Nathan and Harriet Robinson lived in number 1, Folly Cottages overlooking Teardrop Lake.
Nathan was a Professor of
Music at Abbottsford University and
Harriet had taken the job as
Phlebotomist at the Dancingdean Health Centre in Shallowfield.
When they moved to Teardrop
they had been together for over 7 years and married for 6, Harry was fast
approaching her 37th birthday and she was convinced she could
literally hear her biological clock ticking.
They had been trying for a
family ever since they were married but it just wasn’t happening for them.
Nathan loved her very much
but he didn’t feel the same time pressure that his wife did but he was
desperate to make her happy.
They had undergone all the
tests imaginable but there was nothing physically wrong with either of them and
everything was in good working order.
And a lack of trying was also
not the problem and the love making was as great as it had always been and they
didn’t stint on the quantity,
But it was all to no avail, but it
didn’t prevent them from trying.
They had lived there for a
year and had just about come to terms with the fact they would never have a
child when a week before Christmas they discovered Harry had fallen pregnant.
And following the wonderful
news they had the most joyful Christmas they had ever had.
The Baby was due in July and
they had been wracking their brains from the moment in December it was
confirmed she was pregnant.
But they could not settle on
a name, male or female.
They weren’t the sort of
people who wanted to pass on their own names to their offspring and nor were
they keen to inflict their parents’ names on them.
And there was no tradition in
either of their families to pass down a particular name.
That was the first problem
they faced as parents in waiting and as it turned out it was the least traumatic.
The second was more of a
problem for Nathan than his wife.
When they first moved in to
the cottage and the removal men carried in the piano Harriet said
“Oh I forgot about that”
“Don’t worry” Nathan replied
“It can go in the spare room until
we need it as a nursery”
That proved sufficient to
distract her with the thought of motherhood until one day in February when
Harriet said suddenly
“You need to move the piano”
It was at breakfast a few
weeks later when Harriet said
“You still haven’t moved the
piano”
“I’m putting an ad in the
Chronicle” he replied
That was the Shallowfield and Childean Chronicle the editor of which,
Richard Grimwood, lived on the lake.
“Here have a look” he said
and handed her his tablet.
“Piano for Sale only used for
Chopin” she read and rolled her eyes
“That won’t work” she said
“Anyone who understands that will already own a piano”
“But it’s a Rosewood, Chappell & Co Upright Piano, I
want it to go to a good home” he retorted
“I know it means a lot to
you” she said sympathetically “But...”
“Don’t say that it’s only a
piano” he said “I picked it up at a car boot sale of all places, of course when
I say I picked it up, I didn’t actually “pick it up” as I didn’t have a car at
the time, I was only just 18”
“So how did you get it home?”
she asked
“Graham, the guy who was
selling it agreed to drop it at my building, he even helped me get it into the
flat” he said “It means a lot to me”
“So don’t sell it” Harriet
said
“But we can’t keep it” he
said
“Donate it to the church
then” she said
“The church hall desperately
needs a new one, you’ve often complained about their instrument and that way
you will still get to play it”
“You know you’re quite bright
for a bloodsucker” he said and kissed her.
The third problem they faced that
year was altogether more serious and not so easily cured.
At the end of March Harriet
started getting severe headaches and blurred vision.
At
first she thought it must have been a migraine, even though she’d never
suffered from them before.
It
was only when her feet swelled up and she started to get pain just below her
ribs that she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia,
that was three weeks later.
“You need to take it easy from now on” Dr Lutchford
said and she was put on immediate leave.
“I’ll be fine” she protested
“You’ll be fine when we get
you blood pressure under control and that won’t happen with you still working”
Claire said, drawing a line under the discussion once and for all.
So despite her protestations the
decision was made for her to stay at home, but that was not a cure-all.
Because confining Harriet to
quarters was one thing, however getting her to rest, was another proposition
entirely.
