In the weeks following
the great family gathering in Dulcet-on-Willow, to mark Uncle Herbert’s 60th
Birthday, Bens mother Eleanor was still in shock.
The news of his
proposal and subsequent engagement to Dorcas had taken her completely by
surprise.
She had apparently come
to terms with the fact he would end his days as a bachelor and even though it
had been confirmed and verified to be a “genuine engagement” by all and sundry,
she was still skeptical.
Mind you Ben had to admit
there were moments when he didn’t believe it himself.
But the truth of the
matter was that they were engaged and everyone seemed to be as pleased about it
as Ben and Dorcas were.
Though his mother was
a confirmed skeptic on the subject, plans had already begun in earnest with
both sets of parents jockeying for position, over who would do what and when, even
though a date hadn’t even been set yet.
Dorcas and Ben left
them to get on with it for the most part as they had plans of their own to
finalize, they would just have to rein in the maniacal planners at a later date
when they were clear what they wanted to do themselves.
They never imagines
for a moment at the time that they might live to regret their attitude of
laissez-faire in that regard.
But they adopted that
posture for a very good reason because there were more immediate things to occupy
their attention, because although they hadn’t yet set a date for the wedding they
had set another very significant date on the calendar which was fast coming up
on the horizon, Dorcas was moving in with him.
By the time October
came around she was already staying over at his cottage for at least three days
a week so it seemed silly not to go the whole hog and have her live with him
full time.
After all at the times
they weren’t together they were either travelling to see the other or talking
on the phone or just plain missing them.
His cottage in Bushy
Down was bigger than hers so it made more sense for her to move in with him
rather than the other way around.
The plan was to spend
October packing up her place in Finchbottom so it was ready for renting out from
the 1st of November when she would move in with Ben, with as many of her
possessions as would fit.
When he asked her why
she was renting her house out and not selling it, she said
“I want to keep it,
just in case”
“In case of what?” Ben
asked
“In case you turn out
to be a complete swine” she replied and ran out of the room.
“Bloody cheek” he said
and chased her up the stairs
Dorcas had been
spending a lot of time at Bens Cottage in Bushy Down and for the most part
things went without a hitch but it wasn’t all plain sailing, there was one bone
of contention.
That is apart from the
age old chestnut, the toilet seat, what is it with women and their obsession
with toilet seats.
Anyway that wasn’t the
main issue, his particular bone of contention was underwear.
Namely articles of
underwear, that were particularly delightful when the love of his life was
inside them that were very annoying when she was not.
They lost their allure
somewhat when they were left hanging from the shower rail or draped over
radiators.
When she wasn’t
looking Ben would gather them up, in ones and twos, and put the wet ones in the
airing cupboard or the dry ones in a drawer in the bedroom.
Dorcas didn’t seem to
notice or if she did she didn’t say anything.
That is until the
beginning of October when she enquired
“Have you seen my
green knickers?”
“No hon, not since you
were in them” he replied
“Are you sure?” she
quizzed
“I’m sure”
“Well I know what
you’re like with your tidying” she said and it was obvious that she had
noticed.
“Definitely not honey”
he answered
“I don’t understand it I’ve found the bra
upstairs so I know they’re here somewhere but I can’t find the pants anywhere”
“They’ll turn up” he
suggested
“That’s not very
helpful” she replied
“There are some blue
ones in the airing cupboard” he said helpfully
“I can’t wear blue knickers
with a green bra” she said crossly
“Honestly, what kind
of a girl do you think I am?”
Over the next few weeks
her green panties didn’t turn up and it transpired they weren’t the only items
to disappear.
She went on to lose an
assortment of knickers, three odd socks and a pair of tights, even Bens lucky
pants did a disappearing act.
He had never
experienced any loss of laundry all the time he had lived there so he was at a
loss to explain the disappearance’s and could offer nothing but his stock
answer of
“They’ll turn up”
Dorcas was
unconvinced, as was he to be honest, and he was sure she was beginning to think
he was some kind of fetishist who had a secret stash of her knickers.
However any such
suspicion’s she might have harbored would have been readily dispelled by a
visit from his next door neighbour.
