It was late morning on a bright
Spring day in Shallowfield as Daniel Jane limped into the Dancingdean Heath
Centre.
After a few taps on the touch screen
in reception he was checked in and walked uncomfortably into the waiting room
where he sat down.
He was about ten minutes early
because he wasn’t sure how long it would take him to hobble to the centre and
as the appointments always seemed to run approximately twenty minutes late he
decided to kill some time by indulging one of his guilty pleasures and began to
people watch, by perusing his fellow patients.
He immediately identified three of
the nine as worthy only of a frown, as they were all using their mobile phones,
despite the abundance of signage demanding the opposite, he didn’t like that,
probably because he was an actor and mobile phones in the theatre were one of
his pet hates, so he consigned them to the “unworthy of further consideration”
category and moved on in the hope of more interesting fare.
Alas the next two offered little to
whet his appetite so he moved on again to a forty something woman in a smart
suit and a Fedora hat who seemed, at least on the surface, to be interesting,
but then her corpse like companion, some years her senior, said something
amusing and she let out a laugh reminiscent of a drowning hyena and all of a
sudden she wasn’t interesting anymore.
Having relegated “Fedora” to the dull
list he moved on to his 8th companion who kept his interest for
longer than the previous seven combined, though only because he reminded him of
an actor, which he could neither remember the name of, or any of the programs
or films he may have been in, which was particularly galling as he was in the
business, and it might even have been someone he worked with.
Dan would have continued on his quest
to trawl the corners of his mind until his identity eventually dawned on him,
but then something about the actors neighbour caught his eye.
It was a girl’s foot, or more
precisely, a girls trainer, which was wiggling furiously, but after that he
noticed the six inches of naked, lightly tanned, flesh between the top of her
Barbie Pink trainer sock and the navy blue cotton of her trousers, and that was
enough to pique his interest and prompted him to further investigation.
By the time his gaze began the ascent
up her skinny limb to where her legs crossed, two of their number had been
summoned by the disembodied voice over the PA and then his view was temporarily
obscured by “Fedora” and “Skelator”, but when his eyes finally reached the
summit he noted that the upper leg, from the knee down, swung and her foot
continued to wiggle as she concentrated on the book laid open on her lap,
periodically a small hand turned the page, each finger adorned with vivid
multicoloured nails, not vulgar silicon talons, but neater and more stylish,
not to mention practical.
Above the waist she had reverted to
pink again in the form of a scoop necked top beneath a camel coloured fur
trimmed faux sheepskin coat.
He couldn’t see her face as her eyes
were fixed on the book as her soft brown curls hung forward.
Another victim was called by the
mystery voice leaving only four patients, two of the “unworthy of further
consideration” mobile phone users at one end, and Daniel and the mystery girl
at the other, and just as their fellow patient had passed between them she
looked up and smiled and he got his first look at her face, which was pretty
and framed by her shoulder length brunette hair.
He had always been rubbish at judging
ages, but he surmised mid to late twenties, so not far off his own age.
Daniel returned her smile and noted
the title of the book on her lap for the first time, Bleak House by Charles
Dickens.
“Ah a Dickens fan” he said his eyes
flicking toward the book.
“Yes, very much” she replied in soft
velvet tone
“Me too” Dan said
“Oh really?” she said doubtfully “So
which is your favourite?”
“That’s a very difficult question to
answer” Dan replied
“Isn’t it” she retorted doubting his
sincerity but then he added
“The ones I’ve reread most are the
Novellas. The Signalman, Cricket on the Heart and of course, A Christmas Carol,
but of his Novels it would have to be Great Expectations”
“So you are a fan” she said closing
her book and leaning forward
“Absolutely, I love his
characterising and the social commentary but also his dry humour” he said as
another patient was summoned
“Example?”
“Well one of my favourite quotes is “I think the
Romans must have aggravated one another very much, with their noses….”
