Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (96) Christmas in the Attic

 

Christmas was just around the corner for the inhabitants of Highfinch which nestled on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills where the Lily Green Hollows Golf Club separated the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, which made up the parish of St Martins Church and between Lily Green and the sleepy hamlet of Kingfisherbridge was where Alex Trafford lived and since it was only a few weeks before Christmas, his divorcee sister Kate and his niece India were staying with him, which was how it had been for the previous eight years, ever since her divorce, and he saw no reason to deviate from the norm that year.

Northerly winds shrieked through the trees, carrying winter on its coat tails, as they wrapped themselves around the house and tried to shake it from its foundations with all their spiteful might as the freezing rain and snow, they carried streaked down the double glazing, creating eerie shadows on the walls which were at odds with the glow from the hearth.

It was cozy and safe inside the house as he watched the fury of the storm outside until he shivered, so he pulled the curtains together and shut out the stormy vision.

 

His sister Kate and her daughter India were in the kitchen making Christmas cookies, mince pies, Christmas cake and pastries and the smell of cinnamon, spices and ginger was mouth-watering but he knew from experience that they wouldn’t let him have one, Amy would have done, she always did.

But Amy was gone now, gone forever and he missed her so much, but it was the first Christmas since her death and he didn’t know what to do without her, he didn’t know where he fitted in.

When Amy was alive, she steered the ship and he was her first mate, but now he was cut adrift and rudderless.

 

He sat down in his chair by the fire and looked at the Christmas Tree and winced, trimming the tree was Amy’s forte and what he had done was a pale imitation which was when he decided mainly for want of something to do, to get up and go in search of more decorations.

He opened the hatch and pulled down the ladder and climbed the steps to the loft and sought out the decorations that he hoped would improve the appearance of the tree.

It was a large house and subsequently it had a large loft and after more than twenty years living there the loft was an absolute treasure trove.

He switched on the light, and he muttered to himself as the dim light from the LED bulb did little better than a candle like glow which created weird and wonderful, if weak and feeble, shapes all over the loft.

He was of his time and much preferred light bulbs that came on to maximum brightness the moment you flicked the switch.

He knew it would brighten eventually he would just have preferred it to be immediate.

 

There were huge trunks and boxes full of old clothes and shoes, old books of his fathers and toys from his childhood and so many other memories were stored in the loft.

The winds took on new life up in the roof space, howling like a banshee as granular snow and hailstones beat its staccato rhythm on the roof and the unearthly soundtrack put him in an eerie frame of mind.
He momentarily forgot the reason for his trip to the attic, as he started to ponder what treasures he might rediscover.

Then he remembered why he was there and opened a box but only found some of his sister Kates old dolls.

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure which made him jump but when he looked closer it was just an old dress maker’s dummy.

But he felt himself drawn to that corner of the loft and in particular a large oak chest.

He knelt down in front of it and unbuckled the leather strap and lifted the lid and instantly new what it contained even if he could see inside the plastic cover, it was his wife’s wedding dress, he hadn’t seen it since their wedding day or touched the silk folds and felt their softness against his skin since that wonderful day.

She had packed it lovingly away because she dreamed that one day her daughter would wear it on her wedding day, a common enough dream for a mother.

Sadly they were never blessed with a little girl, not a boy for that matter, it wasn’t to be for them, and it was his one regret, that he was unable to give her a child.
Suddenly he felt compelled to touch the soft cool silk, so he carefully unzipped the bag and tentatively reached for the silk and in the instant his fingers touched the fabric, the dress makers dummy seemed to come to life and he looked up and found himself staring mesmerized at what appeared to be his darling wife Amy as she was on that wonderful day in June all those years ago when they were married at St Martins Church, and he sighed to see her sweet smiling face with sparkling blue eyes.

The tone of the wind seemed to change at that point and it seemed to have been replaced by church bells and wedding music, he knew it wasn’t possible but he couldn’t move and didn’t want to for that matter.

