(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.
Ruth was five year older than her brother and 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.
She was originally from Purplemere but her husband Jack was Brocklington born and bred and when they married she moved into his house and they raised their family and they were very happy and content.
They met while at University and married when they graduated and they were married and a year later the twins were born.
Jack Martin was 33 years old and by profession was a gamekeeper, when he died suddenly and tragically of anaphylactic shock when he was on a charity bike ride and he was stung by a single bee.
His death came completely out of the blue and left her high and dry, with the only bread winner dead she struggled to make ends meet and very soon went through what little savings they had and because she was originally from Purplemere and living in Brocklington she was a long way from her support network.
Which was why her brother Sam moved in with her, he still worked in Purplemere and travelled back and forth to work by train and in the evenings and he babysat the girls while Ruth worked behind the bar at the Mulberry Tree and thanks to Sam stepping into the breach Ruth was able to get her finance’s back in the black.
He became a vital part of the household and Olivia and Cecily loved their uncle Sam but far apart from his babysitting duties he also regularly took the girls to school in the morning and often picked them up when they did after school clubs, the school had a breakfast club and an after school as well as clubs during the summer holidays, when Sam’s involvement would lead to some confusion later.
(Part 02)
Glyn Tucker was the newly appointed Deputy Head Teacher of St Cuthbert’s School, which was only the second school he had taught at in the whole of his professional life.
He had previously lived and worked in Northchapel which was a much larger and more challenging location but he didn’t move to Brocklington because of that.
Since July, 31 year old Glyn Tucker, was a resident of Brocklington where he lived alone, though that wasn’t always the case in Northchapel.
He had been married, he still was married for that matter, but not for much longer.
He had been separated from his wife Brenda for two years at her suggestion and he was still angry about it.
It had come completely out of the blue, he loved the very bones of her and he thought she felt the same about him but he was clearly mistaken because she left him, and children were at the root of “irreconcilable differences”.
And his abandonment became the second great sadness of his life.
The first one being his inability to father a child which eventually led to the second.
Brenda saw her husband’s inability to get her pregnant as a personal slight which diminished her as a woman.
Glyn pointed out to her that there were other options like fertility treatment or adoption, but she refused point blank even to consider adoption as that would undermine her even further and to even suggest that she participate in IVF was an insult to her and how dare he suggest that she humiliate herself.
So she left him and her vehemence and anger rang in his ears for days after.
Although she spoke of separation as she packed her bags, after the angry outburst he knew that it was only ever going to end in divorce.
Even in the unlikely event that she wanted to return he could never forgive her aggressive behaviour or the things she said to him, demeaning and belittling him.
So as soon as he realized that the writing was on the wall he made the decision to start afresh somewhere new and started looking around for a new position and couldn’t believe his luck when he heard about the vacancy at St Cuthbert’s School which not only catered for students from years 1 to 6 which just happened to be what he was looking for but the Head teacher Sophie Welby was a very good friend of his and she was able to persuade the governor’s to offer him the Deputy Head’s position.
He soon fell in love with Brocklington and St Cuthbert’s School and the children in it and they would love him back.
He was also accepted by the people in the village and he had made many new friendships inside and outside of the Church.
He also found that he had fallen in love with one of the villagers when he became a regular at the Mulberry Tree.
(Part 03)
His last day at his old school was the 19th July and on the 20th Glyn Tucker moved to Brocklington, and he quickly settled into village life and on his first day he took a walk to the local hostelry to have a pint of Mornington Ale at the Mulberry Tree and that was when he saw her.
She was pulling a pint and sharing a joke with a regular, she was very attractive with her long curly dark hair tumbling over her shoulders, green eyes and a lovely smile and she had a tall and slender figure with nice long legs, though he would have had to admit she was fairly shapeless and her chest was as flat as a bowling green.
She had seen in her peripheral vision a man walk in wearing a t-shirt and shorts and then he stood at the end of the bar but it wasn’t until she had finished serving one of her regulars that she actually got a good look at him.
He wasn’t a big man, 5’ 9” at most and quite wiry, with skinny legs that made his baggy shorts look even baggier, but he stretched himself up to his maximum height to greet her approach and he brushed his Sandy coloured hair off his forehead and smiled.
His craggy features and tanned skin made him look older than his thirty three years but not drastically so.
But Ruth liked what she saw.
“Hello” she said “what can I get you?”
“Hi, a pint of Mornington please” he replied
“I haven’t seen you in here before” she remarked as she pulled his pint
“No I only moved here today” he replied “I’m Glyn”
“Pleased to meet you Glyn” she said “I’m Ruth”
She finished pulling his pint, and they exchanged pleasantries while he paid and then he went and sat down, which was a decision he immediately regretted as he could no longer stare at her legs.
He was rather taken with her eyes as well, which were the most stunning green, and a lovely smile which he could still see.
As he walked home that evening he surprised himself somewhat with his appreciation of the barmaid because he hadn’t looked at anyone in that way since his separation from his wife and then said
“Nothing will come of it”
But he was in the pub the next evening however, but it was a really busy night, the pub was packed and the place was really buzzing in fact the landlord regretted not putting more staff on, and so did Ruth.
The large attendance was as a result of a quiz night which was obviously very popular.
He stayed for two drinks, but she didn’t serve him either time.
The next day he took himself along to St Cuthbert’s School because he had agreed to help out at the summer holiday club, which was when he first met Olivia and Cecily Townsend Martin when their Uncle Sam dropped them off
All the teaching staff devoted some of their time to the Holiday Club, in a supervisory capacity only, as most of the activities were run by students from the village.
And although he didn’t technically start at the school until September he volunteered to help out for two or three days a week as and when he was needed and that evening he was back at the Mulberry Tree.
(Part 04)
Although he didn’t technically start at the school until September he volunteered to help out for two or three days a week as and when he was needed and that evening he was back at the Mulberry Tree.
He decided to go in earlier in the evening in the hope that it wasn’t too busy and he might get to engage Ruth in conversation and so he walked in and walked straight up to the bar and she wasn’t there because it was her night off.
But he didn’t know that so he had a pint and went home.
Over the weekend he was working around the house, DIY, painting and decorating and at the end of each day he was so knackered he didn’t bother going for a drink.
The following week he spent Monday to Wednesday supervising at the Holiday Club and each evening finishing the decorating and Thursday and Friday ferrying all his worldly goods from Northchapel with the help of his mate Danny and a hire van.
On Friday morning a small DIY Van Hire vehicle pulled up in Riverview Road outside number 24 and two men climbed out and went to the back and opened the doors.
At the same time Ruth, who saw the van pull up, was walking home after dropping the girls at Club.
As she was about level with the open door a figure suddenly jumped out and made her jump out of her skin.
“Oh God” she exclaimed “You almost gave me a heart attack”
“I’m so sorry” Glyn said and then recognized who it was he had almost frightened to death
“Oh hello Ruth” he said
“I’m sorry I startled you”
“Oh that’s ok” She said and laughed
“I haven’t seen you in the pub all week”
“No I’ve been decorating before I moved the last of my stuff in and by the evenings all I have the energy for is dozing off in front of the TV” he admitted
“Oh that’s a shame” she said and blushed lightly
“Where does this one go Glyn?” a man asked
“Bedroom two” he replied and then thought he should introduce his best friend to the woman he had been talking about all the way over from Northchapel.
“Danny this is Ruth, who I was telling you about” he said
“Ruth this is my best mate Danny”
“Pleased to meet you” Ruth said and offered her hand
“Likewise” he said and was about to shake her hand but realized just in time that they were dirty.
After avoiding dirtying her hand Danny carried the box into the house and Ruth said
“I’ll leave you to it
“Oh ok” he said “Bye”
He watched as she walked away before picking up another box and following Danny into the house.
“That’s was a shame” he thought to himself
He was enjoying their little chat and he would have liked to have invited her in for coffee, maybe another time.
He wasn’t certain sure, due to his being out of practice with the opposite sex, but he thought there was definitely some flirting.
(Part 05)
At the end of the day, with everything from the old house moved Glyn took Danny to the Mulberry Tree for a pint but it was really busy by the time they got there so apart from admiring her legs and exchanging a smile or two it was a fruitless visit.
On Saturday and Sunday Glyn and Danny were in the formers old house cleaning and decorating as it was being listed with the estate Agents after the weekend and his absence had been noted by Ruth who had passed by his house on her way to work and noticed it was uninhabited.
On Monday he was back in Brocklington and on duty at School Club when Sam dropped Olivia and Cecily off and he was looking forward to seeing Ruth again, at the pub that evening.
He decided to go in earlier in the evening in the hope that it wasn’t too busy and he might get to engage her in conversation and so he walked in and walked straight up to the bar and she was there immediately to greet him.
“Hello” she said “Glyn”
“Hi Ruth”
“A pint of Mornington?” she asked
“Yes please”
Once she had delivered him his pint he decided not to go and sit down at a table but instead he pulled up a stool and sat at the bar so he could continue to admire her legs.
Which proved to be exactly the right decision as she spent prolonged periods of the time chatting with him.
“So what brought you to the village?” she asked, he didn’t particularly want to go into all the details of his failed marriage so he just replied
“Work”
“Oh really, what do you do?” she asked
“I’m the new deputy head at St Cuthbert’s” he said “And I have been helping out at the Holiday club, in between everything else”
“Really?”
“Yes” he replied “it’s been fun”
“Then you must have met my….” She began but was drowned out by a rowdy group who appeared nosily at the bar and she had to go a serve them.
When she had finished with the rowdies she returned her attention to Glyn, the fact that she was about to tell him about her twin daughters had gone right out of her head and the conversation became more general and lasted pretty much the whole evening.
Of course what he wanted to do was ask her out so he could take her out for dinner but he was so out of practice he didn’t know what to say and even in his dating days he wasn’t particularly good at it.
The last bell rang and he knew it was now or never so he took a deep breath and steeled himself and said
“I was wondering if, sometime, maybe, but feel free to say no, you had a free evening, we might, possibly…”
“I’d love to” she said putting him out of his misery
“You would?”
“Yes”
“Great, when are…”
“I’m not working at all on Friday” she said and wrote her number on a beer mat
“Friday it is” he said “Goodnight”
(Part 06)
On Friday morning Glyn Tucker was on duty at the Holiday Club and was there about half an hour before Sam dropped Olivia and Cecily off and he spent the whole morning looking forward to seeing Ruth again, when he was taking her out for dinner that evening.
Holiday Club was open for morning and afternoon sessions and parents could pick and choose which sessions they needed in order to make it the most cost effective for them, so just before lunch Glyn positioned himself by the gate to supervise the children being collected by their parents.
He had only been there for a few minutes when he spotted Ruth approaching which lifted his spirits, but then Olivia and Cecily ran out through the gate towards her
“Mum, Mum” they cried
“Look what we’ve made”
“Wow” she said in response
“They called her mum” he said to himself “I must have misheard
“Do you like it mum?” Olivia asked
“Yes I do poppet” she replied
“No apparently I didn’t mishear” he thought “I knew she was too good to be true”
He was totally deflated, the first time he let his guard down since his separation and he picks a married woman, well that was not acceptable, and he did not behave that way.
“I’m looking forward to tonight” Ruth whispered and smiled
“I’m afraid I can’t make it” he said “Somethings come up”
“Oh! Ok another time then” she said disappointedly
“Yes another time” he lied
The twins chattered away incessantly but Ruth was very quiet on the walk home, she just couldn’t understand why Glyn had been so cold, she had clearly misjudged him, it had to be because she had kids, she couldn’t think of any other reason why he would behave like that.
Glyn was convinced he had misjudged her, he had looked at her hand when she delivered his pint the first time he met her and there was no ring, so not only was she married but she was deceitful as well.
Not that he had a problem with the fact she had children, they were lovely girls, but why didn’t she say anything.
He stayed on at school until after lunch and then walked slowly towards home and bumped into Sam coming out of Stephenson’s shop with a pretty black girl on his arm.
“My God they’re both at it” he thought “what kind of a half arsed marriage do they have”
“Hello Mr Tucker” Sam said
“Hello” he responded “Are you not spending the afternoon with your girls?”
“My girls?”
“Yes Olivia and Cecily” Glyn said
“They’re not my children” Sam said with a laugh
“They’re my nieces”
“What?” Glyn exclaimed
“I’m their uncle Sam, not their Dad” He explained
“Oh my God what have I done” he said and put his hands on his head “I’ve made a terrible mistake”
“Why what have you done?” Sam asked with concern
“Where’s Ruth? I must talk to Ruth” he said
“She’s at home” he replied “In the garden on a lounger knowing her”
“Great” Glyn said and ran off “I just hope I’m not too late
(Part 07)
Once Glyn realised that Sam and Ruth were not husband and wife but were brother and sister he was desperate to find Ruth and try to redeem the situation.
The last time they spoke he was quite brusque because he thought she was a married woman.
They were supposed to be having dinner together but he brushed her off and he was afraid he may have burned his bridges with her.
The good news was that Ruth had the afternoon off and he had it on good authority that she was in her back garden, the bad news was he didn’t know what to say to her to repair the damage he had done.
He had liked her from the first moment he saw her and she had been the first woman to reignite his interest in the opposite sex since he separated from his wife.
It took him an age to summon up the courage to ask her out and he was thrilled when she said yes.
But then he hit the panic button when he jumped to the wrong conclusion which was why he traipsed around the village for an hour trying to compose himself.
It was a glorious day and very hot, when he reached over the top of the gate and opened the latch and swung open the back gate and walked in.
It was a nice garden, much nicer than his, but he supposed you get out of it what you put in, and Ruth had obviously put a lot in to hers while the previous resident in his house had kept the garden simply functional and had put absolutely nothing into it and no effort was expended whatsoever.
Ruth’s on the other hand, clearly loved her garden and loved working in it and the result was there for him to see a delightful English country garden.
He could see Ruth immediately as he walked in, she was on the deck lying on a sun lounger wearing a pink bikini.
She had her back to him and was lying on her side reading a magazine the curve of her hip to her waist was like a mountain slope and her dark curly hair was tied back to reveal her neck and shoulders.
She was up on the decking which was located at the bottom of the garden, which was a real suntrap.
The garden sloped from there back to the house and was landscaped to form four distinct steps the decking being the highest and the patio outside the lounge being the lowest.
The second tier was predominantly herbaceous planting and the third was laid to lawn.
Ruth’s eight year old twin daughters were jumping in and out and splashing around in a paddling pool on the lawned area of the third tier.
He still didn’t know what to say or how it would be received so he took a deep breath and walked up behind Ruth and said
“Hello Ruth” and she turned and looked over her shoulder at him.
(Part 08)
He could see Ruth immediately as he walked in, she was on the deck lying on a sun lounger wearing a pink bikini.
She had her back to him and was lying on her side reading a magazine and her eight year old twin daughters were jumping in and out and splashing around in a paddling pool on the lawned area of the garden as he entered
He still didn’t know what to say or how it would be received so he took a deep breath and walked up behind Ruth and said
“Hello Ruth” and she turned and looked over her shoulder at him.
“At last” Ruth said with a smile
“What kept you?”
“Were you expecting me then?” he asked a little confused
“Of course” she replied and sat herself up
“But how?”
“Sam phoned me” she said “So what did keep you?”
“Well I’ve been walking around for an hour trying to find the right words to apologize for being an idiot” he explained
“Aww that’s really sweet” she said and stood up and walked towards him and kissed him
“Aren’t you worried the girls will see?” he asked
Ruth looked over the trellised fence that surrounded the deck, and down to where the girls were splashing around but even if they were looking they wouldn’t have been able to see them clearly.
“They can’t see us from there” she said and kissed him again
“Are you sure?” he asked uneasily
“Positive” she said, and then they kissed again and then came the tell-tale chimes of the ice cream van playing “colonel bogey” in a nearby street, and nothing says come and get an ice-cream more than “Hitler has only got one ball”.
Then suddenly the twins were running up the garden
“Ice cream. Ice cream” they called
“Ok just a minute kids” Ruth shouted to them a little breathless,
He dug around in his pocket and brought out two, two pound coins which he tossed over the herbaceous border and landed them expertly on the lawn a few feet from the girls.
“Thank you Mr Tucker” the twins chimed in unison “do you want one”
“No thanks” he shouted back
“What about Mum?”
“I want a snog” she said with a leer
“No mum’s fine” he replied
“Ok” they chorused and went off squealing excitedly
“No you can relax and snog me properly” she said licking her lips “the twins will be at least ten minutes”
“Am I forgiven then?” he said
“We’ll see” she replied and kissed him again
By the time the twins returned from their ice cream expedition Ruth had forgiven him and they were sitting on the patio drinking coffee and laughing at his misunderstanding.
“I have a confession to make” Ruth said
“Oh!”
“I thought the reason you went all cold earlier was because you found out I had children” she admitted
“No not at all” he asserted
“I’m glad” she said and smiled
“Girls!” he called
“Yes Mr Tucker”
“How would you like to go out for dinner tonight with your mum and me?” he asked
“Yes please!!!” they squealed and Ruth squeezed his hand.
Saturday, 8 April 2017
Friday, 7 April 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (39) Christmas Miracles
(Part 01)
20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green was the sprawling village of Denmead and it was Christmas day.
Nick Waterfield was at his parents’ house for the big day and it was heaving with all of his happy semi intoxicated relatives, his Mum and Dad, his kid brother, two older sisters, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins and Nick was glad they were all happy even if he wasn’t.
He just wished they would take their festive happiness elsewhere as he had no need of it even if he was the main reason the entire Waterfield clan had assembled in Denmead that day.
It was his well-meaning mother’s idea to invite everyone and his dog in order to make Christmas, noisy, happy and jolly to keep Nick distracted.
His mother, Jeanette, was the matriarch of the clan and was something of a force of nature so when she “invited” you, it was generally accepted to be an order, she meant well of course.
He thought Christmas Dinner was tolerable enough, the jollity was blissfully muted when they had their mouths full of his mums excellent cooking but then as soon as the last spoonful of Christmas Pud had been consumed it all ramped up again.
