The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (004) Stranded

 April

On the eastern extreme of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, at the end of the Finchbottom Expressway, is the deepwater seaport of Pipershaven, on the edge of Pepperstock Bay.

It was first established as a garrison town by the Romans during the reign of Vespasian in 70 A.D. as Piperis Stirpe Praesidio.

In the 21st century none of its Roman origins are any longer in evidence as the town had expanded far beyond the ancient confines and the busy docks would have been the envy of the Roman world.

However apart from being a remarkably busy commercial port with a substantial dockside, it was also home to the cross-channel ferry port, the RNLI Lifeboat Station, a substantial fishing fleet and small ferry service covering the two miles to the bay islands, Beaumont, and St Giles, running a daily schedule, weather permitting.

The Shaw Brothers Ferry Company operates the service between Pipershaven and the islands, which was ironic in a way, as the business was jointly owned by sisters Olivia and Tanya.

They owned the two ferries, the Empress Victoria, and the Queen Eleanor, Olivia skippered the Victoria and Tanya the Eleanor.

Both vessels sailed twice daily services, stopping at both islands.

The service runs six days a week, with a reduced service on Sunday’s and Bank Holidays with no service on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and Easter Sunday.

Not that Olivia and Tanya were at the helm for every trip as they employed two other captains and worked three days on, three off rotas.

The first sailing of the day left the mainland at 8 am and then at three-hour intervals following until 5 pm, and on a grey damp Wednesday morning it was 36-year-old Olivia Shaw in command of the Empress Victoria as it left Pipershaven harbour heading out to sea.

 

Although Cabot Town, on St Giles du Cabot, was only two miles from Pipershaven, the round trip via St Pierre and Beaumont Head was nearer twenty-two miles.

The sea was rougher than Liv expected, and the head wind freshened, so they were twenty minutes late arriving at St Giles.

The rest of the journey was without hinderance and on the run back to port, after rounding Beaumont Head meant that she had made up all bar five minutes of the time she had lost earlier.

However, by two o’clock in the afternoon when the Empress Victoria left port for the second time that day the weather had deteriorated further and by the time they were negotiating the entrance to St Pierre Harbour, on the east coast of Beaumont Island, the leading edge of a storm that wasn’t due to hit the area until later that evening had already arrived.

 

Beaumont Island is the largest of the two Bay Islands, 11 miles long and 8 miles wide, with a population of around 3000, and was first settled by the Romans who called it Saxa Viridia, the green Rock, and built a fort on the hill above the harbour with a commanding view across the open water and any approaching vessels that might threaten the garrison on the mainland.

It was not a popular posting for most of the soldiers because of the remoteness and the quiet, the remainder liked it for the same reasons.

 

Following the formal end of the Roman occupation of Britain at the beginning of the 5th Century AD, the islands were largely unoccupied until the arrival of the Norman’s after their victory over King Harold at Hastings, when a close friend of William of Normandy, a minor nobleman, Gilbert du Beaumont, claimed the islands for himself, and took up residence on the larger Island which he promptly named after himself. 

The other island he named St Giles du Cabot in honour of his cousin and childhood friend who died of his wounds after the battle.

 

When Gilbert and his entourage first set foot on the island only the wooden piles remained from the old Roman Quayside, so the first task was to build a new one of stone along with breakwaters, sea walls and tetrapods, until the port of St Pierre-Eglise was born, so named as it was the birthplace of his wife Eleanor.

Work began in earnest on the town once the port was fully functional, including a Manor House and a Norman Church, unfortunately neither Gilbert nor his wife lived long enough to see St Pierre completed, but they were both buried on the island.

The burden of completing the work his parents had begun fell to their second son William, as his elder brother Robert had gone to fight in the first crusade and never returned.