“I miss you so much” he said to the apparition and he felt soft kisses on his neck and he sighed again

Just at that moment he was brought back to the moment by a call from the landing

“Uncle Alex! Lunch is ready”

“Ok I’ll be right down” he said and the blissful moment had gone.

He zipped the garment bag up again, closed the lid of the trunk and re-buckled the strap, then he walked back to the ladder but looked back as he descended and she was there again smiling at him and softly said

“I will be with you always”

“Thank you” he responded and as he continued his descent she added

“And the tree looks fine darling”

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (95) The Christmas Surprise

 

In this noisy city he made his way through the darkness as the people rushed by at a frantic pace as a quiet hush fell with a fall of snowflakes and the holiday rush seemed to slow down if only briefly.

It was Christmas Eve, and he had been summoned, and as he had no other place to be, he went along.
Bay View House was a large detached Victorian House sitting on a two acre plot so he walked up the gravel drive. 

He turned the key he had been given in the lock and stepped into the house of a man he didn't know.

The house was lit with an abundance of Christmas lights that twinkled against the red brickwork.
The door was stained cedar red and sported a fresh wreath bearing a banner that said “Ho, Ho, Ho”

 

The lights were on inside the house but it appeared there was no one home but it was warm and cozy and as he had walked the icy streets through heavy snow for twenty minutes to get to the house he welcomed it.

But he didn’t know what to do next, the letter he received at the hotel with the door key, simply told him to go to the house and let himself in.

He stood in the entrance liberally decorated with evergreens, and he drank in the nostalgia inducing atmosphere, but after a few minutes he slipped off his coat and walked towards the drawing room, as per the instructions he received, and pushed open the door and stepped inside and when he looked ahead of him he did a double take because standing at the end of the room by the Christmas tree was Angie, his wife.

“Angie?” he asked and she squealed and launched herself at him.

The reason that he was surprised to see her was that she was supposed to be in Alaska and she wasn’t expected home until Christmas Eve, which was four days away.

 

She was a geologist working for Transglobal Oil and Gas Exploration and she was supposed to conducting a survey and the trip was supposed to be for a month.

His contact with her had been sketchy, they skyped occasionally, more so when she was in Canada, not so much in Alaska due to the remoteness of the region she was working in.

They also exchanged email, which was also problematic, but she would record little video messages on her phone and she would send them to him whenever she could get a signal.

He really looked forward to getting them and the first thing he did when he got up in the morning was to check his phone.

But there had been nothing for two days, and he had been missing her terribly and he had been counting the days until she was home, which should have been in four days.

Which was when they were to spend ten days together, including Christmas at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel, before she would be off again for another month. 

But there she was in his arms kissing him and although he didn’t care why, he asked anyway.

“Why are you home early? And whose house is this?”

“The house belongs to my boss, he’s been brilliant and his wife set up the surprise, the enigmatic message and the key” She explained “They’re in New York until Christmas Eve, and we can stay here before we go on to the Regents as planned” she explained

“Yes but why are you back early? Not that I’m complaining” he said and kissed her again

“Because I have a special Christmas present for you which had to be delivered as soon as possible” she replied enigmatically

“Ok” he mused looking around for a gift

“Following an in depth scan we made a seismic discovery which was so earth shatteringly important I had to share it with you face to face, and it couldn’t wait another four days” she continued “because the news will be in the public domain by then and you have to be the first person I tell”

“God it sounds really important” he said worriedly “So what did you discover?”

Angie looked at his worried expression and smiled, and after a pause she said

“I’m pregnant”

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (94) St Cuthbert’s Bazaar

 

The Finchbottom 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 of it had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved largely by the efforts of famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were in various states of repair.  

There were only three small bodies of water left in the Vale now one in Mornington, one in Childean and third was Purplemere.

The village of Brocklington was on the River Brooke about six miles downstream from Sharping St Mary in the Finchbottom Vale which was nestled comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns.

 

Sophie Welby was the head teacher at St Cuthbert’s School and was a much respected figure in the village who had dedicated her life to educating the children of Brocklington, but she had done it at some personal cost, namely the love of her life Paul Barrington.

