Copper Beech Farm is in the
Dulcets, and the Dulcets consist of a collection of villages and
hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to
name but a few and
After
moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from
strength to strength.
So
much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to nine and in
addition to the short-term girls she employed from the local village she took
on an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage
things at the yard for her.
The farm belonged to Anthony
Holmes though he was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek
and a fairly successful one at that.
He employed a skinny young
woman named Charlotte Clode as manager but inadvertently they fell in love and
became a couple just before Christmas.
Hazel
Morris had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the
farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony,
so she was able to live on site in the
converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting
room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very
well.
It was a very significant
moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to
her future with Anthony.
But
Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to finally unite Lynda
Radcliffe and Elliott Browning.
She
had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved
happiness more than she did.
Hazel
was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors
even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
Their
house was repossessed, as was their car and most of her possessions were sold
to pay creditors.
She
was left with a modest selection of clothes and two small boxes of photos,
family papers and precious mementoes.
As
time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and they were able
to help her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange they
didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest personal expenditure,
she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
The
task of fixing up 28-year-old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe with the gregarious
larger than life Dr Elliott Browning proved a more prolonged endeavour than
anticipated.
Anthony
and Charlotte had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as
a thank you for the treatment, Charlotte received when she was struck down with
a very nasty fever the previous autumn.
But
although the gift was made in January the earliest opening in the Riding Club
diary wasn’t until the beginning of March.
Hazel
Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They
had booked Elliott in as the last one of the days in the hope that they would
drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
As
it turned out it wasn’t until Elliott’s next lesson, three days later, that the big jovial doctor and the good-hearted spinster
were discovered in the barn locked in a passionate embrace.
Hazel
was almost 29 years old and had thought by the time she reached that age she
would have been starting a family or perhaps had already started one and maybe
that might have happened had her husband not gambled everything away.
She
was fairly slim, slimmer certainly since she had to watch every penny, with
bright orange hair which was thick and unruly.
She
desperately needed to pay a visit to a hairdresser but it wasn’t something she
could afford while she still owed money.
So,
she kept it tied in a ponytail, which she always thought quite apt for her line
of work.
“Six
more months” she said to herself meaning she would be debt free and then she
could treat herself, and by the time she reached her milestone 30th
birthday the following year her life would have begun again.
After
the three inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm had succeeded in their match making
scheme things on the farm settled down to a peaceful rhythm and by the
beginning of June Hazel began to take on extra work in her spare time to train
horses.
Her
ambition in the long term was to have a sanctuary for old horses and ponies,
even donkeys for that matter.
So,
when a local man Chris Harper approached her with a proposition to train a
horse or in particularly an older horse, which required retraining, as he had
been ridden, she jumped at the chance.
He
was a retired racehorse and like so many others when their racing days were over,
they were thrown on to the scrapheap, they weren’t even put out to pasture.
Chris
Harper was a therapist who used horses to help physically and mentally
handicapped people of all ages and his philosophy was that it would be
therapeutic for the horses as well to help people.
They
just had to unlearn some of the things they had learned in their former lives
and that was where Hazel came in.
It
was not an easy fix, and it took time and infinite patience, which she had
plenty of.
Chris
had already passed his 29th birthday and was knocking loudly on the
door of his 30th.
He
was quite rugged looking with weathered skin and sandy hair and he stood an
inch or two taller than Hazel.
He
hadn’t always been a therapist in fact until two years earlier he had been a
serving officer in the Downshire Light Infantry and until his discharge he had
never ridden a horse.
Lynda
Radcliffe soon remedied that, however.
He
became interested after a friend of his from the regiment was brain damaged by
a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
He
was greatly shocked by the severity of his handicap when he first went to visit
him.
But
a year later when he saw him again at a rehabilitation facility in Nettlefield
he was amazed by the connection he had formed with a horse.
When
he shared his amazement with his friend’s doctor.
“It’s
such a great therapy” Doctor Martin agreed
“It’s
just a shame we don’t have enough horses or therapists”
During
his final year he resolved after his discharge he would rectify the situation.
Chris Harper was from a
wealthy Tipton family in the north of the county whose business was making
money, lots of money, and they didn’t care what they had to do to make more.
His father wanted to put him
in harness the moment he left University.
But he turned his back on the
family and the business he despised and instead of university he joined the
army.
His father cut him off
without a penny and never spoke to him again, but he stayed in touch with his
mum and his sister via email.
The rest of them didn’t
bother to contact him and nor he them and in the Downshire Light Infantry he
found a new family.
However, when he was 25 years
old, he got the surprise of his life after the death of his Grandfather.
In his will Chris was left a
very large bequest much to his father’s disgust but in an accompanying letter
he explained how much he admired Chris’s decision to follow his dream, and how
he wished he’d had the courage to follow his own.
He didn’t touch the bequest though
despite the sentiments behind it, he had managed without the family’s money for
the best part of eight years and saw no reason to change, and so he just banked
it until he could decide what to do with it for the best.
But he never quite got around
to making any decision until the moment he spoke with the Army Doctors, and he
knew exactly what he should do with his legacy.
