Downshire Diary – (40) In an English Country Garden

 

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.

The 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 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 of course was Purplemere.

 

One of the newest inhabitants of Brocklington was a Purplemere native, Sam Townsend, who had moved to the village to live with his widowed sister Ruth and her two children Olivia and Cecily.

Ruth was five year older than her brother and was a few months short of her milestone 30th birthday. 

They were unmistakably siblings with their dark curly hair and green eyes.

Sam wore his hair collar length while Ruth’s tumbled lavishly onto her shoulders.

She was originally from Purplemere but her husband Jack was Brocklington born and bred and when they married she moved into his house and they raised their family and they were very happy and content.

They met while at University and married when they graduated and they were married and a year later the twins were born.

Jack Martin was 33 years old and by profession was a gamekeeper,

when he died suddenly and tragically of anaphylactic shock when he was on a charity bike ride and he was stung by a single bee.

 

His death came completely out of the blue and left her high and dry, with the only bread winner dead she struggled to make ends meet and very soon went through what little savings they had and because she was originally from Purplemere and living in Brocklington she was a long way from her support network.

Which was why her brother Sam moved in with her, he still worked in Purplemere and travelled back and forth to work by train and in the evenings and he babysat the girls while Ruth worked behind the bar at the Mulberry Tree and thanks to Sam stepping into the breach Ruth was able to get her finance’s back in the black.

He became a vital part of the household and Olivia and Cecily loved their uncle Sam but far apart from his babysitting duties he also regularly took the girls to school in the morning and often picked them up when they did after school clubs, the school had a breakfast club and an after school as well as clubs during the summer holidays, when Sam’s involvement would lead to some confusion later.

 

Glyn Tucker was the newly appointed Deputy Head Teacher of St Cuthbert’s School, which was only the second school he had taught at in the whole of his professional life.

 

He had previously lived and worked in Northchapel which was a much larger and more challenging location but he didn’t move to Brocklington because of that.

 

Since July, 31 year old Glyn Tucker, was a resident of Brocklington where he lived alone, though that wasn’t always the case in Northchapel.

He had been married, he still was married for that matter, but not for much longer.

He had been separated from his wife Brenda for two years at her suggestion and he was still angry about it.

It had come completely out of the blue, he loved the very bones of her and he thought she felt the same about him but he was clearly mistaken because she left him, and children were at the root of “irreconcilable differences”.

And his abandonment became the second great sadness of his life.

The first one being his inability to father a child which eventually led to the second.

Brenda saw her husband’s inability to get her pregnant as a personal slight which diminished her as a woman.

Glyn pointed out to her that there were other options like fertility treatment or adoption, but she refused point blank even to consider adoption as that would undermine her even further and to even suggest that she participate in IVF was an insult to her and how dare he suggest that she humiliate herself. 

So she left him and her vehemence and anger rang in his ears for days after.

Although she spoke of separation as she packed her bags, after the angry outburst he knew that it was only ever going to end in divorce.

Even in the unlikely event that she wanted to return he could never forgive her aggressive behaviour or the things she said to him, demeaning and belittling him. 

 

So as soon as he realized that the writing was on the wall he made the decision to start afresh somewhere new and started looking around for a new position and couldn’t believe his luck when he heard about the vacancy at St Cuthbert’s School which not only catered for students from years 1 to 6 which just happened to be what he was looking for but the Head teacher Sophie Welby was a very good friend of his and she was able to persuade the governor’s to offer him the Deputy Head’s position.

 

He soon fell in love with Brocklington and St Cuthbert’s School and the children in it and they would love him back.

He was also accepted by the people in the village and he had made many new friendships inside and outside of the Church.

He also found that he had fallen in love with one of the villagers when he became a regular at the Mulberry Tree.

 

His last day at his old school was the 19th July and on the 20th Glyn Tucker moved to Brocklington, and he quickly settled into village life and on his first day he took a walk to the local hostelry to have a pint of Mornington Ale at the Mulberry Tree and that was when he saw her.

 

She was pulling a pint and sharing a joke with a regular, she was very attractive with her long curly dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, green eyes and a lovely smile and she had a tall and slender figure with nice long legs, though he would have had to admit she was fairly shapeless and her chest was as flat as a bowling green.

 

She had seen in her peripheral vision a man walk in wearing a t-shirt and shorts and then he stood at the end of the bar but it wasn’t until she had finished serving one of her regulars that she actually got a good look at him.

