(Part 01)
Rory Hitchen lived in the small country village of Mornington-By-Mere in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
Which was 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.
He lived and worked up at Mornington Field which had once been an RAF base but had been converted into a mixture of commercial and residential units.
Rory lived in apartment 1 of Lancaster House, which was converted from the old Officers Mess and he was employed by Topliss Engineering.
He was an unremarkable looking man in his early thirties, he was neither attractive nor unattractive he was best described as neutral.
Everything else about him was average, average height, average weight and build, black hair and blue eyes.
The only think about him that wasn’t unremarkable was his good nature, he was singularly kind hearted always had time for his friends or indeed anyone else who needed help.
His friends looked upon him as kind and generous while others thought he was a soft touch and presumed that was why he landed himself such a cracker of a girlfriend.
Melanie Sands was five years younger than he was and she was a gorgeous, petite, well-tanned girl with hair the colour of ripened corn and everyone told him he was punching way above his weight, and to watch out, but he didn’t listen.
He met Melanie the previous summer at a friend’s wedding reception in Finchbottom and he fell head over heels in love with her.
The two of them had a pretty hectic Christmas and New Year but in January they flew off to Tunisia for a Winter Break.
He and Melanie stayed in a very luxurious hotel that was clearly a remnant of the French colonial days that was now very popular with tourists.
The holiday was intended, at least on his part, as a pre cursor to him asking her to move in with him and for the first few days, apart from the fact he hadn’t asked her the question, everything was going well until he caught Melanie in flagrante with a waiter by the name of Afchine.
He was devastated, she was the love of his life and she had betrayed him so Rory ran out of the hotel in all its colonial splendour and lost himself in the crowds of the Porte de France and the Souks Market but ended up in the sanctuary of St. Louis Cathedral.
He found the cool atmosphere of the cathedral very calming and it gave him time to think and when he left there in the late evening he knew what to do.
He went back to the Hotel, there was no sign of Melanie so he threw most of his things into a bag, picked up his passport and then got a cab straight to the airport and got the first flight home.
The temperature in Tunisia was consistently in the high teens to low twenties which felt much warmer than that when considering the temperature at home when he and Melanie left Downshire.
When he boarded the plane to return home he was still wearing his Tunisian attire so subsequently when he landed back in England in the teeth of a blizzard he found his clothes to be somewhat inadequate.
(Part 02)
On his return to the UK the weather was so bad that the plane was lucky to get permission to land when it did, as a lot of flights were turned away.
However they were able to land and once on the ground he found the local transport infrastructure was suffering also.
Trains were cancelled, buses were running a skeleton service and even taxis were conspicuous by their absence.
He didn’t have his car at the airport as Melanie’s brother drove them there so Rory ended up queuing for two hours to get a hire car and he finally left the airport just after 10 o’clock.
But even in the few hours he had been on the ground the weather had deteriorated considerably and temperatures had plummeted however despite that the roads around the airport were barely affected and the motorway was fine.
“I don’t know what all the fuss is about” he said to himself smugly however when he got off the Pepperstock Express Way and onto the untreated roads he knew exactly what all the fuss was about.
The roads were barely visible and he drove very gingerly along the first stretch, which ended, at a roundabout, which was where he thought he’d got lucky.
A four wheel drive entered the roundabout ahead of him and turned off onto the Purplemere road so he got in its tracks and followed it for about four miles and Rory was just beginning to feel smug again but his luck soon ran out as at the next roundabout the Landrover turned left onto the Sharpington road while he needed to turn right for Mornington.
As luck would have it the road was not as bad as the previous one as it was quite exposed and the wind had blown a lot of the snow off the road and there were even visible signs of Tarmac in patches.
So he pressed on with caution and but when he was less than two miles from the village disaster struck.
Rory took a right hand bend slightly too vigorously and lost the back end and went off the road back end first into a ditch.
He tried to drive out of it but to no avail, then he tried his phone but couldn’t get a signal and so he resigned himself to the fact he would have to walk the last couple of miles.
As soon as he got out of the car and the wind cut through his thin clothing like it wasn’t there.
“No matter” he thought, because his case was in the boot so he could put some more layers on, but when he got to the back of the car he found the boot staved in and he couldn’t open it.
“Shit” he said as he knew there was nothing he could do but to get home as quickly as possible.
The problem was, dressed as he was for North Africa, as quickly as possible wasn’t very quick at all and the closer he got to the village the snow seemed to get thicker and thicker and all the while he was being battered by a howling wind.
(Part 03)
He had no idea how long he’d been walking or indeed where exactly he was because he had no point of reference and visibility was poor but eventually he could see the shape of a house in the distance
“Thank God” he said and quickened his pace.
When he got there he walked up to the front door of Marigold Cottage and banged on it hard.
After a few minutes he banged again but he got no answer.
“Bugger” he said, “no one home”
He went back to the road and could make out some other shapes, and more importantly one of them had a porch light on.
“Thank God” he said and crossed himself and like a moth he headed towards the light.
As he banged on the door of White Rose Cottage he hoped and prayed that the light hadn’t just been left on to deter burglars but he began to think the worst when he got no response and was just about to bang again when he saw movement beyond the glass and a few moments later the door opened he was surprised to see it was a nurse.
The nurse in question was Charlene Rogers who worked at the Oak Dale Retirement Village and Nursing home in Dulcets Green, she was supposed to be on the night shift but Alexandra Barrileau who owned and ran the place had phoned to tell her to stay at home, the 6 till 2 shift were staying on until morning as she wanted the minimize the amount of staff blundering about in the snow.
Which was why she was still wearing her uniform when Rory knocked on the door.
“Yes?” Charlene said surprised to see someone on her doorstep given the time of night and the conditions “what the hell are you doing outside dressed like that?”
“Caa Caa Car crcrcrashed” he stuttered “Lllllost”
“Come in, come in” she said urgently “Are you hurt?”
“Ccccold” he chattered
“Come with me” she ordered “we need to warm you up”
She took him from the hall and into her sitting room.
As she opened the door she reached inside the room and flicked the light switch and the ceiling light came to life.
“Slip your coat off and sit down” she instructed indicating an arm chair by the fireside.
He did as he was told and she knelt on the rug and she stirred the fire back to life and added another log before proceeding to remove his shoes and socks, which were soaked and felt the bottoms of the trousers which were also wet.
“They need to come off” she said matter of factly
He didn’t speak as his teeth were still chattering but he obliged her by standing up and unbuttoning and unzipping his trousers and let them fall to the floor before plopping back down to the chair.
Charlene gave him the throw off the sofa which he accepted with gratitude and then she hung the trousers close to the fire to dry and said
“I’ll make a hot drink”
After two mugs of hot chocolate and the application of a hot water bottle his teeth had stopped chattering sufficiently for him to introduce himself but he was still very cold so Charlene ran him a warm bath.
(Part 04)
Mornington-By-Mere wasn’t just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale, but there was more Mornington that just its Ancient heart as 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 31 year old Charlene Rogers lived on Dulcets Road at White Rose Cottage.
Since the breakdown of her marriage six months earlier she lived alone but in the early hours of a January morning she was playing host to a man who she didn’t know who could easily have perished in the severe wintery conditions.
While the bath was running she sorted out some clothes for Rory, from the few items she still had that belonged to her soon to be ex-husband and while he was in the bath she got changed out of her uniform and as she was getting into her nightclothes she thought for the first time that having a complete stranger in her bath was just a little bit weird.
“Well it’s a bit late now” she said to herself as she put on her dressing gown.
When he returned downstairs he was wearing David Rogers’s old clothes, namely an Abbottsford Knights sweatshirt and a pair of grey joggers, the former was too short in the arms and the latter too long in the leg.
“Oh dear” she said “you’re a bit of a different shape to my ex”
“A little bit I guess” he said and quickly reclaimed his spot in the armchair by the fire and the blanket “But they’re warm which is the main thing”
“Good” she said as she checked his own trousers drying by the fire.
“This is very kind of you” he said
“Nonsense, I couldn’t leave you outside to freeze to death” she said
“I know but everything else, the drinks, a bath and the warm clothes” he said “that was kind”
“It’s just my nursing instincts kicking in” Charlene said as she declared herself satisfied that his trousers were dry and as she was folding them she was surprised at the inadequacy of the fabric so she asked
“Where were you coming from?”
“What?” he responded
“When you crashed, where were you coming from?” she asked
“Tunisia”
“Oh” she exclaimed “I wasn’t expecting that answer, and where were you heading?”
“Mornington”
“Well you made it, this is Morningside” she said but when she turned around he had drifted off to sleep.
“And it looks like you’re staying here till morning”
Charlene didn’t sleep well as she wasn’t supposed to be in bed at that time and her body clock told her she should be awake.
So she got up and stretched and checked her watch and saw it was just after seven.
She slipped on her dressing gown and then looked out of the window and could see it was still snowing though much lighter than it had been before.
She went down stairs where she firstly checked on her guest and found he was still sleeping peacefully, so she revived the fire and dropped on another log and crept out of the room and then she phoned Oak Dale.
(Part 05)
Charlene phoned Alexandra Barrileau at Oak Dale and it was Megan Murray who answered the phone.
“Good Morning Oak Dale”
“Hi Megan, its Charlene, how was the drive in?”
“Oh I didn’t go home last night” she replied
“Really? Is the boss there?”
“Yes I’ll just put you through”
“Good morning Charlene” Alex said
“Morning Alex, I’m going to leave in about half an hour…”
“No don’t do that” she interrupted “The roads are still treacherous”
“But I thought I’d give one of the others a chance to get home” Charlene added
“Well the forecast is for light snow on and off all day and a clear period after dark with heavy snow again overnight” Alex explained “So if you could come in tomorrow night instead that would help because the others will be dead on their feet by then”
“Ok if you’re sure” Charlene said
“I’m sure” she replied “so just have a relaxing day”
“Well I’ve got an unexpected houseguest at the moment so I’m not sure how much relaxing I’ll do”
“Who’s that then?” Alex asked and Charlene spent the next ten minutes explaining about the mystery man.
Charlene put down the phone and went back upstairs and showered and dressed for the day before she returned downstairs to the kitchen and flicked on the kettle.
She made herself a coffee and her guest a mug of tea and took it into the sitting room.
Rory was just stirring as she walked in and put the drinks on the table.
“Good morning” she said brightly but when he turned to look at her he looked like death warmed up.
“You look awful”
“I’ll be fine when I’ve had a drink” he said hoarsely
Charlene was unconvinced and asked
“Do you need to contact anyone, wife? Girlfriend?”
“I’m not married and it turns out that my girlfriend is a tart and is probably still shagging a North African waiter”
“Ok, that was too much information” she said “what about family?”
“No family”
“What about friends? Won’t somebody wonder where you are?” she asked
“They think I’m in Tunisia” Rory said
“When are you expected back then?”
“Not until the10th” he replied
“So you’re a nurse” he said as she caught him watching her
“Yes” she replied taking a sip of her coffee.
“I’m a nurse at Oak Dale”
“Where’s that?” he asked
“It’s a nursing home in the Dulcets” she replied
“Oh” he responded not having a clue what the Dulcets were or that they consisted of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke.
He was new to the area having lived in Northchapel, for most of his life, until 3 months earlier and he was still finding his way around.
He only knew one way in to Mornington from the outside world and hadn’t up to that point strayed from that one route.
After he had finished his tea he threw the blanket aside and said
“You have been very kind but I really should get going now, I have imposed on you for too long already”
But as soon as he stood up he almost fell down again.
Charlene saw him start to go and was immediately on her feet and caught him and guided him back into his chair.
“My God you’re burning up” she said as she touched his forehead
“I’m fine” he insisted “I’ll be home in ten minutes”
“You’re not going anywhere, you have a fever”
“But...” he protested
“Don’t argue, I’m a nurse remember”
“But…” he protested again
“I’m not surprised you have a fever considering the state of you when you got here” she said “The only place you’re going is bed”
Rory didn’t protest further as he was too exhausted and he knew he wasn’t going to win.
(Part 06)
Charlene helped Rory up to her bedroom and sat him on the bed while she threw back the duvet and then she laid him down and he began to resist.
“Please don’t fuss” he insisted “I’m fine really”
“Nonsense” she said “Do as you’re told and lie down”
She left him briefly and went to the bathroom and returned with a thermometer which she put in his mouth and when she took it out again she said.
“Fine my arse, 104”
When she had silenced his protests and was satisfied that the mutiny was over she asked
“Are you allergic to anything?”
“No” he replied meekly
“No problem with paracetamol?”
“No”
She left the room again and returned a few moments later with a glass of water and two tablet and after supervising him taking the tablets she put the glass on the bedside table and walked towards the door, but before she left she turned and said.
“Get some sleep and you can have some soup in a couple of hours”
“Has anyone ever told you….?” He began
“That I’m really bossy? Oh yes often” she replied
After leaving him in her bed she went into the guest room and made up the spare bed before she went downstairs to the kitchen.
Lesser mortals might have found having a stranger in the house an imposition but for Charlene it was a godsend.
Being trapped in the cottage for two days on her own would have driven her doolally.
Charlene hadn’t coped well on her own since her husband left and the only thing keeping her sane was her work.
But being denied that escape due to the weather was a nightmare scenario for her so having Rory knock on her door in need of her hospitality was an absolute godsend.
When she had returned downstairs to the kitchen she looked out of the window and could see it was still lightly snowing.
She flicked on the kettle and turned her attention to lunch, she was going to do some proper cooking.
She loved to cook, and she was a very good cook, but since living alone again she didn’t bother for herself.
In fact she couldn’t remember the last time she had cooked something from scratch.
Now bearing in mind that her target diner had a fever and probably didn’t have much of an appetite she had decided on soup.
She was in her element, firstly poring over her cook books and when she had settled on the recipe.
Charlene used ingredients from the cupboard she hadn’t used for months and before she knew it 4 hours had gone by.
“Oops” she said when she looked up at the clock.
She had said to Rory that she would bring him some soup in a couple of hours but she had gone well over that so she washed her hands and went upstairs and checked on her patient.
But on finding him still asleep, she checked he was still alive, and then went back downstairs to the kitchen and carried on with the soup.
(Part 07)
At 5 o’clock Charlene climbed the stairs carrying a tray with a large bowl of homemade chicken and vegetable soup, a carafe of water and two paracetamol.
She wasn’t sure why, but she was worried he might not like it, which really bothered her and not just because she had spent most of the day in the kitchen, although she had laboured on more than just the soup.
She pushed open the bedroom door and found Rory was awake and half sitting in bed.
“How are you feeling now?” she asked
“I’m a little better I think” he replied
“Good” Charlene said but placed a thermometer in his mouth
“Have I still got a temperature?” he asked a minute later
“Yes but its only 103” she replied “So are you hungry?”
“Yes I think so”
“Ok then take another two tablets and eat your soup” Charlene said
About half an hour later Charlene returned to find his bowl empty.
“Finished already?” she asked
“Yes I guess I was hungrier than I thought” he said
“It was alright then?”
“Better than alright” he said which pleased her immensely
“How about a hot drink?” she asked
“Yes please” he replied “And would you mind keeping me company?”
“Not at all” she said “I’ll be back in jiff”
She returned about ten minutes later with a mug in each hand which she put down on the bedside table and then she sat in the chair by the bed.
They made small talk for about ten minutes and then asked
“Where is your car?”
“I’m sorry?”
“I mean I know you crashed it but where is the car now?”
