The FA Cup final was only ten minutes old and the assembled regulars of The Skaters Run were beginning to voice their opinions on the quality of the play and the decisions that the referee was making. Amid the hubbub, Sergeant Dave 'Stumpy' Stumpsfield was laying prostrate on the floor amongst the remains of the chair he had just destroyed, by merely shifting his posture on the unsuspecting seat. Johnny Swift appeared from behind the bar and helped up the hapless member of the Constabulary. Stumpy installed himself in a replacement chair and carried on with his pint of Hammerhead, which he had saved from spillage during his fall from grace. Johnny Swift cleared up the wooden debris and took it over to the kindling box next to the fire with a shake of the head. That made a total of three chairs 
that Stumpsfield had broken in his time at the pub. Yaxley sipped deeply from his pint of Threaknecks and felt the beer take effect. Not really a 'hair of the dog' pint, it was too late for that, but he did feel better for it. His head had only really cleared from the previous night's session at about ten o'clock that morning. His time in the Fens so far had passed at such a breakneck speed that he would have felt disorientated whether he had had a skinful or not. He had been, he must admit, as drunk as a sack. Whatever the hell that meant. Yaxley sidled along the bar, edging past a glazed eyed Graham Trent.Trent was mouthing, 'C'Mon Tone ! C'Mon Tone' as the Arsenal Captain loped forward toward the Newcastle half, with all the grace of a giraffe running for a bus. Trent appeared to either ignore, or be unaware of Yaxley as he arrived at the stool next to Fred Rickett's. Fred was still sipping on his whisky, apparently uninterested in the sporting drama being played out on the TV.
Yaxley whispered a 'hello' to 
Rickett's and gestured that they should move further into the corner and out of earshot of Trent. 'Afternoon Fred' said Yaxley. 'I thought I'd better apologise for my behaviour last night. I hope I haven't caused you too much work with that carpet of yours'. Rickett's grinned and swallowed the last of his scotch. He pushed the glass across the bar towards Yaxley and said,'Yew fill that up with a large 'un and I'll say no more about it, bor !' Yaxley attracted Johnny Swift's attention and his debt was quickly repaid. Fred took a long pull on the fresh glass and thumped it down on the bar. 'There'll be a few more 'o them afore the afternoon's out an all' he said before wiping his hand across his mouth. Yaxley frowned. Fred didn't strike him as the kind of man that would sit and deliberately get drunk on his own. 'Is there anything wrong Fred' he asked. Rickett's pursed his lips and replied 'Yes...Yes there is bor. I found my Bella half dead and throwing a fit this mornin' and she were right as rain last night weren't she ?'
Rickett's and gestured that they should move further into the corner and out of earshot of Trent. 'Afternoon Fred' said Yaxley. 'I thought I'd better apologise for my behaviour last night. I hope I haven't caused you too much work with that carpet of yours'. Rickett's grinned and swallowed the last of his scotch. He pushed the glass across the bar towards Yaxley and said,'Yew fill that up with a large 'un and I'll say no more about it, bor !' Yaxley attracted Johnny Swift's attention and his debt was quickly repaid. Fred took a long pull on the fresh glass and thumped it down on the bar. 'There'll be a few more 'o them afore the afternoon's out an all' he said before wiping his hand across his mouth. Yaxley frowned. Fred didn't strike him as the kind of man that would sit and deliberately get drunk on his own. 'Is there anything wrong Fred' he asked. Rickett's pursed his lips and replied 'Yes...Yes there is bor. I found my Bella half dead and throwing a fit this mornin' and she were right as rain last night weren't she ?' The old man's rheumy eyes began to glisten and Farcett could see that he was fighting to contain himself. 'There have been people coming down to my caravan recently and I've had threats, just like Reg had. He told me about it at the last meeting about the power station. Y'see, my caravan is on the land next to Thompson's Wood. I bought my four acres off of Hummer after his old dad died. All the deals were done at the same time. I've been living down there since the early sixties and I used to rent off Hummer's Dad, but when he died, Hummer were advised to sell it all. So I bought my four acres and Hummer gave the fourteen acres next door to the council, for the wood, like it said in his Dad's will.' Yaxley moved closer to the old man and said 'What sorts of threats Fred ?' Rickett's face 
grew serious and he replied, 'Bastards just kept saying that the power station would get built whatever I thought about it and my land was going to be used as an access road and I would be thrown out whether I liked it or not...ended up offering me twenty thousand pounds...What the bloody hell would I do with twenty thousand pounds ?'
grew serious and he replied, 'Bastards just kept saying that the power station would get built whatever I thought about it and my land was going to be used as an access road and I would be thrown out whether I liked it or not...ended up offering me twenty thousand pounds...What the bloody hell would I do with twenty thousand pounds ?' Yaxley thought of Fred's caravan with its gas lamps and books and had to agree with the man. He didn't need any more money than was necessary to keep him fed and watered. 'So they actually said they were going to build on the wood did they?' asked Yaxley. Fred said angrily, 'Well they didn't know. They were just some hired bloody thugs from Cambridge sent to scare me, but it don't take much working out to know that there's something a bit bloody Mulfrey about all this'. He paused before saying..'and now they've poisoned my Bella ! And I reckon that cocky bastard over there is involved in all this somehow' and he nodded with venom towards the figure of Graham Trent.