Paul was a journalist and had been offered a job at the Washington Post shortly after she was offered the Headship at St Cuthbert’s, he wanted her to go with him and he assured her that she could get a job in any school she chose, but she was scared, fearful of the unknown and the uncertainty, and was unsure about her love for him.

In the ten years that followed she realized that she loved him more than life itself, but that ship had sailed so she soldiered on as a loveless educator and stalwart of the village.

 

One of the high points of her year was the Christmas bazaar which was busy and exciting event that took a lot of organizing but brought a lot of joy, with all the usual attractions as well as Santa’s grotto.

 

But on Saturday afternoon at the height of the event as she strolled amongst the throng she caught sight of an attraction she hadn’t expected to see, Paul Barrington, and he beamed a smile in her direction the moment they made eye contact and her legs instantly turned to jelly.

 

He hadn’t changed a bit in her eyes, although his hair was a little greyer and his waist a little thicker, but he was still the man she loved, loves.

“Sophie!” he said “You haven’t changed a bit”

“Paul?”

“You look great” he said

“What are you doing here?” she asked, although that wasn’t the question she wanted to ask, she wanted to know everything else, was he married? Was he back? Was he hers?

“I’ve transferred to the London office” he replied

“Are your family moving with you?” she asked

“No only me” he replied “There is only me”

“So when did you get back?” she asked encouraged by his previous answer

“Last night” he replied and she dared to hope, after all he had wasted no time in getting to Brocklington, but before she could build on the glimmer of hope she was called away from him to avert a crisis

“It’s good to see you” she said as she was led away.

 

The moment the problem had been resolved she set off in search of Paul to continue her interrogation of him, but after a thorough search and three circuits of the School there was no sign of him and very soon the visitors started to drift away and the doors were closed for another year and as the team of helpers began to pack away Sophie sought out a quiet corner in which to reflect on a missed opportunity and she took sanctuary in the grotto.

 

The grotto was decorated with red and gold velvet drapes, adorned with tinsel and coloured lights, with a huge throne in the furthest corner surrounded by Christmas parcels and leading to the throne was a snow covered path and on one side of it was a festive tableau of snowmen and reindeer and on the other side Santa’s sleigh was parked.

She walked slowly down the snow covered path and sat on Santa’s throne and put her head in her hands and sighed and remained there for an indeterminate amount of time until she was brought back to the moment.

“So this is where you’re hiding”

“You’re still here” she exclaimed

“You sound disappointed” Paul pointed out

“No, no I didn’t mean that” she corrected him a little too forcefully

“It’s just that when I couldn’t find you anywhere I thought you must have gone”

“You were looking for me?” he asked

“Erm well we hadn’t finished catching up” she explained

“That’s good but I didn’t travel three and a half thousand miles just to catch up” he said

“What did you come for then?” she asked

“I came here to pick up” Paul said

“What?” she exclaimed

“From where we left off” he added and kissed her and it was liked they’d never been apart.

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (93) Doctors in Love

 

The Finchbottom Vale nestles comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling Pepperstock Hills in the north and those who were lucky enough to live there think of it as the rose between two thorns and at the eastern end of the Vale were the Dulcets which were a collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet-on-Willow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few.

 

Barry and Sarah Blake and Chris and Helen Blenkin were all Doctors of varying degrees, Barry was a GP while his wife Sarah was an ambition driven cardio thoracic surgeon.

Helen Blenkin was also a GP at the same practice as Barry and her husband Chris was an ENT specialist at the Royal Downshire, he was also a drunken womanizer.

 

So the two couple’s, one with a neglected husband due to an ambitious wife and the other with a lonely wife because of an alcoholic adulterer pushed Barry and Helen towards a forbidden love.

 

Barry and Helen worked at the Dulcets Health Centre in Dulcet-on-Brooke and the Blake’s lived in the village but the Blenkin’s lived in Brocklington.