Robert was not the first Beaumont son to fall in battle and he wouldn’t be the last, but the family stewardship protected the  land for over 900 years before war finally ended the family’s tenure when three successive heirs were killed in action during the Great War and the accumulated death duties forced George, the only surviving Beamont, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the buildings, the port and parcels of land.

Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm for himself and retain a Beaumont family presence on the island.

 

More than one hundred years later the farm is run by the last remaining members of the family, George’s grandsons, fraternal twins, Joshua, and Ben.

On a stormy April Wednesday Joshua had driven up to St Pierre with his brother Ben in the horsebox to catch the early ferry, Ben was booked on the Empress Victoria as he was travelling to the mainland to pick up their horse Trojan from the Williamson White Veterinary Hospital in Purplemere, following an operation, then he would return on the last ferry of the day.

Joshua meanwhile had a meeting with their accountants and was staying in town all day and would meet up with Ben again off the last ferry of the day.

 

After overseeing the unloading of the passengers and vehicles Liv went to the Shaw Brothers Ferry Company office on the quayside, to check about the return journey and unfortunately was told that Harbour Master Paul Holland, had closed the port so no vessels could sail until after the storm had passed, which was likely to be first thing the following day.

It wasn’t the first time she had to take refuge from a storm, in fact it was a frequent occurrence considering the British weather but normally they found themselves stranded in her home port.

 

Liv returned to the ship to inform the crew and move the ship to its moorings and secure it for the night while employee Lisa Stokes made the arrangements for the crew accommodations and meal allowances for the night.

 

Joshua Beaumont had a very productive meeting at Walton and Thompsett Accountants including a very decent lunch.

He then had a couple of hours to kill before heading to the ferry terminal, so he did a little shopping and had a couple of overpriced coffees.

Finally, the time came for him to go and meet the ferry so due to the inclement weather he got in a taxi.

 

“I’m sorry Mr Beaumont but there will be no more sailings today” Lisa Stokes said just as Olivia Shaw returned to the office.

“Don't worry Lisa” he replied, “I know it's not your fault, thanks anyway.”

“Is that Joshua Beaumont?” she asked, and he turned towards the source of the voice, to see a soaking wet figure in a yellow waterproof coat and hat dripping all over the carpet.

“Yes, that's me” he replied, though not sure who he was replying to,

“Do I know you?” he added, and she turned her back on him and took off her coat and shook it before hanging it on a peg, then repeated the process with her hat.

“Do you recognise me now?” She asked as she turned around to face him.

“Olivia Shaw!” He exclaimed “As I live and breathe.”

“It’s good to see you” she said after they embraced.

“I haven’t seen you since David’s wedding.”

David was Olivia’s younger brother who was at university with Joshua and Ben, and they had remained friends, he was now out in Boston working for a law firm, he didn't want anything to do with the family’s maritime business, he always knew he would follow a different path.

“I know it’s been a while hasn’t it” he confessed then asked.

“What are you doing here, do you work for the company now?”

“She’s the boss” Lisa pointed out.

“Really?” he retorted.

“Yes, for two years now” Liv replied.

“So, what got you out of your cozy office on a day like this?” Joshua asked and Lisa laughed.

“Well, you could say I brought my office with me” Olivia replied, and Lisa laughed again, and in response to the puzzled expression on Joshua’s face she added proudly.

“For the last 12 months I’ve been skipper of the Empress Victoria”.

“Wow a real salty seadog” he retorted and chuckled.

“I like that” she said and laughed before adding.

“So, what about you? I assume you’re not just here to harass my wonderful employee”.

“Heaven forfends” he retorted “No I’m supposed to be meeting my brother off the last ferry.”

“Well, I’m sure Ben will be safe in Pipershaven until the morning” Liv said.

“I’m more worried about the Horse” Joshua retorted, and she raised an eyebrow.

“What horse?” she began then raised a hand and added.

“No don’t tell me, …. tell me later over dinner.”

“Great idea” he said, “Where did you have in mind?”

“I’m staying at The Beaumont Manor tonight, so how about there?” she suggested.