It was midday on
Sunday, and they had just returned home from church, when there was a knock on
the front door.
When Ben opened it he
was faced with a very shamefaced and embarrassed looking character holding a
carrier bag out in front of him.
It was his long time
neighbour John Elliot, a normally gregarious chap who on this occasion was
stooped over like he had the whole world on his shoulders and was staring at
his shoes.
“I think these might
be yours” he said quietly thrusting the carrier bag in his direction.
“What is it?” he asked
and took the bag
“Open it” He said
shuffling his feet nervously and Ben did as he instructed and opened the bag
and found inside sundry items of underwear.
“You’d better come in”
Ben said
Ben had known John and
his wife Carole for several years and they had always gotten on very well.
When he first knew
them they had two cats, Madeline and Emily, who were sisters, and they had them
for several years but after Emily was killed on the road in the village
Madeline ran away.
They were both huge
cat lovers so they decided they would get a rescued cat from an animal rescue
center.
Well what they got was
a tabby called appropriately Tabitha who was a very sweet looking cat that unfortunately
suffered with severe psychological problems.
It was a very nervous
and timid creature who was very suspicious of everyone but what none of neighbour’s
suspected was its darker side.
While the humans of
the village were all at work Tabitha roamed the local area indulging in her
particular passion namely stealing from the neighbours.
She stole knickers,
pants, socks, tights, handkerchiefs and the occasional bra as well as bibs and
booties.
The troubled animal
preyed on the unsuspecting locals stealing from washing lines, wash baskets and
clothes airer’s though thankfully even with her psychological problems she only
stole clean items, nothing soiled or un-fresh.
The locals were all
oblivious to this dastardly crime putting the loss of missing items down to
mischievous house elves.
The dastardly crime
only came to light when John was clearing his spare room prior to decorating
when he discovered a nest of other people’s underwear.
This could have been
more awkward than it already was and John might well have had some explaining
to do it Carole had found the pantie collection before he did.
When John told her of
the stash he had found Carole thought it was very funny, she did however after
sorting the not inconsiderable collection into bags for the prospective owners,
dispatch him to return the items.
“I have never been so
embarrassed” John said
“How many houses have
you had to go to?” Dorcas asked
“You’re number 10” he
said
“You poor thing”
Dorcas said sympathetically the she looked at Ben and they both burst out
laughing.
When they had regained
control of themselves he continued
“Luckily Tabitha’s is
scared of her own shadow so she never strays more than a few houses either side
of us, so it narrowed down the field”
After he had gone Ben
looked at the contents of the bag and said
“You see I said they would
turn up didn’t I”
“Pah” Dorcas said
unimpressed
“Still you’ve got to
hand it to Carole she was spot on with her sorting”
He added
“And look even my
lucky pants are here”
“Oh, it’s a shame they
came back” Dorcas said “I threw them out once”
“You threw them out?”
he asked horrified
“Yes I did” she
replied
“But they’re my
favourite’s” Ben said indignantly
Dorcas chuckled and
from the doorway she said
“Well you can either
stay down here with your lucky pants or you can come upstairs and get lucky in
mine” and she went out the room.
About thirty seconds later
Ben got up and followed her, pausing briefly by the kitchen bin to dispose of his
former lucky pants.
Since Ben Overton
first met Dorcas Fox-Martin, at his parents’ house in Kiddingstone on the day
when she almost ran him over on his way to his nephews christening, his life
had been so different to the safe and comfortable existence he had known
before.
He felt energized and
fresh, which was just as well in all honesty because October had been an
exceedingly busy month.
They spent evenings
packing up Dorcas’s house in Finchbottom and slowly moving her stuff either
into storage or into Ben’s cottage, or more precisely I suppose that should be their
cottage.
On the weekends that
was followed by decorating and gardening to get her house ready for renting out
and then of course there was car booting to dispose of the things that didn’t
make the move either to the cottage or storage.
And all of the above
had to be achieved while keeping busy in their respective day jobs as they were
saving their holidays for something else.
