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Maggie looked out of her kitchen window. She was watching the trees in the public lane beyond her back garden.
Something wasn’t right out there.
The branches of one tree were swaying. But the ones either side of it weren’t moving.
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. Now look. That tree was now moving rapidly as if caught in a strong wind. What was wrong with it? Was it about to fall over? She hoped not. It was a tall tree, and if it fell it would land on her garden fence.
She tutted. She’d been on to the council many times about those trees, and how big they had grown. But had they done anything about it? No, they hadn’t. And now the trees had grown out of control.
The branches of the left-hand side of the moving tree shifted. A face peered out.
Maggie stiffened.
Someone was in the tree.
The person looked Maggie’s way, and then ducked back into the foliage.
Instead of feeling scared, Maggie was furious. Someone was spying on her. Again. And she wasn’t going to put up with it.
Maggie stormed towards the kitchen door. Hadn’t she been through enough last month? All that business with her neighbour being murdered. And then her having to go on the run from the killer.
She wasn’t going through all that again. No, thank you.
She paused at the kitchen door, turned around and grabbed the nearest weapon she could find. Then she headed out of the door and into the back garden.
The tree was still moving, but not so much now. Maggie could see the man halfway up it more clearly. He was wearing dark clothes, but she could see his thin, bearded face. And he had his hair pulled up in one of those man-bun things.
Maggie marched along the garden path, and brandished her rolling pin at the tree. “Hey! You! In the tree. I can see you.”
The startled man looked her way. He was only a young man, probably in his early twenties. He attempted to shuffle back into the branches.
Maggie stood at the end of her garden. “Don’t try to hide. What are you doing? Are you spying on me? Get down from that tree right now and explain yourself.”
She looked up and down the public lane. There was no one else around. It was a Tuesday, and Maggie knew her immediate neighbours were out and wouldn’t be home until early evening.
She lowered the rolling pin as she realised the danger she’d put herself in. She backed up, and called out less confidently, “I’m going to phone the police. Stay right where you are.”
There was a loud rustling, followed by the cracking noise of small branches breaking.
Maggie yelped as the man suddenly dropped to the ground a few feet away. He landed expertly on his feet. He turned to Maggie, winked at her, and then raced off down the lane.
Maggie was too stunned to speak for a moment. Blooming cheek! Spying on her like that. Some people didn’t have any manners. She would report him to the police. And she’d give them a full description. She was good at remembering faces, and she’d got a good look at that cheeky man’s face.
She was about to walk away when something caught her eye. What was that at the bottom of the tree? Something was glittering in the grass.
Maggie checked the lane again, tightened her grip on the rolling pin, and stepped out of the garden.
She moved over to the tree and knelt at the side of it. What were those?
Maggie picked up one of the items. It was a gold-coloured plastic coin. It had a smiley face on it.
Had the cheeky man dropped it?
There were two other coins on the grass which looked identical. Maggie picked those up too. A quick search of the ground didn’t reveal any other coins.
Maggie straightened up and glanced upwards and through the branches of the tree. She noticed a few twisted branches. That must have been where the man was hiding. Had he been spying on her? Or had he been up there for another reason?
She should phone the police. Yes, that would be the sensible thing to do.
Or she could...
Maggie smiled as another thought came to her. That sounded like a better idea.
And it would give her the perfect excuse to see him again.