91Èȱ¬

David’s at the top of Lakey Hill, clearing his head. As he looks down on Ambridge he observes how life in the village has changed in recent times. Brookfield’s new business with their barn venue has gone on hold. Both Kirsty and Philip’s engagement party and Stephanie Casey’s wedding have been postponed. While a lot of things have changed, the larks and the ewes still provide their bucolic backdrop. He tries not to stress about getting the silage in; the forage harvester broke while Josh was driving it. He compares his relationship with Josh to that between him and his own dad, Phil. David finds Josh the hardest of his three kids to read – Pip’s getting on and keeping busy on the farm, Ben’s keen to get to university and is never much bother. But Josh… just as he gets your hopes up, he lets you down again. More prosaically, David agonises over tonight’s lasagne.

While he collects a good haul of eggs from his hens, Josh puts his side of the argument. Josh is adamant the forage harvester’s malfunction wasn’t his fault. It just went kaput while he was driving it. He appreciates how his parents dealt with his arrest but he feels like they treat him differently from Pip and Ben. He can see family links with both of their names but none with his own, Joshua Matthew. Josh is emboldened after an offer of more work from Adam. He can’t wait to tell his dad – though he saves this news for now. He’s just happy someone has confidence in him.

David vows to keep battling on, and see if he can get anywhere with his son this week.