(Part 01)
Jade Flowers stood barely five feet tall and was slender and small and the afternoon sun shone on her shoulder length blonde hair.
She was a Doctor, and a very pretty Doctor at that, though that alone hadn’t been sufficient to change her marital status in her first 34 years, but despite that she was very experienced and well respected in the village of Highfinch where she practiced.
The village of Highfinch sits just on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills and the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separates the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, and the combination of those two and Kingfisherbridge made up the parish of St Martins where Jenna Lawton was the Vicar.
Although he practice was in Highfinch, Jade wasn’t confined to the village obviously and her home visits could take her all over the north east corner of the Finchbottom Vale and into the Pepperstock Hills.
The Vale nestles comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.
The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of the famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.
There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale by the 21st Century, one in Mornington, one in Childean and third of course was in Purplemere.
Jade was a singleton since her louse of a boyfriend, who she was expecting to marry, was now a bitter memory.
She had suspected for some time that he was sleeping with her best friend and then out of the blue he confessed to her one night.
From that moment on Jade had taken the pledge to pour all of herself into her work and waste no more time on men.
Of course the age old problem with pledges and promises is that fate normally intervenes.
Jade had been over to the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere to attend a case conference.
It was a lovely sunny summer afternoon as she left Purplemere on Tuesday and headed out of town, eager to get out into the country again towards Highfinch and was looking forward to a stress free journey through the beautiful countryside of the Vale, which was beautiful enough in itself but as she got closer to the Pepperstock Hills she knew it would get even more so.
On that fateful day however her trip was curtailed when just ahead of her a school girl was hit by a car, it wasn’t the drivers fault, the girl just stepped out, distracted by her mobile phone, and bang she was flying through the air.
(Part 02)
On that fateful day however her trip was curtailed when just ahead of her a school girl was hit by a car, it wasn’t the drivers fault, the girl just stepped out, distracted by her mobile phone, and bang she was flying through the air.
Jade was two cars behind the one that hit the girl, a red Espace, and she immediately got out of her car and ran to assist, phoning for an ambulance as she did so.
When she reached the stricken girl it didn’t look good she was lying on her back with her head to one side.
One arm was under her back the other lay across her belly, and both legs were in very unnatural positions, clearly there were multiple fractures visible and an awful lot of blood.
She estimated she was either 12 or 13 and the uniform was from a private boarding school for girls Kettlewell Hill.
Jade checked for a pulse and found it, it was weak but it was there.
The female driver of the Espace was absolutely distraught and the man from the BMW behind her was desperately trying to calm her down.
Jade picked up the girls phone and then while she was attending to her someone handed her a hand bag.
A young man said
“Can I do anything?”
“Yes” she said “in the boot of the blue Clio you’ll find a car rug”
“Ok” he said and off he went.
She stayed with the girl and opened the handbag and looked for ID and found it in the purse, a travel card in the name of Clarissa Yeo.
When the young man returned with the red plaid blanket Jade covered the poor girl’s broken body and continued to monitor her vital signs until the ambulance arrived.
“Hi Jade” Paramedic Sam Liburd said
“Hello Sam, her name is Clarissa Yeo and it’s not looking good”
She quickly did the hand over relaying the pertinent facts and then stood back and let Sam and his partner Andy Mason do their stuff before they loaded her into the ambulance, which was headed for the Downshire.
Jade remained at the scene for about an hour after the ambulance left and gave a full statement to the police, she also sat with the distraught driver until her husband arrived and then she got in her car and got back on her way home.
It was when she had arrived back at her house in Highfinch that she realised she still had the girls mobile phone.
“Shit” she said at the discovery
Jade was starving so she quickly made herself a sandwich before getting changed and getting back in the car.
She ate her sandwich as she drove to the Royal Downshire Hospital and parked in the staff car park.
In the Emergency Department she spoke to the Sister in charge who informed her that the girl had gone straight upstairs for emergency surgery but was now in the intensive care unit.
So Jade thanked her and went upstairs to the ICU.
(Part 03)
In the Emergency Department she spoke to the Sister in charge who informed her that the girl had gone straight upstairs for emergency surgery but was now in the intensive care unit.
So Jade thanked her and went upstairs to the ICU.
“Hello sister” Jade said
“Yes” she replied suspiciously
“It’s Doctor Flowers” she said
“I recognise the name but not the face” Sister Madden replied
“I was looking for a young girl” Jade elaborated to Sister Madden
“A school girl hit by a car”
“Oh yes” Sister said “Are you related?”
“No I witnessed it” she replied “and gave first aid until the ambulance arrived”
“I see, well it’s not good news I’m afraid” the sister said gravely
“Oh no” Jade said and sat down and after a moment or two remembered why she was there.
“I have her mobile phone, she was using it when she stepped into the road I thought I would give it to her family”
“There’s no one here” Said the Sister “her only family are in Hong Kong”
The news hit Jade like a slap in the face.
“Has no one come from the school?” she asked
“No” replied a Doctor
“But they’ve contacted the family” the Sister contributed
“Very big of them” the doctor responded
Jade saw by his name badge he was Ben Steppenbeck
A relatively young man with the same colouring as herself.
“Then Clarissa is dying then?” Jade said
“Yes” he replied “and it’s unlikely her parents will reach us before she does”
“Are the school aware of that fact?” she asked and the doctor nodded in response
“Well that just won’t do” Jade said with determination and stood up
“May I use the phone in your office doctor?”
“Who do you want to call?” he asked
“The headmistress” she replied “Do you have a number Sister?”
“Yes” she replied and handed her a scrap of paper “her name is Hardacre, and she’s really stuck up”
“You can use my office on one condition” the doctor said
“What’s that?” she replied expecting a proposition
“That I can listen in” he said
“Done” she said
They went into his office and she sat in the chair and putting the phone on speaker she dialled the number.
Meanwhile Dr Steppenbeck closed the door and set his mobile phone on the desk.
“Kettlewell Hill!” a woman answered
“Mrs Hardacre please” Jade said
“I think you mean Ms Hardacre” she responded in monotone
“Yes” she replied
“And you are?”
“Doctor Flowers, Downshire Hospital”
The line went dead momentarily before another woman’s voice said
“Ms Hardacre speaking”
“I’m Doctor Flowers from the Downshire” Jade said
“Oh yes” she responded flatly
“You understand the seriousness of Clarissa’s condition? And that it’s unlikely she will last the night, and certainly won’t live long enough for her parents to see her alive?” Jade asked at length
“Yes it’s very tragic” the headmistress replied
“We were wondering when the schools representative would be arriving to sit with her for her final hours” she said
“The school isn’t sending anyone” Ms Hardacre responded with surprise.
(Part 04)
“The school isn’t sending anyone” Ms Hardacre responded with surprise.
“Why not?” Jade responded
“It’s not our responsibility” Hardacre replied
“That’s a disgraceful attitude” Jade said angrily
“She is one of your charges, she is your responsibility, whatever happened to “in loco parentis”“
“The girl was not on school property at the time of the accident”
The headmistress interrupted
“And she didn’t have permission to be outside”
“So she got what she deserved? Is that what you’re saying” Jade said red with rage
“Well it wouldn’t have happened would it if she had remained in school?” Hardacre replied
“So you take their money and then wash your hands of them” Jade said crossly
“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer” She said
“So I take it you won’t send anyone?” she asked
“That’s correct” the headmistress replied
“You’ll let her die alone?” Jade asked “What about pastoral care?”
“We don’t molly coddle at Kettlewell Hill” she answered
“What faith is she?” Jade demanded
“What? I’ve no idea” she replied
“Then check your records and find out” Jade barked
“Who are you to give me orders” she said affronted
“Listen Ms Hardarse” Jade snapped, deliberately mispronouncing her name
“Clarissa will be dead by morning and she should have the benefit of her faith at the time of her passing”
“Very well” she said and tutted
“A few moments later” she returned.
“Christian” she said flatly “Anglican”
“I would like to tell the parents when I see them, what a great support you have been” Jade said
“But I can’t because you’ve been no bloody help at all and I will be giving them a detailed account of how you have catastrophically failed in you duty of care to a young child in your charge”
“How dare you threaten me, you jumped up little tart” She said angrily
“This school has a lot of friends to deal with the likes of you”
And then Hardacre hung up.
“How rude” Jade said “I hadn’t finished with her by a long chalk”
“What a bitch” Dr Steppenbeck added and picked up the phone he’d laid on the table.
“That was brilliant” he added and tapped a couple of keys and then the phone emitted the following
““Kettlewell Hill!”
“Mrs Hardacre please”
“I think you mean Ms Hardacre”“
“You recorded it?” Jade said and Peter nodded
“I wish I’d thought of that” she said
“Not to worry” he said “give me your number and I’ll send you the file”
“Oh yes! Is that your normal ploy to get Doctors phone numbers?” Jade said tongue in cheek
“No I’m serious, it might come in handy if the old cow sets her powerful friends on you” he said
(Part 05)
Jade went to the hospital chapel to see the chaplain but she was told he was already performing the last rights on an elderly patient.
So she left a message for Reverend John Stadius and then Jade decided she could not let Clarissa end her life alone so she volunteered to sit at her bedside until the end.
So she sat and held the hand of the poor young girl who but for a moments loss of concentration would have had a life full of infinite possibilities.
At around 2.30am Reverend John Stadius quietly entered the room.
He was a rather tall man in his forties, they briefly made eye contact and he smiled at Jade.
No words were exchanged, Rev Stadius just went straight into his well-practised ritual.
It was less than an hour later when the candle light of a twelve year old girl was snuffed out and Mr and Mrs Yeo would have a child to mourn.
The door to the on call room opened and Jade quietly entered but
Ben Steppenbeck was not in the bed and then she heard footsteps in the corridor and she turned around to find him standing there.
“She’s gone” she said and threw herself at him and burst into tears.
He held her in his arms for ten minutes or so until she had composed herself.
“I’m sorry about that” she said as she dried her eyes “I’m normally more together than this”
“It’s fine really” he insisted “It shows that you care”
“I’m so angry” she said
Stating that she was angry was actually a gross understatement she was also overwhelmed with sadness that the schoolgirl, a boarder at Kettlewell hill girls school, that Jade had seen hit and mortally wounded by a car had been so disgracefully let down.
The girl’s parents were in Hong Kong at the time and they were not expected to arrive in the UK before the girl passed.
Jade was horrified that a twelve year old girl was going to die alone and she was further angered by the fact that the girls school weren’t prepared to send anyone to be with Clarissa as she slipped away.
It was Jade who sat with her through the night and was holding her hand as she died.
She really wanted to tell the Yeo’s how appallingly the school had behaved to Clarissa, but couldn’t bring herself to impose on their grief.
So she decided instead to try to get the interest of the newspapers but even the “Sunday News” a paper known less than affectionately as the “Sunday Screws” brushed her off.
Ben Steppenbeck gave her the name of a well-respected freelance journalist, Bob Philips who was renowned for being tenacious and he took all the information, a copy of the medical file, a sworn statement by the attending physician, Dr Steppenbeck, and most damning of all the recording of the telephone conversation with the headmistress Ms Hardacre.
Bob gratefully took the information and wrote a very hard hitting story but even he was unsuccessful and was blocked at every turn.
When he told Jade of his failure the words of the headmistress Ms Hardacre echoed in her head.
“This school has a lot of friends to deal with the likes of you”
And clearly those friends were being well employed.
So it appeared that she had failed Clarissa because she didn’t have any wealthy or powerful friends of her own to employ.
(Part 06)
So it appeared to Jade that she had failed Clarissa because she didn’t have any wealthy or powerful friends of her own to employ.
But she only thought that because she wasn’t fully appraised of the facts.
Ben Steppenbeck had become her ally in the quest to expose Ms Hardacre and Kettlewell Hill School, but that was partly because he had fallen in love with the sparky little firebrand, with the smell of injustice in her nostrils.
But what cemented his feeling for her was the comforting hug she sought from him in the minutes after the girl’s death.
Having watched her efforts fails with the media Ben knew he had the solution to her problem which might well have secured her love for him, but it would come at great cost.
Because the solution to Jades problem was Ben’s father Edwin Steppenbeck.
He and his father had first fallen out when Ben chose medicine as a career rather than following in his father’s footsteps but their estrangement hardened after his mother Amanda died and they hadn’t spoken for 5 years when he and Jade were shown into Edwin’s study by the butler.
Edwin Steppenbeck was a very wealthy and powerful man, good looking like his son and for a man in his early sixties he was slim and athletic looking he might even have been described as elegant.
“Hello Father” he said as the butler closed the door
“Well this is a surprise” Edwin said “You must be desperate, so what is it? Have you knocked her up?”
“Excuse me” Jade snapped “I’m actually here”
“She’s a feisty one I’ll give you that” Edwin said
“I’m still here” she snapped
“I am right in saying that you are the reason my son has deigned to visit me?” he said
“I am” she agreed
“Well all I can say is that he must have the strongest possible feeling for you to come here” Edwin said and Jade looked at Ben who was looking at the floor.
“Yes and I can tell you that those feeling are more than a little reciprocated” Jade retorted raising herself up to her full five foot one.
“I’m glad to hear it” Edwin said “Despite his stubbornness, he is steadfast and loyal”
Ben looked up at his father and a smile passed between them, not a bridge building smile, but a “we know there is a bridge” kind of smile.
They sat in Edwin’s study and Jade made an impassioned plea for help.
And explained about how she wanted to give the story to the papers and the way it was being blocked by powerful friends of the school.
Then she played him the recording of the conversation with the headmistress.
“No one at that school cared enough about that poor girl” she said “they were heartless”
“Which journalist did you give the story to?” he asked
“Bob Philips” she replied
“I know Bob, he’s a good man and if he says he’s being blocked then he is being blocked” James said “and someone is definitely using their influence”
He paused for a moment and then said
“However I own the Sunday News”
So when everything was settled, Edwin and his son shook hands and Jade kissed his cheek.
“I like this girl Ben” Edwin said “and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of her”
When they were outside by the car she said
“Why didn’t you tell me how you felt?”
“Because I didn’t want to scare you away” he replied
“You could never do that” Jade said and kissed him and his father was smiling as he looked on from his study window.
A week later the Sunday News ran a story on the front page headlined “Scandalous Neglect at Kettlewell Hill”
Jade was doubly pleased because as a result of the expose the story snowballed day by day and the school haemorrhaged pupils from the moment the story broke with an almost perpetual stream of angry parents picking up their charges .
The headmistress Ms Hardacre had been sacked by the school governors but the papers wouldn’t let it go and fresh revelations about her surfaced in each subsequent addition.
Jade felt no pity for her though, justice had been served.
The main reason for her happiness however was that she was in love and Ben Steppenbeck loved her back and after only a few weeks he proposed to her.
Tuesday, 21 March 2017
Monday, 20 March 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (21) Love at a Trot
(Part 01)
28 year old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe lived in Dulcet St Mary in the house where she nursed her sick mother through the final years of her life.
She had always loved horses and as relief from nursing her mum she began giving riding lessons to some of the local children, which grew over time into a riding school which in May she moved from Dulcet St Mary to Copper Beech Farm.
But there was one thing she loved more that horses and that was Dr Elliott Browning but she was unable to do anything about that.
But when there was a fire at the stables she was using that necessitated moving to Copper Beach Farm the domino run of fate began.
It was earlier in the month of May when Anthony Holmes drove into the cobbled yard of Copper Beech Farm, it wasn’t a big yard as farm yards go but it was a very neat and tidy one.
And its tidiness was in stark contrast to how it had looked when he was there on his previous visit after his estranged father’s funeral.
All the clutter that had littered the yard was gone, the mud that caked the cobbles had been washed away and the flaked and peeling paintwork had been completely replaced with gleaming white gloss, guttering had been repaired or replaced and it was as if he was on a different farm.
The reason for this remarkable transformation, was the tall 22 year old skinny waif with pixie cut straw coloured hair climbing down a ladder to greet him, Charlotte Clode.
Although there was no inkling of it on their first meeting they were married by the time his first year on the farm was up.
Charlotte liked Old Mr. Holmes in fact she loved John Holmes like she was her father and she didn’t take to her new employer at all.
She felt a deep resentment towards Anthony Holmes because she really loved the farm.
She started working at the farm straight from school when she was 16 years of age only a few months after the final argument between John and his son.
Bitter words were exchanged between Anthony and his father the last time that had seen each other when both gave their points of view with great vehemence.
He had inherited the farm against his father’s wishes because in the five years following their last meeting he had neglected to disinherit his son from his will.
Charlotte had no idea that John had intended settling his estate on her, if she had she might have had an even greater resentment.
There was another reason why she liked John so much and that was because he was a teetotaller because Charlotte had grown up with alcoholic parents.
It had taken some months for Anthony to make up his mind about what to do with his inheritance.
But in the meantime he kept Charlotte on to look after the farm house and care for the horses, which were his father’s passion, and the love of horses was just about the only thing Anthony had in common with his dad.
(Part 02)
As Anthony wanted to take some time to weigh up his options he instructed his solicitor to rent out the majority of the surrounding land to neighbouring farms, which was quite substantial, though underworked.
The idea being it would give him an income which would at least cover any running costs for the farm as well as maintenance.
Charlotte raised additional revenue at the farm by renting out the empty stables, one to a man from Dulcets Green, Luke Barrowman, and a further six to Lynda Radcliffe, who had previously had a riding school in Dulcet St Mary, but the stables she was using burnt down, so she stabled them at Copper Beech in the short term.
Anthony’s first act as the incumbent was to offer Charlotte the job of Farm Manager and her first act after accepting was to do a deal with Lynda Radcliffe to run her riding school from the farm.
Anthony knew Lynda, she was a rotund redhead who he had known for years, they had even dated briefly when they were at school and he knew her working out of the farm would be a good fit.
Lynda was an exceptionally good riding instructor and her success brought her many pupils and she was able to employ a number of village girls to look after the horses.
Copper Beech Farm is in the Dulcets, the Dulcets consisting of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to name but a few, and it had been pretty much vacant for several months when 28 year old Anthony Holmes, a tall slight figure with sandy hair and hazel eyes, arrived as the reluctant incumbent.
He was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek and a fairly successful one.
The farm had belonged to his estranged father who never got over the fact that his son had no desire to follow in his Dad’s footsteps.
He tried to explain that his talents lay in a different direction but his father couldn’t see his fascination with computers and thought that he would be wasting his life on his hobby.
Despite his father’s reservations Anthony had made a successful career of it.
