Inside the pub were beamed ceilings, a marvellous old mahogany bar ranged with bottles and a huge log fire in the grate. Half a dozen local men at the bar turned, then took off their caps. The landlady, Betty Moody, who'd been polishing glasses, looked up and said, 'Why, Paul.' Her familiarity was expected. She had known all of them since childhood, had even been Paul's nurse for a time. 'I didn't know you were home.'

'An unexpected visit, Betty. There were some things I needed to take care of.'

Her eyes were hard. 'Like those bastards at Roundhay Spinney?'

'How on earth do you know about them?' 'Not much gets by me, not here at the Arms. They've been bothering people in the neighbourhood for weeks.'

'Well, they won't be a problem to anybody, Betty, not any more.' He placed his jambiya on the bar.

There was a sound of vehicles passing outside, and one of the men went to the window. He turned. 'Well, I'll be damned. All they shites be on their way out.'

'Yes, well, they would be,' Michael said.

Betty put down a glass. 'No one loves you more than I, Paul Rashid, no one except your blessed mother, but I do recall your temper. Have you been a naughty boy again?'

Kate said, 'The awful man attacked Mummy, he beat her.'

The bar was silent and Betty Moody said, 'He what?'

'It's all right. Paul cut his ear off, so they've gone away.' Kate smiled. 'He was wonderful.'

The silence in the bar was intense. 'She wasn't too bad herself,' Paul Rashid said. 'As it turns out, our little Kate is very handy with a rock. So, Betty, love, let's open a bottle of champagne. I think copious helpings of shepherd's pie wouldn't come amiss, either.'

She reached over and touched his face. 'Ah, Paul, I should have known. Anything else?'

'Yes, I'm going back to Sandhurst tomorrow. Could you find time to see if Mother needs any help? Oh, and excuse the fact that the child here is too young to be in the bar?'