Friday, 12 March 2021

The Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa – Mothering Sunday

 

The beautiful Downshire village of Clerembeax St Giles was situated to the west of Abbeyvale located between Grace Hill and Bushy Down and on the outskirts was the Clerembeax Palace Hotel and Spa and when Yvonne Labuschagne inherited it from her cousin, the last remaining Clerembeax, she undertook the task of modernizing the Palace and opening a Hotel and Spa offering, fitness classes, gym, rock sauna, infra-red sauna, aroma steam room, ice fountain, drench showers, Jacuzzi, a Romanesque pool, Reflexology, Raki, facials, scalp massage, hand massage, Manicure and Pedicure, while also providing accommodation, meeting and function rooms, a superior restaurant and whatever temptation might attract potential visitors.

 

Ray Morrison was a trained Physiotherapist and Masseur, who had worked with Yvonne at the Dancingdean Spa, when her husband was still alive, but his role at the Palace also involved training some of the younger ancillary staff as well as using his skills on the guests, but he enjoyed being in Clerembeax, and he had made many friends among the staff, and he also enjoyed taking long walks in the surrounding countryside, when he wasn’t working, which is what he was doing early on Sunday Morning.

 

All the weather forecasters had been talking about the latest incarnation of the Beast from the East for more than a week and as he left the hotel for his walk around the village it arrived.

 

When he reached the farther point of his loop it was snowing heavily, and he decided to keep to the firmer ground of bridle paths and roads that would get him back to the Palace as quick as possible.

When he reached the center of the village the road was barely discernable, but as he reached the Village Green a car drove gingerly into view, and it was a car he recognized, and it belonged to the Hotel Manager, Hannah Morgan.

She came to a halt beside him and wound down the window

“Do you want a lift?”

“Yes please” he said and got in the passenger seat

“I thought you were picking up your sister” he said

“I was, but she phoned me before I reached Abbeyvale, to say that all the trains had been cancelled”

“Already?”

“Yes, it’s really bad in Abbottsford, and its headed our way” Hannah said as she drove off “Also we’re going to be short staffed today, as there are no buses or taxi’s”

“I guess that means Mother’s Day lunch is going to be a quiet affair” Ray said

“Good point, I hadn’t thought of that”

 

They went through the front door to the reception before Ray thanked her and then they separated and as Ray stood and chatted to the receptionist a small figure, wrapped up against the cold, stepped out of the lift and made a bee line for him.

She said something, but her voice was muffled by her scarf so when she got no response she loosened it and spoke again

“Ray”

“Is that Cheryl under all that?” he asked, and she nodded in response.

Cheryl was one of the younger members of staff at 17 years old, and Ray had taken her under his wing. 

“You’re not going out there are you?” he queried

“Yes, I’ve got to get home,” she said

“There aren’t any buses” he told her

“What? To Tollington?” she asked urgently

“To anywhere” he replied

“And there are no taxis either”

“Oh God” Cheryl exclaimed “But I have to try”

“Ok honey” Ray said “But please be careful”

And then he watched as she disappeared out into the snowy morning before headed to the staff room.

 

About half an hour later he was back in reception when Cheryl reappeared through the front doors, still wrapped up against the weather, with melting snow on her shoulders.

Only her eyes and nose were visible between her woollen hat and matching scarf, and her eyes bore the evidence of crying.

“Are you ok Honey?” he said and the moment he reached her she buried her cold face in his chest and began to cry.

“I…”

“Can’t…”

“Get…”

“Home…” she said between sobs

Ray didn’t point out that he told her that he just made sympathetic noises

“All the buses are cancelled,” she said

“And I couldn’t find a cab, so I had to come back”

“What’s at home that you are so desperate to get back to?” he asked

“My mum” she answered

“Oh?”

“She has a broken leg, and I’m her looking after her, so I had to try and get home” Cheryl said “but when I couldn’t I tried to phone her, but I couldn’t get through, so I tried to ring the neighbours to ask them to check on her”

“And?” he asked sympathetically

“No luck” she said ‘Not yet”

Ray stood holding her for about five minutes, then he asked

“Is she in Tollington?”

“Yes”

Tollington was only about two miles from the Hotel as the crow flies and as he drove a Landrover Discover, he said

“Let me get my coat and I’ll drive you”

“Really?”

“I can’t promise we’ll get out of Clerembeax, but we’ll give it a go” 

 

Even in the hour he had been inside the weather had deteriorated, however the road through the village was still drivable.

“If it’s like this all the way we’ll be fine” he said and looked across at Cheryl who was nervously biting her lip in the passenger seat.

However, when out into the country lanes he was driving on drifting virgin snow.

The roads were barely visible, and he drove very gingerly along the first stretch, which ended, at a crossroads, which was where he was joined by another four-wheel drive which turned onto the road ahead of him and he followed it for about half a mile before it turned left onto the Kiddingstone Road while he needed to turn right for Tollington.

As luck would have it the road was not as bad as the previous one as it was quite exposed, and the wind had blown a lot of the snow off the road and there were even visible signs of Tarmac in patches.

So, he pressed on with caution, but when he was less than a mile from the village the snow fell even faster, and it was in the poor visibility of a blizzard that Ray took a right-hand bend slightly too vigorously and lost the back end and went off the road back end first into a ditch.

“Are you ok?” he asked her

“Yes” she replied and then he tried to drive out of the ditch, to no avail.

“Ok stay here” he said and opened the door and got out of the car and pulled his collar up against the wind, before walking to the front of the Landrover.

 

He pulled the winch cable out and crossed the lane and looped it around a tree before running back and getting behind the wheel.

“Ok here goes” he said and started the winch, which slowly but surely pulled them back onto the road.

“You did it” she said and hugged him   

 

Fortunately, there was no obvious damage to the car, so twenty minutes later he pulled up outside Cheryl’s house.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” she squealed and hugged him again before saying “come on” and got out the car.

Ray followed and watched her run up the path and then fall in a heap about three paces from the front door.

In his concern he rushed to her aid

“Are you ok?” he asked but when he reached her she was giggling so much she couldn’t speak.

 

Once he got her to her feet and she’d regained her ability to speak they walked gingerly to the porch and she unlocked the front door.

“Mum! Mum!” she called as she walked inside “it’s me”

“Cheryl?” a call came back in reply

She shed her coat and accessories in the hall as Ray closed the front door and then Cheryl went into the cozy lounge where her mum was.

“Happy Mother’s Day!” she said as she burst into the room

“I wasn’t expecting to see today” her mum said with tears in her eyes, and there was a prolonged teary hug.

 

“How did you get here?” Her Mum asked as she wiped her eyes

“Ray drove me”

“Ray?” she asked

“Yes, Ray from work” she replied “You know the one I’m always talking about”

“Oh yes, well that was kind” she said and then hurriedly added “I hope you haven’t let him drive back to Clerembeax again”

“No, he’s in the hall” Cheryl replied

“Well bring him in then, so I can thank him”

So, she went back out to the hall and said

“Come in and say hello”

“Ok”

“Mum this is Ray, Ray this is…”

“Sarah Daniels?” Ray said

“I used to be” she said with a confused look on her face

“You used to go out with my brother Ben” he explained

“Ray Morrison” she exclaimed “But I’m surprised you remember me though, we only met a few times because you were away at University most of the time”

“You obviously made an impression on me” he said

 

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