He had pretty much everything he needed at Copper Beech and he was happier than he had been for several years and as the weeks past Anthony was very pleased with his decision to put Charlotte in charge, she had the farm running as smooth as silk which allowed him to concentrate on his work which revolved around his computer which was on his desk in front of his study window so when he looked up he could look out at the real world and when he did he liked what he saw.
In his quieter moments he liked to watch Charlotte busying around the yard with her gangly gait or he sat and talked a lot with his old friend Lynda Radcliffe.
They talked a lot about their childhood, relationships, computers and horses, just about everything really.
(Part 03)
Having moved the riding school up to Copper Beach Farm another of fates dominoes toppled.
One day when she was sitting on the bench in the yard talking to Anthony that it happened.
The moment at which everything changed for the three of them without them even knowing.
Charlotte Clode appeared from the stable block looking more lethargic and leggy than was the norm.
She was walking towards them or at least towards the farmhouse with some paperwork for the office but when she got closer Anthony noticed a pallor to her countenance.
“Are you alright?” he asked with concern
“I’m fine” she replied unconvincingly
“You don’t look it?” Lynda added
“I’m fi…” she began and fainted into Anthony’s arms
Anthony guided Charlotte’s limp skinny frame onto the bench and tried to revive her.
“My God she’s burning up” He said as he touched her cheek
“I have something in my bag that will bring her round” Lynda said
“What is it smelling salts?”
“No Horse liniment” she replied
He removed the cap and held it under Charlotte’s nose and she came around in a few seconds but she wasn’t with it at all and she began shivering…
“She has a proper fever” Lynda said
“I’m not surprised she got soaked to the skin yesterday” Anthony said
“Let’s get her to bed”
“Ok” Lynda said and took two steps towards the stables until Anthony said
“Let’s get her into my bed, there’s an en suite in my room”
Anthony helped Charlotte up to his bedroom and laid her on the bed then he took her boots and socks off, next they sat her up again and slipped her overalls straps off her shoulders and as she got her to her feet the dungarees fell to the floor, then as Lynda pulled back the duvet and they had her ready to lay down she suddenly got a burst of energy and started to resist.
“Don’t make a fuss” she insisted “I told you I’m fine”
So he let go of her but after a few moments she went a bit wobbly so he sat her on the bed again.
“Fine are you?” he said crossly
“There’s a thermometer in the bathroom cabinet” he said to Lynda who duly obliged and when she returned he switched it on, zeroed the reading and put it in her mouth, a moment later he removed it.
“You’re fine are you?” he said “just below 104, now get into bed”
Charlotte reluctantly complied.
While Lynda finished settling her into bed Anthony went downstairs and phoned the doctor.
He phoned the Doctors surgery in Purplemere, and after a lengthy interrogation by the SS trained receptionist he was finally put through to a Doctor Browning.
“Have you taken her temperature?” he asked
“Yes its 104”
“Ok give her paracetamol for the fever, keep her warm and give her plenty of fluids and I will call in this evening” the doctor said
(Part 04)
Anthony went back upstairs with a jug of water and some tablets just as Lynda was leaving the room.
“What did they say?” she asked
“Paracetamol, fluids and sleep” he replied “and a house call later”
“Really which one?”
“This one obviously” he replied and laughed
“Very funny” she said “Which doctor?”
“Dr Browning” he replied
“Really, Elliott?”
“Yes, is he a good one?” he asked
“I don’t know about professionally” she replied “but he could give me a bed bath any day of the week”
“Oh it’s like that is it?” he said “You’d better make sure you’re here when he calls then, come for dinner”
“Ok I’ll bring Pizza” she replied
Lynda Radcliffe had been in love with Elliott Browning from the first moment they met during her mother’s illness and although she wasn’t sure she believed that her feelings were reciprocated.
Lynda made no secret of her feelings to everyone other than him, when she was in his presence she turned into a gibbering idiot.
It occurred to Anthony as he sat at the bedside of the sleeping Charlotte that she would probably be properly dressed when she saw the doctor.
She lived across the yard in a converted part of the stable block which had a bedroom, a sitting room with a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower so he let himself in and got her some suitable items.
Having the appropriate items in hand however presented him with another problem, how was he going to get her into them?
The answer to the problem was Lynda Radcliffe, he simply phoned Lynda and explained his dilemma and she agreed she would come to the farm early, but that she wouldn’t have time to get the pizza.
“Don’t worry I’ll cook” he said
So Anthony divided his time that afternoon between checking on Charlotte and cooking dinner.
While Anthony divided his time that afternoon between checking on Charlotte and cooking dinner Lynda spent it making the most of herself for Elliott’s benefit.
She waxed, powered and painted, buffed, curled and plucked and spent an hour carefully selecting her wardrobe.
And by four thirty she looked in the mirror and deemed herself good to go.
Lynda arrived at the farm just after 5 o’clock, looking a little over dressed for the occasion and went straight upstairs to redress the patient and she was still up there when Anthony heard someone at the front door.
It was Doctor Browning, a tall, broad, jovial looking man in his early thirties.
“Mr Holmes?” he said
“How’s the patient?”
“Still burning up” he replied
“Ok show me the way” he said somewhat concerned so Anthony led him up the stairs and when they reached the landing Lynda was just leaving the bedroom.
“Oh Lynda Radcliffe, what a lovely surprise” the Doctor said
“Oh hello Doctor”
“Call me Elliott”
Lynda then showed him in and Anthony went back to the kitchen.
(Part 05)
Dr Browning came downstairs a little happier than when he went up even though Charlottes temperature hadn’t yet broken.
He was satisfied she wasn’t getting any worse for the time being anyway, but if it got onto her chest he would prescribe antibiotics.
But he hoped the fever would break over the following 48 hours.
“She’s awake now” Elliott said as he walked into the kitchen
“And would love a cup of tea”
“Ok I’ll take one up” Anthony responded
“I say something smells delicious” he said
“It’s only Pasticcio” Anthony said “You are welcome to join us”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Good food and even better company” he said looking at Lynda as he said company “but alas I have a full list”
“Another time perhaps” Anthony suggested
“That would be lovely, don’t you think Lynda” he asked
“Oh yes indeed yes” she blurted out a little flustered
After the Doctor had left Anthony went upstairs to check on Charlotte and took her up a cup of tea but she had drifted off to sleep again so he left the tea on the bedside table.
“My God has he got it bad” Anthony said when he returned down stairs,
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently
“I mean I felt like a gooseberry” he said “As soon as he saw you that was all he could see”
“Oh you do exaggerate” Lynda said
“And he was flirting outrageously and he wasn’t flirting with me”
Anthony pointed out
“So what’s holding you back?”
“Well…” she began
“Look you obviously like him, a lot” he said “And Elliott clearly wants to practise his bedside manner on you, so what’s holding you back?”
“Well you’ve seen him” she said “He’s gorgeous”
“And?”
“Well look at me” she said “I’m just me”
“Are you for real?” he said “I thought Elliott was going to trip over his tongue when he saw you in that dress"
“It’s not just that though” she explained “he’s clever and cultured and so self-assured”
“So are you” he said
“I feel so inadequate in his world” she admitted
“So you need to get him in your world, where he’s the inadequate one” Anthony said
“What do you mean?” she asked
“Get him on horseback” he said
Anthony spent half an hour listening to Lynda explaining why a relationship between her and the Doctor was a non-starter.
After he watched Lynda drive off he drew all the curtains, turned on the lights then he went into the kitchen and boiled the kettle.
He decided there and then that he would do everything in his power to get Lynda and Elliott together.
He made two cups of tea and took them upstairs, Charlotte was still sleeping so he put her cup on the night stand and settled himself into the armchair in the corner, which was probably the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat in.
And while he sat beside Charlotte’s bed and ruminated on Lynda’s problem it never occurred to him that he was falling in love with the girl in his bed.
(Part 06)
Lynda rang his mobile later that evening and promised to call again the next day but in the end he phoned her instead.
“Hello” A cheerful voice answered.
“Lynda! The fever has broken” he said
“Thank God” Lynda responded “is she still sleeping?”
“No” he replied “she’s eating a bacon sandwich”
They both laughed
“I’ve told my girls to look after the horses for a couple of days so she can concentrate on getting better”
“Thanks Lynda I appreciated it” he said “Any thoughts on the other matter?”
“No not yet” she replied
“I’m going to keep asking?” he said
“I know” Lynda said resignedly and then he hung up the phone.
Anthony told Charlotte she was confined to bed for the day and would then be on light duties, much to her annoyance.
“Lynda’s girls have taken care of the horses” he said “so do as you’re told”
She did pretty much as she was told and promised not to do anything strenuous but when she stated her intent to ride her bike to St Mary’s Church he had to step in.
“What’s that if it’s not strenuous” he said crossly “I will drive you to St Mary’s”
“You don’t have to do that” she said
“I insist” he said
“Oh ok” she said with resignation
“You go ahead” he said as they got out of the car, he knew she would want to talk to her friends and probably wouldn’t want to explain why she was attending Church with her employer.
It had been a few years since he last sat in a Church on a Sunday morning, he sat quietly at the back of the church and felt a comforting feeling spread over him, and he hadn’t felt that for a while.
He tried to remember what momentous event in his life made him stop going to church but he couldn’t think of one.
All of a sudden he was aware of someone sitting beside him and he turned to look hoping that it was Charlotte but instead he saw the smiling face of Lynda Radcliffe and he tried not to show his disappointment.
“Hello stranger” she said “I haven’t seen you here before”
“I drove Charlotte” he explained “she was going to cycle”
“Oh I see”
Lynda had guessed that there was more than just concern for a fellow human being where Charlotte was concerned and she was pleased.
After the service Lynda went off to talk to the mother of one of her pupils and Anthony went outside and waited by the lych-gate until Charlotte came out.
When she appeared looking a little pale.
“You were right” she said when she got in the passenger seat “I wouldn’t have been able to cycle home, I’m pooped”
Anthony just smiled and drove towards home she lasted about half a mile before she went to sleep.
When they got back to the farm he lifted her out of the car and carried her into the house and lay her on the sofa and covered her with a throw.
(Part 07)
Over the following months Anthony became a regular congregant at St Mary’s after the first time he drove Charlotte there in September but although he offered every week to take her she only accepted when the weather was particularly bad.
The closeness between him and Charlotte continued to grow but it took until December before they finally got together and even then it took a fall from the Hay loft, a bubble bath, a thunderstorm and some nagging from Lynda to achieve.
It was Lynda who found Charlotte and after they had cleaned her up Lynda and Anthony were sitting in the kitchen, while Charlotte was in the bath, where they sat silently at the table and continued to drink their coffee until Lynda finally broke the silence
Lynda finally broke the silence
“How long?”
“How long what” he replied
“You and Charlotte” she said in a sisterly tone “and don’t deny it”
He remained silent
“Come on then out with it how long have you been in love with her” she insisted
“Since the first time I saw her” he said “But…”
“But what?” she pressed and he went on to explain how things had stalled between them.
“Well I know one thing for sure” she said “Charlotte is in love with you”
“Is she?” he asked
“Of course she is you idiot”
“Then why is she holding back?” he asked
“She’s waiting for you to tell her that you love her”
“But I do” he protested “I do love her”
“It’s no good telling me that though is it?” Lynda pointed out “You need to tell her”
Just as Lynda was going back out to the yard he said
“And what about you and Elliott?”
“I’m working on it” she retorted
That night he bit the bullet and told her exactly how he felt and that he wanted her with him always and he proposed, which was the one thing she was waiting to hear, not the proposal in particular but a sign that he was serious about her, but she accepted the proposal anyway.
Once he had declared his love for Charlotte and secured their future he turned his attention to sorting out Lynda’s love life.
Anthony had never been happier than he was that Christmas so on New Year’s Day he made a resolution.
Lynda had helped him with Charlotte and as she was dragging her heels in regard to Elliott he was determined to help her, whether she wanted him to or not and so he decided to rope in Charlotte as well.
“Get him on horseback” was Anthony’s advice to Lynda in the previous September and she had agreed, but she had not acted on his advice.
And it wasn’t as if there hadn’t been opportunities he had seen them together at her house on bonfire night, New Year’s Eve and half a dozen times at church in the run up to Christmas and witnessed her abject failure to do anything about it.
(Part 08)
It was a few days after Anthony made his resolution when he had risen early and decided to go to the stables and surprise Charlotte.
She was always up early to muck out and since they got together he had got used to the fact that she would slip out of his bed in the darkness and he would not see her again until mid-morning.
He walked across the yard and spotted a girl walking a horse out of the stable, the girl was Charlotte.
“Blimey is everything ok?” she asked when she saw him and then she felt his brow.
“Have you got a fever?”
“Very funny” he retorted “You’re not too big to get a spank you know”
“Promises, promises” she taunted
“So what got you out of that nice warm bed?” she asked
“I thought I would come and give you a hand and then when we’ve finished we can go for a ride” he said
“Really?” Charlotte asked
“Yes” he said “I thought it would be nice and we’ve never ridden together”
“I’d love that” she said “Grab a shovel”
It was nine o’clock when they finished cleaning the stables and feeding the horses and by the time they had changed and then saddled the horses, it was an hour later when they rode out of the yard in bright sunshine and under a clear blue sky.
In fact it had been such a beautiful morning that they rode considerably further and longer than they had originally intended so on the way back to the stables they decided to walk the horse’s part of the way to rest them a little.
So as they were walking down the Mornington road, both spattered in mud, Anthony said.
“I think it’s time for an intervention”
“For what?”
“We need to intercede on Lynda’s behalf”
“You mean her and the jolly doctor?” she said
“Exactly”
“I don’t know what’s holding them back” he said and then he went on to divulge the content of a conversation they had while Charlotte was in bed with a bad fever.
Where she explained her reasons for holding back, about her feeling inadequate in his world and his suggestion to interact with him in her world where he would feel inadequate.
Hence his advice of getting him on horseback.
“That’s a good idea” she agreed
“But how do we accomplish it?” he asked
“We could offer him a free riding lesson” she suggested “As a thank you”
“Brilliant idea” he said
“There’s no need to sound surprised” she said indignantly
“You are brilliant in so many ways” he said “I am just surprised when you show me another one”
“Good save” she said and smiled
“And now I’m going to be even more brilliant” she said smugly and suggest a course of lessons, say half a dozen just to be on the safe side”
(Part 09)
After moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from strength to strength.
So much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to 9 and in addition to her short term girls she employed an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage things at the yard for her.
Hazel had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony so she was able to live on site in the converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very well.
It was a very significant moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to her future with Anthony.
But Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to unite Lynda and Elliott.
Hazel had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved happiness more than her.
Hazel was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
As time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and he was able to her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange he didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest expenditure she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
Despite having Hazel on board there was still a problem however as when Hazel checked the diary the earliest slot was at the beginning of March.
They booked the 6 lessons anyway and looked on the bright side, it would at least give them more time to get their ducks in a row.
They had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as a thank you for the treatment she received when Charlotte was struck down with a very nasty fever.
The reason for the lapse between the act of professional kindness and the presentation of the gift was explained away by virtue of the fact that she needed to save up.
They decided not to present the gift to him at the surgery and chose instead a less formal location.
Namely in the village of Dulcet St Mary, he lived in the village and he was known to be a creature of habit.
So knowing that on a Sunday Morning he would walk to the corner shop at 7.00 am Charlotte laid in wait and as he left the shop she cycled up beside him.
“Hello Doctor” she said
“Oh hello, Charlotte isn’t it?”
“Yes that’s right” she said “I’m glad I bumped into you, I wanted to give you this”
She took an envelope from her pocket and handed it to him hoping that the most difficult part of the operation wasn’t going to be getting Dr Browning to accept the gift.
“What is it?” he asked
“Open it” she said
He opened the envelope and read the contents.
“That’s very kind but I can’t accept this” he said
“But you must” she insisted “I’m really grateful to you”
“No you don’t understand I can’t accept this because I don’t ride, well I can’t ride if truth be told”
“Well that’s kind of the point” she said, the riding lessons are so you can learn to ride”
“But I don’t like horses” he whispered “I find them a bit scary”
“Oh dear, Lynda will be disappointed” she said
“Lynda?” he asked with a raised eyebrow
“Yes the lessons are with Lynda Radcliffe” Charlotte explained
“Are they?” he mused
(Part 10)
Hazel Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They had booked Elliott in as the last one of the day in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
After she and Hazel had the horse ready she walked the mare out into the yard and as she turned the corner she realized her pupil was Elliott Browning.
“Hello” he said
“Elliott!” Lynda exclaimed “is someone ill?”
“No I’m here for my lesson” Doctor Browning said and the tall, broad, and ordinarily jovial looking man in his early thirties suddenly looked small and childlike.
“I didn’t know it was you” she said
“Didn’t you?” he said and laughed nervously.
“Are you ok?” She asked
“Well to tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous” he confessed
“Nervous? You?” she asked
“Terrified to be precise” he confessed
“Well I’ll try not to break you then” she said and for the first time since she had known him she felt like his equal.
She helped him to mount the grey mare and then Lynda took a deep breath and led horse and rider across the yard and out to the paddock while Anthony, Charlotte and Hazel watched from a safe distance and congratulated each other on their cleverness.
It wasn’t a long lesson, or at least it wasn’t supposed to be that long, but they had certainly been a lot longer than they expected but none of the three conspirator’s wanted to jinx it by going and checking on how thing were going.
When they eventually returned they were both laughing and Elliott was sweating profusely and when Lynda made eye contact with Anthony, she blushed.
“So far so good” Anthony said
But then Elliott got in his car and Lynda returned the horse to the stable and Hazel trotted after the two of them.
An hour later Anthony collared her as she walked towards her car.
“So how did it go?”
“How did what go?” she asked playing innocent
“Don’t go all coy on me” he said “you and Elliott, how did it go?”
“He wasn’t bad for a novice” she said and got in the car.
Elliott’s next lesson was three days later and this time Anthony and Charlotte didn’t hang around to watch they decided to take the horses out for a short ride.
It had been such a beautiful afternoon when they left but the weather got considerably bleaker as it wore on and so they made the ride much shorter than they originally intended.
On the way back to the stables they paused beside the paddock and were surprised to find it empty.
They looked at each other and dismounted, they hadn’t been that long so they should still have been there.
They walked the horses back to the yard from there and when they passed the barn they could see the big jovial doctor locked in a passionate embrace with Lynda.
“Hello you two” Anthony shouted “We were expecting you to still be in the paddock”.
The couple instantly separated and a blushing Lynda said
“It got a bit cold”
“It’s a bit hotter in the barn I’m guessing” he said and he and Charlotte laughed as they headed towards the stable.