“Perhaps, they became the restless people they
were, in consequence” she interrupted “it’s nice to meet a fellow devotee”
“Mr Jane?” a middle-aged woman queried
“Yes, that’s me” he said and struggled to his feet,
almost stumbling, but he got his stick in place just in time.
“Steady” the mystery girl said, “You don’t want
another calamity” and then she chuckled
“Don’t get up, the Doctors not ready
for you just yet” the receptionist said handing him a form “we just need a few
more details for our records”
“Ok no problem” Daniel said as he sat
back down again and as he did so he noticed the girl was still chuckling
“What’s amusing you?” he asked good
naturedly
“Calamity Jane” she replied and
laughed out loud as the final patient was called
“You shouldn’t mock the afflicted” he
said and laughed as well
“What happened to you anyway?” she
asked
“I fell off the stage” Daniel replied
“What? You mean you fell off the
Deadwood Stage?” She said and laughed loudly
“No, the Yvonne Arnaud Stage
Guildford” he retorted and they both laughed and then the call came over the PA
“Mr Jane! Room 4 please”
“It can’t be my turn; you were here
ages before me” he said as he got unsteadily to his feet
“Oh I’m not here for an appointment I
have an interview, I was just super early”
“You don’t look like an interviewee”
He said looking at her casual attire
“I know” she agreed “my interview
wasn’t supposed to be until tomorrow evening, but they asked me if they could
bring it forward” she explained
“I agreed but as I didn’t have time
to get home and change I said they would have to take me as I am”
“Mr Jane! Room 4 please” the PA
instructed again
“I’d better go” he said “It was
lovely to meet you…”
“Ruby”
“It was lovely to meet you Ruby” Dan
said as he began to walk away
“And you are?”
“Daniel” he said “Good luck with the
interview”
“Thank you” Ruby responded “Bye
Calam”
When he had finished with the Doctor,
he put his head round the door of the waiting room hoping to find Ruby still
sitting there, but he was disappointed.
He left the Health Centre and sighed
because he’d just remembered that he’d walked there and now faced an
uncomfortable return trip.
His thought process earlier in the
day was that a short walk would give his knee a bit of gentle exercise and
loosen things up a bit, however he was wrong.
Daniel decided against walking back
immediately and as it was lunchtime, he would have a pub lunch and a couple of
pints of muscle relaxant, after which if he didn’t feel up to the walk he would
get an Uber.
There were three pubs at the Health
Centre end of Shallowfield, The Woodman’s Axe, The Woodcutters Arms and The
Foresters, and the names clearly reflected Shallowfield’s dependence on
forestry over the centuries, the pubs at the other end of town had more of an
agricultural flavour in their naming, the Wheatsheaf, the Plough and the
Farmers Tavern, but he went to the closest which was the Woodcutters.
After demolishing a very acceptable
Steak and Ale pie and two pints of Mornington Ale he was sat at the bar and was
just deliberating whether to have a third or to make a move, when he saw a
sight that almost put his pain to the back of his mind, Ruby the Dickens girl.
It was the first time he had seen her
full figure, which was small, neat and slim, and he
liked what he saw, and then a smile of recognition as he came under the gaze of
her warm brown eyes.
“Hello again” he said “I might be
mistaken but it looked like you were expecting to see me”
“I saw you limping up the steps as I
was going in for my interview” she replied with a smile
“Talking of which, how did you get
on?”
“I got the job” she replied and
beamed
“That’s great, pull up a stool and
tell me all about it” he said and as she climbed onto the adjacent stool he
added “Would you like a drink?”
