The Finchbottom Vale
was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in
the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to
Purplemere in the north.
But over the many
centuries the vast majority of it had been drained for agriculture, a feat
achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three
had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were
in various states of repair.
There were only three
small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean
and third was Purplemere.
The village of
Brocklington was on the River Brooke about six miles downstream from Sharping St
Mary in the Finchbottom Vale which was nestled comfortably between the Ancient
Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north,
those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two
thorns.
Sophie Welby was the
head teacher at St Cuthbert’s School and was a much respected figure in the
village who had dedicated her life to educating the children of Brocklington,
but she had done it at some personal cost, namely the love of her life Paul
Barrington.
Paul was a journalist
and had been offered a job at the Washington Post shortly after she was offered
the Headship at St Cuthbert’s, he wanted her to go with him and he assured her
that she could get a job in any school she chose, but she was scared, fearful of
the unknown and the uncertainty, and was unsure about her love for him.
In the ten years that
followed she realized that she loved him more than life itself, but that ship
had sailed so she soldiered on as a loveless educator and stalwart of the village.
One of the high points
of her year was the Christmas bazaar which was busy and exciting event that
took a lot of organizing but brought a lot of joy, with all the usual
attractions as well as Santa’s grotto.
But on Saturday
afternoon at the height of the event as she strolled amongst the throng she
caught sight of an attraction she hadn’t expected to see, Paul Barrington, and
he beamed a smile in her direction the moment they made eye contact and her
legs instantly turned to jelly.
He hadn’t changed a bit
in her eyes, although his hair was a little greyer and his waist a little
thicker, but he was still the man she loved, loves.
“Sophie!” he said “You
haven’t changed a bit”
“Paul?”
“You look great” he
said
“What are you doing
here?” she asked, although that wasn’t the question she wanted to ask, she
wanted to know everything else, was he married? Was he back? Was he hers?
“I’ve transferred to
the London office” he replied
“Are your family
moving with you?” she asked
“No only me” he
replied “There is only me”
“So when did you get
back?” she asked encouraged by his previous answer
“Last night” he
replied and she dared to hope, after all he had wasted no time in getting to
Brocklington, but before she could build on the glimmer of hope she was called
away from him to avert a crisis
“It’s good to see you”
she said as she was led away.
The moment the problem
had been resolved she set off in search of Paul to continue her interrogation
of him, but after a thorough search and three circuits of the School there was
no sign of him and very soon the visitors started to drift away and the doors
were closed for another year and as the team of helpers began to pack away
Sophie sought out a quiet corner in which to reflect on a missed opportunity
and she took sanctuary in the grotto.
The grotto was decorated
with red and gold velvet drapes, adorned with tinsel and coloured lights, with
a huge throne in the furthest corner surrounded by Christmas parcels and leading
to the throne was a snow covered path and on one side of it was a festive
tableau of snowmen and reindeer and on the other side Santa’s sleigh was
parked.
She walked slowly down
the snow covered path and sat on Santa’s throne and put her head in her hands
and sighed and remained there for an indeterminate amount of time until she was
brought back to the moment.
“So this is where
you’re hiding”
“You’re still here”
she exclaimed
“You sound
disappointed” Paul pointed out
“No, no I didn’t mean
that” she corrected him a little too forcefully
“It’s just that when I
couldn’t find you anywhere I thought you must have gone”
“You were looking for
me?” he asked
“Erm well we hadn’t
finished catching up” she explained
“That’s good but I
didn’t travel three and a half thousand miles just to catch up” he said
“What did you come for
then?” she asked
“I came here to pick
up” Paul said
“What?” she exclaimed
“From where we left
off” he added and kissed her and it was liked they’d never been apart.
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