October
Jeff Forman is
a writer, although no one at St Adelaide’s or in Pepperstock Green would have
heard of him, but under his nom de plume of Jack Graham
he would have been hard pressed to find anyone who had not, for under that
name he had written a series of successful thrillers, six in all and a seventh
was now well overdue.
He was recently
divorced, though not his choice, his darling wife had cheated on him, with his
best friend to boot so it couldn’t be avoided, but since the divorce he had
struggled with the latest book in the series, it didn’t even have a title yet
and he was fast approaching a crucial deadline.
So, he decided
the best thing to do was to get away, right away, where no one knew him and
where there were no distractions.
So, he decided
to book himself into St Adelaide’s Reflection and Healing Retreat to help him
with his writer’s block.
But he because
he still had a looming deadline he opted to stay in one of the retreats
cottages beside the River Oxley and planned to take up residence from October
to March, though he only planned to stay until he’d shaken the writer’s block
and completed the book which he thought he would manage in a month, away from
all the everyday distractions of a town, which was why he found himself living
in the nauseatingly named Honeysuckle Cottage, which was, as the name might
suggest, a pretty little cottage.
It would originally
have been a two up two down, but it now had a single-story extension which
housed the kitchen, upstairs was a small bedroom and the bathroom, which was
equipped with a good old-fashioned man-sized bath, while downstairs in addition
to the kitchen there was a sitting room and another bedroom.
He first met
Maxine Franklyn on a grey murky day in October when he went into the village to
Richmond’s General Store to buy some essentials, milk, and bread, mainly.
It had been
sunny and bright when he left Honeysuckle Cottage that morning, so he decided
to walk two miles into the village and took one of the many paths through the
woods.
However, by the
time he was leaving the village store with his essential purchases it was
raining, and it was that fine drizzly rain that soaked you in an instant and
from a distance it gave the illusion of being a mist.
In fact, due to
its inherent ability to obscure landmarks it was, to all intents and purposes,
a mist.
Well he had
been walking back towards the cottage with his head down to protect his face
from the slanting rain and making slow progress on the woodland path in his
unsuitable shoes and when he eventually lifted his head up he didn’t recognize
a single tree and was completely disorientated, and as he wasn’t that familiar
with the woods in the first place, he didn’t recognize anything.
As the rain
continued to fall, he started to panic when a voice behind him said
“Are you
alright?”
Jeff turned
around and saw a little creature of indeterminate age in a parka with a fur
trimmed hood.
“I am
embarrassed to say it, but I appear to be lost” he said
The figure
stepped forward and pushed the hood back from her face to reveal a young woman
in her mid-twenties who was no more than five foot tall.
“You’re lost?”
she asked in disbelief and smiled broadly
“Yes” he said
even more embarrassed
“Where were you
going?” She asked
“Honeysuckle
Cottage” he replied
“Oh, you’re the
writer” she said
“Yes” he
replied “Jeff Forman”
“I’m Maxine
Franklyn, and we’re neighbours”
“Are we?” he
asked
“Yes” She
replied “I live in Walnut Tree House, just along the river path from you”
“Well, I am
pleased to meet you Maxine”
“Come on, I’m
going your way” She said, and she walked with him all the way to the cottage,
she wasn’t the chattiest person he had ever met but he rather liked her,
nonetheless.
“Here you are,
safe home” she said smiling.
“Thank you for
rescuing me and for walking me home” he said “Come in for a coffee”
“I can’t I have
to be somewhere” she replied
“Another time
perhaps” he suggested
“Yes ok” she
agreed and hurried off.
A few days
later he had to drive into Pipershaven to do a more substantial shop to stock
the cupboards, he had exhausted the meagre supplies he’d brought with him when
he moved in plus he needed some more appropriate footwear for the country.
On his way he
drove past Walnut Tree House where Maxine lived, it was roughly a mile from his
cottage and despite being called a house it was also a cottage, though it was
much bigger than his.
As he drove
slowly pasted it he was surprised to find himself disappointed that there was
no sign of life.
Beyond that
were another three houses before the lane reached the Main road, one of which
was the home of his “landlady”, or at least the woman who worked at the Retreat
and managed the accommodation, Anne Higgins, who right on cue came out of her
front door and waved.
Jeff slowed
down and waved back, and he was about to drive on when she flagged him down.
“How are you
settling in?” Anne asked
“Fine” he
replied “I’m just going into Pipershaven to stock up on groceries”
“I won’t keep
you then, but Pop in for tea on the way back” she said
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