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 were the churches
of St Lucy and St Mildred’s and the Vicar of St Lucy’s was Reverend Ashleigh
Bell, and the third weekend of advent was a test of endurance, which she called
her “Miracle Marathon”,
St Lucy’s Day on
Friday, The Carol Concert on Saturday night, the Sunday Service with the
lighting of the third candle of advent, followed by Christingle in the
afternoon, but on the Second Sunday of Advent all was not well.
On Sunday Morning Chris Baker awoke alone in his
bed and judging by the content of a telephone conversation with his wife Linda,
it seemed more than likely to be a permanent arrangement, and when he awoke
that morning with images of Libby Barr in his head it seemed to him to be quite
poignant.
Having completed his ablutions he walked down
to the church with his Aunts Amy and Ruth, as usual, and he was surprised to
see Libby outside St Lucy’s church engaged in conversation with Ashleigh Bell, the
Vicar, and a young man that he didn’t know.
The last time he spoke to her she was away
from the village for some family emergency, he didn’t know all the details, she
was new to the village and he was still getting to know her.
“It’s just one thing after another” Ashleigh
was saying
“It’s St Lucy’s day on Friday and next weekend
we have the Third Advent Service, the Carol Concert and Christingle”
“What’s the matter? Is life testing your
patience Vicar?”
Chris asked cheerfully
“No, it’s testing my faith,” she snapped
without humour and went inside.
“Now look what you’ve done” Aunt Amy said and
followed in the Vicars footsteps.
Aunt Ruth just looked at him and tutted and then
followed her sister
“I think I’ll go back to bed,” he said to Libby,
who blushed, almost as if she knew the contents of his dreams.
“What was the Vicar saying anyway?” he added
“The heating system has packed up” Libby
replied
“Oh great” he said
There was a bit of an awkward silence and then
he said
“Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you
were away on family business”
“I am… I mean… I was, I brought it with me
instead” she said and then almost as an after thought
“Oh, by the way this is my brother Steven”
Steven was as different from Libby as it was
possible to get.
He was the fat to her thin, the short to her
tall, and the busty to her flat.
But in one obvious way there was no difference
at all he had the same friendly open face, and Chris shook his hand warmly.
“Steven stayed at mine last night” she added
“So, you’re the family business?”
“Yes, pitiful isn’t it?” He replied and
laughed
As we came out the church Libby said
“I rather enjoyed that, she gives a good
sermon, even if it was a bit chilly in there”
“Come on over to the Fiddlers and I’ll buy you
both lunch” he suggested “That’ll warm you up”
At the Fiddlers Elbow, the conversation turned
back to the Vicar.
“I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea, it
was very out of character” he said in defense of Ashleigh
“It’s just such a busy time for her”
“Don’t worry” Libby said, “I wasn’t offended,
and I like Ashleigh”
“Good” Chris said, “It’s not like her to snap
like that, the plumbing problem must really be bothering her”
“I thought the same thing” Libby said and
added
“Anyway, Steve and I have been talking”
“What about?” He asked
“The plumbing” she said
“I didn’t know that was your area of expertise”
Chris said
“I thought you were property magnates”
“Kind of” Steve replied and laughed
“We buy old houses and do them up, either for
sale of let” he said
“But as part of the process we strip out and
salvage a lot of stuff”
“So, what did you have in mind?” Chris asked
“Well, it’s not a complicated system,” Steven
interjected “We could easily patch it up in the short term, to get them through
Christmas, replace a few pipes and put in a better pump, and then we could look
at a more permanent solution in the New Year, probably replace the whole
thing”
“They don’t have much money though” Chris
added
“Not an issue” Libby said, “we know people who
know people, and Steve and I can do the fitting”
“But I thought you
were a “suit”” he said to Libby
“I am” she replied
proudly “but I had to do a lot of grafting before I got the suit”
“Are you sure we can do it?” he asked
“We?” Libby said
“Mr. Solicitor is going to get his hands
dirty?” she asked disdainfully
“How do you think I managed to fund my
education?” he retorted and they both nodded.
Well, he had been
feeling rather guilty about his earlier flippancy with the Vicar, so it was
with the most selfish of motives that he suggested they go and make her day.
Ashleigh Bell burst
into tears when Libby and Steven put their proposal to her.
“It’s divine
providence” Ashleigh sobbed as she hugged them both “I prayed for a solution
and here you are”
She was so overcome
she fainted away in Libby’s long gangly arms.
Steven and Chris made
a tactical withdrawal and Libby stayed with Ashleigh for a while afterwards,
and they took a walk around the village green and got to know each other.
He was also from Northchapel
like Libby, but he was still living there until he sold his house.
His marriage had just
ended badly, and he just wanted to off load the house and draw a line under an
unhappy episode in his life.
“I wouldn’t mind
living here” Steven said “first impressions and all that”
“I wouldn’t live anywhere
else” Chris admitted “but houses don’t come up for sale here very often”
“I can understand why”
When Libby finally reappeared,
it was clear that she had been crying as well.
“Is everything ok?”
