The scream brought Jessie hurtling downstairs in a panic. What she saw in the room further worried her. Woody was standing in the centre of the room, cradling a distressed, crying Bo in his arms. Buzz stood nearby, wringing his hands together and looking on uselessly.

"What's happened?" Jessie steadied herself at the bottom of the stairs. Woody looked at her, then to Buzz and shook his head.

"Will someone please, for the love of all holy critters, tell me what's happened?" Jessie raised her voice. She planted herself more firmly in position, looking between the two men. Buzz turned to her, looking uncertain.

"It's not good news," he started to stammer.

"Why thank you Captain Obvious!" Jessie remarked. "Like Bo would be crying it was good news!"

"Give her the note," Woody said, glancing over again. "And Jessie, for heavens sake, lower your voice!"

Jessie blinked, chastised in that instant. She took the note that Buzz passed to her, his hands shaking.

Notice of Eviction for Non Payment
Notice is hereby given that the current owner(s) of Brookmarsh Farm are in default of payment upon the premises.

You are hereby required to either pay the rent and back taxes currently due in full, or to leave the premises within six months of this notice.

If you fail to either pay or turn over the keys for this property within the allotted time stated, all dwelling(s) and/or land shall be seized, and held at auction to recuperate losses. Any profits and/or remaining proceeds shall be held in lieu to cover fees, and other costs incurred.

This notice has been served as seen fit and passed to the county council until at such times noted above it shall be actioned.

Jessie looked up. Buzz was watching her. If he even so much as dared to tell her that she looked lovely when she was reading, she'd hurt him. Fortunately, he did not.

"We're being evicted?"

Her choice of words only served to make Bo wail louder and Woody shot the redhead an annoyed look.

"Buzz, take Jessie in the kitchen and make some tea?" There was enough irritation in his voice that Buzz recognised they needed to make themselves scarce, and obeyed. With a brief nod, he went to take one of Jessie's hands, thought better of it, and placed his hand in the middle of her back instead, to guide her from the room.

"I thought you said things would be fine. You said it was a rough patch." Bo lifted her head at last from Woody's chest. Woody looked at her wordlessly.

"How could you do this to me? To us?" Bo suddenly pushed him away. It was not a hard push, and she was only small and fragile, but Woody didn't see it coming. He stumbled back in shock, caught off guard.

"I – I was paying the bills," Woody stuttered as he fought to regain his balance. "I just…wasn't making the f-full amount each month." I thought we'd be fine as long as the creditors were getting something."

"And now we're going to the thrown onto the street?" Bo glared. "We're going to have everything taken from us and it's your fault! I said to you a long time ago, heck we even discussed this very situation this afternoon, and I said to you, we're in trouble!"

Woody was once again rendered speechless. "I'm sorry…" he murmured, dropping his gaze.

"Sorry isn't putting food on the table, coal on the fire or money in the creditors' pockets!" Bo snapped, gathering up her sewing from the sofa and turning to leave the room. Before she did so, she delivered her parting shot that hit Woody square in the guts.

"Mr Hayward would not be proud of you."

He had his back to her, his hands steadying himself against the kitchen counter, waiting for the kettle on the stove to boil. He forced himself to breath in and out normally.

Jessie was sitting at the table behind him, playing with the end of her braid. Normally he loved to watch that, but he couldn't right now. Not just because Woody had told him to calm down, but also because there was the additional stress of the impending auction looming over all their heads.

How were they to survive? Woody and Bo would be homeless and penniless. At least Jessie had her cottage down the lane, and he had his own rented accommodation in town. But how were they to keep up their payments if the money – which, Buzz now realised, had been worse than usual of late – ceased to come into the farm?

The kettle whistling its tune brought him back to reality, and he busied himself with transferring the water from the kettle to the teapot.

"Buzz?" The very sound of her voice saying his name was enough for him to jolt and spill water all over the counter top.

"Y…yeah?" He started to mop up the spillage with a cloth. "Pull it together!" he chided himself fiercely.

"What are we going to do?"

He couldn't speak. She'd obviously been sitting there worrying about the things he'd been going over in his own head. For several minutes he kept his back to her so she couldn't see the terrified expression on his face – both from not knowing exactly what they were going to do, and also because he didn't know how to express himself o her anymore. Frankly the thought of both scared the daylights out of him.

Jessie filled the silence. "What's going to happen to the critters?"

Buzz closed his eyes. Jessie loved animals. Another thing that had drawn him to her in the first place. "I don't know." He tried to keep his voice steady as he began to pour the tea into cups. He heard the scrape of her chair as the stood, the pad of her socks against the hard wood floorboards. Then her hand was on his shoulder suddenly.

"We're going to be okay, right Buzz?"

He glanced around at her, leaving the tea to stew in the cups as his blue eyes gazed into her emerald orbs. There was an expression in them he'd seen only once before – the look when she had thought they were going to lose the stables they'd had in town. That was over a year ago now, and Woody had saved them that time with an offer via telegram. And somehow, deep down inside him, Buzz knew they could fix this too.

"Yes Jessie. We're going to be fine."