“A diet coke please and I could
murder a sandwich” Ruby said and gave him a cheeky grin
“Well, they do an excellent Crab
salad in granary that I can highly recommend” he suggested
“Oh lovely”
Daniel ordered her sandwich and two
diet cokes and then said
“Great news about the job”
“Yes, I’m so pleased” Ruby retorted
“I was very nervous”
“Is that why you kept wiggling your
foot?” he asked
“Yes, I do that when I’m nervous” she
admitted
“Like you are now” Dan pointed out
“Ah yes but I’m nervous for a
different reason” she replied and blushed
“So, tell me about the
job” he asked changing the subject to hide her embarrassment, “you never
mentioned what the interview was for”
“You are looking at the
new
Dancingdean Heath Centre practice nurse,
phlebotomist, master clinic organiser, home visitor and all-round tour de
force”
Just then the waitress
arrived and put the plate in front of her containing a huge sandwich a pile of
crisps and a mixed salad.
“My goodness” she
exclaimed “it’s almost as big as me”
“Perhaps we should
adjourn to a table, with you perched on a stool I’m not sure who’d win if it
decided to fight and it has the height advantage” he said, and she was
chuckling delightfully as she slithered off the stool.
After moving to the
nearest empty table, he chatted to her as he sat and watched her hoover up
every scrap of food from her plate.
“That was so good” she
exclaimed as she wiped an errant smudge of dressing off her lip.
“That was a good choice”
“You seemed to enjoy it”
he said and then winced as he adjusted his position on his chair
“A fine Nurse I am, I
didn’t even ask how your knee is?”
“Hurting like hell” he
admitted with a wince
“Cortisone injection?”
she queried
“Yes, two”
“You’ll feel the benefit
later” Ruby reassured him
“I do hope so” he said
“Well, that’s my Angel of
Mercy duty fulfilled and now I could use your local knowledge….” She began
“Oh, I don’t really have
any” he interrupted “I only moved here about 3 weeks ago”
“Sorry I thought you were
a local” she said “Don’t worry”
“I wish I could help, but
being laid up with this” he said squeezing his knee “I only really know the
Health Centre, the Pub, Gunasekara’s General
Store and the Lake”
“Teardrop Lake?” she said excitedly
“Yes, that’s right”
“That’s what I need to find” she said,
and he raised his eyebrow in response, so she explained
“The Health Centre has a few
properties near the Lake and one of them is vacant which I can take if I want”
“What? like tied
accommodation?” he asked
“Not really, it’s not
part of my package” She replied “it’s probably a bit naff anyway”
“There are no naff
properties by the lake” Dan said “Far from it”
“Really?” she asked “it
really would be handy, and I wouldn’t need to commute from Purplemere everyday”
“You’re from Purplemere?”
“Yes, why?”
“So am I” he said “Hill
Side, my parents still live in Oakham Crescent”
“Mine are in Cherry Tree Avenue” she
said and then added “and I still live at home”
“Have you ever left the nest?”
“No” she admitted
“Oh dear, you really need to look at
that property” he said and chuckled
“I do don’t I” she admitted and
pulled a face
“So, can you show me the way to the
Lake?”
“Of course, I can”
“Thank you” Ruby said and drained her
glass “Where are you parked?”
“Up by the Lake” he replied with
surprise
“You mean you walked to the centre?”
“I did” he confessed
“You stupid man” she snapped “What
were you thinking”
“It seemed like a good idea at the
time” he said sheepishly
“It’s no wonder this is hurting” she
said and put her hand on his knee, then she blushed after she left it there
longer then she intended.
“You’ll have to ride shotgun then”
she added and removed her hand
“So what’s the address?” He asked
after they had both got in her car, and in response she delved in her handbag
“It’s quite Dickensian sounding” Ruby
responded and then fished out a piece of paper
“Number 3 Folly Cottages”
“Folly Cottages? We’re going to be
neighbours then” he exclaimed “My flat is across the road in Dancingdean Hall”
“That’ll be lovely” she retorted
rather too enthusiastically and felt herself blush again
“Ok let’s go” he said to
cover her embarrassment
“I don’t know where I’m
going, so you’ll have to direct me” She replied
“Turn left out of the car
park and you’ll see the sign for Teardrop Lake on the right”
They drove the short distance along
the road and turned into the lane which took them past the Shallowfield Lodge
Hotel, then they crossed the
bridge over the River Brooke which flowed from the head of
the lake and on towards Shallowfield, Mornington and beyond, and then the Lake
was suddenly in front of them.
