On Monday morning the door knocker was rarely quiet and it began at 8 o’clock with the dreaded Mrs. Cohen coming to get the house spick and span before the patient arrived.
She was a surly old biddy but she was a marvellous cleaner but she had the knack of making him feel like he was in the way and he found her to be incredibly intimidating so he made himself a coffee and made his way to his study to the echoes of “I ain’t done in there yet”
But Jack closed the door and switched on the computer and an email gave him the excuse to escape so while Mrs. C did her stuff he took the opportunity to drive over to Purplemere and meet Jacey and James at the club, he could have phoned them and had a skype meeting but Jack found from bitter experience that when Mrs. Cohen was in the house it was best if he wasn’t.
So having killed an hour at the Waterside Club he found he still had time, if he rushed around, to do a bit of shopping, but rushing around was certainly a necessity due to the cold weather.
Where it had been sunny and mild for his trip to Sharpington with Kayleigh the winter cold had come back with a vengeance after the weekend, carried on a biting wind.
As he was making his way back to the car a timid voice called out from behind him.
“Jack?”
He turned around but couldn’t identify the source of the voice so he turned back and carried on walking
“Jack?”
The voice called again, a little louder this time, so he turned around again and this time he was faced by a short smiling young woman who he didn’t recognize.
She was wearing one of those furry hats with ear flaps, a heavy thigh length coat, skinny jeans and Ugg boots.
Jack didn’t know what fashion statement she was trying to make in such an ensemble, he suspected it was more likely a determination keep warm.
“It’s me” she said from beneath the fur hat.
But he still didn’t know who “me” was.
It was clearly some young woman that he had met at some time and the encounter was so unmemorable he had instantly forgotten her, possibly someone who had worked at the club or maybe even a regular customer.
So he tried to picture her dressed in a different outfit, staff uniform, or evening dress, but nothing registered.
So she lifted the hat off her head so he could get a clearer look but this only allowed the wind to blow her fine blonde hair across her face, obscuring it completely.
It took a moment for her to take control of her wayward locks but when control had been achieved she announced
“It’s me” and gave him a beaming smile.
“Lily?” he said “I didn’t recognize you without your horse”
She was a local girl who owned and ran the Pine Hill Farm Riding School and was often seen on horseback around the village.
“You’re silly” she giggled as she put her hat back on “you mean you didn’t recognize me with my clothes on”
Jack smiled at her and she suddenly realized what she had said and blushed
“I meant with my winter clothes on” she corrected herself and they both laughed.
She was a wealthy girl and didn’t really need to work, her parents died when she was at college and left her a luxury 8 bedroom house in Hawthorne and a sizable fortune, but she was not the sort to idle away her life in hedonism she needed a purpose so she sold the house and bought a rundown farm which she converted into the riding school, and she had run it successfully for seven years.
He first met her when his uncle Daniel was still alive as he stabled his own horse, Trojan, with her, in fact it was still stabled there.
He hadn’t been able to bring himself to sell it so Lily agreed to keep it in her care, although she had an ulterior motive because she was still hoping to get him into the saddle.
Lily was a petite and attractive girl with hair the colour of pure honey but despite everything she was socially awkward and she shuffled her feet awkwardly wanting to lean in and kiss him in greeting but she wasn’t sure if she should or not so Jack put her out of her misery and kissed her instead
“Thank you for the birthday card” he said
“Did you like it?” Lily asked “it wasn’t too cheeky?”
The reason for the question was the message she wrote in his card alluding to him being akin to an old nag as he had reached the age of 40.
He was quite amused when he opened his cards, and he was pleased that she thought him enough of a friend to be cheeky.
“Yes I did” he replied and she shivered and then checked her watch.
“Oh damn I’m going to miss my bus if I don’t run”
Then she awkwardly leant in and kissed him.
“Bye Jack”
“Why are you catching a bus?” he asked
“I’m not allowed to drive at the moment” she replied
“I fell off my horse a few days ago and I hurt my shoulder and I’m on strong pain killers”
“I can give you lift” he said
“Are you going home now then?” she asked
“Yes I’ve done what I needed to do” he replied
“Ok” Lily said “that will be great”
As they were driving back to the village Lily said
“You haven’t been to the stable for a while”
“No” he replied “but life has kind of got in the way”
“Yes I heard about the Vicar” she said quietly
“It’s a good thing you’re doing”
“It’s the least I could do” Jack said
“So where do you want dropping?” he asked as they entered the village
“You’re place will do” she replied “I have to go to the surgery to get a repeat prescription”
“No problem” Jack said and then as he pulled on to his drive she exclaimed
“Oh my”
And the reason for that exclamation was the sight of a number of villagers exiting or entering his front door like worker ants from a nest.
“So the vicar takes up residence today” she said
“Oh yes” he replied
“Did you want to come in for a while?”