Steven asked “She was really overcome”
“Yes, but she also has
a fever from spending so much time in that draughty old church with no heating
on” Libby said “I’ve put her to bed”
“Will she be alright
on her own?” Chris asked
“I’m going to pop back
in a little while” Libby said
“I don’t mind keeping
you company” her brother said, and Chris concurred
“Me too”
Libby smiled at the
pair and she was a little quiet for the rest of the afternoon.
When Chris went home later
in the day, he reflected that it had been a bit of an eventful day for a
Sunday.
And if Sunday had been
an eventful day then it merely heralded the beginning of an even more eventful
week to come.
On Monday morning Chris
was summoned from his bed early by Libby and Stephen Barr to start working on
St Lucy’s plumbing and they had a productive morning.
Just before midday he
and Libby were cleaning up downstairs when then heard Stephen call
“Libby! Chris!”
Libby set off at a
sprint in the direction of the call, with Chris hot on her heels, and as she
got close, she shouted
“What’s going on?”
And when she got closer,
she found her brother with the Vicar in his arms.
“Oh God what’s she
doing here?” she snapped “She’s supposed to be at the Vicarage in bed”
“Well let’s get her
back there then” Stephen said
“I don’t want to go”
the Vicar protested
“Well, you’re going”
Stephen said “so hush”
“You’re so bossy”
Ashleigh said before she faded away again
While they returned the
errant Vicar back to her home Chris carried on with his previous task until
Libby returned but Stephen kept vigil, and then they all took it in turns to
sit with her for the next 48 hours, although Stephen did the lions share, with
her Verger, Brenda, taking the evening shift, but any time Stephen lost during
the day he made up in the evening.
By the end of Tuesday
old the dodgy pipework was out and by
Ten o’clock that night
all the new ones were in, which meant that on Wednesday they just had to
service the boiler and install the new pumps.
With Stephen giving so
much of his time looking after the Vicar it meant that Chris and Libby spent an
increasing amount of time together including lunch and dinner at the pub and
Tuesday evening was no exception.
They were sitting in
the Fiddlers Elbow, having just finished eating dinner when she said
“I hope you don’t mind
me asking but… and I don’t want you to think I’m quizzing you… but…”
“But what?” he quizzed
“About you and Linda”
“What about me and
Linda?” he asked knowing full well what she wanted to know
“Oh, it doesn’t
matter” she said and took a drink
“We’re divorcing” he
replied, “She doesn’t want to come back, and I don’t want her back, so it’s
time to move on”
“I’m sorry,” she said
inadequately
“I’m not” Chris said “it
was never going to work”
“What went wrong?”
“Everything was wrong,
I wasn’t ambitious enough for her, I’ve found my niche and I’m happy, but that
wasn’t enough for her, plus she didn’t like village life, and I don’t like the
city, it was never going to work” he said “Look what we’re doing at the church,
do you think if Ashleigh’s parish was in Abbottsford or Northchapel that the community
would rally round like Brookely has”
“No, I don’t” she
agreed “Brookely is a special place, that’s why I love it here so much”
“Me too” he agreed
The Vicar was confined
to the Vicarage until Wednesday, and it was lunchtime when Stephen walked the
Vicar slowly across to the church.
Libby was by the door
when they arrived and after embracing Ashleigh, she said
“You’re just in time,
we’re about to fire up the boiler”
“Time for a quick
prayer then” she said and walked slowly down the aisle, but she only got halfway
before she had to use one hand to support her weight on the pew, so Stephen
rushed to help her and as Chris joined Libby, they exchanged a look.
After a brief prayer
Stephen helped Ashleigh down the stairs to the room where the boiler was housed,
Chris had already carried a chair down, so the Vicar could sit and have a
Grandstand seat.
“I’m alright standing”
she said, and Stephen gave her a look, so she sat, and Stephen stood beside
her.
“Ok light the pilot
light” Libby said as she fiddled with the control panel
“Done” Chris said
“Here goes!” Libby
announced, and Ashleigh took hold of Stephens’s hand and after a few moments of
anti-climax the boiler roared into life.
“Thank you, God,”
Ashleigh said and began to cry, so Stephen knelt down to comfort her and the
other two made themselves scarce.
While Stephen was
comforting the Vicar, Chris and Libby were checking the radiators and pipework
to make sure the heat was circulating around the system,
They had just
completed their examination as Stephen was helping a clearly exhausted Ashleigh
up the steps.
“Is everything ok?”
she asked weekly
“It is” Libby
confirmed “but we’ll have to leave it running at maximum in order to penetrate
the chill”
“Ok” she responded but
Stephen interrupted
“I’ll explain it to
her later, when she can take it in”
And with that he
shepherded her away and back to the Vicarage to settle her down.
“He’s very protective
of her, isn’t he?” Chris said
“Yes, he is” she
agreed
Libby was just leaving
her house when her brother returned from the vicarage,
“Hi Honey, is she ok?”
“I put her to bed and
she’s sleeping soundly”
“Will she be ok for
Friday?” she asked
“I don’t know, we’ll
know better tomorrow” he said, and she nodded before saying
“I’m going into the
office to catch up a bit, are you coming?”