Jeanette Waterfield organized the girls in the kitchen and his Dad got everyone else clearing away in preparation for an afternoon of fun and frivolity.
Nick took that as his cue and retreated to the hall and got his coat on, the last thing he needed was fun.
“Where are you going Nick?” his mum asked
“I just need to walk my dinner off” he replied patting his stomach.
She nodded her understanding and knew it was nothing to do with needing a constitutional.
“Do you want some company?” she asked
“No mum I’ll be fine, I won’t be long”
“You’ll need your hat and scarf” she insisted and draped a scarf around his neck and pulled his woolen hat on his head, then she put a hand on each cheek and kissed him like she did when he was just a boy and he smiled a weak smile in response.
“You’ll need gloves as well” she said “its bitter cold out there”
Her voice cracked as she said it and she walked quickly back into the kitchen to energize the labour force.
He wished for her sake that he could hide his sadness, it had almost been as difficult a year for her as it had for him.
“I'll be fine mum,” he said to himself “I just need time”
He braced himself as he opened the front door and then walked outside and saw it was still snowing.
Nick reached the end of the path and turned back to look at the Waterfield house where he had spent such a happy childhood.
And it really was happy, his parents made sure of that and he and his siblings had everything they could need, he heartily wished he could have just a spoonful of the happiness he felt in his youth to ease the pain that he felt at that moment.
(Part 02)
It was midafternoon when Nick left his parents’ house and stepped out into the snow and it was already getting dark so he decided to stick to the main road until his eyes became accustomed to the gloom.
It had been years since he had seen a white Christmas, it was a shame he wasn’t in a better frame of mind to enjoy it.
Even in the semi darkness there was clear evidence the village children had been out in force.
There was no sign of them as the light began to fail he assumed they were probably lured back indoors with mugs of hot chocolate by their concerned families but the evidence of their play was evident.
As he made his way up the hill towards St Jane’s church the snow started to fall harder and as he trudged through the deepening snow he looked at the houses as he passed them with their coloured lights resplendent and he wondered about what sadness lurked in their homes behind the happy facade and then he chastised himself, not for the first time, for his self-pity.
He had tried to lift himself from the black mire which surrounded him but try as he might he just kept being sucked back in.
That Christmas had been a big downer for him, it was just that he had had such high hopes for that Christmas, it had held so much promise for him, them.
Nick was an engineer by profession and he had started a new job in Abbottsford the previous February and as every other new hire would, he got the full first day office tour, and in his case it was conducted by his new boss Gary Ash.
After shaking hands with an indeterminate number of employees he began to understand what the Queen had to contend with.
“This is the procurement department” Gary said and half a dozen heads turned around to greet their progress and one smartly dressed young woman stepped out of a corner office.
“Ah Gina” Gary called “This is Nick Waterfield the new head of Engineering”
Gina smiled and reached out her hand which he took and shook warmly.
“Gina Davies” she said and that was that, from that very first moment she had him hook line and sinker, and she was equally bowled over.
So they had their first date that Friday, which was the first of many in their whirlwind romance and they were engaged by Easter and married in June.
And while they honeymooned when they had their whole lives ahead of them they made plans upon plans.
Of course what they had never planned for was for a drunk driver to cross the central reservation on the Pepperstock Express Way and hit her head on as she drove home on the day before Halloween.
Nick should have been with her, they always drove home together but at the last minute he had to go to Nettlefield on an emergency call out, so she died alone.
He wished he’d been in the car with her, he wished he’d died with her so he didn’t have to feel so shit.
(Part 03)
The snow was falling thick and fast and the wind was blowing it straight at him as he trudged up the hill, so discretion being the better part of valour, he decided to take refuge in the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
He hadn’t set foot in a church since the funeral, he and God had not been on speaking terms since he took Gina, he was still angry.
He didn’t plan to go in on that day either, he just intended taking shelter in the porch until the snow eased off a bit, and then he would set off again but the door suddenly opened.
“What on earth are you doing out here?” said a voice behind him so he turned around to see that the voice belonged to Charli Newcombe.
He and Charli had gone to school together and they had even dated briefly on two separate occasions.
Once when they were still at secondary school and again when he returned from University but it just never seemed to happen for them.
“Hey Charli” he said “I was just out for a walk.”
“What in this?” she said
“I needed to walk off my dinner” he pointed out
“Yes but in this?” she repeated
“Well it wasn’t this bad when I left home”
“So what are you really doing out here?” she asked
“Trivial Pursuits” Nick replied
“What?”
“The family are all playing Trivial Pursuits, I really didn’t fancy it” he said
“Oh I see”
“Anyway it’s Christmas Day” he retorted “Shouldn't you be at home watching The Sound of Music?”
“You’d think so wouldn’t you” Charli said “My folks are both asleep in front of the TV and I had sole control of the remote, and I suddenly got the notion I should come and get the church ready for tomorrows service”
Even she seemed surprised by her answer and wore a quizzical expression.
Apart from running the General Store and Post Office, Charli was also the church warden and her late husband Tony had been the Vicar of St Jane’s.
Charli was the same age as him, give or take a month or two, he was thirty and she was a month short of that milestone and like him she was born and bred in the village.
She had married Tony shortly after he got the appointment as the Vicar of St Jane’s he was quite a few years older than her but she loved him to distraction, and you can’t argue with love.
She was devastated when he had a heart attack in Church one day before matins and died.
That was shortly after he had performed the wedding ceremony for Gina and Nick.
He had seen a lot of her since he came back to stay with his parents in the village.
He had sought her out because of their history together and he knew she would understand how it felt to lose someone you loved and maybe help him come to terms with the grief.
They had talked it through endlessly and had burnt the midnight oil on many occasions and as a result some of the old feelings for her had come to the surface, for which he felt immensely guilty and completely disloyal to Gina’s memory.
(Part 04)
Nick and Charli were standing in the porch of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal as the snow continued to fall.
“You look like you could do with a hot drink” she said opening the door
“No I won’t come in thanks” he said
“It’s Christmas, I’m sure you could call a truce for the sake of the day at least”
“Oh ok” he relented and hesitantly followed her through the door into the church and the most overwhelming feeling washed over him and the moment he crossed the threshold into the sanctuary of the church he’d felt a weight lift from him.
The overwhelming feeling he felt was one of great happiness as he remembered that wonderful day in June when Gina and he were married.
He would have expected to feel deep sorrow at the memory but it was actually pure joy that he felt combined with immense pride.
He took off his hat, scarf and gloves as he stood at the back of the church.
Charli had gone into a side room and switched on the light but he found he was walking down the aisle towards the altar where he paused briefly before an effigy of the Saint and then sat down on the front pew.
When he got up from his seat on the front pew he found all the anger and resentment that had plagued him had washed away and he felt more positive than he had in weeks and he even felt he could look forward.
Nick stood up and smiled at St Jane and then went in search of the drink he was offered.
He found Charli in the little kitchen sat at a small table and she looked up at him and smiled and as he walked in and he returned her smile.
“Is this mine?” he asked pointing at a mug by the kettle.
“Yes” she replied “but I’ll make you a fresh one”
“No this will be fine” he said and took a sip “urgh”
“I told you” Charli said laughing
“How long was I sitting out there?” he asked her and she checked her watch
“About forty minutes”
“You’re kidding, how long was it really?”
“About forty minutes”
“I’m sorry” he said “it only seemed like only two or three”
“So how do you feel?” she enquired
“Surprisingly good” he replied and sat down “St Jane was very helpful”
“Yes she is isn’t she” Charli said as she re-boiled the kettle
“I’m still angry that I didn’t get to say goodbye to her” he admitted
“I know that feeling” Charli retorted
“We had such a short time together, we should have had decades, and instead we only had months” And then he surprised himself when he smiled at her and added
“But those months were so special and so filled with joy that the time we had together was priceless”
“Amen to that” Charli said
“Which is precisely what you’ve been telling me all these weeks” he confessed
“Uh huh” she responded
(Part 05)
Nick and Charli were sitting in the kitchen of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Church and they sat and drank their coffee in a comfortable silence when Charli’s suddenly flicked her eyes upwards and caused him to do the same and he saw the mistletoe hanging above the table and then she leant across the table and kissed him and after the kiss it was Nick who broke the silence.
“So do you have someone special in your life?”
“Do you mean a boyfriend?” she replied
“Yes” said Nick
“I was kind of hoping you might want the job” Charli said
“I rather think that I would” he said and reached across the table and took hold of her hand.
“If you’ll have me”
She leant across the table and kissed him again only this time it was a long and lingering sensual kiss.
“Are we allowed to do that in church?” he asked
“Only on Christmas Day” she replied and kissed him again.
Charli locked up the Church and they stepped out from the shelter of the porch and the heavy snow had abated but it was still falling and he smiled as it accumulated on top of her hat.
He offered her his hand which she accepted gladly and then he walked her home and they trudged hand in hand through the snow.
Her parents’ house was only two doors down the lane from the Waterfield’s so walking her home wasn’t out of the way, not that it would have made any difference if she had lived on the other side of the village he would still have walked with her.
They stopped by the front gate and stood facing each other and he leant in and kissed her, and her response was immediate and yielding.
It was a long purposeful kiss full of tenderness and hope for the future.
When he reluctantly broke away he said
“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Yes” Charli replied and went up the path, pausing at the door to turn and wave before she went inside.
“Are you alright dear?” Mum asked with concern as he walked through the front door.
“Yes” he said and smiled “I rather think I am”
And the effect on her was instant as the worry and anxiety she had been feeling melted away and she looked five years younger in that instant.
“I’m so glad” she said and rushed forward to hug him.
Over the months that followed he gave a good deal of reflective thought about exactly what happened that snowy Christmas Day afternoon.
Was it coincidence that he chose to walk in the direction of St Jane’s Church, when he could have gone in any direction or that he needed to take shelter precisely as he passed its sanctuary, or that Charli would open the church door to leave just as he stood sheltering beneath the porch?
And what compelled Charli to leave the warmth and comfort of her parent’s cozy fireside on a snowy Christmas Day and yield sole control of the remote in order to tidy a cold and draughty Church.
But only nick Waterfield knew exactly what transpired between him and the Saint as he sat on that Church pew and that secret remained between him, St Jane and God.
20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green was the sprawling village of Denmead and it was Christmas day.
Nick Waterfield was at his parents’ house for the big day and it was heaving with all of his happy semi intoxicated relatives, his Mum and Dad, his kid brother, two older sisters, aunts, uncles and numerous cousins and Nick was glad they were all happy even if he wasn’t.
He just wished they would take their festive happiness elsewhere as he had no need of it even if he was the main reason the entire Waterfield clan had assembled in Denmead that day.
It was his well-meaning mother’s idea to invite everyone and his dog in order to make Christmas, noisy, happy and jolly to keep Nick distracted.
His mother, Jeanette, was the matriarch of the clan and was something of a force of nature so when she “invited” you, it was generally accepted to be an order, she meant well of course.
He thought Christmas Dinner was tolerable enough, the jollity was blissfully muted when they had their mouths full of his mums excellent cooking but then as soon as the last spoonful of Christmas Pud had been consumed it all ramped up again.
Jeanette Waterfield organized the girls in the kitchen and his Dad got everyone else clearing away in preparation for an afternoon of fun and frivolity.
Nick took that as his cue and retreated to the hall and got his coat on, the last thing he needed was fun.
“Where are you going Nick?” his mum asked
“I just need to walk my dinner off” he replied patting his stomach.
She nodded her understanding and knew it was nothing to do with needing a constitutional.
“Do you want some company?” she asked
“No mum I’ll be fine, I won’t be long”
“You’ll need your hat and scarf” she insisted and draped a scarf around his neck and pulled his woolen hat on his head, then she put a hand on each cheek and kissed him like she did when he was just a boy and he smiled a weak smile in response.
“You’ll need gloves as well” she said “its bitter cold out there”
Her voice cracked as she said it and she walked quickly back into the kitchen to energize the labour force.
He wished for her sake that he could hide his sadness, it had almost been as difficult a year for her as it had for him.
“I'll be fine mum,” he said to himself “I just need time”
He braced himself as he opened the front door and then walked outside and saw it was still snowing.
Nick reached the end of the path and turned back to look at the Waterfield house where he had spent such a happy childhood.
And it really was happy, his parents made sure of that and he and his siblings had everything they could need, he heartily wished he could have just a spoonful of the happiness he felt in his youth to ease the pain that he felt at that moment.
(Part 02)
It was midafternoon when Nick left his parents’ house and stepped out into the snow and it was already getting dark so he decided to stick to the main road until his eyes became accustomed to the gloom.
It had been years since he had seen a white Christmas, it was a shame he wasn’t in a better frame of mind to enjoy it.
Even in the semi darkness there was clear evidence the village children had been out in force.
There was no sign of them as the light began to fail he assumed they were probably lured back indoors with mugs of hot chocolate by their concerned families but the evidence of their play was evident.
As he made his way up the hill towards St Jane’s church the snow started to fall harder and as he trudged through the deepening snow he looked at the houses as he passed them with their coloured lights resplendent and he wondered about what sadness lurked in their homes behind the happy facade and then he chastised himself, not for the first time, for his self-pity.
He had tried to lift himself from the black mire which surrounded him but try as he might he just kept being sucked back in.
That Christmas had been a big downer for him, it was just that he had had such high hopes for that Christmas, it had held so much promise for him, them.
Nick was an engineer by profession and he had started a new job in Abbottsford the previous February and as every other new hire would, he got the full first day office tour, and in his case it was conducted by his new boss Gary Ash.
After shaking hands with an indeterminate number of employees he began to understand what the Queen had to contend with.
“This is the procurement department” Gary said and half a dozen heads turned around to greet their progress and one smartly dressed young woman stepped out of a corner office.
“Ah Gina” Gary called “This is Nick Waterfield the new head of Engineering”
Gina smiled and reached out her hand which he took and shook warmly.
“Gina Davies” she said and that was that, from that very first moment she had him hook line and sinker, and she was equally bowled over.
So they had their first date that Friday, which was the first of many in their whirlwind romance and they were engaged by Easter and married in June.
And while they honeymooned when they had their whole lives ahead of them they made plans upon plans.
Of course what they had never planned for was for a drunk driver to cross the central reservation on the Pepperstock Express Way and hit her head on as she drove home on the day before Halloween.
Nick should have been with her, they always drove home together but at the last minute he had to go to Nettlefield on an emergency call out, so she died alone.
He wished he’d been in the car with her, he wished he’d died with her so he didn’t have to feel so shit.
(Part 03)
The snow was falling thick and fast and the wind was blowing it straight at him as he trudged up the hill, so discretion being the better part of valour, he decided to take refuge in the Church of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal.
He hadn’t set foot in a church since the funeral, he and God had not been on speaking terms since he took Gina, he was still angry.
He didn’t plan to go in on that day either, he just intended taking shelter in the porch until the snow eased off a bit, and then he would set off again but the door suddenly opened.
“What on earth are you doing out here?” said a voice behind him so he turned around to see that the voice belonged to Charli Newcombe.
He and Charli had gone to school together and they had even dated briefly on two separate occasions.
Once when they were still at secondary school and again when he returned from University but it just never seemed to happen for them.
“Hey Charli” he said “I was just out for a walk.”
“What in this?” she said
“I needed to walk off my dinner” he pointed out
“Yes but in this?” she repeated
“Well it wasn’t this bad when I left home”
“So what are you really doing out here?” she asked
“Trivial Pursuits” Nick replied
“What?”
“The family are all playing Trivial Pursuits, I really didn’t fancy it” he said
“Oh I see”
“Anyway it’s Christmas Day” he retorted “Shouldn't you be at home watching The Sound of Music?”
“You’d think so wouldn’t you” Charli said “My folks are both asleep in front of the TV and I had sole control of the remote, and I suddenly got the notion I should come and get the church ready for tomorrows service”
Even she seemed surprised by her answer and wore a quizzical expression.
Apart from running the General Store and Post Office, Charli was also the church warden and her late husband Tony had been the Vicar of St Jane’s.
Charli was the same age as him, give or take a month or two, he was thirty and she was a month short of that milestone and like him she was born and bred in the village.
She had married Tony shortly after he got the appointment as the Vicar of St Jane’s he was quite a few years older than her but she loved him to distraction, and you can’t argue with love.
She was devastated when he had a heart attack in Church one day before matins and died.
That was shortly after he had performed the wedding ceremony for Gina and Nick.
He had seen a lot of her since he came back to stay with his parents in the village.
He had sought her out because of their history together and he knew she would understand how it felt to lose someone you loved and maybe help him come to terms with the grief.
They had talked it through endlessly and had burnt the midnight oil on many occasions and as a result some of the old feelings for her had come to the surface, for which he felt immensely guilty and completely disloyal to Gina’s memory.
(Part 04)
Nick and Charli were standing in the porch of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal as the snow continued to fall.
“You look like you could do with a hot drink” she said opening the door
“No I won’t come in thanks” he said
“It’s Christmas, I’m sure you could call a truce for the sake of the day at least”
“Oh ok” he relented and hesitantly followed her through the door into the church and the most overwhelming feeling washed over him and the moment he crossed the threshold into the sanctuary of the church he’d felt a weight lift from him.
The overwhelming feeling he felt was one of great happiness as he remembered that wonderful day in June when Gina and he were married.
He would have expected to feel deep sorrow at the memory but it was actually pure joy that he felt combined with immense pride.
He took off his hat, scarf and gloves as he stood at the back of the church.
Charli had gone into a side room and switched on the light but he found he was walking down the aisle towards the altar where he paused briefly before an effigy of the Saint and then sat down on the front pew.
When he got up from his seat on the front pew he found all the anger and resentment that had plagued him had washed away and he felt more positive than he had in weeks and he even felt he could look forward.
Nick stood up and smiled at St Jane and then went in search of the drink he was offered.
He found Charli in the little kitchen sat at a small table and she looked up at him and smiled and as he walked in and he returned her smile.
“Is this mine?” he asked pointing at a mug by the kettle.
“Yes” she replied “but I’ll make you a fresh one”
“No this will be fine” he said and took a sip “urgh”
“I told you” Charli said laughing
“How long was I sitting out there?” he asked her and she checked her watch
“About forty minutes”
“You’re kidding, how long was it really?”
