April
Andrew and Violet loved their children very
much but as they reached the time in their lives when they were nearing their
sixties they had expectations for their daughters.
For Violet her hopes involved the
grandchildren that were not forthcoming whereas Andrew just wanted them to
spread their wings, but as Spring loomed there was no sign of either of them
getting their wish, however they were a religious family, so the power of
prayer was a wonderful thing and both parents prayed for their daughters.
They would
perhaps have been slightly encouraged by the fact that the second eldest of the
brood, Dorset, already had someone in her sights, and that was Andrew Lamond,
the new verger.
She had been
carrying a torch for him since Christmas, but she hadn’t made any progress,
despite the fact that she had volunteered for every church event, meeting and
service that she knew he would be at.
Dorset was well
placed to do that because she was employed by the church in an administration
role and one of her duties was to manage the schedules and rotas, and she
cherry picked the dates to match those of Andrew, it was unethical and
unprofessional, but she reconciled it that with the fact that it was in a good
cause.
On Good Friday
they were to be working together preparing for the service.
It was an
important day in the church calendar and could either be at noon or in the
evening but at St Agatha’s it was the latter.
Which meant
they had all day to get ready, and she had arranged it that way as it was
important for her to have him to herself for most of it.
On the morning
of Good Friday, she was in the family bathroom at the vicarage making the final
adjustments to her appearance and she was at the mirror pinning the final
errant strands of hair into place.
Her straight
honey blonde hair was tied in bun at the back, but she always wore a fringe.
When she worked
in the office, she often wore gold rimmed half-moon spectacles, but they were
only for reading and she often just peered over the top of them rather than
keep taking them off.
But there was
no need for them in the church so as she stood before the mirror there was
nothing obscuring her pleasant unblemished face, a face that turned to pretty
when she smiled.
Dorset stepped
backwards so she could get a better look at the rest of her.
The blue
patterned dress with contrasting navy collar and cuffs was tailored to fit and
defined her figure exquisitely.
She turned
sideways to get another view and scanned herself from top to bottom.
She was not
unhappy with the overall appearance, she was a little broader in the beam than
she would have liked, her legs were good, she liked her legs even in thick
black tights and sensible shoes they were nice.
“Not bad” she
said and nodded at her reflection to acknowledge she had passed muster.
“Not a bad
looking woman, eh?” she was thinking as she walked across to church, then she
frowned, “so why am I still living at home?”
She often
wondered that, the problem was when she worked at the church and worked so hard
in the Church community, she found it difficult to have a social life and meet
new people who weren’t already part of her church family.
But though she
often wondered why she was alone she wasn’t unhappy, she didn’t feel diminished
by her circumstances and would have remained content had it not been for the
arrival in the village of the new Verger.
However, her
mother was not content with her and her sisters remaining unattached and unwed
and kept telling her and her older sister that their biological clocks were
ticking.
But she was not
interested in Andrew Lamond because of her mother’s nagging or a feeling that
she was in a race against time she really wanted him, and she hadn’t felt like
that since she was still at school.
So, she had
woken that morning in a particularly determined frame of mind, so she said to
herself
“Well, if
you’re going to do something, do it today”
As she entered
the Church just after 8 am she found it was a hive of industry, with a team of
parishioners, among other things, dusting, polishing and mopping,
Sandra Emmett,
who she worked with in the office gestured her over
“Morning” she
said
“Hi Sandra” she
said and handed her a folder “here is the list of who’s doing what, I’m going
to work with Andrew to unpack the paraments”
“I thought you
might be” Sandra said and giggled which made Dorset blush and made Sandra
giggle again.
All though
Dorset had mentioned the paraments specifically, on Good Friday it is
preferable that there are no paraments, banners, flowers, or decorations
except, for a representation of the way of the cross.
The Lord's
table, pulpit, and other furnishings, normally adorned, were to be bare of
cloth, candles, and anything not actually used in the service.
Her next move
was to win Andrew over with her carefully rehearsed charm offensive and she
found him standing by the dais, he was a tall upright man a few years her
senior with slightly thinning hair and the beginnings of a paunch, and when he
turned around, she noticed that in his arms he carried, the baby Jesus.
And her charm
offensive fell at the first hurdle when she exclaimed
“Why are you
holding the Christ child? We are supposed to be depicting the way to Golgotha,
not the nativity”
“We have the
wrong boxes or at least one wrong box” he replied
“Oh no” Dorset
winced “What are we missing?”
