Chapter 13

‘Well, there’s a tall, white haired man from the Council who might know what’s going on,’ Gull says.

‘What makes you think that?’ Jake asks.

‘Because he was in the bank manager’s office again today and the other day when I happened to overhear a few words. They were using the same words again today.’

‘How do you know that?’ Harry asks.

‘Um,’ she says blushing, ‘I was hanging off the fire escape eavesdropping.’

‘What?’

‘Well,’ she says quickly, ‘I thought I wouldn’t be able to hear anything if I was standing on the roof even if the windows were open. So I climbed up the fire stairs, I lent further over, and the bank manager saw my shadow and thought someone was listening in.’

‘Which you were,’ Tom grins.

‘The other man thought it was just a cloud, so I had to move back very slowly, and pretend I was a cloud.’

‘Now you’re a cloud,’ Tom laughs. ‘What are you going to be next?’

Gull grins at him cheekily.

‘And then what did you do?’ Lucy asks.

‘Well then I decided to lean over the fire stairs just a little way to see if I could hear better.’

‘Did that work?’ Jake asks.

‘Not as well as I was hoping: I could only make out a few words.’

‘What were they?’ Harry asks curious.

‘Well first the other man was talking and I heard him say something about a “draft”. And then the bank manager said “three” something. And then the other man said something about “developing”. And then they both started laughing but not a nice laugh. It was a mean and nasty laugh.’

‘Doesn’t make any sense at all,’ Tom says. ‘I mean, one of them’s talking about a bit of a breeze through the door, the “draft”. And then “three” something. And “developing”? Developing what? Film?’

‘More mystery,’ Lucy sighs. ‘So, anything else, Dad?’

Harry begins. ‘Well it looks like someone has been investigating our farm.’ He opens a bundle of papers. ‘See? Here’s where someone took photocopies of the original ownership documents dating back to the 1800s. And here,’ he says, grabbing another photocopied sheet, ‘someone has taken copies of all the contracts to do with this land. I get the feeling someone’s trying to find a reason for taking all this away from us.’

‘What do you mean?’ gasps Gull.

‘As if they were trying to find an excuse. Just say, for instance, one of our ancestors had stolen some land or bribed somebody to give him more land. As far as I can see, none of that’s happened. Still, I get the feeling someone’s been trying hard to find a legal way to take the Folly from us.’

‘But who would do such a thing? And why?’ Jake frowns. ‘It makes no sense.’

‘None of this makes sense,’ Lucy sighs.

‘Well maybe a bit of it does,’ Harry says slowly. ‘At least we know someone is investigating this farm. We don’t know who or why but this tells us when, because whenever you take a file out, you have to put your initials and the date in a book.’

‘Why?’ Gull asks.

‘Well if somebody else in the Council is looking for the file, they’ll know who’s got it. It’s an old fashioned way of doing things but this time, it might help us. One of the clerks at the Council said the initials were T.R. And those initials belong to the town planner.’ Harry looks over at Gull and says, ‘A tall, white haired man.’

‘Oh!’ Gull exclaims.

‘Now, I wonder what he’d be wanting with the Folly file? You know, I was half hoping those initials were part of the initials on that file at the bank, HTJF. However, no such luck,’ Harry murmurs.

‘But we know,’ Jake says excitedly. ‘Tell him Lucy.’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Lucy says suddenly remembering. ‘I reckon ‘HTJF’ stands for ‘Harry, Ted, Jimmy and one “F” for the Folly. Oh,’ she says frantically looking at her sheet. ‘Didn’t I write it down?’ She glances over at Tom who’s trying not to smirk.

‘Mm, so HTJF is us,’ Harry says excitedly. ‘Sounds good to me! Right, so let’s presume we’ve got the right file. What’s next? Oh, yes, wait on. Then I asked a friend of mine at the Council if there’d been any new developments recently. You know, plans for new buildings and that sort of thing.’

Just then the phone rings and Gull jumps up to answer it. ‘Hello Helen,’ Gull says excitedly. ‘No, we’re all here. And Harry’s really awake. You wanted to speak to me first? Uh, huh. Oh, right. Yes, six letters. Both words. Yep, I’ll try them both and see. We’ve still got two chances left. Right. I’ll put Harry on. Oh, and has the baby arrived yet? Really? Has she got any hair? She has? What colour is it? Oh! Okay, bye. I’ll get Harry.’

