The Summers and the Overend’s lived in Northchapel and every year they had a family holiday together in the Dancingdean Forest.
Peter and Kate Summers and their sons
Mark and Brian, Kate’s sister Christine Overend and husband David and their
daughters Julia and Karen, all travelled to the lakeside home of the Davies
family, Matthew and Lindsey who were Kate and Christine’s parents and Shelley
who was their maiden Aunt.
The Davies family home was East Side
House and was situated on the eastern shore of Teardrop Lake.
Teardrop
Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve
parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it and there were also a
number of cottages dotted around the woods as well, quite a few of the
properties were vacant and an equal number were derelict.
It
was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and the
lake was little used and the kids always loved going there even
more so in the summer when they could get out on the lake.
But by the
mid seventies the children were grown up and the long lazy summer holidays were
much shorter because of the necessity to work.
However in
1976 the first of the next generation was introduced to the ancestral home and
its idyllic surroundings, in the shape of six month old Hannah Summers the
daughter of newlyweds Mark and Julia.
Access to Teardrop Lake
was via Shallowfield which was a sprawling sparsely populated village and its
fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its
survival.
In the post war years
with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to
Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived and the community
around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the
Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that
hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little
more than ruins the Davies family were one of the lucky ones.
But by the 70s things were beginning
to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.
More importantly these people had
money in their pockets.
This
trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had
been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire,
Rob and Sheryl Brown, had
been turned into a Hotel.
Its
completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension
Shallowfield.
There was more than a hint of irony
about the long hot summer of 1976 because the appearance of the newest member
of the clan beside Teardrop Lake heralded the absence of its oldest because in
the first week of August, Great Aunt Shelley, suffered a fatal heart attack in
her sleep.
Despite the fact that she was 82 her
death came as a complete shock to everyone and caused great sadness both inside
and outside the family.
Shelley Davies was an immensely
popular figure among the local community through her charitable work and
tireless commitment to the church and all that that entailed.
As a result St Mary’s church was
bursting at the seams on the day of her funeral, full of people wanting to pay
their respects.
Following the funeral the wake was
due to be held at the Shallowfield Lodge but because of the great numbers it
had to be moved to the much larger venue of the Claremont Hotel.
Brian Summers was a few weeks away
from his twenty third birthday, and was tall and athletic with flowing blond
locks and well-tanned skin.
It was a glorious day in
Shallowfield, though the occasion at the Claremont Hotel was a gloomy one.
Due to the scorching August
temperature the main function room was very stuffy, despite the fact that all
the terrace doors were open.
He liked his Great Aunty very much
but he was shocked at just how loved she was outside of the family.
After about half an hour he slipped
discretely out onto the terrace and went for a stroll in the not insubstantial
grounds.
This was in part because of the
oppressive temperature in the function room but also because his mind had begun
to wander into immoral and disrespectful thoughts in regard to women in black
and his thoughts became increasingly lurid as he considered each woman in turn
and tried to envisage exactly what form of underwear they were wearing and
whether or not they were black.
Once outside he slipped his jacket
off and strolled around the grounds for about half an hour when he saw a girl
of about his age standing alone by a rose arbor, bathed in the afternoon sun
and staring out into the distance and he could tell by the movement of her
shoulders that she was sobbing.
His first instinct was to hurry in
the opposite direction but instead he found himself walking towards her.
He walked up behind her and lightly
touched one of her naked arms.
“Are you ok?” he asked
“No” she replied and then to his
great surprise she turned to look at him with tear filled eyes, then she
collapsed into his arms and broke down completely.
“It’s ok” He whispered, “I’ve got
you”
And as she sobbed uncontrollably
into his chest he kissed the top of her head.
He held her close and stroked her
back as she sobbed and he wondered what had reduced her to her current state,
he didn’t think her tears were being shed for his Great Aunty as wonderful as
she was.
His thoughts then began to wander
again, first he thought
“She’s getting my shirt really
wet”
But he decided he didn’t actually
care about that.
However his mind continued to wander
and he let his mind wander to such an extent that his wanderings turned to
wonderings, in particular what she was wearing under her little black dress.
He could offer no excuse for was
what he was thinking as she sobbed her heart out and he consoled her with his
empty words.
He could have said in his defense
that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman,
but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts of her in her
mourning clothes.