“Ok sounds good to me, what time?”

“8 o’clock”

“It’s a date” he said then blushed.

“Well, you know what I mean, see you later” he added and quickly went out the door.

“That blush was very telling” Lisa said as Olivia watched Joshua hurry away into the dark.

“Yes, wasn’t it” she agreed “I think I need to ask you a favour.”

 

Joshua was elated when he first left the Shaw Brothers office with a dinner date because there was unfinished business between them following a midnight kiss on New Years Eve ten years earlier, when they stood locked in their first passionate embrace, their first ever kiss, as fireworks lit up the night sky.

A kiss which hinted at being the beginning of something, but because of a series of unconnected events it never happened.

Firstly, Olivia broke her leg skiing in Vermont and before she returned to Downshire his father had a heart attack and died which knocked him for six, then he lost his mum when in her despair she took her own life, which kicked him while he was down, so by the time he got he finally got his head straight, Olivia was seeing someone else.

Joshua always thought of her as the one that got away, maybe now he had a second chance.    

However, his earlier elation evaporated when it dawned on him that he was stranded in St Pierre without a car, and because of the weather was unable to get a cab.

Fortunately, after a couple of phone calls he managed to persuade a mate to drive him back to Woodside farm.

 

Because of the possibility of getting stranded on the islands, even though it wasn’t a regular occurrence, Olivia always had an overnight bag aboard, but the bag only contained a clean uniform shirt, underwear, socks, casual shoes, and toiletries.

What it didn’t contain was girl clothes suitable to impress a man, which is why she needed to ask Lisa Stokes for a favour. 

 

 

 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (003) Leaving High Pines

 

February

The setting for the Arnold residence was breath taking and was remote and peaceful as promised.

However, the 10-bedroom house, called unimaginatively, Lakeside, looked unspectacular from the outside.

The interior on the other hand was the complete opposite and was the epitome of luxury, works of art adorned every wall, there were wood panelled walls, leather upholstery, silk wall coverings, velvet curtains, Bronzes, Chinese vases, porcelain, carved ivory, and English silver.

It may not have been “on trend” but the whole place oozed class.

However, despite its classic décor, it was appointed with all the mod cons, electronic surveillance, satellite communication, and their own generator in case the power was interrupted.

 

The day after moving to the house, Nurse, Vicki Pullen, joined the other four live in staff.

Elisa Ghelardoni, cook, housekeeper Rebecca Clarke and gardener handyman husband Ross, and last but by no means least George Wood and he referred to himself as the chauffeur gofer.

 

Once they had arrived at the house, much as he did at High Pines, Danny relied heavily on Molly, who apart from transcribing his recordings, also did his fact checking and helped with research.

He spent most of his time in the library, but Molly also had to help Sir Avery with his correspondence, but they made steady progress on the book.

 

Apart from writing he still had his daily chess games with Avery, either in his study or his room, and every day he looked paler than the day before.

The only time they left the house was for either exercise or to go to church and both things were weather dependent, and the weather in February was appalling, with snowstorm after snowstorm.

So, when the weather finally broke, they were all looking forward to going out to church, and on the evening before, in the middle of their chess game, Danny asked.

“Are you going to Church tomorrow?”

“No, no, God and I are not on speaking terms” he replied.

“We haven’t spoken since my daughter Charlotte and her husband John were killed.”

“Is that why Molly lives with you?”

“Yes, she was only a toddler at the time of the accident, not even 3” Avery said.

“What happened?” Danny asked.

“They were hit head on by a drunk driver.” he replied sadly.

“Thank God Molly wasn’t with them.”

“Thank God?”

“Well, yes, he got that part right at least” Avery agreed wryly.

“Is that why you raised Molly in the church?” Danny asked.

“No, it wasn’t that” he replied with a smile “It was because Charlotte would never have forgiven me if I had denied Molly a Christian upbringing.”