Harry wanders out to the kitchen and picks up the phone.

‘Have we got a new baby cousin, Gull?’ Lucy asks looking thrilled. ‘A girl?’

Gull nods happily.

‘Why did you ask what colour the baby’s hair was?’ Tom asks.

‘Oh,’ Gull says wearily. ‘Just thought if she was a Gull, I might get some extra help.’

‘Er, wouldn’t she be a bit young?’ Tom asks, staring at his cousin.

‘Guess four hours old is a bit young,’ she agrees disconsolately.

Finally, after everyone has spoken to Helen and her sister and heard the baby grizzle, they wander back into the lounge room to find Gull at the computer.

Harry looks over at Gull. She is counting on her fingers. ‘Gull, what are you doing?’ he asks.

She looks over at him. ‘Double checking “danger” has six letters.’ Everybody looks at her questioningly. ‘It’s just that Helen told me that two words have been running around in her head ever since the bank manager came out here the second time. And,’ she says hitting “enter”, ‘I’m trying it out to see if it’s the password.’

Immediately, everybody clusters around the computer.

Gull groans. ‘Oh, no, it’s not “danger”.’ She slumps across the keyboard, disheartened.

‘But didn’t you say two words, Gull?’ Jake asks.

‘Yeah, just try the second word Mum gave you,’ Tom adds.

‘I just have to get my courage back first,’ Gull frowns, ‘because this will be the last guess we get.’

Finally, Gull lifts her head and places her fingers on the keyboard. Everybody gathers around. And holds their breath.

‘And,’ Harry murmurs as he watches Gull type, ‘my friend at the Council happened to mention that a man from a company called ‘B.E.Ware Developments’ had been in a few times to see the tall, white haired town planner.’

‘Beware?’ Gull echoes. ‘But that’s what Helen just said. And that’s the word I’ve just typed in.’

They all stare at the screen without blinking.

‘Oh no,’ Gull groans. ‘It can’t open the file.’

‘That was our last chance,’ Lucy cries.

‘No, no,’ Gull says quickly. ‘That’s not it. I mean, this computer doesn’t have enough memory for the file. It must be massive.’ She grins at everybody. ‘I think we’ve got the right password, just not the right computer.’

‘But what does that mean?’ Harry asks bewildered.

‘It means I need the Bank’s computers which have a lot more memory.’

‘Dad, I thought you said this computer would have enough memory for us,’ Tom says looking at his father.

‘Yes, well I didn’t quite see us adding stuff from the Bank’s computer at the time, did I?’ Harry answers, sighing heavily. ‘So what do we do now?’

‘I’ll have to try opening it at the Bank tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow,’ Harry repeats. ‘And tomorrow is …’

‘Thursday,’ Lucy says heavily. ‘Not a lot of time left, is there?’

‘And that’s if it opens,’ Harry sighs, running his fingers through his hair.

‘Oh, I reckon it’ll open alright,’ Gull says optimistically. ‘It’s just getting a chance to do it so I can print everything out.’

‘Well I think everything depends on that now, Gull,’ Harry says with his fingers crossed.

‘But what about the plans the Council has? They could be our backup if this fails,’ Lucy says.

‘Well that’s the funny thing, Lucy,’ Harry says. ‘There aren’t any plans even though the bank manager’s been in quite a few times, and always seeing just the one man, the town planner. I mean, if there are any plans they have to go through Council, so something must be going to happen. But nobody knows anything about them.’

‘Well why don’t you ask the town planner?’ Tom asks.

‘Yes, that would be the logical thing to do,’ Harry nods slowly. ‘But something’s telling me not to. Don’t ask me why. I’ve just got a hunch that something’s not right but I want to find out what exactly before I go any further. So, now it’s all up to our Gull.’

‘Again,’ Gull sighs. ‘Just when the bank manager told Shirley that it’s a place of work, not a kindergarten.’

‘Huh!’ Tom says. ‘A kindergarten is for toddlers.’

