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.
It was once the home the Clerembeax’s, who arrived in Downshire
following the Norman conquests and stayed for a thousand years before the name
died out following the death of the reclusive Marcus Clerembeax at the age of
96.
The current owner was Yvonne Labuschagne, who decided to open it as a
Hotel and Spa.
The Spa was a good attraction, but it was crucial for them to maintain
a high occupancy rate, however things were tough in the Hotel trade with the
success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like
the Palace needed to offer something extra to attract the guests, apart from
the Spa.
So, they put on novelty weekends, such as “Murder Mysteries” and in
addition, they had a sizable Ballroom which was used for special occasions,
high days and holidays, which boosted occupancy and Spa numbers at the same
time.
But it was necessary
to offer guests as wide a range of activities as possible during their stay, to
attract them in the first place, and hopefully to come back, which was why they
bought and stabled horses up at Stevens Farm, in order to offer riding.
The Stevens farm
bordered the Clerembeax Estate, so it was a natural choice and it was a large
farm which had at its centre a large farmhouse, parts
of which dated back six centuries, which had been added to over the years to
accommodate the changing needs of the family.
There were also a
significant number of out buildings, including a stable block.
The farm was run by
Russ Stevens and his three sisters, Mary, Rose and Muriel.
However, they had
plenty of farm work to keep them busy, so they had little or nothing to do with
the horses, so Hotel Manager Hannah Morgan employed the Storey Brothers, Adam
and Craig to do the job.
Russ Stevens was the oldest of the Stevens clan and was tall muscular, rugged
and bald and nothing like the Stevens
girls, who were all good looking, with red hair and striking Celtic green eyes.
He had taken the reins at the farm after his father’s death which was
also the point he gave up on his choice of career and a personal life as he had
to raise his sisters as well as run the farm.
So, his hopes of being a Chef were dashed and because he didn’t have a
minute spare in his life he had no significant other.
But now the girls either all had someone in their lives, or someone in
their sights, he was left feeling lonely, he loved his sisters dearly, and they
him, but that wasn’t the same as having someone to snuggle up to at the end of
the day, someone to share the mundane minutiae of the day.
But he couldn’t think of himself, not when he had the girls to raise and had to be strong for them.
It was 10.00am on a glorious July morning and Russ was sat in the yard
taking a well-deserved coffee break and he was in melancholic mood as he had
just seen Rosie and Phil pass by and although they had only been together for a
relatively short while it was oblivious even to a blind man that they were in
love.
They looked so happy that he found he was quite envious, which made him
feel very guilty, and it made him feel lonelier than ever.
However, he chastised himself for his selfishness and consoled himself
with the fact that he at least had more mouths to feed and more opportunities
to show off in the kitchen.
After the investment
that the Hotel had made, Hotel Manager Hannah Morgan, was anxious to see the
fruits of that investments, so early one morning she drove up to the farm on
the way to work.
The Storey brothers,
Adam and Craig, had worked hard to get the riding stables up and running, and
as they walked across the yard towards the farmhouse, Hannah’s car pulled into
the yard and she called out the window.
“Morning guys”
“Hannah?” Adam said,
“is that you?”
“What are you doing
out in the real world?”
“I’ve come to see what
you’ve both been up to” she replied
“Come on then we’ll
give you the tour” Craig said
“You’ve done a lot”
Hannah said after being shown around
“Well if your
satisfied, come and get breakfast” Adam said
“No, I won’t stop” she
replied
“Just come in for a
coffee then” Craig added
“No, I wouldn’t want
to impose” she insisted
“Russ won’t be happy”
Adam said “He’s very big on hospitality”
“Oh ok, just a coffee”
Adam pushed open the
door and stepped in and said
“Morning Russ, we’ve
brought you another victim”
“Oh good, the more the
merrier” he retorted, and then he looked at the lovely dark-haired woman
“This is Hannah”
“Ah I’ve heard a lot
about you” Russ said and shook her hand, and
“All good I hope”
Hannah said
“Absolutely not” Adam replied
“And she’s turned her nose up at your breakfast”
“That’s ok, sit down”
he said amiably “Can I get you a tea or coffee?”
When breakfast was
first mentioned, she was expecting it to be the usual greasy full English, but
the aromas in the kitchen got her taste buds going, devilled kidneys, kedgeree,
masala eggs and fresh baked rolls so she said.
“I may have been a
little hasty”
“Well there are other
attractions” Adam said as the door opened and two of the Stevens girls walked
in
“So, I see” Hannah re-joined
and smiled at Russ
It was a long
leisurely breakfast with good conversation and great banter.
“My God that was good”
Hannah said after clearing her second plate “No wonder you two enjoy it up here
so much”
“He’s good, isn’t he?”