So it was with some
relief that that he received and accepted an invitation from his best friend
Gary to attend a games night at his place on in Kiddingstone on Saturday night.
Ben and Gary had been
best mates since junior school, Gary, Stix, Evan, Clive and him, and their friendship
had endured.
It survived all the
ups and downs of childhood and adolescence.
It survived sexual
awakenings and the continual distraction of women thereafter.
It also survived
higher education, marriages, mortgages, divorces and redundancies.
Women had come and
gone over the years but the friendship had survived.
They had been in each
other’s lives for every single significant event that had affected their lives,
good and bad, and their friendship endured in spite of everything and throughout
their enduring friendship was a consistent thread, a vital constituent to their
lives that was the Games Nights.
Games Nights were a
ritual and consisted of a takeaway followed by board games or cards, the food
and game decided by consensus.
The venues varied as
each of the friends took their turn to host the event but the rest of the night
was just games, food and alcohol.
Ben was very excited
to receive the invite, they hadn’t done one since he’d been going out with
Dorcas and because they had had such a whirlwind romance and they had been so
busy he hadn’t had a chance to show off and none of his closest friends had met
her yet.
He instantly showed
the invite to Dorcas
“Look we have been
invited to Gary’s for a games night” he said
“You are going to love
it”
She took the
invitation from him and read it and seemed less than enthusiastic at the prospect
of attending.
“You know what that means?”
Dorcas remarked
“Yes a weekend off” he
replied “And a lie in”
“I have to meet your
best friends” she said gloomily
“I know” he replied
“They’re all dying to meet you”
And then Ben added
“And the other halves are
very anxious to meet the girl who has won my heart”
“Oh Great” Dorcas said
despondently “That’s just the icing on the cake”
In the week following
the receipt of the invitation Ben had completely failed to pick up on her lack
of enthusiasm about the invite to Gary’s but he had noticed that as they got
closer to the night Dorcas seemed to be getting more and more withdrawn but
being a man he didn’t think it was anything to worry about, not at first anyway.
On Saturday morning as
they lay cuddling under the duvet before they got themselves up, Dorcas was
very quiet which wasn’t like her at all and he was a bit worried about her as
she seemed a bit down and he wondered if she was having second thoughts about
moving in with him, it was less than two weeks away from the tenants moving
into her house.
He began to wonder if
she thought it was all just too soon, and she wanted to take a step back and
reevaluate her decision.
And if that were true
then maybe she was having second thoughts about everything, the engagement, the
wedding the whole nine yards.
Perhaps his mum was
right when she said he wouldn’t be able to hold onto her, because she was too pretty
for him.
Maybe that was it she
was tired of him.
“What’s wrong
sweetheart?” he asked hoping to allay his fears
“Nothing” she replied
“Well I know that’s
not true” he persisted “Somethings wrong, so what is it?”
“I’m scared” Dorcas
admitted
He wasn’t sure if he’d
heard her correctly, she was such a confident, gregarious girl that being scared
didn’t fit her at all.
She was after all a
tour de force, she was bold and brave and brimming with self-confidence, how
could she be scared.
“Scared?” he asked
“What are you scared of, is it marriage? The Engagement or is it moving in with
me?”
“No, no its none of
those things I’m not scared about them at all” she replied
“But you are scared?”
he asked
“Yes” she responded
and rolled over and hugged him, burying her face in his neck and then she
started crying.
“So what are you
scared about?” he asked her gently
“Meeting your friends”
she sobbed “Your best friends”
During the week after
the invitation Dorcas had been really worried about making a good impression in
front of his oldest and best friends and their other halves.
“They are going to
love you just like I do” he assured her
“Really?” Dorcas asked
“Well not quite like I
do obviously” he said and she lifted her face from his neck and smiled weakly.
He did feel for Dorcas
when he took the time to think of what he was putting her through, it was a
daunting prospect meeting his friends, and she was scared she wouldn’t measure
up.
He didn’t have to go
through that with her best friend as that was his sister Helen.
So they spent the next
hour cuddling up under the duvet as he went through his friends and their
respective partners one by one and detailed the best ways to make a good
impression on each of them.
