Gossip Over the Garden Fence: The New Neighbours at Number Twelve

Morning, Tom! Have you got a minute?

Morning, Margaret. Of course. What's the matter?

Well, I'm not one to gossip, but...

Oh, here we go. Who is it this time?

The new people at number twelve. Have you seen them?

Not really. They only moved in last week.

Exactly! And a van arrived at midnight on Tuesday.

At midnight? Are you sure about that?

Quite sure. I was, um, watering my plants.

At midnight, Margaret? Really?

And they never open their curtains. Not once!

Maybe they work nights and sleep in the day.

Then explain the noise at four in the morning.

Hmm, what sort of noise?

A loud machine, going round and round for hours.

And the boxes, Tom! Dozens of huge boxes.

People have boxes when they move house.

Between you and me, I think something strange is going on.

Oh, don't be daft. This isn't a detective film!

Actually... I should probably tell you something.

Go on. I knew you were hiding something!

I met them on Saturday. They're opening a bakery.

A bakery? So that machine at four o'clock...

It's a mixer. They start baking bread before sunrise.

Oh. Well, that's a bit disappointing, isn't it?

They gave me a lemon cake, actually. It was delicious.

They gave you cake, and I got nothing?

Well, you could try saying hello to them.

Fine. I'll pop round this afternoon, just to be friendly.

Just to be friendly. Not to look inside the house?

Tom! I've always said they seemed lovely.