(Part 01)
In the seventies Mornington-By-Mere was a busy little village and thriving with Valentine St George as the Baron in residence.
Throughout its history the Village of Mornington was largely dependent on agriculture for its survival but RAF Mornington as a fully operational front line bomber station brought additional prosperity.
However the farms of the Vale were still crucial to the health of the welfare of the inhabitants.
One such farm was Windmill Farm run by the Hall family and had been for six generations but the next generation was in doubt as Lance, the sole heir of the Hall family had doubts about his future and in particular at the age of 18 he couldn’t see himself as a farmer.
It was that doubt which shaped his thinking for the next four years and his interactions with the Palfrey girls of nearby Meadow Lea Farm in the Dulcets.
The Dulcets were a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and the nearest one to Meadow Lea, Dulcet-on-Brooke.
The narrative of Lance Hall and the Palfrey girls is not intended to be a boastful tale of conquest and at the time he was not proud to have done what he eventually did and the eventual outcome was not even the intended one, in fact in the four year period of Lance’s life that this story covers, the thought never once crossed his mind that it might happen and it certainly wasn’t desired, it just happened but he never regretted the final outcome and indeed thanked God for it.
It was 1975 when it all began and Lance Hall was just 18 years old when he met Helen Palfrey for the first time.
It was a cold grey Monday morning, so grey and dismal it was clear rain wasn’t far away.
He was visiting a friend in Shallowfield that morning and he had just stepped off the bus when the girl in front of him dropped her umbrella.
Lance bent down and picked it up and when he stood up again she had turned around and he was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face.
“Thank you” She said and smiled and he was instantly smitten.
But as taken with her as he was, he was completely struck dumb and all he could do was return her smile and hand her the umbrella and that would probably have been that, had it not been for the fact that she was visiting the same friend that he was.
Although he had never met her before it turned out that they were both members of the Finchbottom Vale Young Farmers Association.
The reason they both happened to be meeting Yvonne Bird in Shallowfield that day was to sign up for some part time work to earn some extra money and in Helen’s case it was to swell her coffers before she started University.
(Part 02)
Over the next few months they became very close friends but sadly no more than that.
It turned out that they had several mutual friends and they kind of fell into a sociable group of a dozen or more friends who would go out either in one big group or smaller ones and go bowling, barn dancing or to the seaside at Sharpington or any number of things, the pub quite often.
And all of these many and varied social activities they participated in, but try as he may he never made any inroads into her heart.
Another bi-product of Lance and Helen socialising in the same group was his introduction to the Palfrey family and their farm.
Windmill Farm in Mornington was the larger of the two, which had at its center the large farmhouse, parts of which dated back six centuries.
It had been added to over the years to accommodate the growing Hall clan until it was now comprised of six upstairs bedrooms and an equal number of rooms on the ground floor.
There was also milking sheds, barns, hen houses, assorted out buildings and a farm cottage.
Meadow Lea Farm on the other hand was smaller and less diverse in nature but it had been around every bit as long and the Palfreys had worked the land to great effect.
Helen’s widowed father, Richard was a quiet kindly man who seldom spoke, while her uncle, Donald on the other hand never shut up and had a dry wit and if you were in the right frame of mind he could be hysterically funny.
If on the other hand you were not in the mood for it then he was just bloody annoying.
He was an accountant by profession which is a humourless occupation at the best of times which is why he over compensated.
Margot, her Aunt was a real battle-axe who had a face that could warp wood.
She was a Theatre Sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford where he suspected she probably did unpleasant things to patients probably while they were unconscious.
Her Aunt and Uncle had moved to the Meadow Lea after her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and much to her annoyance they never went home again.
Helens eldest sibling was Ken who was twenty one years old and was a farmer like his father, while he inherited his uncle’s liking for being a wit he sadly he didn’t possess any but he was a good farmer.
Then came the three sisters, Helen aged 18, Martha 16 and 15 year old Katie and considering the fact they were sisters they couldn’t have been more different from each other personality and appearance wise.
They all had something around the eyes that bound them as kin, provided they were all together in a small room and you could compare them closely.
In a crowd however you would never have picked them out as siblings and furthermore they had absolutely nothing in common other than the same parentage and their shared beauty and of course an unbreakable love for each other.
(Part 03)
Helen was the oldest of the Palfrey girls at 18, the same age as Lance and was the tallest by several inches and she was blessed with stunning legs, in fact legs so stunning that they had never been surpassed in his eyes.
She had long brunette hair that fell over her slender shoulders she was also very slim, a size 12 in old money, God alone knows what the modern equivalent is.
She was not overly endowed in the bust department but he always thought she was perfectly in proportion.
Helen was also keenly intelligent and delightfully funny with the dirtiest laugh he had ever heard.
But despite all of that she didn’t have a clue how gorgeous she was and as a result she had a succession of failed relationships with unsuitable men who used her, abused her and then dumped her and managed to leave her thinking she deserved it.
Lance would never have treated her that way because he loved her and he would have cherished her if he’d had the opportunity.
One of her wider social group was Helen’s sister Martha, she was the middle one of the three and was a few months short of 17.
She was brunette as well but she didn’t suffer from Helen’s lack of self-confidence in fact her problem was that she thought she was very attractive.
In fact Martha actually thought she was more attractive than she really was.
She used to borrow her sister Helen’s clothes which didn’t fit her.
Martha actually thought that if she squeezed her size 14 arse into her sister’s size 12 knickers that she actually had a size 12 arse.
Only she knew why she did it, because she was attractive in her own right, just not as attractive as her sisters.
Perhaps she envied Helen’s slim figure and so tried to be her, but she was on a hiding to nothing because she was very definitely not Helen.
Katie was the youngest at 15 and she was Blonde and full of self-confidence but she could afford to be as she had everything, a delicious figure, a bubbly personality and an infectious sense of fun.
Oh yes Katie was funny and sexy and furthermore she had a crush on Lance, and he was as flattered as hell and had he been 3 years younger and not in love with Helen he would have snapped her up in a heartbeat.
As the months went by and Helen went from one disastrous, ill-considered boyfriend to the next, he sat on the side-lines watching then one day when she had just picked herself up from yet another car crash of a relationship Lance decided he should just ask her out and be done with it.
That decision proved to be a colossal mistake.
He wasn’t her type apparently.
“No I guess I’m not” he said “that’s because I’m not an asshole that treats you like shit”
After that exchange they didn’t talk for three months.
(Part 04)
When Helen and Lance finally began talking again he found that nothing had changed
He was still desperately in love with her but she still just wanted them to be friends.
That was the moment it dawned on him that it was never going to happen for them, and he thought he should have walked away there and then but he didn’t.
Instead he asked out her sister Martha who was then 17.
There’s no doubt that initially he went out with Martha because it was a way for him to be close to Helen but at the same time he could still have a life.
It was a dangerous enterprise to undertake on several levels and perhaps the most hazardous was the fact that with Martha’s facial features she had the most chance of ending up looking like her hatchet faced Aunt which was a scary thought.
That summer Martha gave him her virginity in a tent in Sharpinghead not perhaps the most romantic of ways but it seemed to him as good a place as any at the time.
Two months later they were engaged and Helen left for University.
Everything seemed to be working out for the best Lance loved Martha even though she wasn’t her sister and they were planning their future together and Helen was getting on with her life and working hard towards her degree and still going out with bastards.
But every time Helen came home from University the wound would open up again and she filled his every waking thought.
One Christmas when she was home he was making love to Martha in her bedroom and he actually imagined it was Helen so he broke up with her on New Year’s Eve.
The New Year began with Martha in tears in one room and Helen demanding to know what the hell was going on in another.
“Why are you breaking up with her?” she demanded for the third time. “She really loves you”
“Because I’m in love with someone else” he finally replied
“Who?” she asked
“You really have to ask” Lance replied
She looked blankly for a moment and then it dawned on her
“You can’t still be in love with me”
“Well I am” he retorted and then she sat down and lit a cigarette
“I thought you’d gotten over me” she said
“Oh yes you would think so wouldn’t you” he snapped
“Well you should have” she barked “I’ve given you no encouragement”
“Yes I should have” he said “then I wouldn’t see your face when I’m making love to Martha”
Lance left then and went home before she could respond.
Two days later he received a letter with a hand written envelope, in a familiar hand smelling of her perfume.
Helen had written him a letter, and his heart soared, and it took him half an hour to work up the courage to open it and another thirty seconds to throw it in the bin.
Three hand written pages in her elegant hand, extolling the virtues of her younger sister and begging him to change his mind.
Three long hand written pages and not one word of love for him.
He resolved then and there to break the chain that bound him to her and run for the hills.
After a week he had almost gone a whole day without having a drink but his determination was strong.
Until one cold wet night when there was a knock on the door and Martha stood there soaked to the skin and crying and he was trapped again.
For the next year or so everything seemed to have settled down mainly because Helen and Lance largely avoided each other.
In addition to his work on the farm he was working a lot of extra hours trying to stash some money in the savings for their impending nuptials and Helen was busy working on her dissertation and Lance thought perhaps he had finally turned a corner.
Which is why he lowered his guard, and from Easter of that year onwards Helen and he were back on speaking terms again.
And as there had been no repeat of picturing of her siblings face while making love he was in a positive frame of mind.
(Part 05)
Martha had been lured away from farming by her Uncle into the world of accountancy and had been working for a big Aerospace Company in Finchbottom for over a year, they probably employed a fifth of the town’s available workforce at the time and she earned good money.
But better than that they had a huge sports and social club, and better still it was heavily subsidised.
That summer, there was a big fancy dress party and Martha got them tickets and she had a spare one which without asking him first, she gave to Helen who was back from University, having graduated with a first.
Lance was cross when he first found out, but Martha was so proud of her sister for graduating he relented.
Also Martha said she needed cheering up because she had just broken up with her latest waster of a boyfriend.
The latest pig, in a long line of pigs, so no surprise there.
On the night of the party it was a warm dry night and as the Palfreys Farm was only about a mile from the railway station, and the social club was a similar distance away at the other end, they decided to walk to and from the station, in costume.
Lance went to the Palfreys in his street clothes and changed in Martha’s bedroom.
Martha was dressed as a flapper in a dress she’d made herself and she looked really hot and Lance went as a Roman, wearing sandals and a toga.
Helen though was dressed as a toddler, in a smock top and a nappy, which showed off her gorgeous long legs to great effect, and her brunette hair was tied up in little bunches and she had a dummy on a ribbon around her neck.
For the walk to the club she wore a long wrap around skirt to protect her modesty.
When they got there they found the fancy dress party was already in full swing and was very well attended so much so that the hall was packed.
Lance noticed he was not the only Roman at the forum by long way and Martha was not the only Flapper, Helen however was unique as always.
With the heavily subsidised bar the drink was flowing freely and the crowd were exuberant in the extreme, some were so exuberant that they could barely stand.
As the evening wore on much alcohol was consumed and overall it was a very enjoyable night out indeed and Lance felt at last that he was able to enjoy being in Helen’s company without the old feelings coming to the fore.
Martha was close to having had one Bacardi and coke too many but insisted she was fine.
“Have a dance with Helen, I need a pee” she said and tottered off to the ladies.
“Great idea” Helen said and grabbed his hand and dragged him off to the middle of the dance floor just as Fleetwood Mac’s, Albatross began.
She stopped and turned around to face him and wrapped her skinny arms around his neck and then inexplicably she kissed him.
(Part 06)
When Helen kissed him out of the blue it was not a sisterly smack or a friendly peck, this was an open mouthed penetrating tongue kind of kiss which took him completely by surprise and took his breath away.
It took him a moment to realise what was happening and that he needed to be joining in.
However once he had cottoned on he went about it with relish and his hands which had been resting in the small of her back quickly encroached inside her smock top and were caressing the naked skin of her back.
The music went from Fleetwood Mac to 10cc to Harry Nilsson and still they kissed.
It was only when the dulcet tones of Jeff Beck’s, Hi Ho Silver Lining, broke the spell that they suddenly realised they were not alone and Helen giggled and as she giggled Lance realised he was fully aroused beneath his toga which made it difficult to walk in any way other than gingerly.
Helen looked at him curiously before looking down at the protrusion and began giggling again.
They walked back sheepishly to their table just a Martha came stumbling back towards them.
She was laughing like a drain as she tottered along and when she reached them she slurred
“I fell over” and roared with laughter again
“I think we’d better get you home” Helen said
Martha was still laughing as they gathered their stuff together and steered a drunk and giggling Martha towards the door.
Once outside Helen said
“Hold on”
And began rummaging inside her bag and eventually fished out her wrap around skirt.
Lance watched her intently as she wrapped the skirt around her slender pins and when she caught him watching her she blushed and then smiled.
They set off down the road with Martha sandwiched between the two of them and he fully expected them to continue that way the whole way home but when they got to the station, the train was on the platform so they jumped on and before the train even left the station Martha was asleep and with her sister asleep Helen took the opportunity to hold his hand.
When they got off in the Dulcets, Martha seemed to have suddenly sobered up and got it into her head that they weren’t walking fast enough and yomped off ahead of them at pace.
Helen and Lance set off after her but she built up a good head of steam and then Helen took hold of his hand again
“Let her go” she said “she’ll be alright” and pulled him towards a convenient bus shelter and then dragged him inside.
“She’s almost home anyway” she said and kissed him, her hot darting tongue exploring his mouth while her hands tried to get inside his toga and his arousal tried to get out, when it suddenly occurred to him that his drunken fiancé was somewhere ahead of them in the dark and he was in a bus shelter snogging her sister so he stopped things before they went too far and said
“We need to find Martha, come on let’s get you home”
She was reluctant to leave but she nodded her ascent and followed him and they walked the rest of the way holding hands.
(Part 07)
Helen and Lance reached Meadow Lea Farm and they walked to the house and Helen opened the door
“Come in for coffee” she said
His head was swimming with the evenings events, and he needed to think so he shook his head.
“Please” she begged “just coffee”
Lance agreed and Helen took his hand and led him inside.
Although the thought never occurred to him at that precise moment he really had no choice but to go in as his street clothes were in a bag in Martha’s room.
At the bottom of the stairs she whispered
“Put the kettle on and I’ll go and check on Martha”
Lance nodded and went through to the kitchen and filled the kettle and flicked the switch before walking back to the lounge just as Helen walked lightly down the stairs, she was barefoot and wearing a full length white cotton Kaftan and she was carrying his street clothes in a carrier bag.
“Martha is spark out” she said as she closed the distance between them and he got a sudden whiff of freshly applied perfume and he was intoxicated by it.
Lance was also very aroused as he believed that perfume was the only other thing she was wearing apart from the kaftan.
Helen smiled and in an instant her mouth was over his.
They were hot and urgent kisses far more eager than on the dance floor and more intense than in the bus shelter.
Lance broke away and asked
“What about your Dad”
“He’s in Sharpington, so is Uncle Donald and Auntie Margot and Ken is at his girlfriends and Katie sleeps like the dead” she replied
“What about Martha?”
Helen responded to his question by pressing her mouth against his again and once more tried to get inside his toga and unlike in the bus shelter this time she succeeded.
They made love on the sofa as his fiancé slept in the room above them and it was the perfect culmination of his years of longing.
Afterwards they lay panting on the sofa loosely covered by her Kaftan before she took him to her room and they made love again.
It was almost dawn when Helen woke him with a kiss.
“It’s time to go sweetheart” she said softly.
Lance returned her kiss with interest but Helen curtailed the embrace and slipped her Kaftan back on and went downstairs to retrieve his bag of street clothes and when she returned she sat on the bed and watched him as he quietly got dressed.
They tiptoed down the stairs and stood on the doorstep and kissed and then she said
“I love you” and his heart soared and they kissed again and he quite reasonably believed it was a new beginning, he certainly wasn’t thinking that it was the end.
“I never did get a coffee” he said and she giggled
Lance walked towards the gate and turned around and waved to her from across the Farm Yard and she blew him a kiss.
The dawn had fully broken by then and as he turned and waved once again the birds sang out their morning song that echoed Lance’s joy.
(Part 08)
As he left Helen on that joyous morning he thought that the bright dawn heralded a bright new beginning, a new dawn for a new start, but how wrong he was.
When he went to the Farm the next day Helen was conspicuous by her absence and his new beginning turned out to be a false dawn, a case of the same old same old.
She had gone to Northchapel to stay with friends and he was left in limbo and he didn’t know how to behave around Martha, who was oblivious of the fact that he and Helen had made love while she slept.
He was confused, was it over between them or not, and were he and Helen a couple or not?
If Martha ever knew about what happened between Helen and Lance that night she never mentioned it and her behaviour towards him was unaltered.
It was a month after the fancy dress party when Helen finally reappeared.
But it was another week after that before he got her on her own because she was avoiding him.
He took a day off from the Windmill Farm, which caused a bit of a ruck between him and his father, but he shrugged it off and made his way over to the Palfreys.
He waited in the copse beside the farm, where he had a good view of the comings and goings from the house and he waited until everyone had either left for the day or gone about their work.
The weather had been very hot for the previous few weeks and that day was no different even that early the heat was beginning to build.
He gave it another half an hour just to make sure no one returned and then he left the wood, climbed the fence and crossed the yard.
He let himself in the front door and tiptoed through the lounge and dining room and as he approached the kitchen door he looked in and he could see her at the kitchen sink.
As she stopped what she was doing she dried her hands and turned around just as he stepped through the kitchen door.
Helen gasped when she saw him and then almost instantly she dissolved into tears and ran in to his arms.
After some consoling he asked her
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
“Because I love you” she replied “but I also love Martha”
She sobbed uncontrollably again
“Didn’t that night mean anything to you?” he asked coldly and pushed her away
“It meant everything to me” she screamed “that’s why I feel so guilty, so wretched”
She turned away from him but he took hold of her arm and pulled her back into his arms.
After he had calmed her down and dried her tears they talked calmly and then she took him to her Aunt and Uncle’s bed and they stayed there all day.