“About forty minutes”
“I’m sorry” he said “it only seemed like only two or three”
“So how do you feel?” she enquired
“Surprisingly good” he replied and sat down “St Jane was very helpful”
“Yes she is isn’t she” Charli said as she re-boiled the kettle
“I’m still angry that I didn’t get to say goodbye to her” he admitted
“I know that feeling” Charli retorted
“We had such a short time together, we should have had decades, and instead we only had months” And then he surprised himself when he smiled at her and added
“But those months were so special and so filled with joy that the time we had together was priceless”
“Amen to that” Charli said
“Which is precisely what you’ve been telling me all these weeks” he confessed
“Uh huh” she responded
(Part 05)
Nick and Charli were sitting in the kitchen of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Church and they sat and drank their coffee in a comfortable silence when Charli’s suddenly flicked her eyes upwards and caused him to do the same and he saw the mistletoe hanging above the table and then she leant across the table and kissed him and after the kiss it was Nick who broke the silence.
“So do you have someone special in your life?”
“Do you mean a boyfriend?” she replied
“Yes” said Nick
“I was kind of hoping you might want the job” Charli said
“I rather think that I would” he said and reached across the table and took hold of her hand.
“If you’ll have me”
She leant across the table and kissed him again only this time it was a long and lingering sensual kiss.
“Are we allowed to do that in church?” he asked
“Only on Christmas Day” she replied and kissed him again.
Charli locked up the Church and they stepped out from the shelter of the porch and the heavy snow had abated but it was still falling and he smiled as it accumulated on top of her hat.
He offered her his hand which she accepted gladly and then he walked her home and they trudged hand in hand through the snow.
Her parents’ house was only two doors down the lane from the Waterfield’s so walking her home wasn’t out of the way, not that it would have made any difference if she had lived on the other side of the village he would still have walked with her.
They stopped by the front gate and stood facing each other and he leant in and kissed her, and her response was immediate and yielding.
It was a long purposeful kiss full of tenderness and hope for the future.
When he reluctantly broke away he said
“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Yes” Charli replied and went up the path, pausing at the door to turn and wave before she went inside.
“Are you alright dear?” Mum asked with concern as he walked through the front door.
“Yes” he said and smiled “I rather think I am”
And the effect on her was instant as the worry and anxiety she had been feeling melted away and she looked five years younger in that instant.
“I’m so glad” she said and rushed forward to hug him.
Over the months that followed he gave a good deal of reflective thought about exactly what happened that snowy Christmas Day afternoon.
Was it coincidence that he chose to walk in the direction of St Jane’s Church, when he could have gone in any direction or that he needed to take shelter precisely as he passed its sanctuary, or that Charli would open the church door to leave just as he stood sheltering beneath the porch?
And what compelled Charli to leave the warmth and comfort of her parent’s cozy fireside on a snowy Christmas Day and yield sole control of the remote in order to tidy a cold and draughty Church.
But only nick Waterfield knew exactly what transpired between him and the Saint as he sat on that Church pew and that secret remained between him, St Jane and God.
Mornington-By-Mere – (39) Angela’s Mission
(Part 01)
Twenty eight year old Matthew Burnham lives alone in the village of Mornington-By-Mere which is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper 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 Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which form the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside where Matthew lived in a small two bedroom cottage in the row of West Gate Cottages on the banks of the River Brooke.
He had only lived there for around 9 months when he moved there from Purplemere.
Matthew made the move because the company he worked for, Bespoke Furniture, had decided to up sticks, so he decided to pick up sticks along with them because it was a well-paid job and he was good at it, and he enjoyed working with his hands.
It was on Wednesday morning in between Christmas and New Year when the phone rang and when he viewed the caller ID he could see it was his mum.
“Hi mum” he said
“Hello Matthew darling, I can’t talk long, I have another favour to ask of you”
“Ok ask away” he said
“Could Angela stay with you again for a couple of nights before she leaves for the missions?”
Angela was an old family friend, she was actually the daughter of his mum’s best friend Sharon and she was also his first crush and she was going to be staying under his roof again.
Angela was six years older than him and he was smitten with her from the very first moment he saw her but nothing ever happened, apart from a kiss, one single solitary kiss, a kiss that blew his mind.
She had stayed with him when she first arrived in the country at the end of November when their unrequited love was finally made manifest.
So yes Angela could most certainly stay for a couple of nights under his roof.
His mum told him that Angela would be arriving with him some time that afternoon so he went off and made up the spare bed for her although he hoped she wouldn’t be needing it.
Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse with heavy snow moving across the country from the east.
So as he sat in his house watching the clock Matthew had no way of knowing exactly where Angela was.
Because he didn’t know exactly where she was coming from he couldn’t ascertain whether or not she would be effected by the snow, and he didn’t even have a phone number to contact her on.
When he began to get concerned Matthew phoned his mum, it was about seven o’clock by then, and she did have a phone number for Angela but all she could do was leave a voice mail as she wasn’t picking up.
(Part 02)
In the month since Matthew heard Angela’s blessed declaration of love, words that he lad longed to hear for 12 long years and he made love with her, he had thought of nothing else.
She was literally all he could think of during every waking moment and every dream filled night.
He just hope and prayed that he had had the same effect on her as she had on him.
Angela said it was love but in their case absence may not have made the heart grow fonder.
About an hour after Matthew had spoken with his mum regarding Angela’s current location he had a call from Lily Mumford’s brother to say that Lily and Angela were stuck on the Pepperstock Express Way in heavy snow and would get to him just as soon as they possibly could.
They finally arrived a little after eleven o’clock with the snow falling fast again.
Due to the lateness of the hour and the treacherous road conditions he insisted that Lily stay the night as well, which meant sadly that he wouldn’t be having the kind of reunion with Angela that he had been anticipating.
Matthew left them both in the kitchen making a hot drink while he went upstairs to get the spare duvet.
Angela could sleep in his bed, alone unfortunately, and Lily could sleep in the spare room while he would sleep on the sofa.
Both Angela and Lily protested and volunteered to take the sofa in his stead but Matthew stood his ground.
Matthew found it more than a little frustrating having the expectancy all day of being reunited, however briefly, with the love of his life, for it only to be denied by the vagaries of the British winter weather and his generosity of spirit.
It was the only thing to do though so he consoled himself with that fact.
Matthew had a very disturbed night’s sleep, partly because of the uncomfortable sofa but partly because of the vivid dreams about Angela.
As a consequence he awoke early the next morning un-rested and as stiff as a board so he decided to get up and have a shower in an attempt to liven himself up, but although he felt clean and fresh afterwards it merely masked his fatigue.
So he slipped on his dressing gown and went downstairs and was surprised to find Lily Mumford sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of coffee.
“Morning” he said far more brightly than he felt “Sleep well?”
“Good morning Matthew, yes very well thank you” she replied formally before continuing
“I hope it was ok, but I made myself breakfast”
“Yes of course it was” he replied as he looked out the window.
“It’s stopped snowing then?” he observed
“Yes” she replied, “I’m going to make a move shortly, get while the going is good as it were”
And she smiled broadly after her statement, Matt didn’t know if it was because he was feeling so washed out or not but Lily certainly appeared to be a much brighter person than he was expecting compared to the Ms. Frosty knickers that he met the last time she was in his home.
(Part 03)
While Lily Mumford was outside defrosting her Morris Minor he sat at the kitchen table drinking a coffee and he was so tired that it didn’t even dawned on him what the significance of Lily’s early departure was.
After about twenty minutes Lily came back inside after clearing the snow off the car and warming up the engine.
“I won’t disturb Angela” she said
“She could use the rest”
“Good idea” he agreed
“Well I will see you on Saturday Matthew” she said “Bless you for your kindness”
Matthew watched the Morris Minor drive away and then switched on the kettle again.
He opened the cupboard and took out a second mug and then stopped as he remembered Lily’s parting words about not disturbing Angela but then he thought.
“Why not?”
So he put his mug in the sink, locked the door and ascended the stairs.
Matthew gently opened the bedroom door and tiptoed inside and he could see the shape of her in his bed and he could see glimpses of her blue and white pajamas above the duvet.
He slipped off his dressing gown and let it drop to the floor and then he slipped under the duvet and cuddled up close to her.
Angela was on her side with her back to him and Matt leant over her and kissed her lips but got no response so he put his arm around her and snuggled up to her warm body so close he was like her second skin and Angela murmured softly in response.
He woke up about an hour later and Angela was facing him.
“Hello” she said “I thought you would never get here”
“Hey” he replied “I got here as soon as I could”
“I was expecting you would come and see me last night” she said, “Why didn’t you by the way?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me to with Lily in the house just in case she heard us,” he replied
“You didn’t need to worry” Angela added, “She’s a bit deaf and she sleeps like the dead”
“Oh well never mind I got here eventually,” he said
“Mmmmm” Angela replied and kissed him
After making love they slept again and when they awoke they spent the rest of the day in each other’s company.
They would have been the first to admit that it was fairly mundane, Angela did her washing and ironing while he pottered around doing the housework.
However the mundanity of the day was more than compensated for by the intimate nature of their nights.
She wanted to make the most of the time they had together as well as packing for the journey, her time with him was almost up and when Angela left his house on the morning of the 30th of December and she travelled to China he would probably never see her again.
But she left an indelible impression on him so as they lay in each other’s arms on that morning together he said
“Don’t go”
“I have to go” she replied sadly “You know that”
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
(Part 04)
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
“But I have to” she said “it’s my life’s work”
“I know that” he replied “But we belong together”
Angela just lay there silently and grasped his hand in hers and put it to her lips and kissed it.
“I know you feel the same” he said “So if you can’t stay here with me then I’ll just have to come to you”
Angela looked up at him through tear filled eyes and said
“Do you mean you’ll come and visit me?”
“No I mean I will come and live with you” he said “as your husband”
“What?” she asked as she wiped away the tears from her now saucer sized eyes.
“I want to marry you and go to the missions with you” he asked and his question was met with a disbelieving silence.
“Or” he continued “I could just make it a holiday”
“No, no” she snapped “married…husband…China”
“I’m confused, does that mean you want to marry me?” he teased her
“Yes, yes, yes” she squealed “Yes please”
She wrapped herself around him like a serpent and showered him with kisses.
“Then we need to make some calls” he said
Matthew wanted them to be married before they left for the missions so there were a considerable number of calls to be made and favours to be asked and arms to be twisted.
The benefit of being a veteran missionary held in high regard in the Christian church was that when favours were requested they were normally granted.
So a special license was granted and after a brief conversation with Reverend Peter Cockcroft he agreed to marry them at St Winifred’s on New Year’s Day.
It did mean that they could no longer live under the same roof unchaperoned so his sister Fiona was sent to fill the roll and on New Year’s Eve she spent the night at the Vicarage with the Cockcroft’s.
The morning began with a frosty glaze decorating the rooftops and lightly dusting the evergreens and as the bells rang out to celebrate the birth of the New Year the joyous faithful arrived under a clear blue sky.
As usual St Winifred’s was well attended for the New Year’s Day service despite the bitter cold.
But that day it was even more so because of the added attraction of a New Year’s Day wedding.
It was a most glorious morning and Matthews’s spirits were high and as he stood at the front of the church with the sun streaming through the stained glass his mother tapped him on the shoulder and whispered
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I have never been more sure of anything in my life” he replied and then the music started.
He could not turn around, he dare not turn around, in case he broke the spell so he just stared straight ahead.
Until the moment she was stood beside him and he turned to look at his beautiful angel wearing her mother’s wedding dress and looking even more beautiful than he could have imagined.
After they left the church there was no time for a wedding breakfast and so they had a glass of Champaign at the Old Mill Inn before saying their goodbyes and getting in Lily Mumford’s Morris Minor and she drove them straight to the airport for their new life together in China.
Twenty eight year old Matthew Burnham lives alone in the village of Mornington-By-Mere which is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper 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 Mornington-By-Mere is not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it is the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which form the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside where Matthew lived in a small two bedroom cottage in the row of West Gate Cottages on the banks of the River Brooke.
He had only lived there for around 9 months when he moved there from Purplemere.
Matthew made the move because the company he worked for, Bespoke Furniture, had decided to up sticks, so he decided to pick up sticks along with them because it was a well-paid job and he was good at it, and he enjoyed working with his hands.
It was on Wednesday morning in between Christmas and New Year when the phone rang and when he viewed the caller ID he could see it was his mum.
“Hi mum” he said
“Hello Matthew darling, I can’t talk long, I have another favour to ask of you”
“Ok ask away” he said
“Could Angela stay with you again for a couple of nights before she leaves for the missions?”
Angela was an old family friend, she was actually the daughter of his mum’s best friend Sharon and she was also his first crush and she was going to be staying under his roof again.
Angela was six years older than him and he was smitten with her from the very first moment he saw her but nothing ever happened, apart from a kiss, one single solitary kiss, a kiss that blew his mind.
She had stayed with him when she first arrived in the country at the end of November when their unrequited love was finally made manifest.
So yes Angela could most certainly stay for a couple of nights under his roof.
His mum told him that Angela would be arriving with him some time that afternoon so he went off and made up the spare bed for her although he hoped she wouldn’t be needing it.
Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse with heavy snow moving across the country from the east.
So as he sat in his house watching the clock Matthew had no way of knowing exactly where Angela was.
Because he didn’t know exactly where she was coming from he couldn’t ascertain whether or not she would be effected by the snow, and he didn’t even have a phone number to contact her on.
When he began to get concerned Matthew phoned his mum, it was about seven o’clock by then, and she did have a phone number for Angela but all she could do was leave a voice mail as she wasn’t picking up.
(Part 02)
In the month since Matthew heard Angela’s blessed declaration of love, words that he lad longed to hear for 12 long years and he made love with her, he had thought of nothing else.
She was literally all he could think of during every waking moment and every dream filled night.
He just hope and prayed that he had had the same effect on her as she had on him.
Angela said it was love but in their case absence may not have made the heart grow fonder.
About an hour after Matthew had spoken with his mum regarding Angela’s current location he had a call from Lily Mumford’s brother to say that Lily and Angela were stuck on the Pepperstock Express Way in heavy snow and would get to him just as soon as they possibly could.
They finally arrived a little after eleven o’clock with the snow falling fast again.
Due to the lateness of the hour and the treacherous road conditions he insisted that Lily stay the night as well, which meant sadly that he wouldn’t be having the kind of reunion with Angela that he had been anticipating.
Matthew left them both in the kitchen making a hot drink while he went upstairs to get the spare duvet.
Angela could sleep in his bed, alone unfortunately, and Lily could sleep in the spare room while he would sleep on the sofa.
Both Angela and Lily protested and volunteered to take the sofa in his stead but Matthew stood his ground.
Matthew found it more than a little frustrating having the expectancy all day of being reunited, however briefly, with the love of his life, for it only to be denied by the vagaries of the British winter weather and his generosity of spirit.
It was the only thing to do though so he consoled himself with that fact.
Matthew had a very disturbed night’s sleep, partly because of the uncomfortable sofa but partly because of the vivid dreams about Angela.
As a consequence he awoke early the next morning un-rested and as stiff as a board so he decided to get up and have a shower in an attempt to liven himself up, but although he felt clean and fresh afterwards it merely masked his fatigue.
So he slipped on his dressing gown and went downstairs and was surprised to find Lily Mumford sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of coffee.
“Morning” he said far more brightly than he felt “Sleep well?”
“Good morning Matthew, yes very well thank you” she replied formally before continuing
“I hope it was ok, but I made myself breakfast”
“Yes of course it was” he replied as he looked out the window.
“It’s stopped snowing then?” he observed
“Yes” she replied, “I’m going to make a move shortly, get while the going is good as it were”
And she smiled broadly after her statement, Matt didn’t know if it was because he was feeling so washed out or not but Lily certainly appeared to be a much brighter person than he was expecting compared to the Ms. Frosty knickers that he met the last time she was in his home.
(Part 03)
While Lily Mumford was outside defrosting her Morris Minor he sat at the kitchen table drinking a coffee and he was so tired that it didn’t even dawned on him what the significance of Lily’s early departure was.
After about twenty minutes Lily came back inside after clearing the snow off the car and warming up the engine.
“I won’t disturb Angela” she said
“She could use the rest”
“Good idea” he agreed
“Well I will see you on Saturday Matthew” she said “Bless you for your kindness”
Matthew watched the Morris Minor drive away and then switched on the kettle again.
He opened the cupboard and took out a second mug and then stopped as he remembered Lily’s parting words about not disturbing Angela but then he thought.
“Why not?”
So he put his mug in the sink, locked the door and ascended the stairs.
Matthew gently opened the bedroom door and tiptoed inside and he could see the shape of her in his bed and he could see glimpses of her blue and white pajamas above the duvet.
He slipped off his dressing gown and let it drop to the floor and then he slipped under the duvet and cuddled up close to her.
Angela was on her side with her back to him and Matt leant over her and kissed her lips but got no response so he put his arm around her and snuggled up to her warm body so close he was like her second skin and Angela murmured softly in response.
He woke up about an hour later and Angela was facing him.
“Hello” she said “I thought you would never get here”
“Hey” he replied “I got here as soon as I could”
“I was expecting you would come and see me last night” she said, “Why didn’t you by the way?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me to with Lily in the house just in case she heard us,” he replied
“You didn’t need to worry” Angela added, “She’s a bit deaf and she sleeps like the dead”
“Oh well never mind I got here eventually,” he said
“Mmmmm” Angela replied and kissed him
After making love they slept again and when they awoke they spent the rest of the day in each other’s company.
They would have been the first to admit that it was fairly mundane, Angela did her washing and ironing while he pottered around doing the housework.
However the mundanity of the day was more than compensated for by the intimate nature of their nights.
She wanted to make the most of the time they had together as well as packing for the journey, her time with him was almost up and when Angela left his house on the morning of the 30th of December and she travelled to China he would probably never see her again.