‘Yes,’ says Gull darkly. ‘That’s another reason for wanting to open his silly, secret file.’

* * *

At the Bank as usual, Gull settles herself down at the desk farthest from Shirley and the other employees. She’s just about to call up the bank manager’s file when she looks up and sees him striding towards her. Quickly, she opens a game that she’s borrowed from Tom.

‘Gull, isn’t it?’ he asks quietly.

‘Yes Mr er, Sprogg,’ she mumbles and then smiles nervously.

‘That game you were looking for yesterday, Gull. I’ve got it right here. So, no reason for you to go searching any more, is there?’

Gull blushes. The bank manager smiles showing his wolf-like teeth, obviously enjoying her discomfort. ‘My nephew is about your age. You’re seven, aren’t you?’

‘That’s right,’ she murmurs.

‘Yes, well he’s into games too. I’ve brought you in one of his old ones to keep you occupied. He said it’s very difficult. Took him ages the first time. He thinks it could take you all day. Don’t want you getting bored, now do we?’ he adds with a chilly smile.

Gull smiles back, closes Tom’s game and installs the nephew’s. ‘Flying Pigs,’ she reads as the bank manager hovers. ‘Oh, how cute,’ she says. ‘Yes, Mr Sprogg, this does look complicated. It could take me a while to figure it out.’

‘Good,’ he says rubbing his hands and nodding. ‘Take your time. You’ve got all day. I don’t know about computer games myself but it does look quite difficult.’

‘Er, thank your nephew,’ she says waiting for him to move away.

‘I will. Just leave it on Shirley’s desk when you’ve finished.’

Not your desk you mean, Gull thinks.

‘I will,’ she says brightly. As he walks off rubbing his hands and smiling his cold smile, Gull breathes a sigh of relief. She watches as the bank manager goes back into his office and closes the door.

‘How are you going?’ Shirley asks as she wanders over to Gull’s desk with a stack of papers. She drops her voice and says quietly, ‘What did he want?’

Gull says brightly in a normal voice, ‘Mr Sprogg brought in a game from his seven year old nephew for me to try. He said it’s quite hard to do.’ Gull drops her voice, ‘I played it two years ago and it was easy then.’ Shirley grins. ‘But I think I’d better play it, at least until he goes out. I don’t want him to get suspicious.’

‘What about the file?’ Shirley asks frowning.

‘I can’t open it while he’s in his office. He’s making me nervous.’ She shudders. ‘Anyway, he might have it set up so that if anyone tries opening it, the computer lets him know.’

‘Oh dear,’ Shirley says. ‘I didn’t know you could do that. Well that could be tricky. And the trouble is, being Thursday, he’s usually here ’til late, probably making up for leaving early on Fridays. And Friday may be too late for us.’ Shirley drums her fingers on the desk. She blurts out, ‘I can’t bear this suspense. I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on.’ She grabs the incoming mail from a tray and trots up the stairs to the manager’s office. Ten minutes later, she’s back at her desk where Gull is waiting anxiously.

‘Well it looks as if he’s settled in for the day,’ she says quietly. ‘He has a whole lot of dictation for poor Mary. Think he’s been saving it up. So, we’re stuck.’

‘Do you think he suspects us?’ Gull asks nervously.

‘Hope not,’ she replies. ‘Anyway,’ she says with a wicked grin, ‘we haven’t really done anything yet, have we?’

Only copy a file from the manager’s computer, Gull thinks. I wonder how many years I get in gaol for doing that?

Just then, Gull looks up and sees the town planner walking up the stairs to the manager’s office. She nudges Shirley who glances in the same direction. ‘Getting all their ducks in a line,’ she mumbles. Gull looks at her confused. Shirley smiles. ‘Getting organised for the big day, Saturday.’ Just then, Shirley’s phone rings. She picks it up, listens, murmurs and then puts it down again.

‘Who was that?’

‘Him upstairs,’ Shirley sighs. She calls over to the others. ‘Ladies, the manager doesn’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the day. We’ll take his calls for him, whether they’re urgent or not.’

‘I’d be more use on the farm today,’ Gull says sullenly.

‘How come?’