Brian Summers could offer no excuse
for what he was thinking as the girl sobbed her heart out against his chest and
he consoled her with his empty words.
He could have said in his defense
that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman,
but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts about what she was
wearing beneath her mourning clothes.
All those shameful thoughts, however
soon dissipated when the silence of the afternoon was shattered by a shout of
“OI YOU”
Without letting go of the sobbing
girl Brian looked towards the sight of the disturbance and saw a short, stocky
and red faced bloke of a similar age to himself.
“LET GO OF HER” he yelled and at
that moment she looked up
“Let go of my girl” he said
“Go away Vince” the girl retorted
“I’m not your girl”
Vince made a beeline for Brian, in
order to get in his face, but when he got close he realized his adversary was
more than a foot taller than he was so he took a step backwards and continued
to berate his girlfriend.
“Come on, come with me” he insisted
“I’m not going anywhere with you”
she retorted and sheltered behind Brian
“Well if you don’t come now we’re
finished” Vince countered
“Good” she shouted back
The exchange with her ex-boyfriend
had finally stemmed the flow of tears and they sat down on a bench and introduced
each other.
Her name was Amanda Jerome, a local
girl who knew his Great Aunt through their involvement with St Mary’s church.
She was quite tall, a good six inches
taller than her ex, and was curvy and had long brunette hair which framed a
very pretty face.
Once she had wiped her tears away and
he got a good look at her, he recognised her, not from anywhere specific but he
remembered seeing her about the village during his summer visits.
After the introductions Amanda
explained what had caused her to breakdown so spectacularly.
“I caught Vince snogging one of the
waitress’s in a corridor close to the ladies” she said and her lip began to
quiver, but she gathered herself and pushed her chin out resolutely and defied
the tears to come.
Brian knew only too well that they
would come, it was inevitable, but she would keep them at bay until she was
alone in her room and then they would come in earnest and her heart would break
in private.
When all hint of tears had gone and
Amanda was completely composed they began to walk back towards the Hotel.
“So are you going back inside?” he
asked as they reached the terrace
“No, I think I’ll go home” she
replied “I don’t want to run into Vince again, I can’t face him”
“Let me walk you home then” Brian
offered
“Oh no you don’t need to do that,
you’ve been kind enough already” Amanda replied
“Nonsense it’s no hardship”
“Ok then, thank you” she said and
smiled
They walked largely in thoughtful
silence the short distance from the Hotel to the quiet cul-de-sac where she
lived with her parents, where Amanda thanked him for his kindness and went
inside.
After the funeral of Shelley Davies
it was decided among the family that someone should be staying at the house
with her surviving brother, Matthew and his wife, Lindsey, for the first few
weeks, just to make sure they were coping alright.
Brian Summers took his turn on the
last weekend of august almost three weeks after the funeral.
However when he arrived on Saturday
he found them both in rude health and his presence wasn’t really required, but
they were pleased to see him as usual and made him very welcome.
He always enjoyed seeing them and it
gladdened his heart that they were doing well.
After lunch he decided to go for a
walk and left his Grandad watching Grandstand on TV and Granma knitting, what
was likely to be a Christmas present.
After leaving East Side House he
turned right at the end of the drive and walked along the southern stretch of
the perimeter road which circled Teardrop Lake.
He walked past the Shallowfield Lodge
Hotel and on into Shallowfield and then headed toward the cul-de-sac where he
had last seen his damsel in distress.
He had thought about Amanda Jerome a
lot since the day he walked her home, which surprised him at first because she
wasn’t really his type, she was a tall, curvy brunette and he was attracted to
skinny, petite blondes.
Nonetheless he was attracted to her and
had been so from the first moment he saw her crying beside the rose arbour in
the grounds of the Claremont Hotel.
And in the three weeks since the
funeral he had looked forward to seeing her again however once he was in
Shallowfield again he lost his nerve, he had planned to knock on her door and
speak to her but when he was actually faced with that prospect he didn’t get
any further than the end of her cul-de-sac and he just walked up and down the
Childean Road hoping he might see her.
When he came to the realisation that
his technique was fruitless he turned around and headed back to Teardrop Lake
and it was as he passed the Hotel again that he saw her coming the other way.
She was shuffling along staring at
her feet as they approached each other.