“Wow” she said and brought the car to
a halt at the end of the lane, to take in the view.
The
lake was shaped like a teardrop, hence its name, and surrounded by the ancient
woodland of the Dancingdean Forest.
It
wasn’t a huge body of water, just over two miles long and almost a mile at its
widest point.
“Lovely”
she added
“Very”
he agreed but he wasn’t looking at the lake
In
front of the Shallowfield Lodge Hotel the lane joined the perimeter road which
encircled the lake, but they needed to take the northern side.
“Go
left here” Dan said
“Ok”
she complied
“Mine
is the 4th House on the right” he added “and yours is on the left”
“It must be lovely to live here” she
said
“Yes” he agreed “it’s just a shame I
haven’t been able to get out and enjoy it”
“So how did you come to live here?”
she asked “Is Dancingdean Hall a convalescent Home for clumsy actors?”
He had to wait for her to stop
guffawing before he could reply but he was laughing as well to be fare.
“It’s my friends’ apartment, he
landed a part in sci-fi series in the States,” he said “So he said I could make
use of it while he was away”
“So, it’s only temporary?” she asked
unable to keep the alarm from her voice, which didn’t go unnoticed
“Yes” he replied and left a long
pause before adding “If you consider two years to be temporary”
“You swine” she exclaimed and gave
him a playful punch
“Ow, what kind of an Angel of Mercy
are you?”
“Have you heard of Nurse Ratched?”
she retorted and they both laughed
“That’s me just ahead” Daniel remarked “That lane
on the left leads up to the Cottages”
“Ok
I see it”
“If you drop me here, you can come in
for a coffee when you’ve finished viewing, I’m in flat C, I may actually have
climbed the stairs by then” he said and chuckled
“Aren’t you going to come with me?” she
asked in her alarmed voice, which confirmed to him that he had made as much of
an impression on her as she had on him.
“I don’t want to intrude” he said
“You
won’t be, please come,” she begged “Then we can go back to yours for coffee,
and I can help you up the stairs”
“Ok
then, if you’re sure” he said trying to exude indifference, which was the complete
opposite of what he felt inside.
“You need to go up this little lane
on the left”
As directed, she drove up the narrow
lane, which wound its way through the forest until they emerged into the open
and came to a stop outside a row of three cottages situated high above the
northern perimeter road in a pleasant rocky glade.
Although it wasn’t obvious to the
casual observer there were originally six dwellings, but after conversion there
were only three terraced cottages, the two end ones had two bedroom and the one
in the middle had one.
Once upon a time they were home to
humble peasants who worked the woods, but now many of the old woodsman’s skills
were no longer required, and if they were the peasantry wouldn’t be able to
afford to live anywhere near the lake.
Dan and Ruby got out of the car and
gave the cottages a cursory glance before taking in the surrounding scenery and
the view of the lake was spectacular,
much of the modest body of water was obscured from view from their vantagepoint
but it was beautiful, even though they couldn’t see it all, or discern the
teardrop shape that gave the lake its name, but the view of the surrounding
ancient woodland of the Dancingdean Forest was nonetheless majestic.
They stood viewing the vista ahead of
them in silence for a full five minutes as they drank in the view.
“So beautiful” Ruby said wistfully
“Absolutely” he agreed but he was no
longer looking at the lake, and she blushed when she realised, so to spare her
blushes he added
“It will be a real shame if the cottage
turns out to be a hovel”
“I don’t care, if I get to see this
view every day” she said and took hold of his hand “Let’s go and inspect the
hovel”
They walked to the door of number 3
with Ruby holding his hand tightly and clearly refusing to relinquish it as she
put the key in the lock with her free hand, she then turned it, and when the
lock yielded the door swung open to reveal the hallway.
Reluctantly she released his hand and
stepped inside, there was a staircase on the right-hand side, with an under
stairs cupboard, and two doors, one directly ahead and another opposite the
stairs, to the left.