But she left an indelible impression on him so as they lay in each other’s arms on that morning together he said
“Don’t go”
“I have to go” she replied sadly “You know that”
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
(Part 04)
“But I love you Angela” he said and she gasped
“And I love you too”
“Then don’t go”
“But I have to” she said “it’s my life’s work”
“I know that” he replied “But we belong together”
Angela just lay there silently and grasped his hand in hers and put it to her lips and kissed it.
“I know you feel the same” he said “So if you can’t stay here with me then I’ll just have to come to you”
Angela looked up at him through tear filled eyes and said
“Do you mean you’ll come and visit me?”
“No I mean I will come and live with you” he said “as your husband”
“What?” she asked as she wiped away the tears from her now saucer sized eyes.
“I want to marry you and go to the missions with you” he asked and his question was met with a disbelieving silence.
“Or” he continued “I could just make it a holiday”
“No, no” she snapped “married…husband…China”
“I’m confused, does that mean you want to marry me?” he teased her
“Yes, yes, yes” she squealed “Yes please”
She wrapped herself around him like a serpent and showered him with kisses.
“Then we need to make some calls” he said
Matthew wanted them to be married before they left for the missions so there were a considerable number of calls to be made and favours to be asked and arms to be twisted.
The benefit of being a veteran missionary held in high regard in the Christian church was that when favours were requested they were normally granted.
So a special license was granted and after a brief conversation with Reverend Peter Cockcroft he agreed to marry them at St Winifred’s on New Year’s Day.
It did mean that they could no longer live under the same roof unchaperoned so his sister Fiona was sent to fill the roll and on New Year’s Eve she spent the night at the Vicarage with the Cockcroft’s.
The morning began with a frosty glaze decorating the rooftops and lightly dusting the evergreens and as the bells rang out to celebrate the birth of the New Year the joyous faithful arrived under a clear blue sky.
As usual St Winifred’s was well attended for the New Year’s Day service despite the bitter cold.
But that day it was even more so because of the added attraction of a New Year’s Day wedding.
It was a most glorious morning and Matthews’s spirits were high and as he stood at the front of the church with the sun streaming through the stained glass his mother tapped him on the shoulder and whispered
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I have never been more sure of anything in my life” he replied and then the music started.
He could not turn around, he dare not turn around, in case he broke the spell so he just stared straight ahead.
Until the moment she was stood beside him and he turned to look at his beautiful angel wearing her mother’s wedding dress and looking even more beautiful than he could have imagined.
After they left the church there was no time for a wedding breakfast and so they had a glass of Champaign at the Old Mill Inn before saying their goodbyes and getting in Lily Mumford’s Morris Minor and she drove them straight to the airport for their new life together in China.
Downshire Diary – (39) The Plumber’s Tale
( Part 01)
The Finchbottom Vale is 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 which was to the north of the Vale, in the lee of Pepperstock Hills, lay the modest town of the same name.
On the western side of the town was the residential area known as Hill Side, and in one of its many quiet road, was the home of Pennant’s.
And it was the day before Dave Pennant’s 15th birthday when he first saw Louise Spry and he thought to himself
“That’s what I want for my birthday”
She was two year older than he was and as it turned out she was in the 6th form at the same school as him, but she was two classes above him in every other respect as well as age.
Dave had a half-brother, Andy, and Louise Spry was his new girlfriend.
“Lucky bastard” Dave thought to himself
Andy was two years older than him as well and they didn’t like each other very much, in fact they didn’t like each other at all.
They had nothing in common other than sharing a mother, they didn’t even share a surname, he was Pennant and Andy’s was Bates.
He was better at sports than Dave, he was more academic than Dave and he was better looking as well.
But not only did they not like each other it was a dislike that would stand the test of time for them both.
After Andy and Louise had been going out for a few weeks she started staying over at his house on Friday or Saturday night, sometimes both.
On the second or third occasion, which was a Friday night, when she arrived at the house she dumped her coat and hand bag on the hall table.
Well not so much a hand bag, it was actually more like a holdall, it was enormous, but the clasp on it was a bit iffy and as a result it was gaping open.
Which was how Dave spotted a splash of red in her bag as he walked down the stairs.
It aroused his curiosity somewhat so he decided it should be investigated and on closer inspection it turned out to be where she kept her clean underwear and the flash of red turned out to be a pair of red lace knickers adorned with little satin ribbons.
The effect on him was instantaneous and it was no longer just his curiosity that was aroused.
It had a profound effect on him and reinforced his feeling for his first crush.
( Part 02)
Over the six months his despicable half-brother Andy and the lust of his life Louise were going out together Dave’s feelings for her deepened and that situation would doubtless have continued indefinitely but for the fact that his arsehole half-brother decided to play away with some skanky tart from behind the bar at the Crown and Anchor.
Dave couldn’t believe Andy had cheated on Louise with some sad old slapper when he had a quality bird like Louise at his side.
He was absolutely devastated when Andy broke up with Louise and the realisation sunk in that he wasn’t going to see her again.
He consoled himself with the fact that it wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway as they both went off to University that September so his opportunities to see the lovely Louise at close quarters would have diminished anyway.
Dave was never the academic type so college and then University was never going to work for him so he left school the following year and managed with the help of his father to get an apprenticeship as a plumber at a big local firm called Drakes.
His parents were very supportive and they appreciated that he had his own path to follow and that path brought him his own relationships and his own lovers along the way, although they never quite measured up to Louise Spry, and it was when he started at Drakes that he met Mark Jordon and they instantly became best mates.
When they got talking they found that they had quite a lot in common, he also had a step sibling, although in his case it was a half-sister called Scarlet and he got on really well with her.
He was also the youngest of two and he sucked academically too, while Scarlet was brilliant and was going to sail through her degree and follow it with a Masters.
Mark’s Dad, Danny, had bought an old wreck of a house just before he met Marks mum, Nicole, and it had always been very much a work in progress.
And although he had completed 90 percent of it he wouldn’t have really considered it finished until the extension was done, and more to the point nor would his wife.
So he had decided that 20 years on a project was more than enough so he decided to get Mark and Dave to help him as they were in their fourth year at Drakes, and there was plumbing to do.
The shell was up and the electrics and some of the plastering was done but as the two story extension was to house the new kitchen and bathroom he wanted the boys to help him with the plumbing.
So on the Easter weekend Dave was staying in the spare room at the Jordan’s so they could get as much done over the holiday weekend as possible.
( Part 03)
It was Good Friday and they were up early and Mark’s mum Nicole made them doorstep bacon butties for breakfast to give them a head start.
Nicole had poured herself a bath and they were just waiting for Scarlet to finish in the shower so they could turn the water off and drain the system down before they could crack on.
Danny and Mark then went off to the builders and plumbers merchants to buy some more materials so they wouldn’t have any holdups over the weekend, and they were all hoping to have a lazy Monday before they went back to work on Tuesday.
While Danny and Mark were out Dave started carrying stuff up to what was going to be the new bathroom.
The only access was via a ladder from the kitchen to be, they hadn’t cut the doorways through to the house yet to cut down on drafts as the winter was barely over.
There were one or two sizable holes where the old air vents used to be but other than that it was sealed.
When Dave had climbed the ladder and he was in the new bathroom he could tell Nicole was in the bath already as he could hear her through the wall splashing about in the tub.
He stacked the tools in the corner and was just about to head back down the ladder for another load when he heard someone open a door and step heavily onto the landing.
Dave knew it wasn’t Nicole as he could still hear her through the wall so he thought that it must be Mark’s elusive sister Scarlet, who he still hadn’t met at that point, so intrigued to finally lay eyes on her he thought he would look through the hole where the vent used to be and see what she looked like, Mark was always going on a about her, saying how perfect she was, so he thought he’d judge for himself just how special she was.
His first sight of her was as she walked into the toilet, she was only wearing a bra, pants and tights, and he assumed she must have been taken short before she’d finished dressing.
He had to admit that even from behind she looked pretty special.
It occurred to him to tell her there was no water to flush with but then she turned around and his jaw dropped, the semi naked girl was Louise Spry and the thought to alert her to the water shortage left his mind.
And by the time it returned she had closed and locked the toilet door,
It wasn’t an unusual occurrence as a plumber to happen upon naked or semi naked women, sometimes by accident and others by their own design, though when they wanted you to see, it wasn’t quite the same level of excitement.
But what Dave Pennant had seen walking half naked across the landing wasn’t just any girl, it was Louise Spry, the object of his lust, she was the Holy Grail of his desires.
It was only after she had reappeared through the bathroom door that he wondered why Louise Spry was in his best mates bathroom entertaining the plumber.
Shortly after his ponderings went unresolved he heard the front door close, so he hurried down the ladder but by the time he got outside all he could see was the back of Ford Fiesta disappearing through the gate.
( Part 04)
They worked really hard on the extension and so he didn’t get to see the illusive Louise Spry again until two days later on the afternoon of Easter Sunday.
They had taken a break from their labours and were sitting on the patio drinking tea and enjoying some of Nicole’s delicious fruit cake
“Hi Scarlet” Nicole said over Dave’s shoulder so he half turned around to look at her and he nearly choked.
“Hello” Louise replied
“This is…” Mark began
“I know you” she said “you’re David”
“That’s right” He replied “Dave, but I remember you as Louise”
Everyone laughed at Dave’s observation and then Mark explained
“Scarlet is a family name, Dad used to call her “Miss Scarlet” when she was little because she blushed all the time”
Dave smiled but what brought a smile to his lips was the thought of how much she would have blushed if she’d seen him watching her through the airbrick.
The next day they still hadn’t finished everything they had planned to do, despite the best efforts of all involved, and it was apparent that they wouldn’t even if they worked at it all day.
So Nicole prepared one of her cooked breakfasts, and they would have a leisurely start to the day and then get on and do a bit more, even Scarlet/Louise did a bit.
But they had only been working for about two hours when Mark fell off the ladder in the extension and broke his arm.
Danny and Nicole got him in the car ready to take the wounded soldier to A&E at The Royal Downshire Hospital.
“I don’t want you working up there on your own Dave” Danny said
“Ok” Dave replied “I’ll just reconnect the water, and tidy up a bit”
“Thanks lad” he replied
“Text us” Dave suggested
“Will do” Danny said and drove off
Dave did as he had promised and Louise cleared the breakfast things and got the kitchen straight.
And despite not planning on doing a lot, another two hours had passed before he was stepping into the shower.
After he’d showered and dressed he packed his bag and went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a cold beer from the fridge.
It was while he was sat at the kitchen table drinking his second beer that Louise walked in.
“Hello Dave” she said
“Hi …” he began “Do I call you Louise or Scarlet?”
“Louise is fine” she replied as she poured herself a glass of wine.
They sat at the table for over an hour chatting about anything and everything and were both on drink number three when he said
“I’m flattered you remember me by the way”
“Oh I remember you very well” she said and he was rather pleased that he had made such an impression on her and then as she sat opposite him she continued
“You used to go through my hand bag when I stayed over at your house, looking at my knickers?”
“No I didn’t” he responded indignantly
“Oh yes you did” she contradicted
“So come on let’s hear you admit it”
“Oh ok” he said resignedly after five minutes of badgering “I did do it, but it was only one time”
“I know you did” she said very definitely
“But how did you know?” he asked
“Because I saw you do it” she said with a smile
“Oh”
( Part 05)
“I know you did” she said very definitely
“But how did you know?” he asked
“Because I saw you do it” she said with a smile
“Oh”
“Yes I looked down over the bannisters and your hands were in my bag, but I didn’t see exactly what you were doing” she said “I thought perhaps you were looking for my fags”
“I see”
“But when I went to put my pants on the next morning I soon realised what you were really up to” she explained
“How come?”
“Well I always pack my knickers inside out, it’s one of my quirks, but when I went to put them on they were the right way round”
“Oh”
“So are you sure it was only once?” she asked “And before you answer remember that I know exactly how many times”
“Yes, just the once” he replied adamantly “but I was tempted”
“Ok I believe you” she said “I did only noticed the onetime”
“So why didn’t you say something?” he asked
“Because I was rather flattered” she said “and I thought it was quite sweet, endearing really, in a way”
“Really?” he asked doubtfully
“Yes” she replied “You were just a boy after all”
Dave sat silently fearing the next question
“So I have to ask, because I’ve always wondered” here it comes he thought
“Why?” she asked
“Do I have to answer that?” he asked
“Yes” she insisted
“Really?”
“Oh yes”
“Oh God this is embarrassing” he said
“Come on out with it” she urged
“Because I had a crush on you, big time, and they were just there” he said “and I couldn’t resist”
“You little perve” she said in mock horror “Did you do the same with his other girlfriends?”
“No I didn’t” he said with real horror “I’m not a pervert”
“Well you are a bit” she pointed out refilling her glass
“Well I’m not that kind of pervert then” he said
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I’m sure, I had no interest in his other girls” he said very definitely “I only had eyes for you”
“I thought you did” she admitted “I liked you too, but I was older and more sophisticated so it was never a possibility”
“Oh I didn’t realise you were sophisticated, I just thought you were hot” he said “Certainly too hot for me”
“Maybe then” she said and then Louise stood up and walked around the table and when she reached him she leaned down and kissed him
“Wow I’ve been wanting to do that since I was sixteen”
“Did that meet with your approval then?” She asked
“Oh yes” he said
“Come to think of it I’ve been waiting to do that since you were sixteen too” she mused
“You perve” he said and laughed “I was just a child”
“Really?” Louise said as she perched on his knee “Are you seriously going to call me a cradle snatching paedo or shall we just kiss again”
“Oh another kiss I think”
“Good choice” she said and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
For all those months when she was dating Andy he had dreamt of kissing her, but the reality far exceeded the dreaming.
( Part 06)
As Louise sat on Dave’s lap in the kitchen of her parents’ house the kissing became increasingly passionate and soon moved on to another level and both of them tried to get in each other’s clothing with a more than modest amount of success.
But just when things were really hotting up he slipped out from beneath her, and then she plopped down hard on the chair.
“No don’t stop” she said
“I’m sorry but I have work tomorrow” he said and slipped on his jacket
“No don’t go” she pleaded and stood up and rubbed her buttock and then her jeans fell down to her knees and she tried to close the distance between them but her low slung jeans caused her to waddle which meant he could easily keep out of her reach and he sidestepped through the kitchen door and out into the hall and thus avoiding the sexy waddling Louise
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon” he said over his shoulder
“Wait” she called after him
“Bye” he responded
Louise kicked off her jeans in frustration and they flew across the kitchen and landed half in the sink, and then she sprinted after him.
“Please don’t go” she said and tried to kiss him but he drew his head away out of the reach of her lips
“How do I know it’s not the wine talking?” he asked
“It’s not” she exclaimed “I promise”
“But you would say that wouldn’t you?” Dave said
“But it’s true” Louise insisted
“So you want to kiss me now then?” he said
“Very much” she said and Louise’s face cracked into a smile and then she blushed as she took a step forwards and their lips met again.
He kissed her forehead and left Louise sleeping beneath her Duvet and then walked home with a spring in his step and it suddenly occurred to him that he finally had something in common with his half-brother Andy other than their mother.
When the Jordan’s returned home from the hospital, with the wounded soldier with his arm in a cast, later that night to find the house in darkness they were none the wiser as to what had occurred in Nicole’s kitchen or Louise’s bedroom.
Her mum did query why her daughter’s jeans were half in and half out the kitchen sink but that was all.
They remained unaware of the couple’s ongoing sexual exploits for a further three months.
The two of them didn’t want to announce they were together until they knew for certain sure there was more to their relationship that the very satisfying sex, plus Dave was concerned that it might have affected his friendship with Mark when he found out he’d been sleeping with his perfect sister Scarlet.
When they were ready to tell, the news was greeted with all round approval and Mark said he was hoping they would get together.
Dave never told Louise he had seen her walk across the landing in her underwear when she was on the way to the toilet and despite the fact they married two years later, which pleased his best mate and best man Mark no end, and thoroughly pissed off his half-brother Andy, those very first sexy images of Louise in her pink scanties stayed in his memory for ever.
The Finchbottom Vale is 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 which was to the north of the Vale, in the lee of Pepperstock Hills, lay the modest town of the same name.
On the western side of the town was the residential area known as Hill Side, and in one of its many quiet road, was the home of Pennant’s.
And it was the day before Dave Pennant’s 15th birthday when he first saw Louise Spry and he thought to himself
“That’s what I want for my birthday”
She was two year older than he was and as it turned out she was in the 6th form at the same school as him, but she was two classes above him in every other respect as well as age.
Dave had a half-brother, Andy, and Louise Spry was his new girlfriend.
“Lucky bastard” Dave thought to himself
Andy was two years older than him as well and they didn’t like each other very much, in fact they didn’t like each other at all.
They had nothing in common other than sharing a mother, they didn’t even share a surname, he was Pennant and Andy’s was Bates.
He was better at sports than Dave, he was more academic than Dave and he was better looking as well.
But not only did they not like each other it was a dislike that would stand the test of time for them both.
After Andy and Louise had been going out for a few weeks she started staying over at his house on Friday or Saturday night, sometimes both.
On the second or third occasion, which was a Friday night, when she arrived at the house she dumped her coat and hand bag on the hall table.
Well not so much a hand bag, it was actually more like a holdall, it was enormous, but the clasp on it was a bit iffy and as a result it was gaping open.
Which was how Dave spotted a splash of red in her bag as he walked down the stairs.
It aroused his curiosity somewhat so he decided it should be investigated and on closer inspection it turned out to be where she kept her clean underwear and the flash of red turned out to be a pair of red lace knickers adorned with little satin ribbons.
The effect on him was instantaneous and it was no longer just his curiosity that was aroused.
It had a profound effect on him and reinforced his feeling for his first crush.
( Part 02)
Over the six months his despicable half-brother Andy and the lust of his life Louise were going out together Dave’s feelings for her deepened and that situation would doubtless have continued indefinitely but for the fact that his arsehole half-brother decided to play away with some skanky tart from behind the bar at the Crown and Anchor.
Dave couldn’t believe Andy had cheated on Louise with some sad old slapper when he had a quality bird like Louise at his side.
He was absolutely devastated when Andy broke up with Louise and the realisation sunk in that he wasn’t going to see her again.
