The quaint chocolate box English Village of
Mornington-By-Mere, was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale, which nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling
Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint and 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.
15 year old Matthew was one of the Smith clan, who were tenants at Smithfield Farm and had been for as
long as anyone could remember, and as soon as he finished school he was going
to take his place working on the land, and that day had finally come, the school
year was over so he was on the way home by the usual
route.
He left the Village School and
walked towards Church Bridge and proceeded along the riverside path on the Northern
Bank of the River Brooke with Mornington Field on his right and Manor Wood across
the water on his left.
After the Wood stood the famous Mornington
Brewery and immediately before the river changed direction, Dulcets Mill stood,
one of the last three remaining Mornington Mills.
At the point the River turned sharply to the
right he followed the path that threaded its way
through the woods that bordered the western edge of Mornington Field and as he
meandered his way along the path he heard a voice behind him.
“Wait for me Matt” it, said, “wait for me”
He turned around but he couldn’t see who it was
“Wait for me” they continued shouting, a
little louder this time and then there was a crash as a schoolgirl came running
around an oak tree and hurtled straight into him and they both ended up on the
floor.
The schoolgirl was young Alexa Newbold
“Ouch” she said rubbing her left knee.
Alexa was a few months older than Matt and
she was staying on in full time education and would be going to college followed
by University but she wasn’t going to go before she had done what she needed to
do.
“Are you ok?” he asked as he helped her to
her feet.
“Just scrapped my knee a bit,” she said
laughing
“I didn’t think I was that close to you”
She was a very pretty girl, five foot one
with Jet-black hair and pale alabaster skin and she lived in Military Row with
her family
“Happy birthday by the way” he said suddenly
remembering it was her 16th birthday
“Thank you,” she said grinning because she
didn’t know that he knew.
But Matt knew everything about her because he
loved her and had done for as long as he could remember, but he would never
tell her that because she was on a different path to him and as a farmer he
wouldn’t be able to offer her anything and he certainly wouldn’t be able to
compete with the kind of boys she was going to meet at University.
So he had resigned himself to the fact that
she was unattainable.
Alexa was still wearing her full school
uniform consisting of black knee length socks, a black and white plaid skirt, black
jacket, white blouse and a plaid tie and her knee was still bleeding so he fished
out a hankie from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Use that” he said “that will help for the
moment”
Alexa dabbed at the cut and winced as Matt
looked for somewhere he could sit her down.
“Come on, come and sit down and I’ll clean it
up” he said and directed her to a tree stump a few yards away where he sat her down
and then he knelt down in front of her and produced a bottle of water from his
bag.
“Are you glad we’ve broken up?” he asked
“Yes and no” she replied
He found her response a little strange but
added
“Bad luck having to go to school on your
birthday”
“Oh no it wasn’t so bad” she said
“Well Happy birthday sweet sixteen” he said
and then he irrigated the wound with water and cleaned it with the hankie
“Ooh” Alexa winced as she sat perched on the
tree stump
“Sweet sixteen and never been kissed”
She added and blushed
“You’re joking” he replied looking at her face and she blushed deeper
and averted her eyes.
“So what are you doing for your birthday?” he
asked by way of changing the subject
“Well Mum and Dad are taking me and to my
favourite restaurant in Shallowfield on Saturday night” she said very pleased
with herself.
“But I was hoping that today, we could do something
together”
“You and me?” he asked in disbelief
“Yes” she replied and reached forward and put
a hand on each side of his face before leaning forward and kissing him.
Matt wasn’t expecting that, the kiss came
right out of left field it only lasted a few moments and when their lips parted
she said
“Now I’m a sweet sixteen who has been kissed”
He gave a heavy sigh then leant into her
saying
“Again please”
“Oh yes again” she agreed and their lips met
again this time in a longer more languid union and when she broke away he sighed
again.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine
that the gorgeous Alexa Newbold would want him, she was beautiful, funny and
smart and he was just a farm boy.
He reached into his pocket and took out a
small package.
“Here you are birthday girl” he said to her
“I have a birthday gift for you”
“I thought I’d just had my present” she said
and giggled
“What do you mean?”
“This is the best Birthday present I could possibly
have received” she replied and they kissed again.
When the kiss was over she opened the little
package to reveal a small embossed box and inside that was a small Gold locket
and inside that there was some engraving which read “Sweet sixteen”.
And the moment she read it she threw herself
at him and showered him with kisses
“I love it, I love it” she said and hugged
him and after a moment or two she said coyly
“Can I have another present?”
“Are you sure you want another one?”
“I think so” She replied
“Well if you’re not bothered” he began “I’ll
go and find Mandy Price she won’t turn me down”
“Don’t you dare” she said putting her arms
around him “Loose lips can find someone else to snog, you’re mine now”
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