Nathan was unable to get any significant
time off until May so he had to make a phone call to Harriet’s younger sister
Nell, or as Harry preferred to call her “Bossy knickers”.
Nellie’s real name was Hannah
Helen Hanson but that was before she married Paul Rees, after
the divorce she dumped the husband but kept his name.
She was 3 years younger than her sister and like
Harriet she was also in the medical profession though Nellie didn’t work for
the NHS.
Helen Rees was a Chiropodist
and had her own practice in Purplemere.
Also like her sister she was a willowy beauty with dark brown hair, Harriet wore hers
bobbed and Nellie wore hers shoulder length.
The main reason Nathan chose
Helen over anyone else to babysit his wife was because she was the
only person he knew who would give Harriet as good as she got.
Until the semester was over and Nathan could take care
of Harry himself it was down to Nelly.
The spare room was uninhabitable as Nathan was in the middle
of turning it into the nursery, plus the piano was still in there, much to Harriet’s
annoyance.
She was only needed Monday to Friday as Nathan was
home weekends and although she only lived in Mornington she decided to stay at
the cottage.
After two nights sleeping on the sofa however she
decided to book into the Shallowfield Lodge.
She would probably have stuck it out for one more
night on the sofa if Harriet wasn’t being quite so difficult a patient.
She would have taken her leave almost as soon as
Nathan stepped through the door but stayed for supper.
“Hi Darling” Nat said kissing Harry’s cheek “How’s
your blood pressure?”
“My blood pressure would be a damn sight lower if you
were to get rid of the bloody piano” she retorted
“Ok” he said and raised his eye brows in Nellies
direction “Hi Nell”
Nathan helped his sister in law get the dinner ready
and asked
“Has she been like that all day?”
“No” she replied “just the last couple of hours”
“I’m sorry” he said
“Don’t be silly, I’d normally take it in my stride but
I’m so tired” she said
But at least she would sleep well that night.
They both understood Harriet’s ill humour, which was
completely out of character for her, and it was not because she’d been ordered
to rest and be “baby sat” by her baby sister.
It wasn’t even the blessed piano, Harriet’s problem
was that she was scared, scared that after waiting so long to fall pregnant she
was going to lose the baby.
The Shallowfield Lodge Hotel was under new management
since the death of Sheryl Brown earlier in the year.
Nellie had stayed their once before with her ex-husband
and even though it was more than 10 years earlier she remembered Sheryl very
well.
Her replacements were Dorcas Overton and her husband
Ben and the former was on reception when she checked in.
She woke up early the next morning suitably refreshed
after a very good night’s sleep.
In fact she was up so early she was showered, dressed
and downstairs in plenty of time to indulge herself with a full English
breakfast.
Nellie was in reception talking to Dorcas as she was
checking out.
“I hope you enjoyed your stay” Dorcas said as a green panel
van liveried with “Fox-Martin Organics” pulled up to the front door.
“Yes” she replied as she watched a tall ruggedly good
looking man get out of the van and head towards the door.
“And the scenery is very pleasing to the eye”
“Yes but my brother is only visiting” Dorcas said and
laughed
“Your brother?” she asked mortified “I’m so sorry”
“Don’t be” she said “he is a fairly good looking”
A second man got out of the passenger side and also
headed for the door.
“Is that another brother?” Nell asked
“No” she replied “Husband”
Dorcas then went on to explain that they were
completing the sale of their cottage at the end of the month and her brother
Sebastian was helping Ben move the last of their stuff out.
Which was when an idea dawned on her and she asked
Dorcas for a favour.
Nell was going to stay at the lodge for four nights a
week for the remainder of the month which was when Nathan finished University for
the summer.
After that she was going to help out one day a week to
give Nathan a chance to get out of the cottage, do some shopping or just go to
the woods and scream.
She couldn’t spare more than a day a week in the summer
as she had to keep her own business going.
She was able to take a prolonged leave in April with
the help and goodwill of her staff, who covered for her, but once the summer
was upon them she had to help cover for them when they wanted time off.
