(Part 01)
The village of Highfinch sits just on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills and the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separated the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, and the combination of the two made up the parish of St Martins.
The Vicar of the said parish was Reverend Jenna Lawton, soon to be Faulkner.
Although she was relatively new to the role of Vicar she had previously been Reverend Mortimer’s Curate, a position she held for ten years.
However when the previous Vicar suffered a serious heart attack it was so severe he was unable to resume his duties.
Almost her first act as Vicar of St Martins was to appoint Tom Rowlands as her Verger.
He was replacing 70 year old Carl Daniel who had held the position under Reverend Mortimer for 30 years and when his old friend was struck down he took it as a sign that he should retire his services.
Tom had lived in Lily Green all of his life and still lived in the same cottage where he was born.
Lily Green was an idyllic hamlet and the cottage had proper chocolate box quaintness.
In fact it was perfect in almost every way save one, he didn’t have someone special to share it with.
His parents were gone and he had no siblings, his mother had him late in life.
He was an unremarkable looking man, anonymous looking really.
In fact everything about him was average, average height, average build, grey eyes and mousy hair.
He was 33 years old and he’d been alone for 5 years but the church offered him something he had never had, a large family.
He responded to the love he found at St Martin’s and became a hard worker on their behalf in every aspect of Church life.
Choir, parish magazine, youth groups, Sunday school, Fund Raising, sales, Fetes, and Bazaars.
And it was through the church that he met Patience Rudd.
His reward for all his hard work was a phone call a few days after Jenna Lawton was confirmed as the new Vicar.
“Tom?” a woman’s voice said
“Yes that’s me” he replied
“It’s Jenna” she said “Jenna Lawton”
“Hello Vicar” he said.
“What can I do for you?”
“I know its short notice but...” she hesitated
“Would you mind taking Carl Daniel's place on the church committee?”
“What me?”
“Yes you” She confirmed “we are fast approaching the festive season and well…”
“Of course, when do you need me?”
“Ten minutes?” she asked hopefully
“Ok” he said “I’ll leave now”
After his first meeting sitting on the church committee he was asked to stay on afterwards by the Vicar and he was a little nervous when she closed the door.
“Thank you for stepping into the breech” Jenna said
“That’s ok Vicar”
“I have something else to ask of you” she said
“Ask away”
“I would like you to apply for the Vergers job” Jenna said
“Oh no” he replied “I couldn’t do that”
“But you would be perfect” she said “nobody works harder than you do for St Martins”
“But that’s just on a voluntary basis” he said “I’m not qualified to be Verger”
“You are perfectly qualified” Jenna said “Please think about it”
(Part 02)
Tom took the Vicars advice and applied to fill the vacancy as Verger and his first official task saw him carrying the Virge at the Sunday service on the first Sunday of Advent and he had never felt prouder but when he went home he had no one to share it with.
He did have someone in mind who he would have liked to share his big moment with and that was Patience Rudd.
He had known her for 5 years ever since he started attending St Martins, she was a few years younger than him and was also unremarkable looking, and ticked all the average boxes but to him she was far from ordinary.
Unlike him she had always been part of the Church since she was a little girl.
She was one of the first people he met when he made his first tentative steps into St Martin’s and Tom fell in love with the shy timid Patience instantly and the attraction was mutual.
But neither of them did anything about it, they were far too shy.
Despite the fact that they did so much together for the Church they never took the tiny final step to be together.
So as the weeks turned into months and the months to years the gulf seemed to grow exponentially and the tiny step seemed more like it was a giant leap.
They always radiated towards each other on committees, pastorates and church groups and always volunteered for the same things.
And they talked freely with no awkwardness of self-consciousness as long as they didn’t think about the other in the way they wanted them to be.
Even after he became the Verger things didn’t change between them.
Although he came very close at the St Martin’s Christmas Bazaar.
Both Tom and Patience arrived early at St Martin’s School and it was already a hive of activity.
“Goodness” he said “And I was worried I was too early”
“Yes me too” she agreed
“Shall we get stuck in then” he suggested
“Yes lets”
They worked together all morning and he would have liked to have helped her on the Bric-à-brac stall but he had already volunteered to help out in Santa’s Grotto.
“I’ve got to go” he said
“Oh ok” she said flatly
“But I’ll come and help you pack up at the end if you like”
“Yes please”
To get to the grotto he had to enter via an adjoining classroom, festively decked out, which acted as an ante room where a small number of children and their accompanying parents waited their turn, and where the school’s drama teacher, Cherry Overton-Brown, who for some reason was dressed as Robin Hood, kept order.
And beyond the anteroom in the corridor there was a sizable queue of expectant children.
(Part 03)
The grotto opened to the first child at 1 pm and there was a pretty constant stream almost non-stop until 4 o’clock.
The new Curate, Rosie, dressed as and Bernard the Elf, escorted the excited or apprehensive child in from the ante chamber, who would then climb up on to Santa’s lap.
Santa would then have a quick chat with them and give them their gift, and then Tom, would take a photo.
Rosie then escorted the happy child back out to their parents and this well-oiled machine kept operating like that for 3 hours and when Rosie escorted the final child back to their waiting parents Tom followed them out.
Tom then hurried to the hall and was greeted by a smiling Patience.
In fact so radiant was her smile that he decided there and then to ask her out.
“Patience I…” he began but the Vicar suddenly appeared and started rummaging through the books and the moment was gone and he lost his nerve.
After losing his nerve at the Christmas Bazaar when the Vicar interrupted him on the verge of asking Patience out, Tom never regained it again.
So they returned to the same pattern as before, they saw a lot of each other but never went to the next level and would probably have remained that way indefinitely had fate not intervened on a late spring morning.
