vaughan at the shoe shop, who then sent me to Mrs Wilcox in Grove Street. There, I found her daughter, who informed me that she was dead, but suggested I speak with Mr Simpson, the bridler.

After two hours of back and forth, I finally tracked down the owner, a Mr Marsh of Eglwys Road. He agreed to open up and show me around, but not until 1 pm, giving me enough time to rush home to wake Gwyn and talk him into my plan.

I mostly had it all worked out. There was enough money in the savings to pay some rent up front, and if my wild goose chase for the owner was anything to go by, there’d be plenty of customers who wanted to avoid the same hassle. I didn’t have experience in estate, but I did know how to run a business, and this time period had far less red tape than my own. If I could get it off the ground, then it could be a real money-maker.

“I’m telling you, this is a good idea. I can feel it.”

“You think all your ideas are good, Tom, but they usually end up with us getting into bother.”

I wanted to argue, but he wasn’t entirely wrong. “You’ll see. You just have to trust me.”

“You know I do,” he replied. “But I don’t think many businesses open after just one night of thinking about it. You haven’t always got to run headfirst into everything. That’s all I’m saying.”

“I don’t,” I said, though we both knew it was a lie. “I’ll make it work. Then you can come and work for me and get out of that mine.”

“Fancy yourself as my boss, do you?” he said with a grin.

“I’m already your boss,” I smirked, and he nudged me in the arm as I came to a stop outside the empty premises. “This is the one.”

It was nothing spectacular, just a double-fronted shop with a door in the centre, but the room inside was big enough to put a desk and some displays, and there was a door at the back, which I presumed led to a storage area. It would be more than big enough.

Mr Marsh was already there, so I gave Gwyn an excited smile and pushed through the door. A bell chimed as it opened, and I was immediately hit with a putrid, rotten smell .

“What is that?” I said, pulling my shirt up over my nose. “It smells terrible.”

“Yes. It does, rather,” Mr Marsh said as he stepped forward to shake my hand. “I’ve had lots of interest, but the odour puts them off every time. It used to be a fishmonger’s, you see, and when they closed down, they left some stock in the back room. Well, I didn’t come and check it for a few weeks, and… I’ll refrain from describing the scene I found, but let’s just say we haven’t been able to get rid of the smell since.”

“You can’t work in this every day,” Gwyn said through his hand as he clamped it tightly over his mouth. “It’ll make you sick.”

“It just needs airing out,” I replied, trying to put a positive spin on it. “Can I see the back room?”

“Be my guest,” Mr Marsh said, standing aside to let me pass. “It’s all been cleaned out, but that’s where the worst of the smell is.”

I clasped my shirt tightly to my face and pulled open the door. It was a good size room, tiled, with a washing area against the back wall. Another door led to a backyard, which I could see through the barred window next to it, and there were two wooden cabinets against the side wall that I felt pretty sure were holding most of the rotten fish smell.

“How much is it?” I asked as I stepped back into the main shop, pulling the door closed behind me.

“Seven shillings a week,” Mr Marsh replied.

“I’d just like to have a little chat with my colleague, if that’s alright?”

“Of course. I’ll give you a few moments and wait outside. ”

When he exited the shop, I rushed over to Gwyn, who was still holding his hand to his face and hadn’t ventured any further into the building. “So, what do you think?”

“I think you’re mad to even be considering it.”.

“Gwyn, it’s cheap,” I pleaded. “We could clean it up and make some good money here. It’s right on the main road, and there’s nobody else doing it. We’d have zero competition.”

“We?”

“Yes. We. Together. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t rather be working here than down the mine.”

“The mine doesn’t smell nearly half as bad as this place does. And besides, I don’t know the first thing about business.”

“But I do,” I said, trying to convince him.

The bell above the door rang out again, and Mr Marsh came back inside before Gwyn could argue further.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

I looked pleadingly at Gwyn, who let out a long sigh as he shook his head in resignation. “Five shillings a week, and we’ll pay a month upfront. Best we can do.”

He folded his arms, playing hardball with his offer, and I broke out into a huge grin.

Mr Marsh scratched his chin as he contemplated, but his face was giving nothing away. Then, after a moment, he nodded and extended his hand. “I’ll collect the rent on the last Friday of every month,” he said before handing us the keys.

I eagerly grabbed them, then reached into my pocket for the money I’d brought. He counted it out in front of us, and when he was satisfied, he dipped his hat and exited the shop.

“You better be right about this, Thomas!” Gwyn said, smiling at how excited I was.

“I am. I swear. We’ll be as rich as Mr Awbrey in no time.”

“Without the bailiffs, hopefully,” he replied. “But I still have to work for him until this place is up and running, so can I go back to bed now?”

“Yes, go,” I said, still grinning widely. “I want to have one more look around, then I’ll lock up and go see Mair.”

“I’ll see you later,” he said, then with a quick wave, he jogged down the street towards home.

I looked around the room, excited by its potential, and began to plan how I would lay it out. There was still a big problem to deal with, though.

“That smell!” I said aloud, fanning the air around my face.

I couldn’t open the shop or bring any furniture in until it was gone. I went through to the back room, and was about to open the windows to let some air in when the bell above the front door rang out.

“What have you forgotten?” I called out.

I turned back towards the front of the shop expecting to see Gwyn, but instead found Ellis walking towards me, grinning.

“Get out!” I said, pointing to the door. “I don’t want you in here.”