Muriel said
“Oh yes” she replied,
but she wasn’t entirely referring to the cooking.
Over the following few weeks Hannah made several more visits to the
stables, always around meal times, but Muriel was sure that her interest in the
farm wasn’t restricted to the status of the stable’s or Russ’s culinary skills.
She had also noticed how her bothers demeanour changed whenever Hannah
walked in, however knowing her brother as she did she also knew that nothing
would progress between them without an intervention from her and her sisters,
Mary and Rosie.
Mary wasn’t entirely convinced by Muriel’s assertion and was the only one
of the Stephens family who hadn’t met Hannah before.
So, Muriel suggested she should be in the kitchen when she arrived to
witness her brother’s reaction for herself, and when she did her chin almost
hit the floor.
“My God, its true” she whispered to Muriel
“I told you so” she retorted
“So, you’re the Hotel
manager?” Mary said
“I am”
“Well Muriel is very
grateful to you for sending the Storeys” Mary said and giggled
“So, have you given
Hannah her invitation?” Muriel said
“Invitation?” Hannah
asked
“Yes, its Russ’s
birthday next week, and we’re having a big celebration dinner” Mary said
“Oh…er… yes” Russ
stammered
“So, you must come”
Muriel insisted
“I would really like
that but, I can’t do next week, my sister Charlotte is visiting” she said in
reply to Muriel, while looking at Russ, and he looked visibly deflated until
Mary suggested
“Bring her along”
Hannah and Charlotte
left the Hotel together, both wearing summer dresses and made up to the nines
and they both looked stunning with the sun shining on their raven black hair,
as it was such a pleasant August evening they decided to walk up to Stevens
Farm, which was a gentle walk that Hannah had made many times before.
It was obvious even to
the casual observer that they were sisters, Charlotte was just a curvier
version of her older sibling.
“Are you sure we
needed to dress up?” Charlotte asked
“Of course, I am”
Hannah replied
“After all, how often
do we get the chance to dress up?”
“But why couldn’t I
just wear jeans?”
“Because it would have
looked like I was trying to hard” Hannah replied
“Why do you have to
make life so complicated?” Charlotte asked and laughed
Russ Stevens was, under normal circumstances, a confident and unshakeable
cook, but that night he was a bag of nerves, and the girls all tried to calm
things down by lightening the mood but were only partially successful.
As they approached the
farm house Hannah suddenly stopped and said in alarm
“Do I look ok?”
“Yes” Charlotte
replied
“Really?” she asked,
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure, you
look gorgeous, the same as always” Charlotte retorted
“Ok” she said
doubtfully and exhaled a long slow breath and then when they reached the door
Hannah knocked lightly on it and then went straight in
“Hello” she called,
and Muriel was the first to appear
“Wow you two look
stunning” she said and kissed Hannah’s cheek and then Hannah introduced her to
Charlotte and then she in turn introduced her to the rest of the family and
their partners.
“Where’s the birthday boy?” Hannah asked “I have a gift for him”
“He’s in the kitchen and he’s unusually flustered” Mary explained “Why
don’t you go in and settle his nerves”
“Oh, I think you over estimate my influence” she said rather
superciliously
“And I think you underestimate it” Muriel said “Go on, in you go, we’ll
look after Charlotte”
When she walked in, Russ had his back to her, so she said tentatively
“Hello” and made him jump
“Oh hello” he said suddenly feeling even more flustered and she smiled at
the sudden realisation that Muriel had been right
“Happy Birthday!” she said and handed him an envelope
“There’s a little gift in there, or at least the promise of a gift,
An IOU if you like, in lieu of the actual gift”
“You shouldn’t have really” he replied as he opened the envelope and read
the inscription “Wow”
“Well as it’s the Glorious 12th, and you like to cook, I
thought a brace of Grouse would be quite appropriate or is the plural grouses
or Grice or ….”
She was prevented from rambling on any further because he was kissing
her.
The remaining guest were assembled on the patio enjoying pre-dinner
drinks.
“I hope it won’t be long” Rosie said “I’m starving”
“I’ll go and see” Mary
said and there was a murmur of approval
But she was only gone
for a minute and as she reappeared Muriel asked
“How is it going in
there?”
“Ok, but dinner may be
a little delayed” Rosie replied
“Not the food” Muriel said,
“how is it going?”
“Oh, I see” Rosie said
“Well they’re kissing so I suppose it’s going quite well”
“What exactly do you
mean by kissing?” Mary asked, “was it a peck on the cheek or a “thank for the birthday
card” kiss or was it something else?”
“Something else I’d
say” Rosie said “They’re snogging”
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