“Hello” he said and made her jump
“Oh” she exclaimed and put her hands
to her chest “You startled me”
“I’m sorry” Brian said “I didn’t mean
to surprise you like that”
“Don’t be silly I was just miles
away” she responded “What brings you back to Teardrop so soon?”
He wanted to say it was to see her
but instead he replied
“I’m just checking up on my
grandparents”
“Are they ok?”
“Oh yes, that’s why I came out for a
walk” he said “Perhaps we could walk together”
“Oh I can’t” she replied “My Dad is
taking us to The Mallard in
Childean, it’s the new Beefeater Restaurant”
He
knew the type of place, they were popping up all over the place, starters
comprised of Prawn Cocktail or Avocado Pear and the mains were basically Steak,
Chips and Peas or Place, Chips and Peas and desert was Black Forest Gateaux.
He
wished he was taking her and not her Dad.
“Another
time perhaps” he suggested
“If
you’re still here tomorrow” she said hesitantly “I’m free after church, we
could go then, if you’d like to”
“Yes,
very much”
On Sunday Morning Brian
went to St Mary’s with his Grandparents as was the norm and while they
socialised at the back of the Church he scanned the congregation for a sight of
Amanda, but to no avail.
Maybe he had misunderstood,
but he was sure she said she was going to church, but there was no sign of her.
However when they took
their seats he saw her as she emerged from the vestry dressed in surplice and
cassock with the other members of the choir as they proceeded to the chancel.
Either side of the chancel were the choir stalls, where the two sides of
the choir sat facing one another, unfortunately Amanda sat on the north side
and was out of his line sight, and at the end of the service he lost her again
in the melee so he had to be content with seeing her later in the day.
They had arranged to meet up on the northern
perimeter road after Sunday lunch and as he was keen to see her, Brian was the
first to arrive and waited by a patch of meadow in front of a row
of derelict woodman’s cottages.
It was the highest part of the road
at that point and the
view of the lake from there was spectacular.
The
lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by ancient
woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It
wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its
widest point normally, but it had shrunk considerably during the summer
drought.
However
he thought it was just as beautiful and unspoilt as ever.
He
was so engrossed by the scenery that he didn’t notice Amanda emerge from the
woodland a few yards away.
It
turned out that he was not the first to arrive, Amanda who it appeared was even
keener then he was, had beaten him by half an hour and had taken shelter in the
coolness of the forest.
“You made it then?” she
said, startling him
“Yes” he replied “where
did you spring from?”
“In there” she replied cocking
a thumb in the direction of the woods.
Brian nodded “Very
sensible”
“So any thoughts on where
you want to go” he asked
“Oh yes” she replied “We’re
off to Lovers Leap”
“Lovers Leap?” he
repeated “Excellent, that my favourite spot”
“Me too” she concurred
“on a day like today the view is spectacular”
Lovers leap was a rocky
outcrop above the cliffs that were an extension of those that formed part of
the northern side of Teardrop Lake and formed the natural border between the
Teardrop estate and the Dancingdean Forest proper.
Lovers Leap was so called
because it was where desperate and broken hearted lovers would leap to their
deaths, although there was no evidence that anyone actually had, but it made a
good story.
“Lovers Leap it is then”
Brian said
Having rendezvoused on
the perimeter road, Brian and Amanda set off for Lover’s Leap.
It wasn’t a long walk
from where they met but it wasn’t an easy one either as it was a steep climb.
Amanda marginally reached
the top first but they were both extremely out of breath.
By the time they reached Lovers Leap they
were both panting hard and as they walked onto the rocky shelf that was “Lovers
Leap” and took in the vista it took away what little breath they had remaining.
“Wow” they said in unison as they
looked out across the many and varied green hues of the deciduous Dancingdean
Forest stretching into the distance and they sat down on the rocky shelf.
“This really is my favourite place” Amanda
said “Vince and I used to come here sometimes”
Vince was her boyfriend, or as Brian
hoped, her ex-boyfriend, who she had had a fight with on the day of the funeral
after she caught him snogging a waitress, and those event led to him finding
her crying beside the rose arbour.
“Have you seen him since that day?”
he asked as he removed a vacuum flask from his backpack.
“Yes, he wants us to get back
together” she replied
“And what do you want?”
“I want him to want me and be content
with that” Amanda said
“But you don’t think he will do you?”
“No he will never be content” she
replied sadly
“So what will you do?”