“It’s in a ditch somewhere along the Purplemere Road a couple of miles from here I think” he replied
“Ok I’ll let Dave Jones know” she said
“Who is Dave Jones?”
“Oh he’s the police Sgt he lives the other side of the brewery” she said “He can put a “Police Aware” report on it”
As soon as darkness fell so did the temperature and Rory got increasingly tired over the couple of hours they were sat talking so Charlene said “goodnight” and after cleaning up the kitchen she decided to call it a night herself.
She was really tired having had a very poor night’s sleep the night before and having worked so hard all day so she slept like a log.
When she woke up the next morning it was snowing again and settling fast on the frozen snow of the day before.
Charlene showered and dressed for the day and went down stairs with a bit of a spring in her step.
As she boiled the kettle and made tea she thought to herself how nice it was to have someone in the cottage to fuss over.
It was just a shame that Rory needed to almost freeze to death in order to bring it about.
An hour later Charlene went back upstairs with a jug of water and some tablets in order to maintain a Paracetamol, fluids and sleep regime.
She opened the door and saw that he was awake.
(Part 08)
Charlene went back upstairs with a jug of water and some tablets in order to maintain a Paracetamol, fluids and sleep regime.
She opened the door and saw that he was awake.
“Morning Rory” she said “It’s snowing hard again”
“Oh dear I was going to walk home this morning” he said
“Really?” she said trying not to sound too disappointed
“Well I have imposed on your hospitality long enough” he said
“Don’t be silly it’s been no trouble and it’s not like I had anything else to do while we were snowed in” she said
“That’s kind of you to say so” he said “But I know I’ve been a nuisance”
“Rubbish” Charlene said “Now why don’t you have a shower and get into your own clothes and I’ll make us some breakfast, and then we can see what the weathers doing”
“Deal” he said
Charlene was over the moon that he was staying for breakfast as it gave her the excuse to do a big fry up, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d done one, being on her own she wouldn’t have bothered.
But apart from the breakfast she was enjoying the company.
It was almost 10.30am when they sat at the kitchen table having consumed a full English breakfast and were just finishing their tea when Rory suddenly exclaimed
“Shit”
“What’s the matter?” she asked with concern
“I should have called the car hire company to report the accident” he said
“Oh is that all” she said “I did that already”
“You did?” he asked
“Yes, yesterday afternoon, when you were asleep” Charlene replied “After I spoke with Sgt Jones”
“Thank you, you are wonderful” he said and she blushed and immediately got up and took the plates to the sink to cover her embarrassment.
“Blushing for goodness sake get a grip” she said to herself
“Here let me do that” he protested
“No its fine, you go into the sitting room and I’ll make us another tea” she said
“How about you make the tea and I’ll wash up?” he insisted
“Alright then” she conceded “but you were much more obedient when you were helpless”
Charlene and Rory spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon in the sitting room drinking tea and chatting and would probably have continued for longer had it not been for a knock on the door.
“Who can that be?” she said, cross because of the interruption.
She got up from her chair and went out into the hall and she could see a large yellow shape through the glass.
She brightened however when she opened the door to see it was
David Jones.
Sgt Jones was based in Mornington where he lived with his wife Peta and their children, although his patch covered a large area of the Finchbottom Vale.
“Hello Dave” she said
“Hi Charlene” he replied “is your house guest still about?”
“Yes he’s in the sitting room, come in out of the cold”
“Thanks”
(Part 09)
Charlene showed Sgt Jones into the sitting room and after the introductions were done Charlene left them alone and then Sgt Jones presented him with his personal belongings from the car.
“Richards Recovery took the vehicle away this morning” Sgt Jones said “Here is all the paperwork”
“Thank you” he said
“I just need you to sign for your belongings and then we’re done” the Sgt said
Rory took and duly signed the form and said
“Thanks again”
“You should be thanking Charlene she got the ball rolling, she’s one of a kind” Sgt Jones said
“I’ve already noticed that” Rory replied just as she reappeared.
“What are the roads like Dave?” she asked “I might be on duty tonight”
“Well Purplemere Road is clear, and you can get to the Dulcets but not via Dulcets Road so you’ll have to go the long way round” he explained “but you can get there”
She had to confess that as much as she loved her job she was a little disappointed with the news.
After she had shown Sgt Jones out she phoned Oak Dale and spoke with Alex and told her what Sgt Jones had told her about the roads before she returned to the warmth of the sitting room and Rory’s pleasant company.
“I’m on duty tonight” she said “so I have to get my head down for a few hours”
“Oh ok I’ll be on my way then” he said perching on the edge of the chair.
“No, no” she said urgently “you don’t have to go, you’re still not dressed for snow, and I don’t want you to have a relapse”
“But I don’t want to get in the way” he said
“You’re not, honestly, you can stay here in the warm and watch TV, and your flat is probably freezing”
“Well that’s true” he agreed
“And you’ll be doing me a favour” she said “Because I’ve got a casserole in the slow cooker and I need you to stay and help me eat it”
“Well if you insist” he said needing no arm twisting
As she walked up the stairs she hoped she hadn’t come across as too keen to have him stay, she wondered if it might have sounded a bit desperate.
Although on the plus side he didn’t offer much resistance so she went to sleep with a smile on her face.
As he sat by the fireside he knew he was falling for Charlene, but he wondered if he was viewing her through rose tinted glasses, he had after all only broken up with Melanie two days earlier, so was he just on the rebound and was he in danger of making another mistake?
He realised everything had been superficial about Melanie all his friends had warned him about Mel but all he saw was a gorgeous girl five years younger than he was who was seemingly interested in him.
And he was taken in by the petite, well-tanned girl with hair the colour of ripened corn despite everyone warning him he was making a mistake, but he didn’t listen.
He knew now that they were right, love was truly blind.
(Part 10)
Rory Hitchen sat in Charlene’s cosy sitting room in White Rose Cottage with the TV on, showing the normal daytime programming but all Rory could think of was his caring angel.
Charlene was as unlike Melanie as it was possible to get in almost every way.
She was taller, five foot eight, brunette hair instead of blonde which was short and bobbed instead of long, mesmerizing green eyes instead of steel blue.
They were both attractive with nice figures and gorgeous legs but they were the only similarities.
Charlene was kind, considerate, caring and unselfish, traits that Melanie wouldn’t have known the meaning of.
And the bonus was that she was an excellent cook and he rather liked her in her uniform as well.
It was while he was picturing her in her uniform that he heard her footfalls above his head so he got up and went to the Kitchen and boiled the kettle.
He could hear running water as he waited for the kettle to boil which he assumed was Charlene in the shower and went to the cupboard and removed two mugs as he tried to put the image of her in the shower out of his head.
When she got downstairs to the kitchen she found Rory was just pouring the hot water into their mugs
“Hello” She said smiling broadly “Perfect timing”
“Hi, Good sleep?”
“Yes” she replied although in truth it had been interspersed with dreams, but she felt sufficiently refreshed.
“It’s stopped snowing” he said “So I’ll leave you in peace soon”
“Oh I thought I could drop you off on my way to work” she said as she checked the casserole “if you can put up with me for a few more hours”
“Well that’s no hardship” he said and she smiled to herself.
They ate their dinner on trays in the sitting room beside the comforting fire and then just sat and talked until it was time for Charlene to get changed for work.
She was on the 2 till 10 shift and ordinarily wouldn’t leave home until 1 am but as she had been absent for two day due to the weather she was keen to get there early and as Sgt Jones had told her she needed to go the long way round she was leaving at midnight and it was about ten minutes to the hour when she returned down stairs in her uniform.
“Nearly ready” she said as she put a slide in her bobbed brown hair, wearing a pale blue uniform with a faint white pinstripe.
“Well hello nurse” he said slightly in the carry-on movie style but silently he was thinking Phwoah, which was as much for its contents as the uniform itself, and his eyes seldom left her as she busied around getting ready.
Charlene drove him the short distance up to Mornington Field and pulled up outside Lancaster House, which was originally the Officers Mess which had now been converted to Apartments, Rory lived in number 1.
“Thank you for your kindness Charlene” he said before he got out of her car and leant across and kissed her cheek and then they said their goodbyes and he got out of the car.
“Drive carefully” he added and then he stood and watched as she drove away.
(Part 11)
When Rory Hitchen returned home he was left alone with his own thoughts in a cold flat for the remainder of the week and he found them uncomfortable companions apart of course from the thoughts about Charlene.
It had been an eventful week which began with him thinking he was in love with one woman and ended with him falling in love with another.
Everyone told him he was punching way above his weight where Melanie was concerned, and to watch out, so what would they make of Charlene?
That was providing of course that she felt the same way about him.
“Well there’s only one way to find out” he said to himself
He knew she was working on Friday night and would be sleeping when she returned home on Saturday so if he was going to do it had to be at Oak Dale before she left for home.
Rory picked up the phone and dialled the number.
It was just after 8 o’clock when Alexandra Barrileau looked out of her office window and watched a white van, liveried in green, Bizzie Lizzie of Downshire, drive into the carpark.
A young woman, Michelle Norman, got out and opened the side door.
Alexandra recognized her immediately, she lived in Mornington, but she was a regular feature at Oak Dale, the girl then reached inside the van and when she emerged she was carrying a large bouquet, a very large bouquet indeed, and headed towards reception with it.
It was unusual to get a delivery that early on a Saturday morning and her curiosity got the better of her so she put her cup and saucer down and went to investigate.
Michele walked through the door and briskly towards reception
“Hello Michelle” Megan Murray the receptionist said. “Who’s the lucky girl today?”
“Flowers for Charlene Rogers” Michelle replied
“Ok I’ll take them” Megan said and took the flowers and signed for them.
Michelle then got back in the van and drove off just as Alex arrived in reception.
“Who are they for?” she asked as she neared the desk
“Someone’s sent flowers to Charlene” she replied
“Have they indeed, what a lucky girl, they’re beautiful” Alex said
“Flowers for Charlene Rogers” Megan said as Charlene began to descend the stairs
“What?”
“Flowers for Charlene Rogers” she repeated
“They’re very beautiful” Charlene said as she took the bouquet
“But no one ever sends me flowers, it must be a mistake”
“There is a card” Alex pointed out
She took the envelope off the bouquet and opened it and it read
“Thank you my “Caring Angel””
“That’s very sweet” she said quietly and read on
“Are you free for Dinner tonight? Text “YES” to this number”
“Who are they from then?” Megan asked impatiently
“My secret admirer” she replied
“So you’re mystery man from the storm then” Alex said and Charlene just nodded as she was grinning too much to speak.
Monday, 17 April 2017
Sunday, 16 April 2017
Mornington-By-Mere – (42) A Christmas Misadventure
(Part 01)
Peter Andrew was a big barrel chested man with a bushy beard and a happy jovial face and along with his wife Helen he ran the Old Mill Inn In the idyllic village of Mornington-By-Mere in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
They had been there for 20 years and had raised two children, Polly and John, and it was the perfect occupation for him but he hadn’t always been in hospitality.
He left school when he was fifteen, which was in the late seventies and he was living in Finchbottom with his parents.
The family home was in Shaftsbury Court, a warden run block of sheltered accommodation for the elderly and his mother was the warden.
Peter attended the School nearby which he left at the end of May and he started his first job three days later.
However in the November of that same year his mum changed jobs and the family moved from one side of town to the other, the significance of which would have a life changing effect on him within a matter of weeks.
The house move didn’t affect him getting to and from work as the town had a particularly good bus service, operating a flat fare service on circular routes.
Which meant he could still get the same bus as he did from the old address but from a different bus stop and the price was the same a fact which would have some significance at a later date.
His job was as a trainee groundsman with the Finchbottom District Council Grounds Maintenance team it wasn’t by any means his dream job but then he didn’t have a dream job, he left school at 15 because he wasn’t a scholar and he just needed to get a job so he took the first one that came along.
He enjoyed it well enough, though it wasn’t very fulfilling but then he didn’t think his job needed to be.
He was just happy to be earning after all, but as it was his first year at work he also had his first works Christmas party to look forward to.
It was on the last day before they broke for the Christmas holiday when they had a little works party in the yard where a little Christmas cheer was imbibed and a drink or two were consumed.
Peter was only sixteen at the time and he had only had very limited experience of alcohol and as a result he got well and truly bladdered on whisky Mac, cider and something unpronounceable from Yugoslavia.
So at the end of the afternoon one of his workmates gave him a lift into the town centre and from there he caught his usual bus.
But despite his drunken state he managed to climb the stairs to the top deck and the bus set off filled with Christmas shoppers and a drunken trainee grounds man.
He drifted off on the journey and he suddenly came to and looking out the window he recognized a familiar sight and so he promptly disembarked from the bus.
Peter headed off up the road in the direction of home wishing all and sundry a merry Christmas as he went.
(Part 02)
He entered through the main doors to the flats and passed the Christmas tree in the foyer and headed straight for flat number one.
At the door he fumbled for his key and presented it to the lock and it wouldn’t fit.
He peered closely at it and he was satisfied that it was definitely his door key so he tried to put it in the lock again, but still it wouldn’t fit and suddenly the door opened and a stranger looked out at him.
“Can I help?” she asked.
“Ah” he exclaimed “my name is Peter and I don’t live here anymore do I?”
The lady, who was the new warden, laughed and agreed with him that he definitely no longer lived there.
Peter apologized profusely and wished her a Happy Christmas and then made his way back to the foyer were there was a public telephone with one of those large Perspex domes over it.
His intention was to phone for a taxi to take him to where he actually lived but after rummaging in his pockets he discovered he had no money for the taxi or indeed a coin to make a phone call to order a taxi that he couldn’t afford.
However as he tried to duck under the Perspex hood he tripped over his own feet and fell into the Christmas tree which ended up on top of him.
The lady who now lived in flat no 1, heard the commotion and came to investigate and to his great surprise she thought it was very amusing to find a drunken teenager wearing the Christmas tree.
“Oh dear” she said laughing.
Deeply apologetic he explained the circumstances of his predicament and the new warden phoned a taxi for him and even gave him the money for the fare.
He thought that was real Christmas spirit and he never forgot her kindness and tolerance and from that time on he tried to keep that same spirit in his own heart at Christmas.
On New Year’s Eve Peter returned again to Shaftsbury Court but unlike his previous visit he was stone cold sober and there by intention.
He was carrying a large bouquet of flowers and a thank you card, he wasn’t going to knock on the door, he would have been too embarrassed to see her face to face, so he leant the bouquet against the door frame and turned to walk away.
He had only taken two steps when he heard the door open behind him and he went rigid.
Peter took a breath and slowly turned around expecting to see Mrs Copeland but instead he was face to face with a pretty 15 year old girl.
“Oh you must be Peter” she said looking at the card on the flowers
“Yes, yes I am” he said falteringly
“I’m Helen” she said “Mum’s inside, I think you should give her these yourself”
“Could you give them to her for me” he said
“No I can’t” Helen said “Come on in she won’t bite”
So with Helen holding his hand he went into the flat that used to be his home to apologize to her mum and ended up staying until the following year by which time he had a girlfriend.
By the next Christmas he had secretly proposed to Helen and five years down the line he had given up his groundsman’s job and the kind hearted Mrs Copeland was his mother in law.
Peter Andrew was a big barrel chested man with a bushy beard and a happy jovial face and along with his wife Helen he ran the Old Mill Inn In the idyllic village of Mornington-By-Mere in the Finchbottom Vale nestled between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest and the rolling Pepperstock Hills.
They had been there for 20 years and had raised two children, Polly and John, and it was the perfect occupation for him but he hadn’t always been in hospitality.
