Mornington-By-Mere – (47) Beneath the Weeping Willow Tree

(Part 01)

When the Mornington Estate exercised its option to purchase Mornington Field 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.
Plans were immediately drawn up to optimize the newly acquired assets the moment the property was formally handed over on the 1st of June 2014.
The guardians of the estate are the St George family and the head of which is Baron Gabriel St George.
His architect Scott Collier was tasked with designing appropriate conversions to maximize the potential returns, and Ray Walker, who dealt with all thing estate maintenance wise was responsible for getting the old Air force housing stock occupied ASAP,
Ray worked tirelessly to that end 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 tenants.
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.

One such family to benefit from the availability of the new housing in Mornington were the Norman’s, who ran the Post Office, General Store and newsagents, and they were one of the first families to move into Military Row.

The Norman family had been in the Grocery business since Victorian times when they started with a small shop in Abbottsford, a business which quickly expanded and thrived well into the 20th century, but the depression of the thirties hit the business hard and many shops had to close.
The original Abbottsford shop survived the downturn in the great depression but fell victim of the Luftwaffe in 1941.
In the 21st century they had shops in Childean, Shallowfield, the Dulcets and of course Mornington. Each shop being run by a different branch of the family.

The heads of the Norman clan in Mornington, were septuagenarians Gavin and Evelyn, who lived in Bridge Street at School House Cottage with their younger son Owen.
Before the move to number 10 Military Row their older son Gareth and his family lived above and behind the shop, which was quite cramped for a family of five but the new house was much more spacious and the move allowed them to utilize some of the former living space as additional storage as well as providing their oldest child Michelle with a place of her own.
It was a big family and a small business so not all the Normans could rely on it for a living, as a result 24 year old Michelle worked for Bizzie Lizzie’s florists and David who was three years her junior worked for Paige Turners.
But this particular story relates to the youngest member of the family Robbie.

(Part 02)

Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village that was under the stewardship of the Mornington Estate headed up by Lord of the Manor Baron Gabriel St George.

The village was well served with all the amenities with a selection of all the normal shops and services to make a difference to people’s lives like Norman’s General Store, Addison’s Bakery, Boddington’s Butcher’s and Legg’s Farm Shop which were all heavily subsidized by the estate in order to survive.
In addition to the shops there was also Veterinarians, Doctors, Dentist & Orthodontic Surgeries which were an important asset to the village and the estate.
However because Mornington was such a small village none of the practices were open full time but the Mornington Estate heavily subsidized all of them as well as the Small Chemist shop, which shared the Doctors premises.
There weren’t enough patients to warrant full time staffing so in order to make appropriate use of the facilities the doctors surgery was made available to other practitioners in the afternoons and evenings, such as chiropractors, hypnotherapists, acupuncturists etc. but villager Claire Pollard, a Chiropodist was the only regular, the others tended to be a bit more sporadic in their attendance.

The Doctors, Dentists, orthodontists and pharmacists were all based elsewhere and provided a skeleton service to the village.
The Doctors presence was maintained by the Dancingdean Health Centre in Shallowfield and one of their number, Locum Doctor Kelly Spearman lived in one of the Military Row houses.
The Dental and Orthodontic staff came from a large specialist practice in Finchbottom, Downshire Denticare.
The Shallowfield, Robert Harvey Pharmacy in Oakwood Road, filled any prescriptions and delivered them to the surgery every day.

The Normans who also ran the general store and post office provided Lily Norman or her son Robbie to staff the chemist shop for its limited opening times.
It was on one of those occasions when Robbie Norman first saw the girl who would change his life forever.

Robbie was almost 20 years old, quiet, unassuming, thoughtful and intelligent and totally unfulfilled.
He loved his family and he loved Mornington but he did not want to spend his entire life in the Grocery trade, like his father and Uncles had, so his heart was not in his work.
Robbie was a well-read young man, in fact his appetite for the written word was quite voracious and he wanted to travel to the places he had read of and experience the cultures that had captured his imagination.
He wanted to see the architecture of the great capitals, visit their art galleries and museums.
But he had no idea how he might achieve it or more precisely he didn’t know how to tell his mother.

