Mornington-By-Mere – (08) Wild Eyed and Legless

(Part 01)

When the Mornington Estate exercised its option to purchase Mornington Field back from the MOD it also acquired all the buildings and infrastructure on the airfield itself as well as 29 houses in the village, formally used as quarters for military personnel.
The guardians of the estate are the St George family and the head of which is Baron Gabriel St George made immediately plans to optimize the newly acquired assets the moment the property was formally handed over on the 1st of June.
There was an acute shortage of family properties in the village so while his architect Scott Collier was tasked with designing appropriate conversions to maximize the potential returns and bene, Ray Walker who dealt with all things estate maintenance wise was responsible for getting the old Air force housing stock occupied ASAP.
To that end Ray worked tirelessly to have not just the first six houses ready within the month as originally promised, but eight, which were handed over on the 6th of July, two days earlier than forecast.
Gabriel was then able to instruct Lyndon-Sanders Properties of Shallowfield to find appropriate tenants and by that he meant that.
Priority was to be given to local people or people with ties to the area or those who worked in some capacity for the estate such as agriculture and the brewery.
Other than that they were to be rented out with the only condition being that it had to be the tenant’s primary residence.
Gabriel was always conscious of creating a ghost town of professionals who live and work in Town all week and only return to the village on the weekend and he was determined that that wouldn’t happen.
One such family to benefit from the new housing in Mornington were the Legg’s, who were one of the first to move into Military Row.

The Legg family where poultry farmers and lived on Dryfield Farm near the hamlet of Fallowacres, which was as near as damn it the center point of the Vale, though only geographically.
They also ran Legg’s Farm Shop in Mornington and had done for several decades.
Helena Legg, a 48 year old Widow ran it with her daughter Ruby and her nephew Nick, Nick was an orphan and Helena had raised him since he was 11 She enjoyed her job very much but the journey from Fallowacres to Mornington every morning and back again each night made the days very long indeed and she found it was quite wearing.
So when she heard about the new houses she was straight onto the agents and as a result they moved into number 4 on July 13th and from the moment they moved in they felt at home and it was so nice to have somewhere of their own to call home.
Living at the farm had its pluses but privacy wasn’t one of them.

Ruby was 25 and was a pretty girl, Tall and willowy with long yellow hair and she couldn’t wait to escape the farm and start afresh.
The farm shop was situated at the opposite end of The Street from Addison’s bakers which was significant because that was where her new best friend worked.
She and Chloe Addison became friends almost immediately and she liked her a lot and they’d become really good mates even though she was a little bit jealous of her, not because of her looks or anything like that, if anything Ruby was the prettier of the two.
No what she was jealous of was that Chloe had found someone, a significant someone.
She had only been in the village for 5 minutes and she had snaffled Scott Collier, she’d lived in and around Mornington all her life and she’d had hardly a nibble.
They had become friends because they had a lot in common.
They were a similar age, Chloe was a year younger, both were only children and they had both lost a parent and they had both moved into Military Row within weeks of each other.

(Part 02)

Since moving into Military Row everything was going so well for Ruby and then he arrived in the village, her nemesis.
She had been covering for Chloe at the Bakers while Nathan was out doing the grocery deliveries and Chloe was doing her sandwich run up to the Mornington field.
She’d said goodbye to her friend and just stepped out on the street when he said
“Well look who it is”
Although he was behind her he recognized his voice immediately, Allen Boddington.
She turned around hoping she was wrong but alas no.
“God I thought I’d seen the last of you” she snapped
“Now don’t be like that Rube” he said
“Don’t call me that”
“We’ll get to see lots of each other now I’m living in the village and working in the shop”
“You’re moving to the village?
“Yes Military Row” he replied “number 7”
“Oh terrific” she exclaimed
“You don’t seem very pleased” he remarked
“That’s because I’m not”
“But why” he asked in disbelief
“Because I don’t like you” she retorted
“Why?”
Ruby and Allen and his twin Eleanor, had been good friends when they were younger, they were always around each other’s houses, they would sit together on the bus to school, and they spent a lot of their spare together during their childhood and were the best of mates.
That is until she turned 15 and he changed towards her and started teasing her.
His favourite line was
“Ruby Legg? What colour is the other one?”
She put on a brave face at first but he was relentless with his torments and so they stopped being mates and he teased her even more so she started avoiding him which was a shame because they were really good friends.
So when he asked her why she didn’t like him she replied
“Because you’ve tormented me for years”
“It was just a bit of fun” he said
“It wasn’t fun from where I was standing”
“We were just kids” he said dismissively
“Oh well that’s ok then” she snapped and marched away
“We were just kids” he shouted after her “I’ve changed”