He left school when he was fifteen, which was in the late seventies and he was living in Finchbottom with his parents.
The family home was in Shaftsbury Court, a warden run block of sheltered accommodation for the elderly and his mother was the warden.
Peter attended the School nearby which he left at the end of May and he started his first job three days later.
However in the November of that same year his mum changed jobs and the family moved from one side of town to the other, the significance of which would have a life changing effect on him within a matter of weeks.
The house move didn’t affect him getting to and from work as the town had a particularly good bus service, operating a flat fare service on circular routes.
Which meant he could still get the same bus as he did from the old address but from a different bus stop and the price was the same a fact which would have some significance at a later date.
His job was as a trainee groundsman with the Finchbottom District Council Grounds Maintenance team it wasn’t by any means his dream job but then he didn’t have a dream job, he left school at 15 because he wasn’t a scholar and he just needed to get a job so he took the first one that came along.
He enjoyed it well enough, though it wasn’t very fulfilling but then he didn’t think his job needed to be.
He was just happy to be earning after all, but as it was his first year at work he also had his first works Christmas party to look forward to.
It was on the last day before they broke for the Christmas holiday when they had a little works party in the yard where a little Christmas cheer was imbibed and a drink or two were consumed.
Peter was only sixteen at the time and he had only had very limited experience of alcohol and as a result he got well and truly bladdered on whisky Mac, cider and something unpronounceable from Yugoslavia.
So at the end of the afternoon one of his workmates gave him a lift into the town centre and from there he caught his usual bus.
But despite his drunken state he managed to climb the stairs to the top deck and the bus set off filled with Christmas shoppers and a drunken trainee grounds man.
He drifted off on the journey and he suddenly came to and looking out the window he recognized a familiar sight and so he promptly disembarked from the bus.
Peter headed off up the road in the direction of home wishing all and sundry a merry Christmas as he went.
(Part 02)
He entered through the main doors to the flats and passed the Christmas tree in the foyer and headed straight for flat number one.
At the door he fumbled for his key and presented it to the lock and it wouldn’t fit.
He peered closely at it and he was satisfied that it was definitely his door key so he tried to put it in the lock again, but still it wouldn’t fit and suddenly the door opened and a stranger looked out at him.
“Can I help?” she asked.
“Ah” he exclaimed “my name is Peter and I don’t live here anymore do I?”
The lady, who was the new warden, laughed and agreed with him that he definitely no longer lived there.
Peter apologized profusely and wished her a Happy Christmas and then made his way back to the foyer were there was a public telephone with one of those large Perspex domes over it.
His intention was to phone for a taxi to take him to where he actually lived but after rummaging in his pockets he discovered he had no money for the taxi or indeed a coin to make a phone call to order a taxi that he couldn’t afford.
However as he tried to duck under the Perspex hood he tripped over his own feet and fell into the Christmas tree which ended up on top of him.
The lady who now lived in flat no 1, heard the commotion and came to investigate and to his great surprise she thought it was very amusing to find a drunken teenager wearing the Christmas tree.
“Oh dear” she said laughing.
Deeply apologetic he explained the circumstances of his predicament and the new warden phoned a taxi for him and even gave him the money for the fare.
He thought that was real Christmas spirit and he never forgot her kindness and tolerance and from that time on he tried to keep that same spirit in his own heart at Christmas.
On New Year’s Eve Peter returned again to Shaftsbury Court but unlike his previous visit he was stone cold sober and there by intention.
He was carrying a large bouquet of flowers and a thank you card, he wasn’t going to knock on the door, he would have been too embarrassed to see her face to face, so he leant the bouquet against the door frame and turned to walk away.
He had only taken two steps when he heard the door open behind him and he went rigid.
Peter took a breath and slowly turned around expecting to see Mrs Copeland but instead he was face to face with a pretty 15 year old girl.
“Oh you must be Peter” she said looking at the card on the flowers
“Yes, yes I am” he said falteringly
“I’m Helen” she said “Mum’s inside, I think you should give her these yourself”
“Could you give them to her for me” he said
“No I can’t” Helen said “Come on in she won’t bite”
So with Helen holding his hand he went into the flat that used to be his home to apologize to her mum and ended up staying until the following year by which time he had a girlfriend.
By the next Christmas he had secretly proposed to Helen and five years down the line he had given up his groundsman’s job and the kind hearted Mrs Copeland was his mother in law.
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (50) After the Funeral
(Part 01)
The Summers and the Overend’s lived in Northchapel and every year they had a family holiday together in the Dancingdean Forest.
Peter and Kate Summers and their sons Mark and Brian, Kate’s sister Christine Overend and husband David and their daughters Julia and Karen, all travelled to the lakeside home of the Davies family, Matthew and Lindsey who were Kate and Christine’s parents and Shelley who was their maiden Aunt.
The Davies family home was East Side House and was situated on the eastern shore of Teardrop Lake.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it and there were also a number of cottages dotted around the woods as well, quite a few of the properties were vacant and an equal number were derelict.
It was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and the lake was little used and the kids always loved going there even more so in the summer when they could get out on the lake.
But by the mid seventies the children were grown up and the long lazy summer holidays were much shorter because of the necessity to work.
However in 1976 the first of the next generation was introduced to the ancestral home and its idyllic surroundings, in the shape of six month old Hannah Summers the daughter of newlyweds Mark and Julia.
Access to Teardrop Lake was via Shallowfield which was a sprawling sparsely populated village and its fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins the Davies family were one of the lucky ones.
But by the 70s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.
More importantly these people had money in their pockets.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, had been turned into a Hotel.
Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension Shallowfield.
There was more than a hint of irony about the long hot summer of 1976 because the appearance of the newest member of the clan beside Teardrop Lake heralded the absence of its oldest because in the first week of August, Great Aunt Shelley, suffered a fatal heart attack in her sleep.
Despite the fact that she was 82 her death came as a complete shock to everyone and caused great sadness both inside and outside the family.
(Part 02)
Shelley Davies was an immensely popular figure among the local community through her charitable work and tireless commitment to the church and all that that entailed.
As a result St Mary’s church was bursting at the seams on the day of her funeral, full of people wanting to pay their respects.
Following the funeral the wake was due to be held at the Shallowfield Lodge but because of the great numbers it had to be moved to the much larger venue of the Claremont Hotel.
Brian Summers was a few weeks away from his twenty third birthday, and was tall and athletic with flowing blond locks and well-tanned skin.
It was a glorious day in Shallowfield, though the occasion at the Claremont Hotel was a gloomy one.
Due to the scorching August temperature the main function room was very stuffy, despite the fact that all the terrace doors were open.
He liked his Great Aunty very much but he was shocked at just how loved she was outside of the family.
After about half an hour he slipped discretely out onto the terrace and went for a stroll in the not insubstantial grounds.
This was in part because of the oppressive temperature in the function room but also because his mind had begun to wander into immoral and disrespectful thoughts in regard to women in black and his thoughts became increasingly lurid as he considered each woman in turn and tried to envisage exactly what form of underwear they were wearing and whether or not they were black.
Once outside he slipped his jacket off and strolled around the grounds for about half an hour when he saw a girl of about his age standing alone by a rose arbor, bathed in the afternoon sun and staring out into the distance and he could tell by the movement of her shoulders that she was sobbing.
His first instinct was to hurry in the opposite direction but instead he found himself walking towards her.
He walked up behind her and lightly touched one of her naked arms.
“Are you ok?” he asked
“No” she replied and then to his great surprise she turned to look at him with tear filled eyes, then she collapsed into his arms and broke down completely.
“It’s ok” He whispered, “I’ve got you”
And as she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest he kissed the top of her head.
He held her close and stroked her back as she sobbed and he wondered what had reduced her to her current state, he didn’t think her tears were being shed for his Great Aunty as wonderful as she was.
His thoughts then began to wander again, first he thought
“She’s getting my shirt really wet”
But he decided he didn’t actually care about that.
However his mind continued to wander and he let his mind wander to such an extent that his wanderings turned to wonderings, in particular what she was wearing under her little black dress.
He could offer no excuse for was what he was thinking as she sobbed her heart out and he consoled her with his empty words.
He could have said in his defense that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman, but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts of her in her mourning clothes.
(Part 03)
Brian Summers could offer no excuse for what he was thinking as the girl sobbed her heart out against his chest and he consoled her with his empty words.
He could have said in his defense that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman, but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts about what she was wearing beneath her mourning clothes.
All those shameful thoughts, however soon dissipated when the silence of the afternoon was shattered by a shout of
“OI YOU”
Without letting go of the sobbing girl Brian looked towards the sight of the disturbance and saw a short, stocky and red faced bloke of a similar age to himself.
“LET GO OF HER” he yelled and at that moment she looked up
“Let go of my girl” he said
“Go away Vince” the girl retorted “I’m not your girl”
Vince made a beeline for Brian, in order to get in his face, but when he got close he realized his adversary was more than a foot taller than he was so he took a step backwards and continued to berate his girlfriend.
“Come on, come with me” he insisted
“I’m not going anywhere with you” she retorted and sheltered behind Brian
“Well if you don’t come now we’re finished” Vince countered
“Good” she shouted back
The exchange with her ex-boyfriend had finally stemmed the flow of tears and they sat down on a bench and introduced each other.
Her name was Amanda Jerome, a local girl who knew his Great Aunt through their involvement with St Mary’s church.
She was quite tall, a good six inches taller than her ex, and was curvy and had long brunette hair which framed a very pretty face.
Once she had wiped her tears away and he got a good look at her, he recognised her, not from anywhere specific but he remembered seeing her about the village during his summer visits.
After the introductions Amanda explained what had caused her to breakdown so spectacularly.
“I caught Vince snogging one of the waitress’s in a corridor close to the ladies” she said and her lip began to quiver, but she gathered herself and pushed her chin out resolutely and defied the tears to come.
Brian knew only too well that they would come, it was inevitable, but she would keep them at bay until she was alone in her room and then they would come in earnest and her heart would break in private.
When all hint of tears had gone and Amanda was completely composed they began to walk back towards the Hotel.
“So are you going back inside?” he asked as they reached the terrace
“No, I think I’ll go home” she replied “I don’t want to run into Vince again, I can’t face him”
“Let me walk you home then” Brian offered
“Oh no you don’t need to do that, you’ve been kind enough already” Amanda replied
“Nonsense it’s no hardship”
“Ok then, thank you” she said and smiled
They walked largely in thoughtful silence the short distance from the Hotel to the quiet cul-de-sac where she lived with her parents, where Amanda thanked him for his kindness and went inside.
(Part 04)
After the funeral of Shelley Davies it was decided among the family that someone should be staying at the house with her surviving brother, Matthew and his wife, Lindsey, for the first few weeks, just to make sure they were coping alright.
Brian Summers took his turn on the last weekend of august almost three weeks after the funeral.
However when he arrived on Saturday he found them both in rude health and his presence wasn’t really required, but they were pleased to see him as usual and made him very welcome.
He always enjoyed seeing them and it gladdened his heart that they were doing well.
After lunch he decided to go for a walk and left his Grandad watching Grandstand on TV and Granma knitting, what was likely to be a Christmas present.
After leaving East Side House he turned right at the end of the drive and walked along the southern stretch of the perimeter road which circled Teardrop Lake.
He walked past the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel and on into Shallowfield and then headed toward the cul-de-sac where he had last seen his damsel in distress.
He had thought about Amanda Jerome a lot since the day he walked her home, which surprised him at first because she wasn’t really his type, she was a tall, curvy brunette and he was attracted to skinny, petite blondes.
Nonetheless he was attracted to her and had been so from the first moment he saw her crying beside the rose arbour in the grounds of the Claremont Hotel.
And in the three weeks since the funeral he had looked forward to seeing her again however once he was in Shallowfield again he lost his nerve, he had planned to knock on her door and speak to her but when he was actually faced with that prospect he didn’t get any further than the end of her cul-de-sac and he just walked up and down the Childean Road hoping he might see her.
When he came to the realisation that his technique was fruitless he turned around and headed back to Teardrop Lake and it was as he passed the Hotel again that he saw her coming the other way.
She was shuffling along staring at her feet as they approached each other.
“Hello” he said and made her jump
“Oh” she exclaimed and put her hands to her chest “You startled me”
“I’m sorry” Brian said “I didn’t mean to surprise you like that”
“Don’t be silly I was just miles away” she responded “What brings you back to Teardrop so soon?”
He wanted to say it was to see her but instead he replied
“I’m just checking up on my grandparents”
“Are they ok?”
“Oh yes, that’s why I came out for a walk” he said “Perhaps we could walk together”
“Oh I can’t” she replied “My Dad is taking us to The Mallard in Childean, it’s the new Beefeater Restaurant”
He knew the type of place, they were popping up all over the place, starters comprised of Prawn Cocktail or Avocado Pear and the mains were basically Steak, Chips and Peas or Place, Chips and Peas and desert was Black Forest Gateaux.
He wished he was taking her and not her Dad.
“Another time perhaps” he suggested
“If you’re still here tomorrow” she said hesitantly “I’m free after church, we could go then, if you’d like to”
“Yes, very much”
(Part 05)
On Sunday Morning Brian went to St Mary’s with his Grandparents as was the norm and while they socialised at the back of the Church he scanned the congregation for a sight of Amanda, but to no avail.
Maybe he had misunderstood, but he was sure she said she was going to church, but there was no sign of her.
However when they took their seats he saw her as she emerged from the vestry dressed in surplice and cassock with the other members of the choir as they proceeded to the chancel.
Either side of the chancel were the choir stalls, where the two sides of the choir sat facing one another, unfortunately Amanda sat on the north side and was out of his line sight, and at the end of the service he lost her again in the melee so he had to be content with seeing her later in the day.
They had arranged to meet up on the northern perimeter road after Sunday lunch and as he was keen to see her, Brian was the first to arrive and waited by a patch of meadow in front of a row of derelict woodman’s cottages.
It was the highest part of the road at that point and the view of the lake from there was spectacular.
The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point normally, but it had shrunk considerably during the summer drought.
However he thought it was just as beautiful and unspoilt as ever.
He was so engrossed by the scenery that he didn’t notice Amanda emerge from the woodland a few yards away.
It turned out that he was not the first to arrive, Amanda who it appeared was even keener then he was, had beaten him by half an hour and had taken shelter in the coolness of the forest.
“You made it then?” she said, startling him
“Yes” he replied “where did you spring from?”
“In there” she replied cocking a thumb in the direction of the woods.
Brian nodded “Very sensible”
“So any thoughts on where you want to go” he asked
“Oh yes” she replied “We’re off to Lovers Leap”
“Lovers Leap?” he repeated “Excellent, that my favourite spot”
“Me too” she concurred “on a day like today the view is spectacular”
Lovers leap was a rocky outcrop above the cliffs that were an extension of those that formed part of the northern side of Teardrop Lake and formed the natural border between the Teardrop estate and the Dancingdean Forest proper.
Lovers Leap was so called because it was where desperate and broken hearted lovers would leap to their deaths, although there was no evidence that anyone actually had, but it made a good story.
“Lovers Leap it is then” Brian said
(Part 06)
Having rendezvoused on the perimeter road, Brian and Amanda set off for Lover’s Leap.
It wasn’t a long walk from where they met but it wasn’t an easy one either as it was a steep climb.
Amanda marginally reached the top first but they were both extremely out of breath.
By the time they reached Lovers Leap they were both panting hard and as they walked onto the rocky shelf that was “Lovers Leap” and took in the vista it took away what little breath they had remaining.
