Alice backs her travel plans with some earning plans.

Radio Times: Caroline gets a new member of staff.

Characters: Alice, Brian, Caroline, Helen, Jennifer, Oliver

• Alice is still making plans for her gap year in South Africa, or as it is fast becoming, the whole of Africa. It fills Jennifer with horror but Brian is making light of it. Brian’s back is still troubling him but he hasn’t yet made an appointment with the osteopath – funny that! Although Alice has the afternoon off college, she will not be home: she has things to do.
• Caroline has to admit that Grey Gables has survived a day without her or Roy. Although she does not know the reason for his absence, she detects a new cheerfulness in Roy’s voice.
• Brian reassures Jennifer that Alice is just day-dreaming; she simply doesn’t have the money for all these travel plans. Once she reaches Kate in South Africa she will get a reality check.
• Oliver has lost no time in consulting Helen about cheese and she is encouraging. In fact, rather than Oliver investing in equipment and learning from scratch, she suggests that she could provide a cheese-making service. She needs a new challenge too (is there something in the Ambridge air?) and would love to have a go at making a hard cheese.
• Alice is a step ahead of her father for once. She has called at Grey Gables to ask Caroline for a job. She will have to see Jonty but almost certainly he will take her on. Caroline gently chides her about the way she has gone about asking and checks whether her parents are happy with her working; she is assured that they are totally cool about it.