 

He thought about that conversation many times over the coming weeks, because although he said he wasn’t talking to God, he still kept a bible by his bed.

March

As February gave way to a less bitter and wintry March there were regular visits to the house by Sir Avery’s Lawyers and the occasional appearance of his Doctor.

By the time they headed into a more benign April Avery was confined to bed and the amount of time spent on their chess game got less and less.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (002) Meeting the Great Man

 

When the orderly pushed him into the room Danny got his first look at the famous industrialist and financier and he was shocked to see how pale and frail he looked.

It had been a few years since he was seen in public, and he was a shadow of the man he had expected to see.

It would have been simpler to list the ailments he didn’t suffer from than those that he had, but the thing that brought him to hospital on that occasion was a mild heart attack, and not his first.

“Ah Mr. Nightingale thank you for coming” said Sir Avery in a stronger voice than his physical appearance suggested and offering his hand.

“My pleasure Sir, and please call me Danny” he responded shaking his hand, which was equally strong.

“In which case Danny, I insist you drop the Sir and call me Avery.”

“Deal”

“Good, now how are you doing my boy, are you on the mend?” he asked.

“Well, I think I’ve turned a corner” Danny replied, “And how about you?”

“Well for me the corner is unattainable” Avery said, “In truth, I am paying the price for a life well lived, but if I do what I’m told by the Doctors and my Granddaughter, I should be around long enough to get my affairs in order.”

“I’m sorry to hear that” Danny said then after a momentary silence he added.

“I was flattered, and more than a little curious to get your…. Invitation, I would never have pegged you as a Crime fiction kind of man.”

Sir Avery responded by way of a throaty chuckle.

“Quite right, quite right, it’s my Granddaughter Molly who’s the fan, she’s a little shy so she would never have spoken to you directly.”

“Oh, I see,” he said while looking around.

“She’s running an errand” he said in answer to the unasked question, “She’ll be back within the hour, we’ll just have to pass the time in conversation until she arrives.”

“Or we could play chess” Danny suggested as he spotted a fully populated chessboard on the tray table beside the bed.

“You play?”

“I do” he replied.

“Do you like to win?” Avery asked earnestly.

“Of course,”

“Good, Molly lets me win sometimes because she feels sorry for me” he said and laughed.

 

They spent a very pleasant hour and a half playing and talking, although when he thought about it later it was more like he was fielding questions in a very low-key interrogation.

“So where are you from, originally?” Avery asked.

“A village called Applesford in Downshire” Danny replied and took his bishop.

“Really? I am a Downshire boy myself, Spaniards Creek on Beaumont Island” he responded proudly.

“It’s true what they say then, it really is a small world” Danny said and took Avery’s rook, “Checkmate.”

“Well played my boy” he said and chuckled just as the door opened and a tall redheaded girl walked in, with her eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

“Ah Molly, come and say hello to Danny, he’s from Downshire” he said.

“Applesford,” Molly said quietly, and they both looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“I googled.” Said Molly.

“Come and sit down and say hello” Avery gestured to her.

“Danny Nightingale, this is my Granddaughter Molly.”

“It’s lovely to meet you” Danny said, “I understand you like my books.”

“Yes, very much” she quietly replied.

“I will happily sign a copy of my latest as soon as I can hold a pen” he said, and she smiled which seemed to put her at her ease and relax her because then she asked in a much more confident voice.

“Have you started the next book yet?”

“Kind of, I have an outline, but that’s as far as I’ve got and I won’t get any further if I don’t find what’s left of my car, and more importantly what was in it, suitcase, laptop, notes and everything else besides” he said.

 

They continued chatting for almost another hour when he noticed that Sir Avery was starting to look tired, so he said.

“Well, I really think I’ve taken up more than enough of your time, could you ring for an orderly and I’ll leave you in peace.”

“I can push you back” Molly offered boldly.

