Peter knocked on the closed door of the Craft Shop .

-- Ready for that drink ? he called .

-- Always .

Jane came smiling to greet him at the door .

-- You ready to face the horrors of a village pub ?

-- I can tell you I won't be drinking their cider . If they have a good Aussie red , would you be willing to try it ? I prefer red to white anytime , but if you ....

-- Certainly I'll try it , said Jane .

-- If I don't like it I can always switch drinks .

-- Dangerous , that , said Peter.

-- But of course it depends on the wine . We produce some of the best reds in the world , but I wouldn't inflict a cheapie on you.

They strolled the short distance to the pub.

-- Now , said Jane ,

-- Let's give them something to chew on . If they think that you and the Lady are having it off , what will they believe if I come in on your arm ?

-- Sure you want to risk your reputation ? asked Peter .

-- Remember Speedy Gonzales !

And laughing together , with Jane on his Peter's arm , they entered the pub.

The noise of the customers gradually faded as they took in the pair , and in the near silence , Peter , with a great show of gallantry , and to her delighted giggle , deposited Jane at a table. Then , having swept his eyes around the customers with a lordly sort of glare , he marched to the bar .

There the most obvious feature was the barmaid's bosoms , thrust proudly forward , with a name tag proclaiming TANYA .

-- Do you have any bottles of a good Australian red ? demanded Peter in his most authoritative voice .

-- Not in here . But I think Fred has some in the storeroom .

Turning sideways to give Peter the full benefit of her embonpoint , she called the name Fred loudly towards the back of the bar , then turned and put on what was obviously meant to be a seductive smile .

-- Hussy ! Peter heard the hissed exclamation from behind him , and turning , he saw an older woman seated at a near table , with a schooner of sherry almost empty in front of her.

Peter tended in his mind to agree that Tanya was probably a bit of a slapper , but his attention was taken away from the two women by the entrance of the man he knew as the landlord .

He repeated his request for a good wine .

-- Well , said the landlord , since you took our little joke so well before , I'll show you what we've got . Come round into the store .

There among the boxes of bottles , he spied one wine that he knew well , a very pleasant Merlot.

-- I'll have one of those , he said , and took it back to the front of the bar .

_ Two clean glasses , please , he said ,

-- and I'll open this myself if you'll lend me a corkscrew .

-- No trouble , said Fred , and Peter noted how the landlord brushed against Tanya's breasts as he reached for a corkscrew.

Peter paid , and triumphantly bore bottle , glasses and corkscrew back to Jane , where he skillfully decorked it and poured a small quantity into his own glass .

-- Just a moment , he said to Jane as he sniffed and sipped the wine.

-- It's okay , though it's not our best , he said .

He poured her a glass , and one for himself and said :

-- Just let it breathe for a minute of so , while you tell me about some of these inhabitants .

-- Well. Let me see . I suppose you noticed Ernie ,

Peter nodded .

-- There's Doris from the Post Office , and the woman Ernie just gave that sherry to is the florist , Mrs Day. The two drunks at the end of the bar are Father Connolly , and Big Jim Childs . He is perpetually tanked . Most of the others I don't know . Farm hands , factory hands . I'm a bit of an outsider here myself as you know . So are that young blonde couple , at least so far . They must be the new people at Rose Cottage . Looks like Tanya's got her eye on the boy. But have you got any more to tell me about the Lady ?

-- Not much to tell , as I said this afternoon. You've seen her , haven't you ? I'm no judge of a woman's age but I'd say she was late thirties , early forties . I don't think she' s had it easy . She's got rough hands , used to hard work , and her clothes are oldish too . No make-up . But I reckon she'd scrub up pretty well if she bothered . Got a good body .

-- Trust a man , sighed Jane .

-- Speaks well too , but I ' m not sure of her accent . Could be anything really , though I thought there might be a bit of Kiwi in there . I don't think she would be too easily fooled. Seems a bit too intelligent to fall for any scam .

-- Ummm . And what about the house ? Nobody been near it for ages .

-- If I were well cashed up I'd be able to do a lot with it , said Peter.

-- Lovely Georgian , and from what I've seen of it there're some really great pieces of furniture . I won't try to guess names like Sheraton and so on , but it's all in good nick , if a bit dusty . Worth a fair bit , I'd say . She might sell some to pay for renovations. She definitely is not too flush with cash .

While they were talking, they had been demolishing the wine , but Jane put her hand over the glass when Peter went to pour more for her.

-- You finish it , she said .

-- It's nice , but not good for a young working girl to have too much.

Peter poured the rest for himself .

-- You 're a cheap date , he grinned.

Jane didn't respond to that , but pointed out of the window.

-- Isn't that your boss out there ?

-- Yep. Odd . Wonder what she's doing in the village ?

At that moment , Big Jim lurched past their table and out of the door. Peter and Jane lost sight of him for a moment , then saw him stagger towards the lady , mouthing something .

Then he stopped short , grimaced with pain , doubled up and fell to the ground , while the lady stepped past him and out of sight .

As Big Jim started to howl with pain , several of the customers ran to the door.

-- Oh oh , said Jane .

-- We'd best get out of here . There may be a ruckus . Not a good thing for strangers to get involved .

-- Right , said Peter , and they made their way out of the pub , past the spectators crowded around the moaning body , and walked back to Jane's shop.

-- Thanks for the drink , said Jane .

-- And thank you for the company , said Peter .

And he wandered back past the now diminishing group by the pub , to his own bed .