Ruby was cross and stomped off up the road but the thing she was really cross about was that she still thought he was a good looking lad with his thick black curly hair and wild gypsy eyes, dark and mysterious, and he was buff too.
But he was also a pig, which was quite apt because apart from being Butchers the Boddington’s were also pig farmers at Saddleback Farm.
After that it seemed like every time she turned around he was there pestering her, he didn’t tease her, he wasn’t un-pleasant or unkind he was just persistent.
And every time he saw her, which was a lot, he would ask her out, a drink, the pictures, bowling, and she would brush him off and this continued for the first three weeks of October and Ruby was beginning to weary of it.

(Part 03)

It was Ruby’s turn on the delivery run that Nathan Addison had instigated to service the many farms and hamlets dotted around the Vale.
They had to buy their bread, meat, produce and groceries from somewhere so offering a free delivery service to customers who placed regular orders they ensured they got their supplies from them.
After the Bakers, Ruby had loaded all the orders with the exception of Boddington’s so she took a deep breath and then walked into the shop and steeled herself.
But instead of having to fend off Allen’s persistent advances she found his twin sister Eleanor behind the counter.
“Ellie!” she squealed
“Hey Rube” she screamed and ran around the counter and the two of them danced around the shop hugging.
“Where’s Al?” Ruby asked suspiciously
“He’s covering in the Shallowfield Shop” she replied
The Boddington’s had a number of butcher’s shops in the Vale.
“Is he staying there for good?” Ruby asked hopefully
“No he’s just there for a couple of days”
“Shame”
“What happened with you two?” Ellie asked “I always thought you two would get together”
“He happened” Ruby said
“What do you mean?”
“Well, just when I started to look at him as something other than a mate he started being mean”
“He was just winding you up”
“He tormented me for two years”
“But he adores you”
“Pah” Ruby exclaimed
“No he really does” Ellie said
“Anyway” Ruby said changing the subject
“How come you’re here? I thought you were living in Childean”
“I was”
“So?”
“Boyfriend trouble”
“I see”
“I thought I would hide out in for a while, it was either Mornington or the pig farm”
“No brainer” Rube agreed and looked at her watch
“I really need to get going”
“Let’s catch up soon” Ellie said
“It’s great to see you again” Ruby said and loaded the meat order into the back of the van and off she went.
And as Ruby drove away Ellie said “time for an intervention I think”

It wasn’t until the end of the week that they bumped into each other again and Ellie asked.
“Are you going to the Halloween party at the Church Hall?”
“I wasn’t”
“Come with me then” she said casually
“Oh I don’t know”
“Come on Rube, a burger, a beer and a natter”
“Oh ok”

(Part 04)

Halloween was one of the few nights of the year apart from Mondays when the restaurant at the Old Mill Inn was closed to diners, instead they did the hot dogs and burgers for the Halloween party at the Church Hall.
The early part of the evening was more for children with traditional games but later on when the beer arrived from the brewery it was all about the adults.
Ruby however was there right from the beginning helping with the games and playing with the little ones until they were taken home which was when Ellie arrived and Ruby smiled but when she saw that right behind her was Allen her smile faded.
“What’s he doing here” Ruby asked as she kissed Ellie’s cheek
“Sorry” she replied
“Have you got one of those for me?” Allen asked
“In your dreams” she retorted and turned her back on him.