He wasn’t a big man, 5’ 9” at most and quite wiry, with skinny legs that made his baggy shorts look even baggier, but he stretched himself up to his maximum height to greet her approach and he brushed his Sandy coloured hair off his forehead and smiled.

His craggy features and tanned skin made him look older than his thirty three years but not drastically so.

But Ruth liked what she saw.

“Hello” she said “what can I get you?”

“Hi, a pint of Mornington please” he replied

“I haven’t seen you in here before” she remarked as she pulled his pint

“No I only moved here today” he replied “I’m Glyn”

“Pleased to meet you Glyn” she said “I’m Ruth”

She finished pulling his pint, and they exchanged pleasantries while he paid and then he went and sat down, which was a decision he immediately regretted as he could no longer stare at her legs.

He was rather taken with her eyes as well, which were the most stunning green, and a lovely smile which he could still see.

 

As he walked home that evening he surprised himself somewhat with his appreciation of the barmaid because he hadnt looked at anyone in that way since his separation from his wife and then said

“Nothing will come of it”

But he was in the pub the next evening however, but it was a really busy night, the pub was packed and the place was really buzzing in fact the landlord regretted not putting more staff on, and so did Ruth.

The large attendance was as a result of a quiz night which was obviously very popular.

He stayed for two drinks, but she didn’t serve him either time.

 

The next day he took himself along to St Cuthbert’s School because he had agreed to help out at the summer holiday club, which was when he first met Olivia and Cecily Townsend Martin when their Uncle Sam dropped them off

All the teaching staff devoted some of their time to the Holiday Club, in a supervisory capacity only, as most of the activities were run by students from the village.

And although he didn’t technically start at the school until September he volunteered to help out for two or three days a week as and when he was needed and that evening he was back at the Mulberry Tree.

 

Although he didn’t technically start at the school until September he volunteered to help out for two or three days a week as and when he was needed and that evening he was back at the Mulberry Tree.

He decided to go in earlier in the evening in the hope that it wasn’t too busy and he might get to engage Ruth in conversation and so he walked in and walked straight up to the bar and she wasn’t there because it was her night off.

But he didn’t know that so he had a pint and went home.

 

Over the weekend he was working around the house, DIY, painting and decorating and at the end of each day he was so knackered he didn’t bother going for a drink.

The following week he spent Monday to Wednesday supervising at the Holiday Club and each evening finishing the decorating and Thursday and Friday ferrying all his worldly goods from Northchapel with the help of his mate Danny and a hire van.

 

On Friday morning a small DIY Van Hire vehicle pulled up in Riverview Road outside number 24 and two men climbed out and went to the back and opened the doors.

At the same time Ruth, who saw the van pull up, was walking home after dropping the girls at Club.

As she was about level with the open door a figure suddenly jumped out and made her jump out of her skin.

“Oh God” she exclaimed “You almost gave me a heart attack”

“I’m so sorry” Glyn said and then recognized who it was he had almost frightened to death

“Oh hello Ruth” he said

“I’m sorry I startled you”

“Oh that’s ok” She said and laughed

“I haven’t seen you in the pub all week”

“No I’ve been decorating before I moved the last of my stuff in and by the evenings all I have the energy for is dozing off in front of the TV” he admitted

“Oh that’s a shame” she said and blushed lightly

“Where does this one go Glyn?” a man asked

“Bedroom two” he replied and then thought he should introduce his best friend to the woman he had been talking about all the way over from Northchapel.

“Danny this is Ruth, who I was telling you about” he said

“Ruth this is my best mate Danny”

“Pleased to meet you” Ruth said and offered her hand

“Likewise” he said and was about to shake her hand but realized just in time that they were dirty.

After avoiding dirtying her hand Danny carried the box into the house and Ruth said

“I’ll leave you to it

“Oh ok” he said “Bye”

He watched as she walked away before picking up another box and following Danny into the house.

“That’s was a shame” he thought to himself 

He was enjoying their little chat and he would have liked to have invited her in for coffee, maybe another time.

He wasn’t certain sure, due to his being out of practice with the opposite sex, but he thought there was definitely some flirting.

 

At the end of the day, with everything from the old house moved Glyn took Danny to the Mulberry Tree for a pint but it was really busy by the time they got there so apart from admiring her legs and exchanging a smile or two it was a fruitless visit.

 

On Saturday and Sunday Glyn and Danny were in the formers old house cleaning and decorating as it was being listed with the estate Agents after the weekend and his absence had been noted by Ruth who had passed by his house on her way to work and noticed it was uninhabited.