He consoled himself with the fact that it wouldn’t have lasted much longer anyway as they both went off to University that September so his opportunities to see the lovely Louise at close quarters would have diminished anyway.
Dave was never the academic type so college and then University was never going to work for him so he left school the following year and managed with the help of his father to get an apprenticeship as a plumber at a big local firm called Drakes.
His parents were very supportive and they appreciated that he had his own path to follow and that path brought him his own relationships and his own lovers along the way, although they never quite measured up to Louise Spry, and it was when he started at Drakes that he met Mark Jordon and they instantly became best mates.
When they got talking they found that they had quite a lot in common, he also had a step sibling, although in his case it was a half-sister called Scarlet and he got on really well with her.
He was also the youngest of two and he sucked academically too, while Scarlet was brilliant and was going to sail through her degree and follow it with a Masters.
Mark’s Dad, Danny, had bought an old wreck of a house just before he met Marks mum, Nicole, and it had always been very much a work in progress.
And although he had completed 90 percent of it he wouldn’t have really considered it finished until the extension was done, and more to the point nor would his wife.
So he had decided that 20 years on a project was more than enough so he decided to get Mark and Dave to help him as they were in their fourth year at Drakes, and there was plumbing to do.
The shell was up and the electrics and some of the plastering was done but as the two story extension was to house the new kitchen and bathroom he wanted the boys to help him with the plumbing.
So on the Easter weekend Dave was staying in the spare room at the Jordan’s so they could get as much done over the holiday weekend as possible.
( Part 03)
It was Good Friday and they were up early and Mark’s mum Nicole made them doorstep bacon butties for breakfast to give them a head start.
Nicole had poured herself a bath and they were just waiting for Scarlet to finish in the shower so they could turn the water off and drain the system down before they could crack on.
Danny and Mark then went off to the builders and plumbers merchants to buy some more materials so they wouldn’t have any holdups over the weekend, and they were all hoping to have a lazy Monday before they went back to work on Tuesday.
While Danny and Mark were out Dave started carrying stuff up to what was going to be the new bathroom.
The only access was via a ladder from the kitchen to be, they hadn’t cut the doorways through to the house yet to cut down on drafts as the winter was barely over.
There were one or two sizable holes where the old air vents used to be but other than that it was sealed.
When Dave had climbed the ladder and he was in the new bathroom he could tell Nicole was in the bath already as he could hear her through the wall splashing about in the tub.
He stacked the tools in the corner and was just about to head back down the ladder for another load when he heard someone open a door and step heavily onto the landing.
Dave knew it wasn’t Nicole as he could still hear her through the wall so he thought that it must be Mark’s elusive sister Scarlet, who he still hadn’t met at that point, so intrigued to finally lay eyes on her he thought he would look through the hole where the vent used to be and see what she looked like, Mark was always going on a about her, saying how perfect she was, so he thought he’d judge for himself just how special she was.
His first sight of her was as she walked into the toilet, she was only wearing a bra, pants and tights, and he assumed she must have been taken short before she’d finished dressing.
He had to admit that even from behind she looked pretty special.
It occurred to him to tell her there was no water to flush with but then she turned around and his jaw dropped, the semi naked girl was Louise Spry and the thought to alert her to the water shortage left his mind.
And by the time it returned she had closed and locked the toilet door,
It wasn’t an unusual occurrence as a plumber to happen upon naked or semi naked women, sometimes by accident and others by their own design, though when they wanted you to see, it wasn’t quite the same level of excitement.
But what Dave Pennant had seen walking half naked across the landing wasn’t just any girl, it was Louise Spry, the object of his lust, she was the Holy Grail of his desires.
It was only after she had reappeared through the bathroom door that he wondered why Louise Spry was in his best mates bathroom entertaining the plumber.
Shortly after his ponderings went unresolved he heard the front door close, so he hurried down the ladder but by the time he got outside all he could see was the back of Ford Fiesta disappearing through the gate.
( Part 04)
They worked really hard on the extension and so he didn’t get to see the illusive Louise Spry again until two days later on the afternoon of Easter Sunday.
They had taken a break from their labours and were sitting on the patio drinking tea and enjoying some of Nicole’s delicious fruit cake
“Hi Scarlet” Nicole said over Dave’s shoulder so he half turned around to look at her and he nearly choked.
“Hello” Louise replied
“This is…” Mark began
“I know you” she said “you’re David”
“That’s right” He replied “Dave, but I remember you as Louise”
Everyone laughed at Dave’s observation and then Mark explained
“Scarlet is a family name, Dad used to call her “Miss Scarlet” when she was little because she blushed all the time”
Dave smiled but what brought a smile to his lips was the thought of how much she would have blushed if she’d seen him watching her through the airbrick.
The next day they still hadn’t finished everything they had planned to do, despite the best efforts of all involved, and it was apparent that they wouldn’t even if they worked at it all day.
So Nicole prepared one of her cooked breakfasts, and they would have a leisurely start to the day and then get on and do a bit more, even Scarlet/Louise did a bit.
But they had only been working for about two hours when Mark fell off the ladder in the extension and broke his arm.
Danny and Nicole got him in the car ready to take the wounded soldier to A&E at The Royal Downshire Hospital.
“I don’t want you working up there on your own Dave” Danny said
“Ok” Dave replied “I’ll just reconnect the water, and tidy up a bit”
“Thanks lad” he replied
“Text us” Dave suggested
“Will do” Danny said and drove off
Dave did as he had promised and Louise cleared the breakfast things and got the kitchen straight.
And despite not planning on doing a lot, another two hours had passed before he was stepping into the shower.
After he’d showered and dressed he packed his bag and went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a cold beer from the fridge.
It was while he was sat at the kitchen table drinking his second beer that Louise walked in.
“Hello Dave” she said
“Hi …” he began “Do I call you Louise or Scarlet?”
“Louise is fine” she replied as she poured herself a glass of wine.
They sat at the table for over an hour chatting about anything and everything and were both on drink number three when he said
“I’m flattered you remember me by the way”
“Oh I remember you very well” she said and he was rather pleased that he had made such an impression on her and then as she sat opposite him she continued
“You used to go through my hand bag when I stayed over at your house, looking at my knickers?”
“No I didn’t” he responded indignantly
“Oh yes you did” she contradicted
“So come on let’s hear you admit it”
“Oh ok” he said resignedly after five minutes of badgering “I did do it, but it was only one time”
“I know you did” she said very definitely
“But how did you know?” he asked
“Because I saw you do it” she said with a smile
“Oh”
( Part 05)
“I know you did” she said very definitely
“But how did you know?” he asked
“Because I saw you do it” she said with a smile
“Oh”
“Yes I looked down over the bannisters and your hands were in my bag, but I didn’t see exactly what you were doing” she said “I thought perhaps you were looking for my fags”
“I see”
“But when I went to put my pants on the next morning I soon realised what you were really up to” she explained
“How come?”
“Well I always pack my knickers inside out, it’s one of my quirks, but when I went to put them on they were the right way round”
“Oh”
“So are you sure it was only once?” she asked “And before you answer remember that I know exactly how many times”
“Yes, just the once” he replied adamantly “but I was tempted”
“Ok I believe you” she said “I did only noticed the onetime”
“So why didn’t you say something?” he asked
“Because I was rather flattered” she said “and I thought it was quite sweet, endearing really, in a way”
“Really?” he asked doubtfully
“Yes” she replied “You were just a boy after all”
Dave sat silently fearing the next question
“So I have to ask, because I’ve always wondered” here it comes he thought
“Why?” she asked
“Do I have to answer that?” he asked
“Yes” she insisted
“Really?”
“Oh yes”
“Oh God this is embarrassing” he said
“Come on out with it” she urged
“Because I had a crush on you, big time, and they were just there” he said “and I couldn’t resist”
“You little perve” she said in mock horror “Did you do the same with his other girlfriends?”
“No I didn’t” he said with real horror “I’m not a pervert”
“Well you are a bit” she pointed out refilling her glass
“Well I’m not that kind of pervert then” he said
“Are you sure?”
“Yes I’m sure, I had no interest in his other girls” he said very definitely “I only had eyes for you”
“I thought you did” she admitted “I liked you too, but I was older and more sophisticated so it was never a possibility”
“Oh I didn’t realise you were sophisticated, I just thought you were hot” he said “Certainly too hot for me”
“Maybe then” she said and then Louise stood up and walked around the table and when she reached him she leaned down and kissed him
“Wow I’ve been wanting to do that since I was sixteen”
“Did that meet with your approval then?” She asked
“Oh yes” he said
“Come to think of it I’ve been waiting to do that since you were sixteen too” she mused
“You perve” he said and laughed “I was just a child”
“Really?” Louise said as she perched on his knee “Are you seriously going to call me a cradle snatching paedo or shall we just kiss again”
“Oh another kiss I think”
“Good choice” she said and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
For all those months when she was dating Andy he had dreamt of kissing her, but the reality far exceeded the dreaming.
( Part 06)
As Louise sat on Dave’s lap in the kitchen of her parents’ house the kissing became increasingly passionate and soon moved on to another level and both of them tried to get in each other’s clothing with a more than modest amount of success.
But just when things were really hotting up he slipped out from beneath her, and then she plopped down hard on the chair.
“No don’t stop” she said
“I’m sorry but I have work tomorrow” he said and slipped on his jacket
“No don’t go” she pleaded and stood up and rubbed her buttock and then her jeans fell down to her knees and she tried to close the distance between them but her low slung jeans caused her to waddle which meant he could easily keep out of her reach and he sidestepped through the kitchen door and out into the hall and thus avoiding the sexy waddling Louise
“I’m sure I’ll see you again soon” he said over his shoulder
“Wait” she called after him
“Bye” he responded
Louise kicked off her jeans in frustration and they flew across the kitchen and landed half in the sink, and then she sprinted after him.
“Please don’t go” she said and tried to kiss him but he drew his head away out of the reach of her lips
“How do I know it’s not the wine talking?” he asked
“It’s not” she exclaimed “I promise”
“But you would say that wouldn’t you?” Dave said
“But it’s true” Louise insisted
“So you want to kiss me now then?” he said
“Very much” she said and Louise’s face cracked into a smile and then she blushed as she took a step forwards and their lips met again.
He kissed her forehead and left Louise sleeping beneath her Duvet and then walked home with a spring in his step and it suddenly occurred to him that he finally had something in common with his half-brother Andy other than their mother.
When the Jordan’s returned home from the hospital, with the wounded soldier with his arm in a cast, later that night to find the house in darkness they were none the wiser as to what had occurred in Nicole’s kitchen or Louise’s bedroom.
Her mum did query why her daughter’s jeans were half in and half out the kitchen sink but that was all.
They remained unaware of the couple’s ongoing sexual exploits for a further three months.
The two of them didn’t want to announce they were together until they knew for certain sure there was more to their relationship that the very satisfying sex, plus Dave was concerned that it might have affected his friendship with Mark when he found out he’d been sleeping with his perfect sister Scarlet.
When they were ready to tell, the news was greeted with all round approval and Mark said he was hoping they would get together.
Dave never told Louise he had seen her walk across the landing in her underwear when she was on the way to the toilet and despite the fact they married two years later, which pleased his best mate and best man Mark no end, and thoroughly pissed off his half-brother Andy, those very first sexy images of Louise in her pink scanties stayed in his memory for ever.
Thursday, 6 April 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (38) Christmas at the Seaview Hotel
(Part 01)
Six months had passed since Francine Delise and Iain Akhurst made love in his room at the Seaview Hotel in Sharpington and two days short of six months since she said she wasn’t sure that they could be together.
Not that she didn’t love him or enjoy being with him, and it was fairly obvious on the evidence of the weekend in June that it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy making love with him.
Nor did she think it was a mistake, a moment of madness or because she had drunk too much.
“I don’t regret it for a second” she said as they lay entwined beneath the duvet
“I just have doubts”
Francine wasn’t sure if she could or should give over her heart, soul and life to a man 12 years older than herself.
Iain couldn’t deny that he was disappointed and he wasn’t altogether happy about it but he wasn’t angry with her in fact he agreed with her up to a point, and he wanted her to be as sure as he was.
After all he had no words to convince a 29 year old woman to give her life to a man the wrong side of 40 and nor would he have wished to have used them if they were in his possession.
“I love you Iain but I just have to be certain sure” she said the moment before she drove away.
It was heart-breaking to watch her drive away because Iain had no such doubts.
For him that first night together was the blissful culmination of eight years of hope and desire.
Not just the love making, which he thought was wonderful, but to hear his declaration of love returned in word and delicious deed.
It had been pretty much love at first sight for him, but then she was a beautiful sight to behold.
For her it was a more gradual falling and one that she desperately fought against tooth and claw whereas Iain simply surrendered to her.
Even before their chance meeting at the Seaview Hotel, Francine had agreed to take a six month secondment in Sharpington where she could be close to her sister and the twins so she suggested they take that time to think.
And in that time she would either get over him or know for certain sure he was the one.
While she was away he convinced himself almost on a daily basis that it was over, and rightly so he thought at times.
If the worst came to the worst he consoled himself with the thought that he would always have the memory of that wonderful weekend when his love for her was finally validated.
Though in his darkest moments he did question if it was indeed a moment of madness that brought the gorgeous young Francine to his bed.
Though he was glad for that madness if that’s what it was.
But if Francine did resolve that it was a mistake and that it was over he would at least have the memory of that wonderful weekend to sustain him forever.
He preferred to think that it was fate that brought them together on that wonderful weekend and not an error of judgement.
(Part 02)
He would have liked to have exchanged the occasional text or email with her but Francine had asked for total separation.
As a result all he could do was throw himself headlong into his work totally and fill his every waking moment with thoughts of anything and everything that wasn’t her.
Impossible of course but if in the unlikely event that he could exclude her from his thoughts for a single second he couldn’t stop her invading his dreams.
When he slept he dared to dream, so in the small hours of the sleepless night he resorted to the only thing that prevented him from being driven insane.
He wrote in a diary, which he called a dream diary, it was where he wrote every detail, every thought that filled his troubled sleep on a nightly basis, thoughts of love for the girl of his dreams.
The closer the end of the six months got the more intense the dreams became and evermore vivid with each passing day.
It was the day before Christmas Eve when he got the long awaited phone call, so he took a deep breath and hit the button.
“Hello, Iain Akhurst” he said
“Hey Iain” she said
“Francine?” he asked “God it’s good to hear your voice”
“Ditto” Francine replied “Where are you?”
“I’m in Abbotsford” he replied “Are you still at your sisters in Sharpington?”
“Yes and No” she replied enigmatically
“I’m at the Hotel, the Seaview”
“When are you back?” he asked
“I don’t know yet”
“Oh” he responded disappointedly
“Can you come down?” Francine asked
“When?” he asked
“Tonight” she replied
“Sure, but I don’t know what time I’ll get there”
“That’s ok but I want to meet” Francine said
“Alright I’ll leave now” he said “Have you made a decision?”
“Yes I have” she replied
“And?” he enquired trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice
“I don’t want to say on the phone” she answered “I want to do it face to face”
“Ok” he said not knowing if that meant it would be good or bad
“Come straight to the Hotel” she said
“What time do you think?” she asked
“Around eight” he replied
“I’ll leave a note at reception in case you’re late”
“Ok, I’ll see you tonight then” Iain said
“Ok, bye”
The journey out of Abbottsford was an absolute mare and consequently he was significantly late and it was nearly 10 o’clock when he drove onto the promenade at Sharpington-by-Sea.
It was a bit different from when he was there last, back in June but it still made him smile as it always did when he visited the traditional seaside resort.
Sharpington still boasted a Victorian Pier, The Palladium ballroom, and of course the Sharpington Fun Park which were considerably quieter than at the height of the summer.
He liked it because it was like stepping back in time with the illuminations, crazy golf, and the amusement arcades in fact all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside.
He parked the car and walked briskly along the promenade and unlike his last visit he didn’t pause to sit in the well maintained gardens and look out to sea or muse over all the happy hours he spent in the Sharpington Fun Park, on the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper.
He was in too much of a hurry to reach the Seaview Hotel.
(Part 03)
Since her phone call his stomach had been in absolute knots and arriving in Sharpington late didn’t untangle it in the least.
He wondered if she would be sat at the bar surrounded by admirers or sat alone in a corner the worse for drink and coiled to strike with venomous words on his tardiness.
He only hoped she was still there and hadn’t got tired of waiting.
As he sat in the pre-Christmas traffic he tried to ring her to warn her of his delay but his phone died.
So he stood in the foyer trying to summon up the courage to go further, he was so desperate to know her answer but equally terrified of what it might be, yes or no.
“Yes” meaning she was sure and she would give all of herself to him unreservedly
Or
“No” and they would never be together.
He reran the earlier conversation through his head and tried to read between the lines to find some hidden meaning or some indication as to her decision.
He checked in the bar and there was no sign of her
“Shit” he exclaimed and unzipped his coat and walked up to the reception desk.
“Hi” he began “Do you have a message for Iain Akhurst?”
“I’ll just check for you Sir” the receptionist said
“Oh yes here we are” she added and handed him an envelope
“Thank you” he said and when and sat down to open it.
He slowly opened the envelope and withdrew a sheet of note paper which he unfolded and read the few lines
“What kept you? I thought you were impatient for an answer,
I’ve gone up, use the key, and I’ll see you when you get here”
Frankie x
“Well that was all cheerful and light hearted” he thought to himself “but it still doesn’t tell me anything”
So he tipped up the envelope until the key card fell out and he saw it was for one of the posh rooms on the top floor and walked towards the lift.
Iain slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
“Hi Francine” he called “I’m sorry I’m late the traffic was hell”
But there was no answer.
He closed the door and walked into the room and expected to find Francine asleep having got fed up of waiting for him.
But it was just a dimly lit little lounge area, which was empty.
Although hung on the back of a chair he noticed a coat.
“She is here” he said “But where?”
There were two doors leading from the lounge so he opened the first one which proved to be the bathroom, he hoped the other was to a bedroom and not an adjoining door to the next room.