When he kissed her goodbye that day it was the last time and furthermore he planned for it to be the last time he ever saw her.
Helen couldn’t live with the guilt of what she had done and even though she loved him desperately she vowed that they could never be together.
So after their brief affair Helen went back to University to do her masters.
Martha and Lance split up soon afterwards, he told everyone it was because he wanted a family and she didn’t but the truth was his heart wasn’t in it anymore if indeed it ever really had been.
In truth after sleeping with Helen, making love to Martha always felt like second best.
He knew it would hurt her when he broke off the engagement but Martha was a lovely girl and she deserved better than him.
She deserved someone who really loved her the way he loved Helen.
(Part 09)
After parting with Helen and breaking up with Martha he left Windmill Farm and moved to his Uncles Farm near Highfinch, he told his father he wanted to gain some varied experience so he would be better equipped to take over from him.
But what he really wanted to do was to wash his hands of the Palfreys once and for all.
And moving to Highfinch for a lengthy stay would achieve that or so he thought.
His cousin Dave had a mobile disco, he also had transport, he had all the gear, all the gigs and all the gab but he didn’t have a driving licence, he could drive tractors but he didn’t have a licence to go on the road.
So Dave persuaded him to be his roadie, he would drive him to the gigs and help him set up, then at the end of the night, pack away and drive him home, simplicity itself.
One night a little under a year after he broke Martha’s heart they were doing a gig at Purplemere college an in between set up and break down his time was his own.
Sometimes Lance would stay in the venue for the evening, other times he might have a sleep in the van or as he did on one particular occasion he went down the road for a pint.
When he returned to the venue he discarded his cigarette end as he walked up the steps to the front door he noticed a blonde girl to one side of the door obviously crying.
“Are you alright?” he asked and as she turned around she was wiping her eyes
“Yes thank you” she replied and then she smiled at him in recognition.
It was Katie Palfrey and when she saw it was Lance she burst into tears again and ran to him.
“Here we go again” he thought another crying Palfrey girl, but he was not the same sympathetic man he was when he held a sobbing Helen in his arms in the Palfreys kitchen.
She was crying over being discarded by a shit of a boyfriend, she obviously shared her sister’s habit of making bad choices.
Nor was he the same person Katie had a crush on when she was 15 years old, that man was gone forever.
His heart had hardened since then and he was ashamed to recall in later years but he took advantage of her vulnerability and made love to her in the back of the van.
Well more precisely they had sex, there was no love involved in the act at least not on his side.
They met up a few more times after that, purely for the sex as far as he was concerned and then when it was clear she wanted more he dumped her and there were more tears.
The significance of that meeting with a crying Katie Palfrey in Purplemere didn’t strike him at the time.
But it facilitated his having slept with all three of Richard Palfrey’s daughters.
But when it did occur to him he felt no pride in that dubious accomplishment.
It did however amuse him to wonder if Uncle Donald would have seen any wit in the fact that he had bedded all three of his nieces.
(Part 10)
After he broke up with Katie he hoped that that would be the last he heard of the Palfreys but of course life just wasn’t like that.
He had spent two years working with his Uncle up in Highfinch when he decided it was time to go home.
He was just turned 25 and was unattached and he hadn’t had a serious relationship since breaking up with Martha and wasn’t looking for one for that matter.
He threw himself into his work and for the next 18 months he thought of nothing else and it took some severe arm twisting by his mates to persuade him to go to the Mornington Beer Festival.
The Beer Festival was a two day event and as was the norm it was being held in the grounds of Mornington Manor which was only a short walk from Windmill Farm.
In addition to his mates they were accompanied by two young girls, Sally and Linda, who were the girlfriends of two of his mates.
The girls were gregarious, bubbly and outgoing and everybody liked them, but Lance just found them annoying in the extreme and the moment he saw them he regretted his decision to go.
Everything about them was loud and brash there was nothing that could be in any way considered to be subdued in either of them.
Garishly bright multi-coloured clothes, excessive quantities of jewelry and too much makeup.
After an hour in their company he was ready to throw in the towel but decided on one more drink.
They arrived outside the main beer tent, which was crowded and noisy.
As they made their way to the bar he decided he wasn’t up for it and hung back in preparation to slip away into the crowd, he got as far as the door when he was stopped dead in his tracks.
He was staring into the eyes of an angel whose brunette hair framed the classical beauty of her face and he was once again smitten.
“Lance” She said and smiled “is it really you?”
“Hi Helen”
“Hello stranger” She said smiling broadly, she still had the same lovely laughing eyes which narrowed when she smiled, which he remembered was often, and her smile illuminated her face.
Her friends said something about getting to the bar but he wasn’t really paying attention.
“I’ll catch you up” she responded to them
“God it’s good to see you” Helen said
“Yes it is” he agreed but was incapable of forming a more informative sentence, such was his state of shock.
“Would you like a drink?” he asked
“Yes please” she replied “But not here, somewhere quieter”
“Let’s go to the pub that will be deserted today” Lance suggested
“Ok then” she agreed
“It’s so good to see you” she said as they walked towards the Old Mill Inn “I thought you were in Highfinch”
“I was” he replied “I’ve been back about 18 months”
“I suppose you must be married and settled down by now” she mused
“No I’m still single” he replied “I decided relationships weren’t worth all the heartache, what about you?”
“The same” she said “I decided to give up on assholes that treated me like shit”
“A good choice” Lance agreed as they approached the pub.
“And anyway I let the only decent man I’ve ever known slip through my fingers”
“What?” he exclaimed coming to a halt
“I still love you” Helen said “I loved you then and the moment I saw you again it confirmed what I’ve always believed, I love you still”
“I never stopped loving you” Lance said “And I tried, really hard”
“Then I think it’s time we did something about it” she said
“What about Martha?” he asked
“She’s happily married and lives in Finchbottom, she’s moved on” Helen replied
“So we will be hurting no one by being together, but by being apart we are hurting ourselves and I don’t want to hurt anymore”
“Nor do I” he said and sealed it with a kiss
Helen and Lance married the following year and had three children and by the time they celebrated their 35 wedding anniversary they hand 2 grandchildren.
So as for the other two Palfrey girls, in the year after Lance split up with Martha she gained four stones and married a ginger haired accountant, and they’re still married and she never had any children.
Katie on the other hand married three times and had a child from each, all of them girls, and they became some other young man’s nightmare.
Sunday 2 April 2017
Downshire Diary – (34) Moonlighting
(Part 01)
Sharon Black was a pretty nurse with straw coloured hair, and despite the fact that she was almost six feet tall, she looked like a breadth of wind might blow her away.
But she was a very strong character and full of self-confidence, but it hadn’t always been that way because when she was a young girl she lived in the village of Bracefield in the Finchbottom Vale and she was painfully shy.
But that was a long time ago and now at the age of 33 she was comfortable in her own skin.
She hadn’t lived in Bracefield for many years and she lived alone in her own two bedroom house on a new development in the south of the town.
She had tried living with someone else and almost became engaged to him but after two months she realised two things, first that she didn’t love him and secondly that she preferred living alone.
Sharon was an oncology nurse by profession and worked at the Winston Churchill Hospital but in order to pay for her to live alone in her own house, which she loved, she had to supplement her income with some private work.
So she started moonlighting for a private nursing agency and did a wide variety of roles, evenings and weekends, the only thing she refused to do was to work at the Churchill Hospital where she worked out of, as she thought that was taking liberties.
So that was why every other weekend Sharon made her way up to a private house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of the county.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish but for its owner Michael Booth it had become like a prison because even a gilded cage was still a cage.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous but the reason for his imprisonment was his wife’s illness.
Sharon’s role in regard to Nuria Booth was palliative care.
Normally when Sharon was on the night shift all she had to do, apart from managing the patients medication was to just sit with them.
So it enabled her to nap quite a lot so as not to impact on her day job, and she was fortunate in one respect that she had never slept for more than 6 hours a night in her whole life.
But with the Booths she stayed for the whole weekend and by the beginning of June, Nuria was very far along and barely conscious.
It was about three o’clock in the morning when Sharon woke from a restful dose, so she checked the patient and then decided to go and get herself a hot drink.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
Sharon tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 02)
Sharon Black crept slowly and quietly down the stairs from her patient Nuria Booth’s room so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
She tip toed her way down the staircase until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
She made herself a drink and then went to investigate the light in the study and when she got closer she noticed the door was slightly ajar and she could see Michael Booth seated at his desk.
“Hello Mr Booth” Sharon said pushing the door open
“Is everything alright?” he said startled
“Yes I was just getting a drink” she replied
“Are you ok?” she asked and entered the room and approached him.
“If you’re having trouble sleeping I can give you something” she said
“I’m fine really” he said
“I don’t think you are” Sharon said and sat herself on the corner of his desk “So come on out with it”
He didn’t say anything immediately but Sharon noticed he was staring at her legs, and then he realised she had noticed and looked away.
“Well I’m ashamed to say it but…. I’m bored”
He admitted
“I can’t go out of the house and leave her but I can’t have people over here either”
“It’s not just that though is it?” she said as she noticed his eyes on her legs again.
“No” he agreed “I feel guilty because I resent her and her illness keeping me here”
“I see” she said
“Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Mr Booth”
“Please call me Michael”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Michael” she said
“You love Nuria very much and it hurts like hell to watch her slipping away”
“She isn’t slipping away though is she? She’s dying by inches”
Michael said “and its torture”
Michael Booth was a very wealthy man with business interests all over Downshire but even with all his wealth he was helpless to help his wife.
“I know” she said “And all you can do is be there for her, hold her hand and talk to her, read to her, and let her hear your voice”
Michael nodded
“Any way I should get back” she said “Good night”
“Good night” Michael said and he watched her leave the room and as he had shown such an interest in her legs during their conversation she thought she would give him something more tantalizing to look at and walked out very slowly, and her boldness surprised her even though she was very self-confident.
Her brazenness of course was due to the fact that she had grown very fond of him over the months she had been nursing his wife.
But that night was the first time she realised that he was attracted to her.
“He really likes my legs” she thought as she climbed the stairs
(Part 03)
Although Sharon Black had grown very fond of Michael Booth in the months that she had been nursing his terminally ill wife, and flattered though she was when she caught him ogling her legs, she had far too much professional integrity to act on her feelings.
But he had undoubtedly awoken feelings in her that she thought had gone forever.
Michael Booth was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous.
But despite his great wealth he was sad, lonely and guilty, sad because the woman he loved was dying, lonely because of his self-imposed imprisonment in his home and guilty because of his growing feelings for Nurse Black.
Sharon Black was not the only nurse that looked after Nuria, he had twenty four hour a day, and seven day a week cover but she was the only nurse he looked at with a lustful gaze was Sharon and not because she was the only attractive one among them, which was why he felt so guilty.
Because if he’s lusted over every woman that stepped over his threshold he could have written it off as simple objectifying.
But instead he was only attracted to Sharon so that was a horse of a different colour.
He loved his wife Nuria, and he had done for all of the 15 years they had been married and the two years they were together before that, but it was breaking his heart watching her decaying before his very eyes.
Sharon was fully aware that she was on his radar and not just because he had shown such an interest in her legs.
And although she had dismissed it as a possibility for all manner of reasons, inappropriate and unprofessional being only two of them, she still found herself looking forward to her weekends in Tipton every other weekend.
Michael was a lonely, soon to be widower, as his wife Nuria was dying.
Almost every waking moment he had thoughts of Sharon filling his head but he knew there would be no betrayal on his conscience.
He had far too much integrity to allow anything to happen like that and if he were to fall from grace the guilt would have lain heavy on him.
But he still felt guilty for having the thoughts in the first place, but it wasn’t just a physical thing, he really liked her and felt a connection to her.
Sharon was also conflicted having feelings for him whilst trying to remain loyal to her patient and so as she drove north from Abbottsford on Friday evening she promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything provocative or alluring but she promised herself that every time she set off but each time she failed.
Which was why when Sharon woke from a restful dose at three o’clock in the morning, after checking her patient, she decided to go downstairs because she knew that Michael would be sitting in his study.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb him if he was asleep and so she tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound and then she knew he was awake and when she got downstairs could see a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 04)
“Hello Michael” Sharon said pushing the study door open “trouble sleeping again?”
“I’m afraid so” he said
“I was just getting a drink” she replied “Would you like one?”
“No I’m fine” he said
“I’m just going to read for a bit”
Sharon sat herself on the corner of his desk and he immediately began staring at her legs, she was unaware at that moment that he was showing such an interest in her legs not that she was about to give him something even more tantalizing to look at.
She had seen in her peripheral vision that there was a book on the far corner of the desk so Sharon stood up and in one fluid movement turned around and reached across the desk to retrieve the book.
“So what are you reading?” she said without returning to the perpendicular.
“Dickens” he said in answer to her question while he stared at her wonderful figure as she was reaching over the desk but then his conscience got the better of him and he got up abruptly
“I think I’ll give it a miss after all” he said and left
As Sharon made herself a hot drink she reflected on the event that had occurred and thought that neither of them would be able to sleep any more that night.
After having her evening meal with Michael on Sunday, Sharon Said her goodbyes and headed home unbeknown to her that she would not be making the drive north for another weekend of moonlighting because three days later her patient Nuria finally ended her fight and slipped quietly away in the night.
So the next time she made the drive northward was to attend Nuria’s funeral, and she later found out that she was the only one of her nurses who bothered.
It was difficult when you were a palliative care nurse because all your patients died, and you couldn’t attend every funeral, so you just went to the ones where you had made a special connection, either with the patient of the family.
The funeral was held at St Hilda’s church in Tipton village and the wake was held at the Tipton Manor Hotel.
It was what Michael considered to be a proper funeral where everyone wore black, the men in black suits and ties and the women in the whole ensemble.
Which he always thought was nice, it was tradition, he liked tradition, and he also liked women in black and it would normally have been a source of titillation with all the women present dressed in black, but not of course on that day however as he was too emotionally drained to be interested in such things.
Even when he saw Sharon Black walking towards him, which was the first time he’d seen her out of uniform, he was unmoved.
But he was pleased to see her there nonetheless and he found her presence a great comfort and at the end of proceedings she held his hand and gave him her contact details.
“In case you want someone to talk to” she said and kissed his cheek.
(Part 05)
Sharon continued in palliative care at the Winston Churchill Hospital as well as moonlighting for the agency but all the while Michael wasn’t far from her thoughts but it wasn’t until more than three months after the funeral that she heard from him again.
It was a Sunday morning just after 3 am, she was doing a weekend shift in Shallowfield and he knew with her habit of taking a hot drink in the wee small hours when she was on duty that there was a reasonable chance he would find her awake.
She opened the email and it began
“I’m sitting in my study reading Dickens and I thought of you”
Over the weeks and months that followed emails between them continued more often than not in the middle of the night and she found that even when she wasn’t working she would wake at 3 am just to check her mail.
The content of the mails varied considerably so were very informative, explaining that he was back at work and looking to the future, and some were quite candid such as when he told her that he didn’t want to contact her as a grieving widower looking for a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, he wanted to wait until he could contact her as a friend with potential.
By the time the first anniversary of Nuria death had come and gone the correspondence had become romantic in nature and often quite intimate.
But once the anniversary had passed the email traffic stalled and each of them was waiting for the other to say or do something so when after she had awoken at 3 am one Sunday morning at the end of June to find no email, she showered and dressed and was in the car heading north by 5.30am.
She arrived at the house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of Downshire.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish just like its owner.
She hadn’t seen him for over a year but she had the picture of him in her head.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim an even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous and she was really looking forward to having the fragrance in her nostrils again.
But as she stood on his porch her head were full of doubts and she suddenly felt foolish.
And she thought about turning tail and returning home but then the door opened and a smiling Michael was standing there.
“Come in” he said and Sharon walked nervously in as invited.
It was not like her she was normally ultra-confident but she stepped into the hall she felt very timid, and having got there she had no idea what to do next.
But it was no more than a minute or so after she’d walked in and taken off her coat before he took the initiative and took her in his arms.
Sharon Black was a pretty nurse with straw coloured hair, and despite the fact that she was almost six feet tall, she looked like a breadth of wind might blow her away.
But she was a very strong character and full of self-confidence, but it hadn’t always been that way because when she was a young girl she lived in the village of Bracefield in the Finchbottom Vale and she was painfully shy.
But that was a long time ago and now at the age of 33 she was comfortable in her own skin.
She hadn’t lived in Bracefield for many years and she lived alone in her own two bedroom house on a new development in the south of the town.
She had tried living with someone else and almost became engaged to him but after two months she realised two things, first that she didn’t love him and secondly that she preferred living alone.
Sharon was an oncology nurse by profession and worked at the Winston Churchill Hospital but in order to pay for her to live alone in her own house, which she loved, she had to supplement her income with some private work.
So she started moonlighting for a private nursing agency and did a wide variety of roles, evenings and weekends, the only thing she refused to do was to work at the Churchill Hospital where she worked out of, as she thought that was taking liberties.
So that was why every other weekend Sharon made her way up to a private house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of the county.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish but for its owner Michael Booth it had become like a prison because even a gilded cage was still a cage.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous but the reason for his imprisonment was his wife’s illness.
Sharon’s role in regard to Nuria Booth was palliative care.
Normally when Sharon was on the night shift all she had to do, apart from managing the patients medication was to just sit with them.
So it enabled her to nap quite a lot so as not to impact on her day job, and she was fortunate in one respect that she had never slept for more than 6 hours a night in her whole life.
But with the Booths she stayed for the whole weekend and by the beginning of June, Nuria was very far along and barely conscious.
It was about three o’clock in the morning when Sharon woke from a restful dose, so she checked the patient and then decided to go and get herself a hot drink.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
Sharon tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 02)
Sharon Black crept slowly and quietly down the stairs from her patient Nuria Booth’s room so as not to disturb Mr Booth.