Over the years because of their personal circumstances the two had spent increasingly more time together and slowly and inexorably fell in love, but despite that fact they did nothing but enjoy each other’s company for five years, before they succumbed to the inevitable.

 

However even after the genie was out the bottle they had to be discreet and quite inventive to protect their secret love.

One such subterfuge occurred at the end of a very busy week when the health center’s resources were stretched very thin.

One of Helen’s patients collapsed in the waiting room at the Health Centre and the woman was very scared so she offered to ride with her in the ambulance, which calmed her down but she died an hour after arriving at the hospital, Helen was sad about her death but happy in the knowledge that she passed peacefully.

With Helen stranded in Purplemere Barry volunteered to drive over and pick her up.

 

As they were driving back to Dulcet-on-Brooke in the bright evening sunshine to pick up her car, Helen suddenly asked

“Do you have any visitors at the moment?”

She was referring to his sister Brenda who was a frequent flyer in his spare room but she really wanted to know if Sarah was home.

“No just me on my lonesome” he replied

“What about Sarah?” she asked

“She’s gone to a conference in Amsterdam for a couple of days” he answered and then there was a long silence.

“Do you want some company?” Helen asked coyly

“Are you offering?” he asked her

“I am” she replied

Then after a few moments she continue

“It’s been such a beastly week and I know I’m very brazen, but once in a while it’s nice to feel like I’m part of a proper couple, and I feel that with you and…”

“And today you need that more than ever” he continued for her

“Yes” she replied

 

It was dark when they got back to the village and parked the car on the drive.

Although it was Helen’s desire to spend the night with him she was conscious of the risk to her reputation if she was seen going through his front door after dark by the village busybodies.

So Barry got out of the car and opened the door while Helen put on one of Sarah’s hats that she found in the door pocket, which disguised her sufficiently to the untrained eye while she dashed in through the door.

They would have to employ a similar subterfuge later on that evening but that was only after they had spent the evening together.

When he had safely smuggled her inside the hall she said

“Is this any kind of way for grownups to behave?” and they both burst out laughing.

But then inevitably they started kissing and began a kind of shuffle along the hall until he picked her up and carried her to the lounge when at the height of passion her stomach started gurgling and it got louder and louder until it culminated in foul tasting belch in his mouth.

“Oh God I’m so sorry” Helen said mortified by her unintentional gastric eruption.

“I haven’t really eaten for two days,” she said in her defense but all he could do was laugh, which in turn set her off, and once the giggles set in there was nothing to be done.

So Barry got the takeaway menus and ten minutes later he was ordering an Indian.

They still had the giggles so he opened a bottle of wine and poured two large glasses.

“I can’t have that much” she said when she saw the size of the glass “I’m driving remember”

“I thought you were staying the night,” he said

“Is that ok?” she asked

“Of course it is, so get that down your neck” he replied

While they waited for dinner to arrive Helen made some phone calls, in between the giggles, just to make sure everything was ok at the surgery.

But every time they thought about renewing their amorous intentions, they dissolved into giggles again.

By the time the food arrived they were a little bit pissed and after they’d eaten they were too stuffed for passion so they drank some more instead.

So by the time midnight came around they were quite merry and all of a sudden Helen sat upright and said

“I don’t have a change of clothes”        

“That’s ok we’re not going anywhere” he reassured her

“But I’ve got no spare knickers” she emphasized 

“You could borrow some of Sarah’s,” he suggested

“No that is wrong on so many levels” she chastised and Barry was just about to make another suggestion when Helen said

“And commando is not an option”

“Nothing could have been further from my mind,” he said innocently

“Nothing is precisely what was on your mind” she corrected him “and me wearing it” and she laughed.

After a few minutes of giggles Helen suddenly announced

“I have an overnight bag in my car for when I’m on call”

“Well lets go and get it then” I said

“But what if someone sees me come in here with my overnight bag” she said anxiously

“They won’t” he said and went out into the hall  

“Why not?” she asked

“Because we will be in disguise” he replied and handed her a hoody

Helen stood up and slipped it on and put the hood up.