His mate Gary was
something of a figure of fun within their group, a fact to which he seemed
completely oblivious.
They had known him
since infant school and they had always teased him.
He was the type of kid
who had a new hobby every week and this habit followed him all the way into
adulthood.
He also thought
himself a whizz at DIY and he fancied himself as a bit of an engineer.
But the one thing he
could do better than any of them without fail, which endeared him to them all,
was that he could take a joke.
His wife Elaine did
not have a sense of humour, at all and she was the vainest woman walking God’s
green earth and the only thing that she loved as much as her own good looks was
for someone else to compliment her on them.
“Stix” so named because
his surname was Littlewood fancied himself as a bit of a ladies man and liked
to flirt, Kylie his second wife knew he was all sausage and no sizzle so quite
enjoyed watching him flirt before he crashed and burned.
Evan Thomas and his
childhood sweetheart Cerys were foodies so if you got them chatting on the
subject of food you were in.
Clive White and his
third or fourth partner Tina were ultra-competitive so if they won whatever the
game might be they were happy.
After he had finished
putting flesh on the bones of those expected to be present she seemed more at
ease.
“I love you Ben” she
said
“That’s handy” he
replied “because I love you too”
Dorcas smiled and
kissed him tenderly and then they made love.
Ben thought that as
Dorcas was nervous about meeting everyone, rather than arriving to a houseful
and be totally overwhelming to her he would take her over to Gary’s early so he
could introduce her to the hosts before anyone else arrived and that way she
just had to meet one couple at a time.
So when they got there
the pair of them stood on the porch and he gave her a kiss for good luck before
he rang the doorbell.
Gary opened the door.
“Blimey” he said
“You’ll never believe
it Elaine” he called over his shoulder “it’s Ben and…”
“Dorcas” Ben said
“… Dorcas” Gary
continued
“Are we too early” he
asked
“No not at all” he
replied “Lovely to meet you Dorcas, come in, come in”
“Thanks Gary, likewise”
she said and squeezed Bens hand.
As they walked into
the lounge he said to Dorcas
“You’re obviously a
good influence on him, Ben’s never the first to arrive”
After that he
introduced her to his sour faced wife Elaine.
“Dorcas?” she said
“that’s a strange name”
“It’s biblical” Ben
answered “nice isn’t it?”
“Hmmm” was her only
response
He gave her hand
another gentle squeeze and Dorcas said
“I love your dress, I
wish I could afford designer label clothes”
Elaine’s expression
softened immediately and a hint of a smile could be detected when she continued
“And your hair’s a
fabulous shade of red”
“Two down, six to go” He
thought to himself as Elaine actually smiled.
Stix and Kylie were
the first to arrive after Ben and Dorcas and her being drop dead gorgeous and
Stix being a premier league letch he took to her straight away.
There was a moment’s
frostiness from Kylie but as soon as Dorcas gave her a wink and she realized
Stix was being played she quickly warmed to her.
By the time Evan and
Cerys arrived the gregarious confident Dorcas had returned and was there to
greet them and within five minutes they were deep in conversation about a new
Mongolian restaurant in Kiddingstone, so much so that she almost missed him
introducing her to Clive and Tina.
Dorcas continued
discussing cuisine with Evan and Cerys while they devoured a rather mediocre Indian.
The games element of
the evening began with cards and due to some creative cheating by Dorcas, a
skill he hadn’t previously experienced from her, Clive and Tina were the
resounding victors.
“Deftly played by my
wife to be” Ben thought to himself.
They went on to play
Trial Pursuit next which was when Gary chose to reveal his latest fad.
As he had told Dorcas
earlier he fancied himself as a bit of an engineer and with the help of the
Internet and RS Component’s he managed to fashion his latest pride and joy.
“It’s an electronic
Di” Gary said proudly
It was brown in
colour, made of plastic, about three inches long and two inches wide and the
same in depth.
With two buttons and
an Led display on the upper side.
“Wow” everyone said
with varying degrees of sarcasm except for Dorcas who said.