“Wow” they said in unison as they looked out across the many and varied green hues of the deciduous Dancingdean Forest stretching into the distance and they sat down on the rocky shelf.
“This really is my favourite place” Amanda said “Vince and I used to come here sometimes”
Vince was her boyfriend, or as Brian hoped, her ex-boyfriend, who she had had a fight with on the day of the funeral after she caught him snogging a waitress, and those event led to him finding her crying beside the rose arbour.
“Have you seen him since that day?” he asked as he removed a vacuum flask from his backpack.
“Yes, he wants us to get back together” she replied
“And what do you want?”
“I want him to want me and be content with that” Amanda said
“But you don’t think he will do you?”
“No he will never be content” she replied sadly
“So what will you do?”
“Not get back with him” she replied
“Does that mean you are free to go out with me?” he asked
“Definitely not” she said sharply
“Oh” he exclaimed
“I don’t mean it like that” she said with alarm “I just mean it’s too soon”
“The wounds are two fresh” he added
“Exactly” Amanda said with relief
“Then it’s not an absolute no?” he asked
“No its not” she reassured him
They stayed up on the rocky shelf for about two hours and only left because it was getting too hot and the flask was empty so they decided to head towards Shoe Buckle falls and soak their feet in the cold water.
The walk back down to the road wasn’t much less arduous and easier on the legs and the lungs than the one up was.
They walked along the road until they reached the point where the brook flowed under the road and they followed the water coarse into the woods.
Heading up along the side of the brook, the first thing they got to was the long disused 16th century stone bridge and then they carried on upwards to the accompaniment of gurgling water.
The sound grew louder and louder with every yard they climbed until eventually they reached Shoe Buckle Falls.
It was so named, so legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive Cavalier who was pursued into the forest by Parliamentarian troops but disappeared in the vicinity of the falls without leaving any other trace other than a shoe buckle that they found in the vicinity.
The falls were not grand or spectacular but they were nice all the same.
The water tumbled and spilled over the rocks gathering briefly in deep pools and then tumbling down again to the next pool.
It was dark beneath the ancient trees and refreshingly cool as the misty spray settled on them.
The rocks and trees closest to the falls were covered in bright green lichens and Brian and Amanda sat awhile and soaked their feet in one of the deep pools.
(Part 07)
On the walk down from the falls he invited her back to East Side House for tea and cake as instructed by his Grandparents and she graciously accepted.
They walked down the hill from the cliff top down to the eastern end of the lake and they came upon a scene that put her relationship problems into perspective.
As it was the end of August 1976, and the summer had been the hottest, driest summer ever recorded, there were severe droughts across the whole country and as a result the water level in Teardrop Lake had dropped dramatically.
In fact it fell so low it resulted in the discovery of a body, or at least the remains of a body.
There were a number of policemen, in and out of the water, and Brian and Amanda paused for a while to watch them work, until the remains were brought to shore.
Those discovered remains were later found to be those of a local woman, Christine Turner, who disappeared in 1915.
At East Side House the discovery of a body was the main topic of conversation during afternoon tea and right up to the point Brian walked Amanda home.
A few days later the first of several thunderstorms hit the area and to some degree cleared the air.
The associated rain inevitably led to flash flooding but they were short lived and caused no lasting damage, but the level of water in the lake did begin to rise.
Mercifully the weather had calmed down by the following weekend, even if it proved to be only a brief interlude.
The Sunday after his heart to heart with Amanda, Brian was once again back at the lake although this time it was more about his welfare than his grandparents.
He was hoping to see Amanda again and hoped that after another week had passed it might not still be too soon for her to go out with him.
On Sunday the 5th of September there was an open invitation to the residents of the Lake, and some in Shallowfield, to the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, for the proprietor’s, Rob and Sheryl Brown’s wedding anniversary party and Brian was hoping Amanda might be present.
But as he stood on the Hotel jetty on a beautiful Indian summer evening he had begun to think he was out of luck.
He went there to be alone because he was not in the mood to socialise when he realised she was a no show so he went to the jetty for the solitude and looked out across the water as the sky began to turn red with the setting sun reflecting on it and he enjoyed the scene which was when his peace was broken by the clip clop of stiletto heels on the paving stones from the Hotel.
He was cursing the intruder beneath his breath for invading his solitude when he turned to look at the source of his annoyance, and he saw it was a girl in a summer dress or more precisely, Amanda Jerome in a summer dress.
“Hello Brian” she said “I’ve been looking for you”
“I was looking for you too” he said
“Good” she said and before he could respond she began kissing him very passionately on the mouth.
When she stopped kissing him, she looked at him and smiled.
“Does this mean you have made a decision?” he asked hopefully
“It does” she replied and then turned away and clip clopped back to the Hotel.
“Well what is it?” he shouted
“You’ll have to come with me to find that out” she shouted back to him and he sprinted after her.
The Summers and the Overend’s lived in Northchapel and every year they had a family holiday together in the Dancingdean Forest.
Peter and Kate Summers and their sons Mark and Brian, Kate’s sister Christine Overend and husband David and their daughters Julia and Karen, all travelled to the lakeside home of the Davies family, Matthew and Lindsey who were Kate and Christine’s parents and Shelley who was their maiden Aunt.
The Davies family home was East Side House and was situated on the eastern shore of Teardrop Lake.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it and there were also a number of cottages dotted around the woods as well, quite a few of the properties were vacant and an equal number were derelict.
It was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and the lake was little used and the kids always loved going there even more so in the summer when they could get out on the lake.
But by the mid seventies the children were grown up and the long lazy summer holidays were much shorter because of the necessity to work.
However in 1976 the first of the next generation was introduced to the ancestral home and its idyllic surroundings, in the shape of six month old Hannah Summers the daughter of newlyweds Mark and Julia.
Access to Teardrop Lake was via Shallowfield which was a sprawling sparsely populated village and its fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins the Davies family were one of the lucky ones.
But by the 70s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.
More importantly these people had money in their pockets.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, had been turned into a Hotel.
Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension Shallowfield.
There was more than a hint of irony about the long hot summer of 1976 because the appearance of the newest member of the clan beside Teardrop Lake heralded the absence of its oldest because in the first week of August, Great Aunt Shelley, suffered a fatal heart attack in her sleep.
Despite the fact that she was 82 her death came as a complete shock to everyone and caused great sadness both inside and outside the family.
(Part 02)
Shelley Davies was an immensely popular figure among the local community through her charitable work and tireless commitment to the church and all that that entailed.
As a result St Mary’s church was bursting at the seams on the day of her funeral, full of people wanting to pay their respects.
Following the funeral the wake was due to be held at the Shallowfield Lodge but because of the great numbers it had to be moved to the much larger venue of the Claremont Hotel.
Brian Summers was a few weeks away from his twenty third birthday, and was tall and athletic with flowing blond locks and well-tanned skin.
It was a glorious day in Shallowfield, though the occasion at the Claremont Hotel was a gloomy one.
Due to the scorching August temperature the main function room was very stuffy, despite the fact that all the terrace doors were open.
He liked his Great Aunty very much but he was shocked at just how loved she was outside of the family.
After about half an hour he slipped discretely out onto the terrace and went for a stroll in the not insubstantial grounds.
This was in part because of the oppressive temperature in the function room but also because his mind had begun to wander into immoral and disrespectful thoughts in regard to women in black and his thoughts became increasingly lurid as he considered each woman in turn and tried to envisage exactly what form of underwear they were wearing and whether or not they were black.
Once outside he slipped his jacket off and strolled around the grounds for about half an hour when he saw a girl of about his age standing alone by a rose arbor, bathed in the afternoon sun and staring out into the distance and he could tell by the movement of her shoulders that she was sobbing.
His first instinct was to hurry in the opposite direction but instead he found himself walking towards her.
He walked up behind her and lightly touched one of her naked arms.
“Are you ok?” he asked
“No” she replied and then to his great surprise she turned to look at him with tear filled eyes, then she collapsed into his arms and broke down completely.
“It’s ok” He whispered, “I’ve got you”
And as she sobbed uncontrollably into his chest he kissed the top of her head.
He held her close and stroked her back as she sobbed and he wondered what had reduced her to her current state, he didn’t think her tears were being shed for his Great Aunty as wonderful as she was.
His thoughts then began to wander again, first he thought
“She’s getting my shirt really wet”
But he decided he didn’t actually care about that.
However his mind continued to wander and he let his mind wander to such an extent that his wanderings turned to wonderings, in particular what she was wearing under her little black dress.
He could offer no excuse for was what he was thinking as she sobbed her heart out and he consoled her with his empty words.
He could have said in his defense that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman, but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts of her in her mourning clothes.
(Part 03)
Brian Summers could offer no excuse for what he was thinking as the girl sobbed her heart out against his chest and he consoled her with his empty words.
He could have said in his defense that it was because he was holding in his arms a very beautiful young woman, but that didn’t excuse his grossly inappropriate thoughts about what she was wearing beneath her mourning clothes.
All those shameful thoughts, however soon dissipated when the silence of the afternoon was shattered by a shout of
“OI YOU”
Without letting go of the sobbing girl Brian looked towards the sight of the disturbance and saw a short, stocky and red faced bloke of a similar age to himself.
“LET GO OF HER” he yelled and at that moment she looked up
“Let go of my girl” he said
“Go away Vince” the girl retorted “I’m not your girl”
Vince made a beeline for Brian, in order to get in his face, but when he got close he realized his adversary was more than a foot taller than he was so he took a step backwards and continued to berate his girlfriend.
“Come on, come with me” he insisted
“I’m not going anywhere with you” she retorted and sheltered behind Brian
“Well if you don’t come now we’re finished” Vince countered
“Good” she shouted back
The exchange with her ex-boyfriend had finally stemmed the flow of tears and they sat down on a bench and introduced each other.
Her name was Amanda Jerome, a local girl who knew his Great Aunt through their involvement with St Mary’s church.
She was quite tall, a good six inches taller than her ex, and was curvy and had long brunette hair which framed a very pretty face.
Once she had wiped her tears away and he got a good look at her, he recognised her, not from anywhere specific but he remembered seeing her about the village during his summer visits.
After the introductions Amanda explained what had caused her to breakdown so spectacularly.
“I caught Vince snogging one of the waitress’s in a corridor close to the ladies” she said and her lip began to quiver, but she gathered herself and pushed her chin out resolutely and defied the tears to come.
Brian knew only too well that they would come, it was inevitable, but she would keep them at bay until she was alone in her room and then they would come in earnest and her heart would break in private.
When all hint of tears had gone and Amanda was completely composed they began to walk back towards the Hotel.
“So are you going back inside?” he asked as they reached the terrace
“No, I think I’ll go home” she replied “I don’t want to run into Vince again, I can’t face him”
“Let me walk you home then” Brian offered
“Oh no you don’t need to do that, you’ve been kind enough already” Amanda replied
“Nonsense it’s no hardship”
“Ok then, thank you” she said and smiled
They walked largely in thoughtful silence the short distance from the Hotel to the quiet cul-de-sac where she lived with her parents, where Amanda thanked him for his kindness and went inside.
(Part 04)
After the funeral of Shelley Davies it was decided among the family that someone should be staying at the house with her surviving brother, Matthew and his wife, Lindsey, for the first few weeks, just to make sure they were coping alright.
Brian Summers took his turn on the last weekend of august almost three weeks after the funeral.
However when he arrived on Saturday he found them both in rude health and his presence wasn’t really required, but they were pleased to see him as usual and made him very welcome.
He always enjoyed seeing them and it gladdened his heart that they were doing well.
After lunch he decided to go for a walk and left his Grandad watching Grandstand on TV and Granma knitting, what was likely to be a Christmas present.
After leaving East Side House he turned right at the end of the drive and walked along the southern stretch of the perimeter road which circled Teardrop Lake.
He walked past the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel and on into Shallowfield and then headed toward the cul-de-sac where he had last seen his damsel in distress.
He had thought about Amanda Jerome a lot since the day he walked her home, which surprised him at first because she wasn’t really his type, she was a tall, curvy brunette and he was attracted to skinny, petite blondes.
Nonetheless he was attracted to her and had been so from the first moment he saw her crying beside the rose arbour in the grounds of the Claremont Hotel.
And in the three weeks since the funeral he had looked forward to seeing her again however once he was in Shallowfield again he lost his nerve, he had planned to knock on her door and speak to her but when he was actually faced with that prospect he didn’t get any further than the end of her cul-de-sac and he just walked up and down the Childean Road hoping he might see her.
When he came to the realisation that his technique was fruitless he turned around and headed back to Teardrop Lake and it was as he passed the Hotel again that he saw her coming the other way.
She was shuffling along staring at her feet as they approached each other.
“Hello” he said and made her jump
“Oh” she exclaimed and put her hands to her chest “You startled me”
“I’m sorry” Brian said “I didn’t mean to surprise you like that”
“Don’t be silly I was just miles away” she responded “What brings you back to Teardrop so soon?”
He wanted to say it was to see her but instead he replied
“I’m just checking up on my grandparents”
“Are they ok?”
“Oh yes, that’s why I came out for a walk” he said “Perhaps we could walk together”
“Oh I can’t” she replied “My Dad is taking us to The Mallard in Childean, it’s the new Beefeater Restaurant”
He knew the type of place, they were popping up all over the place, starters comprised of Prawn Cocktail or Avocado Pear and the mains were basically Steak, Chips and Peas or Place, Chips and Peas and desert was Black Forest Gateaux.
He wished he was taking her and not her Dad.
“Another time perhaps” he suggested
“If you’re still here tomorrow” she said hesitantly “I’m free after church, we could go then, if you’d like to”
“Yes, very much”
(Part 05)
On Sunday Morning Brian went to St Mary’s with his Grandparents as was the norm and while they socialised at the back of the Church he scanned the congregation for a sight of Amanda, but to no avail.
Maybe he had misunderstood, but he was sure she said she was going to church, but there was no sign of her.
However when they took their seats he saw her as she emerged from the vestry dressed in surplice and cassock with the other members of the choir as they proceeded to the chancel.
Either side of the chancel were the choir stalls, where the two sides of the choir sat facing one another, unfortunately Amanda sat on the north side and was out of his line sight, and at the end of the service he lost her again in the melee so he had to be content with seeing her later in the day.
They had arranged to meet up on the northern perimeter road after Sunday lunch and as he was keen to see her, Brian was the first to arrive and waited by a patch of meadow in front of a row of derelict woodman’s cottages.
It was the highest part of the road at that point and the view of the lake from there was spectacular.
The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point normally, but it had shrunk considerably during the summer drought.
However he thought it was just as beautiful and unspoilt as ever.
He was so engrossed by the scenery that he didn’t notice Amanda emerge from the woodland a few yards away.
It turned out that he was not the first to arrive, Amanda who it appeared was even keener then he was, had beaten him by half an hour and had taken shelter in the coolness of the forest.
“You made it then?” she said, startling him
“Yes” he replied “where did you spring from?”
“In there” she replied cocking a thumb in the direction of the woods.
Brian nodded “Very sensible”
“So any thoughts on where you want to go” he asked
“Oh yes” she replied “We’re off to Lovers Leap”
“Lovers Leap?” he repeated “Excellent, that my favourite spot”
“Me too” she concurred “on a day like today the view is spectacular”
Lovers leap was a rocky outcrop above the cliffs that were an extension of those that formed part of the northern side of Teardrop Lake and formed the natural border between the Teardrop estate and the Dancingdean Forest proper.