It appeared that the love between them which had been barely a trot for so many years had suddenly run away at a gallop.
28 year old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe lived in Dulcet St Mary in the house where she nursed her sick mother through the final years of her life.
She had always loved horses and as relief from nursing her mum she began giving riding lessons to some of the local children, which grew over time into a riding school which in May she moved from Dulcet St Mary to Copper Beech Farm.
But there was one thing she loved more that horses and that was Dr Elliott Browning but she was unable to do anything about that.
But when there was a fire at the stables she was using that necessitated moving to Copper Beach Farm the domino run of fate began.
It was earlier in the month of May when Anthony Holmes drove into the cobbled yard of Copper Beech Farm, it wasn’t a big yard as farm yards go but it was a very neat and tidy one.
And its tidiness was in stark contrast to how it had looked when he was there on his previous visit after his estranged father’s funeral.
All the clutter that had littered the yard was gone, the mud that caked the cobbles had been washed away and the flaked and peeling paintwork had been completely replaced with gleaming white gloss, guttering had been repaired or replaced and it was as if he was on a different farm.
The reason for this remarkable transformation, was the tall 22 year old skinny waif with pixie cut straw coloured hair climbing down a ladder to greet him, Charlotte Clode.
Although there was no inkling of it on their first meeting they were married by the time his first year on the farm was up.
Charlotte liked Old Mr. Holmes in fact she loved John Holmes like she was her father and she didn’t take to her new employer at all.
She felt a deep resentment towards Anthony Holmes because she really loved the farm.
She started working at the farm straight from school when she was 16 years of age only a few months after the final argument between John and his son.
Bitter words were exchanged between Anthony and his father the last time that had seen each other when both gave their points of view with great vehemence.
He had inherited the farm against his father’s wishes because in the five years following their last meeting he had neglected to disinherit his son from his will.
Charlotte had no idea that John had intended settling his estate on her, if she had she might have had an even greater resentment.
There was another reason why she liked John so much and that was because he was a teetotaller because Charlotte had grown up with alcoholic parents.
It had taken some months for Anthony to make up his mind about what to do with his inheritance.
But in the meantime he kept Charlotte on to look after the farm house and care for the horses, which were his father’s passion, and the love of horses was just about the only thing Anthony had in common with his dad.
(Part 02)
As Anthony wanted to take some time to weigh up his options he instructed his solicitor to rent out the majority of the surrounding land to neighbouring farms, which was quite substantial, though underworked.
The idea being it would give him an income which would at least cover any running costs for the farm as well as maintenance.
Charlotte raised additional revenue at the farm by renting out the empty stables, one to a man from Dulcets Green, Luke Barrowman, and a further six to Lynda Radcliffe, who had previously had a riding school in Dulcet St Mary, but the stables she was using burnt down, so she stabled them at Copper Beech in the short term.
Anthony’s first act as the incumbent was to offer Charlotte the job of Farm Manager and her first act after accepting was to do a deal with Lynda Radcliffe to run her riding school from the farm.
Anthony knew Lynda, she was a rotund redhead who he had known for years, they had even dated briefly when they were at school and he knew her working out of the farm would be a good fit.
Lynda was an exceptionally good riding instructor and her success brought her many pupils and she was able to employ a number of village girls to look after the horses.
Copper Beech Farm is in the Dulcets, the Dulcets consisting of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to name but a few, and it had been pretty much vacant for several months when 28 year old Anthony Holmes, a tall slight figure with sandy hair and hazel eyes, arrived as the reluctant incumbent.
He was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek and a fairly successful one.
The farm had belonged to his estranged father who never got over the fact that his son had no desire to follow in his Dad’s footsteps.
He tried to explain that his talents lay in a different direction but his father couldn’t see his fascination with computers and thought that he would be wasting his life on his hobby.
Despite his father’s reservations Anthony had made a successful career of it.
He had pretty much everything he needed at Copper Beech and he was happier than he had been for several years and as the weeks past Anthony was very pleased with his decision to put Charlotte in charge, she had the farm running as smooth as silk which allowed him to concentrate on his work which revolved around his computer which was on his desk in front of his study window so when he looked up he could look out at the real world and when he did he liked what he saw.
In his quieter moments he liked to watch Charlotte busying around the yard with her gangly gait or he sat and talked a lot with his old friend Lynda Radcliffe.
They talked a lot about their childhood, relationships, computers and horses, just about everything really.
(Part 03)
Having moved the riding school up to Copper Beach Farm another of fates dominoes toppled.
One day when she was sitting on the bench in the yard talking to Anthony that it happened.
The moment at which everything changed for the three of them without them even knowing.
Charlotte Clode appeared from the stable block looking more lethargic and leggy than was the norm.
She was walking towards them or at least towards the farmhouse with some paperwork for the office but when she got closer Anthony noticed a pallor to her countenance.
“Are you alright?” he asked with concern
“I’m fine” she replied unconvincingly
“You don’t look it?” Lynda added
“I’m fi…” she began and fainted into Anthony’s arms
Anthony guided Charlotte’s limp skinny frame onto the bench and tried to revive her.
“My God she’s burning up” He said as he touched her cheek
“I have something in my bag that will bring her round” Lynda said
“What is it smelling salts?”
“No Horse liniment” she replied
He removed the cap and held it under Charlotte’s nose and she came around in a few seconds but she wasn’t with it at all and she began shivering…
“She has a proper fever” Lynda said
“I’m not surprised she got soaked to the skin yesterday” Anthony said
“Let’s get her to bed”
“Ok” Lynda said and took two steps towards the stables until Anthony said
“Let’s get her into my bed, there’s an en suite in my room”
Anthony helped Charlotte up to his bedroom and laid her on the bed then he took her boots and socks off, next they sat her up again and slipped her overalls straps off her shoulders and as she got her to her feet the dungarees fell to the floor, then as Lynda pulled back the duvet and they had her ready to lay down she suddenly got a burst of energy and started to resist.
“Don’t make a fuss” she insisted “I told you I’m fine”
So he let go of her but after a few moments she went a bit wobbly so he sat her on the bed again.
“Fine are you?” he said crossly
“There’s a thermometer in the bathroom cabinet” he said to Lynda who duly obliged and when she returned he switched it on, zeroed the reading and put it in her mouth, a moment later he removed it.
“You’re fine are you?” he said “just below 104, now get into bed”
Charlotte reluctantly complied.
While Lynda finished settling her into bed Anthony went downstairs and phoned the doctor.
He phoned the Doctors surgery in Purplemere, and after a lengthy interrogation by the SS trained receptionist he was finally put through to a Doctor Browning.
“Have you taken her temperature?” he asked
“Yes its 104”
“Ok give her paracetamol for the fever, keep her warm and give her plenty of fluids and I will call in this evening” the doctor said
(Part 04)
Anthony went back upstairs with a jug of water and some tablets just as Lynda was leaving the room.
“What did they say?” she asked
“Paracetamol, fluids and sleep” he replied “and a house call later”
“Really which one?”
“This one obviously” he replied and laughed
“Very funny” she said “Which doctor?”
“Dr Browning” he replied
“Really, Elliott?”
“Yes, is he a good one?” he asked
“I don’t know about professionally” she replied “but he could give me a bed bath any day of the week”
“Oh it’s like that is it?” he said “You’d better make sure you’re here when he calls then, come for dinner”
“Ok I’ll bring Pizza” she replied
Lynda Radcliffe had been in love with Elliott Browning from the first moment they met during her mother’s illness and although she wasn’t sure she believed that her feelings were reciprocated.
Lynda made no secret of her feelings to everyone other than him, when she was in his presence she turned into a gibbering idiot.
It occurred to Anthony as he sat at the bedside of the sleeping Charlotte that she would probably be properly dressed when she saw the doctor.
She lived across the yard in a converted part of the stable block which had a bedroom, a sitting room with a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower so he let himself in and got her some suitable items.
Having the appropriate items in hand however presented him with another problem, how was he going to get her into them?
The answer to the problem was Lynda Radcliffe, he simply phoned Lynda and explained his dilemma and she agreed she would come to the farm early, but that she wouldn’t have time to get the pizza.
“Don’t worry I’ll cook” he said
So Anthony divided his time that afternoon between checking on Charlotte and cooking dinner.
While Anthony divided his time that afternoon between checking on Charlotte and cooking dinner Lynda spent it making the most of herself for Elliott’s benefit.
She waxed, powered and painted, buffed, curled and plucked and spent an hour carefully selecting her wardrobe.
And by four thirty she looked in the mirror and deemed herself good to go.
Lynda arrived at the farm just after 5 o’clock, looking a little over dressed for the occasion and went straight upstairs to redress the patient and she was still up there when Anthony heard someone at the front door.
It was Doctor Browning, a tall, broad, jovial looking man in his early thirties.
“Mr Holmes?” he said
“How’s the patient?”
“Still burning up” he replied
“Ok show me the way” he said somewhat concerned so Anthony led him up the stairs and when they reached the landing Lynda was just leaving the bedroom.
“Oh Lynda Radcliffe, what a lovely surprise” the Doctor said
“Oh hello Doctor”
“Call me Elliott”
Lynda then showed him in and Anthony went back to the kitchen.
(Part 05)
Dr Browning came downstairs a little happier than when he went up even though Charlottes temperature hadn’t yet broken.
He was satisfied she wasn’t getting any worse for the time being anyway, but if it got onto her chest he would prescribe antibiotics.
But he hoped the fever would break over the following 48 hours.
“She’s awake now” Elliott said as he walked into the kitchen
“And would love a cup of tea”
“Ok I’ll take one up” Anthony responded
“I say something smells delicious” he said
“It’s only Pasticcio” Anthony said “You are welcome to join us”
“Nothing would give me greater pleasure, Good food and even better company” he said looking at Lynda as he said company “but alas I have a full list”
“Another time perhaps” Anthony suggested
“That would be lovely, don’t you think Lynda” he asked
“Oh yes indeed yes” she blurted out a little flustered
After the Doctor had left Anthony went upstairs to check on Charlotte and took her up a cup of tea but she had drifted off to sleep again so he left the tea on the bedside table.
“My God has he got it bad” Anthony said when he returned down stairs,
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently
“I mean I felt like a gooseberry” he said “As soon as he saw you that was all he could see”
“Oh you do exaggerate” Lynda said
“And he was flirting outrageously and he wasn’t flirting with me”
Anthony pointed out
“So what’s holding you back?”
“Well…” she began
“Look you obviously like him, a lot” he said “And Elliott clearly wants to practise his bedside manner on you, so what’s holding you back?”
“Well you’ve seen him” she said “He’s gorgeous”
“And?”
“Well look at me” she said “I’m just me”
“Are you for real?” he said “I thought Elliott was going to trip over his tongue when he saw you in that dress"
“It’s not just that though” she explained “he’s clever and cultured and so self-assured”
“So are you” he said
“I feel so inadequate in his world” she admitted
“So you need to get him in your world, where he’s the inadequate one” Anthony said
“What do you mean?” she asked
“Get him on horseback” he said
Anthony spent half an hour listening to Lynda explaining why a relationship between her and the Doctor was a non-starter.
After he watched Lynda drive off he drew all the curtains, turned on the lights then he went into the kitchen and boiled the kettle.
He decided there and then that he would do everything in his power to get Lynda and Elliott together.
He made two cups of tea and took them upstairs, Charlotte was still sleeping so he put her cup on the night stand and settled himself into the armchair in the corner, which was probably the most uncomfortable chair he had ever sat in.
And while he sat beside Charlotte’s bed and ruminated on Lynda’s problem it never occurred to him that he was falling in love with the girl in his bed.
(Part 06)
Lynda rang his mobile later that evening and promised to call again the next day but in the end he phoned her instead.
“Hello” A cheerful voice answered.
“Lynda! The fever has broken” he said
“Thank God” Lynda responded “is she still sleeping?”
“No” he replied “she’s eating a bacon sandwich”
They both laughed
“I’ve told my girls to look after the horses for a couple of days so she can concentrate on getting better”
“Thanks Lynda I appreciated it” he said “Any thoughts on the other matter?”
“No not yet” she replied
“I’m going to keep asking?” he said
“I know” Lynda said resignedly and then he hung up the phone.
Anthony told Charlotte she was confined to bed for the day and would then be on light duties, much to her annoyance.
“Lynda’s girls have taken care of the horses” he said “so do as you’re told”
She did pretty much as she was told and promised not to do anything strenuous but when she stated her intent to ride her bike to St Mary’s Church he had to step in.
“What’s that if it’s not strenuous” he said crossly “I will drive you to St Mary’s”
“You don’t have to do that” she said
“I insist” he said
“Oh ok” she said with resignation
“You go ahead” he said as they got out of the car, he knew she would want to talk to her friends and probably wouldn’t want to explain why she was attending Church with her employer.
It had been a few years since he last sat in a Church on a Sunday morning, he sat quietly at the back of the church and felt a comforting feeling spread over him, and he hadn’t felt that for a while.
He tried to remember what momentous event in his life made him stop going to church but he couldn’t think of one.
All of a sudden he was aware of someone sitting beside him and he turned to look hoping that it was Charlotte but instead he saw the smiling face of Lynda Radcliffe and he tried not to show his disappointment.
“Hello stranger” she said “I haven’t seen you here before”
“I drove Charlotte” he explained “she was going to cycle”
“Oh I see”
Lynda had guessed that there was more than just concern for a fellow human being where Charlotte was concerned and she was pleased.
After the service Lynda went off to talk to the mother of one of her pupils and Anthony went outside and waited by the lych-gate until Charlotte came out.
When she appeared looking a little pale.
“You were right” she said when she got in the passenger seat “I wouldn’t have been able to cycle home, I’m pooped”
Anthony just smiled and drove towards home she lasted about half a mile before she went to sleep.
When they got back to the farm he lifted her out of the car and carried her into the house and lay her on the sofa and covered her with a throw.
(Part 07)
Over the following months Anthony became a regular congregant at St Mary’s after the first time he drove Charlotte there in September but although he offered every week to take her she only accepted when the weather was particularly bad.
The closeness between him and Charlotte continued to grow but it took until December before they finally got together and even then it took a fall from the Hay loft, a bubble bath, a thunderstorm and some nagging from Lynda to achieve.
It was Lynda who found Charlotte and after they had cleaned her up Lynda and Anthony were sitting in the kitchen, while Charlotte was in the bath, where they sat silently at the table and continued to drink their coffee until Lynda finally broke the silence
Lynda finally broke the silence
“How long?”
“How long what” he replied
“You and Charlotte” she said in a sisterly tone “and don’t deny it”
He remained silent
“Come on then out with it how long have you been in love with her” she insisted
“Since the first time I saw her” he said “But…”
“But what?” she pressed and he went on to explain how things had stalled between them.
“Well I know one thing for sure” she said “Charlotte is in love with you”
“Is she?” he asked
“Of course she is you idiot”
“Then why is she holding back?” he asked
“She’s waiting for you to tell her that you love her”
“But I do” he protested “I do love her”
“It’s no good telling me that though is it?” Lynda pointed out “You need to tell her”
Just as Lynda was going back out to the yard he said
“And what about you and Elliott?”
“I’m working on it” she retorted
That night he bit the bullet and told her exactly how he felt and that he wanted her with him always and he proposed, which was the one thing she was waiting to hear, not the proposal in particular but a sign that he was serious about her, but she accepted the proposal anyway.
Once he had declared his love for Charlotte and secured their future he turned his attention to sorting out Lynda’s love life.
Anthony had never been happier than he was that Christmas so on New Year’s Day he made a resolution.
Lynda had helped him with Charlotte and as she was dragging her heels in regard to Elliott he was determined to help her, whether she wanted him to or not and so he decided to rope in Charlotte as well.
“Get him on horseback” was Anthony’s advice to Lynda in the previous September and she had agreed, but she had not acted on his advice.
And it wasn’t as if there hadn’t been opportunities he had seen them together at her house on bonfire night, New Year’s Eve and half a dozen times at church in the run up to Christmas and witnessed her abject failure to do anything about it.
(Part 08)
It was a few days after Anthony made his resolution when he had risen early and decided to go to the stables and surprise Charlotte.
She was always up early to muck out and since they got together he had got used to the fact that she would slip out of his bed in the darkness and he would not see her again until mid-morning.
He walked across the yard and spotted a girl walking a horse out of the stable, the girl was Charlotte.
“Blimey is everything ok?” she asked when she saw him and then she felt his brow.
“Have you got a fever?”
“Very funny” he retorted “You’re not too big to get a spank you know”
“Promises, promises” she taunted
“So what got you out of that nice warm bed?” she asked
“I thought I would come and give you a hand and then when we’ve finished we can go for a ride” he said
“Really?” Charlotte asked
“Yes” he said “I thought it would be nice and we’ve never ridden together”
“I’d love that” she said “Grab a shovel”
It was nine o’clock when they finished cleaning the stables and feeding the horses and by the time they had changed and then saddled the horses, it was an hour later when they rode out of the yard in bright sunshine and under a clear blue sky.
In fact it had been such a beautiful morning that they rode considerably further and longer than they had originally intended so on the way back to the stables they decided to walk the horse’s part of the way to rest them a little.
So as they were walking down the Mornington road, both spattered in mud, Anthony said.
“I think it’s time for an intervention”
“For what?”
“We need to intercede on Lynda’s behalf”
“You mean her and the jolly doctor?” she said
“Exactly”
“I don’t know what’s holding them back” he said and then he went on to divulge the content of a conversation they had while Charlotte was in bed with a bad fever.
Where she explained her reasons for holding back, about her feeling inadequate in his world and his suggestion to interact with him in her world where he would feel inadequate.
Hence his advice of getting him on horseback.
“That’s a good idea” she agreed
“But how do we accomplish it?” he asked
“We could offer him a free riding lesson” she suggested “As a thank you”
“Brilliant idea” he said
“There’s no need to sound surprised” she said indignantly
“You are brilliant in so many ways” he said “I am just surprised when you show me another one”
“Good save” she said and smiled
“And now I’m going to be even more brilliant” she said smugly and suggest a course of lessons, say half a dozen just to be on the safe side”
(Part 09)
After moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from strength to strength.
So much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to 9 and in addition to her short term girls she employed an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage things at the yard for her.
Hazel had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony so she was able to live on site in the converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very well.
It was a very significant moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to her future with Anthony.
But Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to unite Lynda and Elliott.
Hazel had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved happiness more than her.
Hazel was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
As time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and he was able to her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange he didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest expenditure she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
Despite having Hazel on board there was still a problem however as when Hazel checked the diary the earliest slot was at the beginning of March.
