No Holds Barred by Lyndon Stacey

she’ll get a nice little bit for that – the price of scrap being what it is,’ he said. ‘Handy, your family being in the trade.’
    Taylor’s eyes narrowed as if he was unsure whether Daniel’s remark was as ingenuous as it sounded. He apparently decided to take it at face value.
    â€˜We’re all pulling together to help while the boss is in hospital. That’s the kind of community it is,’ he said smoothly.
    â€˜That’s nice. Oh, well, if you’re sure there’s nothing I can do, I’ll be on my way,’ Daniel said, turning Piper away.
    He rode until the gloom of the wood and the slope of the land made it impossible for the brothers to see him, then cut along the side of the hill and turned back up towards the shed from a different angle.
    Still some way off, he reined in and stepped down from the saddle in true Western style using the stirrup, à la John Wayne. Unwilling to test Piper’s much-vaunted obedience any further at this sensitive moment, he tied the long split reins to a small tree, which the horse immediately set about stripping of foliage. Using a sharp whisper, he told Taz to stay, then made his way forward, moving silently from tree to tree, his eyes on the pair by the van.
    That they had been having a humdinger of an argument was plain to see, and Daniel felt it was a fair bet that he was the cause. Taking advantage of the brothers disappearing into the shed once more, he moved still closer, until he was barely twenty feet away from the van, and hunkered down under cover of a bramble bush and a decaying tree stump.
    Moments later, Ricky came out again, carrying an armful of newish-looking angle-iron fence posts, followed by Taylor dragging a rusty metal roller, which squeaked in protest as it turned.
    Ricky said something over his shoulder that was lost on the wind as far as Daniel was concerned, but he heard Taylor’s reply.
    â€˜Well, that was bloody stupid, to start with! And what’s more, it didn’t work, did it?’
    â€˜That wasn’t my fault,’ his younger brother protested petulantly, throwing his bundle of metal into the van. ‘At least I did something . And I’ll tell you what I think—’
    â€˜I don’t care what you think! You don’t make the decisions; I do. And what’s all the panic for? He’s just a driver, that’s all. Temporary. He’ll probably be gone soon.’
    â€˜But he’s in the house.’
    â€˜For now.’
    â€˜And anyway, I don’t trust him; he’s got a kind of look.’
    â€˜A look?’ Taylor sounded amused. ‘You’re just hacked off cos he wasn’t scared of you.’ He turned to face the younger man. ‘Listen, when the time comes – if he makes trouble, I’ll take care of him. Until then, just lay off. OK?’
    Ricky made a face and nodded reluctantly.
    â€˜Good. Now, give me a hand getting this bloody thing in or we’ll be here all night, and I need to see a man about a very expensive dog.’
    Daniel mulled over what he’d heard for much of the ride back, but he couldn’t make much sense of it. Ricky’s words confirmed that it wasn’t so much him personally but his occupation of Forester’s Cottage that was an issue, but they left him no nearer to knowing why. His brother’s statement that if he made waves he would be taken care of was very interesting, and all the more so because of the calm assurance with which it was made. Taylor Boyd was definitely a man to keep an eye on.
    Back in the yard, he stripped the tack off Piper and washed the sweat from his coat, giving a glowing report of his ride to Sue, who appeared as he was turning the horse out in the paddock.
    â€˜He’s a cracker, isn’t he?’ she agreed, coming to stand beside Daniel as he leaned on the paddock fence, watching Piper roll in the dust.
    â€˜What time do you finish?’ he