“If that’s ok” he said, “I would greatly appreciate it.”

“That’s a good idea Molly” Avery said, “Now you will come again, won’t you? tomorrow if you’re up to it.”

“I’d like that” he said.

 

Danny’s room was only a short walk of twenty yards away and when they were halfway, Molly said.

“I can help if you like.”

“With what?”

“Finding your car,” she replied, “and your laptop and things.”

“You don’t have to do that” Danny said.

“I don’t mind” Molly replied as she pushed him into his room “I have plenty of time on my hands.”

“Well, if you’re sure” Danny said.

“That would be very helpful.”

He got up out of the chair and rummaged in the bedside locker and fished out an envelope, which contained the hire car details, a business card from one of the officers who attended the scene and a copy of his driver’s license.

“That’s all I have I’m afraid” he said.

“I think that should be more than enough.” Molly said.

“Thanks Molly”

 

The next day Danny played chess with Sir Avery again and stayed with him for about three hours until he became weary, he enjoyed the game, but there was not a sign of Molly, and he found he was disappointed by that.

But at 7 o’clock that evening just as he was finishing his Jell-O, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in” he called.

The door opened and Molly walked in pushing his suitcase in front of her and she was followed in turn by a uniformed chauffeur carrying an assortment of bags.

“You got everything” he said with amazement.

“Well George did” she admitted.

“She did everything else though” George Wood pointed out.

“Well thank you both very much” he said and grinned as he tried to open the laptop bag.

“I’ll wait in the lounge Molly” George said, “Good night, Sir.”

“Good night, George, and thank you again and call me Danny.”

Molly watched Danny struggle with the laptop bag for a full minute before she intervened and took the bag from him and took out the laptop.

“Bloody hell, if I can’t get it out the bag, how the hell am I going to use the damn thing?” he said angrily. “And I can’t even write notes because of this.”

“How long do you have to keep it on?” Molly asked.

“Another 5 weeks” he replied. “I’ll go insane by then, I have so much rattling around in my head and I can’t get it out.”

Molly didn’t respond, she just opened the laptop then turned it towards Danny’s face to unlock it.

Once she was in, she opened Word and clicked on “Dictate” then turned it back towards him.

“Now all you have to do is talk.”

“I don’t often use the “Dictate” function” he admitted.

“I don’t annunciate properly when I’m in full flow.” 

“It will type most of what you say, even if it doesn’t get everything right, I can help you edit it tomorrow” she said, “Just concentrate on emptying your head for tonight.”

“Good idea, thanks Molly”

 

The next morning Molly knocked on the door again.

“Good morning, how did you get on?”

“Morning Molly, not bad I got a lot out of my head but it’s a bit gobbledygookish.”

Danny said.

“Is that even a word?” she asked.

“It is now”

“Well, you might find this of more use, I brought it from home” she said.

“A Dictaphone! that’s perfect.” Danny said, “I can type it up when I have use of my arm again.”

“Or I could type them up” Molly suggested “It’ll probably be quicker.”

“Your grandfather said you were shy.” Danny said.

“I’m not so sure.”

“I’m only shy with strangers and people I don’t like” she retorted and blushed.

 

Over the next two weeks he split his time equally between dictation, chess with Avery and editing with Molly, and his arm improved every day, and medically there was no real reason for him to be at High Pines, and publisher Max Parsons agreed because it wasn’t cheap and his insurance was only covering a proportion of the bill, but after Danny sent him the first 100 draft pages he said.

“You can have another week, then we’ll talk again.”

 

However, halfway through that week while playing chess with Avery he suddenly said.

“I’m discharging myself.”

“What about your treatment?” Danny asked.

“I am as well as I’m ever going to get” he said stoically.

“So, I’m going home to die in my own bed.”

“What did Doctor Cole have to say about that?”

“He had a blue fit” Avery replied and chuckled throatily.

“But once he knew I wasn’t about to change my mind we settled on a compromise,”

“Which is?” Danny asked.