She tip toed her way down the staircase until she was startled by a sound, which made her stop and then after listening intently for a full minute she then carried on.
As she approached the kitchen she noticed a light under the door of his Study.
She made herself a drink and then went to investigate the light in the study and when she got closer she noticed the door was slightly ajar and she could see Michael Booth seated at his desk.
“Hello Mr Booth” Sharon said pushing the door open
“Is everything alright?” he said startled
“Yes I was just getting a drink” she replied
“Are you ok?” she asked and entered the room and approached him.
“If you’re having trouble sleeping I can give you something” she said
“I’m fine really” he said
“I don’t think you are” Sharon said and sat herself on the corner of his desk “So come on out with it”
He didn’t say anything immediately but Sharon noticed he was staring at her legs, and then he realised she had noticed and looked away.
“Well I’m ashamed to say it but…. I’m bored”
He admitted
“I can’t go out of the house and leave her but I can’t have people over here either”
“It’s not just that though is it?” she said as she noticed his eyes on her legs again.
“No” he agreed “I feel guilty because I resent her and her illness keeping me here”
“I see” she said
“Does that make me a terrible person?”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Mr Booth”
“Please call me Michael”
“Of course it doesn’t make you a terrible person Michael” she said
“You love Nuria very much and it hurts like hell to watch her slipping away”
“She isn’t slipping away though is she? She’s dying by inches”
Michael said “and its torture”
Michael Booth was a very wealthy man with business interests all over Downshire but even with all his wealth he was helpless to help his wife.
“I know” she said “And all you can do is be there for her, hold her hand and talk to her, read to her, and let her hear your voice”
Michael nodded
“Any way I should get back” she said “Good night”
“Good night” Michael said and he watched her leave the room and as he had shown such an interest in her legs during their conversation she thought she would give him something more tantalizing to look at and walked out very slowly, and her boldness surprised her even though she was very self-confident.
Her brazenness of course was due to the fact that she had grown very fond of him over the months she had been nursing his wife.
But that night was the first time she realised that he was attracted to her.
“He really likes my legs” she thought as she climbed the stairs
(Part 03)
Although Sharon Black had grown very fond of Michael Booth in the months that she had been nursing his terminally ill wife, and flattered though she was when she caught him ogling her legs, she had far too much professional integrity to act on her feelings.
But he had undoubtedly awoken feelings in her that she thought had gone forever.
Michael Booth was a good looking man in his late thirties slim and even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous.
But despite his great wealth he was sad, lonely and guilty, sad because the woman he loved was dying, lonely because of his self-imposed imprisonment in his home and guilty because of his growing feelings for Nurse Black.
Sharon Black was not the only nurse that looked after Nuria, he had twenty four hour a day, and seven day a week cover but she was the only nurse he looked at with a lustful gaze was Sharon and not because she was the only attractive one among them, which was why he felt so guilty.
Because if he’s lusted over every woman that stepped over his threshold he could have written it off as simple objectifying.
But instead he was only attracted to Sharon so that was a horse of a different colour.
He loved his wife Nuria, and he had done for all of the 15 years they had been married and the two years they were together before that, but it was breaking his heart watching her decaying before his very eyes.
Sharon was fully aware that she was on his radar and not just because he had shown such an interest in her legs.
And although she had dismissed it as a possibility for all manner of reasons, inappropriate and unprofessional being only two of them, she still found herself looking forward to her weekends in Tipton every other weekend.
Michael was a lonely, soon to be widower, as his wife Nuria was dying.
Almost every waking moment he had thoughts of Sharon filling his head but he knew there would be no betrayal on his conscience.
He had far too much integrity to allow anything to happen like that and if he were to fall from grace the guilt would have lain heavy on him.
But he still felt guilty for having the thoughts in the first place, but it wasn’t just a physical thing, he really liked her and felt a connection to her.
Sharon was also conflicted having feelings for him whilst trying to remain loyal to her patient and so as she drove north from Abbottsford on Friday evening she promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything provocative or alluring but she promised herself that every time she set off but each time she failed.
Which was why when Sharon woke from a restful dose at three o’clock in the morning, after checking her patient, she decided to go downstairs because she knew that Michael would be sitting in his study.
She crept slowly and quietly down the stairs so as not to disturb him if he was asleep and so she tip toed her way down until she was startled by a sound and then she knew he was awake and when she got downstairs could see a light under the door of his Study.
(Part 04)
“Hello Michael” Sharon said pushing the study door open “trouble sleeping again?”
“I’m afraid so” he said
“I was just getting a drink” she replied “Would you like one?”
“No I’m fine” he said
“I’m just going to read for a bit”
Sharon sat herself on the corner of his desk and he immediately began staring at her legs, she was unaware at that moment that he was showing such an interest in her legs not that she was about to give him something even more tantalizing to look at.
She had seen in her peripheral vision that there was a book on the far corner of the desk so Sharon stood up and in one fluid movement turned around and reached across the desk to retrieve the book.
“So what are you reading?” she said without returning to the perpendicular.
“Dickens” he said in answer to her question while he stared at her wonderful figure as she was reaching over the desk but then his conscience got the better of him and he got up abruptly
“I think I’ll give it a miss after all” he said and left
As Sharon made herself a hot drink she reflected on the event that had occurred and thought that neither of them would be able to sleep any more that night.
After having her evening meal with Michael on Sunday, Sharon Said her goodbyes and headed home unbeknown to her that she would not be making the drive north for another weekend of moonlighting because three days later her patient Nuria finally ended her fight and slipped quietly away in the night.
So the next time she made the drive northward was to attend Nuria’s funeral, and she later found out that she was the only one of her nurses who bothered.
It was difficult when you were a palliative care nurse because all your patients died, and you couldn’t attend every funeral, so you just went to the ones where you had made a special connection, either with the patient of the family.
The funeral was held at St Hilda’s church in Tipton village and the wake was held at the Tipton Manor Hotel.
It was what Michael considered to be a proper funeral where everyone wore black, the men in black suits and ties and the women in the whole ensemble.
Which he always thought was nice, it was tradition, he liked tradition, and he also liked women in black and it would normally have been a source of titillation with all the women present dressed in black, but not of course on that day however as he was too emotionally drained to be interested in such things.
Even when he saw Sharon Black walking towards him, which was the first time he’d seen her out of uniform, he was unmoved.
But he was pleased to see her there nonetheless and he found her presence a great comfort and at the end of proceedings she held his hand and gave him her contact details.
“In case you want someone to talk to” she said and kissed his cheek.
(Part 05)
Sharon continued in palliative care at the Winston Churchill Hospital as well as moonlighting for the agency but all the while Michael wasn’t far from her thoughts but it wasn’t until more than three months after the funeral that she heard from him again.
It was a Sunday morning just after 3 am, she was doing a weekend shift in Shallowfield and he knew with her habit of taking a hot drink in the wee small hours when she was on duty that there was a reasonable chance he would find her awake.
She opened the email and it began
“I’m sitting in my study reading Dickens and I thought of you”
Over the weeks and months that followed emails between them continued more often than not in the middle of the night and she found that even when she wasn’t working she would wake at 3 am just to check her mail.
The content of the mails varied considerably so were very informative, explaining that he was back at work and looking to the future, and some were quite candid such as when he told her that he didn’t want to contact her as a grieving widower looking for a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, he wanted to wait until he could contact her as a friend with potential.
By the time the first anniversary of Nuria death had come and gone the correspondence had become romantic in nature and often quite intimate.
But once the anniversary had passed the email traffic stalled and each of them was waiting for the other to say or do something so when after she had awoken at 3 am one Sunday morning at the end of June to find no email, she showered and dressed and was in the car heading north by 5.30am.
She arrived at the house on the outskirts of the Village of Tipton in the north of Downshire.
It was a big Art Deco house built in the thirties, very elegant and very stylish just like its owner.
She hadn’t seen him for over a year but she had the picture of him in her head.
He was a good looking man in his late thirties slim an even elegant and he always smelt gorgeous and she was really looking forward to having the fragrance in her nostrils again.
But as she stood on his porch her head were full of doubts and she suddenly felt foolish.
And she thought about turning tail and returning home but then the door opened and a smiling Michael was standing there.
“Come in” he said and Sharon walked nervously in as invited.
It was not like her she was normally ultra-confident but she stepped into the hall she felt very timid, and having got there she had no idea what to do next.
But it was no more than a minute or so after she’d walked in and taken off her coat before he took the initiative and took her in his arms.
Saturday 1 April 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (33) Love at a Gallop
(Part 01)
Copper Beech Farm is in the Dulcets, and the Dulcets consist of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to name but a few and
After moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from strength to strength.
So much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to nine and in addition to the short term girls she employed from the local village she took on an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage things at the yard for her.
The farm belonged to Anthony Holmes though he was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek and a fairly successful one at that.
He employed a skinny young woman named Charlotte Clode as manager but inadvertently they fell in love and became a couple just before Christmas.
Hazel Morris had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony so she was able to live on site in the converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very well.
It was a very significant moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to her future with Anthony.
But Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to finally unite Lynda Radcliffe and Elliott Browning.
She had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved happiness more than she did.
Hazel was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
Their house was repossessed, as was their car and most of her possessions were sold to pay creditors.
She was left with a modest selection of clothes and two small boxes of photos, family papers and precious mementoes.
As time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and they were able to help her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange they didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest personal expenditure she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
The task of fixing up 28 year old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe with the gregarious larger than life Dr Elliott Browning proved a more prolonged endeavour than anticipated.
Anthony and Charlotte had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as a thank you for the treatment Charlotte received when she was struck down with a very nasty fever the previous autumn.
But although the gift was made in January the earliest opening in the Riding Club diary wasn’t until the beginning of March.
Hazel Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They had booked Elliott in as the last one of the day in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
As it turned out it wasn’t until Elliott’s next lesson, three days later, that the big jovial doctor and the good hearted spinster were discovered in the barn locked in a passionate embrace.
(Part 02)
Hazel was almost 29 years old and had thought by the time she reached that age she would have been starting a family or perhaps had already started one and maybe that might have happened had her husband not gambled everything away.
She was fairly slim, slimmer certainly since she had to watch every penny, with bright orange hair which was thick and unruly.
She desperately needed to pay a visit to a hairdressers but it wasn’t something she could afford while she still owed money.
So she kept it tied in a ponytail, which she always thought quite apt for her line of work.
“Six more months” she said to herself meaning she would be debt free and then she could treat herself, and by the time she reached her milestone 30th birthday the following year her life would have begun again.
After the three inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm had succeeded in their match making scheme things on the farm settled down to a peaceful rhythm and by the beginning of June Hazel began to take on extra work in her spare time to train horses.
Her ambition in the long term was to have a sanctuary for old horses and ponies, even donkeys for that matter.
So when a local man Chris Harper approached her with a proposition to train a horse or in particularly an older horse, which required retraining, as he had been ridden, she jumped at the chance.
He was a retired racehorse and like so many others when their racing days were over they were thrown on to the scrapheap, they weren’t even put out to pasture.
Chris Harper was a therapist who used horses to help physically and mentally handicapped people of all ages and his philosophy was that it would be therapeutic for the horses as well to help people.
They just had to unlearn some of the things they had learned in their former lives and that was where Hazel came in.
It was not an easy fix and it took time and infinite patience, which she had plenty of.
Chris had already passed his 29th birthday and was knocking loudly on the door of his 30th.
He was quite rugged looking with weathered skin and sandy hair and he stood an inch or two taller than Hazel.
He hadn’t always been a therapist in fact until two years earlier he had been a serving officer in the Downshire Light Infantry and until his discharge he had never ridden a horse.
Lynda Radcliffe soon remedied that however.
He became interested after a friend of his from the regiment was brain damaged by a road side bomb in Afghanistan.
He was greatly shocked by the severity of his handicap when he first went to visit him.
But a year later when he saw him again at a rehabilitation facility in Nettlefield he was amazed by the connection he had formed with a horse.
When he shared his amazement with his friends doctor.
“It’s such a great therapy” Doctor Martin agreed
“It’s just a shame we don’t have enough horses or therapists”
During his final year he resolved after his discharge he would rectify the situation.
(Part 03)
Chris Harper was from a wealthy Tipton family in the north of the county whose business was making money, lots of money, and they didn’t care what they had to do to make more.
His father wanted to put him in harness the moment he left University.
But he turned his back on the family and the business he despised and instead of University he joined the army.
His father cut him off without a penny and never spoke to him again but he stayed in touch with his mum and his sister via email.
The rest of them didn’t bother to contact him and nor he them and in the Downshire Light Infantry he found a new family.
However when he was 25 years old he got the surprise of his life after the death of his Grandfather.
In his will Chris was left a very large bequest much to his father’s disgust but in an accompanying letter he explained how much he admired Chris’s decision to follow his dream, and how he wished he’d had the courage to follow his own.
He didn’t touch the bequest though despite the sentiments behind it, he had managed without the family’s money for the best part of eight years and saw no reason to change, and so he just banked it until he could decide what to do with it for the best.
But he never quite got around to making any decision until the moment he spoke with the Army Doctors and he knew exactly what he should do with his legacy.
So after he had completed his 12 years in uniform he resigned his commission and set off on the path of his new career.
But it was to prove to be a solitary journey as his fiancé Bella did not share his vision for the future.
He found a suitable piece of land in the Dulcets with the right sized property on it with stables and out buildings that would suit his needs.
It was once upon a time known as Larkspur Farm but for the previous 30 years it had seen no farming done on it and it was gentrified for some city gent and his family to use on weekends.
But the particular gent who owned it lost his shirt in the financial crash and had to sell quickly just at the time Chris was in the market.
It was perfect for his needs, plenty of space and easy access to Brownhill Woods and as luck would happen the inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm were his nearest neighbours.
It wasn’t an easy project to get off the ground but with a lot of help from some good people that he met along the way he did it.
His contact from the Army served him well firstly by securing him 4 retired army horses and then a recommendation from Dr Martin at the rehab facility.
The Downshire’s had pledged to give him first refusal on any retiring horses but as the therapy was for all ages he needed other horses and ponies as well.
As Lynda Radcliffe had a Riding school at Copper Beech he employed her services to teach the novices to ride, this she did at Copper Beach and Larkspur and the two of them became friends.
It was through that relationship and the affable conversations they shared that Lynne suggested using Hazel to retrain his newest acquisitions.
(Part 04)
Hazel’s first days training at Larkspur was on the afternoon of the 1st of June.
She was so grateful to Lynne for recommending her, it was perfect for her as the distance between her front door and the stables at Larkspur was less than a mile.
She met Chris first and was very impressed as he very much lived up to Lynne’s billing and they chatted briefly before she went in to meet her new charge.
He was a chestnut named Spartan and he was a former racehorse. There was a lot more to his name than Spartan but in his new career he would have to settle for the shortened form.
Her first session of training with Spartan was just a bonding exercise which involved grooming him and simply talking to him and while she worked Chris watched on from the shadows with admiration for her labours and found that he was rather taken by the skinny girl with the mad red hair.
Over the week that followed it was more of the same with Hazel grooming Spartan and Chris watching from a distance.
He liked to watch her working with the horse, although having said that he would probably have like to watch her do just about anything.
For Hazel’s part, she had noticed him in her peripheral vision once or twice over her first week and that made her smile.
But flattered though she was she would have to put a stop to it, she liked him well enough, and in fact she liked him a lot.
He was a nice man and he was doing great work but she thought her husband Bob was nice before she married him and that turned out to be a complete disaster.
So she was in no hurry to set foot on the rocky road of romance any time soon.
After 7 straight days of bonding she decided it was time to get him out in the paddock on the longe line.
It was important to get him to trot around with his head up and not as he had been accustomed to with his head down and focused on speed.
Despite her misgivings about Chris she found that she was disappointed when he didn’t appear to watch her at work with Spartan.
In fact he didn’t appear all the time she was there that day which disappointed her even more, but what she didn’t know was that he was in Nettlefield at the Downshire Light Infantry HQ to look at his latest potential recruit and furthermore she didn’t know that the level of disappointment he felt at not seeing her far outweighed her own.
He left Nettlefield having agreed to take on a gentle giant of a horse called Inkerman, though his name had been shortened to Inky which was quite appropriate as he was jet black.
Hazel finished with Spartan in the paddock and as he behaved himself she let him have a bit of a frolic around in the paddock before taking him in to be groomed, then she filled in the log book and left for home.
When he returned to Larkspur he arrived just in time to see Hazel disappear into the distance.
“Damn” he said and banged his hand on the steering wheel, he was hoping to share his news with her.
“Oh well there’s always tomorrow”
He parked in the yard and before going in the house he went and checked on the horses and read Hazels entry in the log.
(Part 05)
The pattern of training continued for another week and after the 15th day with him she announced to Chris.
“I think he’s ready to be ridden again”
“Excellent” Chris said “then you’ll be ready to take on Inky”
“Yes” she agreed “Anytime now”
“Well why don’t you come over to Nettlefield with me next week to pick him up”
“I’d love to” Hazel said
“Good, next Thursday afternoon then”
Almost at that exact moment back in the yard at Copper Beach Farm Lynne Radcliffe and Charlotte Clode were discussing what to get Hazel for her upcoming birthday which was only two days away.
“What do you get for the girl who has nothing?” Lynne asked in exasperation
“It should be so easy” Charlotte said
“I know but it’s not is it?”
“Then we’re just going to have to ask her outright” Charlotte responded
“I suppose so but there’s no surprise that way” Lynne said resignedly.
They were still in the yard discussing it when Hazel returned to the yard and she was smiling to herself when she heard Lynne call to her
“Hazel”
“What are you two up to?”
“Nothing” Charlotte said innocently
“We were just wondering what you would like for your upcoming birthday”
“Nothing” Hazel said
“That’s not an option” Lynne stated
“I mean it” Hazel said “You don’t need to get me anything”
“Nonsense” Lynne countered “We want to, so what would you like more than anything in the world?”