“Starting a new venture?” he asked excitedly, ignoring my command .

He smiled warmly as he folded his arms and had a good look around the shop, seemingly oblivious to how much he was pissing me off.

“I’m really pleased for you. You’re so smart, Tom, so it’s good to see you putting that to use. I’m really proud of you.”

“I said get out,” I repeated.

“Oh, come on. You can’t still be sulking, surely? We shouldn’t let silly squabbles ruin our friendship. It means more than that.”

Every time I saw him, he seemed more unhinged than the last. I couldn’t tell if he was delusional or playing a game, but either way, he was giving me the creeps, and I was feeling deeply uncomfortable being alone with him.

“Ellis, if you really are my friend,” I said, trying a different angle, “then you need to leave me alone.”

“You’re right,” he said, and to my surprise, he began to back off towards the door. “I can see you’ve got lots to do. I shouldn’t take up your time. I tell you what, I’ll come and help you clean when I finish work. Call it a peace offering. Then we’ll forget all about you shouting at me.”

“No, Ellis,” I shouted, losing my patience. “That wasn’t what I meant. You have to stop showing up everywhere. Stop following me. Stop coming to my house. Stop turning up wherever I am. Leave me the fuck alone! I don’t want to be your friend. I don’t want anything to do with you. I just want this to stop. Please. Just leave me alone.”

His smile wavered for the first time, and his fists clenched at his sides as he stared at me across the room .

“You’re still mad. Alright. I’ll give you some more time. But I’m not giving up on our friendship, Tom. What we have is too important.”

I took a step forward, ready to physically remove him if I had to, but he grabbed the door, tipped his hat to me, and left without another word.

I rushed to the window and watched as he walked off down the street. When he was far enough away, I quickly left, locked the door behind me, and headed in the opposite direction to see Mair.

The walk took less than five minutes, but I probably could have done with more time to cool off from my annoyance. When I reached her house, I opened the door and walked straight inside without knocking.

“Bloody hell,” I shouted as I barged in and tripped over a box of tools that had been left next to the entrance.

“Hello to you, too,” Mair said, looking up from a pile of laundry she was folding. “Mind your step. Zack’s things are everywhere. Tea?”

She went straight to the kitchen without waiting for a response, while I climbed my way through the debris of their move into the living room. The furniture had all been brought in and organised, but Zack’s tools were dotted around all over the place, and there were crates everywhere, filled with things still waiting to be unpacked.

“Has he had any luck finding work?” I called out as I moved a box off the settee and took a seat.

“He’s out looking now, as it happens. Seems to think he’ll get something in the mine, so he’s gone to meet with someone. ”

“You should have said. I could have had a word with Lee about it.”

“He’s too proud to take any help,” she said as she came back in and handed me a cup. “No saucers, sorry.”

She settled into a seat at the table, pulled off her cleaning headscarf, and slumped back, looking exhausted.

“Where’s Iris?”

“I’ve sent her out to find a job, as well,” she replied, taking a sip of her tea. “No, she wore herself out screaming at me this morning because I wouldn’t let her play with Zack’s chisel, so she’s asleep upstairs now. I swear, if he doesn’t find a place for all these tools soon, he’ll be having your room at Nellie’s when you move in here.”

“He’s got enough here to open his own forge.”

“There’s two in town already. I already checked. He’ll find something, though. It’ll be easier when the money starts coming in from the cottage.”

“Yeah, about that. Who did you find as a tenant?”

She looked a bit sheepish and brought her cup up to her mouth, hiding her face. “Oh, it’s…” and she mumbled the rest into her cup so that I couldn’t hear her.

“Who?”

She let out a sigh, then put the cup down on the table and bit her lip. “Cousin Rhodri.”

I leaned back and kicked my foot onto my knee, raising an eye in her direction. “Gwyn isn’t going to like that.”

I didn’t know much about Gwyn and Mair’s extended family, but from what I could gather, neither did they. Their mother only had one sibling, who died as a child, but their father had a brother with two sons of his own, who lived a few miles from Cwm Newydd. Apparently, a falling out had occurred between the brothers when Gwyn was still a child, and they’d had little to do with each other since. Then, they turned up years later to the funeral of Gwyn’s father and caused a scene at the graveside, so he had nothing good to say about them.

“Gwyn is going to have to lump it,” Mair said, folding her arms defiantly over her chest. “He’s moving to the village to take over the postmaster’s job and needs somewhere to live. He’s paying more than what we were going to ask for, so it worked out for everyone.”

“Well, as long as he pays the rent, I don’t suppose there’s anything to get worked up over.”

“Mr Hopkin is collecting it every Friday,” she said. “He won’t miss a payment if he knows what’s good for him. So, how did the meal go last night?”

I let out a sigh, then a laugh, then leaned back in my seat and told her everything, right up to taking on the shop and Ellis’ unwanted appearance.

“So, does trouble and drama just follow you around, then?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I just want a quiet life?” I asked, and she rolled her eyes at me as a loud banging came at the front door, causing Iris to wake up and start crying upstairs.

“It’s ok, I’ll get it,” I said. “You see to Iris.”

I pushed myself up, careful not to trip over anything, and Mair followed me out into the hall.

“Hopefully it’s not Ellis,” I joked, glancing back at her as I pulled the door open .

But it wasn’t Ellis standing there.

It was Graham Morgan.

And before I even had a chance to react, his hands were around my throat.