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Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Mrs Forbes Gwen Plumb

When Scott Robinson and Danny Ramsay ran away from home, with Danny accused of mugging Carol Brown, they found themselves forced to work on a farm after all of their belongings were stolen. The owner of the farm, a wily lady named Mrs Forbes, offered them food, lodgings and payment in return for their digging a manure pit. The boys told her that they were brothers by the name of Jones and they had run away from an abusive father. They also claimed that they had grown up working on a farm.

The following day, while the boys were busy, Mrs Forbes picked up Scott’s watch, which had fallen from a fence post, and noticed his real name and telephone number on the back. She then took the opportunity to phone Jim Robinson, explaining that his boys were fine, but not revealing who or where she was. Around the same time, she received a call from the hospital saying that her husband had suffered a nasty turn. It was then that she decided to keep the boys around for as long as she needed them.

As the days went on, Mrs Forbes began to soften toward Scott and Danny, but then received the shocking news that her husband had died. With the manure pit complete, the boys made plans to leave, especially when Mrs Forbes threatened them with a gun during a moment of grief. However, when a bank representative turned up, they found out that she was in danger of losing the farm, and they decided to stay on a little longer. Mrs Forbes agreed to sell the farm to recover her debts to the bank, and made plans to move into a hostel in a nearby town.

She revealed to the boys that she’d been in contact with their father, and that he had explained that everything was ok and that the police had dropped the charges. They were relieved that they could finally return home, but offered to stay with Mrs Forbes until she moved out. She was grateful, but told them that she would be fine now. She thanked them for all of their help and support, and they contacted home.

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