Nellie had built up a very successful business and she
had a good customer base, fortunately a lot of the “well healed” in the
district had appalling feet.
Thankfully in the January she had taken on a new
practitioner, a Canadian girl a few years younger than her called Claire
Pollard, and she had proved to be invaluable and very supportive, as she
possessed an immensely strong work ethic
Claire had also become one of her closest friends and
she also lived in Mornington, so she was a friend and neighbour.
On Teardrop Lake it was just after 3 o’clock on Friday
afternoon when there was a knock on the Cottage door.
Harriet moved to get up but Nellie just gave her a
withering stare and she reluctantly sank back into the cushions wearing a scowl.
When she pulled open the door she discovered the tall
rugged looking bloke from that morning and a slightly shorter man at his
shoulder.
“Hi” he said “Are you Helen?”
“I am and you are?”
“Sebastian” he replied “and this is Ben, Dorcas said
you had something you wanted moving”
“I have, at least the lady of the house does” she
replied “come in and have a look”
After briefly introducing them to Harriet, who seemed
extremely pleased to see them even before she knew why they were there and Helen
took them upstairs to look at the Piano.
“Now I understand why Dorcas didn’t say what it was”
Ben said
“Can you help?” Helen said looking up at Sebastian
with pleading eyes “it’s only got to go to the church hall”
“Well only if you do something in return for me” Seb
said
“Oh yes and what might that be?” she asked
suspiciously
“Well I’ll be staying at the Lodge for a few days at
the end of the month” he said “come sailing with me”
“Is that it?” she asked warily
“Yes” he replied
“Oh ok then” she agreed
“Great” he said “Now we will need another pair of
hands, when is the man of the house back”
“Just after 4” a voice called from below.
“And there’s Tea and cake in the kitchen”
“Tea and cake it is then” Ben said
“I’ll kill that woman” Nell muttered under her breath
as she followed the men down the stairs.
Nell wasn’t sure what to think about being asked to go
sailing, it was very pleasing to have got his attention, but she would have at
the very least of expected a dinner date.
Still she could just say she’d changed her mind once
the piano had been moved but a deal was a deal and he was a bit of a fitty.
And at the same time it was a bit different for a
first date.
So she smiled to herself because she was already
hoping for a second date.
Nathan arrived home to find them all sitting at the
kitchen table with a plateful of crumbs where a fruit cake had once stood.
Introductions were made and after another cup of tea
the three men set about getting the piano down the stairs while the two sisters
stood at the bottom uttering words of encouragement.
Once the piano was on the van Helen ordered Harriet
back to the sofa.
“Ok bossy knickers” she muttered
“I heard that” Helen said
“You were supposed to” she retorted and Helen smiled
because the afternoon’s excitement had lifted Harry’s spirits considerably.
With the piano safely delivered to the church hall
Nathan said
“I can’t thank you enough”
“Our pleasure” Seb said
“Well I can’t offer you fruit cake” Nat said “But I
can offer you a pint of our finest Mornington Ale, unless you’d rather go back
to the Lodge”
“No fear” Ben said “the moment we walk through the
door Dorcas with give us another job to do”
“Morning Ale it is then” said Nat
They stayed for two well-earned pints while Seb took
the opportunity to pump Ben for information about Nellie.
Over the three weeks following the removal of the
piano Harriet’s mood lightened as she realized that the enforced rest had had a
positive effect on her blood pressure.
Also the removal of the piano enabled Nathan to
complete the nursery, albeit under Harriet’s critical supervision.
And then towards the end of the month, with the
decorating done and the furniture in place, Nell allowed Harriet to apply the
finishing touches and equip the room and fill the drawers with the baby clothes.
Although Nellie stayed at the Lodge for four nights a
week throughout April she didn’t run into Sebastian again until the month was
almost up.
She was really flattered when
he asked her out, even if it was just to go sailing, he was a good looking man,
he was a real catch.