 

On Monday he was back in Brocklington and on duty at School Club when Sam dropped Olivia and Cecily off and he was looking forward to seeing Ruth again, at the pub that evening.

He decided to go in earlier in the evening in the hope that it wasn’t too busy and he might get to engage her in conversation and so he walked in and walked straight up to the bar and she was there immediately to greet him.

“Hello” she said “Glyn”

“Hi Ruth”

“A pint of Mornington?” she asked

“Yes please”

Once she had delivered him his pint he decided not to go and sit down at a table but instead he pulled up a stool and sat at the bar so he could continue to admire her legs.

Which proved to be exactly the right decision as she spent prolonged periods of the time chatting with him.

“So what brought you to the village?” she asked, he didn’t particularly want to go into all the details of his failed marriage so he just replied

“Work”

“Oh really, what do you do?” she asked

“I’m the new deputy head at St Cuthbert’s” he said “And I have been helping out at the Holiday club, in between everything else”

“Really?”

“Yes” he replied “it’s been fun”

“Then you must have met my….” She began but was drowned out by a rowdy group who appeared nosily at the bar and she had to go a serve them.

 

When she had finished with the rowdies she returned her attention to Glyn, the fact that she was about to tell him about her twin daughters had gone right out of her head and the conversation became more general and lasted pretty much the whole evening.

Of course what he wanted to do was ask her out so he could take her out for dinner but he was so out of practice he didn’t know what to say and even in his dating days he wasn’t particularly good at it.

 

The last bell rang and he knew it was now or never so he took a deep breath and steeled himself and said

“I was wondering if, sometime, maybe, but feel free to say no, you had a free evening, we might, possibly…”

“I’d love to” she said putting him out of his misery

“You would?”

“Yes”

“Great, when are…”

“I’m not working at all on Friday” she said and wrote her number on a beer mat

“Friday it is” he said “Goodnight”    

 

On Friday morning Glyn Tucker was on duty at the Holiday Club and was there about half an hour before Sam dropped Olivia and Cecily off and he spent the whole morning looking forward to seeing Ruth again, when he was taking her out for dinner that evening.

 

Holiday Club was open for morning and afternoon sessions and parents could pick and choose which sessions they needed in order to make it the most cost effective for them, so just before lunch Glyn positioned himself by the gate to supervise the children being collected by their parents.

He had only been there for a few minutes when he spotted Ruth approaching which lifted his spirits, but then Olivia and Cecily ran out through the gate towards her 

“Mum, Mum” they cried

“Look what we’ve made”

“Wow” she said in response

“They called her mum” he said to himself “I must have misheard

“Do you like it mum?” Olivia asked

“Yes I do poppet” she replied

“No apparently I didn’t mishear” he thought “I knew she was too good to be true”

He was totally deflated, the first time he let his guard down since his separation and he picks a married woman, well that was not acceptable, and he did not behave that way.  

“I’m looking forward to tonight” Ruth whispered and smiled

“I’m afraid I can’t make it” he said “Somethings come up”

“Oh! Ok another time then” she said disappointedly

“Yes another time” he lied

 

The twins chattered away incessantly but Ruth was very quiet on the walk home, she just couldn’t understand why Glyn had been so cold, she had clearly misjudged him, it had to be because she had kids, she couldn’t think of any other reason why he would behave like that.

 

Glyn was convinced he had misjudged her, he had looked at her hand when she delivered his pint the first time he met her and there was no ring, so not only was she married but she was deceitful as well.

Not that he had a problem with the fact she had children, they were lovely girls, but why didn’t she say anything.

 

He stayed on at school until after lunch and then walked slowly towards home and bumped into Sam coming out of Stephenson’s shop with a pretty black girl on his arm.

“My God they’re both at it” he thought “what kind of a half arsed marriage do they have”

“Hello Mr Tucker” Sam said

“Hello” he responded “Are you not spending the afternoon with your girls?”

“My girls?”

“Yes Olivia and Cecily” Glyn said

“They’re not my children” Sam said with a laugh

“They’re my nieces”

“What?” Glyn exclaimed

“I’m their uncle Sam, not their Dad” He explained

“Oh my God what have I done” he said and put his hands on his head “I’ve made a terrible mistake”

“Why what have you done?” Sam asked with concern

“Where’s Ruth? I must talk to Ruth” he said

“She’s at home” he replied “In the garden on a lounger knowing her”

“Great” Glyn said and ran off “I just hope I’m not too late

 

Once Glyn realised that Sam and Ruth were not husband and wife but were brother and sister he was desperate to find Ruth and try to redeem the situation.