“Well today obviously isn’t a good day” she said “and I need to get my prescription, but we’ll do it another day”
She held his hand and kissed his cheek
“Thanks for the lift Jack”
When Jack managed to get inside the house he found a crowd scene in the hall and kitchen.
Directing traffic in the hall was Martina Wingrove, the new Vicars wife to be, and in the kitchen surrounded by chaos were Doctor Carole Anderson, in dress down mode and Matron Gemma Frost in civvies, he had never seen the good Doctor wearing casuals before, Gemma on the other hand he had seen in scruffy joes before.
“Hello girls” he said
“Jack?” Carole shouted “Thank God”
“Is everything going to plan?” he asked
“No” she cried “no it’s bloody not, half the village has turned up with meals”
“Oh” was all he could muster as he looked around at a huge selection of Pyrex and Tupperware dishes.
“There’s a lot” Gemma added “and nowhere to put it all, your freezer is full”
“There are hot pots and curries, casseroles and spag bols” Carole exclaimed as she threw her arms up in the air.
“Honestly” he said putting an arm around each of them, “I hope you wouldn’t be this flustered if one of the biddies had had a stroke”
“We’re trained for old ladies with strokes” Carole said tartly
“We are not trained for this”
Just at that moment they were joined in the kitchen by Kayleigh who was smiling broadly and had obviously been listening from the hall
“Ah, Kayleigh, there are labels in that drawer” he said pointing and then said to all of them
“Write what’s in the dish and who brought it so I can return the container to the correct person afterwards” he instructed
“I will go and switch on the chest freezer in the garage”
“You’re marvellous in a crisis” Carole said
“He’s not bad in a clinch either” Kayleigh whispered to him as he passed
He left them to it and went out the back door and into the garage.
Jack thought it was nice that the Doctor thought he was marvellous in a crisis but he wasn’t even sure if the chest freezer still worked, he hadn’t used it for a year.
It was in use when he inherited the house but it had very little in it so he switched it off and cleaned it out and it had stood empty ever since.
The other problem was that since then he had used the top of it as a dumping ground for boxes and such like, so firstly he had to clear it off.
He was not particular in his task and he rather just relocated the clutter from the top of the freezer onto the top of any other available surface.
One he had cleared the top he lifted the lid and briefly checked inside.
Satisfied nothing was living in it he closed the lid and switched it on and the light came on instantly and it started to make the appropriate noises of a chest freezer so Jack was content all was well.
He returned to the kitchen to find that calmness prevailed as Gemma, Carole and Kayleigh were working methodically through the task he had set them.
They had been joined by Martina as the flow of visitors had been stemmed so while the others finished labelling she and Jack began carrying out the already labelled meals to the freezer.
It had been rather a strange morning which fizzled out somewhat after that extraordinary deluge of well-meaning women, who had succeeded in filling his freezer.
Despite all the food on hand Jack took the four ladies out for some pub grub and a pint at then Hen and Chickens.
As they were walking down the road Martina wanted to pop in and see Katie on the way and Carole went in with her.
Thirty minutes later they re-emerged with Katie walking between them.
“Katie” they cheered
“Did someone mention the pub?” She said
She was walking under her own steam but she had to hold on to Martina and Carole’s arms.
“Hey” she said to Jack “if we’re going to live together I think I should be seen on your arm”
So Jack made an elaborate bow and she took his arm.
They were all in the pub until 4 o’clock and the Hen and Chicks was absolutely rocking.
When they eventually left the pub Katie turned to them and said
“Thanks for that” then after a pause she continued “it was like being at my own wake”
And as a result they were all laughing so much they had to sit down again.
They wheeled Katie to White Rose Cottage house in her wheelchair, not because she was drunk or anything, she had nursed the same pint of Guinness all afternoon, but she had summoned every ounce of strength she had in her to get her through her “wake” and she was absolutely drained with fatigue, plus the emotion of the day had taken its toll.
Carole and Gemma settled her into what was now to be her room for the duration.
Martina had returned to the Vicarage and along with her fiancé Paul they brought the remainder of Katie’s possessions.
While the four of them fussed and faffed around her Jack and Kayleigh went to the kitchen and made them some food, from scratch.
After which they all ate together in Katie’s room and afterwards they sat chatting until Katie was too tired to continue.
So they all kissed her goodnight and Carole and Gemma settled her down for the night.
Martina and Paul then returned to the Vicarage while the rest of them sat in the kitchen for the next hour or so until they left as well, though not before drilling into Jack what to do if something happened.
Katie didn’t need constant nursing at that point so there was to be no night nurse, just regular visits.
But he had a list of contact numbers should the need arise.
So once the Doctor and the Matron were satisfied he knew what to do, they and Kayleigh left him to it.
Jack never admitted to them that he didn’t sleep well that night and that every time he woke up he went and checked on her.
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