It was when Robbie was pondering that particularly irksome problem when the girl walked in.
It was a girl he had known at school, though he had never spoken to her, and that was because she was a Smith and a Norman never spoke to a Smith and vice versa.
But at the precise moment he looked at the five foot nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned Karen Smith with her unruly jet black hair, the family feud paled into insignificance.

(Part 03)

At the precise moment Robbie Norman looked at the five foot nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned Karen Smith with her unruly jet black hair, the family feud paled into insignificance.
She was two years younger than he was and although she was not a stranger to him it had been a few years since the last time, and when he had seen her before she was a spotty schoolgirl with scabby knees.
That girl was as far removed from the vision in front of him as it was possible to get as she entered the pharmacy in tight jeans and a fitted t-shirt.

As Karen Smith walked in she looked up and saw Robbie at the counter and she thought how little he had changed since they were at the village school together.
He was still singularly unremarkable to look at, pale skinned with sandy coloured hair.
He was wearing mushroom coloured shirt and light brown chinos and she thought how apt it was that he looked beige, because that was how she remembered him beige and bland.

As she approached the counter she said without any preamble
“I’m here to pick up a prescription”
She spoke coldly as that was the way she had been raised to speak to a Norman, she had actually been raised not to speak to them at all but if the necessity arose, then any converse had to been spoken coldly.
“I’ll just get it” he said and stepped out the back and Karen said nothing

As he returned Karen looked at the bland figure and thought that the only hint of colour about him were his eyes which were like a Chrystal blue and when she looked at them more closely she found herself gazing into them where she saw a kaleidoscope of colour and she was totally captivated and thoughts of bland and beige melted away as he pulse raced and her stomach fluttered.
In fact she was so mesmerized that she didn’t hear Robbie say
“I’m sorry it’s not in yet”
Nor did she hear him a second time, in fact it was only when he said
“Karen!!”
Quite loudly that she returned to the moment and realized what had happened and she blushed before she mumbled, muttered and burbled her way towards the door.
“Sorry erm… miles away… um yes… not ready… back later, definitely… oh yes… bye”

As he watched her leave the pharmacy in an obviously fluster he was surprised and delighted at what had apparently just happened, which was a new experience for him, things like that just didn’t happen to him.

However his delight was tempered by the realization the he not only still had the problem of how to tell his parents he wanted to leave home, family, the shop and Mornington, to travel the world, now he also had to inform them that he was smitten with one of the Smiths and she appeared to be the same with him.

“What just happened?” Karen asked herself in disbelief as she walked towards home “He’s a Norman you idiot, that can’t happen with a Norman”
Karen continued to mutter all the way home and when she reached the gates of Smithfield Farm she said firmly
“Well whatever it was that happened its best that we forget all about it”

(Part 04)

“What just happened?” Karen asked herself in disbelief as she walked towards home after having been discovered gazing soppily into Robbie Norman’s eyes
“He’s a Norman you idiot, that can’t happen with a Norman”
Karen continued to mutter all the way home and when she reached the gates of Smithfield Farm she said firmly
“Well whatever it was that happened its best that we forget all about it”

The significance of her being a Smith and him being a Norman was that their two families were at odds with each other and the feud had been going on for more than a hundred years.
The Smiths were tenants at Smithfield Farm and had been for thirty years before the Norman family arrived in Mornington.

Ezekiel Smith, who was the head of the Smith Clan at the time, had also been interested in taking over the village shop, which had become vacant after the untimely death of the unmarried Patron, but the then Baron, who was not a tolerant man or indeed a friend to the Smiths let the Norman’s take it over for no other reason than his intense dislike of Ezekiel Smith.

Ezekiel Smith was furious at the Barons decision but because of the differences in their stations he was unable to revenge himself on the Lord of the Manor so he appeased he vengeful heart on the newcomers instead.
He deeply resented an outsider like Joshua Norman moving onto his patch and taking, what he believed was his prize.

Joshua Norman was not an intolerant man and did his best to pour oil on troubled waters and tried with all his might to be the peacemaker and make amends with Ezekiel Smith but every olive branch he offered was thrown back in his face, but he kept trying regardless.
When Ezekiel died in 1892 Joshua believed that would be an end to it and he continued to be the peacemaker but the sons were as bad as their father had been.
But Joshua had faith that things would change, until that it is the night that the Smiths gave Joshua’s eldest son George, a savage beating in the yard of the Old Mill Inn and after that night the only use he had for an olive branch was to beat a Smith with it.
That was when the feud began in earnest with a series of tit for tat exchanges and every time some misfortune befell one of the families the other was automatically blamed.
The Smiths even claimed that when their barn caught fire it was a Norman who set it ablaze even though it was struck by lightning.