“A live in nurse” he replied.

“Very sensible”

“What about you, my boy? Will you return home to Downshire?”

“I don’t think I will just yet, I’m making such great progress with the book, so I don’t want to break my stride and lose my momentum.”

“Where will you go?”

“I’ll get my publisher to splash out on a posh Hotel” Danny said and laughed.

“Nonsense, you don’t want to stay at an impersonal hotel, you must come and stay at the house” Avery insisted.

“I couldn’t possibly impose,” said Danny.

“You won’t be imposing my boy, it’s a big house, by the lake, and very peaceful, especially this time of the year.” He said persuasively.

“And Molly would be disappointed if you don’t come.”

“If not for Molly I would still be trying to extract my laptop from the bag” he said and laughed.

“So, I would be delighted to accept your invitation.”

“Excellent, excellent” he exclaimed and shook his hand.

“Have you told Molly yet?” Danny asked.

“No, I haven’t, I was waiting until I could use the news of your presence at the house to soften the blow” he replied and chuckled again, and Danny knew he’d been played.

 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (001) Origins

January

Beaumont Island is the largest of the two Bay Islands, 11 miles long and 8 miles wide, with a population of around 3000, and was first settled by the Romans, who called it Saxa Viridia, the green Rock, and built a fort on the hill above the harbour with a commanding view across the open water and any approaching vessels that might threaten the garrison on the mainland.

It was not a popular posting for most of the soldiers because of the remoteness and the quiet, the remainder liked it for the same reasons.

 

Following the formal end of the Roman occupation of Britain at the beginning of the 5th Century AD, the islands were largely unoccupied until the arrival of the Norman’s after their victory over King Harold at Hastings, when a close friend of William of Normandy, a minor nobleman, Gilbert du Beaumont, claimed the islands for himself, and took up residence on the larger Island which he promptly named after himself. 

The other island he named St Giles du Cabot in honour of his cousin and childhood friend who died of his wounds after the battle.

 

When Gilbert and his entourage first set foot on the island only the wooden piles remained from the old Roman Quayside, so the first task was to build a new one of stone along with breakwaters, sea walls and tetrapods, until the port of St Pierre-Eglise was born, so named as it was the birthplace of his wife Eleanor.

Work began in earnest on the town once the port was fully functional, including a Manor House and a Norman Church, unfortunately neither Gilbert nor his wife lived long enough to see St Pierre completed, but they were both buried on the island.

The burden of completing the work his parents had begun fell to their second son William, as his elder brother Robert had gone to fight in the first crusade and never returned.

Robert was not the first Beaumont son to fall in battle and he wouldn’t be the last, but the family stewardship protected the  land for over 900 years before war finally ended the family’s tenure when three successive heirs were killed in action during the Great War and the accumulated death duties forced George, the only surviving Beamont, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the buildings, the port and parcels of land.

Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm for himself and retain a Beaumont family presence on the island.

 

However, this story begins 4,700 miles away from the island where bestselling crime fiction writer, Danny Nightingale, creator of the Fraser Markham series, was in the USA on a book signing tour, while simultaneously researching for a new book series he had been promising his publisher, Max Parsons, for some time, with a new protagonist Sharon Jacques.

At the age of twenty-eight, to have had not one, but three bestsellers was some kind of achievement.

He had been in the states for three months when he completed his tour and already had a clear outline sketched out for his new book, so he was feeling good and looking forward to returning to Downshire.

However, in January while he was travelling through Colorado, Danny got caught in a snowstorm and crashed his car into a snowbank.

He wasn’t badly hurt, but he did have a wrist fracture, a couple of broken ribs, a mild concussion and assorted cuts, bruises, and abrasions.

His hire car didn’t fare quite so well and was a write off, so the car got towed and he ended up in the ER.

