Mornington-By-Mere, a small country village lying in
the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the
rolling Pepperstock Hills.
A quaint picturesque village, a chocolate box
picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a
Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But it wasn’t just a quaint chocolate box English
Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale.
And although the village was the hub it was the
surrounding farms and hamlets that were its life blood.
One such Farm was Manor Farm on the Western side of the
village.
The Hargrave family had farmed the land at Manor Farm
since the days when Napoleon was still a Corporal and they were showing no
signs of bucking that trend.
The head of the Hargrave’s was Bruce though he leant
heavily on his wife Karen.
They were in their mid-fifties and were looking
forward to many more years at the helm.
There were three children, the youngest was twenty
year old Michael a serious farmer, and a good one at that.
The second child was Norman who was two years older
than his brother and two years younger than his sister Mandy who along with her
husband Jason McCabe were trying to produce the first grandchild.
While neither Norman or Michael showed any sign of
producing a Hargrave.
When Mandy and Jason were
married they were given a quarter of the farm to work on their own and moved
into the smaller farmhouse on the west side of the farm which had been a little
neglected over recent years.
So Mandy and husband Jason
started work on it during their honeymoon and they lived in one room while they
worked on the rest of the house.
All that year and all of the
next they worked hard to finish the house and to get the greenhouses and cold
frames back in shape as well and the newlyweds worked all the hours God sent to
get their portion of the farm producing.
Like her siblings, Mandy was
blonde and blue eyed but whereas they were tall and broad she was short and
stout.
Jason was her polar
opposite, physically at any rate, tall and bean pole thin, green eyes and
shaggy straw coloured hair.
But other than that they were two sides of the same
coin.
The house was uninhabitable, the greenhouses leaked
and the cold frames were little more than ruins so for the first few months
they had to live in the dining room.
Mandy and Jason did a brilliant
job on the farmhouse and worked seven days a week for two years to get the
house finished for them.
Once they had a proper roof
over their heads Mandy and Jason could concentrate on the farm itself.
There section of the farm
ran adjacent to the Brewery and the row of brewery cottages on Purplemere Road.
The advantage of being so
close to the Mornington Brewery was a virtually unlimited supply of used hops
and one of their first jobs was ploughing it in to the uncultivated land.
And they had the basis of a
very good compost for when they started growing.
It would have been soul
destroying to lesser mortals but Mandy and Jason were made of sterner stuff and
driven by a desire that would not be extinguished.
They wanted a family home
and a family to fill it and every crack filled and every fresh lick of paint
applied took them a step closer to their goal.
It was a glorious Sunday afternoon in June and Karen
and Bruce decided to take a stroll over to see their daughter and son in law.
They hadn’t been to the house since they moved in as
Mandy had insisted they wait until it was complete before anyone got to see it.
Mandy and Jason had worked hard to bring the farmhouse
back from the brink and it showed.
Karen and Bruce walked across the yard and through the
gate leading to the farmhouse.
When they were halfway across the farmyard Mandy came
out of the barn holding a chicken.
“Mum?” Mandy said “this is a nice surprise”
And she kissed her mother.
“Hi Love” her dad said and father and he got a kiss as
well.
“What are you doing over here?” She asked
“We thought it was time to come and see what you’ve
both been up to” Her mum replied
“You’ve done a lot” she added genuinely impressed
“Yes its coming on” Mandy replied
“Do you want tea?”
They answered in the positive and as they all went
into the kitchen, Karen had a good look around and found herself very impressed
by her daughter and son in laws work.
While they were sat at the huge kitchen table drinking
tea Mandy’s husband Jason appeared.
“Oh hello” he said “I didn’t realise we had guests”
“It’s nice to see you both” he said as he sat down
next to his wife.
After tea Karen proudly gave
them the tour of the house beyond the kitchen, the lounge, the office, the
bedrooms and what they hoped would be a nursery.
When the tour of the house
was over Bruce asked Jason to take him round the rest of the farm and they were
gone for more than an hour.
As they left the farm Bruce said
“It’s amazing how they’ve fixed up that farmhouse”
“Yes I’m really proud of them” Karen said “They have
worked so hard and they’ve made it their own”
“And they’re growing some great produce” Bruce added.
“I thought Mandy was looking very tired though” Karen
said
“Really?” he asked “I thought she just looked very
rosy cheeked”
“I think it’s exhaustion” Karen responded “Why don’t
we send her off for a break to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel”
“Well I really think it was more of a glow than
exhaustion but I agree she deserves a treat” he agreed “Why don’t you go as
well, you could use some pampering”
“What a lovely idea” she said “I’ll go on line and
book it when we get home”
The next day Mandy
walked over to the main house with two large baskets of produce and it was a
fiercely hot day.
“God it’s so hot” she said as she walked into her
mum’s kitchen.
“Sit down and have a drink” her Mum said “you look
done in”
“I’m fine” she replied “But I’ll
take a cold drink”
Karen Hargrave went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water
but when she turned around she saw Mandy had collapsed.
“Bruce! Bruce!” she shouted and rushed to her
daughter.
“Whats all the shouting about?”
Bruce asked and then he appeared in the doorway.
“Call an ambulance” Karen snapped
He knelt down on the floor next to his stricken
daughter.
“No time for that” he said “I’ll call Norm”
He phoned Norman and he was there in under five
minutes by which time Mandy was sitting upright and taking a little water.
“Let’s get her in the car” Karen said
“I’ll be fine now” she insisted
“Nonsense” Bruce said “You need to get checked out”
“What about Jason?” she asked
“He’s on his way” her mum replied
They got Mandy in the back of Norman’s car just as
Mandy’s husband Jason arrived with Michael hot on his heels
“We can’t all go” Karen said “someone needs to stay
here”
Bruce and Karen looked at each other, neither of them
wanting to volunteer.
“I’ll stay” Norman said and threw the keys to his dad
“Mike and I will hold the fort”
“Ok we’ll ring when we have news” Karen said
“So get going” Norm said and watched as the car
disappeared from view.
Norman and Michael had a busy day on the farm which
lasted well into the evening, when they went in to eat and at the end of the
meal and they cleared away.
When the last dirty plate was loaded in the dishwasher
and finally finished everything that needed to be done they sat down in their
armchairs and put their feet up and they promptly fell asleep.
It was about an hour later when they were woken from
slumber by loud laughter as their parents burst into the room.
“Aw look at our little tired soldier” Karen said and
walked over to them and kissed them.
“Have some respect for the dead Mum” Michael said
sleepily
“Obviously no stamina, these youngsters” Bruce added
“I’ll put the kettle on” Norman offered
“Just remember to put water in first” his mum said
“it’s a kitchen appliance not one of your work tools”
“Very funny” he said
“So how’s Mandy?” Michael asked
“They kept her in” Karen said “Just as a precaution”
Michael was curious as to why he detected no concern
in her voice there was even the faintest hint of a smile.
“So what’s wrong?” He asked
“Nothing’s wrong” she replied
“Then why have they kept her in?” he quizzed
Bruce and Karen stood in the centre of the room and
put their arms around each other.
“She’s pregnant” they chorused
“What?” Michael exclaimed
“She’s four months pregnant” Karen said proudly
“Everything is fine” Bruce said “they really did just
keep her in as a precaution”
“We’re going to be grandparents” Karen said
“Then we should have something a little stronger than
coffee” Norman suggested.
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