With Joshua’s death in 1899 any hope of reconciliation died with him, so the new century came along but the old hate carried over as the hatred was nurtured and gilded and passed on to the next generation.

There was a cessation of hostilities during the great war as they both had a common enemy but with the armistice came a return to the old rivalry which continued up until the World War Two and then got worse as food rationing came in and the Grocers lorded it over the farmers.

Attitudes softened by the time the sixties came around and incidents of actual harm to the other disappeared but mistrust and the sense of “them” and “us” continued into another century where the dislike and animosity still held sway.

So after more than a century and a half of feuding Robbie and Karen fully understood the gravity of the situation where a Norman and a Smith viewed one another as anything other than enemies.

(Part 05)

After more than a century and a half of feuding Robbie and Karen fully understood the gravity of the situation where a Norman and a Smith viewed one another as anything other than enemies.

So he was prepared to think of it as a temporary aberration.
That said however Robbie was desperately disappointed when his mum Lily said she would do the afternoon session at the pharmacy, but on reflection thought it was probably for the best.

Karen shared his feelings of apprehension and thought it best not to entertain the idea but when she returned to the pharmacy after lunch and found he wasn’t there, she chose not to go in and resolved to return the following morning.

Karen was normally a bit of a tomboy and most days she was in jeans and a t-shirt but on that particular morning she had decided on something a bit more girlie and wore a pale lemon summer dress because she wanted to make an impression on him.
Not that she hadn’t done that already the day before dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.
He was two years older than she was and was a lower form of life, according to her family, and good for only one thing and that thing was definitely not for flirting with or making a good impression on.
Normans were to be despised, distrusted, and ground underfoot, they were not to be admired, adored or cause her heart to skip a beat, but she couldn’t help herself.
She left Smithfield Farm and was muttering to herself all the way along the farm lane.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?”
She asked herself
“It’s madness, complete madness”

She continued her muttered discourse all the way from West Gate Bridge and all the way along the river bank until she reached Church Bridge and climbed the steps up to the road
“Turn around and go back” she said
“I can’t” she replied “I have to get the prescription”
“Get it another day”
“I can’t”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve never looked into someone’s eyes and ….melted before” Karen said and sighed
“Ok I will admit his eyes are gorgeous” she said wistfully
“But it’s a non-starter, firstly he’s a Norman and second he wears beige”
“I know all that, but….. his eyes” she replied and crossed the road.

The first thing Robbie did when he got to the pharmacy was to check to see if Karen Smith had collected her prescription the previous afternoon and he smiled broadly when he saw it was still in the wire basket.

Karen peeked in the window of the pharmacy before she opened the door and she had butterflies in her stomach as her eyes searched for him and she gasped when he appeared, still wearing beige, and she immediately chastised herself
“For god’s sake get a grip”
Then she took a deep breath and walked in and when Robbie saw her in her yellow dress it took his breath away.
“Wow, you look very… summery today” he said
“Thanks” she replied and blushed
“I thought it would be cooler to walk in”
“Well it makes you look hot” he thought but actually said
“Well it’s a nice day for a walk”
“Yes, yes it is” Karen agreed
“I hope it’s still nice later” Robbie added as he handed her the filled prescription
“It’s my afternoon off, I thought I might take a walk myself, down by the Mere”
“Really? Yes it’s nice there” Karen said as she took the medicine from him
“Thank you, I hope you enjoy your walk this afternoon”
“So do I” he said and Karen blushed

(Part 06)

“I think we have a date” Karen said to herself as she left the pharmacy “How did that happen?”
Karen had only had one boyfriend in her life and he had recently dumped her after only three months because he wanted to have sex and she didn’t, because she wasn’t ready, he didn’t care about that and decided to go elsewhere.
Gary had been her first and only boyfriend and she thought she had loved him, but she had no benchmark, but she also thought he was nice and that proved to be untrue.
But she was only 17 and she didn’t really want to settle for nice, she wanted the “hoppy skippy heart” kind of love, which after breaking up with Gary, she doubted it actually existed but then she looked into Robbie Norman’s crystal blue eyes and there it was.
So she rushed home to Smithfield Farm to change.

