Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper 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 Mornington-By-Mere
was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of
the Finchbottom Vale and there were a
number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane
which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and 41 year old
Rhonda Kane lived on Dulcets Road at Marigold Cottage.
She was a solicitor with Bramstock, Goodman,
Crossfield and Bushe in Abbottsford.
Normally she
lived alone but at that time her younger brother Brian was staying with her
following his divorce.
Brian was a 39 years old Accountant with Brady and Clare, in
Abbeyvale, although in the six months since the divorce he had been working out
of the Sharpington office.
But on a bright Wednesday morning in May he had the day off and decided
to take a walk into the village.
He walked
past the brewery and then through Manor wood and then crossed the bridge into
the village.
He wanted to
cook his sister something special for dinner as a thank you for putting up with
him.
He went to
the Legg’s Farm shop first and bought some eggs and fresh vegetables, then
Norman’s General Store for some wine, Boddingtons Butchers for some bacon and a
nice bit of liver and finally he headed for Addison’s Bakery to get a French
stick.
Just as he
stepped inside the door he heard Chloe Addison call
“Happy
Birthday Kate”
And a tall
dark haired woman replied
“Thank you”
and not looking where she was going she walked straight into Brian as she was
leaving the shop, dropping some of her bags.
Kate Pottinger was a local girl and also lived in Manorside at number
5 Brooke Side Cottages with her brother
Gary.
And apart
from living together they also worked together as tree surgeons, who like their
father and uncles before them, worked exclusively for the Mornington Estate
which kept them busy enough tending to the health and welfare of upwards of 25
thousand trees.
Kate was in
the village to do a bit of shopping while her brother was at the doctors and then Gary was
taking her for lunch at the Old Mill Inn for her 38th birthday.
“I’m so
sorry” Brian said gallantly even though it wasn’t his fault
“Don’t be
silly” she said to the tall, slim, good looking man with neat black hair, more than a little flustered.
“Are you
ok?” he asked as she gathered herself
“I’m
alright, but I think you squashed my baps”
She said and
realising what she’d said she burst out laughing which set him off.
Kate
Pottinger and Brian Kane stood outside Addison’s Bakery laughing and flirting
for about 10 minutes.
Working
outdoors in a physical occupation Kate was well tanned well-toned but
despite that was well groomed.
She was not as tall as Brian, which she liked, she
stood five foot eight, a full inch and a three quarters taller than her brother,
which was something she never let him forget and always referred to him as her
“little brother”.
Despite the height difference they were alike in
almost every other way blue eyes, chestnut coloured hair, broad smiles and
infectious laughs.
And Kate was exercising that laugh to great effect
that morning.
She could see over Brian’s shoulders when Gary left
the surgery and she could also see he was looking flushed, though at that time
she didn’t know why.
Gary spotted his sister outside Addison’s Bakery where he could see she was
still laughing and joking.
He crossed the road and approached the laughing pair.
“Hi Kate are you ready for that lunch” he said and the
man looked a little crestfallen.
“Hi Gary” she said “I just need to get some stamps
from Norman’s”
“This is my brother Gary” she said and the man’s
expression lifted
“Gary this is…”
“Brian” he responded and shook Gary’s hand “Pleased to
meet you”
“Likewise”
“Well enjoy your lunch and the rest of your birthday”
Brian said and shook her hand and it was long and lingering.
“Thank you, goodbye” she said and headed towards the Post Office & General Store to buy stamps but Gary
noticed she kept glancing over her shoulder.
Brian watched the Pottinger’s walk away although in
truth it was only the taller half that he was really interested in.
He had sworn off the opposite sex when he first split
with his wife and that morning was the first time he had met a woman that he
wanted to do more than pass the time of day with.
And as he walked back home after buying his bread he
wished that it was he that was taking her for her birthday lunch instead of
going back to his sisters to make her liver and bacon.
They sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was
an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the
subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really
put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and
then he went on to tell her all about the attractive doctor and his
embarrassing arousal and she roared with laughter.
Gary and Kate sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and
he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was
an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the
subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really
put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and
then he went on to tell her all about the very attractive doctor and a
combination of very exotic perfume and a glimpse of expensive pink lingerie
made him behave in such a way that he had experience since he was a teenager.
