It was at the point when the work came to a natural hiatus that Toddy announced
“Do you mind if
I take a day off tomorrow?”
“Not at all” he
said, “Do you have plans?”
“I'm going to
visit the Sister’s at the Convent” She replied
“Oh, I didn't realize
there were any Sister’s still there”
“These are the
ones for whom departure is not an option” she responded and in response to his
puzzled expression she added
“I’m visiting
the Convent cemetery”
“Oh, I see”
“I went for a
walk over there with Verity on Saturday afternoon and weeds are beginning to
take hold” she explained
“And I know it
seems silly but it’s important to me that they are not neglected”
“I understand”
“Obviously the
new owners, developers probably, will not want a cemetery in the middle of
their housing estate or industrial park”, she added sadly
“But in the meantime,
it’s something I need to do”
“I can come
with you if you like, I have no plans and I think I’ve proved myself moderately
useful as a gardener’s labourer”
“Moderately”
she said and laughed
“Thank you, the
company would be much appreciated”
They drove up
to the Convent the next morning with an assortment of tools in the boot and her
face dropped as he drove through the gates, and she noticed the FOR SALE boards
had gone up.
After Toddy had
shown him around St Adelaide’s and her beloved kitchen garden, they set about
their task in the small graveyard.
It was a
pleasant Sunny day, but cool in the fresh breeze but they found a sheltered
spot out of the wind and ate their picnic lunch.
“You were happy
here, weren’t you?” he said
“I was,” she
replied wistfully “Very happy, but that was in the past”
“I can
understand why you liked it here; it is a beautiful setting”
“I knew deep
down it wasn’t sustainable” she admitted “But it is beautiful”
There was very
little conversation for the rest of the day, mainly just a companiable silence
as they finished the weeding.
Afterwards they
loaded the tools into the car and then he drove her to the vicarage.
“Thank you so
much for today” she said and kissed him on the cheek before jumping out of the
car and running up the path.
The following week
or so Toddy was grubbing the roots out with a mattock, however there were
several sizable stumps that needed to be dealt with professionally and he had
to employ the services of Tree Surgeon, Philip Raynes to grind them out.
While Philip
was going at the tree stumps with a mechanical root grinder, Charlie and Toddy
were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when he suddenly said
“We need to
settle the bill”
“What bill?”
“For your
services, you still haven’t given me a figure”
“I’ll have to
work out how many hours I’ve done” Toddy replied
“That’s easily
done, it’s this many” he said and showed her a piece of paper
“Wow that’s a
lot” she said “Let’s just say £5 per hour”
“£5 per hour?”
he retorted
“Sorry is that
too much?” she asked with alarm
“The National
minimum wage is £12.21 per hour and you’re worth much more than that” he
pointed out
“That really is
too much, I’m quite happy with £5” she said “I’ve really enjoyed it, coming
here every day has been fun, and some days we just went shopping, and you
helped me as well”
“Ok let’s
compromise” he said “£15 per hour, how would you like it, cash, cheque or bank
transfer?”
“No…” she began
but he gave her a look “Bank transfer please”
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