Lovers Leap was so called because it was where desperate and broken hearted lovers would leap to their deaths, although there was no evidence that anyone actually had, but it made a good story.
“Lovers Leap it is then” Brian said
(Part 06)
Having rendezvoused on the perimeter road, Brian and Amanda set off for Lover’s Leap.
It wasn’t a long walk from where they met but it wasn’t an easy one either as it was a steep climb.
Amanda marginally reached the top first but they were both extremely out of breath.
By the time they reached Lovers Leap they were both panting hard and as they walked onto the rocky shelf that was “Lovers Leap” and took in the vista it took away what little breath they had remaining.
“Wow” they said in unison as they looked out across the many and varied green hues of the deciduous Dancingdean Forest stretching into the distance and they sat down on the rocky shelf.
“This really is my favourite place” Amanda said “Vince and I used to come here sometimes”
Vince was her boyfriend, or as Brian hoped, her ex-boyfriend, who she had had a fight with on the day of the funeral after she caught him snogging a waitress, and those event led to him finding her crying beside the rose arbour.
“Have you seen him since that day?” he asked as he removed a vacuum flask from his backpack.
“Yes, he wants us to get back together” she replied
“And what do you want?”
“I want him to want me and be content with that” Amanda said
“But you don’t think he will do you?”
“No he will never be content” she replied sadly
“So what will you do?”
“Not get back with him” she replied
“Does that mean you are free to go out with me?” he asked
“Definitely not” she said sharply
“Oh” he exclaimed
“I don’t mean it like that” she said with alarm “I just mean it’s too soon”
“The wounds are two fresh” he added
“Exactly” Amanda said with relief
“Then it’s not an absolute no?” he asked
“No its not” she reassured him
They stayed up on the rocky shelf for about two hours and only left because it was getting too hot and the flask was empty so they decided to head towards Shoe Buckle falls and soak their feet in the cold water.
The walk back down to the road wasn’t much less arduous and easier on the legs and the lungs than the one up was.
They walked along the road until they reached the point where the brook flowed under the road and they followed the water coarse into the woods.
Heading up along the side of the brook, the first thing they got to was the long disused 16th century stone bridge and then they carried on upwards to the accompaniment of gurgling water.
The sound grew louder and louder with every yard they climbed until eventually they reached Shoe Buckle Falls.
It was so named, so legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive Cavalier who was pursued into the forest by Parliamentarian troops but disappeared in the vicinity of the falls without leaving any other trace other than a shoe buckle that they found in the vicinity.
The falls were not grand or spectacular but they were nice all the same.
The water tumbled and spilled over the rocks gathering briefly in deep pools and then tumbling down again to the next pool.
It was dark beneath the ancient trees and refreshingly cool as the misty spray settled on them.
The rocks and trees closest to the falls were covered in bright green lichens and Brian and Amanda sat awhile and soaked their feet in one of the deep pools.
(Part 07)
On the walk down from the falls he invited her back to East Side House for tea and cake as instructed by his Grandparents and she graciously accepted.
They walked down the hill from the cliff top down to the eastern end of the lake and they came upon a scene that put her relationship problems into perspective.
As it was the end of August 1976, and the summer had been the hottest, driest summer ever recorded, there were severe droughts across the whole country and as a result the water level in Teardrop Lake had dropped dramatically.
In fact it fell so low it resulted in the discovery of a body, or at least the remains of a body.
There were a number of policemen, in and out of the water, and Brian and Amanda paused for a while to watch them work, until the remains were brought to shore.
Those discovered remains were later found to be those of a local woman, Christine Turner, who disappeared in 1915.
At East Side House the discovery of a body was the main topic of conversation during afternoon tea and right up to the point Brian walked Amanda home.
A few days later the first of several thunderstorms hit the area and to some degree cleared the air.
The associated rain inevitably led to flash flooding but they were short lived and caused no lasting damage, but the level of water in the lake did begin to rise.
Mercifully the weather had calmed down by the following weekend, even if it proved to be only a brief interlude.
The Sunday after his heart to heart with Amanda, Brian was once again back at the lake although this time it was more about his welfare than his grandparents.
He was hoping to see Amanda again and hoped that after another week had passed it might not still be too soon for her to go out with him.
On Sunday the 5th of September there was an open invitation to the residents of the Lake, and some in Shallowfield, to the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel, for the proprietor’s, Rob and Sheryl Brown’s wedding anniversary party and Brian was hoping Amanda might be present.
But as he stood on the Hotel jetty on a beautiful Indian summer evening he had begun to think he was out of luck.
He went there to be alone because he was not in the mood to socialise when he realised she was a no show so he went to the jetty for the solitude and looked out across the water as the sky began to turn red with the setting sun reflecting on it and he enjoyed the scene which was when his peace was broken by the clip clop of stiletto heels on the paving stones from the Hotel.
He was cursing the intruder beneath his breath for invading his solitude when he turned to look at the source of his annoyance, and he saw it was a girl in a summer dress or more precisely, Amanda Jerome in a summer dress.
“Hello Brian” she said “I’ve been looking for you”
“I was looking for you too” he said
“Good” she said and before he could respond she began kissing him very passionately on the mouth.
When she stopped kissing him, she looked at him and smiled.
“Does this mean you have made a decision?” he asked hopefully
“It does” she replied and then turned away and clip clopped back to the Hotel.
“Well what is it?” he shouted
“You’ll have to come with me to find that out” she shouted back to him and he sprinted after her.
Saturday, 15 April 2017
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (49) The Mystery Weekend
(Part 01)
Sarah Roddy was what would once have been called a bottle blonde, she was also a three time divorcee and one time widow, which was no mean feat as she was only just the wrong side of fifty, but despite her age she had maintained her figure and she filled a sweater very well indeed and her well-shaped buttocks were tailor made for the tight jeans which she regularly occupied to maximum effect and managed to please any man with a connoisseur’s eye, except it appeared the very man she was trying to attract.
That particular man was Daniel Richardson who, although she didn’t know it, found her form very pleasing to his middle aged eye and in addition to her obvious assets she also had the added attraction of an all pervading sensuously musky perfume, which when he got in close proximity to her he also found extremely affecting.
So he was attracted to her very much but he wasn’t able to do anything about it because of his shyness and lack of self-confidence.
Sarah’s attraction to Daniel wasn’t because she was just looking for the next ex-husband, she was drawn to him because at long last she thought she had found a real keeper.
Providing of course that she could catch him first.
Sarah was a close friend of Daniel’s sister Doris, and it was because of Sarah that the Richardson’s and she were at Claremont Hotel for a Murder Mystery weekend in the first place, the occasion being Doris’s 50th birthday treat.
The Claremont Hotel was situated in the village of Shallowfield, on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale, and separated the Vale from the Dancingdean Forest.
It was once the home of a wealthy Downshire family but like so many similar great houses in the county it fell into disuse as the fortunes of the owners suffered after the Great War.
It had had many reincarnations since then, particularly in the years between the wars and had been used for many things over the post war years but it wasn’t until the 60s that it became The Claremont Hotel.
However things had got tough in the Hotel trade with the success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like the Claremont needed to offer something extra to attract the guests.
So they put on novelty weekends, one of which was the Murder Mystery weekend.
It was something that appealed very much to Doris and she was really looking forward to it, she loved mysteries of all kinds, so it was manna from heaven.
She was an avid reader of Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh so a murder weekend at a country House Hotel was perfection as far as she was concerned.
Sarah was also looking forward to the weekend away, though for very different reasons in her case.
But it wasn’t really Daniel’s cup of tea at all and even if it was up his street it was far too rich for his blood which was why he was pleased that the merry widow had stumped up the cash for the whole weekend.
(Part 02)
A Murder Mystery weekend wasn’t really Daniel Richardson’s cup of tea at all and even if it was up his street it was far too rich for his blood, which was why he was pleased that the merry widow, Sarah Roddy, had stumped up the cash for the whole weekend.
Lifelong bachelor Daniel and his spinster sister Doris had known Sarah for some time and they often went on trips and outings together.
It suited him very well as the women entertained each other while leaving him free to entertain himself, usually on the Golf course and of course he got to enjoy the spectacular view of Sarah’s rolling hills into the bargain.
On these many and varied outings he was often preoccupied with his ponderings over whether he would ever become more acquainted with the contents of Sarah’s sweater, but always reached the conclusion that it was highly unlikely.
They arrived at the Hotel on Friday Evening and had a quiet meal in the restaurant and retired early in preparation for a busy couple of days.
On Saturday morning they all rose early and as all three of them had rooms on the same floor they went down to breakfast in convoy, and Daniel’s lascivious gaze was rewarded as he followed on behind the two women and he rather unashamedly ogled Sarah’s rear aspect, exquisitely housed in tailored trousers, all the way from their rooms to the dining room and then he took the opportunity of having a long lingering gaze down her low cut top at her spectacular frontage.
Sarah and Doris then went off to avail themselves of the Hotel’s facilities while Daniel went to play a round at the Forest Ridge Golf Club which was at Forestdean, situated on the road between Shallowfield and Childean.
It was a decent course, very scenic, and quite challenging, and he manage to join up with another three singletons and made up a pleasant four ball but in the quieter moments his mind kept wandering to thought of Sarah, and not just her obvious assets.
At the same time Daniel was teeing off, Sarah and Doris were enjoying a sauna which they followed with a massage and all the while Sarah was wishing it was Daniels strong hand that were massaging her naked flesh.
Daniel returned to the Claremont just after two o’clock and after he had tracked the two women down the three of them then spent the rest of the afternoon together as the Murder Mystery had begun, the only thing that made the whole thing bearable was that he had many more opportunities to ogle his sister’s friend.
As they wiled away the afternoon Daniel became aware that he was not the only man, or indeed person, who was enjoying the views of Sarah, and he didn’t like it one bit.
If he wasn’t careful one of them might snap her up and then he wouldn’t even have the chance to admire her from a distance.
The problem was however, that in order to prevent that from happening he would have to declare his feelings to Sarah and if not reciprocated that might lead to the same result as doing nothing.
(Part 03)
On the Saturday night the three of them dined at the Hotel and then Daniel had to endure the conclusion of the Murder Mystery and was rather bored, well exceeding bored to be truthful, fortunately he was eventually rescued from that boredom by Sarah whom he assumed must have shared his boredom as she had far too much to drink and as a result she was forced to retire from the entertainment early.
However Doris was enjoying the entertainment immensely, in fact far too much to be distracted and she certainly didn’t want to miss the conclusion to the mystery for anything short of imminent death, so it was left to Daniel to help the drunken Sarah up to her room.
All weekend Daniel had taken every opportunity to enjoy the view of her abundant goodies as she wore a selection of figure hugging outfits as well as her customary jeans and sweaters, but as he guided her along the corridor to her room on Saturday night she was wearing a low cut dress and as he struggled with her through the fire doors he thought there was every chance she might fall out of it.
“Here’s hoping” he thought to himself
When they reached Sarah’s room he had to prop her up against the wall.
“Just stand there” he said and then used her key card to open the door.
Once he got her through the door into the room however she suddenly regained her senses and pounced on him, taking him completely by surprise and knocked him backwards onto the bed.
As he lay on the bed like an upturned turtle desperately trying to get back to his feet he looked up at her and she gave him a leery smile which was when he realised that she had actually drunk far less than he had imagined and her drunkenness had been greatly exaggerated.
The truth of the matter was that Sarah had come to the conclusion that Daniel was never going to have the courage to make an approach to her so she felt her only option was to take drastic action and take matters into her own hands, so she pretended to be drunk and set a trap for him, and as he lay on his back on the bed she smiled because she had sprung the trap to perfection.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked “I thought you were drunk”
“I was faking”
“Faking? Why?” he asked
“So we could be alone obviously” she replied as she joined him on the bed “I thought you might like that, I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think nobody is looking”
And she planted a kiss on his mouth which silenced any possible protests.
As he redressed, he looked down at a smiling Sarah beneath the duvet’s where she let out a satisfied sigh.
As Daniel reached the door he turned to look back at her and said
“I will be back shortly”
“You better had” she responded lustily
When Daniel got back to the drawing room he found Doris sitting and talking to one of the actors and when they had finished Doris asked.
“Did you see to her?”
“Yes” He replied, though he did not elaborate on how he had seen to her.
“Thank you Daniel” she said and kissed his cheek. “You’re such a good brother”
“Well I know she’s a good friend Doris” he said “but I wasn’t going to let her spoil your evening”
“I love you Daniel” she said and kissed his cheek again
After Daniel escorted Doris to her room at the end of the evening he left her at the door and feigned to open his own door but instead went next door and re-joined Sarah.
Sarah Roddy was what would once have been called a bottle blonde, she was also a three time divorcee and one time widow, which was no mean feat as she was only just the wrong side of fifty, but despite her age she had maintained her figure and she filled a sweater very well indeed and her well-shaped buttocks were tailor made for the tight jeans which she regularly occupied to maximum effect and managed to please any man with a connoisseur’s eye, except it appeared the very man she was trying to attract.
That particular man was Daniel Richardson who, although she didn’t know it, found her form very pleasing to his middle aged eye and in addition to her obvious assets she also had the added attraction of an all pervading sensuously musky perfume, which when he got in close proximity to her he also found extremely affecting.
So he was attracted to her very much but he wasn’t able to do anything about it because of his shyness and lack of self-confidence.
Sarah’s attraction to Daniel wasn’t because she was just looking for the next ex-husband, she was drawn to him because at long last she thought she had found a real keeper.
Providing of course that she could catch him first.
Sarah was a close friend of Daniel’s sister Doris, and it was because of Sarah that the Richardson’s and she were at Claremont Hotel for a Murder Mystery weekend in the first place, the occasion being Doris’s 50th birthday treat.
The Claremont Hotel was situated in the village of Shallowfield, on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale, and separated the Vale from the Dancingdean Forest.
It was once the home of a wealthy Downshire family but like so many similar great houses in the county it fell into disuse as the fortunes of the owners suffered after the Great War.
It had had many reincarnations since then, particularly in the years between the wars and had been used for many things over the post war years but it wasn’t until the 60s that it became The Claremont Hotel.
However things had got tough in the Hotel trade with the success of Travelodge, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express and so places like the Claremont needed to offer something extra to attract the guests.
So they put on novelty weekends, one of which was the Murder Mystery weekend.
It was something that appealed very much to Doris and she was really looking forward to it, she loved mysteries of all kinds, so it was manna from heaven.
She was an avid reader of Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh so a murder weekend at a country House Hotel was perfection as far as she was concerned.
Sarah was also looking forward to the weekend away, though for very different reasons in her case.
But it wasn’t really Daniel’s cup of tea at all and even if it was up his street it was far too rich for his blood which was why he was pleased that the merry widow had stumped up the cash for the whole weekend.
(Part 02)
A Murder Mystery weekend wasn’t really Daniel Richardson’s cup of tea at all and even if it was up his street it was far too rich for his blood, which was why he was pleased that the merry widow, Sarah Roddy, had stumped up the cash for the whole weekend.
Lifelong bachelor Daniel and his spinster sister Doris had known Sarah for some time and they often went on trips and outings together.
It suited him very well as the women entertained each other while leaving him free to entertain himself, usually on the Golf course and of course he got to enjoy the spectacular view of Sarah’s rolling hills into the bargain.
On these many and varied outings he was often preoccupied with his ponderings over whether he would ever become more acquainted with the contents of Sarah’s sweater, but always reached the conclusion that it was highly unlikely.
They arrived at the Hotel on Friday Evening and had a quiet meal in the restaurant and retired early in preparation for a busy couple of days.
