(Part 01)
Shallowfield sat on the southern edge of the Finchbottom Vale and was bordered on the other side by the Dancingdean forest and the town’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 from the area and it only just 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 70s however things were beginning to change, thanks mainly to tourism as a result of an increase in leisure time.
This trend was reflected by the fact that the previously derelict Shallowfield Lodge, which had been inherited by a young couple from Lincolnshire, Rob and Sheryl Brown, was being turned into a Hotel.
From then on Shallowfield went from strength to strength which was echoed by the fortunes of the Claremont Hotel.
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.
In the early summer a new manager was appointed, Matthew Millward, and he was an instant hit with the locals because he was young, tall, dark and handsome, physically fit, well-toned and had a reputation as a fair minded guy, which had very much preceded him.
He was 28 years old and his father owned the Millward Manor chain of hotels and he was grooming him to one day take over the reins of his worldwide hotel empire, the problem was that Matt had no head for business and he felt that he was more of an artistic soul.
Which could possibly have been ignored but for the fact that he had broken off his engagement with the granddaughter of his father’s oldest friend.
However that in itself wasn’t what had him exiled, it was Elaine’s attempted suicide, not that his action had caused her mental meltdown, it was rather more her mental instability being the deciding factor that forced him to end the engagement.
So it was decided to send Matt to the Claremont Hotel where he could do no real harm until the dust settled.
When he first found out he was being sent to Shallowfield, Matt was very unhappy, he was a city boy, born and bred, and he viewed being sent to the country as purgatory, but no one was more surprised than he was when he found that he actually loved it, it was a beautiful place, it was quiet and the air was clean and he felt immediately at home.
(Part 02)
After the broken engagement and the resulting fall out he decided that Matthew Millward would not under any circumstances get himself romantically entangled while he was on punishment duty.
But there is a very apt saying which goes “never on your own doorstep” which he had clearly never heard because on his first day he fell head over heels for the Hospitality Manager, Sarah Poole, although in his defence the feeling was mutual.
He had met the staff informally at the beginning of the day and then chose to do a walk around and meet people again where they worked.
He had noticed her among the group dressed in her uniform of a blue skirt and jacket with a crisp white blouse.
She was five foot eight with short red hair, in a pixie cut, mesmerizing green eyes and a cute figure with curves in all the right places and long slender legs.
Sarah was 26 years old and wasn’t looking for a relationship either because she was married, albeit to an alcoholic who hadn’t shown her any marital attention for two years but she was still married to him nonetheless.
Sarah had worked at the hotel since she left school, five years in housekeeping, five more in hospitality, and for two of those as Manager and she loved her job.
When Matt went on his walkabout he could see Sarah Poole as soon as he walked into the lounge, she wasn’t wearing her uniform but he recognised her from the earlier meeting because of her stunning legs and the other thing he noticed when he finished staring at her legs was that she was definitely flirting with him.
“Hello” he said “Shouldn’t you be working”
“I’m on my break,” she answered with a smile
“Oh I’m sorry,” he said “I was just looking for someone to show me around, not to worry”
“No I’ll do it” she said eagerly and picked up her bag
“But I need the loo first”
“Well ok then” he said and five minutes later she returned looking flushed and surrounded by a cloud of freshly applied perfume and he noticed her makeup had been repaired.
He clearly spent a little too long studying her because she blushed and said
“We can go now”
And she strode off
“Great” he said and broke into a jog to follow her as Sarah led him down a corridor, and through a door that said staff only.
Sarah soon regained her composure and the tour continued and lasted for about an hour and they talked casually like old friends all the way and when they were done they headed down the back stairs to complete the tour.
Which was when Sarah slipped on the bottom step and fell against Matt and inadvertently pushed him back against the wall where she had a rush of blood to the head and kissed him.
A kiss which took him by surprise but only for a second and then he was joining in and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Well I’m not sure this is what my dad had in mind when he sent me here” He said when they finally came up for air
“Oh God” she exclaimed “This is bad, this is very bad”
“I don’t think it’s so bad” he said
“No it’s really bad” Sarah said extricating herself from his arms “I’m a married woman”
And she rushed away mumbling to herself
“I know that he’s gorgeous, and I know that you really like him, and that was a smoking hot kiss, but none of that matters, because you can’t have him”
Even though she really wanted him with every fibre of her being.
Sunday, 11 June 2017
Downshire Diary – (77) Oh Carole
Carole Bean went to the University of Downshire where she studied English at Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life defining time.