‘Well the rest of the gang’s harvesting. Now that Harry’s awake, they want him to stay that way and …’ Gull stops mid-sentence. ‘Harry’s crop’s still standing,’ she says quietly, almost to herself. ‘And Harry’s wide awake.’

‘Because he’s not harvesting,’ Shirley says.

‘No, I don’t think that’s it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well you know how Harry falls asleep when he’s harvesting and then he’s knocked out for the rest of the day?’

Shirley nods.

‘But he’s not. He’s awake now. I mean, we can’t risk Harry on the Harvester again. But I think the crop’s still standing because the mites are losing their power. Their thirty days is almost up. Which means,’ she says happily, ‘any crops still standing will continue standing until they’re harvested.’

‘And that means,’ Shirley adds, ‘we might just have a bumper crop after all.’ She smiles broadly. ‘Because I know when Ted was calculating how much hemp we’d get in, he took it for granted that all the crops on all the farms would fall over. Everything seems to be coming together now.’ Shirley sighs loudly. ‘But it still depends on this file.’ Shirley’s phone rings again and Gull wanders back to her desk.

I feel so helpless, Gull sighs as she plops herself down in front of the computer. I wonder how the gang’s going with the harvest. And whether they can finish it before Saturday, just in case we lose the Folly.

Grudgingly, Gull begins to play the game the bank manager has given her. ‘Child’s play,’ she grumbles as she hits Level 3 five minutes later. The morning drags for her. Whenever she thinks about leaving her desk, the bank manager seems to pop out of his office just at that instant and glance over at her. She keeps her head down as if totally intrigued by this new game, and after appearing three or four times, he closes his door firmly.

* * *

I wonder what Gull’s doing right now? Lucy thinks as she shoos away a dozen sticky flies. And I wonder if she’s thinking about us, out in the heat on the Harvester?

Back at the farm, Lucy, Jake and Tom are doing just as Gull imagines. The three of them are busy harvesting and loading their crop onto the truck.

‘Slow down everybody! The cavalry’s arrived,’ Jake sings out. ‘I’ve got some fresh Anzac biscuits. So, eat.’ He pulls the ute up level with the Harvester and waves a cold bottle of water at Lucy and Tom.

‘Just in time!’ Lucy yells above the noise of the Harvester. She has stopped at the end of the paddock while Jake and Tom watch the Harvester spill out its load into the back of the truck. Soon, the three of them are making sure none of the hemp has overflowed onto the ground.

‘No sleeping on the job today,’ Tom says.

Lucy is the first to grab the bottle of cold water. She takes a long gulp, emptying half the contents. She hands it to Tom. As she watches her brother drinking, she frowns. Then her brow clears. ‘No wonder we’re not tired.’

‘Why?’ Jake asks, reaching into the ute for the Anzac biscuits.

‘Well isn’t it about twenty-eight days since the mites invaded? I reckon they’re becoming weaker. And maybe they’ve given up singing the crop to sleep because they’re almost at the end their lifespan. ’

‘Hey, maybe you’re right,’ Jake says eagerly. ‘That means we only need one person on the Harvester. So one driving the Harvester, one driving the truck. And maybe one back home doing the usual chores. Any volunteers, Tom?’

Tom looks at his siblings. ‘Guess it’s cooler inside.’

They grin at him and nod.

* * *

Later that evening, the gang sits around the kitchen table eating as ravenously as wolf cubs.

‘When’s Harry coming back?’ Gull asks, twirling a piece of lettuce on the end of her fork.

‘Didn’t say,’ Lucy shrugs, picking up the dill pickle on her plate. ‘Just said he was going over to Jimmy’s with Ted and he’d have dinner over there. And not to wait up for him: he could be late.’

‘But what’s he doing?’ Gull asks plaintively. ‘I mean, if it wasn’t for us Harry wouldn’t have all this information.’ She shovels the lettuce leaf into her mouth.

‘You don’t think he’s holding out on us, do you?’ Jake asks, rolling a cherry tomato along the table.

‘Maybe he doesn’t trust us not to blab,’ Gull says, raising her eyebrows.

‘Or maybe he’s gone fishing again. Hope so, anyway,’ Tom says as he tilts his chair backwards and forwards. ‘If only we had that … ’

‘Don’t say it,’ Gull interrupts heatedly. Everybody stops moving.