“What do you think?” Helen asked as she did her catwalk strut and Barry looked her up and down from head to toe.

“You look like a professional woman wearing a hoody” he said frankly “Hold on”

And he went upstairs and went to the airing cupboard and then the spare room and returned downstairs.

“Change into these” he said and handed her a pair of joggers, a sweatshirt and a pair of trainers.

“Sarah’s?” she asked

“Brenda’s” he replied, Brenda was his younger sister who often stayed with him.

“That’s ok then” she said and began undressing but then stopped “Some privacy would be nice”

“I won’t look honest” he lied and Helen gave him a look so he got up and went into the hall, where he could have spied through the crack in the door, which he didn’t, well not much.

 

Ten minutes later they slipped out the back door into the darkness of the garden like they had just accepted a “Mission Impossible” and then ran giggling into the woods that separated the end of the garden from the 18th fairway where they skulked their way along the wooded path, like a couple of kids playing soldiers, all the way to the Church Lane where they hugged the shrubbery until they reached the Health Centre car park.

They gave a long furtive look to make sure there was no one around and then they approached Helen’s car.

She fished the keys from her pocket and unlocked it and it responded with a loud bleep made all the louder by the silence and a flash of the lights all the brighter in the darkness.

Startled by the sound of the immobilizer they quickly opened the tailgate and Helen grabbed her backpack, then she reset the alarm and they headed back to the lane.

“Oi you” a voice shouted, “What are you doing there?”

“Come on” he urged her and they ran laughing back into the woods periodically looking over their shoulders to see if they were being pursued.

Once they were in the woods they ran on and on until they crashed in a heap in the undergrowth laughing.

“Shhh” she said, “Someone will hear”

But Barry couldn’t stop giggling so she decided the only way to shut him up was to kiss him, but what began as a means of suppressing his giggles ended with her tongue darting in and out of his mouth like a viper so he returned the kiss to her hot panting mouth.

“This is very nice,” she panted as he began to rummage inside her hoody and was making great progress but then to his surprise she suddenly leapt up and said

“Oh no you don’t” and ran off down the path and he scramble to his feet as quickly as possible and ran after her and although she had a good head start it didn’t take long for him to close the ground on her and he grabbed hold of her back pack and pulled her backwards.

But her progress was only halted momentarily as she wriggled free of the straps and he ended up sitting on his backside holding the bag and to add insult onto injury she lifted her hoody and flashed him and then ran off laughing.

“That’s dirty fighting” he called after her and quickly got back to his feet, but she managed to show him a clean pair of heels all the way back to the house.

“Well that was quite an adventure wasn’t it?” she said as she kicked off her shoes.

“It’s a shame you couldn’t keep up”

“You cheeky cow” he said affronted as she turned on her heels and ran out of the kitchen giggling like a schoolgirl heading for the stairs  and he sprinted after her and he caught her halfway across the landing and she screamed as he grabbed her by the waist.

“Got yer,” he said and scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom.

 

On Saturday Morning he was lying in bed, while Helen was in the shower, waiting for her to finish so he could get in, he didn’t have to wait too long.

 

Showered and shaved he went back into the bedroom where he found Helen sitting on the bed loosely wearing a dressing gown while she was talking on her mobile.

“Really?” she said but he couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.

“Yes of course I will” Helen said and again he couldn’t hear anything in response

“Yes I’ll let you know” she said “Good bye”

“You’ll never guess what that was about” she said

“You’ll have to tell me then” he replied

“When we were seen by my car last night it was reported to the police” Helen said
“It’s a good job we were in disguise then” Barry said as he knelt on the bed behind her and began kissing her neck which was the prelude to a wonderful start to the day.

 

Barry would have happily spent the whole day making love to Helen but alas she had to go.

However the problem was how to get her out of his house in broad daylight without being seen.

So they decided to have a coffee while they made a plan, and two mugs of coffee later as if in answer to a prayer it started to rain, but not just rain, it was an absolute deluge.