“That’s really
interesting, how does it work”
“Well” said Gary
thrilled that someone appreciated his efforts
“You press this first
button and the numbers start randomizing”
“Oh yes, I see” said
Dorcas
“Then you press the
second button and it displays your throw” he continued
“Wow that’s so clever”
she said still enthusing
“And you made that?”
“Yes” he replied
proudly “I did”
“Can I have a go?” she
asked
“Absolutely” Gary said
and handed it to her
“So I press this
button first” Dorcas said
“Yes” Gary replied
“Then this one?” She
said
“Yes” he said again
“And that’s my throw”
she said just before she shook it in her hands and rolled it across the table.
Gary’s jaw dropped and
the room erupted with laughter and Dorcas said to Gary.
“Got you” and he roared
with laughter
In truth at that
moment she had them all in the palm of her hand.
Dorcas held his hand
under the table and squeezed it firmly and as she turned and gave him a smile he
fell in love with her all over again and she with him.
After the games night
at Gary’s they spent most of the day slobbing around the cottage in their night
clothes and watching old films on TV.
After all the recent
exertion’s associated with renting out Dorcas’s house prior to her moving in
with him, so it was really nice to have such a lazy day.
However they paid for
it over the coming week as the deadline for Dorcas vacating her house loomed
large and they spent every spare moment moving her and her possessions from
Finchbottom to Bushy Down.
And so began a new
chapter in their lives when they would no longer be two lonely single dwellers
living half-lives but one loving couple sharing a life, a house and home.
The Monday after their
first weekend of officially living together was a normal workday for Ben but
Dorcas had managed to book off a couple of days off work so she could unpack the
last of her things and make herself at home.
A lot of her making
herself at home seemed to involve rearranging the cupboards and taking over the
majority of the wardrobes.
But despite that she
certainly seemed to have spent her time productively and the house was looking
more homely than it had ever done and as he walked through the front door on his
arrival home on Tuesday evening he was greeted by the smell of home cooking.
“Hi Hon” he called
“Something smells nice”
Her head suddenly
appeared from around the kitchen door and said
“It’s me”
Ben walked down the hall
to meet her and gave her a kiss
“No its not you” he
said “I can definitely smell something tasty”
“Cheek” Dorcas said
and hit him with a wooden spoon
“Ow” he said “what’s
cooking then?”
“Bacon and onion
dumpling” she replied then continued in a very bad Italian accent “Justa lika
mamma used to maka”
“And is yours as good
as mamas?” he asked thinking that if it tasted half as good as it smelt he was
in for a treat.
“Better” she replied
“now go and finish setting the table”
He did as instructed
and then opened a bottle of wine, and returned to the kitchen just in time to
see the suet delight coming out of the oven and it would not have been an
exaggeration to say that the oven sighed.
As Ben sat and ate the
heaviest most indigestible dumpling he had ever experienced along with lumpy
mash, anemic gravy and over cooked veg he thought to himself
“How bad a cook is her
mother?”
He persevered and ate
most of it and when she said
“Well?”
He didn’t have the
heart to tell her the truth so he said
“Lovely”
It’s was a good job he
wasn’t marrying her for her cooking ability.
Fortunately, Ben could
cook and he generally got home an hour before her so he would get the evening
meal on the go so as to minimize the risk of having to eat her offerings.
It was about a fortnight
after the night of the dumpling disaster when they were summoned to the
Fox-Martins for Sunday lunch which Ben was very much looking forward to.
Her father Edward was
very easy company especially if you restricted the conversation to sport while his
wife Marcia thought the sun shone from Bens every orifice.
But the main thing he
was looking forward to was a Roast dinner he loved a Sunday Roast and he wished
he could have one every week.
However as the old
saying go? Be careful what you wish for because it might come true.
Ben and Dorcas were in
the car on our way to Finchbottom
“Are you sure you
don’t mind?” she asked
“Of course” he said “I
like your folks and I’m looking forward to a great Sunday lunch”
“Oh” Dorcas said doubtfully
“Good”
They arrived just
after two and they found Edward in the lounge watching football.
“Hi Dad” she said
“Hello baby girl” he
replied and gave her a kiss, then he shook Bens hand.