On Saturday morning they all rose early and as all three of them had rooms on the same floor they went down to breakfast in convoy, and Daniel’s lascivious gaze was rewarded as he followed on behind the two women and he rather unashamedly ogled Sarah’s rear aspect, exquisitely housed in tailored trousers, all the way from their rooms to the dining room and then he took the opportunity of having a long lingering gaze down her low cut top at her spectacular frontage.
Sarah and Doris then went off to avail themselves of the Hotel’s facilities while Daniel went to play a round at the Forest Ridge Golf Club which was at Forestdean, situated on the road between Shallowfield and Childean.
It was a decent course, very scenic, and quite challenging, and he manage to join up with another three singletons and made up a pleasant four ball but in the quieter moments his mind kept wandering to thought of Sarah, and not just her obvious assets.
At the same time Daniel was teeing off, Sarah and Doris were enjoying a sauna which they followed with a massage and all the while Sarah was wishing it was Daniels strong hand that were massaging her naked flesh.
Daniel returned to the Claremont just after two o’clock and after he had tracked the two women down the three of them then spent the rest of the afternoon together as the Murder Mystery had begun, the only thing that made the whole thing bearable was that he had many more opportunities to ogle his sister’s friend.
As they wiled away the afternoon Daniel became aware that he was not the only man, or indeed person, who was enjoying the views of Sarah, and he didn’t like it one bit.
If he wasn’t careful one of them might snap her up and then he wouldn’t even have the chance to admire her from a distance.
The problem was however, that in order to prevent that from happening he would have to declare his feelings to Sarah and if not reciprocated that might lead to the same result as doing nothing.
(Part 03)
On the Saturday night the three of them dined at the Hotel and then Daniel had to endure the conclusion of the Murder Mystery and was rather bored, well exceeding bored to be truthful, fortunately he was eventually rescued from that boredom by Sarah whom he assumed must have shared his boredom as she had far too much to drink and as a result she was forced to retire from the entertainment early.
However Doris was enjoying the entertainment immensely, in fact far too much to be distracted and she certainly didn’t want to miss the conclusion to the mystery for anything short of imminent death, so it was left to Daniel to help the drunken Sarah up to her room.
All weekend Daniel had taken every opportunity to enjoy the view of her abundant goodies as she wore a selection of figure hugging outfits as well as her customary jeans and sweaters, but as he guided her along the corridor to her room on Saturday night she was wearing a low cut dress and as he struggled with her through the fire doors he thought there was every chance she might fall out of it.
“Here’s hoping” he thought to himself
When they reached Sarah’s room he had to prop her up against the wall.
“Just stand there” he said and then used her key card to open the door.
Once he got her through the door into the room however she suddenly regained her senses and pounced on him, taking him completely by surprise and knocked him backwards onto the bed.
As he lay on the bed like an upturned turtle desperately trying to get back to his feet he looked up at her and she gave him a leery smile which was when he realised that she had actually drunk far less than he had imagined and her drunkenness had been greatly exaggerated.
The truth of the matter was that Sarah had come to the conclusion that Daniel was never going to have the courage to make an approach to her so she felt her only option was to take drastic action and take matters into her own hands, so she pretended to be drunk and set a trap for him, and as he lay on his back on the bed she smiled because she had sprung the trap to perfection.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked “I thought you were drunk”
“I was faking”
“Faking? Why?” he asked
“So we could be alone obviously” she replied as she joined him on the bed “I thought you might like that, I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think nobody is looking”
And she planted a kiss on his mouth which silenced any possible protests.
As he redressed, he looked down at a smiling Sarah beneath the duvet’s where she let out a satisfied sigh.
As Daniel reached the door he turned to look back at her and said
“I will be back shortly”
“You better had” she responded lustily
When Daniel got back to the drawing room he found Doris sitting and talking to one of the actors and when they had finished Doris asked.
“Did you see to her?”
“Yes” He replied, though he did not elaborate on how he had seen to her.
“Thank you Daniel” she said and kissed his cheek. “You’re such a good brother”
“Well I know she’s a good friend Doris” he said “but I wasn’t going to let her spoil your evening”
“I love you Daniel” she said and kissed his cheek again
After Daniel escorted Doris to her room at the end of the evening he left her at the door and feigned to open his own door but instead went next door and re-joined Sarah.
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (48) Kissing Cousins
(Part 01)
The Summers and the Overend’s lived in Northchapel and every year they had a family holiday together in the Dancingdean Forest.
Peter and Kate Summers and their sons Mark and Brian, Kate’s sister Christine Overend and husband David and their daughters Julia and Karen, all travelled to the lakeside home of the Davies family, Matthew and Lindsey who were Kate and Christine’s parents and Shelley who was their maiden Aunt.
The Davies family home was East Side House and was situated on the eastern shore of Teardrop Lake.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it and there were also a number of cottages dotted around the woods as well, quite a few of the properties were vacant and an equal number were derelict.
It was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and the lake was little used and the kids always loved going there even more so in the summer when they could get out on the lake.
But in the summer of 1969 childhood pursuits started to take a back seat.
Access to Teardrop Lake was via Shallowfield which was a sprawling sparsely populated village and its fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t, were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins the Davies family were one of the lucky ones.
Mark Summers was a few weeks short of his nineteenth birthday, tall and athletic with flowing blond locks and his cousin Julia was a curvy brunette and was just sixteen.
Julia had followed him around with puppy dog eyes for as long as he could remember but he always gave her the brush off, but since the previous Christmas he had suddenly become aware of her sexuality when instead of just following him around Julia started flirting with him outrageously and quite expertly so.
From the moment they met up the morning of day one she was flaunting herself and flirting with him, but he wasn't really interested, he already had a steady girlfriend plus a spare or two in the wings so he tried his best to ignore her, she was just a kid as far as he was concerned, beautiful with a great figure, but a kid nonetheless.
So for the first three days of the holiday he gave her a wide birth as he always had and tried to brush aside her flirtations.
But that proved to be easier said than done when she spent most of the fourth day in a figure hugging swimsuit and although she was still only sixteen she flaunted what she had very well indeed and even though she was completely inexperienced she knew by the expression on his face that she had got his full attention.
(Part 02)
After years of him brushing her attentions aside she could tell his resolve had weakened so while he was still only eighteen she took her chance one hot afternoon.
The grandparents, the maiden great aunt, both sets of parents and the younger siblings had all gone off on a visit to Pepperstock Castle, somewhere boring as far as she was concerned, so she made an excuse and stayed by the Lake as she had lust on her mind.
And Julia knew she had Mark exactly where she wanted him when he did the same, but then she was almost certain he would.
Once the family were well on their way to Pepperstock Mark thought Christmas had come early so he walked into her bedroom wearing only a towel, which he thought would have the desired effect on her.
However Julia thought his action somewhat juvenile and not very subtle.
She was stood with her back to him as he entered but she could see his reflection in the mirror but he could not see her smile.
It would not be that easy, she would not make it that easy, he would have to work so much harder on his technique to claim the conquest.
She knew he had a steady girlfriend back in Northchapel, but she also knew he had been unfaithful to her on more than one occasion and she had no intention, no matter how gorgeous he was, or how much she may have lusted after him, that she was going be added to that list.
Julia was not going to surrender her virginity to him cheaply, or give all of herself to him just to be another notch on his headboard.
Watching him in the mirror Julia could see him watching her and she knew that she had him hook line and sinker so she decided to have him dance to her tune for the rest of the holiday.
“I hope you’ve got trunks on under that towel” she said as she turned around to look at him
“I’m going for a swim in the Lake, I’ll see you out there” she added as she walked casually out of the room.
“Erm, oh, um” he stammered “Ok”
Five minutes later when Julia was already in the water, Mark arrived on the jetty wearing his swimming trunks
“I like you in those” she thought “so much hotter than the towel”
Almost immediately he dived off the jetty and they spent the next hour swimming and messing around in the Lake before he tried to kiss her but she was too quick for him and gave him the slip and swam to the shore laughing.
Over the following weeks they were virtually inseparable, and after all those years of her following him around with puppy dog eyes and being continually brushed off, it was now Marks turn to follow in her wake like a love sick hound while Julia wore an expression somewhere between smug and coy.
At least once a day during those weeks Mark tried to kiss her but Julie always resisted him, despite the fact she was desperate to taste his lips.
But on the last day of the holiday when she was convinced she had him body and soul she kissed him to reward him for his patience and herself for her cleverness.
That day may have marked the end of the holiday but the long awaited kiss by Teardrop Lake was the beginning of a love that lasted thirty-eight years.
The Summers and the Overend’s lived in Northchapel and every year they had a family holiday together in the Dancingdean Forest.
Peter and Kate Summers and their sons Mark and Brian, Kate’s sister Christine Overend and husband David and their daughters Julia and Karen, all travelled to the lakeside home of the Davies family, Matthew and Lindsey who were Kate and Christine’s parents and Shelley who was their maiden Aunt.
The Davies family home was East Side House and was situated on the eastern shore of Teardrop Lake.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels of land, each with one significant dwelling on it and there were also a number of cottages dotted around the woods as well, quite a few of the properties were vacant and an equal number were derelict.
It was both idyllic and peaceful, there was little or no noise pollution and the lake was little used and the kids always loved going there even more so in the summer when they could get out on the lake.
But in the summer of 1969 childhood pursuits started to take a back seat.
Access to Teardrop Lake was via Shallowfield which was a sprawling sparsely populated village and its fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived and the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t, were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins the Davies family were one of the lucky ones.
Mark Summers was a few weeks short of his nineteenth birthday, tall and athletic with flowing blond locks and his cousin Julia was a curvy brunette and was just sixteen.
Julia had followed him around with puppy dog eyes for as long as he could remember but he always gave her the brush off, but since the previous Christmas he had suddenly become aware of her sexuality when instead of just following him around Julia started flirting with him outrageously and quite expertly so.
From the moment they met up the morning of day one she was flaunting herself and flirting with him, but he wasn't really interested, he already had a steady girlfriend plus a spare or two in the wings so he tried his best to ignore her, she was just a kid as far as he was concerned, beautiful with a great figure, but a kid nonetheless.
So for the first three days of the holiday he gave her a wide birth as he always had and tried to brush aside her flirtations.
But that proved to be easier said than done when she spent most of the fourth day in a figure hugging swimsuit and although she was still only sixteen she flaunted what she had very well indeed and even though she was completely inexperienced she knew by the expression on his face that she had got his full attention.
(Part 02)
After years of him brushing her attentions aside she could tell his resolve had weakened so while he was still only eighteen she took her chance one hot afternoon.
The grandparents, the maiden great aunt, both sets of parents and the younger siblings had all gone off on a visit to Pepperstock Castle, somewhere boring as far as she was concerned, so she made an excuse and stayed by the Lake as she had lust on her mind.
And Julia knew she had Mark exactly where she wanted him when he did the same, but then she was almost certain he would.
Once the family were well on their way to Pepperstock Mark thought Christmas had come early so he walked into her bedroom wearing only a towel, which he thought would have the desired effect on her.
However Julia thought his action somewhat juvenile and not very subtle.
She was stood with her back to him as he entered but she could see his reflection in the mirror but he could not see her smile.
It would not be that easy, she would not make it that easy, he would have to work so much harder on his technique to claim the conquest.
She knew he had a steady girlfriend back in Northchapel, but she also knew he had been unfaithful to her on more than one occasion and she had no intention, no matter how gorgeous he was, or how much she may have lusted after him, that she was going be added to that list.
Julia was not going to surrender her virginity to him cheaply, or give all of herself to him just to be another notch on his headboard.
Watching him in the mirror Julia could see him watching her and she knew that she had him hook line and sinker so she decided to have him dance to her tune for the rest of the holiday.
“I hope you’ve got trunks on under that towel” she said as she turned around to look at him
“I’m going for a swim in the Lake, I’ll see you out there” she added as she walked casually out of the room.
“Erm, oh, um” he stammered “Ok”
Five minutes later when Julia was already in the water, Mark arrived on the jetty wearing his swimming trunks
“I like you in those” she thought “so much hotter than the towel”
Almost immediately he dived off the jetty and they spent the next hour swimming and messing around in the Lake before he tried to kiss her but she was too quick for him and gave him the slip and swam to the shore laughing.
Over the following weeks they were virtually inseparable, and after all those years of her following him around with puppy dog eyes and being continually brushed off, it was now Marks turn to follow in her wake like a love sick hound while Julia wore an expression somewhere between smug and coy.
At least once a day during those weeks Mark tried to kiss her but Julie always resisted him, despite the fact she was desperate to taste his lips.
But on the last day of the holiday when she was convinced she had him body and soul she kissed him to reward him for his patience and herself for her cleverness.
That day may have marked the end of the holiday but the long awaited kiss by Teardrop Lake was the beginning of a love that lasted thirty-eight years.
Friday, 14 April 2017
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (47) Rosie Memories
(Part 01)
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the North but it’s in leafy Shallowfield where our story takes place but it actually begins in the fringes of the busy town of Finchbottom in the village of Lower Gracewood on the other side of the Finchbottom Vale which nestles comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.
And it was in the Vale where Kevin Bush was born and raised in quiet and unexciting village near Finchbottom called Lower Gracewood and for the first 17 years of his life the Vale was his playground until the family moved.
The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of the famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.
There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third was in Purplemere,
But the most magnificent body of water in Downshire was Teardrop Lake.
Which was where Kevin, an 18 year old callow youth, first laid eyes on Rosie Byrne.
He had been living in Shallowfield for six months and as winter gave way to spring he had just begun to discover the treasures of Teardrop Lake and the surrounding Woodland.
It was the spring of what was to become the long hot summer of 1976, the summer against which every subsequent one has been compared.
He was up at one of his favourite places, up above the northern perimeter road in a patch of meadow in front of the row of derelict woodman’s cottages where the view of the lake was quite spectacular.
The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point.
But it would shrink considerably during the summer drought.
It was as beautiful and unspoilt a place as he had ever seen which, was the reason he loved it so much.
And as he sat there admiring the view he couldn’t imagine a more beautiful sight and then Rosie strolled into view.
She was stunning and way out of his league of course he knew that right from the outset, he guesstimated her be four or five years older than him for a start and she was drop dead gorgeous into the bargain, with jet black hair, stunning green eyes and great figure.
But as she hadn’t seen him in the meadow he figured there was no harm in looking, so he did, until she and her dogs disappeared from view.
(Part 02)
Shallowfield’s fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived.
And the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
But by the 1970s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.
More importantly these people had money in their pockets.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a hotel.
Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension, Shallowfield.
It was as a result of the resurgence of Shallowfield that prompted Kevin Bush’s parents to leave Lower Gracewood and move to pastures new.
They also had aspirations for their son to become the first member of their families to go to University which he was set to do in September of 1976.
Having finished college nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to spend the summer on the lake frittering away his time, however that was not to be because he needed to earn some money.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels each with one significant dwelling on it, although there were a number of cottages dotted around the woodland as well, some in use and some were not and some were near to collapse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
Things were changing though, there was a new optimism in the area and only two years earlier the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel Opened and it was the Hotel that provided him with a summer job and more opportunities to see Rosie.
Although he didn’t get to see her as much as he would have liked as she worked in the bar and restaurant and he was more of a general dog’s body.
When he was working inside the Hotel he was sometimes rewarded with the occasional glimpse of the lovely Rosie and on a few of those he was blessed with a smile.
But apart from seeing Miss Byrne working at the Hotel it also afforded him the opportunity to get out on the water in one of the Hotels Dinghies.