The girls sat down at a table and Allen went off to get them drinks.
“I didn’t know he was coming” Ruby said
“Nor did I until half an hour ago” she lied
“But when he heard you were here there was no stopping him”
Despite her loathing of him she couldn’t stop herself stealing glance at him as they sat at the table eating their burgers.
He was still so damn good looking and she suddenly felt as she did when she was 15.
Allen caught her watching him and when their eyes met she blushed and looked away.
“Could she actually be embarrassed?” he thought to himself and it gave him some hope.
He could’ve been mistaken but she certainly looked to be
blushing although it could have been his imagination.
When they had finished eating Ellie got up and said
“Just going to the loo, back in a mo”
Ruby wasn’t very happy at being left on her own with him but she thought if she ignored him he might go away.
The all of a sudden he broke the silence.
“I’m sorry”
“What?”
“I’m sorry”
“What for?”
“For being mean to you” he said
“Why did you do it?” she asked “I thought we were mates”
“That was the problem”
“What do you mean?” she asked slightly confused
“I didn’t want to be mates”
“Oh”
“You ….” He began
“What about me?” she asked taking a swig of beer.
“You were so popular at school”
“In what way?” she asked
“All the boys fancied you, and some of the girls”
“Did they?” she asked in disbelieve because as a teenager she was totally oblivious.
“Yes, and not just at school either” he added but didn’t clarify
“What’s that got to do with you tormenting me?”
“Oh, because I was one of them”
“One of what?”
“One of the ones who fancied you” he clarified
“Well you didn’t show it” she said thrusting her chin out defiantly
“And you wouldn't have either if you’d been me” he said
“I was a year younger than you and I didn’t stand a chance with you, especially when I got the braces”
“Braces didn’t stop me fancying you,” she said
Allen wasn't sure he’d heard her correctly and Ruby on realizing she had said it out loud hoped he hadn’t.
“You fancied me?” he asked pointing to his chest and she nodded.
“You really didn't know?”
He shook his head.
“What about all the times I flirted with you” she asked open-mouthed
“I was 14 I didn’t understand flirting”
He couldn't believe he had been such a dunce. Ruby, this beautiful girl, had actually fancied him and he had blown it.
“I still don’t understand why you started being mean to me”
“You went to the pictures with Callum and I was jealous” he explained “And once I’d started I didn’t know how to stop”
“You idiot, I didn’t go to the picture’s with Callum, I went to Shallowfield with Callum where he met his girlfriend Emily, they went to the pictures and I spent the day by the lake”
“Oh”
“Where’s Ellie got to?” she snapped
“I’m not sure”
“She’s not coming back is she?”
“No” he confessed
“Right” she said “I’m off”
“Ruby!” he said a bit too aggressively which made her jump
“Come to the bonfire with me”
“I don’t think so” she replied
“Well that’s an improvement” he said
“What do you mean?”
“Well last week it would have been a definite no” he said
“We could watch it together”
“No”
“Oh come on what harm can it do?” he pleaded
“I ...” she began and looked at his wild eyes and all of a sudden she was 15 again
“Ok, but it’s not a date”

(Part 05)

The Bonfire night party was normally held in the grounds of Mornington Manor although there hadn’t actually been a bonfire lit in the village in living memory but the fireworks were usually quite spectacular and people came from every corner of the Vale to see them.
But this year it was being held up at the old airfield and a huge bonfire had been built, kids in the area had been collecting wood for weeks and the workmen up at the field had contributed materials and their time to build a bonfire of colossal proportions.
And word of its magnificence had been spread far and wide so a bigger than normal crowd was expected.
Allen waited by the main gate of the airfield and hoped that she hadn’t said yes just to shut him up as he perused the faces of the throng as it passed him.
Then because of the crowd he was concerned he may have missed her, though he thought it unlikely.
She was after all the love of his life and he could have picked her out of a crowd blindfolded.
Nonetheless with every second that passed his confidence began to ebb away with the revellers.
It was over ten minutes after the agreed time when he finally saw her walking slowly across the bridge and his heart skipped a beat.
“I thought you were going to stand me up” he said when she eventually reached him.
“I thought about it” she replied
“Well I’m glad you decided to come anyway” Allen said
“Only time will tell if it was the right decision” she said “I have my doubts”
“Have a little faith” he said softly and smiled
“Easier said than done” Ruby said
“Shall we go in?” Allen said and gave a nod of his head towards the air field.
“Alright” she agreed

They walked slowly through the gate and down the road towards the sound of chattering voices, neither of them spoke as they both wanted to choose their words carefully, and neither of them wanted to get things off on the wrong foot.
When they reached the back of the assembled crowd they stopped and Allen turned towards Ruby in order to impart some well-chosen words of wisdom when out of the blue, Ruby kissed him and it was a kiss that had been a long, long time coming.
But it wasn’t frantic or frenetic, it wasn’t uncontrolled or reckless it was gentle and measured and…perfect.
They hadn’t even noticed the display had started and when their lips reluctantly parted they had ignited fireworks of their own and then they looked into each other’s eyes and then kissed again, as if to seal the deal.
After that explosive kiss they did a lot of kissing after all they had a lot of kissing to do in order to make up for the ten years they had wasted.