“Ben dear boy” he said
“sit down, they’ve just kicked off”
Ben was looking
forward to watching the match, it was the local derby, Abbottsford Town were
playing Abbeyvale Borough and Ben and Edward both followed Abbottsford.
But not only was it a
derby match but it was important match because it was a top of the table clash,
although to be honest it was always an important match when Town played
Borough.
“I’ll just say hello
to Marcia first” he said and Dorcas led the way.
The aromas emanating
from the kitchen were mouthwatering.
“Mum?” Dorcas called
“I’m in here darling”
a disembodied voice called back.
He followed Dorcas
into the kitchen and kisses and hugs were exchanged between them and then
Marcia turned her attention on Ben.
“It’s lovely to see
you Ben” Marcia said “I’m glad you could come”
“It smells delicious” he
said “I can’t wait”
“Oh” she said all
flustered “that’s a really nice thing to say”
Then Dorcas kissed him
and dispatched him to keep her father company, where Edward had a freshly
poured beer sitting on the table waiting for him.
“Ah there you are” he
said without taking his eyes off the screen.
“It’s one nil to Borough,
completely against the run of play”
Marcia called them to
the table about an hour later and they sat down at the table.
Edward poured the wine
and Dorcas and Marcia carried the tureens in, then when they were all seated
she lifted the cover off the meat platter to reveal the charred remains of what
would once have been a very expensive joint of beef.
The vegetables and the
gravy were a similar disappointment, the insipidness of the gravy was clearly a
family tradition.
As Edward
unceremoniously hacked his way through the charcoal he slowly revealed the
undercooked redness at its core.
And as Ben struggled
politely through the hideous meal he was left to ponder how two such beautiful
women could be such ugly cooks.
So it was with a full
stomach and a bad case of indigestion that they drove away from her parents’ house.
“Did you enjoy your
Sunday roast then sweetie?” Dorcas asked
“Oh yes” he replied
“it was ….”
“Horrible?” Dorcas interrupted
“No, no” he protested
“Yes, yes” she
corrected me “Mums even more rubbish at cooking than I am”
“You’re not rubbish
hon” he said
“I am, you could have
beaten someone to death with that dumpling it was so heavy” Dorcas said and
laughed
“Well maybe not to death,
but certainly into a coma” he said and she punched his arm
In just a few short months
Bens cozy little life had been completely turned upside down.
From the moment Dorcas
breezed into his life on a bright June day when she almost sent him into the
afterlife from behind the wheel of her car.
It was the most
wonderful thing that had ever happened to him, and that changed everything in a
heartbeat.
Once he plucked up the
courage to ask her out the next step was to fall in love with her which took absolutely
no effort at all.
After that he needed
to summon up the courage to propose, which he did, in the guest bathroom in his
Uncles house in the Dulcets, and almost put his mother into a coma in the
process.
So far so good, meet
pretty young brunette, woo pretty young brunette, fall in love with pretty
young brunette, propose to pretty young brunette and finally move in with
pretty young brunette.
Well not finally obviously
but that’s the story so far, there are many more chapters to follow obviously.
The next one began
after two weeks of them living together.
All was going well and
they had settled into a comfortable routine and it felt as if we had been
together forever.
They were sitting in the
kitchen eating crumpets on a Sunday morning when Dorcas suddenly said
“Can we get a cat?”
“What for?” he
retorted
“Because I’d like one”
she said sweetly
“Do we have to?” he
sighed
“Don’t you like cats?”
Dorcas enquired
“I have no strong opinion
either way” he informed her
“So you don’t dislike
them?” she asked
“No not at all” he
replied
“Are you allergic?”
she queried
“Nope” Ben said
“So can we?” she asked
cutely
“I take it that you
have a strong opinion about cats?” he asked
“Oh yes” she replied
“I love them”
When he didn’t respond
immediately she continued
“They’re very lovely,
they’re good company, they’re clean, they’re not demanding”
And when he again said
nothing she added, as if a single reason underlined all the others
“And they keep mice
away”
“I don’t have mice” He
stated
He had never had mice
in the house in all the years he had lived there and was not at all unhappy
with that fact and he didn’t need a cat to achieve that.