Robbie was stood inside the pharmacy smiling and scratching his head
“Did we just make a date?” he said to himself “Did we just arrange to meet by the Mere this afternoon?”
Robbie had never had a girlfriend because none of the girls he had met were able to live up to those that he read about.
They were self-obsessed, shallow and vacuous and lacked even the smallest inkling of substance as any of the strong and resolute women he could have lifted from the page.
So he read his books and lost himself in their pages of wonder and certainty until the moment he saw into the heart of a girl he had been raised to hate.
Robbie knew that his family would be furious if they found out he had fallen for a Smith but, the heart wants what the heart wants, and his wanted Karen Smith.

As Karen was normally a bit of a tomboy, it was a miracle that no one at Smithfield Farm noticed that she had shed her normal jeans and t-shirt and was not only wearing a dress, but was wearing the second dress of the day, a white one this time, as she left the farm after lunch and headed towards Manor Wood and the Mere.

Robbie Norman left his home in Military Row and had changed out of his beige and brown work outfit and was wearing blue chino shorts and a white polo shirt.
But as he walked through the woods towards the Mere he began to doubt himself and wondered if he had in fact imagined the whole thing, after all Karen Smith was a very beautiful girl, and she was also a Smith, which probably meant she was just playing along.
But he couldn’t believe that, but just in case she was a no show he had a book in his back pack.
He never understood the hostility between the two families, why should it matter what her great-great-grandfather did to his great-grandfather? That was all ancient history, unfortunately in his family he appeared to be the only voice of reason.
But he was on his way to meet the girl he had known at school, though had never spoken to, because she was a Smith and a Norman never spoke to a Smith and vice versa.
But at the precise moment he stepped onto the Mere side path and he caught sight of the five foot nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned Karen Smith with her unruly jet black hair the family feud paled into insignificance.

(Part 07)

Karen Smith was 17 years old and stood five foot nothing tall, was whippet thin, olive skinned with her unruly jet black hair moving in the soft afternoon breeze and was quizzing herself as to what she thought she was doing wearing her best dress to meet one of the enemy.
She never understood the animosity between the two families, she wasn’t even sure what had caused the feud in the first place, it was something to do with her great-great-grandfather but she didn’t know exactly what and she didn’t really care, it was all ancient history, unfortunately in her family everyone else did care and they would go ballistic if they knew what she was doing.
“Well it doesn’t matter anyway” she said to herself “because he won’t come”
“He’ll be too scared because of the family feud” she convinced herself
But she had only been stood there for three or four minute when she saw Robbie coming her way.
“Oh god he came” she gasped “What am I going to do now?”
She tried to look away but couldn’t, he was medium height and sleight and she still thought he was singularly unremarkable to look at, pale skinned with sandy coloured hair, but the most dreamy crystal blue eyes.
“Hello Karen” he said nervously
“Hi” she replied shyly
Having met by the Mere neither of them knew what to do next, after all they only had one prior relationship between the two of them and an awkward silence ensued.
After a minute or two he said
“Which way were you going to walk?”
“Oh, um just around the lake” she replied so they began to walk anti clockwise around the Mere between the water’s edge and the Manor House.
As they walked the two of them were struggling to converse with each other, as neither of them seemed capable of anything other than monosyllables and they both tried hard to think of something interesting to say.
And it might well have stayed that way had they not had help when they were about hallway around the Mere and they heard a call
“Karen!”
She turned around and saw a figure in the distance who was her friend Emma
“Oh shit” she exclaimed
“What’s the matter?” Robbie asked
“It’s my friend Emma” Karen replied “if she if she sees us together it will be all around the village in a heartbeat”
“Come on then” he said and grabbed her hand “lets run for it”
“KAREN” Emma shouted as they ran off down the path, and then Emma began to run after them.
“Down here” He said and took her down a path leading into Manor Wood but it looked like Emma was gaining on them.
But they reached a small clearing with a large fallen oak
“Up here” he said and scrambled up onto the oak then he reached down and hoisted Karen up as if she was a bundle of matchwood.
After which he went up to the next bough and repeated the operation and then again on the next until they were concealed beneath the foliage and were in the safety of the leafy shade by the time Emma arrived in the clearing.
Emma called Karen’s name a few times more and then she muttered something under her breath before she went back the way she came.