They booked the 6 lessons anyway and looked on the bright side, it would at least give them more time to get their ducks in a row.
They had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as a thank you for the treatment she received when Charlotte was struck down with a very nasty fever.
The reason for the lapse between the act of professional kindness and the presentation of the gift was explained away by virtue of the fact that she needed to save up.
They decided not to present the gift to him at the surgery and chose instead a less formal location.
Namely in the village of Dulcet St Mary, he lived in the village and he was known to be a creature of habit.
So knowing that on a Sunday Morning he would walk to the corner shop at 7.00 am Charlotte laid in wait and as he left the shop she cycled up beside him.
“Hello Doctor” she said
“Oh hello, Charlotte isn’t it?”
“Yes that’s right” she said “I’m glad I bumped into you, I wanted to give you this”
She took an envelope from her pocket and handed it to him hoping that the most difficult part of the operation wasn’t going to be getting Dr Browning to accept the gift.
“What is it?” he asked
“Open it” she said
He opened the envelope and read the contents.
“That’s very kind but I can’t accept this” he said
“But you must” she insisted “I’m really grateful to you”
“No you don’t understand I can’t accept this because I don’t ride, well I can’t ride if truth be told”
“Well that’s kind of the point” she said, the riding lessons are so you can learn to ride”
“But I don’t like horses” he whispered “I find them a bit scary”
“Oh dear, Lynda will be disappointed” she said
“Lynda?” he asked with a raised eyebrow
“Yes the lessons are with Lynda Radcliffe” Charlotte explained
“Are they?” he mused
(Part 10)
Hazel Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They had booked Elliott in as the last one of the day in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
After she and Hazel had the horse ready she walked the mare out into the yard and as she turned the corner she realized her pupil was Elliott Browning.
“Hello” he said
“Elliott!” Lynda exclaimed “is someone ill?”
“No I’m here for my lesson” Doctor Browning said and the tall, broad, and ordinarily jovial looking man in his early thirties suddenly looked small and childlike.
“I didn’t know it was you” she said
“Didn’t you?” he said and laughed nervously.
“Are you ok?” She asked
“Well to tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous” he confessed
“Nervous? You?” she asked
“Terrified to be precise” he confessed
“Well I’ll try not to break you then” she said and for the first time since she had known him she felt like his equal.
She helped him to mount the grey mare and then Lynda took a deep breath and led horse and rider across the yard and out to the paddock while Anthony, Charlotte and Hazel watched from a safe distance and congratulated each other on their cleverness.
It wasn’t a long lesson, or at least it wasn’t supposed to be that long, but they had certainly been a lot longer than they expected but none of the three conspirator’s wanted to jinx it by going and checking on how thing were going.
When they eventually returned they were both laughing and Elliott was sweating profusely and when Lynda made eye contact with Anthony, she blushed.
“So far so good” Anthony said
But then Elliott got in his car and Lynda returned the horse to the stable and Hazel trotted after the two of them.
An hour later Anthony collared her as she walked towards her car.
“So how did it go?”
“How did what go?” she asked playing innocent
“Don’t go all coy on me” he said “you and Elliott, how did it go?”
“He wasn’t bad for a novice” she said and got in the car.
Elliott’s next lesson was three days later and this time Anthony and Charlotte didn’t hang around to watch they decided to take the horses out for a short ride.
It had been such a beautiful afternoon when they left but the weather got considerably bleaker as it wore on and so they made the ride much shorter than they originally intended.
On the way back to the stables they paused beside the paddock and were surprised to find it empty.
They looked at each other and dismounted, they hadn’t been that long so they should still have been there.
They walked the horses back to the yard from there and when they passed the barn they could see the big jovial doctor locked in a passionate embrace with Lynda.
“Hello you two” Anthony shouted “We were expecting you to still be in the paddock”.
The couple instantly separated and a blushing Lynda said
“It got a bit cold”
“It’s a bit hotter in the barn I’m guessing” he said and he and Charlotte laughed as they headed towards the stable.
It appeared that the love between them which had been barely a trot for so many years had suddenly run away at a gallop.
Mornington-By-Mere – (21) Can I Borrow a Screwdriver?
(Part 01)
At number 18 Military Row in Mornington, Fergal Spelman was sitting in his armchair enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty house when there was a persistent knock on the front door.
He didn’t hear it initially because he had been enjoying the peace and quiet so much he was actually asleep in his armchair and he was certainly enjoying that.
He did a lot of sleeping in his armchair nowadays it was the by-product of having too much time and too little to occupy it.
Fergal woke with a start and after he had come to his senses he reluctantly got up from his comfy chair and went to answer the door and when he did so there was a smiling girl in a long Turquoise dress standing on the step.
“Hi I’m Charlotte” she announced
“Can I borrow a screwdriver?”
Charlotte had just moved into Military Row, the house next door to his to be exact, number 19.
Strictly speaking calling her a girl was perhaps stretching a point as Charlotte Gibbons was actually forty nine years old and had 4 grown up children but she was a girl in comparison to Fergal who was knocking loudly on the door to his seventh decade.
“Of course you can” he replied “Come in a minute”
“Thank you” she said
“I’m Fergal by the way”
“Pleased to meet you Fergal” she said and smiled again.
Fergal thought she had a very pleasant smile in fact he thought
Charlotte had a very pleasant face, but with sad eyes, not sad like a puppy dog, more the kind of sad that went deep and left a tell-tale impression on her face.
She also had a very nice figure, even taking into consideration the fact she was in her late-forties and had given birth 4 times, not that he knew any of that at the time, but his first impression was a favourable one.
Charlotte herself noted that Fergal was not an unattractive man even if he was a little long in the tooth for her taste, not that it was anything more than a casual observation, his looks even his good looks were immaterial, that was not why she was there, she just wanted to borrow a screwdriver.
So although they both found the other nice to look at there was no instant mutual attraction, no flash of lightning, no fluttering hearts, sighing or a cascade of Mantovani’s violins.
Fergal thought she was an extremely “fit” young woman but he’d always needed more than just mere physical attraction to light his fire.
He had to know the person, like them and preferably love them for true sexual attraction to take hold of him.
Nonetheless looking at an attractive younger woman beat dozing in his armchair hands down so he wasn’t in any hurry to see her leave so he said
“Would you like a coffee while you’re here?”
“Oh yes please” she said
(Part 02)
“Would you like a coffee while you’re here?” he asked
“Oh yes please” she said
“You know I’ve made three drinks today already and I let them all go cold”
Apart from noticing the obvious facts that she was very attractive, had a sublimely attractive smile, sad eyes and didn’t own a screwdriver, he also divined the fact that Charlotte was Jewish as she wore a gold Star of David around her neck.
He also detected that the turquoise dress that she was wearing was a long flowing affair that fitted well around her ample bosom and then hung loosely to the floor, which left a lot to the imagination, which was fine by him because he had an extremely vivid imagination.
After a brief conversation he soon ascertained what task she was doing at home, the dreaded flat pack furniture and what type of screwdriver she required to do it with and a small selection from the tool shed but after having coffee with her he said
“I’m at a bit of a loose end, so why don’t I come and give you a hand”
“No I couldn’t ask you to do that” she protested but was hoping he might volunteer to help her.
“I insist” he said
Fergal had retired from the Mornington brewery and lived alone, his wife had died two years earlier and his two sons had families of their own so he had a lot of time on his hands, a lot of which he seemed to spend asleep in his armchair.
So the prospect of getting out of the house and doing something useful appealed to him greatly.
Although he would have had to admit to an ulterior motive in volunteering his services, other than to alleviate his boredom and that was because his new next door neighbour Charlotte was very pleasing to the eye and although that wasn’t enough in itself to get his motor running, it was a bloody good start, even if he only looked at her as a friend.
And Fergal and Charlotte did become friends, from that first day she asked to borrow a screwdriver and he helped her with assembling flat pack furniture.
He had enjoyed the task and her company so much that he helped her on subsequent days with a variety of other jobs and he felt useful again.
Which was why he came to spend the summer helping Charlotte to decorate her house.
During the redevelopment of Mornington Field her house was used as the site office by the site manager and although it had been redecorated throughout by the Estate before she moved in, it was decorated only in neutral tones, magnolia emulsion and white gloss and one thing Fergal had noticed apart from her figure was that Charlotte was not a neutral tones kind of person, she was a vibrant kind of woman, so she wanted to make her mark, stamp her personality on the place.
(Part 03)
Fergal was happy to help Charlotte, it kept him busy and made him feel useful which gave him fresh energy and a renewed purpose and more opportunities to feast his eyes on her and he would have been content if that was all there was.
Although he wasn’t aware of it at the time, Charlotte enjoyed it too, but for her it was because she was lonely, she missed her boys and felt she wasn’t needed since the youngest one left to join the army.
But she wasn’t the only one because it had occurred to Fergal very early on that he too had been lonely, he just hadn’t realised it until he met her and spent time with her.
While they worked together they got to know each other and eventually he got to find out the reason for the sadness in her eyes.
Charlotte hadn’t given birth to 4 babies as he first thought she had given birth to 5.
Her youngest child was a girl named Ruth who at the age of 8 was struck by a hit and run driver and killed.
“My baby girl was gone” she sobbed “my beautiful baby girl”
Fergal didn’t know what to say, what could he say?
What empty words could he have used to console someone who had lost a child?
No parent should have to bury their children, he felt so inadequate and all he could do was to take her in his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.
He couldn’t take the pain away or stem the flow of tears all he could do was hold her while she sobbed and afterwards listen while she unburdened herself.
In addition to losing her daughter she also lost her husband who decided he could best help his grieving wife by shagging the next door neighbour.
“That’s shit” Fergal said
It was little wonder she was sad and lonely.
As the summer wore on and they completed one room after another they were both secretly dreading finishing the job.
They had done the garden already and the exterior painting was completed by the Estate, so what would they do? What would fill their days? What excuse would he have to be with Charlotte when all the work was done?
And what reason would Charlotte have to ask him for his help?
And so it was towards the end of September as summer turned slowly in to autumn when all the work was completed, that they discovered that amidst the wallpaper, filler and the paint fumes that they had fallen in love.
Which was when Fergal and Charlotte realised there were other ways for them to pass their time together that didn’t involve her asking if she could borrow a screwdriver, gardening tools or a paintbrush.
At number 18 Military Row in Mornington, Fergal Spelman was sitting in his armchair enjoying the peace and quiet of the empty house when there was a persistent knock on the front door.
He didn’t hear it initially because he had been enjoying the peace and quiet so much he was actually asleep in his armchair and he was certainly enjoying that.
He did a lot of sleeping in his armchair nowadays it was the by-product of having too much time and too little to occupy it.
Fergal woke with a start and after he had come to his senses he reluctantly got up from his comfy chair and went to answer the door and when he did so there was a smiling girl in a long Turquoise dress standing on the step.
“Hi I’m Charlotte” she announced
“Can I borrow a screwdriver?”
Charlotte had just moved into Military Row, the house next door to his to be exact, number 19.
Strictly speaking calling her a girl was perhaps stretching a point as Charlotte Gibbons was actually forty nine years old and had 4 grown up children but she was a girl in comparison to Fergal who was knocking loudly on the door to his seventh decade.
“Of course you can” he replied “Come in a minute”
“Thank you” she said
“I’m Fergal by the way”
“Pleased to meet you Fergal” she said and smiled again.
Fergal thought she had a very pleasant smile in fact he thought
Charlotte had a very pleasant face, but with sad eyes, not sad like a puppy dog, more the kind of sad that went deep and left a tell-tale impression on her face.
She also had a very nice figure, even taking into consideration the fact she was in her late-forties and had given birth 4 times, not that he knew any of that at the time, but his first impression was a favourable one.
Charlotte herself noted that Fergal was not an unattractive man even if he was a little long in the tooth for her taste, not that it was anything more than a casual observation, his looks even his good looks were immaterial, that was not why she was there, she just wanted to borrow a screwdriver.
So although they both found the other nice to look at there was no instant mutual attraction, no flash of lightning, no fluttering hearts, sighing or a cascade of Mantovani’s violins.
Fergal thought she was an extremely “fit” young woman but he’d always needed more than just mere physical attraction to light his fire.
He had to know the person, like them and preferably love them for true sexual attraction to take hold of him.
Nonetheless looking at an attractive younger woman beat dozing in his armchair hands down so he wasn’t in any hurry to see her leave so he said
“Would you like a coffee while you’re here?”
“Oh yes please” she said
(Part 02)
“Would you like a coffee while you’re here?” he asked
“Oh yes please” she said
“You know I’ve made three drinks today already and I let them all go cold”
Apart from noticing the obvious facts that she was very attractive, had a sublimely attractive smile, sad eyes and didn’t own a screwdriver, he also divined the fact that Charlotte was Jewish as she wore a gold Star of David around her neck.
He also detected that the turquoise dress that she was wearing was a long flowing affair that fitted well around her ample bosom and then hung loosely to the floor, which left a lot to the imagination, which was fine by him because he had an extremely vivid imagination.
After a brief conversation he soon ascertained what task she was doing at home, the dreaded flat pack furniture and what type of screwdriver she required to do it with and a small selection from the tool shed but after having coffee with her he said
“I’m at a bit of a loose end, so why don’t I come and give you a hand”
“No I couldn’t ask you to do that” she protested but was hoping he might volunteer to help her.
“I insist” he said
Fergal had retired from the Mornington brewery and lived alone, his wife had died two years earlier and his two sons had families of their own so he had a lot of time on his hands, a lot of which he seemed to spend asleep in his armchair.
So the prospect of getting out of the house and doing something useful appealed to him greatly.
Although he would have had to admit to an ulterior motive in volunteering his services, other than to alleviate his boredom and that was because his new next door neighbour Charlotte was very pleasing to the eye and although that wasn’t enough in itself to get his motor running, it was a bloody good start, even if he only looked at her as a friend.
And Fergal and Charlotte did become friends, from that first day she asked to borrow a screwdriver and he helped her with assembling flat pack furniture.
He had enjoyed the task and her company so much that he helped her on subsequent days with a variety of other jobs and he felt useful again.
Which was why he came to spend the summer helping Charlotte to decorate her house.
During the redevelopment of Mornington Field her house was used as the site office by the site manager and although it had been redecorated throughout by the Estate before she moved in, it was decorated only in neutral tones, magnolia emulsion and white gloss and one thing Fergal had noticed apart from her figure was that Charlotte was not a neutral tones kind of person, she was a vibrant kind of woman, so she wanted to make her mark, stamp her personality on the place.
(Part 03)
Fergal was happy to help Charlotte, it kept him busy and made him feel useful which gave him fresh energy and a renewed purpose and more opportunities to feast his eyes on her and he would have been content if that was all there was.
Although he wasn’t aware of it at the time, Charlotte enjoyed it too, but for her it was because she was lonely, she missed her boys and felt she wasn’t needed since the youngest one left to join the army.
But she wasn’t the only one because it had occurred to Fergal very early on that he too had been lonely, he just hadn’t realised it until he met her and spent time with her.
While they worked together they got to know each other and eventually he got to find out the reason for the sadness in her eyes.
Charlotte hadn’t given birth to 4 babies as he first thought she had given birth to 5.
Her youngest child was a girl named Ruth who at the age of 8 was struck by a hit and run driver and killed.
“My baby girl was gone” she sobbed “my beautiful baby girl”
Fergal didn’t know what to say, what could he say?
What empty words could he have used to console someone who had lost a child?
No parent should have to bury their children, he felt so inadequate and all he could do was to take her in his arms and let her cry on his shoulder.
He couldn’t take the pain away or stem the flow of tears all he could do was hold her while she sobbed and afterwards listen while she unburdened herself.
In addition to losing her daughter she also lost her husband who decided he could best help his grieving wife by shagging the next door neighbour.
“That’s shit” Fergal said
It was little wonder she was sad and lonely.
As the summer wore on and they completed one room after another they were both secretly dreading finishing the job.
They had done the garden already and the exterior painting was completed by the Estate, so what would they do? What would fill their days? What excuse would he have to be with Charlotte when all the work was done?
And what reason would Charlotte have to ask him for his help?
And so it was towards the end of September as summer turned slowly in to autumn when all the work was completed, that they discovered that amidst the wallpaper, filler and the paint fumes that they had fallen in love.
Which was when Fergal and Charlotte realised there were other ways for them to pass their time together that didn’t involve her asking if she could borrow a screwdriver, gardening tools or a paintbrush.
Downshire Diary – (21) The Big and the Beautiful
(Part 01)
Owen Carrington’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end.
But alas she had gone back to University and wouldn’t return until after her exams and as he had fallen hopelessly in love with her the only antidote for his wanting her, in her absence, was to throw himself in to his writing.
Since he had become a writer of bodice ripping romances it had proved to be an occupation which suited him very well indeed.
And it suited him in many ways, but the main benefit was that he was able to work at home, so he had no tedious commute every day and his working day was flexible to the point that some days he didn’t write at all.
This afforded him the opportunity of playing a round of Golf during the working week when most people had their noses to the grindstone or even taking a day out to go fishing.
And it was on such a day, a Tuesday in fact, at the end of May when he had arranged to go fishing with his next door neighbour, Dawn Symonds who was a year or two older than him and stood over six feet tall with short auburn hair.
As it was the closed season for coarse fishing they went up to the River Trott in the Pepperstock Hills.
He and Dawn had gotten on like a house on fire from the moment he first arrived in the village and they had even kissed on one occasion but it was very disappointing and there was no spark but he and the well-built six-foot tall redhead with the massive breasts became the best of friends.
When he told her about him and Juliana she was almost as happy as he was about it.
“I’m very jealous though” she said “but that’s only because I haven’t found anyone”
As they stood in the fast flowing waters of the River Trott she opened up to him about how lonely she was, she had many friends but she didn’t have a special someone to comfort her when she was down or laugh with her when she was happy.
It was a pleasant morning; warmer than it had been the previous few days, with the mainly blue expanse of sky broken only by the occasional passing cloud.
Considering the clement weather the river was very quiet, and they saw no one else on the water or the banks for three hours.
They managed a couple of decent trout a piece before they gave up for the day and headed back to Denmead and barbequed the fish.
Later that evening he had a shower and shave and was preparing to spend the evening at the pub to catch up with the latest village gossip and participate in the pub quiz when the phone rang, and it was Juliana.
(Part 02)
It was the first week in June when Owen found himself sitting in the reception at Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe, the firm of Solicitors handling his late Uncles estate.
He wasn’t there for anything specific it just happened that he was up in Abbottsford for the day.