“The cloths” he
replied
The cloths were
crucial to the Good Friday service, as the cross was to remain visible, but the
figure on it and all the other permanently fixed images of Christ had to be
veiled by scarlet coloured cloth as by partly concealing the cross, the veil
also calls attention to it.
“Well, that
won’t do” she said and took out her mobile phone and walked to one side.
She was phoning
Burbage Farm, where the church rented one of the Burbage Barns as a storage
facility.
It was about
four miles from the village on the way to Pipershaven and they stored a variety
of things there, Santa’s Grotto, all the stalls for Fete’s and Bazaars,
processional items, the nativity scene and costumes of all shapes sizes and
uses.
Five minutes later she returned to find Andrew still
cradling the divine infant.
“They’ve found the missing box” she
announced and smiled when she noticed he was still holding the babe “it’s at
Burbage Barns”.
“Great give me directions and I’ll go and
get it”
Dorset was about to agree and then she
remembered the other item on her agenda so she lied
“You’ll never find it with my directions,
we’ll both go, you can drive and I’ll nav”
“Suits me”
“That’s settled then, now pop the little
fella back in his box, and well return him to the stable” she said and laughed
at her joke
The journey to
the farm was a quiet one, on Andrew’s part because he was trying to take in as
many landmarks as he could which he would remember for next time and for Dorset
because her mind went blank.
Once they
reached the farm Andrew got the errant box from the boot while she went in
search of its replacement.
On the return
journey she was struggling to find a way to start the conversation which she
hoped would lead to him asking her out, but she drew a blank, but then Andrew
suddenly asked.
“So, are you
involved in the Holy Saturday Vigil?”
“No, no I’m
not” she replied with relief and added hopefully “I’m free all day”
“What about
you?” she added already knowing the answer as she had made sure they were both
off.
“No, I’m
spending the day with my son” he replied proudly
“Your son?”
“Yes, Kenny”
“I didn’t know
you had a son, how old?” she asked
“He’s eleven”
“He doesn’t
live with you then?” she said
“No, he’s
staying with my Parents in Purplemere” he explained
“Not with his
mum?” she asked wondering where she might be lurking
“His mum died
last year” he replied sadly “A car accident”
“I’m sorry” she
said and then waited for him to unburdened himself with the tale about the
accident.
She had been
for a birthday treat to Tipton Spa with her sister and were on the way home.
The accident
happened just as the sun was setting behind them and a car came around the bend
on the wrong side of the road and hit them head on.
The car rolled
several times and ended up on its side in a ditch.
“That’s awful”
she said
“The two of
them and the other driver died instantly” he said and after a brief pause, he
added
“I blame myself
of course”
“That’s silly”
she said
“Is it?” Andrew
contradicted her “I bought her that Spa break”
“You feel
guilty because you lived, but that isn’t the same thing as blame” she insisted
“Just guilt
then?” he asked
“Yes” she said “and that’s in the past, you have your son, and he is the
present and the future”
“What kind of
future without his mother?” he said bitterly
“The future has
infinite possibilities, but the past is only ever the past” Dorset said
“That’s very
profound” he said
“What for an
administrator you mean?” she said
“No, I mean it,
it was very profound” he said and gave the weakest of smiles
“Well, I’m very
deep” she said
“So why is he
living with your parents?” she asked “He must miss you”
“I miss him
too, but we thought it best if he stayed at the Same school with all his
friends until they break for the summer holidays then he’ll be starting big
school and he’ll be the new boy along with everybody else”
“Do you talk to
him about his mum?” she asked, and he nodded
“All the time”
“That’s
precious”
“Yes, it is” he
responded positively
“You’re a very
positive person Dorset” he said
“Well, I do
always look for a positive in any situation” she said, and he thought for a
moment before he responded
“Well, if it
hadn’t been for the wrong box being delivered to the church and our having to
drive to Burbage to swap it, we wouldn’t have had this chance to talk, so
that’s something of a positive”
“There you are
then” Dorset said
When they got
back to St Agatha’s he parked the car and retrieved the box from the boot but
before they reached the Church steps he said
“I really
enjoyed our little mission today, and as I’m not driving to Purplemere until
the morning, I was wondering if you’d like to go for a meal after the service,
if you don’t already have plans that is”
“I’d like that
very much” she replied “I’ll have to go home and change first, but yes that
would be lovely”
Well, the
operation hadn’t gone according to plan in anyway shape or form, but the
outcome was much better than she could possibly have imagined
“Thank you,
God, for your divine intervention” she said to herself and smiled.
No comments:
Post a Comment