In the Village of Pepperstock Green – Chapter (082) – Missed Rendezvous

May

Over the month following that first meeting on the riverbank and the resulting walk, Emily Hemmings and Matt Gray had had many other such meetings, at first by chance but subsequently by design.
But all they did was walk together and talk as they walked along a mile long stretch of the riverbank path.
Emily for one would have liked them to have broadened their horizons after a month of converse but she didn’t want to force the pace so she remained patient.

When Emily left home on a morning in May she was riding Hector along the bridle path of the River Oxley when she saw a familiar face
“Morning Mr Dorrit”
“Morning Emily” he replied
She always called him Mr. Dorrit even though it was 13 years since he retired from teaching.
He retired from teaching at Barnabus the same time she left school when she was 16.
She had no idea where he was headed but she knew one thing for sure and that was, that he was doing something good for someone, he really was a good man.

Emily liked him very much, but he was her second-best favourite man because she liked someone else better, Matt Gray.

 

She was full of nervous anticipation about seeing Matt, much more than she had previously and she didn’t quite know why.
The feeling intensified as she approached the spot where he and Benji normally waited, but there was no sign of either dog or master.
Her feelings of nervous anticipation were instantly replaced by one of disappointment.
Although she was only a tiny little thing, four foot eleven on a good day, when she was sat upon her great Chestnut coloured colt, Hector, she was a giant and the additional height gave her the chance to see beyond the fences and the hedgerows but still she couldn’t see him.
Emily pressed on and hoped Matt would be at his cottage.

Alas when she reached the Waterside Cottages there was again no sign of man nor dog and his cottage was in total darkness.
She and Hector slowly walked on following the stretch of river bank they normally shared, looking over the bushes on her side and then scanning the opposite river bank.
Emily waited for five minute by Carpenters Farm and she left the river and followed the bridle path into the forest, but because he was a no show she set off at the canter.

It was at the other end of that bridle path where she saw the familiar face of her old teacher again.
“Hello again Emily.”

“Hello Mr. Dorrit” she replied
She would have stopped to chat but she was close to tears so she put on a brave face and rode on.

She continued on her normal route and when she heard the clock at St Agatha’s Church chime she realized she had gone too far so she galloped back the way she had come and let out her frustration as she did so and pushed Hector a bit too hard.
When she felt him labouring she pulled up sharply and jumped down and checked him over.
“I’m so sorry boy, I’m so sorry” she said and when she had finished and all was well she patted his neck and burst into tears.

The reason that Matt Gray was not waiting for her that morning was not, as Emily was thinking as she sobbed against the horse’s neck, that he was not interested in her, on the contrary he was very interested.
What had stopped him from meeting her and taken him from his cottage just after dawn was a crisis on the river.
About three miles downstream of Carpenters Farm, a heard of cows had taken advantage of a broken fence and wandered down to the water’s edge and couldn’t get back up the bank to the field.
As Nature Warden his presence was required along with a vet, the police, the fire service, the farmer and several labourers.
It had taken hours of their combined efforts to rescue the beasts and he was exhausted when he had finished.
Nonetheless when the police offered to drop him off at home, he declined the offer as he fancied a walk, so he set off to walk back to his Cottage.
He hadn’t been entirely honest with the Police with his reason for walking home, because what he really wanted to do was intercept Emily on the return leg of her journey so he took a short cut through the forest.
The woods were dense and thick and it was so peaceful and quiet as he hurried on his quest.
It felt strange to him not to have Benji walking along with him through the woods but to take him to that mornings emergency would not have been sensible so he had to leave him at home.

As the trees began to thin out he knew he was close to the bridle path and when he was a few yards away he became aware of movement through the thinning woodland and as he got to the edge of the wood he saw that the movement was Emily and her colt Hector thundering along the bridle path.
He tried calling after her but she didn’t hear.
At the speed she was galloping he had no chance of catching her so he reduced his speed and walked slowly towards home.

After about half an hour he could see something ahead of him to the side of the path, so he picked up the pace again.
As he got closer he could see there was definitely someone at the side of the path and he could tell by the find strands of corn coloured hair below her riding hat that it was Emily and Hector.
The colt was tied to a fence rail and she appeared to be grooming the beast.
He moved a little closer and was about to say hello when he realised she wasn’t grooming the horse at all.
She was actually sobbing against the horse’s neck which caused Matt to hesitate.
He was not well versed in comforting crying women and were it not for the fact that he had feelings for Emily he would probably, to his shame, have tiptoed away unnoticed.
So as skulking away was not an option he considered his next move as he looked at Emily stood beside the tethered beast, still wearing her riding hat and he was standing on her blind side.
He walked slowly across the bridle path closing the distance between them and as he got closer he could hear the sobs accompanying her trembling shoulders.
Matt was a couple of paces from her when she suddenly became aware of his presence.
“Oh Matt” she said and threw herself into his waiting arms and buried her face in his chest.
Because of the height difference she only just reached his chest, he would have kissed the top of her head had she not been wearing a riding hat, so instead he just said
“What’s the matter Emily?”
At first she just stood stock still against him but when she tried to tell him what was wrong it was completely incomprehensible.
“Ok don’t talk honey just cry it out” he said and ran his hands up and down her back.
After about ten minutes when her breathing slowed and her sobs had subsided he asked again
“What’s the matter?”
“You weren’t there” she said “You weren’t anywhere”
Then she started crying again so he held her close to him again and explained what had taken him away at such short notice and kept him away all morning.
“So it wasn’t me?” she asked quietly
“What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t because you didn’t want to see me” she explained
“Of course not, I want to see you all the time” Matt said
“All the time?” she asked in disbelief
“Yes all the time” he confirmed
Emily pushed herself away from his chest and looked up at him and a smile spread across her tearstained face and then she leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck and said
“Me too”

She was hugging his neck tightly and didn’t ever want to let go but the next thing she knew he was sitting her on top of the fence.
“No don’t let me go” she begged
“But I have to” Matt said
“But why?”
“So that I can do this” he said and kissed her trembling lips and was met with no further protestations.

Afterwards they walked along with Emily holding the reins in one hand and Matt’s hand in the other, he with tears stains on his shirt and she with mud spattered up her jodhpurs and both of them smiling inanely and from that day onward she never knew disappointment again.