Then he questioned whether or not she would even be in there, the fact that her coat was there meant nothing she could just have left in a huff and forgotten it.
But then something caught his eye, tied around the door handle he saw a black stocking.
“Well she wouldn’t have gone without that” he said
Iain slipped off his coat and threw it onto the armchair and walked towards the door and that was when he noticed something else attached to the stocking, it was a gift tag.
He opened it and read the words inside
“Happy Christmas Iain
All my love
Francine”
And beneath her signature there were three letters
“PTO”
And when he turned the tag over there was only one word
“Yes”
Six months had passed since Francine Delise and Iain Akhurst made love in his room at the Seaview Hotel in Sharpington and two days short of six months since she said she wasn’t sure that they could be together.
Not that she didn’t love him or enjoy being with him, and it was fairly obvious on the evidence of the weekend in June that it wasn’t because she didn’t enjoy making love with him.
Nor did she think it was a mistake, a moment of madness or because she had drunk too much.
“I don’t regret it for a second” she said as they lay entwined beneath the duvet
“I just have doubts”
Francine wasn’t sure if she could or should give over her heart, soul and life to a man 12 years older than herself.
Iain couldn’t deny that he was disappointed and he wasn’t altogether happy about it but he wasn’t angry with her in fact he agreed with her up to a point, and he wanted her to be as sure as he was.
After all he had no words to convince a 29 year old woman to give her life to a man the wrong side of 40 and nor would he have wished to have used them if they were in his possession.
“I love you Iain but I just have to be certain sure” she said the moment before she drove away.
It was heart-breaking to watch her drive away because Iain had no such doubts.
For him that first night together was the blissful culmination of eight years of hope and desire.
Not just the love making, which he thought was wonderful, but to hear his declaration of love returned in word and delicious deed.
It had been pretty much love at first sight for him, but then she was a beautiful sight to behold.
For her it was a more gradual falling and one that she desperately fought against tooth and claw whereas Iain simply surrendered to her.
Even before their chance meeting at the Seaview Hotel, Francine had agreed to take a six month secondment in Sharpington where she could be close to her sister and the twins so she suggested they take that time to think.
And in that time she would either get over him or know for certain sure he was the one.
While she was away he convinced himself almost on a daily basis that it was over, and rightly so he thought at times.
If the worst came to the worst he consoled himself with the thought that he would always have the memory of that wonderful weekend when his love for her was finally validated.
Though in his darkest moments he did question if it was indeed a moment of madness that brought the gorgeous young Francine to his bed.
Though he was glad for that madness if that’s what it was.
But if Francine did resolve that it was a mistake and that it was over he would at least have the memory of that wonderful weekend to sustain him forever.
He preferred to think that it was fate that brought them together on that wonderful weekend and not an error of judgement.
(Part 02)
He would have liked to have exchanged the occasional text or email with her but Francine had asked for total separation.
As a result all he could do was throw himself headlong into his work totally and fill his every waking moment with thoughts of anything and everything that wasn’t her.
Impossible of course but if in the unlikely event that he could exclude her from his thoughts for a single second he couldn’t stop her invading his dreams.
When he slept he dared to dream, so in the small hours of the sleepless night he resorted to the only thing that prevented him from being driven insane.
He wrote in a diary, which he called a dream diary, it was where he wrote every detail, every thought that filled his troubled sleep on a nightly basis, thoughts of love for the girl of his dreams.
The closer the end of the six months got the more intense the dreams became and evermore vivid with each passing day.
It was the day before Christmas Eve when he got the long awaited phone call, so he took a deep breath and hit the button.
“Hello, Iain Akhurst” he said
“Hey Iain” she said
“Francine?” he asked “God it’s good to hear your voice”
“Ditto” Francine replied “Where are you?”
“I’m in Abbotsford” he replied “Are you still at your sisters in Sharpington?”
“Yes and No” she replied enigmatically
“I’m at the Hotel, the Seaview”
“When are you back?” he asked
“I don’t know yet”
“Oh” he responded disappointedly
“Can you come down?” Francine asked
“When?” he asked
“Tonight” she replied
“Sure, but I don’t know what time I’ll get there”
“That’s ok but I want to meet” Francine said
“Alright I’ll leave now” he said “Have you made a decision?”
“Yes I have” she replied
“And?” he enquired trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice
“I don’t want to say on the phone” she answered “I want to do it face to face”
“Ok” he said not knowing if that meant it would be good or bad
“Come straight to the Hotel” she said
“What time do you think?” she asked
“Around eight” he replied
“I’ll leave a note at reception in case you’re late”
“Ok, I’ll see you tonight then” Iain said
“Ok, bye”
The journey out of Abbottsford was an absolute mare and consequently he was significantly late and it was nearly 10 o’clock when he drove onto the promenade at Sharpington-by-Sea.
It was a bit different from when he was there last, back in June but it still made him smile as it always did when he visited the traditional seaside resort.
Sharpington still boasted a Victorian Pier, The Palladium ballroom, and of course the Sharpington Fun Park which were considerably quieter than at the height of the summer.
He liked it because it was like stepping back in time with the illuminations, crazy golf, and the amusement arcades in fact all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside.
He parked the car and walked briskly along the promenade and unlike his last visit he didn’t pause to sit in the well maintained gardens and look out to sea or muse over all the happy hours he spent in the Sharpington Fun Park, on the Rotor and the Wild Mouse, The Cyclone and the Morehouse Galloper.
He was in too much of a hurry to reach the Seaview Hotel.
(Part 03)
Since her phone call his stomach had been in absolute knots and arriving in Sharpington late didn’t untangle it in the least.
He wondered if she would be sat at the bar surrounded by admirers or sat alone in a corner the worse for drink and coiled to strike with venomous words on his tardiness.
He only hoped she was still there and hadn’t got tired of waiting.
As he sat in the pre-Christmas traffic he tried to ring her to warn her of his delay but his phone died.
So he stood in the foyer trying to summon up the courage to go further, he was so desperate to know her answer but equally terrified of what it might be, yes or no.
“Yes” meaning she was sure and she would give all of herself to him unreservedly
Or
“No” and they would never be together.
He reran the earlier conversation through his head and tried to read between the lines to find some hidden meaning or some indication as to her decision.
He checked in the bar and there was no sign of her
“Shit” he exclaimed and unzipped his coat and walked up to the reception desk.
“Hi” he began “Do you have a message for Iain Akhurst?”
“I’ll just check for you Sir” the receptionist said
“Oh yes here we are” she added and handed him an envelope
“Thank you” he said and when and sat down to open it.
He slowly opened the envelope and withdrew a sheet of note paper which he unfolded and read the few lines
“What kept you? I thought you were impatient for an answer,
I’ve gone up, use the key, and I’ll see you when you get here”
Frankie x
“Well that was all cheerful and light hearted” he thought to himself “but it still doesn’t tell me anything”
So he tipped up the envelope until the key card fell out and he saw it was for one of the posh rooms on the top floor and walked towards the lift.
Iain slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
“Hi Francine” he called “I’m sorry I’m late the traffic was hell”
But there was no answer.
He closed the door and walked into the room and expected to find Francine asleep having got fed up of waiting for him.
But it was just a dimly lit little lounge area, which was empty.
Although hung on the back of a chair he noticed a coat.
“She is here” he said “But where?”
There were two doors leading from the lounge so he opened the first one which proved to be the bathroom, he hoped the other was to a bedroom and not an adjoining door to the next room.
Then he questioned whether or not she would even be in there, the fact that her coat was there meant nothing she could just have left in a huff and forgotten it.
But then something caught his eye, tied around the door handle he saw a black stocking.
“Well she wouldn’t have gone without that” he said
Iain slipped off his coat and threw it onto the armchair and walked towards the door and that was when he noticed something else attached to the stocking, it was a gift tag.
He opened it and read the words inside
“Happy Christmas Iain
All my love
Francine”
And beneath her signature there were three letters
“PTO”
And when he turned the tag over there was only one word
“Yes”
Mornington-By-Mere – (38) On Account of a Surgeon
(Part 01)
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper 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 Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and 41 year old Rhonda Kane lived on Dulcets Road at Marigold Cottage.
She was a solicitor with Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe in Abbottsford.
Normally she lived alone but at that time her younger brother Brian was staying with her following his divorce.
Brian was a 39 years old Accountant with Brady and Clare, in Abbeyvale, although in the six months since the divorce he had been working out of the Sharpington office.
But on a bright Wednesday morning in May he had the day off and decided to take a walk into the village.
He walked past the brewery and then through Manor wood and then crossed the bridge into the village.
He wanted to cook his sister something special for dinner as a thank you for putting up with him.
He went to the Legg’s Farm shop first and bought some eggs and fresh vegetables, then Norman’s General Store for some wine, Boddingtons Butchers for some bacon and a nice bit of liver and finally he headed for Addison’s Bakery to get a French stick.
Just as he stepped inside the door he heard Chloe Addison call
“Happy Birthday Kate”
And a tall dark haired woman replied
“Thank you” and not looking where she was going she walked straight into Brian as she was leaving the shop, dropping some of her bags.
Kate Pottinger was a local girl and also lived in Manorside at number 5 Brooke Side Cottages with her brother Gary.
And apart from living together they also worked together as tree surgeons, who like their father and uncles before them, worked exclusively for the Mornington Estate which kept them busy enough tending to the health and welfare of upwards of 25 thousand trees.
Kate was in the village to do a bit of shopping while her brother was at the doctors and then Gary was taking her for lunch at the Old Mill Inn for her 38th birthday.
“I’m so sorry” Brian said gallantly even though it wasn’t his fault
“Don’t be silly” she said to the tall, slim, good looking man with neat black hair, more than a little flustered.
“Are you ok?” he asked as she gathered herself
“I’m alright, but I think you squashed my baps”
She said and realising what she’d said she burst out laughing which set him off.
(Part 02)
Kate Pottinger and Brian Kane stood outside Addison’s Bakery laughing and flirting for about 10 minutes.
Working outdoors in a physical occupation Kate was well tanned well-toned but despite that was well groomed.
She was not as tall as Brian, which she liked, she stood five foot eight, a full inch and a three quarters taller than her brother, which was something she never let him forget and always referred to him as her “little brother”.
Despite the height difference they were alike in almost every other way blue eyes, chestnut coloured hair, broad smiles and infectious laughs.
And Kate was exercising that laugh to great effect that morning.
She could see over Brian’s shoulders when Gary left the surgery and she could also see he was looking flushed, though at that time she didn’t know why.
Gary spotted his sister outside Addison’s Bakery where he could see she was still laughing and joking.
He crossed the road and approached the laughing pair.
“Hi Kate are you ready for that lunch” he said and the man looked a little crestfallen.
“Hi Gary” she said “I just need to get some stamps from Norman’s”
“This is my brother Gary” she said and the man’s expression lifted
“Gary this is…”
“Brian” he responded and shook Gary’s hand “Pleased to meet you”
“Likewise”
“Well enjoy your lunch and the rest of your birthday” Brian said and shook her hand and it was long and lingering.
“Thank you, goodbye” she said and headed towards the Post Office & General Store to buy stamps but Gary noticed she kept glancing over her shoulder.
Brian watched the Pottinger’s walk away although in truth it was only the taller half that he was really interested in.
He had sworn off the opposite sex when he first split with his wife and that morning was the first time he had met a woman that he wanted to do more than pass the time of day with.
And as he walked back home after buying his bread he wished that it was he that was taking her for her birthday lunch instead of going back to his sisters to make her liver and bacon.
They sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the attractive doctor and his embarrassing arousal and she roared with laughter.
Gary and Kate sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the very attractive doctor and a combination of very exotic perfume and a glimpse of expensive pink lingerie made him behave in such a way that he had experience since he was a teenager.
And the resulting arousal had been responsible for his looking flushed.
On hearing his full uncensored account of his embarrassing arousal she roared with laughter.
(Part 03)
It was the first Friday in June and Kate and Gary were going up to Abbottsford for a few days.
They had a big family christening on Sunday at St Dunstan’s Church when their cousins triplets were being baptized.
So it was one not to miss, but as it was at the 9.30 service and they didn’t want the hassle of traveling up on the day so they decided to put up at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel the night before.
However Gary was then given a ticket to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground so he suggested going on Friday and staying two nights so they would have the whole of Saturday in town so he could go to the match and Kate could go shopping at the Phoenix Shopping Centre and she jumped at the chance, but not to spend the day at the shopping mall.
What she wanted to do was to visit the Castle Hill Museum and Art Gallery.
Gary and Kate were not the only Mornington residents planning a weekend away, the Goman-Smiths and the Kane’s were also going to be in Abbottsford for the whole weekend though not all for the same reasons.
So when the Pottinger’s set off after work on Friday evening their fellow villagers were already there.
Brian Kane travelled up to Abbottsford early on Friday with his sister, he had an important meeting with a client and then he was meeting Rhonda for lunch.
Because of the importance of the meeting he had allowed a three hour window but as it turned out it was concluded in under two.
So he went for a ridiculously expensive coffee at the Espresso Phoenix to kill some time and then made his way to Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe to meet his sister.
He walked into reception and exchanged pleasantries with Sandra, the receptionist, and then took a seat and a few minutes later Sandra delivered him a coffee.
He sat there about half an hour reading a magazine when he heard Rhonda’s voice which grew progressively louder as she got closer.
He looked to his left and he could see her talking to a male client who had his back to him as they shook hands
“I will be in touch in due course” she said
“Thank you Ms Kane” the man said
“Please call me Rhonda”
“Call me Rhonda?” Brian said to himself “She never lets her clients call her Rhonda, this one must be important”
But when the man turned around he saw that he knew him and said
“Daniel”
“Hello Brian, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take my sister to lunch” he replied as the two men shook hands.
“Kane, der, I didn’t make the connection”
Meanwhile Rhonda, who had turned to go back to her office turned on her heels and joined them.
“You two know each other?” she asked
“Yes we were at University together” Brian said
“Are you a bean counter as well then?” Rhonda asked with a smile
“No I’m a Doctor” he replied
The following few minutes of the conversation completely excluded Brian who just looked on in from the sidelines in amusement.
In fact it only came to an end when the receptionist, Sandra, interrupted with a message.
“Mr. Bishop phoned to say he can’t make his appointment but can you squeeze him in at 2 o’clock”
Rhonda looked at her watch and replied
“Yes that’s fine”
After Sandra had left them she said
“We will have to make it an early lunch Brian”
“That’s fine with me”
“And perhaps Daniel would like to join us” she added
“I’d love to” he replied to her
(Part 04)
They had lunch at an Italian Restaurant called Roberto’s just around the corner from her office.
“So was it just Rhonda that brought you too Abbottsford?” Brian asked
“No it wasn’t, but I would have made the trip just to see her” he thought but out loud he said
“No I’m in town for the weekend, at the Regent’s, Sarah and I are going to the cricket tomorrow”
“We’re putting up at the Regents as well” Brian said
“Never mind that who the hell is Sarah?” Rhonda asked herself and then as if he had heard her internal question Brian explained
“Sarah is Daniels ex-wife, but they’re still friends, in fact they still share a house, how odd is that?”
“I think it’s quite nice” she said
The food at Roberto’s was excellent but the lunchtime service was very slow and unfortunately Rhonda had to excuse herself before desert.
“I’m sorry but I have to go” she said “I really love the desert’s here as well”
“Perhaps we might run into each other over the weekend” he said
“I hope so, that would be nice” she said then she said goodbye to her brother and left.
“Are you going to talk to me now?” Brian asked and laughed but Daniels thoughts were elsewhere.
After leaving the restaurant Brian and Daniel went their separate ways but arrived at the Hotel within ten minutes of each other.
The Pottinger’s got stuck in the Friday night traffic and finally arrived at the Hotel at 9 o’clock by which time the Kane’s and the Goman-Smiths had already gone out for the evening.
Brian and Rhonda were dining at a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant off Castle Street called The Wooden Slipper which served high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities are 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.
So when it was time to leave they were almost hungrier than when they arrived, so they went into town and shared a kebab.
The Doctors Goman-Smith meanwhile went to The Empire Theatre to watch a revival on An Inspector Calls followed by a fish supper.
But back at the hotel, Gary and Kate ordered sandwiches from room service and got an early night.
On Saturday morning everyone was up early and availed themselves of the full English breakfast but due to a miracle of timing all three couples managed to avoid each other.
Gary was ready to go far too early so left for the cricket ground on foot while the Goman-Smith’s left an hour later in a cab.
Kate who planned to spend much of the day in cultural pursuits had a measured start to the day and as she was leaving the Hotel Brian Kane was just walking into the gym with his sister Rhonda.
After a good workout he had an hours swim and she had a sauna and then she spent the rest of the day being pampered and preened, massaged, manicure, pedicure and hair in fact you name it and she had it.
Brian though had coffee and read the papers before he went out.
(Part 05)
Brian Kane spent the first part of the day rummaging in bookshops and antique shops of Abbottsford’s old town district and then he indulged his penchant for ridiculously expensive coffees in the trendy coffee shops.
Kate spent the morning in and out of every museum in Abbottsford and had lunch in one of the same coffee shops that Brian drank in and they only missed each other by minutes and in the afternoon she headed for the Art Gallery which housed one of the best collections of artwork outside of the capital.
The bulk of the collection was made up of pieces donated by the Trotwood Estate.
She paid deference to all the exhibits, even the cubists which she didn’t really like, she was really just filling the time until she got to the section she wanted to see the most, The French Impressionists.
She loved them all Camille Pissarro, Emile Schuffenecker, Eugène Boudin, the Bracquemond’s, Caillebotte, Cézanne, Forain, Stanislas Lépine, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and her personal favorite Frédéric Bazille.
It was when she was sitting on a bench studying a lesser piece of Bazille’s when a tall, slim, good looking man with neat black hair sat down next to her.
“Do you like Bazille?” he asked
“Very much” she replied and turned to look and a smile spread across her face as she recognized his face.
