XIII“Do you suppose they'll let me back?” Billy asked Sal as they sat down in the yard to tea and one of Sal’s homemade cakes.
“I don't know, Billy,” she said, and she picked at the crumbs on the side of her plate then looked at him. “Rodney told me something, something that I think you should know: we could be closed by Christmas.”
Billy didn't seem fazed by her reply. He tucked into the cake, savouring every mouthful. “I can't say I'm surprised.”
“Really? How so?”
“That place has been running on empty for a while - robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
Sal blustered. “You can't know that!”
Billy smiled: “I have my ways and means.” He said and gave a sly tap on his nose.
“I suppose by that you mean those things in the museum!”
Billy caught her mood and smiled. “You still don’t believe, even