He had an important lunchtime meeting with his publishers and a less important Dinner meeting with his new agent, Leonard Silverman, so as he was left with some time to kill and as he was roughly in their neck of the woods he thought he would just sandwich the solicitors in the middle and pop in to make sure they weren’t dragging their heels.
He thought it was a case of out of sight out of mind with solicitors, although they always remembered you readily enough when money was due to them.
Anyway he sat there for about an hour waiting for Ms. Bushe to become available, whom he presumed to be some mannish ball breaker who enjoyed keeping people waiting.
However he didn’t have to wait too long when Ms. Bushe did appear she was much more pleasant than he imagined and in fact he spent a very pleasant hour with the very un-mannish Ms. Bushe and they went through the papers and she assured him that everything would be tied up with a bow in the coming few weeks.
The Dinner meeting was just as tedious as he thought it would be, Agents being all cast in the same mold, they all talk big, make ludicrous forecasts of your prospects, name drop shamelessly and squeeze every penny out of their clients as is humanly possible and he was sure that his, newly acquired though he was, would be no exception.
Lionel chose a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant, The Wooden Slipper serving high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities were known to dine.
The food was good, if you like tiny artistic arrangements the size of a Hors d'oeuvre, on a slab of welsh slate but there wasn’t enough to live on.
When it was time to leave Owen was hungrier than he was when he arrived, and even though he made a big show about buying him such a “wonderful” Dinner he knew he had probably already figured out a way of claiming it as a legitimate business expense for himself while actually stiffing Owen with the bill.
He stopped at the first fast food joint that he came to which happened to be a Burger Bar and he ordered the biggest one he could see on the menu.
Having sufficiently filled the hollow with reconstituted meat, saturated fats and carbohydrates he ambled his way to his hotel, and on his way he phoned Lionel and sacked him.
He would have liked to stay at the Regents Hotel but it was a bit rich for his blood, as the royalties hadn’t at that time began to arrive, so he found a place close by for a third of the price called the Black Heart.
(Part 03)
He was sitting at the bar at The Black Heart Hotel, drinking a large Whisky and Soda and doing a spot of people watching, an occupational hazard for writers, but the bar was so empty that he exhausted that exercise in less than five minutes.
So he turned his thoughts to Juliana, his lovely redheaded girlfriend who would be home from University in a few days and he was looking forward to seeing her more than he could have imagined and it was when he was preoccupied with thoughts of Juliana that a voice broke in on his thoughts.
“Owen Carrington?” it said
He turned around and the voice belonged to an enormous man, six foot seven, good looking and only a few years older than him, whom he didn’t recognize.
It turned out that he was named rather inappropriately Paul Little, and he was a literary agent who had been drinking with Lionel Silverman when Owen phoned him to sack him.
“He was not pleased and his language was very colourful”
Paul said and laughed
A few drinks later Owen had a new agent and he had invited him down to Denmead for the weekend to seal the deal.
Paul Little went to Denmead a couple of days later and because he had car trouble he had to get the train which got him into Denmead after dark.
It was getting late when Paul got off the train but because it was a clear night and Owen had said it was only a ten minute walk from the station to Owen’s cottage he decided to set off on foot, he was using the satnav app on his phone which took him down a very poorly lit lane with densely foliaged trees which blocked out the moonlight.
The lane seemed to meander its way beneath the canopy of trees and even with his eyes fixed on his phone he was making steady progress and according to the screen he was within a couple of houses of his destination when he was violently knocked off his feet by a large figure in the dark.
“Excellent” he thought he was only in the village for ten minutes and he was being mugged by a yokel.
He finished up horizontal on the ground and his substantial assailant ended up laying on top of him, using his phone he illuminated the face of his assailant and was surprised to see it a woman, but not as surprised as he was when she kissed him full on the mouth.
“I’m so sorry” she said “I don’t know why I did that”
“Don’t apologize” Paul responded because he had rather enjoyed it so he did the only thing he could do under the circumstances and that was kiss her back.
When Dawn left her house she was running late for a parish council meeting and wasn’t watching where she was going when she bumped heavily into another pedestrian and they both fell to the ground her victim on their back and her on top of them and when she was lying there nose to nose the smell of their aftershave was delicious and when he used his phone as a torch she got a glimpsed of the gorgeous smelling casualty she was suitably enamored with his look that she kissed him and was delighted to find he was a damn good kisser.
(Part 04)
When Dawn left her house she was running late for a parish council meeting and wasn’t watching where she was going when she bumped heavily into another pedestrian and they both fell to the ground, her victim on their back and her on top of them and when she was lying there nose to nose the smell of their aftershave was delicious and when he used his phone as a torch she got a glimpsed of the gorgeous smelling casualty she was suitably enamored with his look that she kissed him and was delighted to find he was a damn good kisser.
But all at once, in the middle of the best kiss she had had in a long, long time, she suddenly got a dose of reality and became self-conscious and broke away from the embrace.
“I’m so sorry” she said and rushed away embarrassed
“But…” he called after her but she disappeared into the darkness.
“Wow” Paul said in the aftermath of the kiss with the mystery girl, it was quite extraordinary and he wasn’t expecting it.
And then he completed his walk home he thought to himself how funny life could be.
He knocked on the front door and was scratching his head when Owen opened the door.
“Hi Paul” he said “is everything alright?”
Inside Owens house Paul explained how out in the lane he had been knocked to the ground and thoroughly snogged.
“Seriously?” Owen exclaimed “Did you get a look at the assailant?”
“I did”
“Male of female?” Owen asked
“Female obviously” Paul replied with affront
“Ok any other clues” Owen added
“Pretty, I think” he continued “Short hair, red possibly”
“Ah” Owen expressed
“Ah?”
“It sounds like Dawn” Owen said
“Dawn?”
“Yes my next door neighbour, she’s a nice girl”
“Not a nutter then?” Paul asked
“No not at all” Owen replied “And snogging strangers in the lane is totally out of character”
“Well maybe it wasn’t her then” Paul said
“I’ll ask her” Owen suggested
“No don’t do that” Paul pleaded
Dawn was worse than useless at the parish council meeting as her thoughts kept straying to the extraordinary kiss in the lane and that night in her bed those thoughts turned to dreams.
The next morning while Paul was showering Owen slipped next door and rang Dawn’s door bell.
“Hi Dawn” he said
“Oh hello” she responded absentmindedly
“What’s up?”
“Oh God I’m so embarrassed” she replied and walked inside so Owen followed
“What about?”
“I sexually assaulted someone in the lane” she blurted out
“Tell me more” Owen said and Dawn gave him all the sordid details of her assault and after she had finished he said.
“I think you’re safe”
“I don’t know about that” she said doubtfully
“Just relax” he said “come to dinner tonight with Juliana and my agent”
“Oh I don’t know” she said
“I insist” Owen said
Before he went back into his own house he phoned Juliana who had just returned from University.
“So where are you taking me tonight?” she asked
“It’s funny you should ask that, we have dinner guests tonight but tomorrow I’m all yours” he said and went on to explain his plan.
(Part 05)
As Juliana approached Owens house she made a quick diversion and called at Dawn’s house first so they could go to Owens together and when Juliana and Dawn left the house they were both made up to the nines.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather spend the evening just with Owen?” Dawn asked
“Don’t be daft” Juliana replied as they reached Owens door
“I’ve got the whole summer to be with Owen”
Juliana knocked lightly on the door and went straight in
“Hello” she called
“Who’s that?” Owen called back
“It’s the strumpets” Juliana replied
“Ok make yourself comfortable but I can’t give you long, my girlfriend will be here any minute” Owen said and then his head appeared around the kitchen door
“You’ll get a slap” she said and then glowed proudly on hearing him call her his girlfriend, and she walked towards him and kissed him.
“Wow you two look gorgeous” he said and kissed Dawn’s cheek
“Thank you” Dawn said liking the compliment but still wished she wasn’t there.
“Can you do drinks Hon?” He said to Juliana and added
“Go out on the patio Dawn the other guest will be down in a minute”
Dawn walked into the lounge and then onto the patio and Juliana followed Owen back into the kitchen, she knew that he’d already have the wine ready and what he really wanted was to give her a welcome home snog and she was more than happy to oblige.
After a very satisfying reunion kiss Juliana emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with a chilled bottle of wine in a bucket and the glasses.
She set down the tray and poured the wine just as Owen and Paul followed her in.
“Ok you two, this is my new agent, Paul” Owen said and to Paul he added “the shorter ginger one is my girlfriend Juliana and the big auburn haired one is my neighbour Dawn”
Paul was not only tall but was skinny and he brushed his sandy hair off his forehead and shook their hands in turn.
“Pleased to meet you again” he said to Dawn
“Likewise” she replied and blushed
“You two have met before then?” Juliana asked innocently although she already knew the answer
“Briefly” Dawn replied
“But memorably” Paul added and Dawn blushed again, but neither of them elaborated.
As the others settled down in their seats Owen winked at Juliana and went out to the kitchen.
During the course of the meal, with an Author, an agent and an English Literature student at the table the conversation naturally turned to writing but Dawn didn’t seem to notice and her eyes rarely left Paul.
Desert followed two excellent first courses and coffee and liqueurs followed desert and the conversation had covered the full range of subjects and Saturday had become Sunday and Dawn and Paul only had eyes for each other.
Juliana and Owen meanwhile began clearing the table and looking back from the kitchen door he said
“I think they might be smitten”
“I don’t think there’s any might about it” Juliana replied and smiled it was their intention to match-make and they appeared to have succeeded.
Owen did think that if it didn’t work they would at least have a pleasant foursome.
But he had underestimated just how much they were attracted to each other.
“We breathed lightly on the embers” he said enigmatically
“I don’t think we had anything to do with it” Juliana pointed out
“They didn’t need us to play cupid”
At the end of the evening, or more precisely at the start of the day, Dawn fumbled around for her bag trying to delay the inevitable moment when she would have to leave.
Which was when Paul helped Dawn to her feet and said
“Please let me walk you home”
“Thank you, but its only next door” she replied feeling self-conscious as Owen and Juliana looked on
“I insist, I know it can be dangerous out in the lane after dark”
He said and Dawn giggled
Ten minutes later while Owen walked Juliana home Dawn and Paul shared a more controlled and measured embrace in the moonlight and there was a definite spark.
Owen Carrington’s star was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel “The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers block to an end.
But alas she had gone back to University and wouldn’t return until after her exams and as he had fallen hopelessly in love with her the only antidote for his wanting her, in her absence, was to throw himself in to his writing.
Since he had become a writer of bodice ripping romances it had proved to be an occupation which suited him very well indeed.
And it suited him in many ways, but the main benefit was that he was able to work at home, so he had no tedious commute every day and his working day was flexible to the point that some days he didn’t write at all.
This afforded him the opportunity of playing a round of Golf during the working week when most people had their noses to the grindstone or even taking a day out to go fishing.
And it was on such a day, a Tuesday in fact, at the end of May when he had arranged to go fishing with his next door neighbour, Dawn Symonds who was a year or two older than him and stood over six feet tall with short auburn hair.
As it was the closed season for coarse fishing they went up to the River Trott in the Pepperstock Hills.
He and Dawn had gotten on like a house on fire from the moment he first arrived in the village and they had even kissed on one occasion but it was very disappointing and there was no spark but he and the well-built six-foot tall redhead with the massive breasts became the best of friends.
When he told her about him and Juliana she was almost as happy as he was about it.
“I’m very jealous though” she said “but that’s only because I haven’t found anyone”
As they stood in the fast flowing waters of the River Trott she opened up to him about how lonely she was, she had many friends but she didn’t have a special someone to comfort her when she was down or laugh with her when she was happy.
It was a pleasant morning; warmer than it had been the previous few days, with the mainly blue expanse of sky broken only by the occasional passing cloud.
Considering the clement weather the river was very quiet, and they saw no one else on the water or the banks for three hours.
They managed a couple of decent trout a piece before they gave up for the day and headed back to Denmead and barbequed the fish.
Later that evening he had a shower and shave and was preparing to spend the evening at the pub to catch up with the latest village gossip and participate in the pub quiz when the phone rang, and it was Juliana.
(Part 02)
It was the first week in June when Owen found himself sitting in the reception at Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe, the firm of Solicitors handling his late Uncles estate.
He wasn’t there for anything specific it just happened that he was up in Abbottsford for the day.
He had an important lunchtime meeting with his publishers and a less important Dinner meeting with his new agent, Leonard Silverman, so as he was left with some time to kill and as he was roughly in their neck of the woods he thought he would just sandwich the solicitors in the middle and pop in to make sure they weren’t dragging their heels.
He thought it was a case of out of sight out of mind with solicitors, although they always remembered you readily enough when money was due to them.
Anyway he sat there for about an hour waiting for Ms. Bushe to become available, whom he presumed to be some mannish ball breaker who enjoyed keeping people waiting.
However he didn’t have to wait too long when Ms. Bushe did appear she was much more pleasant than he imagined and in fact he spent a very pleasant hour with the very un-mannish Ms. Bushe and they went through the papers and she assured him that everything would be tied up with a bow in the coming few weeks.
The Dinner meeting was just as tedious as he thought it would be, Agents being all cast in the same mold, they all talk big, make ludicrous forecasts of your prospects, name drop shamelessly and squeeze every penny out of their clients as is humanly possible and he was sure that his, newly acquired though he was, would be no exception.
Lionel chose a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant, The Wooden Slipper serving high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities were known to dine.
The food was good, if you like tiny artistic arrangements the size of a Hors d'oeuvre, on a slab of welsh slate but there wasn’t enough to live on.
When it was time to leave Owen was hungrier than he was when he arrived, and even though he made a big show about buying him such a “wonderful” Dinner he knew he had probably already figured out a way of claiming it as a legitimate business expense for himself while actually stiffing Owen with the bill.
He stopped at the first fast food joint that he came to which happened to be a Burger Bar and he ordered the biggest one he could see on the menu.
Having sufficiently filled the hollow with reconstituted meat, saturated fats and carbohydrates he ambled his way to his hotel, and on his way he phoned Lionel and sacked him.
He would have liked to stay at the Regents Hotel but it was a bit rich for his blood, as the royalties hadn’t at that time began to arrive, so he found a place close by for a third of the price called the Black Heart.
(Part 03)
He was sitting at the bar at The Black Heart Hotel, drinking a large Whisky and Soda and doing a spot of people watching, an occupational hazard for writers, but the bar was so empty that he exhausted that exercise in less than five minutes.
So he turned his thoughts to Juliana, his lovely redheaded girlfriend who would be home from University in a few days and he was looking forward to seeing her more than he could have imagined and it was when he was preoccupied with thoughts of Juliana that a voice broke in on his thoughts.
“Owen Carrington?” it said
He turned around and the voice belonged to an enormous man, six foot seven, good looking and only a few years older than him, whom he didn’t recognize.
It turned out that he was named rather inappropriately Paul Little, and he was a literary agent who had been drinking with Lionel Silverman when Owen phoned him to sack him.
“He was not pleased and his language was very colourful”
Paul said and laughed
A few drinks later Owen had a new agent and he had invited him down to Denmead for the weekend to seal the deal.
Paul Little went to Denmead a couple of days later and because he had car trouble he had to get the train which got him into Denmead after dark.
It was getting late when Paul got off the train but because it was a clear night and Owen had said it was only a ten minute walk from the station to Owen’s cottage he decided to set off on foot, he was using the satnav app on his phone which took him down a very poorly lit lane with densely foliaged trees which blocked out the moonlight.
The lane seemed to meander its way beneath the canopy of trees and even with his eyes fixed on his phone he was making steady progress and according to the screen he was within a couple of houses of his destination when he was violently knocked off his feet by a large figure in the dark.
“Excellent” he thought he was only in the village for ten minutes and he was being mugged by a yokel.
He finished up horizontal on the ground and his substantial assailant ended up laying on top of him, using his phone he illuminated the face of his assailant and was surprised to see it a woman, but not as surprised as he was when she kissed him full on the mouth.
“I’m so sorry” she said “I don’t know why I did that”
“Don’t apologize” Paul responded because he had rather enjoyed it so he did the only thing he could do under the circumstances and that was kiss her back.
When Dawn left her house she was running late for a parish council meeting and wasn’t watching where she was going when she bumped heavily into another pedestrian and they both fell to the ground her victim on their back and her on top of them and when she was lying there nose to nose the smell of their aftershave was delicious and when he used his phone as a torch she got a glimpsed of the gorgeous smelling casualty she was suitably enamored with his look that she kissed him and was delighted to find he was a damn good kisser.
(Part 04)
When Dawn left her house she was running late for a parish council meeting and wasn’t watching where she was going when she bumped heavily into another pedestrian and they both fell to the ground, her victim on their back and her on top of them and when she was lying there nose to nose the smell of their aftershave was delicious and when he used his phone as a torch she got a glimpsed of the gorgeous smelling casualty she was suitably enamored with his look that she kissed him and was delighted to find he was a damn good kisser.
But all at once, in the middle of the best kiss she had had in a long, long time, she suddenly got a dose of reality and became self-conscious and broke away from the embrace.
“I’m so sorry” she said and rushed away embarrassed
“But…” he called after her but she disappeared into the darkness.
“Wow” Paul said in the aftermath of the kiss with the mystery girl, it was quite extraordinary and he wasn’t expecting it.
And then he completed his walk home he thought to himself how funny life could be.
He knocked on the front door and was scratching his head when Owen opened the door.
“Hi Paul” he said “is everything alright?”
Inside Owens house Paul explained how out in the lane he had been knocked to the ground and thoroughly snogged.
“Seriously?” Owen exclaimed “Did you get a look at the assailant?”
“I did”
“Male of female?” Owen asked
“Female obviously” Paul replied with affront
“Ok any other clues” Owen added
“Pretty, I think” he continued “Short hair, red possibly”
“Ah” Owen expressed
“Ah?”
“It sounds like Dawn” Owen said
“Dawn?”
“Yes my next door neighbour, she’s a nice girl”
“Not a nutter then?” Paul asked
“No not at all” Owen replied “And snogging strangers in the lane is totally out of character”
“Well maybe it wasn’t her then” Paul said
“I’ll ask her” Owen suggested
“No don’t do that” Paul pleaded
Dawn was worse than useless at the parish council meeting as her thoughts kept straying to the extraordinary kiss in the lane and that night in her bed those thoughts turned to dreams.
The next morning while Paul was showering Owen slipped next door and rang Dawn’s door bell.
“Hi Dawn” he said
“Oh hello” she responded absentmindedly
“What’s up?”