(Part 08)

“Up here” Robbie said and scrambled up onto the fallen oak then he reached down and hoisted Karen up as if she was a bundle of matchwood.
After which he went up to the next bough and repeated the operation and then again on the next until they were concealed beneath the foliage and were in the safety of the leafy shade by the time Emma arrived in the clearing.
Emma called Karen’s name a few times more and then she muttered something under her breath before she went back the way she came.
“That was fun” she said
“Wasn’t it” he agreed

After about five minutes they deemed it was safe to climb down.
Robbie went first and swung down from the large bough fairly effortlessly.
It was a little more problematic for Karen because she was so tiny.
“Slide down on your bum” he said
“What if I fall?” She asked
“I’ll catch you” he said “I promise”
“You’re doing great” Robbie said as he stood with his feet apart, braced to catch her
“Am I nearly there?” she asked
“Oh yes” he replied “Just let gravity do the work now and I’ll catch you”
“Ok” she retorted not at all sure that he would, but she let herself fall and good to his word he caught her in his arms and she instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him and any lingering doubts either of them had about “consorting with the enemy” simply melted away.

It took another half an hour before they were both back on terra firma as Karen demanded another kiss at each stage of the operation and even when they were back down to earth she still wanted another one.

“Come on” he said and took hold of her hand
“I want to take you to my favourite place in Mornington”
“Ok” she said doubtfully but went anyway
They returned to the path around the Mere and returned on their original course until they reached the Weeping Willow that grew on the west side of the lake.
“In here” he said and pushed his way through the foliage
“Is this your favourite place?” she asked
“Yes” he replied proudly
“It’s mine too” she exclaimed and launched herself at him.

On the walk home she met Emma
“That wasn’t very nice” she said indignantly
“What wasn’t?” Karen said
“Running away like that” Emma said “I know you saw me”
“Sorry” Karen said
“Why did you do it then?” she asked
“We wanted to be alone” Karen replied
“What for?” she persisted
“Honestly Emma you are such an innocent” she said
“Why do you think a girl wants to be alone in the woods with a man?”
Emma just shrugged then a look of alarm spread across her face and she said
“You had sex with him in the woods?”
“No I did not” Karen replied indignantly
“We just wanted to be away from prying eyes”
Emma was the same age as Karen almost to the day yet they were years apart in every other respect.
“Who was he anyway?” Emma asked “I couldn’t see”
“No one you know” Karen replied “He’s not from around here”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Maybe” Karen replied “when he’s comes back to the village again”
Knowing only too well that she would definitely see him again and very, very soon.

(Part 09)

After that first meeting on a hot Saturday afternoon in July the two met in secret all summer long spending their time either up in the boughs of the fallen oak where they shared their first kiss or beneath the weeping willow tree where they shared many more.

Robbie and Karen were like the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, as they both came from feuding kin, so they had to hide their love from everyone.
So the pair met in secret beside the quiet waters of the Mornington Mere where the only sounds were of the faintest breeze disturbing the lofty tree tops and ducks squabbling out on the lake.
But despite the quiet they were always fearful of discovery so they embraced safely hidden from view beneath a weeping willow tree, whose leafy pendulous branches trailed down into the still water, where, stirred by the gentle breeze they dipped in an out of the water Like the toes of a reluctant bather.
When they meet beneath the protective foliage they kiss there in the quiet shade and feel at once renewed and often no words are spoken, their language is of caress and kiss, such tender converse with limitless vocabulary and a gently languid pronunciation, every syllable well employed and when the final paragraph is reached they end with perfect punctuation.

However it’s not just love that they make beneath the weeping willow tree they also make plans for the future when they will escape their warring families and leave Mornington behind them and even leave the shores of Downshire and cross the channel to Europe and the adventures they will share, in places he had read of and had read to her about.
They were working hard and saving money, they had their passports and had rucksacks packed and ready to go, stored safely in a storage locker in Sharpington.
They would meet at the seaside town, once every two weeks and repack their bags and then spend the rest of the time on the beach or in the fun park or a café on the seafront.
The only thing they were waiting for was for the schools to start back in September which marked the end of the holiday peak time which would save them money on travel and accommodations.
They would have to stay in hostels and work their way across Europe towards their various destinations, it would not be easy and would test their mettle and their love, but they were both willing to risk it.

