June
Following her
coronary angioplasty procedure, Sister Margaret was discharged the Pepperstock
and District Hospital at midday on Saturday and was in good spirits, but it had
been agreed over dinner the previous night that to journey back to the island
that day might be detrimental, so Charlie suggested she stay at Beechwood for
the rest of the weekend and cross to St Giles on the midday ferry on Monday.
Sister Margaret
could have had Toddy’s room, and she could have gone back to the Vicarage, but
he liked having her close, she he called Mrs Horne again and after apologizing
for imposing on her weekend, asked if she would mind making up the fourth
bedroom and explained the situation.
She couldn’t
have been more obliging when she found out it was for another Nun, she thought
the whole thing leant an air of respectability to Beechwood having 3 Nuns in
residence, albeit one was and ex.
As it turned
out the Sister’s stayed until Friday, Charlie thought it might be beneficial to
build a relationship with the Sister’s as they were the closest thing to family
that she had, so they went out on a few outings, but nothing too far or too
strenuous.
On Monday they
went to Sharpington, which was where Sister Lucy was from, and she took her
name from St Lucy’s Church where she went as a girl, so that was one port of
call because she hadn’t been back for many years, and she was amazed to find someone
there that she knew from her school days.
So, Charlie and
Toddy left them to reminisce and pushed Sister Margaret along the promenade to
get some sea air and stopped by the pier entrance and got ice cream from
Bizzoni’s before walking back to the Church to rejoin Sister Lucy, then Charlie
took them all for lunch.
On Tuesday
Charlie offered to take them to Upper Gracewood, which was where Sister
Margaret was from and she also took her name from the Church where she found
her faith, though she was in her twenties when she found God.
“Thank you no,”
she replied “I knew no happiness there”
“Ok, is there
anywhere you would like to go?” he persisted
“I’ve always
wanted to go to Mornington-By-Mere and see the windmills and Teardrop Lake in
Shallowfield” she replied
“That’s settled
then” he said and looked at Toddy who smiled at him
Mornington-By-Mere
was a small country Village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the
Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint
picturesque Village, a proper chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor
House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a
River, a Mere, which gave the Village its name and the Mornington Windmills.
Although the
Mere in Mornington was only half a mile wide and half a mile long it sits at
the heart of Mornington, figuratively if not literally, and is one of three
small bodies of water in the area that were all that remained of the great
wetlands that at one time stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in
the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over many
centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture and part of the
traditional drainage system were the Mornington Mills, of which only three had
survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional, but had
been restored and converted into residences, and the mills would have once pumped
the excess water into the River Brooke.
Sister Margaret
was not disappointed with the Windmills or the Village itself, in fact both
exceeded her expectations, and she even felt well enough to abandon the
wheelchair as they strolled around the Village and then rewarded herself with
half a pint of Mornington Ale at the Old Mill Inn.
It was just a
short drive to Shallowfield and when they arrived Charlie pulled into the lane
leading towards Teardrop Lake which ran parallel to the River Brooke, which
flowed from the head of the Lake and on through Shallowfield.
They parked
outside the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, and when they got out of the car and got their
first view of the lake, and they were blown away by the vista which was
spectacular, although they couldn’t see it all or discern the teardrop shape
that gave the lake its name.
But the view of
the surrounding ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest was majestic and the
lake shimmered in the June sunshine.
Even though it
was just a modest body of water, just over two miles long and just short of a
mile at its widest point, they weren’t going to attempt to walk it, especially
as Sister Margaret had returned to her wheelchair, so they just walked about a
mile in total and ended up back at the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel.
“Lunch?”
Charlie asked
“Does it come
with more of that Mornington Ale?” Sister Margaret asked, and they all laughed.
The next day
the weather was miserable, so they spent the day at home and on Thursday when
the sun returned so they put together a picnic and Charlie drove them up
through the Pepperstock Hills National Park which stretched from the bare, and
often barren crags of Quarry Hill in the North to the dense wooded southern
slopes on the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry
Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock Bay in the East.
They had their
picnic on a high rock outcrop which looked out to sea and enjoyed the natural
beauty on display.
On Friday it
was time for the Nuns to go back to the island and as they stood by the
departure gate Toddy said her goodbyes to them and Sister Lucy turned to Charlie
and said
“Thank you for
your kindness and your hospitality”
“My pleasure”
he responded then the seated Sister Margaret took his hand in both of hers and
said
“As grateful as
my damaged heart is for your kindness, you’d better not break hers, because we have friends in
high places”
“Enough said”
he responded “Her heart is safe in my hands”
Toddy held his
hand as they watched as Sister Lucy pushed the wheelchair up the ramp and when
she reached the top she turned and gave a wave.
They spent the
rest of the month shopping for plants in anticipation of the Thorne girls
completing the hard landscaping, but there were also periods of more intense
excitement during the rest of June, such as when the Greenhouse arrived, which
was particularly exciting for Toddy, and not so much for Charlie.
Then the roles
were reversed the week after when the BBQ was delivered, though the arrival of
the water feature was a source of joy for them both.
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