The last time they spoke he was quite brusque because he thought she was a married woman.

They were supposed to be having dinner together but he brushed her off and he was afraid he may have burned his bridges with her.

 

The good news was that Ruth had the afternoon off and he had it on good authority that she was in her back garden, the bad news was he didn’t know what to say to her to repair the damage he had done.

He had liked her from the first moment he saw her and she had been the first woman to reignite his interest in the opposite sex since he separated from his wife.

It took him an age to summon up the courage to ask her out and he was thrilled when she said yes.

But then he hit the panic button when he jumped to the wrong conclusion which was why he traipsed around the village for an hour trying to compose himself.

 

It was a glorious day and very hot, when he reached over the top of the gate and opened the latch and swung open the back gate and walked in.

It was a nice garden, much nicer than his, but he supposed you get out of it what you put in, and Ruth had obviously put a lot in to hers while the previous resident in his house had kept the garden simply functional and had put absolutely nothing into it and no effort was expended whatsoever.

Ruth’s on the other hand, clearly loved her garden and loved working in it and the result was there for him to see a delightful English country garden.

He could see Ruth immediately as he walked in, she was on the deck lying on a sun lounger wearing a pink bikini.
She had her back to him and was lying on her side reading a magazine the curve of her hip to her waist was like a mountain slope and her dark curly hair was tied back to reveal her neck and shoulders.
She was up on the decking which was located at the bottom of the garden, which was a real suntrap.
The garden sloped from there back to the house and was landscaped to form four distinct steps the decking being the highest and the patio outside the lounge being the lowest.

The second tier was predominantly herbaceous planting and the third was laid to lawn.
Ruth’s eight year old twin daughters were jumping in and out and splashing around in a paddling pool on the lawned area of the third tier.

He still didn’t know what to say or how it would be received so he took a deep breath and walked up behind Ruth and said

“Hello Ruth” and she turned and looked over her shoulder at him.

 

He could see Ruth immediately as he walked in, she was on the deck lying on a sun lounger wearing a pink bikini.
She had her back to him and was lying on her side reading a magazine and her eight year old twin daughters were jumping in and out and splashing around in a paddling pool on the lawned area of the garden as he entered

He still didn’t know what to say or how it would be received so he took a deep breath and walked up behind Ruth and said

“Hello Ruth” and she turned and looked over her shoulder at him.

“At last” Ruth said with a smile

“What kept you?”

“Were you expecting me then?” he asked a little confused

“Of course” she replied and sat herself up

“But how?”

“Sam phoned me” she said “So what did keep you?”

“Well I’ve been walking around for an hour trying to find the right words to apologize for being an idiot” he explained

“Aww that’s really sweet” she said and stood up and walked towards him and kissed him

“Aren’t you worried the girls will see?” he asked

Ruth looked over the trellised fence that surrounded the deck, and down to where the girls were splashing around but even if they were looking they wouldn’t have been able to see them clearly.

“They can’t see us from there” she said and kissed him again  

“Are you sure?” he asked uneasily

“Positive” she said, and then they kissed again and then came the tell-tale chimes of the ice cream van playing "colonel bogey" in a nearby street, and nothing says come and get an ice-cream more than "Hitler has only got one ball".
Then suddenly the twins were running up the garden
"Ice cream. Ice cream" they called
"Ok just a minute kids" Ruth shouted to them a little breathless,
He dug around in his pocket and brought out two, two pound coins which he tossed over the herbaceous border and landed them expertly on the lawn a few feet from the girls.
“Thank you Mr Tucker” the twins chimed in unison "do you want one"

"No thanks" he shouted back
“What about Mum?”

“I want a snog” she said with a leer

“No mum’s fine” he replied

“Ok” they chorused and went off squealing excitedly

“No you can relax and snog me properly” she said licking her lips "the twins will be at least ten minutes"
“Am I forgiven then?” he said

“We’ll see” she replied and kissed him again

 

By the time the twins returned from their ice cream expedition Ruth had forgiven him and they were sitting on the patio drinking coffee and laughing at his misunderstanding.

“I have a confession to make” Ruth said

“Oh!”

“I thought the reason you went all cold earlier was because you found out I had children” she admitted

“No not at all” he asserted

“I’m glad” she said and smiled

“Girls!” he called

“Yes Mr Tucker”

“How would you like to go out for dinner tonight with your mum and me?” he asked

“Yes please!!!” they squealed and Ruth squeezed his hand.