She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls
Amy Coates, a tall big busted girl, Alison Holmes, a skinny girl with a bad case of OCD and Claire Jarvis a quiet busty brunette.
All four of the girls were studying English in one form or another and apart from their studies they also had in common the fact they were all natives of the Finchbottom Vale.
Claire was from Purplemere, Carole from Childean, Alison from Finchbottom and Amy from Shallowfield.
The friendship that resulted from, on the face of it, 4 very different characters coming together, lasted for their lifetimes and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.
However of all the girls, Carole found herself drawn most to Claire Jarvis.
The fact that the two of them had more lectures and seminars together than the other two partly aided their closeness but it was mainly because they got each other, they shared a sense of humour as well as having similar tastes in music, a love of pizza and old romantic comedies.
But what really drew them together in her first year was something that would define her world and shake her to the core.
It happened during the Easter Holiday of their first year when Carole returned to the flat to discover Claire laying naked on the sofa and Carole couldn’t take her eyes off of her and when Claire discovered that she had an audience Carole couldn’t keep her hands off her either and they made love for the first time.
Allthough neither of them could fully come to terms with the fact that they might be gay it didn’t prevent them from adding to their lesbian experiences throughout their University years and the fact that they were in love but unsure of their true sexuality they still kept a foot in both camps by dating men as well but when it came down to the love making they still prefered each other.
The only time Carole really got animal pleasure with a man was in the summer before the start of her second year.
It was early August and the weather was hot and sultry and so was she, normally when she was feeling like that she had Claire on hand.
On that hot August day though Claire was at home in Purplemere for her grandmothers funeral.
Carole had the house to herself most of the time, Claire was at the funeral, Alison had gone swimming of all things, and Amy was doubtless with her boyfriend Mark enjoying each other, or so she thought but they returned during the afternoon and started enjoying eachother the moment they arrived, and they were not quiet about it when they were doing it, and listening to the grunting and moaning just made her hornier.
Carole decided to try a cold shower, which did indeed cool her down but not where it mattered and Mark was still going at Amy hell for leather directly above her head.
So she decided to go and get a drink of water but when she walked into the kitchen she found she was not alone.
“Who are you?” she barked
“Kevin” he replied nervously
“Yes but who are you?”
“I’m Marks brother” he said “He’s with…”
“Yes I know who he’s with and what he’s doing to her”
She said and Kevin blushed
“How old are you?”
“17” he replied “And a half”
“You’ll do then” she said and dropped her towel
Kevins eyes popped out like they were on stalks and his mouth fell open.
Carole had a lovely body as Claire could testify too and it was obviously he hadnt seen one like it before.
“Do you like what you see Kevin?”
And Kevin stared open mouthed in response.
After she had finished taking Kevin’s Cherry seated on a kitchen chair, Carole climbed off him wearing a self-satisfied look on her face and picked up her towel and just before she went out the door and said
“You can get dressed again now”
She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls
Amy Coates, a tall big busted girl, Alison Holmes, a skinny girl with a bad case of OCD and Claire Jarvis a quiet busty brunette.
All four of the girls were studying English in one form or another and apart from their studies they also had in common the fact they were all natives of the Finchbottom Vale.
Claire was from Purplemere, Carole from Childean, Alison from Finchbottom and Amy from Shallowfield.
The friendship that resulted from, on the face of it, 4 very different characters coming together, lasted for their lifetimes and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.
However of all the girls, Carole found herself drawn most to Claire Jarvis.
The fact that the two of them had more lectures and seminars together than the other two partly aided their closeness but it was mainly because they got each other, they shared a sense of humour as well as having similar tastes in music, a love of pizza and old romantic comedies.
But what really drew them together in her first year was something that would define her world and shake her to the core.
It happened during the Easter Holiday of their first year when Carole returned to the flat to discover Claire laying naked on the sofa and Carole couldn’t take her eyes off of her and when Claire discovered that she had an audience Carole couldn’t keep her hands off her either and they made love for the first time.
Allthough neither of them could fully come to terms with the fact that they might be gay it didn’t prevent them from adding to their lesbian experiences throughout their University years and the fact that they were in love but unsure of their true sexuality they still kept a foot in both camps by dating men as well but when it came down to the love making they still prefered each other.
The only time Carole really got animal pleasure with a man was in the summer before the start of her second year.
It was early August and the weather was hot and sultry and so was she, normally when she was feeling like that she had Claire on hand.