Hazel thought for a moment and smiled and then replied
“A cut, wash and blow dry”
“Is that all?” Lynne asked
“Is that all? That would be absolute heaven” Hazel retorted and grinned
“Ok then” Lynne said “I suppose that’s settled”
But to herself she added
“Well I think we can do slightly better than that though”
It was Hazel’s birthday two days later and the day began the same as any other with mucking out the stables with the other girls but when she returned to her rooms at 9 o’clock and opened the door she was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.
Lynne, Charlotte and Anthony were sitting at her dining table
They bought her a gift voucher for Mazzone’s Hairdressers in Mornington which she was thrilled with but they also gave her a Spa day, so the three girls could go to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel together.
There were also a pile of birthday cards and a bouquet of flowers from Chris Harper.
She wasted no time in cashing in her voucher at Mazzone’s hairdressers in Mornington to sort out her thick, unruly bright orange hair, and afterwards she felt wonderful and it was every bit as good as she was expecting it to be.
After close to three years after splitting with her husband she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see or hear from him again, and she was perfectly happy about that, so nobody was more surprised than she was when Charlotte called her over to the office after she returned from Mornington.
“Hazel! Phone call”
“For me?” she called back
“Hello?” she said
“Hello Haze” a voice responded
It was quite a shock for her to hear Bobs voice after all the time that had passed.
“How did you get this number?” she snapped
“Comme ci comme ça” he retorted
“What do you want Bob?”
“Oh don’t be like that babe” he said
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard”
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
(Part 06)
After she found out about Bobs gambling Hazel’s world fell apart, as one by one the bricks that formed the foundations of her life and their relationship were removed.
The roof over her head was repossessed, their car was taken off their drive in the dead of night, and bailiffs took away all their possessions.
Credit cards had been maxed out and bank accounts emptied and insurance policies cashed in.
But as if that wasn’t bad enough it then transpired that it wasn’t only their money he was gambling with, he had stolen from the company he worked for.
And during the time the bailiffs were removing her belongings she had a visit from a Sgt Griffin and a DC Deacon from Sharpington CID who were looking for her husband in relation to the theft.
All she could say was that she hadn’t seen him for more than a week and when she did they would have to investigate his murder.
But she never saw him again or even heard from him for that matter though the police were still anxious to speak with him.
So getting a call out of the blue from him shocked her to the core.
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard” she snapped
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
She let it ring three times before she picked it up again.
“That wasn’t very friendly” he said
“What do you want Bob I’m busy?”
“I need my share of the house” he said and she laughed out loud
“The bank has your half of the house along with my half plus the car and every stitch of furniture we owned”
“Well you must have a few quid tucked away” he said “you could give a stake for old time’s sake”
She was so angry that his antics had pulled the rug from under her and left her to cope with the fall out on her own so her first thought was to tell him in no uncertain terms where to go, and she was actually on the brink of saying it when she said
“Ok for old time’s sake, a one off, never to be repeated payment, give me an address and I’ll send you a cheque” she said
“I’d rather do it face to face” he said
“Ok” she said “Where?”
“There’s a pub in Sharpington called the Ancient Mariner I’ll meet you there at 12 on Friday”
“Ok” she said and hung up.
On Thursday she travelled over to Nettlefield in the horse box with Chris Harper.
Although she had been looking forward to the trip she was in pensive mood on the journey over.
When they arrived he introduced her to Inky and then left them to get acquainted while he touched base with a few of his ex-colleagues and then they got him on board the horsebox and settled before setting off on the return journey to the Dulcets.
She was a little more conversant on the way back so Chris chanced his arm and asked her out to dinner.
“Oh I don’t know” she said “my life is a bit complicated at the moment”
“Another time perhaps” he said and she nodded then after a few minutes she said
“Could I ask you a favour?”
“Of course” he replied and she proceeded to explain the complications in her life
On Friday Chris Harper drove a pensive Hazel to Sharpington and waited a discreet distance away and watched Hazel as she sat alone at a table and continued to watch as a shifty looking man joined her but he couldn’t hear what was said.
“Hello Haze” Bob said and moved to embrace her “it’s good to see you”
“It’s not mutual” she said and evaded his embrace
“Well without being indelicate how much have you got for me?” he asked
“Nothing” she replied “but they’ve got something for you”
And when he turned around Sgt Griffin and Detective Deacon were there and quickly took him into custody.
A tirade of abuse was levelled at her as the police handcuffed him.
“You ugly ginger bitch” he screamed “You won’t find anyone better than me”
“I already have” she shouted back and ran to where Chris was standing and buried her face in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and after a few minutes she said
“My life just got a lot less complicated, so is the offer of dinner still on?”
Copper Beech Farm is in the Dulcets, and the Dulcets consist of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to name but a few and
After moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from strength to strength.
So much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to nine and in addition to the short term girls she employed from the local village she took on an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage things at the yard for her.
The farm belonged to Anthony Holmes though he was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek and a fairly successful one at that.
He employed a skinny young woman named Charlotte Clode as manager but inadvertently they fell in love and became a couple just before Christmas.
Hazel Morris had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony so she was able to live on site in the converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very well.
It was a very significant moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to her future with Anthony.
But Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to finally unite Lynda Radcliffe and Elliott Browning.
She had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved happiness more than she did.
Hazel was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
Their house was repossessed, as was their car and most of her possessions were sold to pay creditors.
She was left with a modest selection of clothes and two small boxes of photos, family papers and precious mementoes.
As time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and they were able to help her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange they didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest personal expenditure she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
The task of fixing up 28 year old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe with the gregarious larger than life Dr Elliott Browning proved a more prolonged endeavour than anticipated.
Anthony and Charlotte had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as a thank you for the treatment Charlotte received when she was struck down with a very nasty fever the previous autumn.
But although the gift was made in January the earliest opening in the Riding Club diary wasn’t until the beginning of March.
Hazel Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They had booked Elliott in as the last one of the day in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
As it turned out it wasn’t until Elliott’s next lesson, three days later, that the big jovial doctor and the good hearted spinster were discovered in the barn locked in a passionate embrace.
(Part 02)
Hazel was almost 29 years old and had thought by the time she reached that age she would have been starting a family or perhaps had already started one and maybe that might have happened had her husband not gambled everything away.
She was fairly slim, slimmer certainly since she had to watch every penny, with bright orange hair which was thick and unruly.
She desperately needed to pay a visit to a hairdressers but it wasn’t something she could afford while she still owed money.
So she kept it tied in a ponytail, which she always thought quite apt for her line of work.
“Six more months” she said to herself meaning she would be debt free and then she could treat herself, and by the time she reached her milestone 30th birthday the following year her life would have begun again.
After the three inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm had succeeded in their match making scheme things on the farm settled down to a peaceful rhythm and by the beginning of June Hazel began to take on extra work in her spare time to train horses.
Her ambition in the long term was to have a sanctuary for old horses and ponies, even donkeys for that matter.
So when a local man Chris Harper approached her with a proposition to train a horse or in particularly an older horse, which required retraining, as he had been ridden, she jumped at the chance.
He was a retired racehorse and like so many others when their racing days were over they were thrown on to the scrapheap, they weren’t even put out to pasture.
Chris Harper was a therapist who used horses to help physically and mentally handicapped people of all ages and his philosophy was that it would be therapeutic for the horses as well to help people.
They just had to unlearn some of the things they had learned in their former lives and that was where Hazel came in.
It was not an easy fix and it took time and infinite patience, which she had plenty of.
Chris had already passed his 29th birthday and was knocking loudly on the door of his 30th.
He was quite rugged looking with weathered skin and sandy hair and he stood an inch or two taller than Hazel.
He hadn’t always been a therapist in fact until two years earlier he had been a serving officer in the Downshire Light Infantry and until his discharge he had never ridden a horse.
Lynda Radcliffe soon remedied that however.
He became interested after a friend of his from the regiment was brain damaged by a road side bomb in Afghanistan.
He was greatly shocked by the severity of his handicap when he first went to visit him.
But a year later when he saw him again at a rehabilitation facility in Nettlefield he was amazed by the connection he had formed with a horse.
When he shared his amazement with his friends doctor.
“It’s such a great therapy” Doctor Martin agreed
“It’s just a shame we don’t have enough horses or therapists”
During his final year he resolved after his discharge he would rectify the situation.
(Part 03)
Chris Harper was from a wealthy Tipton family in the north of the county whose business was making money, lots of money, and they didn’t care what they had to do to make more.
His father wanted to put him in harness the moment he left University.
But he turned his back on the family and the business he despised and instead of University he joined the army.
His father cut him off without a penny and never spoke to him again but he stayed in touch with his mum and his sister via email.
The rest of them didn’t bother to contact him and nor he them and in the Downshire Light Infantry he found a new family.
However when he was 25 years old he got the surprise of his life after the death of his Grandfather.
In his will Chris was left a very large bequest much to his father’s disgust but in an accompanying letter he explained how much he admired Chris’s decision to follow his dream, and how he wished he’d had the courage to follow his own.
He didn’t touch the bequest though despite the sentiments behind it, he had managed without the family’s money for the best part of eight years and saw no reason to change, and so he just banked it until he could decide what to do with it for the best.
But he never quite got around to making any decision until the moment he spoke with the Army Doctors and he knew exactly what he should do with his legacy.
So after he had completed his 12 years in uniform he resigned his commission and set off on the path of his new career.
But it was to prove to be a solitary journey as his fiancé Bella did not share his vision for the future.
He found a suitable piece of land in the Dulcets with the right sized property on it with stables and out buildings that would suit his needs.
It was once upon a time known as Larkspur Farm but for the previous 30 years it had seen no farming done on it and it was gentrified for some city gent and his family to use on weekends.
But the particular gent who owned it lost his shirt in the financial crash and had to sell quickly just at the time Chris was in the market.
It was perfect for his needs, plenty of space and easy access to Brownhill Woods and as luck would happen the inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm were his nearest neighbours.
It wasn’t an easy project to get off the ground but with a lot of help from some good people that he met along the way he did it.
His contact from the Army served him well firstly by securing him 4 retired army horses and then a recommendation from Dr Martin at the rehab facility.
The Downshire’s had pledged to give him first refusal on any retiring horses but as the therapy was for all ages he needed other horses and ponies as well.
As Lynda Radcliffe had a Riding school at Copper Beech he employed her services to teach the novices to ride, this she did at Copper Beach and Larkspur and the two of them became friends.
It was through that relationship and the affable conversations they shared that Lynne suggested using Hazel to retrain his newest acquisitions.
(Part 04)
Hazel’s first days training at Larkspur was on the afternoon of the 1st of June.
She was so grateful to Lynne for recommending her, it was perfect for her as the distance between her front door and the stables at Larkspur was less than a mile.
She met Chris first and was very impressed as he very much lived up to Lynne’s billing and they chatted briefly before she went in to meet her new charge.
He was a chestnut named Spartan and he was a former racehorse. There was a lot more to his name than Spartan but in his new career he would have to settle for the shortened form.
Her first session of training with Spartan was just a bonding exercise which involved grooming him and simply talking to him and while she worked Chris watched on from the shadows with admiration for her labours and found that he was rather taken by the skinny girl with the mad red hair.
Over the week that followed it was more of the same with Hazel grooming Spartan and Chris watching from a distance.
He liked to watch her working with the horse, although having said that he would probably have like to watch her do just about anything.
For Hazel’s part, she had noticed him in her peripheral vision once or twice over her first week and that made her smile.
But flattered though she was she would have to put a stop to it, she liked him well enough, and in fact she liked him a lot.
He was a nice man and he was doing great work but she thought her husband Bob was nice before she married him and that turned out to be a complete disaster.
So she was in no hurry to set foot on the rocky road of romance any time soon.
After 7 straight days of bonding she decided it was time to get him out in the paddock on the longe line.
It was important to get him to trot around with his head up and not as he had been accustomed to with his head down and focused on speed.
Despite her misgivings about Chris she found that she was disappointed when he didn’t appear to watch her at work with Spartan.
In fact he didn’t appear all the time she was there that day which disappointed her even more, but what she didn’t know was that he was in Nettlefield at the Downshire Light Infantry HQ to look at his latest potential recruit and furthermore she didn’t know that the level of disappointment he felt at not seeing her far outweighed her own.
He left Nettlefield having agreed to take on a gentle giant of a horse called Inkerman, though his name had been shortened to Inky which was quite appropriate as he was jet black.
Hazel finished with Spartan in the paddock and as he behaved himself she let him have a bit of a frolic around in the paddock before taking him in to be groomed, then she filled in the log book and left for home.
When he returned to Larkspur he arrived just in time to see Hazel disappear into the distance.
“Damn” he said and banged his hand on the steering wheel, he was hoping to share his news with her.
“Oh well there’s always tomorrow”
He parked in the yard and before going in the house he went and checked on the horses and read Hazels entry in the log.
(Part 05)
The pattern of training continued for another week and after the 15th day with him she announced to Chris.
“I think he’s ready to be ridden again”
“Excellent” Chris said “then you’ll be ready to take on Inky”
“Yes” she agreed “Anytime now”
“Well why don’t you come over to Nettlefield with me next week to pick him up”
“I’d love to” Hazel said
“Good, next Thursday afternoon then”
Almost at that exact moment back in the yard at Copper Beach Farm Lynne Radcliffe and Charlotte Clode were discussing what to get Hazel for her upcoming birthday which was only two days away.
“What do you get for the girl who has nothing?” Lynne asked in exasperation
“It should be so easy” Charlotte said
“I know but it’s not is it?”
“Then we’re just going to have to ask her outright” Charlotte responded
“I suppose so but there’s no surprise that way” Lynne said resignedly.
They were still in the yard discussing it when Hazel returned to the yard and she was smiling to herself when she heard Lynne call to her
“Hazel”
“What are you two up to?”
“Nothing” Charlotte said innocently
“We were just wondering what you would like for your upcoming birthday”
“Nothing” Hazel said
“That’s not an option” Lynne stated
“I mean it” Hazel said “You don’t need to get me anything”
“Nonsense” Lynne countered “We want to, so what would you like more than anything in the world?”
Hazel thought for a moment and smiled and then replied
“A cut, wash and blow dry”
“Is that all?” Lynne asked
“Is that all? That would be absolute heaven” Hazel retorted and grinned
“Ok then” Lynne said “I suppose that’s settled”
But to herself she added
“Well I think we can do slightly better than that though”
It was Hazel’s birthday two days later and the day began the same as any other with mucking out the stables with the other girls but when she returned to her rooms at 9 o’clock and opened the door she was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.
Lynne, Charlotte and Anthony were sitting at her dining table
They bought her a gift voucher for Mazzone’s Hairdressers in Mornington which she was thrilled with but they also gave her a Spa day, so the three girls could go to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel together.
There were also a pile of birthday cards and a bouquet of flowers from Chris Harper.
She wasted no time in cashing in her voucher at Mazzone’s hairdressers in Mornington to sort out her thick, unruly bright orange hair, and afterwards she felt wonderful and it was every bit as good as she was expecting it to be.
After close to three years after splitting with her husband she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see or hear from him again, and she was perfectly happy about that, so nobody was more surprised than she was when Charlotte called her over to the office after she returned from Mornington.
“Hazel! Phone call”
“For me?” she called back
“Hello?” she said
“Hello Haze” a voice responded
It was quite a shock for her to hear Bobs voice after all the time that had passed.
“How did you get this number?” she snapped
“Comme ci comme ça” he retorted
“What do you want Bob?”
“Oh don’t be like that babe” he said
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard”
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
(Part 06)
After she found out about Bobs gambling Hazel’s world fell apart, as one by one the bricks that formed the foundations of her life and their relationship were removed.
The roof over her head was repossessed, their car was taken off their drive in the dead of night, and bailiffs took away all their possessions.
Credit cards had been maxed out and bank accounts emptied and insurance policies cashed in.
But as if that wasn’t bad enough it then transpired that it wasn’t only their money he was gambling with, he had stolen from the company he worked for.
And during the time the bailiffs were removing her belongings she had a visit from a Sgt Griffin and a DC Deacon from Sharpington CID who were looking for her husband in relation to the theft.
All she could say was that she hadn’t seen him for more than a week and when she did they would have to investigate his murder.
But she never saw him again or even heard from him for that matter though the police were still anxious to speak with him.
So getting a call out of the blue from him shocked her to the core.
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard” she snapped
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
She let it ring three times before she picked it up again.
“That wasn’t very friendly” he said
“What do you want Bob I’m busy?”
“I need my share of the house” he said and she laughed out loud
“The bank has your half of the house along with my half plus the car and every stitch of furniture we owned”
“Well you must have a few quid tucked away” he said “you could give a stake for old time’s sake”
She was so angry that his antics had pulled the rug from under her and left her to cope with the fall out on her own so her first thought was to tell him in no uncertain terms where to go, and she was actually on the brink of saying it when she said
“Ok for old time’s sake, a one off, never to be repeated payment, give me an address and I’ll send you a cheque” she said
“I’d rather do it face to face” he said
“Ok” she said “Where?”
“There’s a pub in Sharpington called the Ancient Mariner I’ll meet you there at 12 on Friday”
“Ok” she said and hung up.
On Thursday she travelled over to Nettlefield in the horse box with Chris Harper.
Although she had been looking forward to the trip she was in pensive mood on the journey over.
When they arrived he introduced her to Inky and then left them to get acquainted while he touched base with a few of his ex-colleagues and then they got him on board the horsebox and settled before setting off on the return journey to the Dulcets.
She was a little more conversant on the way back so Chris chanced his arm and asked her out to dinner.
“Oh I don’t know” she said “my life is a bit complicated at the moment”
“Another time perhaps” he said and she nodded then after a few minutes she said
“Could I ask you a favour?”