Gull lets out an exasperated sigh. ‘Sorry,’ she says quickly, looking down at her plate. ‘But I just don’t want to hear the word “file” one more time. And yes, I know tomorrow is Friday, the last day and our last chance. But I can’t do anything.’

Around the table, the gang falls silent. Vivid pictures of packing up, removalist vans and driving away from the Folly seem to fill the void.

‘Think I’ll go to bed early,’ Gull says looking up at the clock, which shows eight-thirty. She yawns expansively.

‘That’s a good idea,’ Lucy says quickly. ‘You’ve got a big day tomorrow, er … ’ Her words hang in the air. ‘We’ll clean up. It won’t take long. You can have first shower. We’ll be up soon.’

Slowly, Gull climbs the stairs. I’ve failed, she thinks as she treads on each stair. I should have had that file open by now. It’s probably too late to do anything now even if I could open it. And what if it’s the wrong file after all? Dragging herself into the bathroom, she turns on the shower. Ten minutes later, she’s ready for bed. Just as she’s about to climb in, she stops. Instead, she climbs up to the Folly and kneels down by the windowsill. A few minutes later, Useless pads up the stairs and sits down on his haunches beside her. Gull automatically reaches out to scratch Useless’ ears.

Watching the sun on the horizon further out west, Gull stares out onto the farm, her arms resting against the windowpane. The farm stretches out before her. ‘I can see why you come up here, Useless,’ she says quietly. ‘It’s so peaceful and you can see all the comings and goings, and the sun setting way past the hemp. I reckon the gang’ll finish the rest tomorrow. Just in time too before … ’ Even with Useless, she can’t bear to finish the sentence. Instead she sighs deeply. ‘Guess I’d better go to bed before the others come up. Don’t really feel like talking to them at the moment: I just feel I’ve let everybody down, whatever they say to me.’ Gull stands up and stretches. Useless yawns. ‘Know how you feel,’ she says as she pats him.

On his own, Useless slumps down contentedly under the windowsill as the mites jump onto it.

Ma is ominously silent. The other mites lay low, waiting for Ma to prod them into action: they wait until they know what sort of mood she’s in.

Finally, she begins to speak in a laboured undertone. ‘We’ve discovered the curse in the crop.’ She stops for a moment. Then she continues, ‘And we’ve shown the family where it came from.’ She pauses. ‘We’ve done as much as we can do. Unfortunately, we have to rely on the family to take the last step. It’s a pity we have to rely on them. They’re undisciplined, erratic and unpredictable just like all humans.’ Again she pauses. ‘However, my purpose is to keep the Folly safe, and that’s just what I’m going to do. This room,’ she senses, ‘this Folly was built by Frederick Hepplewhite for me, and my descendants. I swear I’ll keep it safe.’ For a few moments, there’s silence while the mites try to work out whether Ma’s finished speaking or not. ‘And on Saturday,’ she says finally, ‘we’ll have front row seats courtesy of Useless,’ she adds. ‘We’ll hear the good, or bad, news firsthand. Then we’ll know whether we can still call the Folly home.’ With her final words, Ma sighs and expertly propels herself back onto Useless.

* * *

‘Useless! Stop it! Leave me alone,’ Gull groans rolling over early the next morning. Insistently, Useless paws at Gull’s bed. She opens one wary eye and glances at the clock. ‘Seven thirty already? No!’ She buries her head under the pillow. Useless starts licking the arm that’s hanging over the bed. Then another groan escapes her. ‘Oh, no, Useless, it’s Friday. And my last day at the Bank.’ Gull groans again. Suddenly, Useless barks once. ‘Alright, alright,’ she snaps irritably. Gull looks over at Lucy’s empty bed. ‘Guess Lucy left me to sleep in. She may as well seeing I’m being so useless. Oops!’ She laughs. ‘Sorry Useless. Don’t take it personally.’

Finally, Gull climbs out of bed, stretches and saunters up to the Folly. In the distance, she can see Harry’s fire engine red Harvester toiling up and down, backwards and forwards. ‘They’re already working,’ she tells Useless who’s followed her. ‘I’d better get going then. They probably don’t want to face me this morning, seeing it’s such a win or lose kind of a day. Don’t blame them,’ she says downcast.