And that was how things would have continued for the summer had he not been invited to a house party at the home of the friend of a friend in Forestdean, but not being a fan of House parties he was inclined to say no.
(Part 03)
Kevin Bush was invited to a house party at the home of the friend of a friend in Forestdean, he wasn’t going to go at first, house parties weren’t really his kind of thing, but he allowed himself to be persuaded and as it turned out he was glad that he had changed his mind because one of the other guests was Rosie Byrne and he thought she was gorgeous but at the same time even more out of his league than ever.
He had only seen her either in her work clothes of short black skirt and crisp white blouse or walking her dogs around the lake in more practical garb but in her party clothes she was indescribably gorgeous.
All he could do was look at her with awe because there was no way she was going to give him a second look.
Rosie was four years older than him for a start and drop dead gorgeous into the bargain, with jet black hair, stunning green eyes a great figure, and he figured that there was no harm in him looking, so he did, at every opportunity.
However after a couple of beers he got brave and started to flirt with her and he was really chuffed that she flirted back, though Kevin actually thought she was just being a really good sport.
They kept up the mutual flirtation for a while and then Rosie asked for a refill of her glass so Kevin reluctantly went off to the kitchen.
He thought it was probably just a ruse to get rid of him because she had tired of the flirtatious converse but he didn’t mind, after all it had only been a bit of fun.
However much to his surprise and delight, not only had she not done a runner while he was in the kitchen, she was actually waiting for him in the hall and steered him expertly into the utility room and planted a hot wet kiss on his mouth.
After a few moments their mouths parted long enough for him to put the drinks down and get a short sentence out.
“I thought we were only flirting”
“You have a lot to learn about women” she said closing in on him again.
“Perhaps you could teach me then” he suggested
“Ok” she replied and leant her face towards him and gently touched her lips against his.
“A little more I think” he said
“You’d like me to teach you some more?” she asked smiling.
“Oh yes” He replied and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him then their lips met again and their mouths opened on contact.
He had never had a French kiss before and he desperately hoped she wouldn’t notice.
She pulled herself away from his over enthusiastic efforts and looked into his eyes and smiled.
“You're not a bad kisser” she said kindly
“You're obviously a good teacher” he told her
Her lesson in the art of kissing kept them in the cupboard for 20 minutes and when they emerged from the cupboard the party had rather taken off during their absence, Rosie announced she needed to spend a penny and he watched her walk away.
(Part 04)
He was amazed that Rosie Byrne had kissed him!
Apart from the occasional smile he hadn’t realized that she had even noticed him, but it transpired that she looked at him in the same lustful way that he looked at her.
But he began to doubt the evidence of that when her trip to the bathroom appeared to have been contrived so that they would go
their separate ways and as the party was by then in full swing their paths didn’t cross again, even though he searched high and low.
After midnight Kevin left the party, which was still going strong, to catch the last train home to Shallowfield.
As he walked towards the station, Kevin was reliving his encounter in the cupboard with Rosie and repeatedly pinched himself in case it were a dream.
He hadn’t walked more than one hundred yards along the road when a car pulled up to the curb in front of him.
“Hey lover” Rosie called as he passed alongside the car
“Do you want a lift?”
“Thanks” he said as he got in the car and Rosie drove away
“So where did you get to?” she asked
“I was going to ask you the same thing” he replied
“Well I got delayed because of the queue for the toilet” she said rolling her eyes “and when I finally got my turn and returned to the cupboard you were gone”
“Well I went to look for you” he said
“I thought you’d gone because you didn’t like my kissing” she said
“Oh you can rest assured on that point” he said
“Good answer” Rosie said
When they got into Shallowfield she drove passed the end of his road.
“I live the other way” he pointed out
“We’re not going to your house” she replied
“Where are we going then?”
“Just wait and see” she replied mysteriously
“Oh”
She continued driving and took the lane which led to Teardrop Lake, she then drove passed the Hotel where they both worked and followed the northern perimeter road and parked beside a patch of meadow in front of a row of derelict woodman’s cottages.
It was his favourite place on the Lake where the view of the lake was so spectacular although before that night he hadn’t seen it in the moonlight, it was also the place where he had first seen Rosie as she walked her dogs, and where he often watched her in secret.
Kevin turned and looked at her and she was smiling, apparently it wasn’t as secret as he believed.
Because Rosie knew that Kevin watched her walk by from the safety of the meadow, she thought it was quite appropriate that was where the next kissing lesson should take place on a picnic blanket she had packed in the car for just that occasion.
What Kevin hadn’t realised was that she had set her cap very firmly at him and it was her that made sure he was invited to the party in the first place so that she could get close to him.
It hadn’t been her intention to get him in the cupboard and snog him that was improvisation on her part because he hadn’t taken the hint and asked her out.
They made many more visits to the meadow that summer until he went off to Abbotsford University.
There were a lot of tears before he left amidst the promises that it was not the end of them and each of them doubted the resolve of the other.
But it was not the end, it proved to be instead a test of their mettle which they passed with flying colours.
She would spend one weekend per month visiting him in Abbottsford and he would visit Shallowfield once a month as well and at the end of his third year they were married and remained so for 40 years until her death.
Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the North but it’s in leafy Shallowfield where our story takes place but it actually begins in the fringes of the busy town of Finchbottom in the village of Lower Gracewood on the other side of the Finchbottom Vale which nestles comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.
And it was in the Vale where Kevin Bush was born and raised in quiet and unexciting village near Finchbottom called Lower Gracewood and for the first 17 years of his life the Vale was his playground until the family moved.
The Vale was once a great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the north.
But over the many centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of the famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.
There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third was in Purplemere,
But the most magnificent body of water in Downshire was Teardrop Lake.
Which was where Kevin, an 18 year old callow youth, first laid eyes on Rosie Byrne.
He had been living in Shallowfield for six months and as winter gave way to spring he had just begun to discover the treasures of Teardrop Lake and the surrounding Woodland.
It was the spring of what was to become the long hot summer of 1976, the summer against which every subsequent one has been compared.
He was up at one of his favourite places, up above the northern perimeter road in a patch of meadow in front of the row of derelict woodman’s cottages where the view of the lake was quite spectacular.
The lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forrest.
It wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point.
But it would shrink considerably during the summer drought.
It was as beautiful and unspoilt a place as he had ever seen which, was the reason he loved it so much.
And as he sat there admiring the view he couldn’t imagine a more beautiful sight and then Rosie strolled into view.
She was stunning and way out of his league of course he knew that right from the outset, he guesstimated her be four or five years older than him for a start and she was drop dead gorgeous into the bargain, with jet black hair, stunning green eyes and great figure.
But as she hadn’t seen him in the meadow he figured there was no harm in looking, so he did, until she and her dogs disappeared from view.
(Part 02)
Shallowfield’s fortunes had always relied largely upon forestry and agriculture for its survival.
In the post war years with rationing and a shortage of work a lot of people moved away, to Abbottsford, Abbeyvale and beyond and it only barely survived.
And the community around Teardrop Lake fared even worse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
But by the 1970s things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism and an increase in leisure time.
More importantly these people had money in their pockets.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a hotel.
Its completion formerly marked the rebirth of Teardrop Lake and by extension, Shallowfield.
It was as a result of the resurgence of Shallowfield that prompted Kevin Bush’s parents to leave Lower Gracewood and move to pastures new.
They also had aspirations for their son to become the first member of their families to go to University which he was set to do in September of 1976.
Having finished college nothing would have given him greater pleasure than to spend the summer on the lake frittering away his time, however that was not to be because he needed to earn some money.
Teardrop Lake and the surrounding woodland was privately owned and divided into twelve parcels each with one significant dwelling on it, although there were a number of cottages dotted around the woodland as well, some in use and some were not and some were near to collapse.
Only a few of the houses around the Lake were thriving, a lot of the houses had been rented out and those that hadn’t were in a poor state of repair, some too such an extent they were little more than ruins.
Things were changing though, there was a new optimism in the area and only two years earlier the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel Opened and it was the Hotel that provided him with a summer job and more opportunities to see Rosie.
Although he didn’t get to see her as much as he would have liked as she worked in the bar and restaurant and he was more of a general dog’s body.
When he was working inside the Hotel he was sometimes rewarded with the occasional glimpse of the lovely Rosie and on a few of those he was blessed with a smile.
But apart from seeing Miss Byrne working at the Hotel it also afforded him the opportunity to get out on the water in one of the Hotels Dinghies.
And that was how things would have continued for the summer had he not been invited to a house party at the home of the friend of a friend in Forestdean, but not being a fan of House parties he was inclined to say no.
(Part 03)
Kevin Bush was invited to a house party at the home of the friend of a friend in Forestdean, he wasn’t going to go at first, house parties weren’t really his kind of thing, but he allowed himself to be persuaded and as it turned out he was glad that he had changed his mind because one of the other guests was Rosie Byrne and he thought she was gorgeous but at the same time even more out of his league than ever.
He had only seen her either in her work clothes of short black skirt and crisp white blouse or walking her dogs around the lake in more practical garb but in her party clothes she was indescribably gorgeous.
All he could do was look at her with awe because there was no way she was going to give him a second look.
Rosie was four years older than him for a start and drop dead gorgeous into the bargain, with jet black hair, stunning green eyes a great figure, and he figured that there was no harm in him looking, so he did, at every opportunity.
However after a couple of beers he got brave and started to flirt with her and he was really chuffed that she flirted back, though Kevin actually thought she was just being a really good sport.
They kept up the mutual flirtation for a while and then Rosie asked for a refill of her glass so Kevin reluctantly went off to the kitchen.
He thought it was probably just a ruse to get rid of him because she had tired of the flirtatious converse but he didn’t mind, after all it had only been a bit of fun.
However much to his surprise and delight, not only had she not done a runner while he was in the kitchen, she was actually waiting for him in the hall and steered him expertly into the utility room and planted a hot wet kiss on his mouth.
After a few moments their mouths parted long enough for him to put the drinks down and get a short sentence out.
“I thought we were only flirting”
“You have a lot to learn about women” she said closing in on him again.
“Perhaps you could teach me then” he suggested
“Ok” she replied and leant her face towards him and gently touched her lips against his.
“A little more I think” he said
“You’d like me to teach you some more?” she asked smiling.
“Oh yes” He replied and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him then their lips met again and their mouths opened on contact.
He had never had a French kiss before and he desperately hoped she wouldn’t notice.
She pulled herself away from his over enthusiastic efforts and looked into his eyes and smiled.
“You're not a bad kisser” she said kindly
“You're obviously a good teacher” he told her
Her lesson in the art of kissing kept them in the cupboard for 20 minutes and when they emerged from the cupboard the party had rather taken off during their absence, Rosie announced she needed to spend a penny and he watched her walk away.
(Part 04)
He was amazed that Rosie Byrne had kissed him!
Apart from the occasional smile he hadn’t realized that she had even noticed him, but it transpired that she looked at him in the same lustful way that he looked at her.
But he began to doubt the evidence of that when her trip to the bathroom appeared to have been contrived so that they would go
their separate ways and as the party was by then in full swing their paths didn’t cross again, even though he searched high and low.
After midnight Kevin left the party, which was still going strong, to catch the last train home to Shallowfield.
As he walked towards the station, Kevin was reliving his encounter in the cupboard with Rosie and repeatedly pinched himself in case it were a dream.
He hadn’t walked more than one hundred yards along the road when a car pulled up to the curb in front of him.
“Hey lover” Rosie called as he passed alongside the car
“Do you want a lift?”
“Thanks” he said as he got in the car and Rosie drove away
“So where did you get to?” she asked
“I was going to ask you the same thing” he replied
“Well I got delayed because of the queue for the toilet” she said rolling her eyes “and when I finally got my turn and returned to the cupboard you were gone”
“Well I went to look for you” he said
“I thought you’d gone because you didn’t like my kissing” she said
“Oh you can rest assured on that point” he said
“Good answer” Rosie said
When they got into Shallowfield she drove passed the end of his road.
“I live the other way” he pointed out
“We’re not going to your house” she replied
“Where are we going then?”
“Just wait and see” she replied mysteriously
“Oh”
She continued driving and took the lane which led to Teardrop Lake, she then drove passed the Hotel where they both worked and followed the northern perimeter road and parked beside a patch of meadow in front of a row of derelict woodman’s cottages.
It was his favourite place on the Lake where the view of the lake was so spectacular although before that night he hadn’t seen it in the moonlight, it was also the place where he had first seen Rosie as she walked her dogs, and where he often watched her in secret.
Kevin turned and looked at her and she was smiling, apparently it wasn’t as secret as he believed.
Because Rosie knew that Kevin watched her walk by from the safety of the meadow, she thought it was quite appropriate that was where the next kissing lesson should take place on a picnic blanket she had packed in the car for just that occasion.
What Kevin hadn’t realised was that she had set her cap very firmly at him and it was her that made sure he was invited to the party in the first place so that she could get close to him.
It hadn’t been her intention to get him in the cupboard and snog him that was improvisation on her part because he hadn’t taken the hint and asked her out.
They made many more visits to the meadow that summer until he went off to Abbotsford University.
There were a lot of tears before he left amidst the promises that it was not the end of them and each of them doubted the resolve of the other.
But it was not the end, it proved to be instead a test of their mettle which they passed with flying colours.
She would spend one weekend per month visiting him in Abbottsford and he would visit Shallowfield once a month as well and at the end of his third year they were married and remained so for 40 years until her death.
Those Memories Made on Teardrop Lake – (46) Clinician Heal Thyself Again
(Part 01)
It was to a very successful organization that Staff Nurse Dani Carew joined on a bitter cold January morning along with another new nurse named Patricia Clerembeax.
It was four years to the day after Dr Claire Lutchford nee Andrews, took over the Shallowfield Surgery and in that short time she and her business partner Olivia Shenton had transformed it into the Dancingdean Heath Centre, which had continued to grow in stature which necessitated the expansion of staff numbers.
However while things had been going well for Claire and Olivia in the four years they had been running the Dancingdean Heath Center in Shallowfield, it had been quite a different story in those four years for Dani, she had had a succession of loser boyfriends and had decided she was better off on her own.
The final straw came when she overheard her then Doctor boyfriend bragging about their sex life to a group of colleagues which was when she applied for a new job.
She was a Staff nurse at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere and moving to Shallowfield to work in a Health Centre was as everyone told her a step down, but she didn’t care she desperately needed a new start.
It was just before Christmas when Dani moved into Flat 4, of East Cliff Lodge, overlooking the picturesque Teardrop Lake.
The view of the water from her flat was spectacular with its distinctive teardrop shape which gave the lake its name, surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.
It was a modest body of water as lakes go, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point, it really was a thing of beauty and was both idyllic and peaceful.
There was little or no noise pollution and although the lake was used there were no speed boats or jet skis only rowing boats, canoes, dinghies and skiffs.
Fortunately Dani was not the only new starter at the health centre or the only newbie to the area.
Patricia Clerembeax who was the new palliative care nurse, moved into number 2 a couple of days before her.
Both Dani’s and Patricia’s moves had been purely out of choice because they were looking for a change and not like many in their profession who had moves forced upon them due to cost cutting measures.
As they both moved in before Christmas and weren’t due to start work until the New Year and as they were neighbours the two new girls gravitated towards each other and became firm friends.
Chantelle Grimwood, who lived in number 1, also worked at the health centre, as a Doctor and she and her husband Richard volunteered to show the new girls around and help them get their bearings and settle in.