“Of course” he replied and she proceeded to explain the complications in her life
On Friday Chris Harper drove a pensive Hazel to Sharpington and waited a discreet distance away and watched Hazel as she sat alone at a table and continued to watch as a shifty looking man joined her but he couldn’t hear what was said.
“Hello Haze” Bob said and moved to embrace her “it’s good to see you”
“It’s not mutual” she said and evaded his embrace
“Well without being indelicate how much have you got for me?” he asked
“Nothing” she replied “but they’ve got something for you”
And when he turned around Sgt Griffin and Detective Deacon were there and quickly took him into custody.
A tirade of abuse was levelled at her as the police handcuffed him.
“You ugly ginger bitch” he screamed “You won’t find anyone better than me”
“I already have” she shouted back and ran to where Chris was standing and buried her face in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and after a few minutes she said
“My life just got a lot less complicated, so is the offer of dinner still on?”
Mornington-By-Mere – (33) For the Love of Gardening
(Part 01)
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and George Harding lived at number 1 Dulcet Mill Lane in the house he was raised in along with his sister Mariana by his Aunt Julia.
George had just settled himself down in his armchair when he heard the sound of the front doorbell.
“Oh Bollocks” he said in response and struggled to his feet to answer it.
He grabbed his crutches and headed slowly towards the door just as it rang again
“Alright, I’m coming” he said
When he opened the door he found a man and woman in their early thirties, standing the other side of it.
“I’m Zachary” the man said proudly thrusting his chest out “I do the garden”
“Oh” he responded
The attractive woman who was standing just behind him said
“What he means is that he is a very good gardener and he’s looking for work”
Zachary, he ascertained had a learning disability of some sort and the woman with him he presumed was his care giver.
George wondered how many houses they had visited in Mornington before his and how many times she had had to explain.
“Well” He said and he saw her shoulders slump as she anticipated another rejection.
“I am sorely in need of a gardener”
And she straightened up and the broadest smile crossed her face and Zachary looked at her and smiled
“Thank you” she said and squeezed Zachary’s arm proudly
“Thank you” Zachary said and held out his hand for George to shake
“I can’t afford to pay you a lot” George said
“That’s not a problem” she replied for him
“And you may not want the job when you see the state of garden, it’s a real mess” George added
“I will do it” Zachary said holding his head high “I don’t mind hard work”
“Ok then go through the side gate and I will meet you out the back” he said
He closed the door and made his way slowly to the back door which he had just opened, when Zachary and his carer walked through the side gate.
“Oh dear” she said as the young woman saw the overgrown jungle that was George Harding’s garden
“Lots of work for me” Zachary said enthusiastically and went exploring in the undergrowth.
“Thank you” she said
“What for?” George asked
“For giving my brother a chance” she replied
“Nonsense I should be thanking you” he said and winced
“Are you ok?” She asked
“Yes, it’s just that I’m not supposed to be putting my weight on it” he replied
“Then you need to go in and sit” she said with authority
“I’ll be find” George replied
“Sit” she insisted “We don’t tell patients to keep their weight off for no reason”
“We?” George queried
“I’m a nurse” Jeanne said and wouldn’t take no for an answer so she encouraged him inside and then she settled him in his chair
“Now stay there and rest your leg”
“Yes nurse” he responded
“Jeanne” she corrected him
“I’m George”
“Can I make you a drink?” she asked
“Only if you’re going to join me” George replied
“I thought you’d never ask” she said “We’ve been walking around all morning and people have been very nice but….”
“Great” he replied “Black coffee for me please”
Jeanne nodded and went into the kitchen.
(Part 02)
Jeanne Swann went to the kitchen in George Harding’s house and returned a few minutes later with the drinks which she set down on the small table and then she sat in the vacant chair.
“So what happened?” she asked indicating his leg
“Car versus lorry” he said “guess which one I was driving”
“How long ago?”
“Two years” George replied “and several operations”
“Any more planned?” Asked Jeanne
“No they have done everything they can so whatever I have when this has healed I will have to live with” He said soberly
“Is that why the garden is so overgrown?” she asked
“Only partly” he replied “My Aunt Julia was the gardener of the family, who sadly spent the last three years of her life in a home, and as neither my sister Mariana or I have green fingers so it was already fairly overgrown when she died, but it was only two months after that when I had the accident, so it’s at least six years since anything meaningful has been done out there, however I don’t know how much better it would be if I hadn’t had the accident”
“Nor me” she said “but Zachary is a whizz”
George looked at her and saw the pride in her pretty smile as she mentioned Zachary.
“Zachary loves gardening, when he lived with mum he was always out there pottering about or working in the greenhouse”
Jeanne almost cried at the thought of a happier time in their lives George could see her eyes begin to moisten.
Just at that moment through the French window he saw Zachary reappeared from the wilderness and he was grinning broadly.
“He looks so happy” Jeanne said and she almost cried again.
George edged forward on his seat in readiness to stand.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Jeanne said sternly “You need to stay seated”
“Yes nurse” he said obediently and he watched Jeanne with an appraising eye as she walked to the French doors and opened them.
Zachary immediately stepped forward and hugged his sister
“Well what do you think?” George asked while still admiring Jeanne’s figure.
“It’s big Jeanne” he said laughing
“Can you help me with then?” George asked
“Oh yes” Zachary replied eagerly
“Then come and shake on it” George said and Zachary strode forward and shook Georges hand as Jeanne looked on proudly.
“The only snag is that I don’t have much in the way of tools” George admitted
“I have tools” Zachary said proudly
“Ok then, when would you like to start?” George asked
“Now” he replied “I can start now”
“I think tomorrow would be better as we have disturbed Mr...”
“Harding” George said “But please call me George”
“We have disturbed Mr. Harding enough for today” she continued
“Ok Jeanne” Zachary agreed
“Tomorrow then” George said
“Tomorrow then” Zachary echoed
“We will see you Tomorrow then, we’ll let ourselves out” Jeanne said and steered Zachary out the door “because George needs to rest his leg” She directed her eyes in George’s direction as she said it and George said
“Yes nurse”
(Part 03)
On Saturday morning George got himself going much earlier than usual and showered and shaved and put on a smart shirt as he wanted to give a better impression of himself than he had the day before if Jeanne was going to be coming with Zachary again.
He was sure he remembered her say “We will see you tomorrow” but then by the time nine o’clock came and went he began to think he had imagined it.
But at 9.15 he heard the side gate rattle so he got up and opened the French doors.
And with the aid of his crutches he stepped ungracefully onto the patio just as the lovely Jeanne walked through the gate.
She was wearing a bright floral summer dress presumably as it was going to be a nice day.
Whatever the reason he was pleased with the outcome.
She stepped to one side and held the gate open as the front wheel of a wheel barrow appeared followed by the wheel barrow itself, full of tools, and Zachary, who was pushing it.
“My word you are well equipped” George said and blushed as he realized he was looking at Jeanne as he said it.
“Yes I am” replied Zachary with pride
“We’re not too early are we?” Jeanne asked “He’s been ready since 7 o’clock”
“No not at all” George replied
“Did you have to wheel those tools far?”
“No, only from Dulcets Road Cottages” Jeanne replied
“Really?” he said with surprise
“Yes, we’ve not been in the village long” she replied.
Zachary was wearing work boots and overalls and was raring to go, Jeanne on the other hand, dressed in her summer frock and sandals was clearly not and George hoped desperately that she was staying.
“So are you gardening or cheering him on from the sidelines?” George asked hopefully
“I’m definitely cheering him on” she replied with a giggle.
“Well we can sit out here if you’d like I’ve got chairs and stuff in the garage” George suggested
“That would be lovely but let me and Zachary get the chairs” she said
“Ok I’ll put the kettle on” he said
“If you must” she said disapprovingly
The kettle had just boiled when Jeanne came in to the kitchen
“Ok, you can leave that to me now” she said and ushered him out onto the patio again where he found Zachary had just finished dusting down the chairs.
George found himself unable to fathom out the best way to seat himself in the chair, it was one of those chairs that when seated you lifted the arm rests and the back went down and the foot rest came up.
But he couldn’t get the chair to stand still while he lowered himself into it.
“Haven’t you sat down yet?” Jeanne asked
“No but it’s not for the want of trying” George replied and she laughed as he tried again and failed.
“Zachary will help” she said “Give me your crutches”
He complied with the nurses instruction and then Zachary scooped him up in his arms like he was a child, he was immensely strong, and lowered him gently into the chair.
(Part 04)
Jeanne and George sat on the patio and chatted as Zachary toiled in the jungle, they knew he was there even though they couldn’t see him, as there were tell-tale sounds of a man at work.
In truth George initially listened more than conversed as his mind wandered and he ended up just looking at her.
He thought she had a pretty face and he loved her bobbed soft brown hair and the way it framed her face perfectly.
He also looked at her eyes and pronounced them internally to be hazel.
“So you’re a nurse” he said as she caught him watching her
“Yes” she replied taking a sip of her tea.
“I’m a nurse at Oak Dale”
Oak Dale was a Retirement Village and Nursing home in Dulcets Green.
“That was where Aunt Julia spent her last few years” he responded “Is Alexandra Barrileau still in charge?”
“Yes she is”
“I liked her very much” he said “She really cares for the patients”
“She’s very dedicated” Jeanne agreed
“So have you been there long?” he asked
“Only about six months” she replied “I was in the Emergency Department at the Winston Churchill for five years, dealing with the same people time and time again having done the same thing that got them in there the previous time and knowing that after you patched them up they would be back again the next month for the same reason, it was very disheartening”
“So what prompted the change?” George asked
“It was when my mum was in The Hedgerley Court Hospice in Applesford and I saw the dignified way they dealt with the poor souls who were on the edge of the abyss and the comfort they bestowed upon them as they slipped away, and I thought that a much more important role than patching up the drunks and addicts, and that’s my role at Oak Dale”
“And when you’re not working you help your brother” George said
“I try to” she said
“He has a real passion for gardening and he’s good at it, really good, but you’re the first person to give him a chance, I can’t tell you how grateful I am”
“I’ll be honest with you Jeanne when I said yes it was because I could see how your spirits sank when you thought I was going to say no, but also I thought that well the garden is such a mess, what harm could he do, not a particularly noble reason”
“Being honest is noble” she said
After a few moments of silence George asked
“So how did he come to be living with you?”
“Well my dad worked all his adult life for the St George family, in Highfinch, as a chauffeur, amongst other things and when he died mum stay on in the tied house until her death”
Jeanne paused to take another sip of her tea.
“When Mum died Zachary had to leave, but the St Georges weren’t prepared to put him out on the street so they offered him a cottage in Mornington and so I moved in with him and got the job at Oak Dale”
“Well that sounds almost perfect” George said
“Almost, the only downside is that the cottage only has a very small garden and Zachary is used to something a lot bigger to keep him occupied”
“Do you have any other family?”
“Yes I have an older brother, Danny, but he’s a real waster, I wouldn’t have let Zachary go to him even if Danny had suggested it, which he didn’t” she said frankly
“What about you? Any family”
“Yes I have a younger sister, Marianna” he said “But she’s in New Zealand and I haven’t seen her since Aunt Julia’s funeral”
“I’m sorry to hear that” she said
“I really miss her” he confessed “But we skype every week and email in between”
(Part 05)
“Aunt Julia loved her garden and she would hate to see it like this” George said
“But here we are, about to restore it to its former glory” She said positively
Just then he looked at his watch and realized it was time for lunch
“Oh look at the time let me go and make some lunch” George suggested
“Nonsense you need to stay off the leg, I’ll go and get something”
She offered
George opened his mouth to protest but Jeanne gave him a look that said her mind was made up, then she leant towards him and whispered
“Zachary will want a meat pie anyway”
“Oh” George said
“What do you want for lunch Zack?” she shouted
“Meat Pie” he replied instantly
“Well that’s settled then” George said “I’ll get my wallet”
Jeanne gave him another look so he settled back into his chair and she walked into the village to Addison’s Bakers to pick up lunch.
After lunch Zachary went back to work and Jeanne and George resumed their conversation.
“What about an allotment” George suggested “For Zachary I mean”
“We tried that” Jeanne said “The nearest ones are in Shallowfield but they said they were full, but I know they were lying”
George raised an eyebrow and gave her a doubtful look.
“They are still advertising for new members on the internet, they just didn’t want a retard in their society”
She almost cried but she managed to compose herself.
“So what do you do?” she asked
“I’m a web design consultant” George said
“And who do you work for” she asked having no idea what a web design consultant was.
“I’m a freelance” he said “so fortunately I can work from home”
“Well that’s handy” she said encouragingly
“Yes but I’ve lost a lot of work because of this” he said patting his leg “with operation’s or hospital appointment and physio”
“That’s not so good” Jeanne said
“No, but I’m lucky really” George said “I have some regular clients who have been very understanding and of course I’m even luckier not to be dead”
By the end of the afternoon Zachary had made significant progress cutting back the shrubbery but there was still a long way to go.
It was a big garden as you would expect with a Victorian detached house, it was 60 feet wide and more than treble that in length
George’s Aunt Julia always had it in very good order and it was her pride and joy.
Zachary was loading his tools back into his wheelbarrow
“Put your tools in the garage Zachary” George said
“Then you won’t need to bring them with you every day”
“That’s a good idea isn’t it Zachary?” Jeanne said
“Yes it is” he agreed
“Will I see you both again tomorrow?” George asked hopefully
George was quite sad to see her go at the end of the day it had been such a pleasant day, it had been quite a while since he had had any meaningful conversation and even longer with such lovely company.
“Yes if that ok” Jeanne said
“I’ll see you both tomorrow then” he said and smiled
The next day was Sunday and was spent in the same pleasant fashion as the first one was with Jeanne and George relaxing and poor Zachary doing all the work and all three of them loving every minute of it.
(Part 06)
Jeanne didn’t go with Zachary every day, she still had to work and if she was on nights then she would be sleeping during the day.
Then there were days when she had housework to do or errands to run, shopping, paying bills etc. and those were the days George came to dislike intently.
Some days of course George wouldn’t be at the house to see her if she were there because he had errands to run himself or hospital appointments or physio.
But they both secretly loved it when they were both there together.
After a few weeks Zachary had cleared the garden right down to the end and cut all the weeds bramble and nettles down to ground level and was left with two enormous piles of garden rubbish one of them being the decapitated shrubbery.
“What now?” Jeanne asked
“Well I suppose we can compost the green stuff” he said “In the bottom corner”
Zachary nodded enthusiastically
“What about the rest? Can we burn it?” Jeanne asked
“Well we could but I think we’ll hire a chipper” George replied
“A what?” she queried
“A wood chipper” he said
“What’s that?”
“Well it’s a machine that you stick the woody stuff in at one end and it mashes it all up into chips which come out the other” George said
“Zack likes chips” Zachary said and laughed and George and Jeanne joined in.
“So it’s a big boy’s toy” Jeanne said when they had stopped laughing
“Yes pretty much” George admitted “but you can have a go”
“Ok, where do we get one?” she said
As the weeks had gone by George had grown more and more fond of Jeanne and at the same time his mobility had improved to the point that he was able to ditch the crutches in favour of a single walking stick and it was when he was at that stage when he was at his least gimpy that he chose to ask Jeanne out.
It was a very hot day in the middle of July and he was sweating, but it wasn’t the heat that was responsible for him sweating it was because he had decided that he would ask her that day, Zachary was way down the end of the garden sorting the compost and George was pacing up and down the patio, she had phoned earlier to say she was coming straight round from work.
So when Jeanne arrived she was still wearing her uniform, not one of the sexy “Carry on Nurse” type uniforms but it was still very nice, which merely made him sweat even more.
“Would you like a drink Jeanne?” he asked “There’s wine in the fridge”
“I’d love one” she said and plonked herself down in a chair.
George got the wine from the fridge and poured two glasses instantly drained one and filled it again.
He took the drinks outside and they sat on the patio in the evening sunshine drinking their wine
“Jeanne I was wondering” he began
“Wondering what?” she replied and took a long sip on her wine.
“Well I was wondering if, and feel free to say no, but um I thought that well um, if you were erm, not on nights or busy or anything, that maybe, if you were free then perhaps um, we might um, well you know, go out for dinner, maybe on Friday”
She had been staring at him for every tortuous second of his inept babbling, looking at him like he was a gibbering idiot, which of course wasn’t far from the truth and then she smiled.
“I’d love to” Jeanne replied putting him out of his misery
“I thought you were never going to ask”
“Well I’ve been meaning to for a while” George explained
“What made you ask me now?” she asked “Was it the uniform?”
(Part 07)
George and Jeanne made love for the first time after their second date which didn’t altogether go as planned, because at a crucial point in the preceding’s George’s bad leg suddenly cramped up and he fell out of bed.
When Jeanne had stopped laughing and George’s leg had returned to some semblance of normality they tried again.
“I’ll go on top this time” Jeanne suggested
“Good idea” George agreed “then if you get cramp, you can fall out of bed, and I can laugh at you”
They finally completed the act an hour later.
It was after they had been going out together for a couple of months, when summer had given way to autumn, when there was a ring on the doorbell.
George was working on his laptop in the lounge while Zachary was laying turf in the garden.
George got up from his seat and paused briefly to marvel at what a great job Zachary had done before heading towards the front door.
He opened it to find a short emaciated man standing there, he was pretty sure he didn’t know him but there was something familiar about him.
“Yes” George said
“My name is Danny Swann” he said “Can I come in”
George realised why there was something familiar about the man he was Jeanne’s older brother.
“No I don’t think so” George said
“Ok I’ll say what I have to say on the door step” Danny said
“Go on then” George said
“I hear you’re exploiting my brother Zachary” he said “Using him like a slave”
“Well not that it’s any of your business” George said “But I pay Zachary to do my garden”
“You can’t give him money he’s not responsible enough to have money” he said
“Is that right?” George asked
“Yes so you can pay it to me in future” he said “and I will look after it for him”
“I don’t think so” George replied
Danny Swann leant in towards George and whispered
“You will pay the money to me, unless you want all your neighbours to know you’re taking advantage of a mong”
“A mong?” George said with disgust “you have no idea who or what your brother is, do you? Now get lost”
George slammed the door shut and immediately phoned Jeanne.