“Oh God I’m so embarrassed” she replied and walked inside so Owen followed
“What about?”
“I sexually assaulted someone in the lane” she blurted out
“Tell me more” Owen said and Dawn gave him all the sordid details of her assault and after she had finished he said.
“I think you’re safe”
“I don’t know about that” she said doubtfully
“Just relax” he said “come to dinner tonight with Juliana and my agent”
“Oh I don’t know” she said
“I insist” Owen said
Before he went back into his own house he phoned Juliana who had just returned from University.
“So where are you taking me tonight?” she asked
“It’s funny you should ask that, we have dinner guests tonight but tomorrow I’m all yours” he said and went on to explain his plan.
(Part 05)
As Juliana approached Owens house she made a quick diversion and called at Dawn’s house first so they could go to Owens together and when Juliana and Dawn left the house they were both made up to the nines.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather spend the evening just with Owen?” Dawn asked
“Don’t be daft” Juliana replied as they reached Owens door
“I’ve got the whole summer to be with Owen”
Juliana knocked lightly on the door and went straight in
“Hello” she called
“Who’s that?” Owen called back
“It’s the strumpets” Juliana replied
“Ok make yourself comfortable but I can’t give you long, my girlfriend will be here any minute” Owen said and then his head appeared around the kitchen door
“You’ll get a slap” she said and then glowed proudly on hearing him call her his girlfriend, and she walked towards him and kissed him.
“Wow you two look gorgeous” he said and kissed Dawn’s cheek
“Thank you” Dawn said liking the compliment but still wished she wasn’t there.
“Can you do drinks Hon?” He said to Juliana and added
“Go out on the patio Dawn the other guest will be down in a minute”
Dawn walked into the lounge and then onto the patio and Juliana followed Owen back into the kitchen, she knew that he’d already have the wine ready and what he really wanted was to give her a welcome home snog and she was more than happy to oblige.
After a very satisfying reunion kiss Juliana emerged from the kitchen carrying a tray with a chilled bottle of wine in a bucket and the glasses.
She set down the tray and poured the wine just as Owen and Paul followed her in.
“Ok you two, this is my new agent, Paul” Owen said and to Paul he added “the shorter ginger one is my girlfriend Juliana and the big auburn haired one is my neighbour Dawn”
Paul was not only tall but was skinny and he brushed his sandy hair off his forehead and shook their hands in turn.
“Pleased to meet you again” he said to Dawn
“Likewise” she replied and blushed
“You two have met before then?” Juliana asked innocently although she already knew the answer
“Briefly” Dawn replied
“But memorably” Paul added and Dawn blushed again, but neither of them elaborated.
As the others settled down in their seats Owen winked at Juliana and went out to the kitchen.
During the course of the meal, with an Author, an agent and an English Literature student at the table the conversation naturally turned to writing but Dawn didn’t seem to notice and her eyes rarely left Paul.
Desert followed two excellent first courses and coffee and liqueurs followed desert and the conversation had covered the full range of subjects and Saturday had become Sunday and Dawn and Paul only had eyes for each other.
Juliana and Owen meanwhile began clearing the table and looking back from the kitchen door he said
“I think they might be smitten”
“I don’t think there’s any might about it” Juliana replied and smiled it was their intention to match-make and they appeared to have succeeded.
Owen did think that if it didn’t work they would at least have a pleasant foursome.
But he had underestimated just how much they were attracted to each other.
“We breathed lightly on the embers” he said enigmatically
“I don’t think we had anything to do with it” Juliana pointed out
“They didn’t need us to play cupid”
At the end of the evening, or more precisely at the start of the day, Dawn fumbled around for her bag trying to delay the inevitable moment when she would have to leave.
Which was when Paul helped Dawn to her feet and said
“Please let me walk you home”
“Thank you, but its only next door” she replied feeling self-conscious as Owen and Juliana looked on
“I insist, I know it can be dangerous out in the lane after dark”
He said and Dawn giggled
Ten minutes later while Owen walked Juliana home Dawn and Paul shared a more controlled and measured embrace in the moonlight and there was a definite spark.
Sunday, 19 March 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (20) Jubilee Girl
(Part 01)
Sharpington-by-Sea had been home to Simon Clarke for his whole life and was a place that held very special memories for him and he never envisaged living anywhere else.
The coastal town is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
Which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coasters but still fun.
He was a regular visitor to the attractions while he was growing up but there were attractions and there were attractions.
Simon Clarke fell in love with Bronwyn Topping the very first time he saw her, although he didnt know that was her name at the time.
However irespective of that fact when he saw her in the playground on that September morning at the begining of his fourth year it really was love at first sight.
She was a year seven at his School in Sharpington, the very inappropriately named Jubilee Accademy.
It was inapropriate because there was no celebration for Simon and he didnt have an accademic bone in his body.
He was a year ten but he was bowled over by the skinny little brunette first year who stood out from the crowd.
But it wasnt just in his eyes for she literaly stood out from the crowd because where all her fellow year sevens were wearing white knee socks with their uniform Bronwyn Topping was wearing black ones on her skinny legs.
He spent most of that first morning before the first bell within a few yards of her, completely mesmerised by her.
It may have been the bright September sun shining on her fine brown hair, her cute dimple cheeked smile or just her delicious giggle, but whatever it was he was hooked.
He knew as he was admiring her that it was a very special moment.
He remebered his grandfather saying to him that people of his generation would always remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that John F Kennedy was dead and for Simon that first glimpse of Bronwyn was a moment that would live with him forever and he was right.
However, although Simon was instantlly taken with her, indeed he was completely smitten, he didnt speak to her for two years, she was only eleven afterall and he was fourteen.
It was a first for him he hadnt really noticed girls until then but when he saw her his radar lit up.
After the bell for the start of term and he made his way to form and reaquainted himself with his class mates.
Later he found out that Rhiannon Topping, was the mystery girls sister.
Although he would never have guessed that they were sisters by looking at them they were so completely different.
(Part 02)
Four two years Simon Clarke continued to admire Bronwyn Topping from afar while attending form and a great many classes with her sister and the great benefit of being close to Rhiannon was that he got to overhear snippets of her conversations which gave him glimpses of her family life and he sometimes got to hear a little about Bron, what she was doing, who she was seeing, what music she liked, what films she went to see.
Which was good even though the only things he got to hear about her were all after the event.
Over the two years between that life altering first look at her in the sunny playground on the opening day of school he may not have spoken to Bronwyn but he did see a lot of her though, around school primarily though not exclusively.
He would often see her in Sharpington, on the Victorian Pier, playing crazy golf, walking along the promenade, at the mall, on the beach, in the amusement arcades or the Sharpington Fun Park.
Sometimes he saw her in the cinema queue or at the Lido but where ever he saw her she would always smile but only because she knew he was a friend of her sister.
But in all that time he never had the courage to speak to her so he would just smile back.
Sometimes Bronwyn would be with girlfriends and sometimes with a boy and sometimes Simon was with mates and other times he’d be with a girl.
Simon was a good looking lad so he had his fair share of girlfriends but invariably they would have had to ask him out.
None of them were serious, it was just a question of trying someone on for size to see if they fitted, and some of them were a very good fit but his problem was that how ever good the fit was, they never quite measured up against the girl of his dreams, Bronwyn.
But the older he got the braver he got and Simon eventually worked up the courage to speak to her and they went on to speak a lot once the ice had been broken.
He was firm friends with her sister Rhiannon, but he didn’t know at the time if she knew he carried a torch for Bronwyn.
He saw less of her after he left Jubilee Academy when he was sixteen, he didn’t want to stay in full time education.
Going to college was never on his agenda he wasn’t going to learn anything he hadn’t learned already.
He left school on a Friday in May and started work on the following Monday at his Uncle Sebastian’s small holding at Dulcets farm situated between Mornington and Purplemere.
It wasn’t the best paid job in the world but he enjoyed it, his elder brother Scott had worked there for the two years after he left school so getting to work wasn’t a problem.
The only downside was not seeing Bronwyn every day at school.
(Part 03)
One day Simon Clarke was fishing up at Jubilee Park on the shady spot by the point on the south side of the Lake.
It was during the school summer holidays, though he had left Jubilee Academy 3 years earlier he just happened to have a day off on that day.
He worked at Dulcets Farm on the Purplemere Road and they had been stock checking all the previous weekend so he had a couple of days off in lieu.
As it was a nice day so he decided to go fishing up at the Jubilee Park boating lake.
It was a well-stocked little lake and you could still fish it even though some tree hugging idiot had decided to introduce Australian Black Swans to the lake and they didn’t mix with the fishermen so they tried to ban fishing but in the end they relocated the swans after one of them attacked a toddler.
Jubilee Park was one of his favourite places in the whole world and he had been going there for years.
Apart from the fishing, there was the boating lake, and a miniature railway, picnic areas and acres of grass and it was the place he felt most at peace and where he was often lost in dreams.
He had loved it at Jubilee Park for as long as he could remember and the Lake was particularly special because it was where his dad taught him how to fish.
On that warm sunny August day by Jubilee Lake he was sat on his folding stool on the little peninsula fishing beneath the shade of his favourite old oak tree.
He had just cast out and was enjoying the gentle breeze off the water when a soft voice said
“Hello”
He didn't need to turn around to know who that sweet voice belonged to, it was one he knew so well but he turned around anyway.
“Hi” he responded
As he looked around he saw Bronwyn standing with the sun at her back.
He took it on faith that it was her because with the breeze stirring the strands of her brunette hair and the golden sun behind it she appeared to have a fiery halo that left her face in shadow.
But her silhouetted shape beneath her summer dress left him in no doubt.
“I thought it was you” she said “no work today?”
“No” he replied “Day off”
The sun was temporarily obscured by a cloud and he could see her lovely face for the first time.
She had filled out a bit since he first saw the scrawny little girl with the skinny legs and black socks that he fell in love with six years earlier.
“Have you caught anything?” she asked as she sat down on the bank next to him.
“Not yet” he admitted
“So what brings you here?” he asked
“I’ve been shopping in The Mall with Katie Young” she replied “and I’m on my way home”
“The lake is a bit out of your way isn’t it?” he asked already knowing the answer
“Yes” Bron admitted gazing out over the lake “but I love it here”
“Me too” he concurred wistfully
It seemed fitting to him that he should be seated at the place that was most special to him with the girl who was most special to him.
(Part 04)
Simon and Bronwyn sat on the peninsular in silence for a few minutes just enjoying the scene until they were brought back to the moment by a loud splash as one of the rowers on the Lake who had lost an oar, went in after it, the resulting wave headed rapidly to the site of his float so he started reeling it in.
“Have you been fishing long?” she asked
“What today? Or in general?” he responded and she laughed
“Both then” she said and laughed again
“Well today, about 2 hours before you found me” he told her “and generally since I was seven when my Dad first took me with him”
“Do you still go with him” she asked
“Oh yes” he replied “What about you?”
“Me? I’ve never fished” she replied
“Would you like to have a go?” he asked
“Yes please” she answered enthusiastically
“Ok then” he said just as the float approached the bank.
He quickly discarded what was left of the bait and opened his bait box.
“I can’t put the wriggly thing on” she said horrified
“It’s ok I’ll put the bait on” he replied and smiled at her and he baited the hook and then stood up.
“Ok we need to stand up to do the next bit” he said and Bronwyn got quickly to her feet and dusted herself off.
He showed her the basic principle of casting and then he stood behind her as she held the rod in her right hand.
God she smelt good, her hair, her skin, her clothes.
“Concentrate” he said to himself as he breathed in her perfume.
He put his hand on hers and indicated the best place to hold the grip.
“Now pull some spare line out with your other hand” he said and as she followed his instruction he took his right hand off hers,
“Right you’re on your own” he said and rested his hands on her waist.
Swiveling at the waist Bronwyn swung the rod to the right and then snapped it forward and the float sailed through the air and plopped a respectable distance from the bank.
It was a good job Simon was holding her waist otherwise her momentum may have had her following the float into the water, well that was his excuse anyway.
“I did it” she squealed
“Great cast Bron” he said “Right now comes the patient bit, you sit down and watch”
And he indicated the empty stool.
“No, I’ll be fine on the ground” she said
“Nonsense anglers privilege” he insisted
“Well thank you” she said perching on the stool and then in a whisper she asked “What’s an angler?”
“It’s another term for a fisherman” he confided
Then Simon sat on the floor and got a nice look at her legs which were no longer skinny twigs.
“Why is the floaty thing bobbing up and down?” she asked concentrating intently on the task while he was concentrating intently on her legs.
“That means you have a bite” he replied
“What do I do?” she yelled excitedly
“Strike” he said
“What’s that?”
“Jerk the rod up sharply and then reel in the line”
Simon stood up as she reeled in frantically and looked down at her and she was the picture of concentration with her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth.
She noticed he was watching her and withdrew her tongue and smiled at him and then returned her full attention to her task and poked her tongue out again.
(Part 05)
Bronwyn Topping was the picture of concentration as she reeled in her line as the float was getting close to the bank and in its wake there was definitely a fish
“Should I stand up?” she asked
“If you want to” he replied and she stood up and reeled furiously for the last few feet.
“Now lift the rod up slowly” he instructed and as she lifted the rod up vertically the fish left the water and swung towards her, he reached out and grabbed the line and wriggling on the hook was a little Roach.
“And there’s your fish” he said and she beamed broadly
“No I can’t touch it” she squealed as he offered the fish to her
“What kind of angler are you?” he asked “you can’t put the wriggly thing on the hook and you won’t touch the fish”
“I'm a girlie angler obviously” she said and giggled and he carefully unhooked the fish
“What are you going to do with it?” she asked frowning
“Let it go” he said and put it back in the water and it swam away.
She beamed him a happy smile and squeezed his arm.
Simon didn’t know how long Bronwyn and he sat on the lakeside but they were doing more talking and laughing than they were fishing.
Bronwyn looked at her watch and suddenly leapt up.
“I have to go” she said
“If you give me a few minutes I’ll walk with you” he suggested
“Great” Bronwyn said
He quickly packed away and put his tackle bag over his shoulder and with his rod bag in his hand they set off around the lake and down the hill towards the promenade.
Simon couldn’t remember a time he had enjoyed a fishing trip so much, it had been a great day off and he enjoyed the walk down from Jubilee Park more than he had ever done before.
He didn’t want the day to end but he knew as they reached the bottom of Park Road that time was running out because when they reached the prom they would have to go their separate ways because she would go right and he would go left.
So he knew he had two hundred yards or so to summon up the courage to ask her out.
They stepped onto the zebra crossing and his mind went blank, he couldn’t think how to ask her.
She chatted to him all the way across and when they reached the other side of the road he still couldn’t think what to say.
They stood on the pavement and were about to part.
“I really enjoyed the fishing” she said
“Me too” Simon said with his stomach in knots.
It was no good he was just going to have to blurt it out and hope for the best.
“Do you want to go to the pictures on Saturday” she asked “The latest Hobbit is on at the Tivoli”
“I’d love to” he said immediately relieved.
“Great” she said “I’ll meet you at the pier at 7 o’clock”
He felt ten feet tall as he walked the last few hundred yards to where he lived.
How typical that finally almost six years since he first saw and fell in love with Bronwyn Topping he had a date with her and he hadnt even asked her out.
But however it came about it was the begining of the love of a lifetime.
On the day Bronwyn caught her first fish and Simon caught his first love.
Sharpington-by-Sea had been home to Simon Clarke for his whole life and was a place that held very special memories for him and he never envisaged living anywhere else.
The coastal town is a traditional seaside resort complete with a Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
Which was the first purpose built amusement park to open in Britain, which had an assortment of rides, like the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper, all very tame compared to a 21st century roller coasters but still fun.
He was a regular visitor to the attractions while he was growing up but there were attractions and there were attractions.
Simon Clarke fell in love with Bronwyn Topping the very first time he saw her, although he didnt know that was her name at the time.
However irespective of that fact when he saw her in the playground on that September morning at the begining of his fourth year it really was love at first sight.
She was a year seven at his School in Sharpington, the very inappropriately named Jubilee Accademy.
It was inapropriate because there was no celebration for Simon and he didnt have an accademic bone in his body.
He was a year ten but he was bowled over by the skinny little brunette first year who stood out from the crowd.
But it wasnt just in his eyes for she literaly stood out from the crowd because where all her fellow year sevens were wearing white knee socks with their uniform Bronwyn Topping was wearing black ones on her skinny legs.
He spent most of that first morning before the first bell within a few yards of her, completely mesmerised by her.
It may have been the bright September sun shining on her fine brown hair, her cute dimple cheeked smile or just her delicious giggle, but whatever it was he was hooked.
He knew as he was admiring her that it was a very special moment.
He remebered his grandfather saying to him that people of his generation would always remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news that John F Kennedy was dead and for Simon that first glimpse of Bronwyn was a moment that would live with him forever and he was right.
However, although Simon was instantlly taken with her, indeed he was completely smitten, he didnt speak to her for two years, she was only eleven afterall and he was fourteen.
It was a first for him he hadnt really noticed girls until then but when he saw her his radar lit up.
After the bell for the start of term and he made his way to form and reaquainted himself with his class mates.
Later he found out that Rhiannon Topping, was the mystery girls sister.
Although he would never have guessed that they were sisters by looking at them they were so completely different.
(Part 02)
Four two years Simon Clarke continued to admire Bronwyn Topping from afar while attending form and a great many classes with her sister and the great benefit of being close to Rhiannon was that he got to overhear snippets of her conversations which gave him glimpses of her family life and he sometimes got to hear a little about Bron, what she was doing, who she was seeing, what music she liked, what films she went to see.
Which was good even though the only things he got to hear about her were all after the event.
Over the two years between that life altering first look at her in the sunny playground on the opening day of school he may not have spoken to Bronwyn but he did see a lot of her though, around school primarily though not exclusively.
He would often see her in Sharpington, on the Victorian Pier, playing crazy golf, walking along the promenade, at the mall, on the beach, in the amusement arcades or the Sharpington Fun Park.
Sometimes he saw her in the cinema queue or at the Lido but where ever he saw her she would always smile but only because she knew he was a friend of her sister.
But in all that time he never had the courage to speak to her so he would just smile back.
Sometimes Bronwyn would be with girlfriends and sometimes with a boy and sometimes Simon was with mates and other times he’d be with a girl.
Simon was a good looking lad so he had his fair share of girlfriends but invariably they would have had to ask him out.
None of them were serious, it was just a question of trying someone on for size to see if they fitted, and some of them were a very good fit but his problem was that how ever good the fit was, they never quite measured up against the girl of his dreams, Bronwyn.