They were both dreading that first Christmas in a new place without anyone to cuddle up to, and they thought that all that time on their own would drive them crazy.
But they needn’t have worried for a second as Chantelle soon introduced them around to all the mad people they would be working with and they had so many invitations throughout December that they didn’t have a minute to think about being lonely, even in the quieter moments because they were too exhausted.
(Part 02)
After a very enjoyable first Christmas in her new home Dani was really pleased that she wasn’t starting the new job on her own and she knew Patricia felt the same way.
They both slotted right in at the Heath Centre and they soon found that the rest of the staff were just as friendly as the ones they had already met were.
Dani loved her job from the first moment she walked through the doors and she loved living on the Lake even more.
Her New Year’s Resolution was to adopt a healthier approach to life and walked a circuit of the lake every morning except on the weekends, on Saturdays she split her time between housework and exploring the forest as well as any one of a number of places of interest, two Folly’s, a Watch tower, Olwen’s Chapel, a waterfall, brooks, streams, a 16th Century Bridge and lovers leap, and Sundays after she’d attended church in the morning she watched old films on TV in the afternoon, after all she was 30 by then and couldn’t handle too much excitement.
Apart from enjoying the Lake and its environs she was fast becoming a regular part of Church life in Shallowfield and could often be heard in full voice in the church choir.
Dani Carew was a very pretty woman with honey coloured hair, she was five feet five inches tall, trim and well-toned and she was originally from Purplemere but she was a very girlie girl.
She had just turned thirty and had resigned herself to the fact that now she had reached that milestone she was never going meet anyone better than the losers she managed to attract while she was in her prime.
Apart from needing to be shown the inner workings of the practice, the processes and procedures, Dani also needed a guided tour of the area.
District nursing being part of her remit after all, so she needed to familiarise herself with the district.
First of all she bought herself an ordinance survey map of the Finchbottom Vale, between the Dancingdean forest and the Pepperstock Hills, which encompassed her territory.
The problem was that she couldn’t read a map, or even fold or unfold one.
She didn’t have a satnav in the car which would have helped to get her from A to B but that wasn’t an option so she had to think of another way to map out the district in her head.
Fortunately the other newbie Patricia Clerembeax suggested they get together, it was obvious really because they were both equally clueless about the area so between them they could get their baring’s enough to avoid any major faux pas.
They were both based at the Health Centre for the first two months and it took that long driving around in their spare time to crack it enough for them to be let loose on an unsuspecting Finchbottom Vale.
(Part 03)
The district nursing team had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients or those recuperating after surgery and they soon built up a good rapport with them.
As Dani’s background was as a Staff Nurse on a surgical ward in Royal Downshire Hospital she found going out and about in the community very liberating.
She enjoyed her time in the Health Centre well enough handling the clinics and such like but Dani really liked being a district nurse and in her first six months at the Dancingdean Health Centre she became a valuable member on the team.
When she was first put on the visitors list, one of Dani’s first patients was 31 year old Richard Lambert, a cancer survivor.
Richard lived alone in the small country village of Shallowfield and he turned out to be one of her favourite patients on her visiting rounds but he was also more of a challenging one.
Richard Lambert had survived his cancer but in spite of having had the brain tumour successfully removed and after all the following treatment leading to him subsequently being given the all clear, he was clinically depressed.
Having been assigned to the Lamberts, she began from the first day to try and bring him out of his self but it was to no avail.
What Dani didn’t know was that the reason for his depression was that he had been left impotent since the surgery and as a result he never left the house.
His wife Sarah was as supportive as she could have been but she had confided to Dani very early on that she was close to breaking point.
With Richard unable to leave home Sarah was the breadwinner which she did without complaint, but there were days when she didn’t want to go home and those days became more and more frequent until she finally gave up and left him and moved to Abbeyvale.
So for two months he was completely on his own so she spent longer with him each successive visit and he looked forward to her visits more and more.
Dani tried to make the most of her visits and lift his spirits but all she actually achieved was to make the fatal mistake of falling for him.
It was the first time she had let her guard down since she left Purplemere where Dani had had a succession of loser boyfriends and had decided she was better off on her own.
The final straw came when she overheard her then Doctor boyfriend bragging about their sex life to a group of colleagues and now she was doing it again, but she hoped not with another loser.
But there was no future in a relationship in which one of the parties refused to leave the house but she was clueless as to how she could rectify the situation.
She was fairly sure that he was attracted to her, she had caught him looking at her legs and bum enough times, but that might not be enough.
However by the end of June a decision made at the heath centre forced her hand.
(Part 04)
On Friday morning when Dani reported for work at the Health Centre she was told that Richard Lambert was being taken off her list and that day would be her last.
“Who’s taking over?” she asked
“No one” she was told “We’ve done all we can for him, there are plenty of patients who actually want our help”
As she drove to his house she decided it was time for decisive action.
It was mid-afternoon when Dani opened the back door and walked in the house.
“Hello” she called
“In the lounge” Richard called back
“Ah there you are” Dani said
“Hi” Richard said laying on the sofa watching something mind numbing on the TV
“Budge over” She said and sat on the edge of the sofa beside him
“I have news”
“What news?” he asked
“Today is my last visit”
“What?” he said with alarm
“They think you’re a lost cause” she said
“And what do you think?” he asked quietly
“I disagree” she said and leant in and kissed him slowly and deliberately.
It took him by surprise but he soon got the message and by the end of the kiss he certainly wasn’t impotent, not that Dani was aware of that.
But she was aware of his level of participation in the kissing so she stood up and said
“It’s going to be a nice day tomorrow, so if you want any more of that you’ll need to meet me at Shoe Buckle Falls at noon”
“But…” he began as she reached the door “don’t go”
“Tomorrow at noon” she called back “Don’t be late”
She was up early on Saturday morning and finished her housework so she had time to get herself ready and make the best of herself, Dani was a very pretty woman with honey coloured hair, and she looked at her reflection, all five feet five inches of a trim and well-toned girlie girl in a summer dress, nodded her acceptance of what she saw and then she headed towards Shoe Buckle Falls, so named, so legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive Cavalier who was pursued into the forest by parliamentarian soldiers but disappeared in the vicinity of the falls and all they ever found of him was his shoe buckle.
The falls were not grand or spectacular but they were nice enough.
The water tumbled and spilled over the rocks, gathering briefly in deep pools and then tumbling down again to the next pool.
It was dark beneath the ancient trees and refreshingly cool as the misty spray settled on her.
Dani sat and soaked her feet in one of the deepest pools.
She sat there for ten minutes and began to feel very foolish
“Why on earth would he come” she tough to herself “it was only one kiss, your good, but you’re not that good”
She took her feet from the water and dried them before slipping her footwear back on and stood up to go home and watch an old movie.
“Hello” a voice said and startled her
“Mission accomplished” she said as she turned around and saw Richard standing there.
It was to a very successful organization that Staff Nurse Dani Carew joined on a bitter cold January morning along with another new nurse named Patricia Clerembeax.
It was four years to the day after Dr Claire Lutchford nee Andrews, took over the Shallowfield Surgery and in that short time she and her business partner Olivia Shenton had transformed it into the Dancingdean Heath Centre, which had continued to grow in stature which necessitated the expansion of staff numbers.
However while things had been going well for Claire and Olivia in the four years they had been running the Dancingdean Heath Center in Shallowfield, it had been quite a different story in those four years for Dani, she had had a succession of loser boyfriends and had decided she was better off on her own.
The final straw came when she overheard her then Doctor boyfriend bragging about their sex life to a group of colleagues which was when she applied for a new job.
She was a Staff nurse at the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere and moving to Shallowfield to work in a Health Centre was as everyone told her a step down, but she didn’t care she desperately needed a new start.
It was just before Christmas when Dani moved into Flat 4, of East Cliff Lodge, overlooking the picturesque Teardrop Lake.
The view of the water from her flat was spectacular with its distinctive teardrop shape which gave the lake its name, surrounded by the ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.
It was a modest body of water as lakes go, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its widest point, it really was a thing of beauty and was both idyllic and peaceful.
There was little or no noise pollution and although the lake was used there were no speed boats or jet skis only rowing boats, canoes, dinghies and skiffs.
Fortunately Dani was not the only new starter at the health centre or the only newbie to the area.
Patricia Clerembeax who was the new palliative care nurse, moved into number 2 a couple of days before her.
Both Dani’s and Patricia’s moves had been purely out of choice because they were looking for a change and not like many in their profession who had moves forced upon them due to cost cutting measures.
As they both moved in before Christmas and weren’t due to start work until the New Year and as they were neighbours the two new girls gravitated towards each other and became firm friends.
Chantelle Grimwood, who lived in number 1, also worked at the health centre, as a Doctor and she and her husband Richard volunteered to show the new girls around and help them get their bearings and settle in.
They were both dreading that first Christmas in a new place without anyone to cuddle up to, and they thought that all that time on their own would drive them crazy.
But they needn’t have worried for a second as Chantelle soon introduced them around to all the mad people they would be working with and they had so many invitations throughout December that they didn’t have a minute to think about being lonely, even in the quieter moments because they were too exhausted.
(Part 02)
After a very enjoyable first Christmas in her new home Dani was really pleased that she wasn’t starting the new job on her own and she knew Patricia felt the same way.
They both slotted right in at the Heath Centre and they soon found that the rest of the staff were just as friendly as the ones they had already met were.
Dani loved her job from the first moment she walked through the doors and she loved living on the Lake even more.
Her New Year’s Resolution was to adopt a healthier approach to life and walked a circuit of the lake every morning except on the weekends, on Saturdays she split her time between housework and exploring the forest as well as any one of a number of places of interest, two Folly’s, a Watch tower, Olwen’s Chapel, a waterfall, brooks, streams, a 16th Century Bridge and lovers leap, and Sundays after she’d attended church in the morning she watched old films on TV in the afternoon, after all she was 30 by then and couldn’t handle too much excitement.
Apart from enjoying the Lake and its environs she was fast becoming a regular part of Church life in Shallowfield and could often be heard in full voice in the church choir.
Dani Carew was a very pretty woman with honey coloured hair, she was five feet five inches tall, trim and well-toned and she was originally from Purplemere but she was a very girlie girl.
She had just turned thirty and had resigned herself to the fact that now she had reached that milestone she was never going meet anyone better than the losers she managed to attract while she was in her prime.
Apart from needing to be shown the inner workings of the practice, the processes and procedures, Dani also needed a guided tour of the area.
District nursing being part of her remit after all, so she needed to familiarise herself with the district.
First of all she bought herself an ordinance survey map of the Finchbottom Vale, between the Dancingdean forest and the Pepperstock Hills, which encompassed her territory.
The problem was that she couldn’t read a map, or even fold or unfold one.
She didn’t have a satnav in the car which would have helped to get her from A to B but that wasn’t an option so she had to think of another way to map out the district in her head.
Fortunately the other newbie Patricia Clerembeax suggested they get together, it was obvious really because they were both equally clueless about the area so between them they could get their baring’s enough to avoid any major faux pas.
They were both based at the Health Centre for the first two months and it took that long driving around in their spare time to crack it enough for them to be let loose on an unsuspecting Finchbottom Vale.
(Part 03)
The district nursing team had a number of regular home visit, terminally ill or housebound patients or those recuperating after surgery and they soon built up a good rapport with them.
As Dani’s background was as a Staff Nurse on a surgical ward in Royal Downshire Hospital she found going out and about in the community very liberating.
She enjoyed her time in the Health Centre well enough handling the clinics and such like but Dani really liked being a district nurse and in her first six months at the Dancingdean Health Centre she became a valuable member on the team.
When she was first put on the visitors list, one of Dani’s first patients was 31 year old Richard Lambert, a cancer survivor.
Richard lived alone in the small country village of Shallowfield and he turned out to be one of her favourite patients on her visiting rounds but he was also more of a challenging one.
Richard Lambert had survived his cancer but in spite of having had the brain tumour successfully removed and after all the following treatment leading to him subsequently being given the all clear, he was clinically depressed.
Having been assigned to the Lamberts, she began from the first day to try and bring him out of his self but it was to no avail.
What Dani didn’t know was that the reason for his depression was that he had been left impotent since the surgery and as a result he never left the house.
His wife Sarah was as supportive as she could have been but she had confided to Dani very early on that she was close to breaking point.
With Richard unable to leave home Sarah was the breadwinner which she did without complaint, but there were days when she didn’t want to go home and those days became more and more frequent until she finally gave up and left him and moved to Abbeyvale.
So for two months he was completely on his own so she spent longer with him each successive visit and he looked forward to her visits more and more.
Dani tried to make the most of her visits and lift his spirits but all she actually achieved was to make the fatal mistake of falling for him.
It was the first time she had let her guard down since she left Purplemere where Dani had had a succession of loser boyfriends and had decided she was better off on her own.
The final straw came when she overheard her then Doctor boyfriend bragging about their sex life to a group of colleagues and now she was doing it again, but she hoped not with another loser.
But there was no future in a relationship in which one of the parties refused to leave the house but she was clueless as to how she could rectify the situation.
She was fairly sure that he was attracted to her, she had caught him looking at her legs and bum enough times, but that might not be enough.
However by the end of June a decision made at the heath centre forced her hand.
(Part 04)
On Friday morning when Dani reported for work at the Health Centre she was told that Richard Lambert was being taken off her list and that day would be her last.
“Who’s taking over?” she asked
“No one” she was told “We’ve done all we can for him, there are plenty of patients who actually want our help”
As she drove to his house she decided it was time for decisive action.
It was mid-afternoon when Dani opened the back door and walked in the house.
“Hello” she called
“In the lounge” Richard called back
“Ah there you are” Dani said
“Hi” Richard said laying on the sofa watching something mind numbing on the TV
“Budge over” She said and sat on the edge of the sofa beside him
“I have news”
“What news?” he asked
“Today is my last visit”
“What?” he said with alarm
“They think you’re a lost cause” she said
“And what do you think?” he asked quietly
“I disagree” she said and leant in and kissed him slowly and deliberately.
It took him by surprise but he soon got the message and by the end of the kiss he certainly wasn’t impotent, not that Dani was aware of that.
But she was aware of his level of participation in the kissing so she stood up and said
“It’s going to be a nice day tomorrow, so if you want any more of that you’ll need to meet me at Shoe Buckle Falls at noon”
“But…” he began as she reached the door “don’t go”
“Tomorrow at noon” she called back “Don’t be late”
She was up early on Saturday morning and finished her housework so she had time to get herself ready and make the best of herself, Dani was a very pretty woman with honey coloured hair, and she looked at her reflection, all five feet five inches of a trim and well-toned girlie girl in a summer dress, nodded her acceptance of what she saw and then she headed towards Shoe Buckle Falls, so named, so legend had it, after a 17th century fugitive Cavalier who was pursued into the forest by parliamentarian soldiers but disappeared in the vicinity of the falls and all they ever found of him was his shoe buckle.
The falls were not grand or spectacular but they were nice enough.
The water tumbled and spilled over the rocks, gathering briefly in deep pools and then tumbling down again to the next pool.
It was dark beneath the ancient trees and refreshingly cool as the misty spray settled on her.
Dani sat and soaked her feet in one of the deepest pools.
She sat there for ten minutes and began to feel very foolish
“Why on earth would he come” she tough to herself “it was only one kiss, your good, but you’re not that good”
She took her feet from the water and dried them before slipping her footwear back on and stood up to go home and watch an old movie.
“Hello” a voice said and startled her
“Mission accomplished” she said as she turned around and saw Richard standing there.
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