Going into the bathroom, Gull washes and dresses for her last day at the Bank. The skirt looks clean and pressed. She takes it off the hanger in the bathroom, grabs a green t-shirt, and runs down the stairs.

On the table by Gull’s plate are three little plastic pink pigs. On her plate beside the eggcup is a bulky envelope. She opens it. Inside, Gull finds another little pink pig. She reads the note in Lucy’s handwriting. ‘We would like to invite the fourth sleepy, little pig to join us on the Harvester. You can join our sty any time.’

Underneath, Tom’s scrawled, ‘Whether you bring home the bacon or not!!!’

And the three of them have signed it, ‘Your ever grateful cousins.’

Gull sits there smiling broadly. Forgetting about her egg and grabbing two pieces of toast, she gathers up the four little pigs and runs out of the kitchen, towards the Harvester, that is now heading towards the Folly. Tom and Lucy slide down from the Harvester as it pulls up with Jake at the wheel.

‘We didn’t want to miss saying goodbye,’ Tom says.

‘And good luck,’ Jake calls out as he switches off the engine.

‘And don’t forget to take the fourth little pig for extra good luck today,’ Lucy says giving Gull a big hug. ‘After all, it is the Chinese Year of the Pig.’

‘And that’s supposed to be all about prosperity,’ Jake adds.

‘We looked it up,’ Tom says. ‘We reckon you’ll need something extra today.’

Gull blinks back grateful tears.

‘Look, we’re going to carry our pigs around all day too. Just so you know we’re thinking of you,’ Lucy adds.

Gull swallows hard. ‘That’s so nice,’ she says as she hands a little pink pig to each of her cousins. In the distance, they see Shirley’s car heading for the Folly. ‘Hop on, Gull, and I’ll drive you back.’ Needing no further encouragement, Gull climbs on to stand beside Jake as he guides the Harvester towards the end of the row nearest the Folly.

‘Well that’s service for you,’ Shirley laughs as she leans across the passenger seat and opens the car door for Gull. Gull scrambles in and spends the journey to town explaining about the four little pigs.

As they pull up outside the Bank, Gull turns pale. Shirley looks over at her and pinches her wan cheek. ‘Got my fingers and toes crossed for you,’ she murmurs as they climb out of the car. And I’m crossing my eyes too, just in case.’ Gull smiles. Walking into the Bank, Gull and Shirley sit down at their desks without saying another word.

‘It’s your last day, isn’t it Gull?’ Gull can hardly raise a smile for Flora in her dress covered in purple irises she’s so anxious. ‘Now, I brought you a cup of tea and a bickie, just what we all need first thing in the morning. Guess you’ll be wanting to take up a career in banking after your stint here.’ Gull looks at her shocked. ‘Only joking, Gull,’ Flora says as she sets down the cup of tea on the desk. ‘Of course, you could always be a bank manager. Although I think that’d be just as boring,’ she says as she walks back towards the teacups. Gull takes a sip of tea as she clicks on the “Flying Pigs”, trying to beat her time from the day before.

‘When will he leave? When will he leave?’ Gull mumbles under her breath as she hits Level 4 thirty seconds faster than the day before. Half an hour later, Gull gets up from her desk and takes her teacup back to the sink and looks around.

‘What are you after, Gull?’ Mary asks.

‘Oh, I was just wondering where all the printers are.’

Mary laughs. ‘There’s just the one, Gull, for everyone. See? Around the corner from the urn.’

‘Oh, thanks,’ she says and walks over to Shirley’s desk. ‘Psst.’

Shirley looks up.

‘There’s only one printer,’ Gull whispers.

‘I know,’ Shirley whispers back. ‘Why? What’s wrong?’

‘That file,’ Gull whispers. ‘I think it’s going to be big. What if it’s a really big file and it takes forever to print? I can’t tie up the one and only printer, can I?’

‘Didn’t think of that,’ Shirley frowns. ‘Leave it with me. You just keep playing with the “Flying Pigs” and I’ll work something out.’ Gull walks back to her desk despondently. It’s like being in gaol, she thinks to herself. Bars on the windows, tellers behind bars. Yep, definitely gaol. Gull puts her arms on the desk and rests her head on them.