They didn’t hear from Danny anymore after that day and they assumed that was the end of the matter until two months later.
It was Jeanne’s day off and she and George were looking forward to spending the day together, in truth George was just contemplating a cosy siesta with the lovely Miss Swann when the doorbell rang.
George opened the door and was greeted by a rather rotund middle aged woman with ridiculous hair.
“Maureen Dunne” she said holding up an ID badge “Social services, can I come in”
George invited her in and when Jeanne had made drinks they all sat in the lounge.
“We have had a report that you are using a vulnerable person as slave labour” Mrs Dunne stated
(Part 08)
“We have had a report that you are using a vulnerable person as slave labour” Mrs Dunne stated
“I can guess who that was” Jeanne said with disgust “my brother Danny”
“I can’t divulge the name of the complainant” she said
“Bloody nerve” George said “He was here demanding that I pay Zachary’s wages to him, and I refused which is why he’s made a complaint”
“So Zachary Swann hasn’t done work for you?” Mrs Dunne asked
“Oh yes he has worked for me, but I pay him” George said
“And how much do you pay him?” she asked
“He gets minimum wage” Jeanne interjected
“Can you prove that?” She asked
“As a matter of fact I can” George said and stood up “I am a bit OCD when it comes to records, so yes I can”
George reached up to the top shelf and took down an A5 note book.
“This shows everything” George said “This lists all his hours, how much he earned and at the back are the receipts for the deposits into his account”
“As you can see at the beginning” Jeanne said “He did a lot more hours but they have tailed off now because he is only doing maintenance”
“We have before and after pictures which shows how much he has achieved” George said
“What are these figures in red?” Mrs Dunne asked
Jeanne and George both laughed
“Do you see that jar on the sideboard” George said indicating a China fruit jar
“That contains the money I overpay him, if I pay him for more hours than he has worked, he puts it in the jar”
“And those are the figures in red” Jeanne said “he is no fool and he only wants to be paid for the work he has done”
Mrs Dunne was silent for a moment as she studied the rest of the book and then she asked
“And how many hours is he working today?”
“Oh he’s not working for me today” George said
“But isn’t that him in the garden?” Mrs Dunne asked
“Yes that’s Zachary” Jeanne said
“And he’s gardening” Mrs Dunne persisted
“Oh yes always” George replied
“For you” She said
“No” George replied “Today he’s gardening for himself”
“I don’t understand” said Mrs Dunne
“Jeanne and Zachary live in a cottage and have a very small garden, the local Shallowfield allotment society won’t rent him a plot because he has learning difficult so I have given him half of the garden to work for himself, in fact its Zachary’s garden now, not mine”
“As you can see he loves gardening” Jeanne said proudly
“I can see that, but you must appreciate how it looks, a man giving half of his garden to a virtual stranger” Mrs Dunne said with eyebrows raised
“What if he was going to be my brother in law?” George said looking at Jeanne
“What?” Mrs Dunne asked a little confused
“Are you proposing to me?” Jeanne asked
“What?” Mrs Dunne asked again even more confused
“Yes” George said
“Not the most romantic way to be asked” Jeanne added
“Well I’ve been trying to ask all week and couldn’t get it out” George said
“You know what I’m like”
“Well in that case” she said “I will have to marry you”
“You will?” George said and they stood in the middle of the room and kissed
“Case closed then” Mrs Dunne said
There only remained one obstacle to Jeanne and George’s engagement.
If Zachary wasn’t happy then Jeanne couldn’t marry him and she was adamant about that.
So it was on a crisp autumn morning that George and Jeanne chose to ask Zachary a question and when they were all sitting in the lounge, Zachary was a little fidgety as he wanted to get back to the garden and his eyes kept wandering to the window
“Would you like to live here Zachary?” George asked
“No” he replied very definitely
“Why not?” he asked
“Jeanne will be lonely without me” Zachary said “I don’t want her to be lonely”
“I don’t want her to be lonely either Zachary” George said
“Which is why I thought it would be nice if we all lived here together”
“Ok then” he said and went back to his garden
George turned to Jeanne and said “Ok then”
“Ok then” Jeanne said “Let’s get married”
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and George Harding lived at number 1 Dulcet Mill Lane in the house he was raised in along with his sister Mariana by his Aunt Julia.
George had just settled himself down in his armchair when he heard the sound of the front doorbell.
“Oh Bollocks” he said in response and struggled to his feet to answer it.
He grabbed his crutches and headed slowly towards the door just as it rang again
“Alright, I’m coming” he said
When he opened the door he found a man and woman in their early thirties, standing the other side of it.
“I’m Zachary” the man said proudly thrusting his chest out “I do the garden”
“Oh” he responded
The attractive woman who was standing just behind him said
“What he means is that he is a very good gardener and he’s looking for work”
Zachary, he ascertained had a learning disability of some sort and the woman with him he presumed was his care giver.
George wondered how many houses they had visited in Mornington before his and how many times she had had to explain.
“Well” He said and he saw her shoulders slump as she anticipated another rejection.
“I am sorely in need of a gardener”
And she straightened up and the broadest smile crossed her face and Zachary looked at her and smiled
“Thank you” she said and squeezed Zachary’s arm proudly
“Thank you” Zachary said and held out his hand for George to shake
“I can’t afford to pay you a lot” George said
“That’s not a problem” she replied for him
“And you may not want the job when you see the state of garden, it’s a real mess” George added
“I will do it” Zachary said holding his head high “I don’t mind hard work”
“Ok then go through the side gate and I will meet you out the back” he said
He closed the door and made his way slowly to the back door which he had just opened, when Zachary and his carer walked through the side gate.
“Oh dear” she said as the young woman saw the overgrown jungle that was George Harding’s garden
“Lots of work for me” Zachary said enthusiastically and went exploring in the undergrowth.
“Thank you” she said
“What for?” George asked
“For giving my brother a chance” she replied
“Nonsense I should be thanking you” he said and winced
“Are you ok?” She asked
“Yes, it’s just that I’m not supposed to be putting my weight on it” he replied
“Then you need to go in and sit” she said with authority
“I’ll be find” George replied
“Sit” she insisted “We don’t tell patients to keep their weight off for no reason”
“We?” George queried
“I’m a nurse” Jeanne said and wouldn’t take no for an answer so she encouraged him inside and then she settled him in his chair
“Now stay there and rest your leg”
“Yes nurse” he responded
“Jeanne” she corrected him
“I’m George”
“Can I make you a drink?” she asked
“Only if you’re going to join me” George replied
“I thought you’d never ask” she said “We’ve been walking around all morning and people have been very nice but….”
“Great” he replied “Black coffee for me please”
Jeanne nodded and went into the kitchen.
(Part 02)
Jeanne Swann went to the kitchen in George Harding’s house and returned a few minutes later with the drinks which she set down on the small table and then she sat in the vacant chair.
“So what happened?” she asked indicating his leg
“Car versus lorry” he said “guess which one I was driving”
“How long ago?”
“Two years” George replied “and several operations”
“Any more planned?” Asked Jeanne
“No they have done everything they can so whatever I have when this has healed I will have to live with” He said soberly
“Is that why the garden is so overgrown?” she asked
“Only partly” he replied “My Aunt Julia was the gardener of the family, who sadly spent the last three years of her life in a home, and as neither my sister Mariana or I have green fingers so it was already fairly overgrown when she died, but it was only two months after that when I had the accident, so it’s at least six years since anything meaningful has been done out there, however I don’t know how much better it would be if I hadn’t had the accident”
“Nor me” she said “but Zachary is a whizz”
George looked at her and saw the pride in her pretty smile as she mentioned Zachary.
“Zachary loves gardening, when he lived with mum he was always out there pottering about or working in the greenhouse”
Jeanne almost cried at the thought of a happier time in their lives George could see her eyes begin to moisten.
Just at that moment through the French window he saw Zachary reappeared from the wilderness and he was grinning broadly.
“He looks so happy” Jeanne said and she almost cried again.
George edged forward on his seat in readiness to stand.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Jeanne said sternly “You need to stay seated”
“Yes nurse” he said obediently and he watched Jeanne with an appraising eye as she walked to the French doors and opened them.
Zachary immediately stepped forward and hugged his sister
“Well what do you think?” George asked while still admiring Jeanne’s figure.
“It’s big Jeanne” he said laughing
“Can you help me with then?” George asked
“Oh yes” Zachary replied eagerly
“Then come and shake on it” George said and Zachary strode forward and shook Georges hand as Jeanne looked on proudly.
“The only snag is that I don’t have much in the way of tools” George admitted
“I have tools” Zachary said proudly
“Ok then, when would you like to start?” George asked
“Now” he replied “I can start now”
“I think tomorrow would be better as we have disturbed Mr...”
“Harding” George said “But please call me George”
“We have disturbed Mr. Harding enough for today” she continued
“Ok Jeanne” Zachary agreed
“Tomorrow then” George said
“Tomorrow then” Zachary echoed
“We will see you Tomorrow then, we’ll let ourselves out” Jeanne said and steered Zachary out the door “because George needs to rest his leg” She directed her eyes in George’s direction as she said it and George said
“Yes nurse”
(Part 03)
On Saturday morning George got himself going much earlier than usual and showered and shaved and put on a smart shirt as he wanted to give a better impression of himself than he had the day before if Jeanne was going to be coming with Zachary again.
He was sure he remembered her say “We will see you tomorrow” but then by the time nine o’clock came and went he began to think he had imagined it.
But at 9.15 he heard the side gate rattle so he got up and opened the French doors.
And with the aid of his crutches he stepped ungracefully onto the patio just as the lovely Jeanne walked through the gate.
She was wearing a bright floral summer dress presumably as it was going to be a nice day.
Whatever the reason he was pleased with the outcome.
She stepped to one side and held the gate open as the front wheel of a wheel barrow appeared followed by the wheel barrow itself, full of tools, and Zachary, who was pushing it.
“My word you are well equipped” George said and blushed as he realized he was looking at Jeanne as he said it.
“Yes I am” replied Zachary with pride
“We’re not too early are we?” Jeanne asked “He’s been ready since 7 o’clock”
“No not at all” George replied
“Did you have to wheel those tools far?”
“No, only from Dulcets Road Cottages” Jeanne replied
“Really?” he said with surprise
“Yes, we’ve not been in the village long” she replied.
Zachary was wearing work boots and overalls and was raring to go, Jeanne on the other hand, dressed in her summer frock and sandals was clearly not and George hoped desperately that she was staying.
“So are you gardening or cheering him on from the sidelines?” George asked hopefully
“I’m definitely cheering him on” she replied with a giggle.
“Well we can sit out here if you’d like I’ve got chairs and stuff in the garage” George suggested
“That would be lovely but let me and Zachary get the chairs” she said
“Ok I’ll put the kettle on” he said
“If you must” she said disapprovingly
The kettle had just boiled when Jeanne came in to the kitchen
“Ok, you can leave that to me now” she said and ushered him out onto the patio again where he found Zachary had just finished dusting down the chairs.
George found himself unable to fathom out the best way to seat himself in the chair, it was one of those chairs that when seated you lifted the arm rests and the back went down and the foot rest came up.
But he couldn’t get the chair to stand still while he lowered himself into it.
“Haven’t you sat down yet?” Jeanne asked
“No but it’s not for the want of trying” George replied and she laughed as he tried again and failed.
“Zachary will help” she said “Give me your crutches”
He complied with the nurses instruction and then Zachary scooped him up in his arms like he was a child, he was immensely strong, and lowered him gently into the chair.
(Part 04)
Jeanne and George sat on the patio and chatted as Zachary toiled in the jungle, they knew he was there even though they couldn’t see him, as there were tell-tale sounds of a man at work.
In truth George initially listened more than conversed as his mind wandered and he ended up just looking at her.
He thought she had a pretty face and he loved her bobbed soft brown hair and the way it framed her face perfectly.
He also looked at her eyes and pronounced them internally to be hazel.
“So you’re a nurse” he said as she caught him watching her
“Yes” she replied taking a sip of her tea.
“I’m a nurse at Oak Dale”
Oak Dale was a Retirement Village and Nursing home in Dulcets Green.
“That was where Aunt Julia spent her last few years” he responded “Is Alexandra Barrileau still in charge?”
“Yes she is”
“I liked her very much” he said “She really cares for the patients”
“She’s very dedicated” Jeanne agreed
“So have you been there long?” he asked
“Only about six months” she replied “I was in the Emergency Department at the Winston Churchill for five years, dealing with the same people time and time again having done the same thing that got them in there the previous time and knowing that after you patched them up they would be back again the next month for the same reason, it was very disheartening”
“So what prompted the change?” George asked
“It was when my mum was in The Hedgerley Court Hospice in Applesford and I saw the dignified way they dealt with the poor souls who were on the edge of the abyss and the comfort they bestowed upon them as they slipped away, and I thought that a much more important role than patching up the drunks and addicts, and that’s my role at Oak Dale”
“And when you’re not working you help your brother” George said
“I try to” she said
“He has a real passion for gardening and he’s good at it, really good, but you’re the first person to give him a chance, I can’t tell you how grateful I am”
“I’ll be honest with you Jeanne when I said yes it was because I could see how your spirits sank when you thought I was going to say no, but also I thought that well the garden is such a mess, what harm could he do, not a particularly noble reason”
“Being honest is noble” she said
After a few moments of silence George asked
“So how did he come to be living with you?”
“Well my dad worked all his adult life for the St George family, in Highfinch, as a chauffeur, amongst other things and when he died mum stay on in the tied house until her death”
Jeanne paused to take another sip of her tea.
“When Mum died Zachary had to leave, but the St Georges weren’t prepared to put him out on the street so they offered him a cottage in Mornington and so I moved in with him and got the job at Oak Dale”
“Well that sounds almost perfect” George said
“Almost, the only downside is that the cottage only has a very small garden and Zachary is used to something a lot bigger to keep him occupied”
“Do you have any other family?”
“Yes I have an older brother, Danny, but he’s a real waster, I wouldn’t have let Zachary go to him even if Danny had suggested it, which he didn’t” she said frankly
“What about you? Any family”
“Yes I have a younger sister, Marianna” he said “But she’s in New Zealand and I haven’t seen her since Aunt Julia’s funeral”
“I’m sorry to hear that” she said
“I really miss her” he confessed “But we skype every week and email in between”
(Part 05)
“Aunt Julia loved her garden and she would hate to see it like this” George said
“But here we are, about to restore it to its former glory” She said positively
Just then he looked at his watch and realized it was time for lunch
“Oh look at the time let me go and make some lunch” George suggested
“Nonsense you need to stay off the leg, I’ll go and get something”
She offered
George opened his mouth to protest but Jeanne gave him a look that said her mind was made up, then she leant towards him and whispered
“Zachary will want a meat pie anyway”
“Oh” George said
“What do you want for lunch Zack?” she shouted
“Meat Pie” he replied instantly
“Well that’s settled then” George said “I’ll get my wallet”
Jeanne gave him another look so he settled back into his chair and she walked into the village to Addison’s Bakers to pick up lunch.
After lunch Zachary went back to work and Jeanne and George resumed their conversation.
“What about an allotment” George suggested “For Zachary I mean”
“We tried that” Jeanne said “The nearest ones are in Shallowfield but they said they were full, but I know they were lying”
George raised an eyebrow and gave her a doubtful look.
“They are still advertising for new members on the internet, they just didn’t want a retard in their society”
She almost cried but she managed to compose herself.
“So what do you do?” she asked
“I’m a web design consultant” George said
“And who do you work for” she asked having no idea what a web design consultant was.
“I’m a freelance” he said “so fortunately I can work from home”
“Well that’s handy” she said encouragingly
“Yes but I’ve lost a lot of work because of this” he said patting his leg “with operation’s or hospital appointment and physio”
“That’s not so good” Jeanne said
“No, but I’m lucky really” George said “I have some regular clients who have been very understanding and of course I’m even luckier not to be dead”
By the end of the afternoon Zachary had made significant progress cutting back the shrubbery but there was still a long way to go.
It was a big garden as you would expect with a Victorian detached house, it was 60 feet wide and more than treble that in length
George’s Aunt Julia always had it in very good order and it was her pride and joy.
Zachary was loading his tools back into his wheelbarrow
“Put your tools in the garage Zachary” George said
“Then you won’t need to bring them with you every day”
“That’s a good idea isn’t it Zachary?” Jeanne said
“Yes it is” he agreed
“Will I see you both again tomorrow?” George asked hopefully
George was quite sad to see her go at the end of the day it had been such a pleasant day, it had been quite a while since he had had any meaningful conversation and even longer with such lovely company.
“Yes if that ok” Jeanne said
“I’ll see you both tomorrow then” he said and smiled
The next day was Sunday and was spent in the same pleasant fashion as the first one was with Jeanne and George relaxing and poor Zachary doing all the work and all three of them loving every minute of it.
(Part 06)
Jeanne didn’t go with Zachary every day, she still had to work and if she was on nights then she would be sleeping during the day.
Then there were days when she had housework to do or errands to run, shopping, paying bills etc. and those were the days George came to dislike intently.
Some days of course George wouldn’t be at the house to see her if she were there because he had errands to run himself or hospital appointments or physio.
But they both secretly loved it when they were both there together.
After a few weeks Zachary had cleared the garden right down to the end and cut all the weeds bramble and nettles down to ground level and was left with two enormous piles of garden rubbish one of them being the decapitated shrubbery.
“What now?” Jeanne asked
“Well I suppose we can compost the green stuff” he said “In the bottom corner”
Zachary nodded enthusiastically
“What about the rest? Can we burn it?” Jeanne asked
“Well we could but I think we’ll hire a chipper” George replied
“A what?” she queried
“A wood chipper” he said
“What’s that?”