On that hot August day though Claire was at home in Purplemere for her grandmothers funeral.
Carole had the house to herself most of the time, Claire was at the funeral, Alison had gone swimming of all things, and Amy was doubtless with her boyfriend Mark enjoying each other, or so she thought but they returned during the afternoon and started enjoying eachother the moment they arrived, and they were not quiet about it when they were doing it, and listening to the grunting and moaning just made her hornier.
Carole decided to try a cold shower, which did indeed cool her down but not where it mattered and Mark was still going at Amy hell for leather directly above her head.
So she decided to go and get a drink of water but when she walked into the kitchen she found she was not alone.
“Who are you?” she barked
“Kevin” he replied nervously
“Yes but who are you?”
“I’m Marks brother” he said “He’s with…”
“Yes I know who he’s with and what he’s doing to her”
She said and Kevin blushed
“How old are you?”
“17” he replied “And a half”
“You’ll do then” she said and dropped her towel
Kevins eyes popped out like they were on stalks and his mouth fell open.
Carole had a lovely body as Claire could testify too and it was obviously he hadnt seen one like it before.
“Do you like what you see Kevin?”
And Kevin stared open mouthed in response.
After she had finished taking Kevin’s Cherry seated on a kitchen chair, Carole climbed off him wearing a self-satisfied look on her face and picked up her towel and just before she went out the door and said
“You can get dressed again now”
Mornington-By-Mere – (77) The Birthday Treat
Mornington-By-Mere was not just a quaint chocolate box English Village it was the beating heart of the Finchbottom Vale and there were a number of cottages and small houses on the Purplemere road and Dulcets Lane which formed the part of Mornington Village known as Manorside and Brian and Karen Dawkins managed to rent number 4 Brooke Side Cottages, which was a considerable improvement on their dingy Purplemere flat.
Karen and her brother Brian had their own company, Railway Enthusiast, up at Mornington Field, and they were doing very well in the business and personally.
Brian had reunited with the long lost love of his life and Karen was dating a farmer from Smithfield’s Farm, Chris Smith, and in the 9 months they had been together he spent as much time at Karen’s house as he did at the farm.
But in November they were staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as it was Chris’s 32nd birthday.
On Saturday night he emerged from the bathroom just in time to see Karen, wearing a cocktail dress and walking sexily through a freshly atomized cloud of perfume.
And Chris dressed himself while Karen sat on the bed and applied the final touches to her makeup.
As he walked through reception with such a beautiful girl on his arm he was overcome with intense feelings of love so he came to a stop just before they entered the restaurant and said
“I love you Miss Dawkins”
Karen smiled and kissed him.
“I love you too” she responded “But let’s eat I’m starving”
“And they say that romance is dead” he said with affront
“Oh come on old man, feed me” she retorted
“Old man?” he exclaimed “I’m only four years older than you”
“Exactly, so come on granddad” she called as she strode off ahead of him but when he caught up with her she whispered.
“You can show me how much you love me upstairs later”
Karen and her brother Brian had their own company, Railway Enthusiast, up at Mornington Field, and they were doing very well in the business and personally.
Brian had reunited with the long lost love of his life and Karen was dating a farmer from Smithfield’s Farm, Chris Smith, and in the 9 months they had been together he spent as much time at Karen’s house as he did at the farm.
But in November they were staying at the Worsted Viper Hotel in Purplemere as it was Chris’s 32nd birthday.
On Saturday night he emerged from the bathroom just in time to see Karen, wearing a cocktail dress and walking sexily through a freshly atomized cloud of perfume.
And Chris dressed himself while Karen sat on the bed and applied the final touches to her makeup.
As he walked through reception with such a beautiful girl on his arm he was overcome with intense feelings of love so he came to a stop just before they entered the restaurant and said
“I love you Miss Dawkins”
Karen smiled and kissed him.
“I love you too” she responded “But let’s eat I’m starving”
“And they say that romance is dead” he said with affront
“Oh come on old man, feed me” she retorted
“Old man?” he exclaimed “I’m only four years older than you”
“Exactly, so come on granddad” she called as she strode off ahead of him but when he caught up with her she whispered.
“You can show me how much you love me upstairs later”
Saturday, 10 June 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (77) The Roespring Verger in the Vicarage Garden
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 and our story begins in the affluent village of Roespring.
As Mark Adams took an extended recuperative walk around his neighbourhood in Roespring he was walking ten feet tall.