For a normally very self-confident
woman Nellies had a problem which she had always had which was that she
undervalued herself, massively.
She was a catch herself but she didn’t realise it.
When she was with her husband Paul, everyone told her how lucky she was and how
well she had done to get herself a 10.
When in reality she was a 10 herself or at the very least a solid 9.
Harriet knew of course and told Nell that she was
being silly but she never believed it.
As the month came to an end she was beginning to think
Sebastian had changed his mind, which part of her was kind of hoping was the
case.
She didn’t really fancy sailing even though she did
fancy him.
It was Friday morning and Nellie was in reception
checking out and sharing a joke with Dorcas when she spotted him walking down
the stairs.
“Helen” he said “I hope you haven’t forgotten about
our date”
The use of the word date was like honey to her ears and
managed to dispel her apprehension of sailing.
“No not at all” she said “But if I’m going to end my
days in the icy depths of the lake I would much prefer it if you call me Nellie
as I sink silently from view”
“I can’t imagine you do anything quietly Nellie” he
retorted
Dorcas laughed as her mind was on an entirely
different plain to the other two.
“So when are we doing it?” she asked and Dorcas
snorted with laughter
“Well I have to go home tonight” Nellie said “And
tomorrow is laundry day”
“Ok, Sunday afternoon then”
“Perfect” she replied “shall I see you here?”
“Yes two o’clock”
She smiled and turned away but hesitated by the door
and turned around again
“Sebastian?” she called “What do I wear for sailing?”
Sunday afternoon fitted in perfectly for her, it gave
her all day Saturday to do her housework and laundry, and she would have time
on Sunday morning to worship at St Winnifred’s, then go home for lunch before
driving to the Teardrop Lake.
She arrived at one thirty at the Lodge and checked in,
she had already booked a room because of the events of the following day.
The first of May was also the early May Bank Holiday
and was also the day that the Coopers celebrated the matriarch Lynn’s birthday.
This was marked each year with a BBQ at Coopers Villa
on the southeast corner of Teardrop Lake.
The whole of the lakeside community were invited and
it was the occasion the marked the beginning of summer in the same way that the
annual party at the Lodge in September had always marked its end.
When she returned downstairs half an hour later she was
wearing a pale blue baggy t-shirt with white cotton clam digger shorts and a
pair of converse pumps.
When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs Sebastian
was already waiting for her.
He was similarly dressed though he was tanned and
toned and looked altogether more comfortable in shorts the she did with her
pale spindly limbs.
“Hello Nellie” he said and smiled, “you look lovely”
“Thank you” she said and blushed
“How are you feeling?” he asked
“A bit nervous to be honest” she admitted
“I’ve never sailed before”
“Just put yourself in my hands” he said
“If only” Nell said inside her head
“I’ve done this before, a lot” he continued
But for Nellie the pictures inside her head bore no
relation to sailing.
They walked along the jetty and he climbed down into a small single sail
Dinghy and then he took her hand and helped her in.
Nellie wasn’t altogether sure she was doing the right thing when she saw
how small the Dinghy was, she imagined sailing to be done in something
considerably larger.
Her disquiet obviously showed in her face because he said
“If you’re nervous you can wear this”
Seb was offering her a bright yellow buoyancy aid.
She looked at it and its unflattering shape and
decided that drowning was preferable to wearing something that would give her
the shape of a sumo wrestler.
Not a silhouette she would want to present to a man
she had the hot’s for.
“I think I can trust you” she said and handed it back
to him.
It was a beautiful bright afternoon, sunny with a
light breeze.
She watched him deftly handle the boat getting the most of breeze until
they were fair skimming along.
They virtually had the lake to themselves apart from a couple of others,
a skiff and a canoe
She had never been sailing before and she had never been out on Teardrop
Lake in any kind of vessel, the lakeside scenery was spectacular.
It was quite exhilarating with the wind blowing through her brown hair
and the spray cooling her face, and of course a gorgeous man at the tiller.
She really liked the latter even though they were at opposite ends of
the boat.