And the resulting arousal had been responsible for his
looking flushed.
On hearing his full uncensored account of his embarrassing
arousal she roared with laughter.
It was the first Friday in June and Kate and Gary were
going up to Abbottsford for a few days.
They had a big family christening on Sunday at St
Dunstan’s Church when their cousins triplets were being baptized.
So it was one not to miss, but as it was at the 9.30
service and they didn’t want the hassle of traveling up on the day so they
decided to put up at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel the night before.
However Gary was then given a ticket to the Downshire versus Surrey
one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground so he suggested going on
Friday and staying two nights so they would have the whole of Saturday in town
so he could go to the match and Kate could go shopping at the Phoenix Shopping
Centre and she jumped at the chance, but not to spend the day at the shopping mall.
What she wanted to do was to visit the Castle Hill
Museum and Art Gallery.
Gary and Kate were not the only Mornington residents
planning a weekend away, the Goman-Smiths and the Kane’s were also going to be
in Abbottsford for the whole weekend though not all for the same reasons.
So when the Pottinger’s set off after work on Friday
evening their fellow villagers were already there.
Brian Kane travelled up to Abbottsford early on Friday
with his sister, he had an important meeting with a client and then he was
meeting Rhonda for lunch.
Because of the importance of the meeting he had
allowed a three hour window but as it turned out it was concluded in under two.
So he went for a ridiculously expensive coffee at the Espresso
Phoenix to kill some time and then made his way to Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield
and Bushe to meet his sister.
He walked into reception and exchanged pleasantries
with Sandra, the receptionist, and then took a seat and a few minutes later
Sandra delivered him a coffee.
He sat there about half an hour reading a magazine
when he heard Rhonda’s voice which grew progressively louder as she got closer.
He looked to his left and he could see her talking to
a male client who had his back to him as they shook hands
“I will be
in touch in due course” she said
“Thank you
Ms Kane” the man said
“Please call
me Rhonda”
“Call me
Rhonda?” Brian said to himself “She never lets her clients call her Rhonda, this
one must be important”
But when the man turned around he saw that he knew him
and said
“Daniel”
“Hello Brian, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take my sister to lunch” he replied as
the two men shook hands.
“Kane, der, I didn’t make the connection”
Meanwhile Rhonda, who had turned to go back to her
office turned on her heels and joined them.
“You two know each other?” she asked
“Yes we were at University together” Brian said
“Are you a bean counter as well then?” Rhonda asked
with a smile
“No I’m a Doctor” he replied
The following few minutes of the conversation
completely excluded Brian who just looked on in from the sidelines in amusement.
In fact it only came to an end when the receptionist,
Sandra, interrupted with a message.
“Mr. Bishop phoned to say he can’t make his
appointment but can you squeeze him in at 2 o’clock”
Rhonda looked at her watch and replied
“Yes that’s fine”
After Sandra had left them she said
“We will have to make it an early lunch Brian”
“That’s fine with me”
“And perhaps Daniel would like to join us” she added
“I’d love to” he replied to her
They had lunch at an Italian Restaurant called
Roberto’s just around the corner from her office.
“So was it just Rhonda that brought you too
Abbottsford?” Brian asked
“No it wasn’t, but I would have made the trip just to
see her” he thought but out loud he said
“No I’m in town for the weekend, at the Regent’s,
Sarah and I are going to the cricket tomorrow”
“We’re putting up at the Regents as well” Brian said
“Never mind that who the hell is Sarah?” Rhonda asked
herself and then as if he had heard her internal question Brian explained
“Sarah is Daniels ex-wife, but they’re still friends,
in fact they still share a house, how odd is that?”
“I think it’s quite nice” she said
The food at Roberto’s was excellent but the lunchtime
service was very slow and unfortunately Rhonda had to excuse herself before
desert.
“I’m sorry but I have to go” she said “I really love
the desert’s here as well”
“Perhaps we might run into each other over the
weekend” he said
“I hope so, that would be nice” she said then she said
goodbye to her brother and left.
“Are you going to talk to me now?” Brian asked and
laughed but Daniels thoughts were elsewhere.
After leaving the restaurant Brian and Daniel went
their separate ways but arrived at the Hotel within ten minutes of each other.
