condensed master

Will Bonner
Elizabethan cottages, trees and green grass. Will pulled into the pub car-park
opposite the village green, it was early afternoon, a quiet time of day with little or
no activity. He had decided to walk the quarter mile to Briar Lane to identify "The
Willows" and then make up his mind from there what the best course of action
would be.
Trees were growing on both sides of the narrow lane, their branches
occasionally touching overhead. He could see the property through the trees, a
small Elizabethan cottage surrounded on three sides by a willow spinney. Open
areas of grass reaching to the very edge of the willows was cut to the perfection
of a golf course, and the long driveway from the lane, landscaped on either side
with flowering shrubs and border flowers. It's picture postcard appearance would
have been at home in any tourist brochure.
He had practically made up his mind to go back to the village pub when a
movement on the far side of the grounds caught his eye. Fixing his attention to the
spot he saw a man wearing a white bush style hat, tee shirt and casual pants. He
was raking the ground at the edge of the spinney, a small wheelbarrow nearby.
Will's pulse quickened. He had made up his mind that it was probably
Henderson. There was a light breeze but there was no sound coming from any
direction. He would have to talk to him now, an opportunity like this with no one
else around may never arise again. Will jumped the open drainage ditch on the
edge of the road and entered the spinney hoping to get a closer look at the man,
rather than walk up the open driveway and alert anyone that might be in the
cottage.
Will moved to the edge of the spinney. The man had his back to him some ten
feet or so away as he stepped out on to the grass. He was rehearsing in his mind
the content of what the conversation would be. He was now only five or six feet
away and Will stopped in his tracks. Completely taken by surprise his mind was
blown, and he felt himself incapable of moving or speaking. The shock was like a
bullet to the brain.
"Can I help you?"
There was no case for mistaken identity. It was Ferret Man. The words
stumbled from his lips. "Robert Henderson?"
"Yes, who are you and what do you want?"
"Take a good look, I don't think you remember me do you?"
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