“Hello Brian” she said all at once unable to return her eyes to the art
“What a lovely surprise”
“For me too Kate” he said
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, enjoying the art and each other’s company in equal measure and even revisited the exhibits she’d already seen on her own and as they stood in front of a magnificent renaissance canvas he said
“Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“I can be” she replied without hesitation and then she added
“Could I choose the restaurant?”
“Of course”
At the end of the afternoon Kate and Brian went back to the Hotel to change and met downstairs in reception again an hour later where Brian made a phone call and Kate left a message at reception.
She chose the Pig and Whistle in Little Trottwood and afterwards they took a walk in the countryside.
They left the village and headed towards Trottwood Manor and they paused before crossing the bridge and turned to look across the lake and they were amazed at how natural the scene was when considering that little more than a 100 years earlier it was a boggy field.
That was before a Victorian industrialist named Josiah Tiplady, who, having made his fortune amongst the smoking factory chimneys of Lancashire, was seeking a country retreat in which to enjoy his fortune as well as the considerably fresher air, so he purchased the old Trottwood Manor.
He famously said he chose the Trottwood Estate as it had everything he was looking for, but not apparently a lake complete with fountains and an island bird sanctuary.
But as they viewed the scene on that glorious June evening it was clearly money well spent.
“This is really beautiful” she said
He agreed and then they turned and continued onto the bridge and halfway across Brian paused and turned to face Kate and kissed her.
“And now it’s even more beautiful”
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village lying in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
It is a quaint picturesque village, a proper 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 Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and 41 year old Rhonda Kane lived on Dulcets Road at Marigold Cottage.
She was a solicitor with Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe in Abbottsford.
Normally she lived alone but at that time her younger brother Brian was staying with her following his divorce.
Brian was a 39 years old Accountant with Brady and Clare, in Abbeyvale, although in the six months since the divorce he had been working out of the Sharpington office.
But on a bright Wednesday morning in May he had the day off and decided to take a walk into the village.
He walked past the brewery and then through Manor wood and then crossed the bridge into the village.
He wanted to cook his sister something special for dinner as a thank you for putting up with him.
He went to the Legg’s Farm shop first and bought some eggs and fresh vegetables, then Norman’s General Store for some wine, Boddingtons Butchers for some bacon and a nice bit of liver and finally he headed for Addison’s Bakery to get a French stick.
Just as he stepped inside the door he heard Chloe Addison call
“Happy Birthday Kate”
And a tall dark haired woman replied
“Thank you” and not looking where she was going she walked straight into Brian as she was leaving the shop, dropping some of her bags.
Kate Pottinger was a local girl and also lived in Manorside at number 5 Brooke Side Cottages with her brother Gary.
And apart from living together they also worked together as tree surgeons, who like their father and uncles before them, worked exclusively for the Mornington Estate which kept them busy enough tending to the health and welfare of upwards of 25 thousand trees.
Kate was in the village to do a bit of shopping while her brother was at the doctors and then Gary was taking her for lunch at the Old Mill Inn for her 38th birthday.
“I’m so sorry” Brian said gallantly even though it wasn’t his fault
“Don’t be silly” she said to the tall, slim, good looking man with neat black hair, more than a little flustered.
“Are you ok?” he asked as she gathered herself
“I’m alright, but I think you squashed my baps”
She said and realising what she’d said she burst out laughing which set him off.
(Part 02)
Kate Pottinger and Brian Kane stood outside Addison’s Bakery laughing and flirting for about 10 minutes.
Working outdoors in a physical occupation Kate was well tanned well-toned but despite that was well groomed.
She was not as tall as Brian, which she liked, she stood five foot eight, a full inch and a three quarters taller than her brother, which was something she never let him forget and always referred to him as her “little brother”.
Despite the height difference they were alike in almost every other way blue eyes, chestnut coloured hair, broad smiles and infectious laughs.
And Kate was exercising that laugh to great effect that morning.
She could see over Brian’s shoulders when Gary left the surgery and she could also see he was looking flushed, though at that time she didn’t know why.
Gary spotted his sister outside Addison’s Bakery where he could see she was still laughing and joking.
He crossed the road and approached the laughing pair.
“Hi Kate are you ready for that lunch” he said and the man looked a little crestfallen.
“Hi Gary” she said “I just need to get some stamps from Norman’s”
“This is my brother Gary” she said and the man’s expression lifted
“Gary this is…”
“Brian” he responded and shook Gary’s hand “Pleased to meet you”
“Likewise”
“Well enjoy your lunch and the rest of your birthday” Brian said and shook her hand and it was long and lingering.
“Thank you, goodbye” she said and headed towards the Post Office & General Store to buy stamps but Gary noticed she kept glancing over her shoulder.
Brian watched the Pottinger’s walk away although in truth it was only the taller half that he was really interested in.
He had sworn off the opposite sex when he first split with his wife and that morning was the first time he had met a woman that he wanted to do more than pass the time of day with.
And as he walked back home after buying his bread he wished that it was he that was taking her for her birthday lunch instead of going back to his sisters to make her liver and bacon.
They sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the attractive doctor and his embarrassing arousal and she roared with laughter.
Gary and Kate sat at a table in the Old Mill Inn and he said
“He seemed nice”
“He was alright I suppose” she replied coyly
“Only alright, you were flirting with him like it was an Olympic sport”
“No I wasn’t” she retorted
“And he was flirting back” Gary said
“He was not” she said “Was he?”
He smiled and made her blush and then she changed the subject
“So how did you get on at the doctors?”
“Excellent” he replied “A clean bill of health”
“That’s great news” Kate said “They must have really put you through your paces, you looked very flushed when you came out”
“Ah there’s a very good reason for that” Gary said and then he went on to tell her all about the very attractive doctor and a combination of very exotic perfume and a glimpse of expensive pink lingerie made him behave in such a way that he had experience since he was a teenager.
And the resulting arousal had been responsible for his looking flushed.
On hearing his full uncensored account of his embarrassing arousal she roared with laughter.
(Part 03)
It was the first Friday in June and Kate and Gary were going up to Abbottsford for a few days.
They had a big family christening on Sunday at St Dunstan’s Church when their cousins triplets were being baptized.
So it was one not to miss, but as it was at the 9.30 service and they didn’t want the hassle of traveling up on the day so they decided to put up at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel the night before.
However Gary was then given a ticket to the Downshire versus Surrey one day match at the Abbottsfield cricket ground so he suggested going on Friday and staying two nights so they would have the whole of Saturday in town so he could go to the match and Kate could go shopping at the Phoenix Shopping Centre and she jumped at the chance, but not to spend the day at the shopping mall.
What she wanted to do was to visit the Castle Hill Museum and Art Gallery.
Gary and Kate were not the only Mornington residents planning a weekend away, the Goman-Smiths and the Kane’s were also going to be in Abbottsford for the whole weekend though not all for the same reasons.
So when the Pottinger’s set off after work on Friday evening their fellow villagers were already there.
Brian Kane travelled up to Abbottsford early on Friday with his sister, he had an important meeting with a client and then he was meeting Rhonda for lunch.
Because of the importance of the meeting he had allowed a three hour window but as it turned out it was concluded in under two.
So he went for a ridiculously expensive coffee at the Espresso Phoenix to kill some time and then made his way to Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield and Bushe to meet his sister.
He walked into reception and exchanged pleasantries with Sandra, the receptionist, and then took a seat and a few minutes later Sandra delivered him a coffee.
He sat there about half an hour reading a magazine when he heard Rhonda’s voice which grew progressively louder as she got closer.
He looked to his left and he could see her talking to a male client who had his back to him as they shook hands
“I will be in touch in due course” she said
“Thank you Ms Kane” the man said
“Please call me Rhonda”
“Call me Rhonda?” Brian said to himself “She never lets her clients call her Rhonda, this one must be important”
But when the man turned around he saw that he knew him and said
“Daniel”
“Hello Brian, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to take my sister to lunch” he replied as the two men shook hands.
“Kane, der, I didn’t make the connection”
Meanwhile Rhonda, who had turned to go back to her office turned on her heels and joined them.
“You two know each other?” she asked
“Yes we were at University together” Brian said
“Are you a bean counter as well then?” Rhonda asked with a smile
“No I’m a Doctor” he replied
The following few minutes of the conversation completely excluded Brian who just looked on in from the sidelines in amusement.
In fact it only came to an end when the receptionist, Sandra, interrupted with a message.
“Mr. Bishop phoned to say he can’t make his appointment but can you squeeze him in at 2 o’clock”
Rhonda looked at her watch and replied
“Yes that’s fine”
After Sandra had left them she said
“We will have to make it an early lunch Brian”
“That’s fine with me”
“And perhaps Daniel would like to join us” she added
“I’d love to” he replied to her
(Part 04)
They had lunch at an Italian Restaurant called Roberto’s just around the corner from her office.
“So was it just Rhonda that brought you too Abbottsford?” Brian asked
“No it wasn’t, but I would have made the trip just to see her” he thought but out loud he said
“No I’m in town for the weekend, at the Regent’s, Sarah and I are going to the cricket tomorrow”
“We’re putting up at the Regents as well” Brian said
“Never mind that who the hell is Sarah?” Rhonda asked herself and then as if he had heard her internal question Brian explained
“Sarah is Daniels ex-wife, but they’re still friends, in fact they still share a house, how odd is that?”
“I think it’s quite nice” she said
The food at Roberto’s was excellent but the lunchtime service was very slow and unfortunately Rhonda had to excuse herself before desert.
“I’m sorry but I have to go” she said “I really love the desert’s here as well”
“Perhaps we might run into each other over the weekend” he said
“I hope so, that would be nice” she said then she said goodbye to her brother and left.
“Are you going to talk to me now?” Brian asked and laughed but Daniels thoughts were elsewhere.
After leaving the restaurant Brian and Daniel went their separate ways but arrived at the Hotel within ten minutes of each other.
The Pottinger’s got stuck in the Friday night traffic and finally arrived at the Hotel at 9 o’clock by which time the Kane’s and the Goman-Smiths had already gone out for the evening.
Brian and Rhonda were dining at a trendy nouvelle cuisine restaurant off Castle Street called The Wooden Slipper which served high flavour, low-calorie, and substance lacking dishes, where minor celebrities are 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.
So when it was time to leave they were almost hungrier than when they arrived, so they went into town and shared a kebab.
The Doctors Goman-Smith meanwhile went to The Empire Theatre to watch a revival on An Inspector Calls followed by a fish supper.
But back at the hotel, Gary and Kate ordered sandwiches from room service and got an early night.
On Saturday morning everyone was up early and availed themselves of the full English breakfast but due to a miracle of timing all three couples managed to avoid each other.
Gary was ready to go far too early so left for the cricket ground on foot while the Goman-Smith’s left an hour later in a cab.
Kate who planned to spend much of the day in cultural pursuits had a measured start to the day and as she was leaving the Hotel Brian Kane was just walking into the gym with his sister Rhonda.
After a good workout he had an hours swim and she had a sauna and then she spent the rest of the day being pampered and preened, massaged, manicure, pedicure and hair in fact you name it and she had it.
Brian though had coffee and read the papers before he went out.
(Part 05)
Brian Kane spent the first part of the day rummaging in bookshops and antique shops of Abbottsford’s old town district and then he indulged his penchant for ridiculously expensive coffees in the trendy coffee shops.
Kate spent the morning in and out of every museum in Abbottsford and had lunch in one of the same coffee shops that Brian drank in and they only missed each other by minutes and in the afternoon she headed for the Art Gallery which housed one of the best collections of artwork outside of the capital.
The bulk of the collection was made up of pieces donated by the Trotwood Estate.
She paid deference to all the exhibits, even the cubists which she didn’t really like, she was really just filling the time until she got to the section she wanted to see the most, The French Impressionists.
She loved them all Camille Pissarro, Emile Schuffenecker, Eugène Boudin, the Bracquemond’s, Caillebotte, Cézanne, Forain, Stanislas Lépine, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac and her personal favorite Frédéric Bazille.
It was when she was sitting on a bench studying a lesser piece of Bazille’s when a tall, slim, good looking man with neat black hair sat down next to her.
“Do you like Bazille?” he asked
“Very much” she replied and turned to look and a smile spread across her face as she recognized his face.
“Hello Brian” she said all at once unable to return her eyes to the art
“What a lovely surprise”
“For me too Kate” he said
They spent the rest of the afternoon together, enjoying the art and each other’s company in equal measure and even revisited the exhibits she’d already seen on her own and as they stood in front of a magnificent renaissance canvas he said
“Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“I can be” she replied without hesitation and then she added
“Could I choose the restaurant?”
“Of course”
At the end of the afternoon Kate and Brian went back to the Hotel to change and met downstairs in reception again an hour later where Brian made a phone call and Kate left a message at reception.
She chose the Pig and Whistle in Little Trottwood and afterwards they took a walk in the countryside.
They left the village and headed towards Trottwood Manor and they paused before crossing the bridge and turned to look across the lake and they were amazed at how natural the scene was when considering that little more than a 100 years earlier it was a boggy field.
That was before a Victorian industrialist named Josiah Tiplady, who, having made his fortune amongst the smoking factory chimneys of Lancashire, was seeking a country retreat in which to enjoy his fortune as well as the considerably fresher air, so he purchased the old Trottwood Manor.
He famously said he chose the Trottwood Estate as it had everything he was looking for, but not apparently a lake complete with fountains and an island bird sanctuary.
But as they viewed the scene on that glorious June evening it was clearly money well spent.
“This is really beautiful” she said
He agreed and then they turned and continued onto the bridge and halfway across Brian paused and turned to face Kate and kissed her.
“And now it’s even more beautiful”
Downshire Diary – (38) The Girl in the Red Lingerie
(Part 01)
Sharpington-by-Sea 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 coaster but it was still great fun.
It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks.
It was at one of the static Caravan parks where a group of friends were staying for the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend.
Although in actuality it wasn’t just a group of friends, they were more than that and just to clarify the point they were a group of friends plus Waldo and they were staying at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park close to Sharpington.
There were 8 of them altogether split between three caravans, Mark Tonks shared with Dave Maslen and Andy Pike, Marks sister Lorraine shared with Louise Spry and Charlotte Kay, while Samantha Perry shared the third caravan with her boyfriend Waldo Pienaar.
They were all in their early twenties, apart from Waldo who was pushing 30 and with the exception of Waldo they had been friends since forever.
Caravan holidays weren’t really Mark’s cup of tea at all, as he doesn’t like caravans or tents for that matter but that was probably because he was 6ft 4, so of course caravans didn’t really cater for people of his height.
The only reason he went at all was because Samantha Perry was going to be there, and the fact she was going was very important to him because he loved her, he always had, and he always would, which was sad really because she didn’t love him, because if she did she wouldn’t have kept going out with a succession of complete pillock’s like Waldo.
But he figured if he couldn’t have her to himself he could at least be around her and enjoy her company and it wasn’t the first time he’d tagged along on such outings.
So he had no misgivings about seeing her with another man, it didn’t make him miserable on such occasions, he still had fun he just didn’t have Sam to himself.
He also loved Sharpington-by-Sea, and his earliest memory was of Sharpington and he had returned time and time again and it never lost is magic for him.
Mark had his first kiss on the Pier with Katie Brown when he was nine and his first proper kiss with Pamela Owen on the Ghost Train in the Fun Park when he was 15.
He just loved everything about the place,
Sharpington Day Parades, Halloween Fright Nights, Firework displays, Candy Floss, Ice creams, chip suppers and kiss me quick hats.
The only thing that could make him love it more was if he could walk hand in hand along the promenade with Samantha.
(Part 02)
The group arrived at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park late on Friday night in the pouring rain and they were all exhausted, in fact they only had the energy for a quick drink and then turned in early.
Saturday started grey and damp and the evidence of the previous days deluge was everywhere to be seen, but the sun burst through mid-morning and they got to spend the rest of the day on the beach.
Which was where Mark got to see the sight that drew him to the beaches of Sharpington in the first place, the most beautiful girl he had have ever known wearing her yellow bikini.
It was a lovely afternoon and they had great fun playing volleyball on the sand, only his sister Lorraine noticed that he spent more time watching Sam than he did the ball.
The evening though was a massive let down for him as Samantha and Waldo didn’t join the group, Waldo wanted them to go out on their own while the rest of them went to the pub and the evening really dragged for him.
He was up early on Sunday Morning of the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, and he was preoccupied with the thought that no one seemed to call it Whitsun anymore, his mum and dad always did, and he couldn’t understand the fad for calling it the Spring Bank Holiday instead.
The rain had returned in earnest during the night and the park was very quiet, he walked around for a while squelching between the puddles and then he approached caravan 17a.
The pretext was to speak with Waldo about a mechanics question, as that was his profession, but in truth he wasn’t looking for him at all the only reason he was going over there was to see Samantha.
He knew she was an early riser so he was sure she would be up and about and that the kettle would be hot.
He knocked on the door and got no answer, which was strange, so he knocked once more and still there was no answer.
Mark looked around and noticed Waldo’s car was gone, so he knocked again and he was beginning to think there was no one in and then he heard the faintest response of
“Come in”
Mark opened the door and stepped in to caravan 17a and found Samantha propped up in the corner on the bench seat, there was an empty glass on the table and two empty wine bottles on the floor.
“Good morning sunshine” he said
“Is it?” she replied without opening her eyes.
She was sitting with both feet on the seat with her knees drawn up in front of her and she leant forward and rested her elbows on her knees while her hands pushed her beautiful thick chestnut brown hair off her forehead away from her bleary eyes.
He sat down on the opposite end of the bench so he was looking straight at her and he was very grateful.
The reason for that was that Samantha was in a state of undress apart from matching red silk bra and pants and a pair of red lace topped stockings, matching suspender belt and a wry smile on her lovely face.
(Part 03)
He sat down on the opposite end of the bench so he was looking straight at her and he was very grateful.
The reason for that was that Samantha was in a state of undress apart from matching red silk bra and pants and a pair of red lace topped stockings, matching suspender belt and a wry smile on her lovely face.
“Where’s Waldo?” he asked
“He’s gone” she said sadly
“What this early?” he asked
“No, last night” she replied coldly “he dumped me”
“What? He shagged you and then dumped you?” he asked angrily
“No, he dumped me and didn’t shag me” she said in disbelief “I got all kitted out for him as well”
“I can see that babe” Mark said
“What?” she asked and screwed up her face in a puzzled expression as she tried to decipher his words.