After about thirty minutes he called
“Are you enjoying it?”
“Yes very much”
“How would you like to have a go?” he asked
“Can I?” she replied excitedly
Although the dinghy was small it was still of sufficient size to enable
both of them to sit at the stern.
This meant he could supervise her and give advice and guidance and more
importantly from her point of view it meant there was some bodily contact.
When they returned to the Hotel jetty they were amazed to find they had
spent two and a half hours out on the water.
Sebastian was the first one off the boat and took Nellies hand and
helped her out.
“I had a really great time” she said
“Me too”
There was a moment when they were face to face in the evening sunshine
when they could have kissed.
They both wanted to, but he lost his nerve and unfortunately
Nellie was desperate to pee and all of a sudden the moment was gone.
The following day was Bank Holiday Monday, which was
another glorious day, Nellie got up late.
Which meant she missed the cooked breakfast and what
would prove to be more significant she didn’t get to see Sebastian.
As she was up late she was later getting to her
sisters than she planned but found Harriet in great spirits.
She was very much looking forward to the afternoon’s
activities.
Sebastian had to hold down the fort at the Lodge so
that Dorcas and Ben could attend the BBQ at the Coopers.
It was important for them to be there as it was the
first social event of the year and of their tenure as the Hoteliers and was an
ideal opportunity to introduce themselves to the locals.
Rob Brown went with them partly to do the introductions
but also to say his goodbyes because he had officially signed over the lease
for the Hotel that morning.
Nellie attended the party, which was one of the
occasions of the year, with Nathan and Harriet primarily to ensure the latter
behaved herself, she needn’t have been concerned because every woman from the Teardrop
community fussed and fawned around her all afternoon like she was royalty.
The second reason was that she was almost certain
Sebastian would be there and she very much wanted to see him.
When she saw the Overton’s had arrived her heart
skipped a beat but subsequently sank heavily when she realized Sebastian wasn’t
in attendance.
“Hi Dorcas” she said brightly and tried to sound as
casual as possible “Seb not with you?”
Dorcas wasn’t fooled for a second by Nellies cool
demeanour and said
“No we left him in charge of the Lodge”
Rob didn’t stay at the party for long as he found it
too emotional and soon returned to the Lodge to relieve Sebastian.
He knew he was keen to attend if only to track down
the beautiful girl he had been sailing with the day before.
After a couple of hours and several large glasses of
wine at the Coopers, Nellie made her excuses, claiming she was going for a walk
to clear her head.
Dorcas of course knew precisely in which direction she
was going to be walking and what was fogging up her head.
Nellie walked briskly along the southern road all the
while running through her head the brief dialog they would share before he took
her in his arms and kissed her.
Just about the precise moment that Nellie walked into
reception at the Shallowfield Lodge to find Sebastian wasn’t there, he was
tying up the Hotel Skiff to the Coopers Jetty.
All the while she was walking along the south road
running scenarios through her head he was cruising in the opposite direction in
search of her.
Not realizing he had gone to fine her, she turned and
left the Hotel and by the time she had reached the road again she was crying.
Sebastian left the party almost as soon as he arrived,
once he had spoken to his sister.
He decided to leave the skiff and walk, fearful he
would miss her again.
If she hadn’t got up late that morning they would have
made a plan for the day, not that it was her fault.
He virtually yomped down the road wishing he had
left her a note or asked Dorcas to give her a message, he
kicked himself for his stupidly.
This was exactly the way misunderstandings
began.
Of course none of this would have happened if
he’d had the courage of his convictions and been more decisive the day before.
He was just cursing his cowardice under his
breath when his eye was drawn to something in the woods.
Because she was disappointed, because she got
her hopes up, because it wasn’t supposed to have worked out that way.
She was upset at herself for opening up for the
sake of a guy who looked good, even though he looked very good indeed.
“This is not why you came here” she said to
herself crossly and promptly cried again
But most of all she was crying because she just
wanted to be with someone and she thought he was a prime candidate.