“Well it’s a machine that you stick the woody stuff in at one end and it mashes it all up into chips which come out the other” George said
“Zack likes chips” Zachary said and laughed and George and Jeanne joined in.
“So it’s a big boy’s toy” Jeanne said when they had stopped laughing
“Yes pretty much” George admitted “but you can have a go”
“Ok, where do we get one?” she said
As the weeks had gone by George had grown more and more fond of Jeanne and at the same time his mobility had improved to the point that he was able to ditch the crutches in favour of a single walking stick and it was when he was at that stage when he was at his least gimpy that he chose to ask Jeanne out.
It was a very hot day in the middle of July and he was sweating, but it wasn’t the heat that was responsible for him sweating it was because he had decided that he would ask her that day, Zachary was way down the end of the garden sorting the compost and George was pacing up and down the patio, she had phoned earlier to say she was coming straight round from work.
So when Jeanne arrived she was still wearing her uniform, not one of the sexy “Carry on Nurse” type uniforms but it was still very nice, which merely made him sweat even more.
“Would you like a drink Jeanne?” he asked “There’s wine in the fridge”
“I’d love one” she said and plonked herself down in a chair.
George got the wine from the fridge and poured two glasses instantly drained one and filled it again.
He took the drinks outside and they sat on the patio in the evening sunshine drinking their wine
“Jeanne I was wondering” he began
“Wondering what?” she replied and took a long sip on her wine.
“Well I was wondering if, and feel free to say no, but um I thought that well um, if you were erm, not on nights or busy or anything, that maybe, if you were free then perhaps um, we might um, well you know, go out for dinner, maybe on Friday”
She had been staring at him for every tortuous second of his inept babbling, looking at him like he was a gibbering idiot, which of course wasn’t far from the truth and then she smiled.
“I’d love to” Jeanne replied putting him out of his misery
“I thought you were never going to ask”
“Well I’ve been meaning to for a while” George explained
“What made you ask me now?” she asked “Was it the uniform?”
(Part 07)
George and Jeanne made love for the first time after their second date which didn’t altogether go as planned, because at a crucial point in the preceding’s George’s bad leg suddenly cramped up and he fell out of bed.
When Jeanne had stopped laughing and George’s leg had returned to some semblance of normality they tried again.
“I’ll go on top this time” Jeanne suggested
“Good idea” George agreed “then if you get cramp, you can fall out of bed, and I can laugh at you”
They finally completed the act an hour later.
It was after they had been going out together for a couple of months, when summer had given way to autumn, when there was a ring on the doorbell.
George was working on his laptop in the lounge while Zachary was laying turf in the garden.
George got up from his seat and paused briefly to marvel at what a great job Zachary had done before heading towards the front door.
He opened it to find a short emaciated man standing there, he was pretty sure he didn’t know him but there was something familiar about him.
“Yes” George said
“My name is Danny Swann” he said “Can I come in”
George realised why there was something familiar about the man he was Jeanne’s older brother.
“No I don’t think so” George said
“Ok I’ll say what I have to say on the door step” Danny said
“Go on then” George said
“I hear you’re exploiting my brother Zachary” he said “Using him like a slave”
“Well not that it’s any of your business” George said “But I pay Zachary to do my garden”
“You can’t give him money he’s not responsible enough to have money” he said
“Is that right?” George asked
“Yes so you can pay it to me in future” he said “and I will look after it for him”
“I don’t think so” George replied
Danny Swann leant in towards George and whispered
“You will pay the money to me, unless you want all your neighbours to know you’re taking advantage of a mong”
“A mong?” George said with disgust “you have no idea who or what your brother is, do you? Now get lost”
George slammed the door shut and immediately phoned Jeanne.
They didn’t hear from Danny anymore after that day and they assumed that was the end of the matter until two months later.
It was Jeanne’s day off and she and George were looking forward to spending the day together, in truth George was just contemplating a cosy siesta with the lovely Miss Swann when the doorbell rang.
George opened the door and was greeted by a rather rotund middle aged woman with ridiculous hair.
“Maureen Dunne” she said holding up an ID badge “Social services, can I come in”
George invited her in and when Jeanne had made drinks they all sat in the lounge.
“We have had a report that you are using a vulnerable person as slave labour” Mrs Dunne stated
(Part 08)
“We have had a report that you are using a vulnerable person as slave labour” Mrs Dunne stated
“I can guess who that was” Jeanne said with disgust “my brother Danny”
“I can’t divulge the name of the complainant” she said
“Bloody nerve” George said “He was here demanding that I pay Zachary’s wages to him, and I refused which is why he’s made a complaint”
“So Zachary Swann hasn’t done work for you?” Mrs Dunne asked
“Oh yes he has worked for me, but I pay him” George said
“And how much do you pay him?” she asked
“He gets minimum wage” Jeanne interjected
“Can you prove that?” She asked
“As a matter of fact I can” George said and stood up “I am a bit OCD when it comes to records, so yes I can”
George reached up to the top shelf and took down an A5 note book.
“This shows everything” George said “This lists all his hours, how much he earned and at the back are the receipts for the deposits into his account”
“As you can see at the beginning” Jeanne said “He did a lot more hours but they have tailed off now because he is only doing maintenance”
“We have before and after pictures which shows how much he has achieved” George said
“What are these figures in red?” Mrs Dunne asked
Jeanne and George both laughed
“Do you see that jar on the sideboard” George said indicating a China fruit jar
“That contains the money I overpay him, if I pay him for more hours than he has worked, he puts it in the jar”
“And those are the figures in red” Jeanne said “he is no fool and he only wants to be paid for the work he has done”
Mrs Dunne was silent for a moment as she studied the rest of the book and then she asked
“And how many hours is he working today?”
“Oh he’s not working for me today” George said
“But isn’t that him in the garden?” Mrs Dunne asked
“Yes that’s Zachary” Jeanne said
“And he’s gardening” Mrs Dunne persisted
“Oh yes always” George replied
“For you” She said
“No” George replied “Today he’s gardening for himself”
“I don’t understand” said Mrs Dunne
“Jeanne and Zachary live in a cottage and have a very small garden, the local Shallowfield allotment society won’t rent him a plot because he has learning difficult so I have given him half of the garden to work for himself, in fact its Zachary’s garden now, not mine”
“As you can see he loves gardening” Jeanne said proudly
“I can see that, but you must appreciate how it looks, a man giving half of his garden to a virtual stranger” Mrs Dunne said with eyebrows raised
“What if he was going to be my brother in law?” George said looking at Jeanne
“What?” Mrs Dunne asked a little confused
“Are you proposing to me?” Jeanne asked
“What?” Mrs Dunne asked again even more confused
“Yes” George said
“Not the most romantic way to be asked” Jeanne added
“Well I’ve been trying to ask all week and couldn’t get it out” George said
“You know what I’m like”
“Well in that case” she said “I will have to marry you”
“You will?” George said and they stood in the middle of the room and kissed
“Case closed then” Mrs Dunne said
There only remained one obstacle to Jeanne and George’s engagement.
If Zachary wasn’t happy then Jeanne couldn’t marry him and she was adamant about that.
So it was on a crisp autumn morning that George and Jeanne chose to ask Zachary a question and when they were all sitting in the lounge, Zachary was a little fidgety as he wanted to get back to the garden and his eyes kept wandering to the window
“Would you like to live here Zachary?” George asked
“No” he replied very definitely
“Why not?” he asked
“Jeanne will be lonely without me” Zachary said “I don’t want her to be lonely”
“I don’t want her to be lonely either Zachary” George said
“Which is why I thought it would be nice if we all lived here together”
“Ok then” he said and went back to his garden
George turned to Jeanne and said “Ok then”
“Ok then” Jeanne said “Let’s get married”
Downshire Diary – (33) The Slow Burn
(Part 01)
It was a beautiful June evening when Jonathon Hardman and his colleague Neil Etherington were sat by the river in the beer garden of the Mulberry Tree in the village of Brocklington, which was about six miles downstream of the River Deighton discussing the upcoming weekend.
The two friends both worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea.
Neil had a cottage in the Village and Jon was staying with him while his house the Dulcets was being fumigated.
The reason they were discussing the weekend was because he had two tickets to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground.
The main topic of the conversation was whether they would drive to Abbottsford early on Saturday morning or go up the night before and stay at a hotel and they were on their third pint of Mornington Ale when Neil’s phone rang which made up their minds for them.
The call was from their boss Russ Evans and he wanted Neil to go to an all-day meeting in Abbottsford the next day and he needed Jonathon in the office in Sharpington.
As a result Neil’s mind was made up for him regarding the weekend because as he was going to be in Abbottsford all day on Friday it made perfect sense for him to stay at a hotel that night.
For Jonathon however it wasn’t an option as he wouldn’t get to Abbottsford until really late because of the Friday night traffic so he decided he would leave Brocklington early on Saturday and meet Neil at the Hotel.
While Jonathon and Neil were enjoying a drink or three, someone as yet unknown to them was just returning home to the village of Highfinch which sits just on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills where the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separates the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, and the combination of those two and Kingfisherbridge made up the parish of St Martins.
Among the residents of Highfinch was Isabelle Decoene, a very slim and attractive girl, tall and slender and very well endowed with legs to die for.
She was an exotic looking woman and had beautiful long dark brown hair and dark skin, reflecting her heritage as did her large brown eyes.
In her ancestry she had French, Filipino and Spanish blood but she was born and bred in Britain and at the age of 29 she still lived with her parents.
It was a bit of a joke among her friends but she didn’t care, it suited her and it wouldn’t be forever.
She worked as an accountant for Barraclough Ventures who’s head offices were in Abbottsford but they had satellite offices all over the county and beyond, and she had to visit them all during the course of her job so she subsequently had to do a lot of traveling which was why she treated herself to her pride and joy, an Audi TT Roadster convertible in red.
However for Friday she had made sure she would end her week in Abbottsford where she would meet up with her best friend Samantha Barraclough at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, for the start for what would prove to be a life changing weekend.
(Part 02)
It was Friday morning and another glorious June day as John set off from the village it was an hour and a half drive from Brocklington to Abbottsford even on a good day and that Saturday morning was apparently a very good day and he arrived at the Black Heart Hotel bang on time to find Neil was still in the restaurant and it was 9 o’clock.
At that precise moment Isabelle was also having breakfast but she was at the Abbottsford Regents with her friend Samantha Barraclough.
And Izzy was feeling a little fragile as she had rather over indulge the night before and didn’t get to bed until late after having had a late night out with friends.
Her problem was that she had drunk so much to try and drown out Samantha’s constant wittering about a great man she had met and how she was kicking herself for not getting his number or at the very least giving him hers.
Because Neil was ready, as he had already breakfasted before Jonathon arrived they left for the cricket ground on foot and on the way there Neil recounted all the details of the previous days encounter with a drop dead gorgeous girl.
“Did you get her number?” Jonathon asked
“Erm no” was the reply
“Wouldn’t she give it to you?” Jon asked mockingly
“No, it wasn’t like that”
“But you did ask her?” Jonathon pressed him
“Well no I didn’t actually” he admitted
“You numpty” Jonathon said “you do realise that she might have been “the one””
“The thought did cross my mind” Neil admitted
“So you might well have blown it” Jon added
“Yes”
“So how do you feel?” Jon asked
“Like a complete numpty” Neil said
It was a glorious June day and there was a good crowd at the Cricket Ground and Neil and Jonathon went in as soon as the gates opened and after getting some refreshments they found their seats and took in the ambience as the ground began to fill.
Downshire won the toss and decided to bat first and they were in great form and the atmosphere was absolutely electric as Downshire went to work with the bat and they raced to 53-0 inside seven overs and declared on 225 for 7 after just 40 overs so the umpire called an early lunch, which pleased Jonathon no end because he missed breakfast.
Neil and Jonathon joined the throng to use either the facilities or one of the many food and refreshment outlets.
While Neil queued for sandwiches and crisps Jonathon joined a separate queue for two pints of Mornington Special.
Jonathon got the beers and returned to his seat and waited for Neil to appear and he waited, and waited, and waited.
“Did you have to make those sandwiches?” Jonathon said when Neil finally reached him.
“I have something better than sandwiches” he said and waved the business card under his nose.
Neil had met the girl he had been enthusing about and she had given him her number.
“Result” Jonathon said as he turned the card over in his hand “But I hope you got the sandwiches as well”
(Part 03)
Samantha Barraclough was in one of the executive boxes, as was Isabelle and when Sam returned to the box she couldn’t wait to tell her best friend Isabelle Decoene that she had given Neil her number.
“Thank god for that” she said “Perhaps you’ll stop going on about him so much now you have his number”
“Oh bugger” Sam exclaimed
“You did get “His” number didn’t you?” Izzy asked
“Oh bugger” Sam said again and plopped down in her seat
“Oh bugger” Isabelle echoed because she knew she was going to talk about her missed opportunity all afternoon.
When the cricket resumed Samantha’s 20-year-old step brother, who was Downshire’s Debutant all-rounder David Ball joined the bowling attack and clean bowled Surrey’s star man Gillmore with his first ball, a dismissal that sparked a spectacular collapse.
Surrey were all out for 165 with 12 overs to spare and Downshire won the match by sixty runs and the delighted fans disgorged onto the streets of Abbottsford in great spirits even before the tea interval.
Jonathon and Neil decided to return to the Hotel on foot and planned to stop for a pint or two along the way, they made slow progress however and bypassed the first three pubs because of the huge crowds and their perseverance paid off as the crowds began to thin out as people started to disappear up side roads in search of their cars.
The two men were both tall and as the crowd thinned they could lengthen their stride.
They had decided on the Downshire Castle as their port of call and they were within sight of it and anticipating a refreshing pint when they were brought back to the moment by the sound of a car horn, a very persistent car horn.
They both turned around to investigate and Neil saw Samantha standing up in the passenger side of a red Audi TT Roadster convertible waving franticly and grinning.
Isabelle and Samantha had left the cricket ground from the members car park and were heading very slowly back to the Hotel when Samantha spotted Neil ahead of them on the pavement.
“It’s him, it’s him, it’s him” she squealed
“Where?” Isabelle asked
“Over there” she replied excitedly and pointed
“Toot your horn, toot it toot it toot it”
Having successful attracted his attention Samantha gave him her most dazzling smile and said
“Hello again”
“Hi”
“There’s a big garden party in the grounds of the Regents, we’re going back to there now” she said at a hundred miles an hour “do you and your friend want to come?”
“Yes we’d love to” he replied and then the traffic started moving and Isabelle had to drive off
“I’ll meet you in reception” she shouted
“Was that him?” Isabelle asked “the one you’ve been bending my ear about all weekend”
“Yes that’s him” Sam said proudly
“He’s a bit ordinary” Izzy said and Samantha frowned “His friend was alright though”
(Part 04)
“Was that him?” Isabelle asked “the one you’ve been bending my ear about all weekend”
“Yes that’s him” Sam said proudly
“He’s a bit ordinary” Izzy said and Samantha frowned “His friend was alright though”
Samantha sat in silence for the rest of the journey and digested what Izzy had said, she didn’t think he was ordinary, from the first moment she saw him she knew he was anything but ordinary.
She wasn’t inexperienced with men, but most of the experience’s she had had weren’t really memorable, or were memorable for the wrong reasons, looking as she did she had always attracted men, the problem was she chose the wrong ones, perhaps that was why she was attracted to Neil because he wasn’t the “type” of man she normally went for.
Isabelle went and parked the car and Samantha proceeded into the Hotel and rushed upstairs to her room to freshen up, so she would look her best when Neil arrived then she went back downstairs to reception and Izzy was waiting in reception for her and when Samantha came back she said to Izzy
“I don’t think he’s ordinary”
“I know that” she said “But the way you were talking I thought he was going to look like Robert Redford”
“I wasn’t that bad” she protested
“You were and I’ve never known you to be so obviously smitten by a man before” she pointed out “and I’ve certainly never known you to chase one down the street”
“Yes but ….” She began, but didn’t finish because she saw Neil and his friend walking towards them.
Introductions were quickly made and Isabelle, who had liked the look of Jonathon the first time she saw him, liked him even more at close quarters.
Neil could only look at Samantha in abject admiration, but he appreciated her for slightly longer that he should and Samantha became self-conscious and looked at her feet and blushed.
Jonathon suggested drinks and Isabelle volunteered to go with him leaving Neil and Sam alone.
“I’ve never seen her like that before” Izzy said
“Well Neil is totally smitten, I don’t think he even realised the cricket had started again after he saw Samantha at lunch”
“She was the same” Izzy said “Absolutely besotted”
“Should we do anything to help?” Jon asked
“I don’t think we need to intervene” she replied “I don’t even think they’ll notice we’re even there”
Samantha was giggling when Jonathon and Isabelle returned with the drinks and they walked out onto the terrace and looked for a table.
There were no empty tables on the terrace but there was one with three vacant seats so they decided to take them and Samantha ended up sitting on Neil’s lap and then they only had eyes for one another which left Jonathon and Isabelle to keep each other amused.
Which was ok but there’s was a distinct lack of an instant attraction between them, in fact it was more of a slow burner, they liked the look of one another and they enjoyed the time the spent together but there was no spark.
There was definitely a friendly vibe between them but that was all and when they said goodbye they did hope to see each other again because they had enjoyed the day very much.
(Part 05)
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength and as their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene assumed that they would see each other on a regular basis.
But it didn’t work out that way they only actually only met a handful of times in June and July and then nothing for months.
It wasn’t by design however it was just the way it worked out, it was either holidays, or illness, or work commitments that conspired to keep them apart and the longer the separation the greater their desire to see the other as the slow burn continued.
But it wasn’t until September when it ignited.
Isabelle Decoene looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection, she was an exotic looking woman and had beautiful long dark brown hair and dark skin, reflecting her heritage as did her large brown eyes.
