During the next week they got a lot of work done in the gardens of both properties, working long hours. There was much to do and they set to it with enthusiasm. Sometimes – weather permitting – Jamie brought his MP3 player outside, plugged into some mini speakers, so they had music while they worked and sang along to popular tracks. It made the days pass quicker and kept their spirits up, as well as increasing the friendship between them. At one point, after they’d both been singing their hearts out, Jamie said ‘You can tell a lot about a person by the way they react when Bohemian Rhapsody comes on the air!’ and they both laughed. They also picked up Jane’s car, a VW Golf, from behind her flat; its battery was low so they jump-started it from the Toyota and she took it for a run to charge the battery.
On the Sunday morning after finding Max they made an inventory of all the food and supplies they had, noting things they needed to stock-up on. They took both trucks to Sainsbury’s warehouse and parked in the goods yard. Jamie walked around the block to the entrance, through the store to the warehouse and opened the delivery doors at the back. Jane came inside and couldn’t believe how much was in there. They walked along the aisles collecting things in trollies and wheeling them out to the trucks. They filled the vehicles with tinned vegetables, meat, beans and fruit; dried foods like rice, pasta and pulses, and found many boxes of meats such as salami, pancetta and chorizo. These were a real bonus as they had a long shelf-life, being cured and vacuum-packed.
They also stocked-up on many less-essential items that would nourish their spirits, if not their stomachs! They loaded boxes of red wine, whisky, cognac and brandy into the trucks alongside the more mundane food items, and were lucky to find a few boxes of candles and tea-lights that would be useful. Jamie was pleased to find several boxes of his favourite tobacco, too. They drove home and unloaded everything between the two houses. Max barked enthusiastically when they entered, and Jane gave him some dog biscuits and treats from the larder. By the time they had finished all the cupboards and larders in both kitchens were full, and food was stacked up on the floor of Jane’s lounge and Jamie’s spare bedroom. For the rest of that day Jamie was busy putting up new shelves in the spare bedroom to store food on, and also some in Jane’s lounge. He started one of the generators for the first time to charge some batteries for the power-tools.
On the Monday Jamie made an entrance through the wall between their gardens. He cut down through the brickwork with an angle-grinder and then knocked out the bricks with a hammer and bolster. He had some lengths of 3x2 timber left from his porch construction, so he fixed two pieces across the top on both sides of the wall using long coach bolts, for strengthening.
As the bungalow already had a decent-sized vegetable plot they worked on that first; turning the soil over and sowing seeds for carrots, potatoes, cabbages and parsnips. They left vacant lines between them so they could re-sow more in a few weeks, to stagger the planting. In Jane’s garden large areas of the borders contained only weeds or a few flowers and shrubs, which were easy to remove, replacing them with seeds for root vegetables and various herbs in between, along with more onions. They removed the turf from other areas of both lawns and turned the soil over for sowing more vegetables. It was hard work and they were worn out by the end of each day. The first thing they sowed was salad plants in tubs on the patio and in the conservatory, as they would be quick to grow and yield a large crop all through summer and autumn. They also sowed tomatoes in tubs in the conservatory, as it would act like a greenhouse and provide much warmer conditions.
During that week the change in Max’s condition was amazing and they both felt heartened by that. He always ate well and started putting on weight. His coat began to look glossier as he cleaned himself, and he began walking around the garden; slowly at first, but getting stronger every day, sniffing at everything and following them wherever they went. By Wednesday he could manage a slow trot up the garden when Jane called him, so she decided to take him for a short walk along the promenade to exercise and strengthen his muscles. He was panting by the time they got back and went under the porch to curl up on his blanket, which they’d put outside while they worked.
On the Tuesday they had a nice surprise. Jane was moving into next door, and she carried over the few things that she had at the bungalow. The house had been well aired over the last three days and she’d also lit some scented candles, so it no longer smelled of decomposing corpses. Between them they took the mattress from another double bed and put it onto the bed frame in the rear bedroom. They realised that they hadn’t even looked in the garage when first checking the house on Saturday. They found the keys in the hall, along with two sets of car keys; one marked “BMW” and the other, much older, marked “Ford”. They went out the front and lifted the huge door to the garage, which opened smoothly and almost silently. Jamie’s mouth opened but no sound came out, and Jane looked at him with amusement.
There were two cars in there; on the left was a four-year-old BMW 3 Series estate, but it was the car on the right that had Jamie’s attention. It was a V-registered Mark II Ford Escort RS2000, which made it a 1979 or 1980 model. They stopped making them in 1981, Jamie seemed to recall. It was a real classic, with its “droop-snoot” front-end, and worth a fortune.
‘Blimey! I can’t remember the last time I saw one of these,’ said Jamie. ‘I loved them when I was a kid. I mean, they’d stopped making them years before I could drive, but I always wanted one.’
‘I’m sure I’ve seen this driving around town occasionally!’ Jane smiled. ‘So why don’t you take it for a spin, then?’
He looked at her and grinned. ‘Fancy a ride?’
‘Bloody right, I do! I remember Doyle driving one of these in The Professionals!’
He unlocked the driver’s door, got in and turned the ignition key. The battery was low so they had to jump-start it from Jamie’s Seat, and when it burst into life there was a lovely burbling sound from the sports exhaust. He revved it a little, then put it in gear and drove out onto the drive. Jane closed the garage and he unlocked the passenger door for her. She climbed into the Recaro bucket seat and fastened her seat belt.
‘Where to, madam?’
‘How about a blast along the seafront to Galley Hill?’
‘You’re on!’
He took it steady along West Parade at first, getting a feel for the car. He also tested the brakes hard; they didn’t want to get to Galley Hill doing 100mph and not be able to stop! It was a completely different driving experience from modern cars: there was no power steering, it was noisy, it only had a four-speed gearbox and the ride was really hard. There were also lots of rattles and squeaks. There was a radio-cassette player in the centre console and Jane rummaged in the glove box and found a handful of tapes.
‘Ah! This’ll do nicely,’ she said. It was an old tape of Bryan Adams’ greatest hits. She put it in the stereo and found the track Summer of ’69. Jamie stopped on the other side of the roundabout by her apartment block, facing east along Marina. He revved the engine and let out the clutch as Bryan Adams started singing;
The car leapt forward in a cloud of smoke and squealing rear tyres and Jamie red-lined it in each gear as he changed up through the gearbox. They had the windows open and were singing at the tops of their voices as they roared along the empty seafront for a little over a mile. They had a fantastic feeling of recklessness and excitement that was a huge release from the tensions and horrors of the past months. They topped-out along De La Warr Parade at 110mph and he took his foot off the gas as they approached Galley Hill. They slowed going up the hill and turned round at the top, where Jamie pulled over.