July
Notably its 12th century Church, two Tudor
Inn’s, a Victorian Schoolhouse and Cottages representing every era, spread
almost haphazardly, amidst the craggy woodland, around the green that gives the
village its name and at the center of the large rambling village, both
geographically and spiritually, is St Agatha’s Church where Tara Eggleton, amongst other things
published the Parish Magazine, but she was also a Chorister like her cousin
Roger.
However all the time she spent working for the Church was unpaid, so she had to work as
well.
Had she not had her faith she would just have thought herself
fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time, but as it was, she was sure that a
divine hand had been at work.
She had travelled the four
miles from the village with her
cousin Roger, and Sandra Emmett in the latter’s car, in order to locate the St
Agatha’s props and paraphernalia which were required in order to prepare for
the Church’s Community Event over the following week.
It was not
her first time there, but it was the first occasion on which she met Jed
Burbage, and she was instantly smitten.
He was
about five years older than her, tall, blond, and tanned, and Tara thought he
was a six-foot-tall hunk of gorgeousness.
Jed managed
the storage side of the farms business, and he only had one full time employee
to assist him, and he had just quit, he led them to the appropriate barn and
unlocked the door.
“You’ll have to manage on your own today”
he said
“Why? Are you short staffed?” Sandra asked
“No, I’m no staffed as on twenty minutes
ago”
“I’m looking for a job” Tara blurted out
“Do you live in Pepperstock Green?” he
asked
“Yes”
“So did the last person and he was always
late” Jed stated
“Well, I can vouch for the fact that she’s
annoyingly punctual”, Roger said “in fact she is punctual to the point of
obsession”
“She will never ever be late” Sandra added
“Because she is half an hour early for everything”
“I am still here you know” Tara said and
blushed
“And what can you do when you get here?” he
asked with a smile
“Whatever she’s asked to” Sandra answered
“Thanks mum” Tara said
“Ok come and see me before you leave and we
can have a chat” Jed said and headed back to the office.
Sandra, who had another motive for being at
the barns, namely ensnaring Roger, had just entered the barn when a thought
occurred to her, which was that getting Roger alone in the barn might give her
the chance she had been looking for, so she said
“Tara! Why don’t you go and talk to Jed
now?”
She opened her mouth to protest but Sandra
quickly continued
“Strike while the irons hot, I’m sure Roger
and I can manage to locate the bits we need while you’re busy with Jed”
“Oh ok, if you’re sure” Tara said
“Absolutely” Sandra assured her
Tara was feeling apprehensive and excited
in equal measure as she walked across the yard, she knew only too well why
Sandra had urged her to go and find Jed and it wasn’t to help her get a job.
But then she wasn’t entirely sure if that
was her primary reason for it either.
When she left Pepperstock Green that
morning she had no expectations about the trip other than to assist with Church
business.
But when she first laid eyes on Jed
Burbage, who she thought was gorgeous, she quickly forgot the reason she was
there, which was why she remarked impulsively that she was looking for a job.
Not that she thought that she had any
chance with him, after all he was buff and she was just ordinary, and she was
five years younger and less worldly wise.
She was in truth however looking for
another job, as her part time position at Stephenson’s Supermarket wasn’t
paying enough, but on the plus side the shop was only a five-minute walk from
her home, whereas Burbage Farm would be a four-mile bike ride.
He asked her about her work experience,
qualifications and other skills she might have, and he seemed happy with her
replies and nodded as he took notes.
“So how are you
going to get here every day?”
“By bike” she
replied
“Oh that might
be a problem, the job does involve some driving”
He said
“Oh I can
drive” she said
“I just can’t
afford to run a car”
“Good that’s
another box ticked then”
“I can see straight away that you’re really fit” he said “I mean, in
good shape”
He flushed and took a drink before continuing
“What I meant to say was that you are clearly physically capable of
doing the manual work, but Paperwork and good record keeping are key to what we
do here”
“I understand” she said and smiled, she thought it was cute when he
got all flustered, and it made her like him even more.
“Right well I’ll explain to you the basics on the documentation and
then you can do the transaction with St Agatha’s so I can see if you’ve grasped
the essentials”
“Ok” she replied brightly
After checking and logging the reference numbers on the advice note,
one for the box that Sandra had returned and one for the boxes they were taking
with them, she handed it to Sandra for signature, and when she got it back, she
tore off a copy for Sandra and handed the other one to Jed.
After perusing the paperwork he nodded and said
“When can you start?”
Sandra sat in the car while Roger loaded the boxes into the back and
Tara was finalising the details with Jed.
When she emerged from the office, she said goodbye over her shoulder
as she got back into the car, and she was feeling very pleased with herself on
the drive back to the village.
Tara liked working at Burbage Barns and over the weeks that followed
she enjoyed it more and more, but she also found herself falling deeper and
deeper in love with Jed with each passing day.
But the one
thing that didn’t alter with the passing of time was her belief that she had
any kind of chance with him, after all what would a buff, intelligent and
worldly older man, possibly see in a nerdy girl on the geeky side of ordinary
who spent most of her spare time out in the wilds of Downshire photographing
wildlife, as far as she could see they had absolutely nothing going for them
and nothing in common.
In the middle of June as they neared the summer solstice the days were
longer and the evenings brighter with twilight pushed back to 10 o’clock so
when the weekend arrived she was up before first light on Saturday and set off
on her bike, she already had her backpack ready, with everything in it she
needed to last her the day, her camera, food and drink, while the wooded slopes
of the Pepperstock Hills would provide the rest.
She cycled
about two miles and secured her bike to tree and proceeded into the woods on
foot.
The Pepperstock
Hills National Park stretches from the bare, and often barren crags of Oxley
Ridge 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.
It is an area
of stark contrasts and attracts a variety of visitors who, thanks to its
closeness to the Finchbottom Expressway and the park was open to everyone for a variety of recreational
pursuits but there were certain designated areas did not permit vehicles of any
kind and even horses were restricted and dog walkers had to keep their pets on
a lead within the confines of those areas.
She really liked the fact that all but those interested in the flora
and fauna of the woods were permitted free access to them, as her greatest
passions were Wildlife and Photography.
Within the reserve there were a good number of hides which enabled,
with a combination of time, patience and a good camera, those who possessed all
three virtues to capture perfect images.
The hides were many and various, some were at ground level while
others were high beneath the canopy and other that were somewhere in between.
The differences in locations were such because of the differences in
the people who used them, if you were primarily interested in birds, then the
high hides best suited your needs, while if you favoured large mammals then the
low ones were for you, but for Tara she had no preference and she had used them
all at some time or other, she was interested in all Wildlife, large or small,
furry or feathered.
She switched from hide to hide, depending on the time of year, or the
conditions or just a whim, it was the latter on that Saturday, and she chose
the one sat on the top of a low hill and was a medium height location offering
a view across a large meadow and the tops of the trees that surrounded it.
The hide was buried under a grassy bank, which always reminded her of
the Teletubbies, which made her smile, but she knew even on a hot day it would
be cool in there, she just hoped that she would have it to herself.
She didn’t want to have to engage in conversation with anyone, she was
just there to indulge her passion for Wildlife and Photography.
She quietly opened the door and stepped inside and closed the door
behind her and then she turned around and her heart sank, as someone had got
there before her, but then her fortunes changed as her companion turned their
eyes on her and she was surprised to see it was Jed Burbage, and when he
recognised her, he smiled.
So, it seemed that they did have something in common after all and so
It appeared she would be enjoying all three of her passions on one
glorious day.
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