So, after he had completed
his 12 years in uniform, he resigned his commission and set off on the path of
his new career.
But it was to prove to be a
solitary journey as his fiancé Bella did not share his vision for the future.
He found a suitable piece of
land in the Dulcets with the right sized property on it with stables and outbuildings
that would suit his needs.
It was once upon a time known
as Larkspur Farm but for the previous 30 years it had seen no farming done on
it and it was gentrified for some city gent and his family to use on weekends.
But the particular gent who
owned it lost his shirt in the financial crash and had to sell quickly just at
the time Chris was in the market.
It was perfect for his needs,
plenty of space and easy access to Brownhill Woods and as luck would happen the
inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm were his nearest neighbours.
It wasn’t an easy project to
get off the ground but with a lot of help from some good people that he met
along the way he did it.
His contact from the Army
served him well firstly by securing him 4 retired army horses and then a
recommendation from Dr Martin at the rehab facility.
The Downshire’s had pledged
to give him first refusal on any retiring horses but as the therapy was for all
ages, he needed other horses and ponies as well.
As Lynda Radcliffe had a Riding school at Copper Beech he employed her services
to teach the novices to ride, this she did at Copper Beach and Larkspur and the
two of them became friends.
It was through that
relationship and the affable conversations they shared that Lynne suggested
using Hazel to retrain his newest acquisitions.
Hazel’s first day’s training
at Larkspur was on the afternoon of the 1st of June.
She was so grateful to Lynne
for recommending her, it was perfect for her as the distance between her front
door and the stables at Larkspur was less than a mile.
She met Chris first and was
very impressed as he very much lived up to Lynne’s billing and they chatted
briefly before she went in to meet her new charge.
He was a chestnut named
Spartan and he was a former racehorse. There was a lot more to his name than
Spartan but in his new career he would have to settle for the shortened form.
Her first session of training
with Spartan was just a bonding exercise which involved grooming him and simply
talking to him and while she worked Chris watched on from the shadows with
admiration for her labours and found that he was rather taken by the skinny
girl with the mad red hair.
Over the week that followed
it was more of the same with Hazel grooming Spartan and Chris watching from a
distance.
He liked to watch her working
with the horse, although having said that he would probably have like to watch
her do just about anything.
For Hazel’s part, she had
noticed him in her peripheral vision once or twice over her first week and that
made her smile.
But flattered though she was
she would have to put a stop to it, she liked him well enough, and in fact she
liked him a lot.
He was a nice man, and he was
doing great work, but she thought her husband Bob was nice before she married
him and that turned out to be a complete disaster.
So, she was in no hurry to
set foot on the rocky road of romance any time soon.
After 7 straight days of bonding,
she decided it was time to get him out in the paddock on the longe line.
It was important to get him
to trot around with his head up and not as he had been accustomed to with his
head down and focused on speed.
Despite her misgivings about Chris,
she found that she was disappointed when he didn’t appear to watch her at work
with Spartan.
In fact, he didn’t appear all
the time she was there that day which disappointed her even more, but what she
didn’t know was that he was in Nettlefield at the Downshire Light Infantry HQ
to look at his latest potential recruit and furthermore she didn’t know that
the level of disappointment he felt at not seeing her far outweighed her own.
He left Nettlefield having
agreed to take on a gentle giant of a horse called Inkerman, though his name
had been shortened to Inky which was quite appropriate as he was jet black.
Hazel finished with Spartan
in the paddock and as he behaved himself, she let him have a bit of a frolic
around in the paddock before taking him in to be groomed, then she filled in
the logbook and left for home.
When he returned to Larkspur,
he arrived just in time to see Hazel disappear into the distance.
“Damn” he said and banged his
hand on the steering wheel, he was hoping to share his news with her.
“Oh well there’s always
tomorrow”
He parked in the yard and
before going in the house he went and checked on the horses and read Hazel’s
entry in the log.
The pattern of training
continued for another week and after the 15th day with him she
announced to Chris.
“I think he’s ready to be
ridden again”
“Excellent” Chris said “then
you’ll be ready to take on Inky”
“Yes” she agreed “Anytime
now”
“Well why don’t you come over
to Nettlefield with me next week to pick him up”
“I’d love to” Hazel said
“Good, next Thursday
afternoon then”
Almost at that exact moment
back in the yard at Copper Beach Farm Lynne Radcliffe and Charlotte Clode were
discussing what to get Hazel for her upcoming birthday which was only two days
away.
“What do you get for the girl
who has nothing?” Lynne asked in exasperation
“It should be so easy”
Charlotte said
“I know but it’s not, is it?”
“Then we’re just going to
have to ask her outright” Charlotte responded
“I suppose so but there’s no
surprise that way” Lynne said resignedly.
They were still in the yard discussing
it when Hazel returned to the yard, and she was smiling to herself when she
heard Lynne call to her
“Hazel”
“What are you two up to?”
“Nothing” Charlotte said
innocently
“We were just wondering what
you would like for your upcoming birthday”
“Nothing” Hazel said
“That’s not an option” Lynne
stated
“I mean it” Hazel said “You
don’t need to get me anything”
“Nonsense” Lynne countered
“We want to, so what would you like more than anything in the world?”
