Together we shouldered the gate closed and double-bolted.
We stood gasping and grinning in the lee of the fence, rather chuffed with ourselves. Adam's arm on wee Alec's shoulder, Mrs Smeaton beaming, hair awry. Jed and Dand laughing quietly, Snood coiling spare rope, smiling at the ground. So this is family, I thought. Warm eyes everywhere. Us agin the storm. One of those moments of harmony and affection, as though an underlying good order of things had been revealed.
"Jed, you should be with people that can afford better walls," Janet said.
"Whit would be the fun in that?"
Amid our laughter, Dand put his great paw round his wife's waist. Her hips inclined to his. Then she turned to look at Adam, her hand went up to tenderly brush mud from his cheek.