Samantha then opened her eyes to their fullest extent and looked at him for clarification and he nodded in her direction in answer to her enquiry and her state of undress suddenly dawned on her
“Oh God” she exclaimed and shut her thighs like a bear trap and scrambled for her blanket
“You pig” she shouted “Why didn’t you tell me I was almost naked”
“Are you kidding me?” he said “and pass up the chance to glimpse a gorgeous girls treasures”
He realized the moment the words left his lips that he had shown his hand.
“Perhaps she’s too hung over to have noticed” he said to himself optimistically
Her treasures were now well and truly buried beneath the hastily positioned blanket and the only visible parts of her were her bright red face above, and her red stocking covered toes, peeping out from below.
“Since when did you think I was gorgeous anyway?” she asked from the safety of her hiding place.
“What do you mean?” he said cursing himself for letting his guard down, apparently she wasn’t as hung over as she appeared
“You said you wouldn’t pass up the chance to glimpse a gorgeous girls treasures” she said “so when did you start thinking I was gorgeous?”
And that was a question he was never in his wildest dreams expected to be asked.
Faced with a direct question he couldn’t back track, so he took a deep breath.
“Well let me see that would be since about the time you were seven” he replied
“Since I was 7?” she exclaimed in disbelief
“What did I do when I was seven that had such a profound effect on you?”
“You showed me your knickers in Belldon Wood”
“I did not” she protested
“Yes you did” he said adamantly, “they were white with little blue periwinkle flowers on them”
Samantha gasped and said
“I remember those knickers”
“So do I, vividly”
“Oh God I did show you my knickers didn’t I?” she said, she would have gone red at the remembrance had she not still been crimson from almost showing him everything else.
“Yes” he confirmed
(Part 04)
“So it was actually my knickers you thought were gorgeous” she said
Mark hesitated before answering, he could have just agreed with her and simply laughed the whole thing off, because if he told the truth then the genie would be out of the bottle and he wouldn’t be able to unsay it.
“That’s not true” he replied deciding to bite the bullet
“I think you’re gorgeous now and you’re not wearing them”
“Don’t remind me” She said blushing crimson again and hiding her face behind her blanket.
“So you’ve fancied me ever since I was seven?”
“Pretty much” he confessed
“You really fancied me all that time?” she asked
“It’s worse than that I’m afraid!” he admitted
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked emerging from cover.
“I never knew how” he replied
“I was just a passing fancy then” she said dismissively
“Not at all” he corrected her “I’ve always wanted you, but because you’re so special to me, and you’re such a good mate I didn’t want to risk losing that, if you didn’t feel the same about me”
“So did you ever get close?” she asked softly
“Once or twice”
“And?” she queried
“You were in between completely unsuitable boyfriends who didn’t deserve you at the time” he said
“But I dithered around for too long so I wasn’t even able to catch you on the rebound”
Once the cat was out of the bag he thought he might at least get closure, for good or bad, but as it turned out he didn’t get to hear her response.
Samantha’s mouth opened but before she could speak there was a loud bang on the door.
“Who is it?” Sam yelled crossly
“It’s Loz you grumpy bint”
How ironic that his sister of all people would turn out to be the killjoy, she had been encouraging him for years to tell Sam how he felt.
“The door is open” Sam said
Lorraine opened the door and walked in and he was the first one she saw.
“Hey Mark, I’ve been looking for you” she said and then her eyes fell on Samantha
“Oh dear me, you look really rough” Lorraine said and laughed
“Shut up and have some respect for the dead” Samantha responded
“Well I suggest the corpse gets its zombie arse into the shower and then get your glad rags on” Loz instructed
“Why what’s going on?” Sam asked
“We’re all going into Sharpington for lunch” Lorraine replied and then turned to me
“And you, we leave in an hour, come on”
She started out the door and was expecting me to follow.
But he stood in the doorway and turned to look at Sam
“I liked it when you called them my treasures” she said
“You’re the real treasure” he responded and she smiled and just before he closed the door he said
“Wear your lemon dress, you always look stunning in that”
(Part 05)
When Mark had closed the door and walked down the steps he found Lorraine was waiting for him around the corner.
“Did you know Waldo did a runner last night?” she asked
“Yes” he replied
“So?” Lorraine asked
“So what?”
“So now’s the time to get to her before she gets tangled up with some other loser” Lorraine said
“What do you think I was doing in there when you interrupted?”
Lorraine stopped and grabbed his arm
“You told her?”
“Yes” he replied and started walking again
“So how did it go?” she shouted
“How do you think it went” he snapped “I’m out here with you”
Sam and Mark travelled to Sharpington in separate cars and as he was in the car Andy was driving they arrived in town ten minutes behind Louise and the girls despite the fact they were right on their bumper when they left Whitecliff Hill Park and the reason for that was because he drives like an 80 year old woman.
They were further delayed due to the fact that he is totally incapable of parallel parking, so by the time they reached the Ancient Mariner the girls were already seated at the table and Mark ended up with Lou and Lottie between him and Sam.
It was a long and frustrating lunch, finding himself so far from the woman he loved, and the service was diabolical.
On that particular day of all days it didn’t help and although he was delighted to see that she was wearing the lemon dress as he suggested, every time he caught her eye she looked away immediately.
After lunch the weather brightened so they all walked down to the seafront, Mark walked slowly behind the pack with his hands stuffed in his pockets and cursed his stupidity for making his declaration to her.
His worst fears had been realized, he had shared the secret he had kept to himself for 17 years and as he always knew would be the case if he spoke up, and instead of winning her love he had now lost her friendship.
“Why did I do it?” he said to himself and then he felt an arm slip through his, when he glanced sideways to see who the arm belonged he fully expected it to be Lorraine but he was amazed to see it was Samantha.
“I have a confession to make” she said
“Oh yes” he replied
“I think I chose totally unsuitable boyfriends who didn’t deserve me because I couldn’t have you” she said and then they came to a stop
“And now?” he asked with bated breath and Samantha, who had turned to face him, said
“I choose you”
And then she kissed him.
They walked the length of Sharpington seafront in the warm May sunshine, hand in hand and talked like they had never talked before.
And by the time they returned to the others it was almost evening.
“Come on you two” Lorraine called “We’re going to the pub as soon as we get back, you in?”
“Count us out we’ve got plans” Sam said
“Oh where are you two going then?” Lottie asked and he turned to look at Sam because he didn’t know what plans they had either and Samantha squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
“A treasure hunt” she replied and they both giggled
Everyone looked completely bemused by her answer and his response to it but suffice is to say they were in Samantha’s caravan until midafternoon on Bank Holiday Monday treasure hunting.
Sharpington-by-Sea 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 coaster but it was still great fun.
It was also a popular resort for retirees and boasted a number of static caravan parks.
It was at one of the static Caravan parks where a group of friends were staying for the Spring Bank Holiday Weekend.
Although in actuality it wasn’t just a group of friends, they were more than that and just to clarify the point they were a group of friends plus Waldo and they were staying at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park close to Sharpington.
There were 8 of them altogether split between three caravans, Mark Tonks shared with Dave Maslen and Andy Pike, Marks sister Lorraine shared with Louise Spry and Charlotte Kay, while Samantha Perry shared the third caravan with her boyfriend Waldo Pienaar.
They were all in their early twenties, apart from Waldo who was pushing 30 and with the exception of Waldo they had been friends since forever.
Caravan holidays weren’t really Mark’s cup of tea at all, as he doesn’t like caravans or tents for that matter but that was probably because he was 6ft 4, so of course caravans didn’t really cater for people of his height.
The only reason he went at all was because Samantha Perry was going to be there, and the fact she was going was very important to him because he loved her, he always had, and he always would, which was sad really because she didn’t love him, because if she did she wouldn’t have kept going out with a succession of complete pillock’s like Waldo.
But he figured if he couldn’t have her to himself he could at least be around her and enjoy her company and it wasn’t the first time he’d tagged along on such outings.
So he had no misgivings about seeing her with another man, it didn’t make him miserable on such occasions, he still had fun he just didn’t have Sam to himself.
He also loved Sharpington-by-Sea, and his earliest memory was of Sharpington and he had returned time and time again and it never lost is magic for him.
Mark had his first kiss on the Pier with Katie Brown when he was nine and his first proper kiss with Pamela Owen on the Ghost Train in the Fun Park when he was 15.
He just loved everything about the place,
Sharpington Day Parades, Halloween Fright Nights, Firework displays, Candy Floss, Ice creams, chip suppers and kiss me quick hats.
The only thing that could make him love it more was if he could walk hand in hand along the promenade with Samantha.
(Part 02)
The group arrived at the Whitecliff Hill Caravan Park late on Friday night in the pouring rain and they were all exhausted, in fact they only had the energy for a quick drink and then turned in early.
Saturday started grey and damp and the evidence of the previous days deluge was everywhere to be seen, but the sun burst through mid-morning and they got to spend the rest of the day on the beach.
Which was where Mark got to see the sight that drew him to the beaches of Sharpington in the first place, the most beautiful girl he had have ever known wearing her yellow bikini.
It was a lovely afternoon and they had great fun playing volleyball on the sand, only his sister Lorraine noticed that he spent more time watching Sam than he did the ball.
The evening though was a massive let down for him as Samantha and Waldo didn’t join the group, Waldo wanted them to go out on their own while the rest of them went to the pub and the evening really dragged for him.
He was up early on Sunday Morning of the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, and he was preoccupied with the thought that no one seemed to call it Whitsun anymore, his mum and dad always did, and he couldn’t understand the fad for calling it the Spring Bank Holiday instead.
The rain had returned in earnest during the night and the park was very quiet, he walked around for a while squelching between the puddles and then he approached caravan 17a.
The pretext was to speak with Waldo about a mechanics question, as that was his profession, but in truth he wasn’t looking for him at all the only reason he was going over there was to see Samantha.
He knew she was an early riser so he was sure she would be up and about and that the kettle would be hot.
He knocked on the door and got no answer, which was strange, so he knocked once more and still there was no answer.
Mark looked around and noticed Waldo’s car was gone, so he knocked again and he was beginning to think there was no one in and then he heard the faintest response of
“Come in”
Mark opened the door and stepped in to caravan 17a and found Samantha propped up in the corner on the bench seat, there was an empty glass on the table and two empty wine bottles on the floor.
“Good morning sunshine” he said
“Is it?” she replied without opening her eyes.
She was sitting with both feet on the seat with her knees drawn up in front of her and she leant forward and rested her elbows on her knees while her hands pushed her beautiful thick chestnut brown hair off her forehead away from her bleary eyes.
He sat down on the opposite end of the bench so he was looking straight at her and he was very grateful.
The reason for that was that Samantha was in a state of undress apart from matching red silk bra and pants and a pair of red lace topped stockings, matching suspender belt and a wry smile on her lovely face.
(Part 03)
He sat down on the opposite end of the bench so he was looking straight at her and he was very grateful.
The reason for that was that Samantha was in a state of undress apart from matching red silk bra and pants and a pair of red lace topped stockings, matching suspender belt and a wry smile on her lovely face.
“Where’s Waldo?” he asked
“He’s gone” she said sadly
“What this early?” he asked
“No, last night” she replied coldly “he dumped me”
“What? He shagged you and then dumped you?” he asked angrily
“No, he dumped me and didn’t shag me” she said in disbelief “I got all kitted out for him as well”
“I can see that babe” Mark said
“What?” she asked and screwed up her face in a puzzled expression as she tried to decipher his words.
Samantha then opened her eyes to their fullest extent and looked at him for clarification and he nodded in her direction in answer to her enquiry and her state of undress suddenly dawned on her
“Oh God” she exclaimed and shut her thighs like a bear trap and scrambled for her blanket
“You pig” she shouted “Why didn’t you tell me I was almost naked”
“Are you kidding me?” he said “and pass up the chance to glimpse a gorgeous girls treasures”
He realized the moment the words left his lips that he had shown his hand.
“Perhaps she’s too hung over to have noticed” he said to himself optimistically
Her treasures were now well and truly buried beneath the hastily positioned blanket and the only visible parts of her were her bright red face above, and her red stocking covered toes, peeping out from below.
“Since when did you think I was gorgeous anyway?” she asked from the safety of her hiding place.
“What do you mean?” he said cursing himself for letting his guard down, apparently she wasn’t as hung over as she appeared
“You said you wouldn’t pass up the chance to glimpse a gorgeous girls treasures” she said “so when did you start thinking I was gorgeous?”
And that was a question he was never in his wildest dreams expected to be asked.
Faced with a direct question he couldn’t back track, so he took a deep breath.
“Well let me see that would be since about the time you were seven” he replied
“Since I was 7?” she exclaimed in disbelief
“What did I do when I was seven that had such a profound effect on you?”
“You showed me your knickers in Belldon Wood”
“I did not” she protested
“Yes you did” he said adamantly, “they were white with little blue periwinkle flowers on them”
Samantha gasped and said
“I remember those knickers”
“So do I, vividly”
“Oh God I did show you my knickers didn’t I?” she said, she would have gone red at the remembrance had she not still been crimson from almost showing him everything else.
“Yes” he confirmed
(Part 04)
“So it was actually my knickers you thought were gorgeous” she said
Mark hesitated before answering, he could have just agreed with her and simply laughed the whole thing off, because if he told the truth then the genie would be out of the bottle and he wouldn’t be able to unsay it.
“That’s not true” he replied deciding to bite the bullet
“I think you’re gorgeous now and you’re not wearing them”
“Don’t remind me” She said blushing crimson again and hiding her face behind her blanket.
“So you’ve fancied me ever since I was seven?”
“Pretty much” he confessed
“You really fancied me all that time?” she asked
“It’s worse than that I’m afraid!” he admitted
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked emerging from cover.
“I never knew how” he replied
“I was just a passing fancy then” she said dismissively
“Not at all” he corrected her “I’ve always wanted you, but because you’re so special to me, and you’re such a good mate I didn’t want to risk losing that, if you didn’t feel the same about me”
“So did you ever get close?” she asked softly
“Once or twice”
“And?” she queried
“You were in between completely unsuitable boyfriends who didn’t deserve you at the time” he said
“But I dithered around for too long so I wasn’t even able to catch you on the rebound”
Once the cat was out of the bag he thought he might at least get closure, for good or bad, but as it turned out he didn’t get to hear her response.
Samantha’s mouth opened but before she could speak there was a loud bang on the door.
“Who is it?” Sam yelled crossly
“It’s Loz you grumpy bint”
How ironic that his sister of all people would turn out to be the killjoy, she had been encouraging him for years to tell Sam how he felt.
“The door is open” Sam said
Lorraine opened the door and walked in and he was the first one she saw.
“Hey Mark, I’ve been looking for you” she said and then her eyes fell on Samantha
“Oh dear me, you look really rough” Lorraine said and laughed
“Shut up and have some respect for the dead” Samantha responded
“Well I suggest the corpse gets its zombie arse into the shower and then get your glad rags on” Loz instructed
“Why what’s going on?” Sam asked
“We’re all going into Sharpington for lunch” Lorraine replied and then turned to me
“And you, we leave in an hour, come on”
She started out the door and was expecting me to follow.
But he stood in the doorway and turned to look at Sam
“I liked it when you called them my treasures” she said
“You’re the real treasure” he responded and she smiled and just before he closed the door he said
“Wear your lemon dress, you always look stunning in that”
(Part 05)
When Mark had closed the door and walked down the steps he found Lorraine was waiting for him around the corner.
“Did you know Waldo did a runner last night?” she asked
“Yes” he replied
“So?” Lorraine asked
“So what?”
“So now’s the time to get to her before she gets tangled up with some other loser” Lorraine said
“What do you think I was doing in there when you interrupted?”
Lorraine stopped and grabbed his arm
“You told her?”
“Yes” he replied and started walking again
“So how did it go?” she shouted
“How do you think it went” he snapped “I’m out here with you”
Sam and Mark travelled to Sharpington in separate cars and as he was in the car Andy was driving they arrived in town ten minutes behind Louise and the girls despite the fact they were right on their bumper when they left Whitecliff Hill Park and the reason for that was because he drives like an 80 year old woman.
They were further delayed due to the fact that he is totally incapable of parallel parking, so by the time they reached the Ancient Mariner the girls were already seated at the table and Mark ended up with Lou and Lottie between him and Sam.
It was a long and frustrating lunch, finding himself so far from the woman he loved, and the service was diabolical.
On that particular day of all days it didn’t help and although he was delighted to see that she was wearing the lemon dress as he suggested, every time he caught her eye she looked away immediately.
After lunch the weather brightened so they all walked down to the seafront, Mark walked slowly behind the pack with his hands stuffed in his pockets and cursed his stupidity for making his declaration to her.
His worst fears had been realized, he had shared the secret he had kept to himself for 17 years and as he always knew would be the case if he spoke up, and instead of winning her love he had now lost her friendship.
“Why did I do it?” he said to himself and then he felt an arm slip through his, when he glanced sideways to see who the arm belonged he fully expected it to be Lorraine but he was amazed to see it was Samantha.
“I have a confession to make” she said
“Oh yes” he replied
“I think I chose totally unsuitable boyfriends who didn’t deserve me because I couldn’t have you” she said and then they came to a stop
“And now?” he asked with bated breath and Samantha, who had turned to face him, said
“I choose you”
And then she kissed him.
They walked the length of Sharpington seafront in the warm May sunshine, hand in hand and talked like they had never talked before.
And by the time they returned to the others it was almost evening.
“Come on you two” Lorraine called “We’re going to the pub as soon as we get back, you in?”
“Count us out we’ve got plans” Sam said
“Oh where are you two going then?” Lottie asked and he turned to look at Sam because he didn’t know what plans they had either and Samantha squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
“A treasure hunt” she replied and they both giggled
Everyone looked completely bemused by her answer and his response to it but suffice is to say they were in Samantha’s caravan until midafternoon on Bank Holiday Monday treasure hunting.
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