He had been in and out of hospital for the previous ten years following a bad car accident just after his 15th birthday.
But the reason he walking with such a spring in his step was because of a change in his treatment, a very medicinal treatment in the form of Abigail Evans, who was the verger at St Catherine’s where her Uncle, James Hall, was the vicar.
She was a beautiful red head with pale skin and freckled cheeks with whom he had fallen in love and the special medicine stemmed from the afternoon when they had given each other their innocence and in the month that followed they shared further intimacies and their love had deepened.
The purpose of the walk that afternoon was however less about recuperation and more about killing time until it was time to see his girlfriend Abigail again.
And after about forty minutes he could wait no longer so he headed off towards the vicarage to see her.
On the way he met Reverend Hall coming the other way, he liked the Vicar and although he was desperate to be elsewhere he spent about 10 minutes in conversation with him.
When he arrived at the vicarage he let himself in through the back gate and he found Abigail sitting on a blanket on the lawn reading a book, wearing a green bikini top and on her lower half was a floral sarong, which he presumed was hiding the partner to her bikini top.
Mark approached her on her blind side
“Hello sexy” he said and she almost jumped out of her skin
“Hello” she said blushing as she tried to catch her breath.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said
“Well you did” she retorted
“Yes I did” he admitted “I was trying to scare the pants off you”
“Shush” she replied “Uncle James will hear you”
“It’s ok, he’s gone to the church, I just passed him in the lane” he corrected her
“Oh, ok then give me a kiss”
After a long sustained kiss he said
“Be careful you don’t catch the sun again”
“I have sunscreen on” she replied “but you can always top me up”
“You know what happened the last time I put cream on your back?” he reminded her
“I don’t mind taking a risk” Abigail said and lay face down on the blanket and Mark knelt down next her and perused her pale young body.
Abigail had her head turned to one side and was facing away from him.
He squirted some cream on her back and began to gently rub in the lotion.
“How does that feel?” he asked
“Lovely” she replied
“I need to undo your bikini top honey” Mark said “so I can do it properly”
“Ok” she said dreamily, so he undid it and pulled it softy away from her skin and then he slowly rubbed in the surplus lotion until it was all worked in to her pale freckled skin like a long relaxing massage.
When he had worked in the last of the lotion he gave her a playful slap on her bum cheek and said
“All done”
“Thank you”
“That’s ok it’s the least I could for the girl I love” he said
“What?” she said turning her head to look at him
“I said it’s the least I could do” he repeated
“No the other bit” she asked earnestly “you said the “girl I love””
“Yes that’s right, I love you Abigail Evans” he said proudly
“You do?” she asked
“Yes”
“I love you too” Abigail said and rolled onto her back and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
Abigail was laying on the blanket looking like the cat that got the cream while Mark looked at her.
“You’d better make yourself decent before the vicar gets back from matins” he said wishing they could stay there forever.
Eventually she did make a move and Abigail was just straightening her clothes when her uncle, the vicar, opened the back gate.
As Mark Adams took an extended recuperative walk around his neighbourhood in Roespring he was walking ten feet tall.
He had been in and out of hospital for the previous ten years following a bad car accident just after his 15th birthday.
But the reason he walking with such a spring in his step was because of a change in his treatment, a very medicinal treatment in the form of Abigail Evans, who was the verger at St Catherine’s where her Uncle, James Hall, was the vicar.
She was a beautiful red head with pale skin and freckled cheeks with whom he had fallen in love and the special medicine stemmed from the afternoon when they had given each other their innocence and in the month that followed they shared further intimacies and their love had deepened.
The purpose of the walk that afternoon was however less about recuperation and more about killing time until it was time to see his girlfriend Abigail again.
And after about forty minutes he could wait no longer so he headed off towards the vicarage to see her.
On the way he met Reverend Hall coming the other way, he liked the Vicar and although he was desperate to be elsewhere he spent about 10 minutes in conversation with him.
When he arrived at the vicarage he let himself in through the back gate and he found Abigail sitting on a blanket on the lawn reading a book, wearing a green bikini top and on her lower half was a floral sarong, which he presumed was hiding the partner to her bikini top.
