The
Finchbottom Vale nestles comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to
the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, and to the east, 15
miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between the seaside resort
and Pepperstock Green was the rambling village of Brookley and at its heart was
St Mildred’s Church and Susan Peach, amongst
other things published the Parish Magazine, but she was also a Chorister like
her cousin Roy.
However
all the time she spent working for the Church was unpaid so she had to work as
well.
Had
she not had her faith she would just have thought herself fortunate enough to
be in the right place at the right time, but as it was she was sure that a
divine hand had been at work.
She had travelled the four miles
from the village with her cousin Roy,
and Emily Sanders in the latter’s car, in order to locate the St Mildred’s Lark
props and paraphernalia which were required in order to prepare for the Church’s
Community Event over the following week.
It was not her first
time there but it was the first occasion on which she met Sam Wellham, and she
was instantly smitten.
He was about five
years older than her, tall, blond, and tanned, and Susan thought he was a six foot
tall hunk of gorgeousness.
Sam managed the
storage side of the farms business and he only had one full time employee to
assist him and he had just quit, he led them to the appropriate barn and
unlocked the door.
“You’ll have to manage
on your own today” he said
“Why? Are you short
staffed?” Emily asked
“No, I’m no staffed as
on twenty minutes ago”
“I’m looking for a
job” Susan blurted out
“Do you live in Brookley?” he asked
“Yes”
“So did the last person and he was always late” Sam
stated
“Well I can vouch for the fact that she’s annoyingly
punctual”, Roy said “in fact she is punctual to the point of obsession”
“She will never ever be late” Emily added “Because she
is half an hour early for everything”
“I am still here you know” Susan said and blushed
“And what can you do when you get here?” he asked with
a smile
“Whatever she’s asked to” Emily answered
“Thanks mum” Susan said
“Ok come and see me before you leave and we can have a
chat” Sam said and headed back to the office.
Emily, who had another motive for being at the barns,
namely ensnaring Roy, had just entered the barn when a thought occurred to her,
which was that getting Roy alone in the barn might give her the chance she had
been looking for, so she said
“Susan! Why don’t you go and talk to Sam now?”
She opened her mouth to protest but Emily quickly
continued
“Strike while the irons hot, I’m sure Roy and I can
manage to locate the bits we need while you’re busy with Sam”
“Oh ok, if you’re sure” Susan said
“Absolutely” Emily assured her
Susan was feeling apprehensive and excited in equal
measure as she walked across the yard, she knew only too well why Emily had
urged her to go and find Sam and it wasn’t to help her get a job.
But then she wasn’t entirely sure if that was her
primary reason for either.
When she left Brookley that morning she had no
expectations about the trip other than to assist with Church business.
But when she first laid eyes on Sam Wellham, who she
thought was gorgeous, she quickly forgot the reason she was there and which was
why she remarked impulsively that she was looking for a job.
Not that she thought that she had any chance with him,
after all he was buff and she was just ordinary, and she was five years younger
and less worldly wise.
She was in truth however looking for another job, as
her part time position at Stephenson’s Supermarket wasn’t paying enough, but on
the plus side the shop was only a five minute walk from her home, whereas
Wellham Farm would be a four mile bike ride.
He asked her about her work experience, qualifications
and other skills she might have, and he seemed happy with her replies and
nodded as he took notes.
“So how are you going to get
here every day?”
“By bike” she replied
“Oh that might be a problem,
the job does involve some driving”
He said
“Oh I can drive” she said
“I just can’t afford to run a
car”
“Good that’s another box
ticked then”
“I
can see straight away that you’re really fit” he said “I mean, in good shape”
He
flushed and took a drink before continuing
“What
I meant to say was that you are clearly physically capable of doing the manual
work, but Paperwork and good record keeping are key to what we do here”
“I
understand” she said and smiled, she thought it was cute when he got all
flustered, and it made her like him even more.
“Right
well I’ll explain to you the basics on the documentation and then you can do
the transaction with St Mildred’s so I can see if you’ve grasped the essentials”
“Ok”
she replied brightly
After
checking and logging the reference numbers on the advice note, one for the box
that Emily had returned and one for the boxes they were taking with them, she
handed it to Emily for signature, and when she got it back she tore off a copy
for Emily and handed the other one to Sam.
After
perusing the paperwork he nodded and said
“When
can you start?”
Emily
sat in the car while Roy loaded the boxes into the back and Susan was
finalising the details with Sam.
When
she emerged from the office she said goodbye over her shoulder as she got back
into the car, and she was feeling very pleased with herself on the drive back
to Brookley.
Susan
liked working at Wellham Barns and over the weeks that followed she enjoyed it
more and more, but she also found herself falling deeper and deeper in love
with Sam with each passing day.
But the one thing that didn’t
alter with the passing of time was her belief that she had any kind of chance
with him, after all what would a buff, intelligent and worldly older man,
possibly see in a nerdy girl on the geeky side of ordinary who spent most of
her spare time out in the wilds of Downshire photographing wildlife, as far as
she could see they had absolutely nothing going for them and nothing in common.
In
the middle of June as they neared the summer solstice the days were longer and
the evenings brighter with twilight pushed back to 10 o’clock so when the
weekend arrived she was up before first light on Saturday and set off on her
bike, she already had her backpack ready, with everything in it she needed to
last her the day, her camera, food and drink, while the Kings River Woods
Nature Reserve would provide the rest.
The
Woods ran from the outskirts of Sharpington
as far as the Dulcets, the Dulcets being a collection of villages and hamlets
comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke
to name but a few and it was the latter where Susan was riding towards via the
riverside path beside of the River of the same name.
Once she reached
Dulcet-on-Brooke she had to secure her bike in the village and proceed into the
reserve on foot.
The Kings River Woods were
open to everyone for a variety of recreational pursuits but the Reserve did not
permit vehicles of any kind and even horses were restricted and dog walkers had
to keep their pets on a lead within the confines of the Reserve.
She
really liked the fact that all but those interested in the flora and fauna of
the woods were permitted free access to them, as her greatest passions were
Wildlife and Photography.
Within
the reserve there were a good number of hides which enabled, with a combination
of time, patience and a good camera, those who possessed all three virtues to
capture perfect images.
The
hides were many and various, some were at ground level while others were high
beneath the canopy and other that were somewhere in between.
The
differences in locations were such because of the differences in the people who
used them, if you were primarily interested in birds, then the high hides best
suited your needs, while if you favoured large mammals then the low ones were
for you, but for Susan she had no preference and she had used them all at some
time or other, she was interested in all Wildlife, large or small, furry or
feathered.
She
switched from hide to hide, depending of the time of year, or the conditions or
just a whim, it was the latter on that Saturday, and she chose the one sat on
the top of a low hill and was a medium height location offering a view across a
large meadow and the tops of the trees that surrounded it.
The
hide was buried under a grassy bank, which always reminded her of the
Teletubbies, which made her smile, but she knew even on a hot day it would be
cool in there, she just hoped the she would have it to herself.
She
didn’t want to have to engage in conversation with anyone, she was just there
to indulge her passion for Wildlife and Photography.
She
quietly opened the door and stepped inside and closed the door behind her and
then she turned around and her heart sank, as someone had got there before her,
but then her fortunes changed as her companion turned their eyes on her and she
was surprised to see it was Sam Wellham, and when he recognised her he smiled.
So
it seemed that they did have something in common after all and so
It
appeared she would be enjoying all three of her passions on one glorious day.
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