When they had to stir from their love nest among the willow they had to tread separate paths home to re-join the warring tribes and had to adopt the all too familiar adversarial manner.
If they met face to face in the village, the pub, the shop or the pharmacy, no knowing looks could to be exchanged and no casual brushing past each other when for an exquisite moment hand might touch hand.
They had to remain entrenched until they can once again embrace beneath the weeping willow tree and plan their escape.

The secret meetings and clandestine planning lasted into the first week of September and they just had to keep up with the secrecy for one more week, when they were discovered.
As they sat beneath the foliage of the weeping willow tree a face suddenly appeared and said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
The scheming couple looked like a couple of rabbits caught in the headlights by their discoverer.

(Part 10)

The secret meetings and clandestine planning lasted into the first week of September and they just had to keep up with the secrecy for one more week, when they were discovered.
As they sat beneath the foliage of the weeping willow tree a face suddenly appeared and said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
The scheming couple looked like a couple of rabbits caught in the headlights by their discoverer.

Robbie had been seen hurriedly leaving the village via Church Bridge on a grey damp September afternoon by someone who knew he had reason to be over there.
Michelle Norman parked the Bizzie Lizzie’s Florists van in the lane outside St Winifred’s Church and stealthily set off in pursuit of her brother.

Michelle went in the direction he had taken and she soon caught sight of him on the path around the Mere.
“Where the hell are you going boy?” she said to herself and kept pace with him, keeping him in sight but when she reached the western end of the lake he had disappeared and she stopped and scratched her head.
He couldn’t have reached Manor Wood without her seeing him and she had a clear view of a hundred yards of path ahead and there was no way he got around there in the time even if he had broken into a run so she was at a loss as to where he had gone and then the penny dropped the only place he could possibly be was under the Willow, but why?
And as she pushed her head and shoulders through the foliage she saw her brother Robbie kissing Karen Smith which was when she said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
Well it was a stupid question really, it was obvious what was going on, they were snogging.
The two love birds didn’t speak in response though not because they thought that the question was rhetorical but because they were scared, terrified that their secret was out, and so close to their escape date.
“Are you Karen Smith?” Michelle asked
Karen lifted her head and thrust her chin out and replied proudly
“Yes”
“You’re playing with fire Rob” Michelle said
“I don’t care” he replied “I love her”
“You love me” she exclaimed
“You know I do, I’ve told you enough times” Robbie said
“I know but now you’ve told someone else” she explained “that makes it more…. Real”
“And do you love him?” Michelle asked
“With all my heart” she replied
“So what are you going to do about it?” she asked “You can’t hide in the trees forever”
“We know that” Robbie stated
“And I don’t know how you can live in the village either it’s going to cause a shit storm”
“We know that too” Robbie said “That’s why we’re leaving”
“You’re leaving?” Michelle asked “When?”
“In a weeks’ time” he said “can you keep our secret for one more week?”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, that bloody feud is the bane of all our lives” Michelle said and Robbie hugged her

(Part 11)

“You’re leaving?” Michelle asked “When?”
“In a weeks’ time” he said “can you keep our secret for one more week?”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, that bloody feud is the bane of all our lives” Michelle said and Robbie hugged her and then Karen did the same.

After the hugging was dispensed with, Robbie and Karen unburdened themselves with the plans they had made.
Firstly they told her about having their bags packed safely in a storage locker in Sharpington, along with their passports.
Then they went on to say that they would leave home early on Monday the 21st of October, with the remaining bits and pieces they wanted to take with them in a small backpack.
Robbie would catch the first bus from the village at 6.45am and Karen would get on the same bus in Manorside five minutes later and they would sit in different parts of the bus and not converse until the last Mornington passenger had disembarked.
Once they arrived in Sharpington they would go to the cash point to withdraw some cash for the journey, which they would change into Euro’s once they reached the ferry terminal, then after having breakfast on the seafront they would retrieve their luggage and get another bus to Pepperstock Bay.
From there they were booked on the 11am ferry to Dunkirk and freedom.