“No, I’m going to
stick around the village through the weekend if that’s ok” he said “there’s
plenty I can do with my laptop”
“I thought you
probably would, stay as long as you like” she replied and kissed his cheek
“I’ll see you later”
Chris Baker also had
to go into his office to catch up on correspondence, which kept him tied up
late into the evening, which was when his phone interrupted him.
“Chris Baker” he said
“Hi Chris, its Lib”
“Oh hello, this is a
nice surprise” he said
“Are you still at the
office?”
“I am” she replied
“Me too” He said
looking at his watch “I appear to have lost track of the time”
“I know the feeling”
she said “Do you want to meet and eat”
“Love to, just say
where?”
“As soon as, and your
choice” she replied
“La Florenza” he
suggested
“Perfect, that’s my
favourite” Libby said
“I know” he said “I’ll
see you there”
They had an enjoyable
meal together in Purplemere before they went their separate ways, they didn’t
see each other the next day, due to work commitments, in fact they didn’t meet
up again until Friday afternoon, which was St Lucy’s Day, a big day in the
Village and an important one in the County.
St Lucy was the Patron
Saint of Downshire and as a result there were numerous churches in the County
bearing her name and it a special day for those churches and the communities
they served.
It all began once the
darkness had fully descended with a multidenominational service of celebration
and then after the church service, a parade of school children from St Lucy’s
and St Hilda’s schools process through the village carrying their Lucy lights
and then they throw them onto the bonfire to light the Lucy fire on the village
green.
It’s all very pagan
and a Swedish tradition originally, a mixture of the Christian and the pagan
really, it is believed that St Lucy’s light can lengthen the days of winter.
The St Lucy’s day
festival was always well attended as it’s such a unique event in the church
calendar.
Christians from
churches far and wide attended the service and a healthy crowd both church and
secular turned out for the parade and the bonfire.
Libby and Chris met at
the church; she was downstairs checking the boiler when Chris got down there.
“Hi Lib” he said
“I wondered when you
were going to get here” she said and smiled
“I know but the
demands on a Legal Eagles time are infinite” he replied pompously
“Well, if it’s not
beneath a paragon of Law like yourself, you can help me check for airlocks”
“Yes’m” he replied
tugging the forelock
They didn’t see each
other much once the service started, Libby was on escort duty with the parade
of school children while Chris was guardian of the bonfire.
But they did manage to
rendezvous at the pub for Bacon butties and a Beer, but he could only stay for
one as he was taking his Aunts, Amy, and Ruth to Tipton the next day for a
family party for their sisters Megan’s 70th birthday and they had to
leave early.
The family event,
being an all-day affair, meant that he missed the Carol Concert on Saturday
night and the lighting of the third candle of advent at the Sunday Service, but
more important than that he missed Libby.
Over the weeks, and
that one in particular he had grown very fond of Libby, but he didn’t realise
just how much until he went to Tipton.
As soon as he returned
to Brookley he delivered his Aunts to the Church and parked the car outside his
house and went in to freshen up before heading to St Lucy’s himself and Libby
was there to greet him at the door
“When I saw Ruth and Amy,
I didn’t think you’d be far behind them” she said and smiled him a dazzling
smile
“And there’s me
thinking you’d been pining by the door all morning” he said and then she hugged
him, a prolonged comfortable hug
“I hope you don’t
greet everyone like that” he said when she released him, and she blushed
“Well, are you coming
in or not?” she blustered, and he smiled
After the morning
service he took her for a leisurely lunch at the Fiddlers Elbow and then it was
back to St Lucy’s for the Christingle Service which had become ingrained in
Anglican worship though it has its origins in Eastern Europe and the
Christingle Service is a Service of candle lights where very many years ago
people gathered in the street, sang carols, and collected gifts to help the
less fortunate in the community.
It is a beautiful
candle lit service of hymns, carols, recitations, and bible readings, but
Christingle goes beyond a candlelight service and it tells a story.
A story is told with
the symbolic use of the following items:
An orange representing the world.
A red ribbon tied around the orange to symbolize the blood of Jesus shed for
his people.
Toothpicks decorated with dried fruits and sweets are placed at the four
corners of the orange representing all the people of the world.
A lighted candle in the centre of the orange represents the gift of the light
of Christ to the world.
Firstly, the children
make the Christingle lights in Sunday school, and then they carry them proudly
in procession into the church where they are lit for the service.
It was a very popular
family service and was well attended but as soon as the children began to file
in with their lighted candles Chris took Libby by the elbow and steered her
down the steps.
“We don’t need to
check the boiler, I did it already” she protested “and we’re missing the
Christingle”
“We’re not here to
check the boiler” he said at the bottom of the stairs
“I’m here to check out
a Property Magnate I’m rather partial to”
“Oh, really I’ll be
sure to let Stephen know” she teased
“I don’t think he’d
want me to do this to him” he said and kissed her tenderly
“My mother warned me
about you Legal Eagle’s and now I know she was right” Libby said and kissed him
in earnest and with real passion
“Wow” he said “you
just made Chris tingle”
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