Highfinch which nestled on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills where the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separated the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, which made up the parish of St Martins Church and between Lily Green and the sleepy hamlet of Kingfisherbridge was where Daniel Mason lived with his divorcee sister Karen and his niece Melinda.
He was a pig man and
worked up at Orchard Farm in the wooded Pepperstock Hills and everyday he
walked up from Kingfisherbridge and along the lane the farm shared with the
neighbouring Russet Hill Farm.
He was a single man, now in his early thirties, who loved his job, but on
this occasion, as he walked up the lane, he was not going to work because it
was his day off, and as it was a bright morning he
had grabbed a backpack and set off for a walk in the Pepperstock Hills in the
early sunshine.
It was the first day
of Shrovetide, known as Egg Saturday, which would prove to be ironic as the day
progressed, sometimes called egg feast day, which would also retrospectively
drip with irony.
At the end of the lane
there was a gate left and right and a path through the woods straight ahead.
As he got
halfway down the lane he happened upon another walker heading for the lane from
the direction of Russet Hill Farm.
She wore
stout walking shoes, dark green combat trousers, a drab shapeless sweater and a
khaki jerkin.
Her brown hair
was tied in a bun beneath a Rutland county cap, and as she didn’t wear a scrap
of makeup she looked about forty.
By the
time he reached the gate she was just climbing over it
“Morning” he said
“Yes
morning” she replied in a voice much younger than her appearance which was
accompanied by a nervous smile.
Once she
was over the gate she set off up the path at an impressive pace and was very
sure footed as she strode off ahead of him.
The walker was Meredith
Upshaw and the Upshaw’s had farmed up at the Russet Hill since God was a boy.
It was a large
sprawling farm, which had at its center a large farmhouse, parts of which dated
back more than a century.
It had been added to
over the years to accommodate the growing Upshaw clan until it was now
comprised of six upstairs bedrooms and an equal number of rooms on the ground
floor, and there were a number of sheds, barns, and assorted out buildings.
Meredith was the
youngest of four children and the only one not yet espoused and because the
whole family lived in the farmhouse she chose to live in the farm cottage.
The farm had changed a
lot over the time the Upshaw’s had been there, times changed and they had to
change with them, now they kept a few sheep and goats on the farm but only for
their own use because their main business was Free range chickens and the
resulting free range eggs.
Although
the birds were in enclosures they were of a considerable size and they were able to roam freely within them and forage in the grass around the fruit trees.
And that is relevant
to the story because it was her brainchild, and she was the driving force
behind the farms success.
But that success came
at a cost, namely her personal life, but her single mindedness was only a part
of the reason she lived alone.
The path lead up through the wooded hills which formed the southern edge
of The Pepperstock Hills National Park which stretched from the bare, and often
barren crags of Oxley Ridge in the North to the dense wooded southern slopes on
the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry Hill, and the Pits in the
West to Pepperstock Bay in the East.
It is an area of stark contrasts and attracted a variety of visitors.
To the south and east was an extensive tract of magnificent mixed
forestry and was rivaled only by the ancient
woodland of the Dancingdean Forest but there were also a number of rocky
outcrops amidst the trees.
The
weather in the Park though could often be unpredictable, even when the day started
with blue skies and sunshine, which could also spill over the southern edge, so
it wasn’t really a surprise that by mid-morning the blue sky had been consumed
by grey.
Daniel was on top of a
ridge that afforded him a fantastic view looking south across the Finchbottom
Vale.
He was
sitting down with a sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other when he
looked over his shoulder at the distant sky and he was familiar enough with the
area to know that it was coming his way so he decided to make his way down the hill
as quickly as possible.
He hadn’t
even reached a quarter of the way down before the low cloud settled a thick drenching
mist all around him.
Daniel had
on suitable clothing for the weather but he had made the wrong choice of
footwear and he was slipping on the damp stones with every other step and the fog
had come down very quickly and was extremely thick in places, visibility was zero.
“It would
be safer if you just sit it out” a soft voice said
“I’m
sorry?” He said turning around and seeing the woman he’d seen earlier sitting
on a large flat rock, under the shelter of a rocky outcrop.
“You
should sit it out” she said
“I’m not
sure that’s a good idea” he retorted
“Well this
band of cloud is due to blow through in a couple of hours” she said confidently
“Is it?”
He asked
“Yes, I
checked the weather forecast before I left home this morning?” she said
“You mean
you knew it was going to do this” he said gesturing with his hand “And you still
came up here?”
“I like it
up here” she replied defensively as he sat down next to her
“I’m Dan by
the way, Daniel Mason” and offered his hand
“Meredith Upshaw” she
responded “Merri”
“Ah! The
egg lady?”
“Yes
that’s me” she admitted
As they
sat on a large flat rock in the fog, she rummaged in her backpack, which was
filled with a wealth of useful stuff, as she liked to plan for every
eventuality.
First she
pulled out a thermos full of coffee which she put on the stone beside her and
then a Tupperware box containing sandwiches.
“Would you
like coffee?” she asked
“Yes please”
he replied so she filled a cup and handed it to him, then she opened the
plastic box and offered him a sandwich.
“Oh
lovely, what’s in them?”
“Egg” she
replied and there was a pause before they both laughed.
They sat
happily under the rocky outcrop drinking coffee and eating egg sandwiches and
talking about their respective farms.
However by
about three in the afternoon a light breeze got up and started stirring the
mist.
“Right on
time” Merri said, looking at her watch, though she was a little disappointed,
as she was rather enjoying the company
“Perhaps
we should wait for another half an hour or so” Dan suggested, as he too was in
no hurry to leave.
“Good idea”
Merri agreed
By 4.15
they couldn’t really delay it any longer as watery sunshine was beginning to
penetrate the mist so Dan began handing the remnants of their impromptu picnic
to Merri which she packed neatly away in her backpack.
“Thank
you” he said
“For
what?” She asked
“For
sharing your lunch” he said “and for your company”
“Oh,
there’s no need to thank me” she responded and gave him a smile
“It would
have been a very dull afternoon had you not happened along”
And Dan
thought he detected a slight blush on her cheek.
It was as
they walked back down the hill in the weak sunshine that he decided he should
repay the favour, but as they chatted easily along the footpath he could not
think of the words until they were approaching the gate where they had first met
earlier in the day.
“As you
were so generous to me today I was hoping you might allow me to repay the
favour” he said
“There’s really
no need” She relied, internally cursing herself for her not saying yes
immediately
“Just
dinner at the Blue Ribbon, in Highfinch” he persisted and this time she didn’t
hesitate
“Ok, that
would be nice, when did you have in mind?”
“Is
tonight too soon?”
“Tonight
is fine” she said smiling
They
agreed to meet again that evening by the gate where they had first met and in
the early evening spring sunshine she was transformed from the county farmer
dressed in the outdoor leisure wear into a lovely butterfly, in a floral dress,
who he would see every day that followed.
No comments:
Post a Comment