Mark approached her on her blind side
“Hello sexy” he said and she almost jumped out of her skin
“Hello” she said blushing as she tried to catch her breath.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said
“Well you did” she retorted
“Yes I did” he admitted “I was trying to scare the pants off you”
“Shush” she replied “Uncle James will hear you”
“It’s ok, he’s gone to the church, I just passed him in the lane” he corrected her
“Oh, ok then give me a kiss”
After a long sustained kiss he said
“Be careful you don’t catch the sun again”
“I have sunscreen on” she replied “but you can always top me up”
“You know what happened the last time I put cream on your back?” he reminded her
“I don’t mind taking a risk” Abigail said and lay face down on the blanket and Mark knelt down next her and perused her pale young body.
Abigail had her head turned to one side and was facing away from him.
He squirted some cream on her back and began to gently rub in the lotion.
“How does that feel?” he asked
“Lovely” she replied
“I need to undo your bikini top honey” Mark said “so I can do it properly”
“Ok” she said dreamily, so he undid it and pulled it softy away from her skin and then he slowly rubbed in the surplus lotion until it was all worked in to her pale freckled skin like a long relaxing massage.
When he had worked in the last of the lotion he gave her a playful slap on her bum cheek and said
“All done”
“Thank you”
“That’s ok it’s the least I could for the girl I love” he said
“What?” she said turning her head to look at him
“I said it’s the least I could do” he repeated
“No the other bit” she asked earnestly “you said the “girl I love””
“Yes that’s right, I love you Abigail Evans” he said proudly
“You do?” she asked
“Yes”
“I love you too” Abigail said and rolled onto her back and pulled him down so she could kiss him.
Abigail was laying on the blanket looking like the cat that got the cream while Mark looked at her.
“You’d better make yourself decent before the vicar gets back from matins” he said wishing they could stay there forever.
Eventually she did make a move and Abigail was just straightening her clothes when her uncle, the vicar, opened the back gate.
Downshire Diary – (76) The Matchmaker
Olivia Conway was a theatre sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital and she was a rather ordinary looking middle-aged woman just the wrong side of 50.
Olivia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her to perfection, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once strawberry blonde hair was now peppered with grey.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work and many of her colleagues were close friends outside of work.
But when she chose to she could be a private person and didn’t talk about everything in her private life and when she was outside of work she didn’t discuss every aspect of her work.
She had lived in the small Downshire village of Clarence in the Finchbottom Vale for 20 years and was believed to be a lonely soul as she lived alone and had never married.
When she wasn’t working long hours at the Winston Churchill she was heavily involved with Mary of Bethany church and she was very popular with the other congregants.
Olivia was by profession a care giver and in the village she was considered to be an angel of mercy because she would, in her own time, visit parishioners in need, she was also a matchmaker.
Which was why she was visiting Tim Sharpe to try and rally his spirits.
There was nothing physically wrong with Tim, but he was depressed, he was 35 years old and had just lost his beloved wife Debbie to breast cancer and the light in his world had been extinguished so Olivia had decided to relight his candle and show him there were still things in this world worth living for.
The Cancer may have been responsible for taking his wife but to Olivia’s mind Tim’s problem was curable.
To that end she took with her Staff Nurse Selena Brown when after she had failed on her first three visits.
His unmarried sister Linda, was living with him and looking after him but the cure Olivia had in mind was not something his sister should administer, it was love and not familial love.
Linda let them in and then excused herself as she had some shopping to do.
Olivia and Selena walked up the stairs and found Tim lying in his bed in the unlit room with his eyes closed as if he’d fallen asleep.
But she knew he was awake, he was pretending to be asleep so that she wouldn’t be able to shower him with banalities and clichés and encouragements to make him pull himself together.
“Hello Tim” she said but there was no response as she slipped off her coat.
“I’ve bought someone with me today” she said “This is Selena”
As she had gone to his house straight from work she was still wearing her sister’s uniform, as was Selena.
“Oh dear it seems he not interested” Selena said “Oh well it appears he’s not interested in we angels of mercy”
“Oh well lets go then” Olivia said “We do have people to see who do want us to be there”
“No don’t go” he said as they reached the door
After three weeks she stopped taking Selena with her as she had by that stage already started to visit him on her own so she started to take her next door neighbour Darren with her but not for Tim’s benefit Darren was there for his sister Linda’s benefit.
So by the end of the summer Olivia was feeling very pleased with herself, partly because she had helped Tim back from the dead so to speak by giving him something else to live for in the form of Selena Brown but also because she had, after taking Darren with her on her visits given Linda a reason to leave the house other than doing some shopping.
If only she could find someone for herself.
Olivia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her to perfection, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once strawberry blonde hair was now peppered with grey.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work and many of her colleagues were close friends outside of work.
