The fortunes of Shallowfield 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 been were in a poor state of repair, some too
such an extent they were little more than ruins.
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, was being
turned into a hotel.
Its
completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and the revival of the
busy village of Shallowfield went hand in hand.
One of those houses that was just hanging on was Chapel
House which was the family home of the Walker family and although only the
older members of the Walker clan lived in the large rambling pile year round it
was were the family gathered in numbers for special occasions and of course
Christmas.
Among those drawn back to Teardrop Lake each year were
the four Walker girls, sister’s Jane, Kathy, Margaret and the baby of the
family, Liz.
And over the years the numbers grew with the addition
of boyfriends, husbands and then for the older two girls, children.
And it was on the whole a very loving family and among
their number were Paul Biggerstaff
and
Liz Bradshaw but they felt
love of a very different kind.
The problem was they were not a couple, they were married however, just
not to each other, and they were in fact brother and sister in law.
Paul had been married to Liz’s sister Margaret for over four years and
they had been in love with each other for all of those and their mutual
attraction was obvious to them both from the first moment they were introduced,
but they knew instinctively that they could never act on it.
And for over four years they kept their feelings in check, at least
until Christmas in 1970.
They managed to avoid each other most of the previous year, apart from
the summer holiday and Christmas.
Because they kept each other at arm’s length they appeared standoffish to
the rest of the family but appearances can be deceptive and beneath the surface
they were in turmoil.
Because of what appeared to be an intense dislike of each other the rest
of the family took great delight in pushing them together just to watch them
squirm.
One afternoon after Liz had helped clear away the dinner dishes she had just exited the kitchen
into the hall when she met Paul coming the opposite way, they paused not
knowing which way to go when Aunty Vi pointed out quite loudly
“You’re
under the mistletoe”
“You have
to kiss” Aunt Edith added “its and bad luck not to”
“It’s actually
against the law not to” Aunty Vi chipped in
“What law?”
Liz asked
“Christmas
law obviously” Aunty Vi replied
“Rubbish” Paul
said
“Tosh” Liz
agreed but by now the rest of the family and gathered and they spontaneously
started chanting
“Kiss, kiss,
kiss, kiss”
Delighting in their discomfiture without understanding its nature.
Eventually with
no escape Paul and Liz agreed to kiss, just to shut everyone up, and no one
understood why they made such a palaver about one simple peck beneath the
mistletoe, which was hoped might break the ice between them.
Once the
crowd had dispersed, Paul and Liz went their separate ways and independently
decided to assuage their embarrassment by overindulging in mulled wine, amongst
other things.
Later that
afternoon when those members of the family who had not decided on an afternoon
constitutional, were asleep beside the roaring log fire, Liz drained her glass
and tottered to the loo and when she emerged she met Paul walking towards her
also slightly the worse for drink.
They paused
in the middle of the hall and looked at each other
“Look!” she slurred pointing above her head “Mistletoe”
“Yes it is” he agreed
“We’re
under the mistletoe” she slurred again “And you know what that means”
“We have to
kiss” he responded “it would be bad luck not to”
“It’s
actually against the law not to” She added superciliously
“Well if
its Christmas law and its Christmas then we must” he concurred
So she stood on tip toe to face him and puckered up and gave him a
Christmas kiss and as her lips touched his it was evident that it was so much
more than a Christmas kiss or even a drunken expression of their lust.
The kiss lasted for a full ten minutes and might easily have gone on for
another ten had they not heard the family return from their walk.
Fortunately they were loud and boisterous which gave the kissing couple
time to go their separate ways unnoticed.
When they reflected on it later the nature of the kiss had surprised
them both, once they started they didn’t want to stop, but stop they did, it
was not just a perfect Christmas kiss, it was perfect on every level, and
having broken the ice with a kiss, they wanted to repeat it.
But the next morning in the cold, sober, light of day, they felt guilty,
really, really guilty, but not just for weakening, the guilt came because the
kiss revealed that they were not just attracted by naked lust, after the kiss they
realised it was love, so they avoided each other for the rest of the week.
They had both decided they would not get drunk in case they let their
guard down on New Year’s Eve and kissed again.
But about half an hour before midnight they met again in the hall and
there was a nervous tension accompanying them because it was the sight of their
perfect kiss, a kiss which
could easily have led to something else, and would certainly have gone on had
they not been interrupted.
“Here we
are again at the scene of the crime” he said trying to make light
“Do you
mean the kiss?” she asked and he nodded
“I do”
“It was
some kiss” she added wistfully
“Yes it
was” he agreed and then they both stood looking around awkwardly, lost in remembrance
of the kiss seven days before.
“It was
only a drunken snog though” she said
“Do you
think it was just the mulled wine then?” he asked
“Probably”
Liz replied indifferently
“It might
be nice to know for sure” Paul said after a moment’s thought
“Like an
experiment?”
“Yes, just
so” he agreed
“Well I
suppose in the interest of science I suppose we could”
She replied and like she had done the week
before she stood on tip toe and touched her lips to his and the experimental
kiss began.
It was a
long kiss, a hot kiss, a passionate kiss and overall a perfect kiss, even more
perfect than the previous one, a kiss against which every kiss that followed
would be compared to.
After five
minutes they heard a door open but this time neither of them were in any mood
to stop so they just relocated to the boot room and kissed again.
That New
Year’s Eve experiment proved two things conclusively, firstly that the drunken
snog was not made perfect by the alcohol but by the participants and secondly
that they were hopelessly in love.
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