Furthermore all through
his childhood at his parents’ house they didn’t have a cat and they were mouse
free so the point seemed moot.
“Please, please,
pretty please” she begged to which he was helpless to resist
“Ok, ok” he conceded
“Yey” she screamed and
jumped up and down before planting a kiss on his mouth.
“But” he interjected
“But?” she repeated
“There are certain
conditions” he stated
“Which are?” she asked
“No Toms” he said “I
don’t want spraying in the house”
“Check” she responded
“I’m the only alpha
male in this house” he added pompously
“Ok tiger” she mocked
“No rescue cats, I
don’t want to take any chances on getting a mental one like John and Carole
did” he continued
“Check” she responded
“And no kittens” he added
“Ok” she agreed
“Anything else?”
“No that’s the lot” he
confirmed
“Good get your coat
on” she instructed
“What for?” Ben asked
“I said we’d pick the
cat up before 11 o’clock” Dorcas said cheekily
“And how did you know
I’d say yes?” he asked
“Because you’re
lovely” she replied “and you love me”
“Yes well just
remember that the cutesy stuff won’t work once you lose your looks” he told her
as they were going out the door
“It’ll still work even
when I’m old and wrinkled” she said cockily
Dorcas and Ben were
going to Mrs. Brownlow’s house, just a few doors down from their cottage.
She was a lovely lady,
who sadly was having to give up her cottage and move into a sheltered housing
scheme on the other side of the village, where pets of any kind were not
permitted.
Doris had a sweet
little two year old tabby female called Pandora for whom she was looking for a
good home and apparently they were it.
All went swimmingly
with Pandora’s arrival, she quickly took to them and made herself at home and
although he had misgivings about getting a cat he was happy that he had agreed,
but then the presents started to arrive.
Ben would wake up in
the morning and make his way downstairs to make coffee and there it would be, a
mouse, a vole, a bird and on one occasion a coy carp.
All either dead or
very near death and all of them gifts, for him apparently, the alpha male, from
the huntress.
Sometimes Pandora
would be in attendance smugly guarding her latest trophy.
On one particular
morning in late November he came downstairs to find a squirrel.
“My God Pandora what
on earth have you brought me this time?”
As soon as his foot
landed on the hall floor she started rubbing herself around his ankles making a
series of chirruping noises as she did so, then she would go and circle the
stricken Squirrel, look up at him and then at her prey and then back at him as
if to say
“Look what I did”
“Yes very good, well
done” he said without enthusiasm although he had to admit he was impressed, then
she returned to his ankles and repeated the whole process again.
Pandora had just got
to the point where she was saying to him
“I did that that was
me”
When Dorcas came
halfway down the stairs and hung over the bannister to enquire
“What’s going on?”
“Pandora brought in a Squirrel”
he told her
“A Squirrel?” she
exclaimed “wow who’s a clever girl then?”
The cat responded to
that by repeating the whole rubbing, chirruping and gloating sequence.
“Who’s a clever girl?”
he said to himself as he slipped my unstockinged feet into a pair of wellies.
That was all well and
good but she wasn’t the one who had to take the poor suffering twitching
creature up the garden to finally dispatch it with a spade.
Of course finding dead
offerings in the hall was far better than the alternative because Pandora
didn’t catch mice and such to display them as trophies or to supplement her
diet.
She brought them into
the house primarily as toys and she would play with them for hours, but sometimes
they got away
Which is why he
recalled what Dorcas had said about cats
“They’re very lovely,
they’re good company, they’re clean, they’re not demanding” she continued
“And they keep mice
away”
Well Ben had never had
any mice to keep away, until the time, after he had acquired a cat.
He wouldn’t have had the
mice if he hadn’t got the cat and he wouldn’t have got the cat if he didn’t have
Dorcas.
But that was the key
because he did have Dorcas and he was very happy about that, and if he had a
few mice as a result then it was a small price to pay because he did have Dorcas
Fox-Martin in his life, and he planned to keep the most beautiful girl in the
world with him forever.