Hazel thought for a moment
and smiled and then replied
“A cut, wash and blow dry”
“Is that all?” Lynne asked
“Is that all? That would be
absolute heaven” Hazel retorted and grinned
“Ok then” Lynne said “I
suppose that’s settled”
But to herself she added
“Well, I think we can do
slightly better than that though”
It was Hazel’s birthday two
days later and the day began the same as any other with mucking out the stables
with the other girls but when she returned to her rooms at 9 o’clock and opened
the door she was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.
Lynne, Charlotte, and Anthony
were sitting at her dining table
They bought her a gift
voucher for Mazzone’s Hairdressers in Mornington which she was thrilled with,
but they also gave her a Spa Day, so the three girls could go to the
Dancingdean Spa Hotel together.
There were also a pile of
birthday cards and a bouquet of flowers from Chris Harper.
She wasted no time in cashing
in her voucher at Mazzone’s hairdressers in Mornington to sort out her thick, unruly bright orange
hair, and afterwards she felt wonderful, and it was every bit as good as she
was expecting it to be.
After close to three years after splitting with her
husband she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see or hear
from him again, and she was perfectly happy about that, so nobody was more
surprised than she was when Charlotte called her over to the office after she
returned from Mornington.
“Hazel! Phone call”
“For me?” she called back
“Hello?” she said
“Hello Haze” a voice responded
It was quite a shock for her
to hear Bobs voice after all the time that had passed.
“How did you get this
number?” she snapped
“Comme ci comme ça” he retorted
“What do you want Bob?”
“Oh, don’t be like that babe” he said
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard”
“Alright calm down” he said, and she hung up but a
minute later the phone rang again.
After she found out about
Bobs gambling Hazel’s world fell apart, as one by one the bricks that formed
the foundations of her life and their relationship were removed.
The
roof over her head was repossessed, their car was taken off their drive in the
dead of night, and bailiffs took away all their possessions.
Credit
cards had been maxed out and bank accounts emptied, and insurance policies
cashed in.
But
as if that wasn’t bad enough it then transpired that it wasn’t only their money
he was gambling with, he had stolen from the company he worked for.
And during the time the
bailiffs were removing her belongings she had a visit from a Sgt Griffin and a DC Deacon from
Sharpington CID who were looking for her husband in relation to the theft.
All she could say was that she hadn’t seen him for
more than a week and when she did, they would have to investigate his murder.
But she never saw him again or even heard from him
for that matter though the police were still anxious to speak with him.
So, getting a call out of the blue from him shocked
her to the core.
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard” she snapped
“Alright calm down” he said, and she hung up but a
minute later the phone rang again.
She let it ring three times before she picked it up
again.
“That wasn’t very friendly” he said
“What do you want Bob I’m busy?”
“I need my share of the house” he said, and she
laughed out loud
“The bank has your half of the house along with my
half plus the car and every stitch of furniture we owned”
“Well, you must have a few quid tucked away” he said
“you could give a stake for old time’s sake”
She was so angry that his antics had pulled the rug
from under her and left her to cope with the fall out on her own, so her first
thought was to tell him in no uncertain terms where to go, and she was actually
on the brink of saying it when she said
“Ok for old time’s sake, a
one off, never to be repeated payment, give me an address and I’ll send you a
cheque” she said
“I’d rather do it face to
face” he said
“Ok” she said “Where?”
“There’s a pub in Sharpington
called the Ancient Mariner, I’ll meet you there at 12 on Friday”
“Ok” she said and hung up.
On Thursday she travelled
over to Nettlefield in the horse box with Chris Harper.
Although she had been looking
forward to the trip, she was in pensive mood on the journey over.
When they arrived, he
introduced her to Inky and then left them to get acquainted while he touched
base with a few of his ex-colleagues and then they got him on board the
horsebox and settled before setting off on the return journey to the Dulcets.
She was a little more
conversant on the way back, so Chris chanced his arm and asked her out to
dinner.
“Oh, I don’t know” she said
“my life is a bit complicated at the moment”
“Another time perhaps” he said,
and she nodded then after a few minutes she said
“Could I ask you a favour?”
“Of course,” he replied and
she proceeded to explain the complications in her life
On Friday Chris Harper drove
a pensive Hazel to Sharpington and waited a discreet distance away and watched
Hazel as she sat alone at a table and continued to watch as a shifty looking
man joined her, but he couldn’t hear what was said.
“Hello Haze” Bob said and
moved to embrace her “it’s good to see you”
“It’s not mutual” she said
and evaded his embrace
“Well without being
indelicate how much have you got for me?” he asked
“Nothing” she replied “but
they’ve got something for you”
And when he turned around Sgt
Griffin and Detective Deacon were there and quickly taking him into custody.
A tirade of abuse was
levelled at her as the police handcuffed him.
“Your ugly ginger bitch” he
screamed “You won’t find anyone better than me”
“I already have” she shouted
back and ran to where Chris was standing and buried her face in his chest, and he
wrapped his arms around her and after a few minutes she said
“My life just got a lot less
complicated, so is the offer of dinner still on?”
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