The Pottinger’s got stuck in the Friday night traffic
and finally arrived at the Hotel at 9 o’clock by which time the Kane’s and the
Goman-Smiths had already gone out for the evening.
Brian and
Rhonda were dining at a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant off Castle Street
called The Wooden Slipper which served high flavour, low-calorie, and substance
lacking dishes, where minor celebrities are known to dine.
The food was good, if you like tiny artistic
arrangements the size of a Hors
d'oeuvre, on a slab of welsh slate but there wasn’t enough to live on.
So when it was time to leave they were almost hungrier
than when they arrived, so they went into town and shared a kebab.
The Doctors Goman-Smith meanwhile went to The Empire
Theatre to watch a revival on An Inspector Calls followed by a fish supper.
But back at the hotel, Gary and Kate ordered
sandwiches from room service and got an early night.
On Saturday
morning everyone was up early and availed themselves of the full English
breakfast but due to a miracle of timing all three couples managed to avoid each
other.
Gary was
ready to go far too early so left for the cricket ground on foot while the
Goman-Smith’s left an hour later in a cab.
Kate who
planned to spend much of the day in cultural pursuits had a measured start to
the day and as she was leaving the Hotel Brian Kane was just walking into the
gym with his sister Rhonda.
After a good
workout he had an hours swim and she had a sauna and then she spent the rest of
the day being pampered and preened, massaged, manicure, pedicure and hair in
fact you name it and she had it.
Brian though
had coffee and read the papers before he went out.
Brian Kane spent the first part of the day rummaging
in bookshops and antique shops of Abbottsford’s old town district and then he indulged
his penchant for ridiculously expensive coffees in the trendy coffee shops.
Kate spent the morning in and out of every museum in
Abbottsford and had lunch in one of the same coffee shops that Brian drank in
and they only missed each other by minutes and in the afternoon she headed for
the Art Gallery which housed one of the best collections of artwork outside of
the capital.
The bulk of the collection was made up of pieces
donated by the Trotwood Estate.
She paid deference to all the exhibits, even the
cubists which she didn’t really like, she was really just filling the time
until she got to the section she wanted to see the most, The French Impressionists.
She loved them all Camille
Pissarro, Emile Schuffenecker, Eugène Boudin, the Bracquemond’s, Caillebotte, Cézanne,
Forain, Stanislas Lépine, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and her personal favorite
Frédéric Bazille.
It was when
she was sitting on a bench studying a lesser piece of Bazille’s when a tall, slim, good
looking man with neat black hair sat down next to her.
“Do you like
Bazille?” he asked
“Very much”
she replied and turned to look and a smile spread across her face as she
recognized his face.
“Hello
Brian” she said all at once unable to return her eyes to the art
“What a
lovely surprise”
“For me too
Kate” he said
They spent the rest of the afternoon together,
enjoying the art and each other’s company in equal measure and even revisited
the exhibits she’d already seen on her own and as they stood in front of a
magnificent renaissance canvas he said
“Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“I can be” she replied without hesitation and then she
added
“Could I choose the restaurant?”
“Of course”
At the end of the afternoon Kate and Brian went back
to the Hotel to change and met downstairs in reception again an hour later
where Brian made a phone call and Kate left a message at reception.
She chose the Pig and Whistle in Little Trottwood and
afterwards they took a walk in the countryside.
They left the village and headed towards Trottwood
Manor and they paused before crossing the bridge and turned to look across the
lake and they were amazed at how natural the scene was when considering that
little more than a 100 years earlier it was a boggy field.
That was before a Victorian industrialist named Josiah
Tiplady, who, having made his fortune amongst the smoking factory chimneys of
Lancashire, was seeking a country retreat in which to enjoy his fortune as well
as the considerably fresher air, so he purchased the old Trottwood Manor.
He famously said he chose the Trottwood Estate as it
had everything he was looking for, but not apparently a lake complete with
fountains and an island bird sanctuary.
But as they viewed the scene on that glorious June
evening it was clearly money well spent.
“This is really beautiful” she said
He agreed and then they turned and continued onto the
bridge and halfway across Brian paused and turned to face Kate and kissed her.
“And now it’s even more beautiful”
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