“Oh shitty bloody weather” Helen cursed

“Excellent” he said

“What?” she asked, “but it’s horrible”

“It’s perfect, is what it is” he said and went into the utility and came out with a set of waterproofs and a Golfing umbrella.

“If anyone sees you in the woods in these they’ll just think you’re a Golfer” Barry said “Ditto when you emerge into the lane”

“Perfect” she said “but what if I’m seen getting in the car?”

“Then you say you’re going to the club,” he said

“You’re a very devious man,” Helen said

“I know but the rewards are well worth it” he stated and Helen blushed crimson red.

 

But having provided Helen with the appropriate clothing they immediately hit upon a snag, the trousers didn’t fit over her skirt, it bunched up under the waterproofs and made it look like she had a bustle.

So she removed the trouser and then had to take her skirt off.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she said when she noticed him looking at her in her knickers and tights.

“Well you could stay a bit longer,” he suggested lustily

“Don’t temp me,” she said quickly pulling on the waterproof trousers which were a little on the large side and the waistband sat just below her bust line.

Then she pulled on the top over her head before slipping on her shoes.

“That’s not going to work,” he said

“Why?” she asked with concern

“No one would wear footwear like that on a golf course,” he told her

“They are a bit of a giveaway, aren’t they?” she admitted

“Indeed” he agreed

“What can I wear then?” she asked

“Brenda’s trainers” he said

“What about all my stuff?” she queried

“I’ll bring it to the surgery on Monday, I’ll tell Karen that you left them in my car yesterday” he said

“God, you’re good at this stuff,” Helen said and she kissed him

 

After he had kissed her goodbye he let her out into the rain.

“Text me when you reach your car” he said

“Will do” she responded and off she went

“I love you” he called after her

 

Meanwhile he gathered her stuff together and put it in her backpack and put it and her overcoat by the front door.

Which was when he got a text

“Made it,” it read “I love you too”

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (92) Christmas on the Ward

 

Kathryn Reed had just turned thirty and she was a nurse, but reaching her milestone birthday she realized she was in a bit of a rut.

She was single and had lived alone for four years since her last boyfriend Dave got his marching orders and although she enjoyed her job she thought she could be doing more.

She was a good nurse, quietly efficient, and very popular with staff and patients alike.

Kath was tall and slim, she was also pretty but with her yellow hair scraped back into a bun and her half-moon glasses perched on her nose she looked a bit severe and her flat hospital shoes did nothing for her long slender legs.

But none of that stopped3 her from being admired.

 

Because she had no family nearby and no other plans she was working all over Christmas to allow the nurses who did have families to spend it at home with them and because she was doing them a favour they would do the same for her over New Years.

She had done it every year since she broke up with Dave, but that Christmas she had another reason to be on duty, because she had fallen for one of the patients on her ward in a big way.

This was not the done thing on many levels, firstly because nurses and patient’s fraternising was a no no, and very unprofessional, and she was very professional, the second reason was because the patient was a girl.

Kathryn had always been bi, but had made the decision in her early twenties to be either fish or fowl, and she had chosen to be heterosexual, but having turned 30 with no one in her life she had decided to re-evaluate, but that was after Christine Gallaher arrived on her ward.

She was younger than Kath by about six years with Titian hair and pale skin and she thought she was lovely.

Kath was encouraged by the fact that Christine’s only visitors were her parents, and as far as she could tell she had had no romantic visitors.

Christine was only in for some relatively minor surgery and was due to go home on Christmas Eve but it was decided to keep her in as a precaution as her blood pressure was very erratic and had caused some concern.

Kathryn was not concerned because she had discovered the cause of the problem, and it was her.

 

She made the discovery while she was attending to daily observations, because she very quickly realised she was having a distinct effect on her the painfully shy girl, but Kathryn hoped she might bring her out of herself.

Because Kathryn liked her she took her time, the patients she didn’t like she wasted no time with.

They chatted as she went about her business and updated the chart, then she took her temperature, pulse and finally her blood pressure. Kath attended to the cuff around her arm and pumped the bulb and when she had a reading she took hold of Christine’s hand and said

“Just relax”

But the caress of her hand made her do anything but relax and Kath knew for certain that the attraction was mutual.