“It doesn’t look much like a hovel so
far” she said and opened the first door, which it turned out led to the
kitchen, which was a good size and looked pristine, so Dan commented
“It doesn’t look like much cooking
was done in here by the previous tenant”
“There won’t be much done by the new
one either” Ruby said and left the room
“Don’t tell me you can’t cook” he
said and followed her
“I’ve never needed to” she said
defensively “My mum is an excellent cook”
“So is mine, but I still learned to
cook” he pointed out “And anyway your mums culinary prowess isn’t going to help
if you’re living here”
“You can cook for me” she said
cheekily and kissed his cheek before opening the door at the end of the hall.
“Wow” she exclaimed as she walked
into the lounge/dining room
“This isn’t like a hovel at all”
“Definitely not Dickensian” he added
It was a large, unfurnished room,
with French Doors that opened out onto a patio in a small sun trap of a garden.
After inspecting the little garden,
she ran back in the house and through the lounge.
“Where are you going now?” he asked
“I want to check upstairs” she
shouted over her shoulder
“Ok, I’ll wait here”
Daniel elected to stay put as knee
wasn’t up to the climb so he sat on a stone bench in the garden to rest his
leg.
He sat there looking at
the very epitome of an English country cottage, with the addition of fitted
carpets, net curtains, and drapes throughout, it would be very cosy once it was furnished, and the setting was simply
idyllic.
He just hoped she would
take it, the cottage would suit her very well, and it mattered to him that she
would be so close, as he had fallen for her.
He was amazed as he’d
barely known her anytime at all, and it was not typical behaviour for him, he
was ordinarily a cautious person, but Ruby was not ordinary, in fact she was
extraordinary, he just hoped she had fallen in love with the cottage and
its location as much as he had fallen in love with her.
He
also hoped she found Teardrop Lake as idyllic and peaceful as he did, although
he had trouble sleeping for the first few days as there was little or no noise
pollution, but he loved it, with any luck Ruby would too.
He was still musing on the incredible
turn the day had taken for him when Ruby bounded out through the French doors
like an excited Tigger.
“I love it Daniel” she exclaimed
excitedly “I really love it and I really want to live here”
And she bounded up to him as he got
to his feet and hugged him enthusiastically but broke off abruptly.
“Sorry, I got a bit carried away”
“I’m not complaining” he retorted,
and she smiled but was blushing scarlet as she turned back towards the house.
“I think you will be very cosy here
once you move all your things in” he said as he followed her, and in response
she suddenly stopped in her tracks and as she turned around to face him she had
her hands on her face which was wearing an expression like Macaulay Culkin
in Home Alone.
“What’s the matter?” he asked with concern
“I haven’t got any” she replied
“Any what?”
“Things, furniture and stuff” she
explained “I still live at home remember”
“Oh, I see” he said sympathetically
“I have a bit of savings, but not
enough to furnish a whole house from scratch” Ruby said sadly “And I can’t
afford to buy it all on credit, not on my Nurses salary”
“You don’t need to” Dan said taking
hold of her hands
“Firstly, you don’t need to furnish
the whole place and second you don’t need to buy new, O’Sullivan and
Springthorpe in Shallowfield sell good quality second hand furniture, or
there’s that Old Department Store in Purplemere that’s been taken over by one
of the Charities”
“I hadn’t thought of that” she said
quietly
“So, you could get the essentials now
and add bits or trade up as your finances allow” he added
“You know you’re quite sensible for a
clumsy actor prone to falling off the stage” Ruby said and giggled
“But you’ll have to come with me and
help me move in”
“So not only do I have to cook for
you, I’m also your personal shopper and delivery man” he pointed out
In response Ruby gave him a beaming
smile and then she kissed him slowly and deliberately and when she had finished,
she said.
“I’m not sorry for doing that”
“So why have you stopped” Dan
retorted, and they kissed again