Dorcas told her he was holding the fort and all
the time he was off with some floozy.
She then descended into great gasping sobs so
she took herself into the trees and sat on a log and let it all out.
Sebastian found her sitting there and the sight
almost broke his heart.
“Hey what’s wrong?” He asked and sat next to her
and put a reassuring arm around her shoulder.
“You weren’t there” she sobbed and buried her
face in his chest
“I wasn’t where?” he asked
“At the Hotel” she said “I went to surprise you at
the Hotel and you weren’t there”
“I know” Seb said “I went to the party to find
you”
“You did?”
He nodded
“And I wasn’t there”
He nodded again
She stopped crying and wiped away the tears with
a delicate hand.
"I'm sorry," she said
"Don't be," Seb said "It's me who
should be apologizing”
Nellie just gazed up at him through tear filled
eyes
“I thought you must have gotten a better offer
and gone off with someone else”
“I didn’t get a better offer” she said with
childish alarm “I didn’t get an offer at all, honest I didn’t”
"I was only kidding" he reassured her
“Oh” she responded and blushed which was when he
kissed her for the first time.
They walked back to the Hotel first so that Nellie
could attend to her tearstained face.
They could have gone to her room together and spent
the afternoon together.
And it wasn’t diffidence, shyness or a lack of courage
that prevented them from doing so, they both wanted to wait until the time was
right.
They had both had highs and lows in relationships but
they both felt the first time should be special.
Nellie particularly wanted to wait until she was less
emotional, clear headed and sober.
After Nell had freshened up and restored her makeup
they walked slowly back to the party hand in hand.
Inside the house, Lynn supplied them with fresh drinks
and the first people they saw when they emerged outside onto the patio were
Dorcas and Ben.
Dorcas immediately spotted the fact they were holding
hands, she smiled and said
“You found each other then?”
Nellie looked down at their joined hands giggled and blushed
before taking a generous slurp on her wine.
“Aren’t you driving home tonight?” Dorcas asked
“Ah” Nellie exclaimed looking guiltily at her glass
“Should I book you in for another night?”
“What a good idea” She concurred and took another
slurp.
About half an hour later Nathan appeared
“Hey Nell, I’m going to take Harriet home she’s
starting to flag”
“Is she going to be alright walking home?” Nellie
asked with concern “it’s a long walk”
“We’ll just have to take it slowly”
“We can drop you at the West Cliff Jetty” Seb
suggested
“Great idea” Nellie said and took the opportunity to
kiss him
There were six of them in the skiff, the Robinsons,
the Overton’s and Nell and Seb.
“I’d better go with them” Nellie said concerned at how
drained Harriet looked
“Don’t fuss” Harry responded “I’ve had a really lovely
time, I’m just a little tired”
Sebastian drew alongside the jetty and he and Ben
steadied the ship as the Robinsons and Nell disembarked
“Dinner tonight?” Sebastian said looking up at Nell
“Of course” she replied and bent down and kissed him
Ben Overton was a little tipsy and when the skiff got
underway He said
“Go west young man”
And stood in the prow like George Washington crossing
the Potomac and added
“It’s the end
with the biggest jetty”
“Don’t say that, you’ll give
people Jetty envy” Sebastian said
Nathan and Nellie walked Harriet slowly up the hill to
the cottage and got her straight to bed.
After a fortifying and refreshing mug of tea Nellie went
back to the Hotel.
And had supper with Sebastian at the Hotel, but
because they both had early starts the next day it wasn’t a late one.
Once Nathan had finished at University and Nell was
only helping out with Harriet one day a week she had to spend the other 5 days
working with Claire Pollard ensuring all the appointments were covered while
staff were on leave, so it didn’t leave much time left for dating.
Sebastian was also tied up
with work it was a very busy time for him at Dulcets farm, where he had a small
holding, situated between Mornington and Purplemere.