“Not get back with him” she replied
“Does that mean you are free to go
out with me?” he asked
“Definitely not” she said sharply
“Oh” he exclaimed
“I don’t mean it like that” she said
with alarm “I just mean it’s too soon”
“The wounds are two fresh” he added
“Exactly” Amanda said with relief
“Then it’s not an absolute no?” he
asked
“No its not” she reassured him
They stayed up on the rocky shelf for
about two hours and only left because it was getting too hot and the flask was
empty so they decided to head towards Shoe Buckle falls and soak their feet in
the cold water.
The walk back down to the road wasn’t
much less arduous and easier on the legs and the lungs than the one up was.
They
walked along the road until they reached the point where the brook flowed under
the road and they followed the water coarse into the woods.
Heading
up along the side of the brook, the first thing they got to was the long
disused 16th century stone bridge and then they carried on upwards
to the accompaniment of gurgling water.
The
sound grew louder and louder with every yard they climbed until eventually they
reached Shoe Buckle Falls.
It
was so named, so legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive Cavalier
who was pursued into the forest by Parliamentarian troops but disappeared in
the vicinity of the falls without leaving any other trace other than a shoe
buckle that they found in the vicinity.
The
falls were not grand or spectacular but they were nice all the same.
The
water tumbled and spilled over the rocks gathering briefly in deep pools and
then tumbling down again to the next pool.
It
was dark beneath the ancient trees and refreshingly cool as the misty spray
settled on them.
The
rocks and trees closest to the falls were covered in bright green lichens and
Brian and Amanda sat awhile and soaked their feet in one of the deep pools.
On
the walk down from the falls he invited her back to East Side House for tea and
cake as instructed by his Grandparents and she graciously accepted.
They
walked down the hill from the cliff top down to the eastern end of the lake and
they came upon a scene that put her relationship problems into perspective.
As
it was the end of August 1976, and the summer had been the hottest, driest
summer ever recorded, there were severe droughts across the whole country and as
a result the water level in Teardrop Lake had dropped dramatically.
In
fact it fell so low it resulted in the discovery of a body, or at least the
remains of a body.
There
were a number of policemen, in and out of the water, and Brian and Amanda
paused for a while to watch them work, until the remains were brought to shore.
Those
discovered remains were later found to be those of a local woman, Christine
Turner, who disappeared in 1915.
At East Side House the discovery of a
body was the main topic of conversation during afternoon tea and right up to
the point Brian walked Amanda home.
A
few days later the first of several thunderstorms hit the area and to some
degree cleared the air.
The
associated rain inevitably led to flash flooding but they were short lived and
caused no lasting damage, but the level of water in the lake did begin to rise.
Mercifully
the weather had calmed down by the following weekend, even if it proved to be
only a brief interlude.
The
Sunday after his heart to heart with Amanda, Brian was once again back at the
lake although this time it was more about his welfare than his grandparents.
He
was hoping to see Amanda again and hoped that after another week had passed it
might not still be too soon for her to go out with him.
On Sunday the 5th of
September there was an open invitation to the residents of the Lake, and some
in Shallowfield, to
the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, for the proprietor’s, Rob
and Sheryl Brown’s wedding anniversary party and Brian was hoping Amanda might
be present.
But as he stood on the Hotel jetty on
a beautiful Indian summer evening he had begun to think he was out of luck.
He went there to be alone because he was
not in the mood to socialise when he realised she was a no show so he went to
the jetty for the solitude and looked out across the water as the sky began to
turn red with the setting sun reflecting on it and he enjoyed the scene which
was when his peace was broken by the clip clop of stiletto heels on the paving
stones from the Hotel.
He was cursing the intruder beneath
his breath for invading his solitude when he turned to look at the source of
his annoyance, and he saw it was a girl in a summer dress or more precisely,
Amanda Jerome in a summer dress.
“Hello Brian” she said “I’ve been
looking for you”
“I was looking for you too” he said
“Good” she said and before he could
respond she began kissing him very passionately on the mouth.
When she stopped kissing him, she
looked at him and smiled.
“Does this mean you have made a
decision?” he asked hopefully
“It does” she replied and then turned
away and clip clopped back to the Hotel.
“Well what is it?” he shouted
“You’ll have to come with me to find
that out” she shouted back to him and he sprinted after her.
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