But when she chose to she could be a private person and didn’t talk about everything in her private life and when she was outside of work she didn’t discuss every aspect of her work.
She had lived in the small Downshire village of Clarence in the Finchbottom Vale for 20 years and was believed to be a lonely soul as she lived alone and had never married.
When she wasn’t working long hours at the Winston Churchill she was heavily involved with Mary of Bethany church and she was very popular with the other congregants.
Olivia was by profession a care giver and in the village she was considered to be an angel of mercy because she would, in her own time, visit parishioners in need, she was also a matchmaker.
Which was why she was visiting Tim Sharpe to try and rally his spirits.
There was nothing physically wrong with Tim, but he was depressed, he was 35 years old and had just lost his beloved wife Debbie to breast cancer and the light in his world had been extinguished so Olivia had decided to relight his candle and show him there were still things in this world worth living for.
The Cancer may have been responsible for taking his wife but to Olivia’s mind Tim’s problem was curable.
To that end she took with her Staff Nurse Selena Brown when after she had failed on her first three visits.
His unmarried sister Linda, was living with him and looking after him but the cure Olivia had in mind was not something his sister should administer, it was love and not familial love.
Linda let them in and then excused herself as she had some shopping to do.
Olivia and Selena walked up the stairs and found Tim lying in his bed in the unlit room with his eyes closed as if he’d fallen asleep.
But she knew he was awake, he was pretending to be asleep so that she wouldn’t be able to shower him with banalities and clichés and encouragements to make him pull himself together.
“Hello Tim” she said but there was no response as she slipped off her coat.
“I’ve bought someone with me today” she said “This is Selena”
As she had gone to his house straight from work she was still wearing her sister’s uniform, as was Selena.
“Oh dear it seems he not interested” Selena said “Oh well it appears he’s not interested in we angels of mercy”
“Oh well lets go then” Olivia said “We do have people to see who do want us to be there”
“No don’t go” he said as they reached the door
After three weeks she stopped taking Selena with her as she had by that stage already started to visit him on her own so she started to take her next door neighbour Darren with her but not for Tim’s benefit Darren was there for his sister Linda’s benefit.
So by the end of the summer Olivia was feeling very pleased with herself, partly because she had helped Tim back from the dead so to speak by giving him something else to live for in the form of Selena Brown but also because she had, after taking Darren with her on her visits given Linda a reason to leave the house other than doing some shopping.
If only she could find someone for herself.
Mornington-By-Mere – (76) On The Beach
It was in the late 1980’s when Neil Hagger, a Uniform Police Constable in Mornington, was on holiday with a group of fellow officers.
They were staying in an apartment on the Island of Andros in the Cyclades chain.
It was a quiet island due to the fact it was a two hour ferry ride from the mainland but Neil thought it was worth it.
The lads had been there for two days when quite by chance they met up with some familiar faces.
A group of girls from the Vale and among them was Julie Street a girl he had known at school, who he hadn’t seen for several years.
There had always been something smouldering between them, although they had never been out together, they had come close once or twice but it never quite happened for them, and he assumed it never would.
But there they both were, on the same island at the same time and neither of them had any attachments.
And so it was on Agia Marina beach one warm and balmy night when the fates finally aligned and their destiny was fulfilled.
First of all they just walked together hand in hand in the moonlight but very soon their thoughts turned to the possibility of carnal delights.
The beach was deserted apart from the two of them and when they stopped to kiss it proved to be the prelude to something more and all the years of want and desire came to fruition on the deserted beach.
Then later in the moonlight they lay naked on the sand and smoked cheap Greek cigarettes in the afterglow.
They were staying in an apartment on the Island of Andros in the Cyclades chain.
It was a quiet island due to the fact it was a two hour ferry ride from the mainland but Neil thought it was worth it.
The lads had been there for two days when quite by chance they met up with some familiar faces.
A group of girls from the Vale and among them was Julie Street a girl he had known at school, who he hadn’t seen for several years.
There had always been something smouldering between them, although they had never been out together, they had come close once or twice but it never quite happened for them, and he assumed it never would.
But there they both were, on the same island at the same time and neither of them had any attachments.
And so it was on Agia Marina beach one warm and balmy night when the fates finally aligned and their destiny was fulfilled.
First of all they just walked together hand in hand in the moonlight but very soon their thoughts turned to the possibility of carnal delights.
The beach was deserted apart from the two of them and when they stopped to kiss it proved to be the prelude to something more and all the years of want and desire came to fruition on the deserted beach.