“Well I think we have the cure for what ails you” she said and smiled as she gave her hand a squeeze and Christine smiled back and blushed.

 

Because the hospital always made a concerted effort to get as many patients home as possible over Christmas there were only a few patients left on Clementine Ward and only Kath and one other nurse were on duty to cover it.

So there were times during the day when the staff and patient comings and goings were almost non-existent.

Alice Franklyn, the other nurse took her break at three o’clock on Christmas Day so that Kathryn would be able to take hers and be back before visiting started at 4.

Christine was in a six bed bay at the quiet end of the ward and her bed was at the far end and only one other bed was occupied which was next to hers but Mrs George was in the bathroom.

There were no screens up around Christine’s bed but Mrs George pulled her curtain around her bed so she could get changed in privacy after her shower.

On seeing the screens in place Kathryn decided to make her move as Christine may well be discharged the next day before Kathryn’s shift began on Boxing Day.

So she decided to strike while the iron was hot and walked briskly to her bed and brandished a sprig of mistletoe and said

“Happy Christmas Miss Gallaher”

Then she stooped and softly kissed Christine’s smiling lips, then again, and again until it just became one long sensual kiss, which only ended when Mrs George emerged from the bathroom

“I’ve been wanting to do that for ages” Kathryn whispered

“I’m glad” Christine whispered in reply “I have too”

Kathryn didn’t volunteer to work on Christmas Day the following year as she had a reason to be at home and Christine was very happy about that.

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (91) Christmas Plans

“I fancy something to eat” she said and the movement of her head caused the golden earrings to glint in the Christmas candlelight.

“Me too” he said

As they left their pews he glance up at the memorial plaques on the wall and one of them in particular

“Lt William Beaumont Killed in Action, Died February 1941 aged 19”

It struck a chord for two reason firstly because his brother was 19 when he lost him, though not in a war, his demise was due to drink driving, his own.

The other thing was that he felt a connection to William Beaumont because his grandfather knew him, in fact they served together in the Downshire’s and was actually present when he was killed and he always spoke well of him.

The reason it struck a chord on that day was that he had been taking stock of his life and had come to the conclusion that life was a participation kind of thing and he hadn’t participated fully and he had lived twice as long as William.

And that was why he had gone to church that day for guidance from on high while enjoying the peace and tranquility and he got an answer of sorts

“You know what to do” 

And then by divine providence she was there in the church, Caroline Kimber.

“Now it’s up to you” he said to himself

She smiled when she saw him and sat beside him and they chatted as they had many times before, but on this occasion he was more overt in his converse which gave Caroline hope which was why she said

“I fancy something to eat”

 

They left the church and crossed the street to the corner café where they had often had lunch together.

 

They used to sit right in the window, never saying much, they just sat there in a comfortable silence, drinking tea and watching the world go by.

But he had decided that other people sitting in café’s should be watching him and Caroline go by.

So on that day as the Christmas shoppers bustled by George was oblivious to them because he had eyes only for Caroline and nor was he silent and as a result she was expectant and then he said

“I was wondering what you were doing for Christmas”

“Nothing, I have no plans” Caroline replied

“Nor do I” George said “so why don’t we plan to do nothing together”

“You mean spend Christmas…. Together”

“Yes”

“I would like that very much” she said

“Merry Christmas” he said and saluted her with his mug and she reciprocated. 

Tales from the Finchbottom Vale – (90) Angel of the Night

When Angela met him in Beiderbecke’s, a moody Jazz Club in a seedy corner of Finchbottom, she was wearing her sexiest lingerie and behaved suggestively and without ambiguity. 

She sought Dave out and attempted to shake him out of his torpor,

He went to the club for hot jazz she went there to disarm him with her directness and seduce and charm until the want of her made him ache.

 

Soon they left the club and were in his car traveling at pace to his house and all the while she was enticing and seducing and the moment he opened the front door he found out there was more to life than hot jazz.