“Where will you live?” Michelle asked
“We have a list of hostels, Auberges, and farms that have been recommended by fellow adventurers”
“And work?” she asked
“Likewise” he replied
“Well my little adventurers you appear to have everything planned” Michelle said with a smile “What about telling the families?”
“We have written letters which we will post just before we board the ferry” Karen said
“Ok but rather than catch the bus I’ll drive you to Sharpington in the van” Michelle offered “On one condition”
“What’s that?” he asked
“That you promise to keep in touch, send me postcards, regularly” she replied
“Ok deal” Robbie said “but where to? I can’t send them home”
“Send them to the Sharpington shop I can pick them up there”

So early in the darkness of a cold October Monday morning Robbie Norman crept quietly out of the house and into the side door of the Bizzie Lizzie’s Florists van and then Michelle closed the door and got in and drove off up Military Row and through the South Gate to Mornington Field.
She then drove around the industrial units and out towards the West Gate where Karen was waiting in the shadows.
Robbie opened the side door and Karen joined him inside and closed the door behind her.
“Okay?” he asked
“Yes” she replied and they embraced
“How do you feel? Scared or excited”
“A bit of both” she admitted “but no regrets”

Once Karen was safely aboard Michelle drove them to Sharpington and parked the van in a side road and let them out.
“Here” she said handing him an envelope
“What’s this?” he asked
“There’s another list of highly recommended accommodation and some contacts in the flower trade where you can get work” she said “And stamp money”
“But there’s £300 here” he protested
“I expect to receive a lot of postcards”
“Thanks sis” he said and kissed her “For everything”
“That’s ok” she said trying to hold back the tears “now do you have your letters?”
“Yes” Karen piped up
“Well give them to me and I’ll post them tomorrow if I don’t hear from you” she said
“Good idea” Karen said handing over her letter before hugging Michelle.

Michelle cried as she watched her kid brother walking hand in hand with the girl he loved, she didn’t want him to go but she knew it was for the best.

(Part 12)

Michelle cried as she watched her kid brother walking hand in hand with the girl he loved, she didn’t want him to go but she knew it was for the best.

Once they had reached the end of the road they turned and gave Michelle a final wave and then turned left and stopped at the cash point to withdraw the cash for the journey, but when they reached it they realized they didn’t need to as they had the money Michelle had given them, which was more than enough for them to change into euros once they reached the ferry terminal.
So not needing to withdraw cash they went straight to the café on the seafront, where they had been many times before and had a “farewell to Downshire” breakfast.

After breakfast they walked along the seafront to the storage facility and retrieved their luggage and just outside there was a bus stop where they caught the bus to Pepperstock Bay.

They were booked on the 11am ferry to Dunkirk but because Michelle gave them a lift to Sharpington they had more time at the terminal than they had planned so it was a lot less hurried and they even had time to look around the shops before it was time to board.

They stood at the stern rail as the ferry left Pepperstock Bay with their arms around each other and Karen said
“We’re free”
“We are” he agreed “So how do you feel?”
“Like my life has finally begun” she replied
“Good answer” he said “And how do you feel about being stuck with me?”
“Incredibly happy” Karen replied and stood on tiptoes and kissed him.

When it was discovered that Robbie and Karen had disappeared it was not believed at first by anyone that it was anything other than a coincidence that they both left at the same time, after all one of them was a Norman and the other was a Smith.
But as time went on it became apparent that it was to all intents and purposes, an elopement, and this was confirmed when the letters arrived.
The realization that the missing pair were indeed a couple caused a good deal of anger and upset with countless accusations and recriminations being fired back and forth between the feuding families.
It was only when the two mothers, Margaret Smith and Lily Norman sat down together in the bar of the Old Mill Inn and got drunk that the two families started to think of the couples welfare and happiness and not their own petty squabbles.

Considering Karen hated farming and Robbie didn’t like being a grocer they did a lot of farm labouring and shop work along with waiting tables and washing dishes as they worked their way around the capitals of Europe.
And good to his word he sent a postcard from every one of them to Michelle at Bizzie Lizzie’s in Sharpington.

At first Michelle kept the fact she was getting the post cards to herself, but after the incident of her mums public drunkenness, and the softening of the families stances, she showed them to her.

By the time the second anniversary of their elopement came around they had worked their way to Athens and by Christmas they had reached the island of Andros in the Cyclades and once there they were there they never left and when they married the following Easter at the Agia Marina church the Normans and the Smiths were there to witness it.