Then later in the moonlight they lay naked on the sand and smoked cheap Greek cigarettes in the afterglow.
Friday, 9 June 2017
Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (76) Miss Kirby and the Stranger
(Part 01)
Virginia Kirby was a ward sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital and she was a rather plain middle-aged woman just the wrong side of 50.
Virginia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her stout shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her perfectly, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once black hair was now streaked with grey and bore what Catherine Cookson fans would recognise as the “Mallen streak”.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work but none of her colleagues knew her outside of work and assumed she was just a sad lonely spinster.
That was due in part to the fact that she was a private person and didn’t talk of her private life and also because those who had happened to see her outside of work reported back that she was a frump as she choose to dress in the twin set and tweed style because sartorially Virginia was a sensible shoes and utilitarian tights kind of woman.
Even people from the village of Dulcet St Mary, where she had lived for 20 years believed her to be a sad lonely old soul and many of them referred to her as “the prudish Miss Kirby” or “virginal Virginia” or “the dried up old spinster”.
But as more than one man had found out over the years to their surprise beneath the frumpy exterior lay a hidden warmth.
The other thing that tended to reinforce the stereotype was her heavy involvement with St Mary’s church but even the other congregants were unaware of her true nature.
Which was why when a new curate arrived at St Mary’s and was in need of lodgings Virginal Virginia was as always the obvious choice.
Being single and living in a four bedroom house she always had room for a lodger and being the epitome of respectability and a dried up old virgin to boot there was never a hint of impropriety.
So that was how it came about that the new curate, 34 year old Colin Ash, came to be knocking on Virginia’s front door one cold winters evening and he found the Hospitality in the Kirby household to be much warmer than he was expecting when he fell in love with Virginia’s niece Molly.
Which was why, when a blizzard closed the local roads and 50 year old Sharpington resident Tony Malley couldn’t get home, and was stranded in Dulcet St Mary with nowhere to stay for the night, Colin Ash knew the solution to his vagrancy.
Colin knew that his landlady had the cure for his predicament as he had been on the receiving end himself.
“Come with me” he said “Miss Kirby will fix you up”
“Are you sure?” Tony asked
“Very sure” he replied
(Part 02)
Colin Ash and Tony Malley trudged their way together from the church to Virginia’s house through the falling snow.
“Here we are” Colin said as he unlocked the door
“I just need to change, if you wait in the lounge I’ll join you shortly”
“Ok” he concurred and he opened the door to the lounge as Colin climbed the stairs smiling broadly as it gave him the opportunity for a quick 5 minutes with his fiancé.
When he entered the room he found a skinny middle aged woman with a pretty face, blue eyes, soft shoulder length brown hair, wearing a black cocktail dress, thick black tights and heels.
“Miss Kirby?” he said
“Yes” she replied with a smile
“Oh” he exclaimed
“Oh I see, I’m Not the “Virginal Virginia” you were expecting” she said
“No”
“Are you disappointed?” she asked
“Not at all” he replied
“Well I don’t normally look like this” she said and he raised an eyebrow
“I’ve been to a drinks party” she explained
“Well you look very nice” Tony said
“Thank you” she said and kicked off her shoes and sat on the sofa with her legs up.
“I’m Tony Malley by the way”
“Virginia” she responded and shook his hand “I take it you are looking for a room”
“Yes Colin said you might be able to help” He explained “You are apparently a local treasure”
“Well yes I do have a room” Virginia said “But I am unable to offer you an evening meal”
“That’s not a problem” he said “I could get us a chip supper”
“Oh that would be lovely” she said and smiled
Colin was just coming down the stairs as Tony left the lounge and he said
“Everything ok?”
“Yes, I’m just off to find the chip shop” Tony replied turning up his collar
“Excellent I’ll keep you company and show you the way” Colin said amiably
As he returned to the house with 3 fish suppers, he reflected on his good fortune at being a guest of Miss Kirby who he supposed, from what he had heard to be an old maid, who’d been left on the shelf, and was a dried up old spinster, but had turned out to be a different prospect all together.
He very much enjoyed his enforced stay at Miss Kirby’s while the heavy snow fall kept him in Dulcet St Mary for two days, but her amiable company kept him there for a further two days after the roads had reopened.
And in the months that followed he became a frequent visitor to Virginia Kirby’s house because they had fallen in love.