‘Guess what?’ Shirley smiles as she stops at Gull’s desk.

Gull looks up bleakly. ‘What?’ she asks now entirely bored.

‘Mary has just announced she’s pregnant.’

‘That’s nice,’ Gull says listlessly.

‘And so,’ Shirley says brightly, ‘we’ll be having a special afternoon tea for her. Which means,’ Shirley continues quietly, ‘I’ll open the file from my computer and print it out while we have afternoon tea. And while you have cake and tea, you can stand by the printer and put everything in this folder for me, can’t you?’ she adds handing an empty folder to Gull. ‘And then you can put it in your backpack.’

Gull looks up at Shirley and then beams. ‘I’m so happy for Mary.’

‘Knew you would be,’ she grins. ‘It couldn’t have happened at a better time.’ She glances down at her watch, noticing it’s two o’clock. ‘I’ll just nip out and get a cake. And I’ll tell Mr Sprogg about Mary on the way.’ Hurrying back to her desk, Shirley picks up her purse and turns to walk towards the front door.

Just then, Mr Sprogg emerges from his office. He and Shirley almost collide. He has his jacket on and is carrying his briefcase. Gull watches the two of them talking. Mr Sprogg looks surprised and smiles a tight little smile. Quickly, he walks over to Mary, shakes her hand clumsily, waves and then turns away to walk towards the front door. Instead of following him, Shirley returns to her desk and beckons Gull over to her.

‘Mr Sprogg has left for the day,’ she says brightly. ‘I’ll just start printing out this, er, information for him for Monday morning.’ Whispering, she says, ‘Just write down the password for me, Gull, and I’ll start.’ Quickly, Gull grabs a pencil and scribbles ‘beware’ on a notepad. Shirley sits down at her computer and starts to type the word. Both hold their breath as she presses ‘Enter’ and the screen goes blank for an instant.

‘Oh good,’ Shirley sighs with relief as the file opens. Gull leans heavily against the desk behind Shirley.

‘Make us both a cuppa, Gull,’ Shirley says happily. ‘I’ll be a while.’

As Gull walks slowly on wobbly legs over to the urn, she hears Shirley call out, ‘Ah, does anyone want the printer for the next hour? I thought I’d use it while we have afternoon tea?’ The others shake their heads. ‘And Gull, when you’ve made the tea, could you put all the information in these folders?’ she calls out so everybody can hear her. Gull nods her head.

‘And don’t let us catch you reading it either,’ Flora laughs. ‘After all, it’s Bank business. Remember, we’ll be keeping an eye on you.’

Gull smiles back tightly thinking, I really want to know what’s in that file. If I didn’t have to stand at the printer, I could go back to my desk and open it up. But now, it looks as if I’m under surveillance from the friendly ladies at the Bank.

‘Don’t worry about getting the cake,’ Flora says to Shirley. ‘I’ll just slip out myself. You look busy there,’ she says as she takes the petty cash purse and trots out the front of the Bank and into the street.

‘And I’ve already got the kettle on, so it won’t be long now,’ Betty adds.

Quickly, Gull goes over and stands by the printer as Shirley hits the ‘print’ icon. Gull stands transfixed as page after page rolls out. ‘Here’s a cuppa and a piece of cake, Gull,’ Mary says.

‘Thanks,’ she says. ‘Oh, and congratulations,’ she adds hurriedly.

‘This’ll be my first,’ Mary says smiling shyly. ‘So we’ll see how this one turns out before we think of any more.’

Gull nods as Mary moves away and hands Shirley a piece of cake.

While Gull stands guard at the printer, Shirley bustles around making sure everybody has enough tea and cake. Occasionally, she goes to stand near Gull with another slice of cake and quietly reads some of the pages from the file.

‘Well if I ever wanted my blood pressure to rise, this would be the way to do it,’ she says tapping the folder lightly.

Gull says, ‘Harry is so lucky to have you and Ted as friends. And here you are feeling so outraged for him.’

Shaking her head, Shirley glances over at her. ‘I hate to disappoint you Gull, but this particular file is not about Harry and the Folly.’