the woman with the four planks of wood

I watched her from the train. She wore a black and white diamond patterned coat and was arranging four planks of wood into a neat stack on the floor. Suddenly she hoisted the planks up on to her shoulder as deftly as a majorette swinging a baton and marched off and, even though I was miles from my stop, I leapt off the train and followed her.

In a dusty room at the back of The Blue Boar I watched her place the four planks of wood on a low stage under a spotlight. Then she disappeared round the back.

 I sat and looked at the four planks of wood. An hour went by and nothing happened so I grabbed the planks of wood and ran for it.

Later I took the planks out to the garage, lashed them together with string, and attached a note saying do not burn.