Tom was in the vestry talking to Hemmings Funeral Directors about three impending funerals when the Vicar appeared in the doorway wearing a worried expression, he completed his call and hung up.
“Hello Vicar” he said “Is everything ok?”
“I’m not sure” she replied “Have you heard from Patience today?”
“No I haven’t, why?”
“Well she hasn’t been in to pick up her quota of Parish Magazine’s from the Village Hall” she explained
The first Monday of the month was Parish Magazine delivery day and all the volunteers would pick them up by 10 o’clock.
But by 11.30 everyone had been in bar Patience.
“That’s not like her” he said
“No it’s not” the Vicar agreed “I’ve tried ringing but her mobile is just going to voice mail”
On hearing that Tom offered his services in her stead.
“I’ll do her round” he said “And I’ll call in to the farm and make sure she’s ok”
“That would be great Tom” she said with real relief in her voice “Thank you”
It wasn’t how he planned to spend his day but he didn’t mind and being out and about in the fresh air on such a lovely day was not a chore and it would put his mind at rest.
Patience Rudd’s “patch” was on the Kettlewell side of the village and consisted of about 25 dwellings dotted along Kettlewell Lane and Finchtop Way, it was about a two hour round trip at an average pace
But he was in a rush to check up on Patience so even though it was a warm pleasant day he set off at pace with the bag slung across his shoulder.
(Part 04)
Tom had only one thought in his head as he delivered the Parish Magazines on his way up Kettlewell Lane, Patience, and he wanted to get to Rudd’s Farm, the furthest most destination from the village on his route.
He turned off Kettlewell Lane and into Finchtop Way which was a horseshoe shaped road that climbed quite steeply up the hill then eased down the other side re-joining Kettlewell Lane some ¾ of a mile nearer to Highfinch.
Just as he was insight of Rudd’s farm it started to rain a typical spring shower which would soak him to the skin and there were no convenient trees to shelter under, so he made a run for it some fifty yards or so and just ahead was the hay barn and he thought it the most likely source of shelter so he ran in that direction.
Once he got close he noticed the door was a jar so he pushed on it softly.
“Hello” he called as the door opened and inside he found Patience Rudd laying in a heap on the floor.
“Patience!” he called and rushed to her side
He could see straight away that her leg was broken by its unnatural position.
It was obvious what had happened she had fallen from the hayloft.
“Patience!” he said and took hold of her hand which was cold.
Her eyes opened and squeezed his fingers.
“Tom” she said and gave a weak smile.
He released her hand long enough to take his coat off and lay on top of her, then he held her hand again which she gripped tightly.
“It really hurts Tom” she said
“I’ll go and get help”
“No don’t leave me” she begged
“But I need to get someone” he retorted
“There’s no one here” she explained “Mums gone to Purplemere and Dad and the boys are on the other side of the farm clearing ditches”
“Ok I’ll phone for an ambulance” he suggested
“But don’t leave me” she insisted
“Ok I’m not going anywhere”
He dialled 999 and responded to all the operators’ questions.
“Ambulance please”
“Rudd Farm, Finchtop Way, off Kettlewell Lane”
“A girl has fallen from the hayloft, and has a broken leg”
“I don’t know if she lost consciousness, I don’t even know when she fell, but she’s cold frightened and in pain”
“My name is Tom Rowlands and I’m not going anywhere”
“Do you promise” Patience said weakly
“Do I promise what?” he asked
“Not to go anywhere” she said
“Absolutely”
“Say it then” she begged
“I promise not to go anywhere” Tom said “I promise not to leave you, and I promise that I’m never going to leave you”
“That’s a lot of promises”
“I mean to keep them all” he said
All the feelings of hopeless longing he had felt for her over the previous 5 years came swimming to the surface, and along with them came anger.
Anger at his weakness, his cowardice at not telling her how he felt and now she was laying broken and bruised on the floor of the barn and he could lose her forever.
Having never told her how much she was loved and how much he loved her.
And then a grave dark thought filled his mind about how the next conversation he had with Hemmings Funeral Directors could be to arrange Patience’s funeral.
“You have to tell her now before it’s too late!” he screamed inside his head
“You must”
Tom took her small hand in his hands and said
“Patience, darling, I have something important to say to you”
“Did you call me darling?” she asked dreamily
“Yes I did”
“I like that” she said
Tom was concerned she was going to lose consciousness before he said the words
“Patience, I have something very important to say to you”
“What’s that?” she said very quietly
“I love you, Patience Rudd” Tom said “I have always loved you, and I always will”
Patience never responded and drifted off into unconsciousness so he was unsure if she had heard a word he had said let alone understand it.
(Part 05)
A few moments after he had made his declaration of love he heard the ambulance approaching.
“They’re here darling” he said and kissed her hand then he rushed outside to show them the way.
“Over here!” he shouted
He kept in the back ground while the paramedics did their thing and listened intently to what they were saying.
He was right about the broken leg but in addition she had a dislocated shoulder and several cracked ribs.
Tom went out into the yard and phoned the Vicar and let her know what had happened.
While he was there Mrs Rudd drove into the yard and broke sharply.
“What’s happened?” she shouted
“Patience fell from the hay loft” Tom said
“Is she ok?”
Just as Tom was about to tell her what he knew. Andy Mason, the paramedic, appeared from the barn, at one end of a trolley so Tom deferred to him.
While he explained to Mrs Rudd the rest of the trolley appeared with Patience aboard, Andy finished just as the procession reached the back of the ambulance and then he said
“We’ll take her to The Royal Downshire in Purplemere”
“Ok I’ll follow on in the car” she replied
But just before they loaded Patience into the ambulance she opened her eyes and pulled the oxygen mask aside and said
“I love you too Tom”
Then she closed her eyes again and Andy replaced her mask.
“I suppose you’d better come in the car with me” Mrs Rudd said and smiled
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