Virginia Kirby was a ward sister at the Winston Churchill Hospital and she was a rather plain middle-aged woman just the wrong side of 50.
Virginia was five foot six inches tall and very trim, and stood an inch or so taller in her stout shoes, and her sisters uniform fitted her perfectly, tapered at the waist where the broad belt sat.
Her once black hair was now streaked with grey and bore what Catherine Cookson fans would recognise as the “Mallen streak”.
She was always smiling, but the ageing in her face wasn’t all due to laughter lines, life’s hardships and experiences were etched into her face as well, each line and furrow an event and for those who could read such signs it was like her résumé.
She was well-liked and respected at work but none of her colleagues knew her outside of work and assumed she was just a sad lonely spinster.
That was due in part to the fact that she was a private person and didn’t talk of her private life and also because those who had happened to see her outside of work reported back that she was a frump as she choose to dress in the twin set and tweed style because sartorially Virginia was a sensible shoes and utilitarian tights kind of woman.
Even people from the village of Dulcet St Mary, where she had lived for 20 years believed her to be a sad lonely old soul and many of them referred to her as “the prudish Miss Kirby” or “virginal Virginia” or “the dried up old spinster”.
But as more than one man had found out over the years to their surprise beneath the frumpy exterior lay a hidden warmth.
The other thing that tended to reinforce the stereotype was her heavy involvement with St Mary’s church but even the other congregants were unaware of her true nature.
Which was why when a new curate arrived at St Mary’s and was in need of lodgings Virginal Virginia was as always the obvious choice.
Being single and living in a four bedroom house she always had room for a lodger and being the epitome of respectability and a dried up old virgin to boot there was never a hint of impropriety.
So that was how it came about that the new curate, 34 year old Colin Ash, came to be knocking on Virginia’s front door one cold winters evening and he found the Hospitality in the Kirby household to be much warmer than he was expecting when he fell in love with Virginia’s niece Molly.
Which was why, when a blizzard closed the local roads and 50 year old Sharpington resident Tony Malley couldn’t get home, and was stranded in Dulcet St Mary with nowhere to stay for the night, Colin Ash knew the solution to his vagrancy.
Colin knew that his landlady had the cure for his predicament as he had been on the receiving end himself.
“Come with me” he said “Miss Kirby will fix you up”
“Are you sure?” Tony asked
“Very sure” he replied
(Part 02)
Colin Ash and Tony Malley trudged their way together from the church to Virginia’s house through the falling snow.
“Here we are” Colin said as he unlocked the door
“I just need to change, if you wait in the lounge I’ll join you shortly”
“Ok” he concurred and he opened the door to the lounge as Colin climbed the stairs smiling broadly as it gave him the opportunity for a quick 5 minutes with his fiancé.
When he entered the room he found a skinny middle aged woman with a pretty face, blue eyes, soft shoulder length brown hair, wearing a black cocktail dress, thick black tights and heels.
“Miss Kirby?” he said
“Yes” she replied with a smile
“Oh” he exclaimed
“Oh I see, I’m Not the “Virginal Virginia” you were expecting” she said
“No”
“Are you disappointed?” she asked
“Not at all” he replied
“Well I don’t normally look like this” she said and he raised an eyebrow
“I’ve been to a drinks party” she explained
“Well you look very nice” Tony said
“Thank you” she said and kicked off her shoes and sat on the sofa with her legs up.
“I’m Tony Malley by the way”
“Virginia” she responded and shook his hand “I take it you are looking for a room”
“Yes Colin said you might be able to help” He explained “You are apparently a local treasure”
“Well yes I do have a room” Virginia said “But I am unable to offer you an evening meal”
“That’s not a problem” he said “I could get us a chip supper”
“Oh that would be lovely” she said and smiled
Colin was just coming down the stairs as Tony left the lounge and he said
“Everything ok?”
“Yes, I’m just off to find the chip shop” Tony replied turning up his collar
“Excellent I’ll keep you company and show you the way” Colin said amiably
As he returned to the house with 3 fish suppers, he reflected on his good fortune at being a guest of Miss Kirby who he supposed, from what he had heard to be an old maid, who’d been left on the shelf, and was a dried up old spinster, but had turned out to be a different prospect all together.
He very much enjoyed his enforced stay at Miss Kirby’s while the heavy snow fall kept him in Dulcet St Mary for two days, but her amiable company kept him there for a further two days after the roads had reopened.
And in the months that followed he became a frequent visitor to Virginia Kirby’s house because they had fallen in love.
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