But the older he got the braver he got and Simon eventually worked up the courage to speak to her and they went on to speak a lot once the ice had been broken.
He was firm friends with her sister Rhiannon, but he didn’t know at the time if she knew he carried a torch for Bronwyn.
He saw less of her after he left Jubilee Academy when he was sixteen, he didn’t want to stay in full time education.
Going to college was never on his agenda he wasn’t going to learn anything he hadn’t learned already.
He left school on a Friday in May and started work on the following Monday at his Uncle Sebastian’s small holding at Dulcets farm situated between Mornington and Purplemere.
It wasn’t the best paid job in the world but he enjoyed it, his elder brother Scott had worked there for the two years after he left school so getting to work wasn’t a problem.
The only downside was not seeing Bronwyn every day at school.
(Part 03)
One day Simon Clarke was fishing up at Jubilee Park on the shady spot by the point on the south side of the Lake.
It was during the school summer holidays, though he had left Jubilee Academy 3 years earlier he just happened to have a day off on that day.
He worked at Dulcets Farm on the Purplemere Road and they had been stock checking all the previous weekend so he had a couple of days off in lieu.
As it was a nice day so he decided to go fishing up at the Jubilee Park boating lake.
It was a well-stocked little lake and you could still fish it even though some tree hugging idiot had decided to introduce Australian Black Swans to the lake and they didn’t mix with the fishermen so they tried to ban fishing but in the end they relocated the swans after one of them attacked a toddler.
Jubilee Park was one of his favourite places in the whole world and he had been going there for years.
Apart from the fishing, there was the boating lake, and a miniature railway, picnic areas and acres of grass and it was the place he felt most at peace and where he was often lost in dreams.
He had loved it at Jubilee Park for as long as he could remember and the Lake was particularly special because it was where his dad taught him how to fish.
On that warm sunny August day by Jubilee Lake he was sat on his folding stool on the little peninsula fishing beneath the shade of his favourite old oak tree.
He had just cast out and was enjoying the gentle breeze off the water when a soft voice said
“Hello”
He didn't need to turn around to know who that sweet voice belonged to, it was one he knew so well but he turned around anyway.
“Hi” he responded
As he looked around he saw Bronwyn standing with the sun at her back.
He took it on faith that it was her because with the breeze stirring the strands of her brunette hair and the golden sun behind it she appeared to have a fiery halo that left her face in shadow.
But her silhouetted shape beneath her summer dress left him in no doubt.
“I thought it was you” she said “no work today?”
“No” he replied “Day off”
The sun was temporarily obscured by a cloud and he could see her lovely face for the first time.
She had filled out a bit since he first saw the scrawny little girl with the skinny legs and black socks that he fell in love with six years earlier.
“Have you caught anything?” she asked as she sat down on the bank next to him.
“Not yet” he admitted
“So what brings you here?” he asked
“I’ve been shopping in The Mall with Katie Young” she replied “and I’m on my way home”
“The lake is a bit out of your way isn’t it?” he asked already knowing the answer
“Yes” Bron admitted gazing out over the lake “but I love it here”
“Me too” he concurred wistfully
It seemed fitting to him that he should be seated at the place that was most special to him with the girl who was most special to him.
(Part 04)
Simon and Bronwyn sat on the peninsular in silence for a few minutes just enjoying the scene until they were brought back to the moment by a loud splash as one of the rowers on the Lake who had lost an oar, went in after it, the resulting wave headed rapidly to the site of his float so he started reeling it in.
“Have you been fishing long?” she asked
“What today? Or in general?” he responded and she laughed
“Both then” she said and laughed again
“Well today, about 2 hours before you found me” he told her “and generally since I was seven when my Dad first took me with him”
“Do you still go with him” she asked
“Oh yes” he replied “What about you?”
“Me? I’ve never fished” she replied
“Would you like to have a go?” he asked
“Yes please” she answered enthusiastically
“Ok then” he said just as the float approached the bank.
He quickly discarded what was left of the bait and opened his bait box.
“I can’t put the wriggly thing on” she said horrified
“It’s ok I’ll put the bait on” he replied and smiled at her and he baited the hook and then stood up.
“Ok we need to stand up to do the next bit” he said and Bronwyn got quickly to her feet and dusted herself off.
He showed her the basic principle of casting and then he stood behind her as she held the rod in her right hand.
God she smelt good, her hair, her skin, her clothes.
“Concentrate” he said to himself as he breathed in her perfume.
He put his hand on hers and indicated the best place to hold the grip.
“Now pull some spare line out with your other hand” he said and as she followed his instruction he took his right hand off hers,
“Right you’re on your own” he said and rested his hands on her waist.
Swiveling at the waist Bronwyn swung the rod to the right and then snapped it forward and the float sailed through the air and plopped a respectable distance from the bank.
It was a good job Simon was holding her waist otherwise her momentum may have had her following the float into the water, well that was his excuse anyway.
“I did it” she squealed
“Great cast Bron” he said “Right now comes the patient bit, you sit down and watch”
And he indicated the empty stool.
“No, I’ll be fine on the ground” she said
“Nonsense anglers privilege” he insisted
“Well thank you” she said perching on the stool and then in a whisper she asked “What’s an angler?”
“It’s another term for a fisherman” he confided
Then Simon sat on the floor and got a nice look at her legs which were no longer skinny twigs.
“Why is the floaty thing bobbing up and down?” she asked concentrating intently on the task while he was concentrating intently on her legs.
“That means you have a bite” he replied
“What do I do?” she yelled excitedly
“Strike” he said
“What’s that?”
“Jerk the rod up sharply and then reel in the line”
Simon stood up as she reeled in frantically and looked down at her and she was the picture of concentration with her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth.
She noticed he was watching her and withdrew her tongue and smiled at him and then returned her full attention to her task and poked her tongue out again.
(Part 05)
Bronwyn Topping was the picture of concentration as she reeled in her line as the float was getting close to the bank and in its wake there was definitely a fish
“Should I stand up?” she asked
“If you want to” he replied and she stood up and reeled furiously for the last few feet.
“Now lift the rod up slowly” he instructed and as she lifted the rod up vertically the fish left the water and swung towards her, he reached out and grabbed the line and wriggling on the hook was a little Roach.
“And there’s your fish” he said and she beamed broadly
“No I can’t touch it” she squealed as he offered the fish to her
“What kind of angler are you?” he asked “you can’t put the wriggly thing on the hook and you won’t touch the fish”
“I'm a girlie angler obviously” she said and giggled and he carefully unhooked the fish
“What are you going to do with it?” she asked frowning
“Let it go” he said and put it back in the water and it swam away.
She beamed him a happy smile and squeezed his arm.
Simon didn’t know how long Bronwyn and he sat on the lakeside but they were doing more talking and laughing than they were fishing.
Bronwyn looked at her watch and suddenly leapt up.
“I have to go” she said
“If you give me a few minutes I’ll walk with you” he suggested
“Great” Bronwyn said
He quickly packed away and put his tackle bag over his shoulder and with his rod bag in his hand they set off around the lake and down the hill towards the promenade.
Simon couldn’t remember a time he had enjoyed a fishing trip so much, it had been a great day off and he enjoyed the walk down from Jubilee Park more than he had ever done before.
He didn’t want the day to end but he knew as they reached the bottom of Park Road that time was running out because when they reached the prom they would have to go their separate ways because she would go right and he would go left.
So he knew he had two hundred yards or so to summon up the courage to ask her out.
They stepped onto the zebra crossing and his mind went blank, he couldn’t think how to ask her.
She chatted to him all the way across and when they reached the other side of the road he still couldn’t think what to say.
They stood on the pavement and were about to part.
“I really enjoyed the fishing” she said
“Me too” Simon said with his stomach in knots.
It was no good he was just going to have to blurt it out and hope for the best.
“Do you want to go to the pictures on Saturday” she asked “The latest Hobbit is on at the Tivoli”
“I’d love to” he said immediately relieved.
“Great” she said “I’ll meet you at the pier at 7 o’clock”
He felt ten feet tall as he walked the last few hundred yards to where he lived.
How typical that finally almost six years since he first saw and fell in love with Bronwyn Topping he had a date with her and he hadnt even asked her out.
But however it came about it was the begining of the love of a lifetime.
On the day Bronwyn caught her first fish and Simon caught his first love.
Mornington-By-Mere – (20) Farm Produce
(Part 01)
Mornington-By-Mere, a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
A quaint picturesque village, a chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But it wasn’t just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale.
And although the village was the hub it was the surrounding farms and hamlets that were its life blood.
One such Farm was Manor Farm on the Western side of the village.
The Hargrave family had farmed the land at Manor Farm since the days when Napoleon was still a Corporal and they were showing no signs of bucking that trend.
The head of the Hargrave’s was Bruce though he leant heavily on his wife Karen.
They were in their mid-fifties and were looking forward to many more years at the helm.
There were three children, the youngest was twenty year old Michael a serious farmer, and a good one at that.
The second child was Norman who was two years older than his brother and two years younger than his sister Mandy who along with her husband Jason McCabe were trying to produce the first grandchild.
While neither Norman or Michael showed any sign of producing a Hargrave.
When Mandy and Jason were married they were given a quarter of the farm to work on their own and moved into the smaller farmhouse on the west side of the farm which had been a little neglected over recent years.
So Mandy and husband Jason started work on it during their honeymoon and they lived in one room while they worked on the rest of the house.
All that year and all of the next they worked hard to finish the house and to get the greenhouses and cold frames back in shape as well and the newlyweds worked all the hours God sent to get their portion of the farm producing.
Like her siblings, Mandy was blonde and blue eyed but whereas they were tall and broad she was short and stout.
Jason was her polar opposite, physically at any rate, tall and bean pole thin, green eyes and shaggy straw coloured hair.
But other than that they were two sides of the same coin.
The house was uninhabitable, the greenhouses leaked and the cold frames were little more than ruins so for the first few months they had to live in the dining room.
Mandy and Jason did a brilliant job on the farmhouse and worked seven days a week for two years to get the house finished for them.
Once they had a proper roof over their heads Mandy and Jason could concentrate on the farm itself.
There section of the farm ran adjacent to the Brewery and the row of brewery cottages on Purplemere Road.
The advantage of being so close to the Mornington Brewery was a virtually unlimited supply of used hops and one of their first jobs was ploughing it in to the uncultivated land.
And they had the basis of a very good compost for when they started growing.
(Part 02)
It would have been soul destroying to lesser mortals but Mandy and Jason were made of sterner stuff and driven by a desire that would not be extinguished.
They wanted a family home and a family to fill it and every crack filled and every fresh lick of paint applied took them a step closer to their goal.
It was a glorious Sunday afternoon in June and Karen and Bruce decided to take a stroll over to see their daughter and son in law.
They hadn’t been to the house since they moved in as Mandy had insisted they wait until it was complete before anyone got to see it.
Mandy and Jason had worked hard to bring the farmhouse back from the brink and it showed.
Karen and Bruce walked across the yard and through the gate leading to the farmhouse.
When they were halfway across the farmyard Mandy came out of the barn holding a chicken.
“Mum?” Mandy said “this is a nice surprise”
And she kissed her mother.
“Hi Love” her dad said and father and he got a kiss as well.
“What are you doing over here?” She asked
“We thought it was time to come and see what you’ve both been up to” Her mum replied
“You’ve done a lot” she added genuinely impressed
“Yes its coming on” Mandy replied
“Do you want tea?”
They answered in the positive and as they all went into the kitchen, Karen had a good look around and found herself very impressed by her daughter and son in laws work.
While they were sat at the huge kitchen table drinking tea Mandy’s husband Jason appeared.
“Oh hello” he said “I didn’t realise we had guests”
“It’s nice to see you both” he said as he sat down next to his wife.
After tea Karen proudly gave them the tour of the house beyond the kitchen, the lounge, the office, the bedrooms and what they hoped would be a nursery.
When the tour of the house was over Bruce asked Jason to take him round the rest of the farm and they were gone for more than an hour.
As they left the farm Bruce said
“It’s amazing how they’ve fixed up that farmhouse”
“Yes I’m really proud of them” Karen said “They have worked so hard and they’ve made it their own”
“And they’re growing some great produce” Bruce added.
“I thought Mandy was looking very tired though” Karen said
“Really?” he asked “I thought she just looked very rosy cheeked”
“I think its exhaustion” Karen responded “Why don’t we send her off for a break to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel”
“Well I really think it was more of a glow than exhaustion but I agree she deserves a treat” he agreed “Why don’t you go as well, you could use some pampering”
“What a lovely idea” she said “I’ll go on line and book it when we get home”
(Part 03)
The next day Mandy walked over to the main house with two large baskets of produce and it was a fiercely hot day.
“God it’s so hot” she said as she walked into her mum’s kitchen.
“Sit down and have a drink” her Mum said “you look done in”
“I’m fine” she replied “But I’ll take a cold drink”
Karen Hargrave went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water but when she turned around she saw Mandy had collapsed.
“Bruce! Bruce!” she shouted and rushed to her daughter.
“Whats all the shouting about?” Bruce asked and then he appeared in the doorway.
“Call an ambulance” Karen snapped
He knelt down on the floor next to his stricken daughter.
“No time for that” he said “I’ll call Norm”
He phoned Norman and he was there in under five minutes by which time Mandy was sitting upright and taking a little water.
“Let’s get her in the car” Karen said
“I’ll be fine now” she insisted
“Nonsense” Bruce said “You need to get checked out”
“What about Jason?” she asked
“He’s on his way” her mum replied
They got Mandy in the back of Norman’s car just as Mandy’s husband Jason arrived with Michael hot on his heels
“We can’t all go” Karen said “someone needs to stay here”
Bruce and Karen looked at each other, neither of them wanting to volunteer.
“I’ll stay” Norman said and threw the keys to his dad
“Mike and I will hold the fort”
“Ok we’ll ring when we have news” Karen said
“So get going” Norm said and watched as the car disappeared from view.
Norman and Michael had a busy day on the farm which lasted well into the evening, when they went in to eat and at the end of the meal and they cleared away.
When the last dirty plate was loaded in the dishwasher and finally finished everything that needed to be done they sat down in their armchairs and put their feet up and they promptly fell asleep.
It was about an hour later when they were woken from slumber by loud laughter as their parents burst into the room.
“Aw look at our little tired soldier” Karen said and walked over to them and kissed them.
“Have some respect for the dead Mum” Michael said sleepily
“Obviously no stamina, these youngsters” Bruce added
“I’ll put the kettle on” Norman offered
“Just remember to put water in first” his mum said “it’s a kitchen appliance not one of your work tools”
“Very funny” he said
“So how’s Mandy?” Michael asked
“They kept her in” Karen said “Just as a precaution”
Michael was curious as to why he detected no concern in her voice there was even the faintest hint of a smile.
“So what’s wrong?” He asked
“Nothing’s wrong” she replied
“Then why have they kept her in?” he quizzed
Bruce and Karen stood in the centre of the room and put their arms around each other.
“She’s pregnant” they chorused
“What?” Michael exclaimed
“She’s four months pregnant” Karen said proudly
“Everything is fine” Bruce said “they really did just keep her in as a precaution”
“We’re going to be grandparents” Karen said
“Then we should have something a little stronger than coffee” Norman suggested.
Mornington-By-Mere, a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
A quaint picturesque village, a chocolate box picturesque idyll, with a Manor House, 12th Century Church, a Coaching Inn, Windmills, an Old Forge, a Schoolhouse, a River and a Mere.
But it wasn’t just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale.
And although the village was the hub it was the surrounding farms and hamlets that were its life blood.
One such Farm was Manor Farm on the Western side of the village.
The Hargrave family had farmed the land at Manor Farm since the days when Napoleon was still a Corporal and they were showing no signs of bucking that trend.
The head of the Hargrave’s was Bruce though he leant heavily on his wife Karen.
They were in their mid-fifties and were looking forward to many more years at the helm.
There were three children, the youngest was twenty year old Michael a serious farmer, and a good one at that.
The second child was Norman who was two years older than his brother and two years younger than his sister Mandy who along with her husband Jason McCabe were trying to produce the first grandchild.
While neither Norman or Michael showed any sign of producing a Hargrave.
When Mandy and Jason were married they were given a quarter of the farm to work on their own and moved into the smaller farmhouse on the west side of the farm which had been a little neglected over recent years.
So Mandy and husband Jason started work on it during their honeymoon and they lived in one room while they worked on the rest of the house.
All that year and all of the next they worked hard to finish the house and to get the greenhouses and cold frames back in shape as well and the newlyweds worked all the hours God sent to get their portion of the farm producing.
Like her siblings, Mandy was blonde and blue eyed but whereas they were tall and broad she was short and stout.
Jason was her polar opposite, physically at any rate, tall and bean pole thin, green eyes and shaggy straw coloured hair.
But other than that they were two sides of the same coin.
The house was uninhabitable, the greenhouses leaked and the cold frames were little more than ruins so for the first few months they had to live in the dining room.
Mandy and Jason did a brilliant job on the farmhouse and worked seven days a week for two years to get the house finished for them.
Once they had a proper roof over their heads Mandy and Jason could concentrate on the farm itself.
There section of the farm ran adjacent to the Brewery and the row of brewery cottages on Purplemere Road.
The advantage of being so close to the Mornington Brewery was a virtually unlimited supply of used hops and one of their first jobs was ploughing it in to the uncultivated land.
And they had the basis of a very good compost for when they started growing.
(Part 02)
It would have been soul destroying to lesser mortals but Mandy and Jason were made of sterner stuff and driven by a desire that would not be extinguished.
They wanted a family home and a family to fill it and every crack filled and every fresh lick of paint applied took them a step closer to their goal.
It was a glorious Sunday afternoon in June and Karen and Bruce decided to take a stroll over to see their daughter and son in law.
They hadn’t been to the house since they moved in as Mandy had insisted they wait until it was complete before anyone got to see it.
Mandy and Jason had worked hard to bring the farmhouse back from the brink and it showed.
Karen and Bruce walked across the yard and through the gate leading to the farmhouse.
When they were halfway across the farmyard Mandy came out of the barn holding a chicken.
“Mum?” Mandy said “this is a nice surprise”
And she kissed her mother.
“Hi Love” her dad said and father and he got a kiss as well.
“What are you doing over here?” She asked
“We thought it was time to come and see what you’ve both been up to” Her mum replied
“You’ve done a lot” she added genuinely impressed
“Yes its coming on” Mandy replied
“Do you want tea?”