So it wasn’t until June,
perfect June, or to be more precise a perfect day in June, when love bloomed
between them and they made love for the first time.
Sebastian and Helen were out
on the lake on another perfect June day and they had the whole lake to
themselves.
In fact the only other vessel
they had seen all day was Coleman Bowers on the Hotel Skiff delivering the mail.
It was a Wednesday afternoon
and they both agreed it was a perfect day because that was the day Sebastian
said for the first time
“I love you”
“I love you too” she replied
and they kissed and the perfection of the moment was only broken by her mobile
phone ringing.
This was particularly
annoying because mobile phone reception around the lake had been patchy and
sporadic for over a week after a falling tree had damaged the local tower.
Prompt repair had then been
hampered by a bureaucratic row as to who should pay for it.
The fact that it chose to
ring at the very moment they were expressing their love for each other was very
vexing indeed.
“Shall I throw it overboard”
she suggested
“I would check to see who it
is first” he said sensibly
She kissed him as a reward
for his wisdom and then looked at the caller ID which caused her expression to
change
“Nathan?”
He could tell by her grave
expression that it was not good news so he set the sail, there were then a
succession of nods and accenting grunts until she said
“Ok” and hung up
“Harry’s gone into labour”
she screamed
“And they can’t reach anyone
on the phone”
“We need to get to shore as
soon as possible” he mused and headed for Forest Lodge.
They were as near to their
shore as any other and they had the prevailing wind at their backs plus they had
seen the Lutchford’s no more than an hour earlier sitting on the bank soaking
their feet in the lake and Claire Lutchford was a doctor.
The Lake community was teeming with medical
professionals but at 3 o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon they were all gainfully
employed and or un-contactable.
It took about 30 seconds to brief Claire who quickly
got her medical bag.
Unfortunately she couldn’t take her car because the maintenance
crew had chosen that precise moment to affect a repair on the damaged phone
tower crew and their cherry picker was blocking the lane and the Latchford’s drive.
The engineers had asked if it would be ok and as it
was Claire’s day off and her and Peter had no plans to go anywhere she said it
was fine.
“They’ll be about half an hour” Peter said
“That’s no good” Claire retorted
“You take them across the lake in the skiff” Peter told
Sebastian
“I’ll stay here until they’ve finished and I can get
the car out”
“Ok” Seb agreed
Once they were underway Peter shouted
“When you’ve dropped them off go and ring for an
ambulance”
Sebastian waved in acknowledgement and then squeezed
every last ounce of speed out of the skiffs motor.
He dropped Claire and Nellie on the West jetty and
turned immediately towards the Lodge.
Claire and Nellie made the journey up to the cottage
in double quick time and were sweating profusely when they arrived to be greeted
by an anxious Nathan.
Harriet was upstairs and in the bedroom and Claire
went straight up
“I know the way” she said, which she did as she had
lived there herself when she first moved to the Lake
A few moments later she appeared at the top of the
stairs and called
“Come on Helen we have a baby to deliver”
“But I’m a chiropodist” Nell replied
“And I’m a doctor but today we’re both midwives”
Claire said
“Come on Dad, there’s hand holding to do”
At about the same moment Sebastian reached the Hotel
and ran straight to reception and dialed 999.
He then waited in the lane, where the River ran parallel to it, for the paramedics
to arrive so he could direct them to the cottage.
“That’s it sweetheart just
one more push” Claire said which was followed briefly by a yell and hearty baby
cries.
“I think it must be that way”
Sebastian said and pointed up the stairs
The paramedics, Andy Mason and
Sam Liburd went upstairs and a few moments later Nellie came running down them.
“I’m an aunty” she squealed
and jumped into Seb’s arms
Because of Harriet’s pre-eclampsia
and the baby’s premature arrival they had to go in the ambulance to hospital
but were home two weeks later with a clean bill of health and the proud parents
brought Sabrina Claire Robinson home to the lake.
And a year after Nellie became
Sabrina’s aunty, Sebastian became her uncle.
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