In her ancestry she had French, Filipino and Spanish blood but she was born and bred in Britain and still lived with her parents.
Isabelle was thirty years old to the very day and for the first time in years she was going out with all of her besties on her birthday.
The previous five years of birthdays there was always someone who couldn’t make it, but that year there was a full complement and she was really looking forward to it.
For her 30th birthday Samantha had arranged the birthday evening for Isabelle and her best friends which started with a fabulous meal at a Lebanese Restaurant which had been named rather unimaginatively as Beirut.
None of them had eaten Lebanese before, so guided by the waiter they ordered the house special platter which consisted of a large range of meat, not at all unlike kebab meat but with much more sophisticated spicing.
They all enjoyed the meal very much and copious quantities of wine along with it and after settling the bill they all headed to a club called the Pull Zone.
As Isabelle was the first of her closest friends to reach her milestone birthday there was a lot of age related teasing.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright dancing with the young people dear?”
“It might be a bit noisy old girl”
“If you keep to the shadows you won’t look too out of place”
“Oh yes very funny just watch and learn as I put it to the test and see just how much of a “Pull Zone” it actually is” She boasted amidst derisive laughter although they all knew she would pull, because Samantha had arranged it.
While Isabelle and her friends were enjoying Lebanese food at the Beirut, Neil Etherington and Jonathon Hardman were in the same street eating Italian at a Restaurant called Roberto’s and when they had finished Neil suggested going to a club.
“Oh I don’t know about that” Jon replied
“Come on lets live a little” Neil insisted “When was the last time we went to a club?”
“Aren’t we a bit old?” Jon asked
“Too old?” Neil retorted “now we are definitely going to a club”
The club he took his friend to was of course Pull Zone and once they walked inside Neil sent a text message to Samantha.
“The Eagle has landed”
(Part 06)
Despite it being her birthday Isabelle hadn’t been her normal sparky self that day, the first thing that brought her down was that she still hadn’t managed to hook up with Jonathon Hardman and the second thing was that she didn’t have him or any other significant other in her life.
However she had enjoyed the evening immensely and had not been given any time to think, the next day would be a different matter.
Once inside the club, Isabelle’s party were immediately targeted by the lounge lizards but there flirtations were quickly brushed aside
The second wave reached them at the bar and with the necessity of prolonged exchanges of flirting, in her case with someone called Adrian, but then she caught sight of a familiar face further along the bar and then she had eyes and ears for no one else because as far as she was concerned Jonathon was the best looking and the best dressed man in the whole place.
However on the dance floor his dancing left a lot to be desired, until the slow dancing started and then things went to a whole new level.
Just on one o’clock she was starting to flag and told everyone she was leaving and Jonathon was going to walk her to the taxi rank.
“I told you I’d pull” she said to her friends
“He doesn’t count” one of them replied
“Why not?” she asked affronted
“Because you know him for one thing and you two have fancied each other for ages” was the reply
After they left the club they were walking arm in arm down the high street when Isabella suddenly turned left without any warning.
“That’s the wrong way” Jonathon said
“No it isn’t” she insisted
“It is” he said “the taxi rank is the other way”
“I need to go this way” she replied and walked into the church square. “In here” she ordered and led him into a courtyard and pushed him back against the church wall and kissed him and after a prolonged and passionate kiss she said
“Happy birthday to me”
“I hope I don’t have to wait until your next birthday to do that again” he said
“You don’t have to worry about that” she said and kissed him again and then afterwards she said
“Now we can go back to the club”
“I thought you wanted to go home” he said
“No, I just wanted our first kiss to be in private and I’ve got my second wind now” she replied
“So you really want to suffer more of my dancing?” he asked
“Well I was thinking more along the lines of canoodling in the corner with my new boyfriend” she replied coyly
“Oh well that I can do” he agreed and put his arm around her as they walked back to the club.
It was a beautiful June evening when Jonathon Hardman and his colleague Neil Etherington were sat by the river in the beer garden of the Mulberry Tree in the village of Brocklington, which was about six miles downstream of the River Deighton discussing the upcoming weekend.
The two friends both worked for a firm of architects called New Horizons whose head office was in Sharpington by Sea.
Neil had a cottage in the Village and Jon was staying with him while his house the Dulcets was being fumigated.
The reason they were discussing the weekend was because he had two tickets to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground.
The main topic of the conversation was whether they would drive to Abbottsford early on Saturday morning or go up the night before and stay at a hotel and they were on their third pint of Mornington Ale when Neil’s phone rang which made up their minds for them.
The call was from their boss Russ Evans and he wanted Neil to go to an all-day meeting in Abbottsford the next day and he needed Jonathon in the office in Sharpington.
As a result Neil’s mind was made up for him regarding the weekend because as he was going to be in Abbottsford all day on Friday it made perfect sense for him to stay at a hotel that night.
For Jonathon however it wasn’t an option as he wouldn’t get to Abbottsford until really late because of the Friday night traffic so he decided he would leave Brocklington early on Saturday and meet Neil at the Hotel.
While Jonathon and Neil were enjoying a drink or three, someone as yet unknown to them was just returning home to the village of Highfinch which sits just on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills where the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separates the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, and the combination of those two and Kingfisherbridge made up the parish of St Martins.
Among the residents of Highfinch was Isabelle Decoene, a very slim and attractive girl, tall and slender and very well endowed with legs to die for.
She was an exotic looking woman and had beautiful long dark brown hair and dark skin, reflecting her heritage as did her large brown eyes.
In her ancestry she had French, Filipino and Spanish blood but she was born and bred in Britain and at the age of 29 she still lived with her parents.
It was a bit of a joke among her friends but she didn’t care, it suited her and it wouldn’t be forever.
She worked as an accountant for Barraclough Ventures who’s head offices were in Abbottsford but they had satellite offices all over the county and beyond, and she had to visit them all during the course of her job so she subsequently had to do a lot of traveling which was why she treated herself to her pride and joy, an Audi TT Roadster convertible in red.
However for Friday she had made sure she would end her week in Abbottsford where she would meet up with her best friend Samantha Barraclough at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, for the start for what would prove to be a life changing weekend.
(Part 02)
It was Friday morning and another glorious June day as John set off from the village it was an hour and a half drive from Brocklington to Abbottsford even on a good day and that Saturday morning was apparently a very good day and he arrived at the Black Heart Hotel bang on time to find Neil was still in the restaurant and it was 9 o’clock.
At that precise moment Isabelle was also having breakfast but she was at the Abbottsford Regents with her friend Samantha Barraclough.
And Izzy was feeling a little fragile as she had rather over indulge the night before and didn’t get to bed until late after having had a late night out with friends.
Her problem was that she had drunk so much to try and drown out Samantha’s constant wittering about a great man she had met and how she was kicking herself for not getting his number or at the very least giving him hers.
Because Neil was ready, as he had already breakfasted before Jonathon arrived they left for the cricket ground on foot and on the way there Neil recounted all the details of the previous days encounter with a drop dead gorgeous girl.
“Did you get her number?” Jonathon asked
“Erm no” was the reply
“Wouldn’t she give it to you?” Jon asked mockingly
“No, it wasn’t like that”
“But you did ask her?” Jonathon pressed him
“Well no I didn’t actually” he admitted
“You numpty” Jonathon said “you do realise that she might have been “the one””
“The thought did cross my mind” Neil admitted
“So you might well have blown it” Jon added
“Yes”
“So how do you feel?” Jon asked
“Like a complete numpty” Neil said
It was a glorious June day and there was a good crowd at the Cricket Ground and Neil and Jonathon went in as soon as the gates opened and after getting some refreshments they found their seats and took in the ambience as the ground began to fill.
Downshire won the toss and decided to bat first and they were in great form and the atmosphere was absolutely electric as Downshire went to work with the bat and they raced to 53-0 inside seven overs and declared on 225 for 7 after just 40 overs so the umpire called an early lunch, which pleased Jonathon no end because he missed breakfast.
Neil and Jonathon joined the throng to use either the facilities or one of the many food and refreshment outlets.
While Neil queued for sandwiches and crisps Jonathon joined a separate queue for two pints of Mornington Special.
Jonathon got the beers and returned to his seat and waited for Neil to appear and he waited, and waited, and waited.
“Did you have to make those sandwiches?” Jonathon said when Neil finally reached him.
“I have something better than sandwiches” he said and waved the business card under his nose.
Neil had met the girl he had been enthusing about and she had given him her number.
“Result” Jonathon said as he turned the card over in his hand “But I hope you got the sandwiches as well”
(Part 03)
Samantha Barraclough was in one of the executive boxes, as was Isabelle and when Sam returned to the box she couldn’t wait to tell her best friend Isabelle Decoene that she had given Neil her number.
“Thank god for that” she said “Perhaps you’ll stop going on about him so much now you have his number”
“Oh bugger” Sam exclaimed
“You did get “His” number didn’t you?” Izzy asked
“Oh bugger” Sam said again and plopped down in her seat
“Oh bugger” Isabelle echoed because she knew she was going to talk about her missed opportunity all afternoon.
When the cricket resumed Samantha’s 20-year-old step brother, who was Downshire’s Debutant all-rounder David Ball joined the bowling attack and clean bowled Surrey’s star man Gillmore with his first ball, a dismissal that sparked a spectacular collapse.
Surrey were all out for 165 with 12 overs to spare and Downshire won the match by sixty runs and the delighted fans disgorged onto the streets of Abbottsford in great spirits even before the tea interval.
Jonathon and Neil decided to return to the Hotel on foot and planned to stop for a pint or two along the way, they made slow progress however and bypassed the first three pubs because of the huge crowds and their perseverance paid off as the crowds began to thin out as people started to disappear up side roads in search of their cars.
The two men were both tall and as the crowd thinned they could lengthen their stride.
They had decided on the Downshire Castle as their port of call and they were within sight of it and anticipating a refreshing pint when they were brought back to the moment by the sound of a car horn, a very persistent car horn.
They both turned around to investigate and Neil saw Samantha standing up in the passenger side of a red Audi TT Roadster convertible waving franticly and grinning.
Isabelle and Samantha had left the cricket ground from the members car park and were heading very slowly back to the Hotel when Samantha spotted Neil ahead of them on the pavement.
“It’s him, it’s him, it’s him” she squealed
“Where?” Isabelle asked
“Over there” she replied excitedly and pointed
“Toot your horn, toot it toot it toot it”
Having successful attracted his attention Samantha gave him her most dazzling smile and said
“Hello again”
“Hi”
“There’s a big garden party in the grounds of the Regents, we’re going back to there now” she said at a hundred miles an hour “do you and your friend want to come?”
“Yes we’d love to” he replied and then the traffic started moving and Isabelle had to drive off
“I’ll meet you in reception” she shouted
“Was that him?” Isabelle asked “the one you’ve been bending my ear about all weekend”
“Yes that’s him” Sam said proudly
“He’s a bit ordinary” Izzy said and Samantha frowned “His friend was alright though”
(Part 04)
“Was that him?” Isabelle asked “the one you’ve been bending my ear about all weekend”
“Yes that’s him” Sam said proudly
“He’s a bit ordinary” Izzy said and Samantha frowned “His friend was alright though”
Samantha sat in silence for the rest of the journey and digested what Izzy had said, she didn’t think he was ordinary, from the first moment she saw him she knew he was anything but ordinary.
She wasn’t inexperienced with men, but most of the experience’s she had had weren’t really memorable, or were memorable for the wrong reasons, looking as she did she had always attracted men, the problem was she chose the wrong ones, perhaps that was why she was attracted to Neil because he wasn’t the “type” of man she normally went for.
Isabelle went and parked the car and Samantha proceeded into the Hotel and rushed upstairs to her room to freshen up, so she would look her best when Neil arrived then she went back downstairs to reception and Izzy was waiting in reception for her and when Samantha came back she said to Izzy
“I don’t think he’s ordinary”
“I know that” she said “But the way you were talking I thought he was going to look like Robert Redford”
“I wasn’t that bad” she protested
“You were and I’ve never known you to be so obviously smitten by a man before” she pointed out “and I’ve certainly never known you to chase one down the street”
“Yes but ….” She began, but didn’t finish because she saw Neil and his friend walking towards them.
Introductions were quickly made and Isabelle, who had liked the look of Jonathon the first time she saw him, liked him even more at close quarters.
Neil could only look at Samantha in abject admiration, but he appreciated her for slightly longer that he should and Samantha became self-conscious and looked at her feet and blushed.
Jonathon suggested drinks and Isabelle volunteered to go with him leaving Neil and Sam alone.
“I’ve never seen her like that before” Izzy said
“Well Neil is totally smitten, I don’t think he even realised the cricket had started again after he saw Samantha at lunch”
“She was the same” Izzy said “Absolutely besotted”
“Should we do anything to help?” Jon asked
“I don’t think we need to intervene” she replied “I don’t even think they’ll notice we’re even there”
Samantha was giggling when Jonathon and Isabelle returned with the drinks and they walked out onto the terrace and looked for a table.
There were no empty tables on the terrace but there was one with three vacant seats so they decided to take them and Samantha ended up sitting on Neil’s lap and then they only had eyes for one another which left Jonathon and Isabelle to keep each other amused.
Which was ok but there’s was a distinct lack of an instant attraction between them, in fact it was more of a slow burner, they liked the look of one another and they enjoyed the time the spent together but there was no spark.
There was definitely a friendly vibe between them but that was all and when they said goodbye they did hope to see each other again because they had enjoyed the day very much.
(Part 05)
The love that bloomed between Samantha Barraclough and Neil Etherington in Abbottsford in June went from strength to strength and as their closest friends Jonathon Hardman and Isabelle Decoene assumed that they would see each other on a regular basis.
But it didn’t work out that way they only actually only met a handful of times in June and July and then nothing for months.
It wasn’t by design however it was just the way it worked out, it was either holidays, or illness, or work commitments that conspired to keep them apart and the longer the separation the greater their desire to see the other as the slow burn continued.
But it wasn’t until September when it ignited.
Isabelle Decoene looked in the mirror and smiled at her reflection, she was an exotic looking woman and had beautiful long dark brown hair and dark skin, reflecting her heritage as did her large brown eyes.
In her ancestry she had French, Filipino and Spanish blood but she was born and bred in Britain and still lived with her parents.
Isabelle was thirty years old to the very day and for the first time in years she was going out with all of her besties on her birthday.
The previous five years of birthdays there was always someone who couldn’t make it, but that year there was a full complement and she was really looking forward to it.
For her 30th birthday Samantha had arranged the birthday evening for Isabelle and her best friends which started with a fabulous meal at a Lebanese Restaurant which had been named rather unimaginatively as Beirut.
None of them had eaten Lebanese before, so guided by the waiter they ordered the house special platter which consisted of a large range of meat, not at all unlike kebab meat but with much more sophisticated spicing.
They all enjoyed the meal very much and copious quantities of wine along with it and after settling the bill they all headed to a club called the Pull Zone.
As Isabelle was the first of her closest friends to reach her milestone birthday there was a lot of age related teasing.
“Are you sure you’ll be alright dancing with the young people dear?”
“It might be a bit noisy old girl”
“If you keep to the shadows you won’t look too out of place”
“Oh yes very funny just watch and learn as I put it to the test and see just how much of a “Pull Zone” it actually is” She boasted amidst derisive laughter although they all knew she would pull, because Samantha had arranged it.
While Isabelle and her friends were enjoying Lebanese food at the Beirut, Neil Etherington and Jonathon Hardman were in the same street eating Italian at a Restaurant called Roberto’s and when they had finished Neil suggested going to a club.
“Oh I don’t know about that” Jon replied
“Come on lets live a little” Neil insisted “When was the last time we went to a club?”
“Aren’t we a bit old?” Jon asked
“Too old?” Neil retorted “now we are definitely going to a club”
The club he took his friend to was of course Pull Zone and once they walked inside Neil sent a text message to Samantha.
“The Eagle has landed”
(Part 06)
Despite it being her birthday Isabelle hadn’t been her normal sparky self that day, the first thing that brought her down was that she still hadn’t managed to hook up with Jonathon Hardman and the second thing was that she didn’t have him or any other significant other in her life.
However she had enjoyed the evening immensely and had not been given any time to think, the next day would be a different matter.
Once inside the club, Isabelle’s party were immediately targeted by the lounge lizards but there flirtations were quickly brushed aside
The second wave reached them at the bar and with the necessity of prolonged exchanges of flirting, in her case with someone called Adrian, but then she caught sight of a familiar face further along the bar and then she had eyes and ears for no one else because as far as she was concerned Jonathon was the best looking and the best dressed man in the whole place.
However on the dance floor his dancing left a lot to be desired, until the slow dancing started and then things went to a whole new level.
Just on one o’clock she was starting to flag and told everyone she was leaving and Jonathon was going to walk her to the taxi rank.
“I told you I’d pull” she said to her friends
“He doesn’t count” one of them replied
“Why not?” she asked affronted
“Because you know him for one thing and you two have fancied each other for ages” was the reply
After they left the club they were walking arm in arm down the high street when Isabella suddenly turned left without any warning.
“That’s the wrong way” Jonathon said
“No it isn’t” she insisted
“It is” he said “the taxi rank is the other way”
“I need to go this way” she replied and walked into the church square. “In here” she ordered and led him into a courtyard and pushed him back against the church wall and kissed him and after a prolonged and passionate kiss she said
“Happy birthday to me”
“I hope I don’t have to wait until your next birthday to do that again” he said
“You don’t have to worry about that” she said and kissed him again and then afterwards she said
“Now we can go back to the club”
“I thought you wanted to go home” he said
“No, I just wanted our first kiss to be in private and I’ve got my second wind now” she replied
“So you really want to suffer more of my dancing?” he asked
“Well I was thinking more along the lines of canoodling in the corner with my new boyfriend” she replied coyly
“Oh well that I can do” he agreed and put his arm around her as they walked back to the club.
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