They answered in the positive and as they all went into the kitchen, Karen had a good look around and found herself very impressed by her daughter and son in laws work.
While they were sat at the huge kitchen table drinking tea Mandy’s husband Jason appeared.
“Oh hello” he said “I didn’t realise we had guests”
“It’s nice to see you both” he said as he sat down next to his wife.
After tea Karen proudly gave them the tour of the house beyond the kitchen, the lounge, the office, the bedrooms and what they hoped would be a nursery.
When the tour of the house was over Bruce asked Jason to take him round the rest of the farm and they were gone for more than an hour.
As they left the farm Bruce said
“It’s amazing how they’ve fixed up that farmhouse”
“Yes I’m really proud of them” Karen said “They have worked so hard and they’ve made it their own”
“And they’re growing some great produce” Bruce added.
“I thought Mandy was looking very tired though” Karen said
“Really?” he asked “I thought she just looked very rosy cheeked”
“I think its exhaustion” Karen responded “Why don’t we send her off for a break to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel”
“Well I really think it was more of a glow than exhaustion but I agree she deserves a treat” he agreed “Why don’t you go as well, you could use some pampering”
“What a lovely idea” she said “I’ll go on line and book it when we get home”
(Part 03)
The next day Mandy walked over to the main house with two large baskets of produce and it was a fiercely hot day.
“God it’s so hot” she said as she walked into her mum’s kitchen.
“Sit down and have a drink” her Mum said “you look done in”
“I’m fine” she replied “But I’ll take a cold drink”
Karen Hargrave went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water but when she turned around she saw Mandy had collapsed.
“Bruce! Bruce!” she shouted and rushed to her daughter.
“Whats all the shouting about?” Bruce asked and then he appeared in the doorway.
“Call an ambulance” Karen snapped
He knelt down on the floor next to his stricken daughter.
“No time for that” he said “I’ll call Norm”
He phoned Norman and he was there in under five minutes by which time Mandy was sitting upright and taking a little water.
“Let’s get her in the car” Karen said
“I’ll be fine now” she insisted
“Nonsense” Bruce said “You need to get checked out”
“What about Jason?” she asked
“He’s on his way” her mum replied
They got Mandy in the back of Norman’s car just as Mandy’s husband Jason arrived with Michael hot on his heels
“We can’t all go” Karen said “someone needs to stay here”
Bruce and Karen looked at each other, neither of them wanting to volunteer.
“I’ll stay” Norman said and threw the keys to his dad
“Mike and I will hold the fort”
“Ok we’ll ring when we have news” Karen said
“So get going” Norm said and watched as the car disappeared from view.
Norman and Michael had a busy day on the farm which lasted well into the evening, when they went in to eat and at the end of the meal and they cleared away.
When the last dirty plate was loaded in the dishwasher and finally finished everything that needed to be done they sat down in their armchairs and put their feet up and they promptly fell asleep.
It was about an hour later when they were woken from slumber by loud laughter as their parents burst into the room.
“Aw look at our little tired soldier” Karen said and walked over to them and kissed them.
“Have some respect for the dead Mum” Michael said sleepily
“Obviously no stamina, these youngsters” Bruce added
“I’ll put the kettle on” Norman offered
“Just remember to put water in first” his mum said “it’s a kitchen appliance not one of your work tools”
“Very funny” he said
“So how’s Mandy?” Michael asked
“They kept her in” Karen said “Just as a precaution”
Michael was curious as to why he detected no concern in her voice there was even the faintest hint of a smile.
“So what’s wrong?” He asked
“Nothing’s wrong” she replied
“Then why have they kept her in?” he quizzed
Bruce and Karen stood in the centre of the room and put their arms around each other.
“She’s pregnant” they chorused
“What?” Michael exclaimed
“She’s four months pregnant” Karen said proudly
“Everything is fine” Bruce said “they really did just keep her in as a precaution”
“We’re going to be grandparents” Karen said
“Then we should have something a little stronger than coffee” Norman suggested.
Downshire Diary – (20) The Girl at the Corner Shop
(Part 01)
The village of Brocklington was on the River Brooke about six miles downstream from Sharping St Mary in the Finchbottom Vale which was nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.
The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.
There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third of course was Purplemere.
One of the newest inhabitants of Brocklington was a Purplemere native, Sam Townsend, who had moved to the village to live with his widowed sister Ruth and her two children Olivia and Cecily.
Sam was five year younger than his sister who was a few months short of her milestone 30th birthday.
They were unmistakably siblings with their dark curly hair and green eyes.
Sam wore his hair collar length while Ruth’s tumbled lavishly onto her shoulders.
Sam still worked in Purplemere and travelled back and forth to work by train and every day, twice a day, he would call in at Stephenson’s corner shop and see the lovely Adele.
Stephenson’s had supermarkets and convenience stores all over Downshire and the one in Brocklington was owned and run by Glen and Lisa Thompson and ably assisted by their lovely Niece Adele who did a disproportionate amount of the work.
Glen was a surly old goat and since she was orphaned at the age of 12 he had been like her father to her although in truth he was old enough to be her grandfather.
Adele and her Aunt Lisa were both really nice although Sam thought Adele was lovely, she was a few years younger than him, with caramel coloured skin betraying her mixed race heritage and she was tall and slim but her thick back combed black hair made her look even taller.
She was a skinny girl but not in a boney way she just had a skinny frame.
Her eyes were big and almost black and she had a huge toothy smile, which lit up the whole shop when she smiled, if not the street.
Sam would always flirt dreadfully with her and her aunt and they would always flirt back and when it came time to pay there was always a lingering exchange where their hands would almost touch, but not quite, and occasionally he would caress her hand with his thumb or brush his fingertips against hers and she would blush, and if she was on the shop floor he would brush passed her very close and she would get very flustered.
Alas on a particular in June she and her aunty were at the cash and carry, so only the surly old goat was in the shop and he was sat on his arse watching cricket.
(Part 02)
Sam Townsend really fancied Adele Young, who worked at the corner shop and he always flirted outrageously with her but he hadn’t been able to use that to his advantage and ask her out, he always entered the shop with the intention of asking her out but she was so seldom alone, and when she was his courage failed him.
He entered the shop and as luck would have it lazy Uncle Glen was out, and Aunt Lisa was ill in bed and only the lovely Adele was in the shop.
When she saw Sam walk in, she quickly fussed with her thick black hair and made herself look even lovelier.
She was a skinny young girl, too skinny for everyone’s taste but he was firmly in the “nearer the bone the sweeter the meat” camp.
As he approached her huge black eyes and toothy smile lit up her face and he felt encouraged.
So as there were no prying eyes, when she handed him his change he blatantly held her hand and made her blush and he was just about to invite her to the cinema when another customer entered the shop.
It was Agatha Spivey, a very stern looking middle-aged woman who disapproved of everything, and in particular love, especially young love.
She never smiled and peered superciliously over her spectacles at everyone, not a joyful person, so he had to leave his question unasked, but hung around by the magazines, until she exchanged pleasantries with Adele, if you can call them that, and then as abruptly and as rudely as she first appeared, she was gone so Sam returned his attentions to Adele, however before he could resume his activities with her, Violet Bradley walked through the door.
She was also a middle-aged woman, but as different from Agatha Spivey as cheese was from chalk.
She looked a little flustered when she walked in but then she often did, after more than ten minutes of chattering and gossip there were five people in the shop, so his moment had gone so he gave Adele a final smile and left wondering when he would get another chance.
The problem was he had never seen her anywhere other than the shop, she lived in the apartment above the premises with her aunt and Uncle so he couldn’t catch her going to or from work and as a regular patron of the Mulberry Tree he knew she didn’t go there so he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage it.
He was a less frequent visitor to St Cuthbert’s but he hadn’t seen her there either.
So he was left for the remainder of June only with his morning and evening encounters in the shop when he hoped he would have a change of fortune.
Of course had he spoken to his sister Ruth about his attraction to Adele, and furthermore the difficulty he was having in speaking to her away from the shop, she would have been able to tell him where and when he could find her with no difficulty at all.
But instead it was left to chance.
(Part 03)
It was Saturday morning and July had arrived and furthermore it had delivered to the folk of Downshire a very hot day, the hottest day of the year that far in fact.
It was Sam’s day off from work and his sister Ruth had arranged for them to take her two daughters swimming in Purplemere, which was always great fun.
They had to do it in the morning as they had to leave early as they had been invited to a BBQ in the afternoon back in Brocklington.
Sam left Ruth and the girls swimming in the pool, because they wanted another five minutes, which they stretched to ten, while Sam went and got changed.
The Purplemere Lido was a very modern facility with up-to-the-minute unisex changing rooms with two long rows of cubicles’ flanked by lockers.
He wasn’t altogether sure if he liked the idea of unisex facilities or not, the jury was very much out for him in that regard.
Sam was in a cubicle getting dressed, he only had his shirt left to put on and he could suddenly hear some familiar voices nearby and the first one was right outside his cubicle door
“Come on luvvie” the voice, said and the voice belonged to Aunty Lisa from the corner shop, so therefore by extension the other voice had to be the lovely Adele.
“I’m nearly ready Aunty, you go on without me and I will catch you up” Said Adele
The lovely Adele, from the corner shop was only a few yards away from him and she was wearing a swimsuit.
“Ok I will see you in a minute” Lisa said moving away.
He left it for a moment or two, listening intently to see if he could detect any movement and when he thought he could hear her close the locker door and pad along the tiled floor he open his door and found he had timed it to perfection as Adele was right there wearing a black one piece swimsuit and clutching a towel.
“Hello Adele” he said still stripped to the waist
“Oh Sam” she exclaimed a little flustered, not quite knowing what to do and feeling a little self-conscious as she was in her swimsuit.
“I didn’t know you came here” he said
“Yes we do it every week” she replied
He couldn’t stop himself from casting an appreciative eye over her swim-suited figure, and she blushed when she noticed him watching her.
Trying to cover her embarrassment and failing she said
“Do you come here often?”
And they both laughed.
“Who’s running the shop this morning if you and Lisa are both here?” he asked her
“Uncle Glen and the Saturday girls” she said as she watched him intently as he put his shirt on.
“Are you not coming in?” she asked
“No I’ve been in already, we’re going to a BBQ this afternoon”
“We?” she asked trying to be casual
“My sister Ruth and the girls”
“Oh” she responded with obvious relief so Sam seized his moment and said
“Why don’t you come? As my plus one”
“You want me to be your plus one?” she asked
“If you’d like to” he said
“Yes please, I would like that” she replied, the delight was obvious on her face until a crest fallen expression replaced it and she added
“But I have to work this afternoon”
“What time do you finish?” he asked
“Not until six” she replied glumly “and then I’d have to change”
“Oh dear, it will be all over by then” he said and he watched as her shoulders slumped
“I know” Adele said resignedly
“So we’ll just have to go into Purplemere instead” Sam suggested “Pizza and a movie maybe”
“Yes” she replied “Definitely yes”
“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven” he said and Adele nodded exaggeratedly in response.
Which was when Ruth appeared and the girls were shouting excitedly for Uncle Sam so Adele gave him a dazzling smile and skipped away towards the pool.
“Well that was easy” he said to himself
“Was that Adele” Ruth asked when she reached his cubicle
“Yes, we have a date tonight” he replied smugly
“It’s about time” Ruth said “I thought you were never going to do it”
The village of Brocklington was on the River Brooke about six miles downstream from Sharping St Mary in the Finchbottom Vale which was nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.
The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.
There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third of course was Purplemere.
One of the newest inhabitants of Brocklington was a Purplemere native, Sam Townsend, who had moved to the village to live with his widowed sister Ruth and her two children Olivia and Cecily.
Sam was five year younger than his sister who was a few months short of her milestone 30th birthday.
They were unmistakably siblings with their dark curly hair and green eyes.
Sam wore his hair collar length while Ruth’s tumbled lavishly onto her shoulders.
Sam still worked in Purplemere and travelled back and forth to work by train and every day, twice a day, he would call in at Stephenson’s corner shop and see the lovely Adele.
Stephenson’s had supermarkets and convenience stores all over Downshire and the one in Brocklington was owned and run by Glen and Lisa Thompson and ably assisted by their lovely Niece Adele who did a disproportionate amount of the work.
Glen was a surly old goat and since she was orphaned at the age of 12 he had been like her father to her although in truth he was old enough to be her grandfather.
Adele and her Aunt Lisa were both really nice although Sam thought Adele was lovely, she was a few years younger than him, with caramel coloured skin betraying her mixed race heritage and she was tall and slim but her thick back combed black hair made her look even taller.
She was a skinny girl but not in a boney way she just had a skinny frame.
Her eyes were big and almost black and she had a huge toothy smile, which lit up the whole shop when she smiled, if not the street.
Sam would always flirt dreadfully with her and her aunt and they would always flirt back and when it came time to pay there was always a lingering exchange where their hands would almost touch, but not quite, and occasionally he would caress her hand with his thumb or brush his fingertips against hers and she would blush, and if she was on the shop floor he would brush passed her very close and she would get very flustered.
Alas on a particular in June she and her aunty were at the cash and carry, so only the surly old goat was in the shop and he was sat on his arse watching cricket.
(Part 02)
Sam Townsend really fancied Adele Young, who worked at the corner shop and he always flirted outrageously with her but he hadn’t been able to use that to his advantage and ask her out, he always entered the shop with the intention of asking her out but she was so seldom alone, and when she was his courage failed him.
He entered the shop and as luck would have it lazy Uncle Glen was out, and Aunt Lisa was ill in bed and only the lovely Adele was in the shop.
When she saw Sam walk in, she quickly fussed with her thick black hair and made herself look even lovelier.
She was a skinny young girl, too skinny for everyone’s taste but he was firmly in the “nearer the bone the sweeter the meat” camp.
As he approached her huge black eyes and toothy smile lit up her face and he felt encouraged.
So as there were no prying eyes, when she handed him his change he blatantly held her hand and made her blush and he was just about to invite her to the cinema when another customer entered the shop.
It was Agatha Spivey, a very stern looking middle-aged woman who disapproved of everything, and in particular love, especially young love.
She never smiled and peered superciliously over her spectacles at everyone, not a joyful person, so he had to leave his question unasked, but hung around by the magazines, until she exchanged pleasantries with Adele, if you can call them that, and then as abruptly and as rudely as she first appeared, she was gone so Sam returned his attentions to Adele, however before he could resume his activities with her, Violet Bradley walked through the door.
She was also a middle-aged woman, but as different from Agatha Spivey as cheese was from chalk.
She looked a little flustered when she walked in but then she often did, after more than ten minutes of chattering and gossip there were five people in the shop, so his moment had gone so he gave Adele a final smile and left wondering when he would get another chance.
The problem was he had never seen her anywhere other than the shop, she lived in the apartment above the premises with her aunt and Uncle so he couldn’t catch her going to or from work and as a regular patron of the Mulberry Tree he knew she didn’t go there so he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage it.
He was a less frequent visitor to St Cuthbert’s but he hadn’t seen her there either.
So he was left for the remainder of June only with his morning and evening encounters in the shop when he hoped he would have a change of fortune.
Of course had he spoken to his sister Ruth about his attraction to Adele, and furthermore the difficulty he was having in speaking to her away from the shop, she would have been able to tell him where and when he could find her with no difficulty at all.
But instead it was left to chance.
(Part 03)
It was Saturday morning and July had arrived and furthermore it had delivered to the folk of Downshire a very hot day, the hottest day of the year that far in fact.
It was Sam’s day off from work and his sister Ruth had arranged for them to take her two daughters swimming in Purplemere, which was always great fun.
They had to do it in the morning as they had to leave early as they had been invited to a BBQ in the afternoon back in Brocklington.
Sam left Ruth and the girls swimming in the pool, because they wanted another five minutes, which they stretched to ten, while Sam went and got changed.
The Purplemere Lido was a very modern facility with up-to-the-minute unisex changing rooms with two long rows of cubicles’ flanked by lockers.
He wasn’t altogether sure if he liked the idea of unisex facilities or not, the jury was very much out for him in that regard.
Sam was in a cubicle getting dressed, he only had his shirt left to put on and he could suddenly hear some familiar voices nearby and the first one was right outside his cubicle door
“Come on luvvie” the voice, said and the voice belonged to Aunty Lisa from the corner shop, so therefore by extension the other voice had to be the lovely Adele.
“I’m nearly ready Aunty, you go on without me and I will catch you up” Said Adele
The lovely Adele, from the corner shop was only a few yards away from him and she was wearing a swimsuit.
“Ok I will see you in a minute” Lisa said moving away.
He left it for a moment or two, listening intently to see if he could detect any movement and when he thought he could hear her close the locker door and pad along the tiled floor he open his door and found he had timed it to perfection as Adele was right there wearing a black one piece swimsuit and clutching a towel.
“Hello Adele” he said still stripped to the waist
“Oh Sam” she exclaimed a little flustered, not quite knowing what to do and feeling a little self-conscious as she was in her swimsuit.
“I didn’t know you came here” he said
“Yes we do it every week” she replied
He couldn’t stop himself from casting an appreciative eye over her swim-suited figure, and she blushed when she noticed him watching her.
Trying to cover her embarrassment and failing she said
“Do you come here often?”
And they both laughed.
“Who’s running the shop this morning if you and Lisa are both here?” he asked her
“Uncle Glen and the Saturday girls” she said as she watched him intently as he put his shirt on.
“Are you not coming in?” she asked
“No I’ve been in already, we’re going to a BBQ this afternoon”
“We?” she asked trying to be casual
“My sister Ruth and the girls”
“Oh” she responded with obvious relief so Sam seized his moment and said
“Why don’t you come? As my plus one”
“You want me to be your plus one?” she asked
“If you’d like to” he said
“Yes please, I would like that” she replied, the delight was obvious on her face until a crest fallen expression replaced it and she added
“But I have to work this afternoon”
“What time do you finish?” he asked
“Not until six” she replied glumly “and then I’d have to change”
“Oh dear, it will be all over by then” he said and he watched as her shoulders slumped
“I know” Adele said resignedly
“So we’ll just have to go into Purplemere instead” Sam suggested “Pizza and a movie maybe”
“Yes” she replied “Definitely yes”
“Great, I’ll pick you up at seven” he said and Adele nodded exaggeratedly in response.
Which was when Ruth appeared and the girls were shouting excitedly for Uncle Sam so Adele gave him a dazzling smile and skipped away towards the pool.
“Well that was easy” he said to himself
“Was that Adele” Ruth asked when she reached his cubicle
“Yes, we have a date tonight” he replied smugly
“It’s about time” Ruth said “I thought you were never going to do it”
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