While he was there, he called his publisher who arranged to have him transferred, after his wrist was set, via a private ambulance to a more exclusive hospital close to Colorado Springs called High Pines, where he met Sir Avery Arnold and his granddaughter Molly Barrington, a meeting which, although he didn’t know it at the time, was to change his life forever.

 

He had been in the hospital for three days before Danny arrived, but it was twenty-four hours later when he was summoned for an audience.

It was Molly who first spotted him as she was walking along the corridor past his room, no one else seemed to realize who he was, so she began to doubt herself, so she walked slowly past the door another five times until, she was sure.

Molly was a huge fan of his books, but was far too shy to approach him herself, which was why Sir Avery summoned him instead.

However, it wasn’t until his fourth day at High Pines that he felt up to accepting the invitation from the great man.

SNOW GIRL

 

When the snow girl dumped

Her guy for someone older

She froze him out of her life

And gave him the cold shoulder

Uncanny Christmas Tales – (049) The Santa Express

 

The Dulcets are a collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green, and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few, and of course Dulcet-on-Willow, a large sprawling village beside the gentle shallow River Willow, which ran unhurriedly from the Pepperstock Hills to the more vibrant River Brooke, and it was on the banks of the river where the home of Clare Gammon was situated.

It was previously her family home and she had lived there all 26 years of her life; she had lived alone in the house for 2 of those years.

She worked in Dulcet St Mary for the Dulcet Garden Centre as a senior buyer, but she had many more strings to her bow.

Clare was very active in the church, at St Bede’s as well as farther afield.

This involved among other things, being a greeter at the church services, delivering Parish Magazines, helping at the Christmas Bazaar, Summer Fete, and Sunday School, you name it, and she did it and that was only in the village.

Her wider good works included the Soup Kitchens in Finchbottom or Purplemere, who were always desperate for volunteers.

The Christmas Charity Wagon in Sharpington, which was an old Mornington Brewery dray, pulled by two white shire horses, which was bedecked with tinsel and lights and carried on the back, a multi denominational choir singing Christmas Carols.

Clare was not however, among those going from door to door, as the wagon drove around the town, collecting donations in plastic buckets and handing out sweets to the excited children, no she was in the choir on the back of the Dray because she had the voice of an angel.

She also volunteered for the Roving Angels, which had been in existence for about two years and was similar to the Street Angels, Street Pastors and other groups that had sprung up all across the UK in the previous 20 or 25 years.

They had made a really positive impact on crime and antisocial behaviour in Finchbottom and Purplemere town centres over the first two years, particularly in the general vicinity of the bars and clubs.

Providing a calming presence on the streets late at night in situations where a police uniform might have the opposite effect.

In the first two years of the Roving Angels, they had contributed to a 29% fall in public place violence on the weekends.

It all began when Christian Churches in the area came together with the Police and the Borough Council’s to establish the Angels.

But it took people of Faith to make it work as with so many things in life.

Clare had been doing it for two years so had not been with them since the beginning.

 

But one of her favourite good deeds was to help out on the Santa Express, which was something to behold, and she loved it because it reminded her of her childhood.

The Santa Express was in reality the Finchbottom Flyer, a 4-6-2 standard gauge four-cylinder steam locomotive built at the Northchapel Works in 1933, liveried in the black and gold of the DCRN, Downshire County Railway Network.

It was a great work horse of the DCRN from 1933 until 1962. 

After it was taken out of service it was stored at the Northchapel Works and remained there for twenty-five years, until it and several other engines and assorted rolling stock were acquired by the Downshire Railway Preservation Society, with the financial support and patronage of Baron St George of Mornington, who was a man with a strong sense of history and his stewardship of the Mornington Estate wasn’t restricted just to the land and properties within the Estate, they also ensured the protection of historically significant buildings and landmarks under threat from modernizers.

Although steam railway engines didn’t really fall within the Estates normal parameters his Lordship made an unprecedented exception.

The acquisition of the Flyer was made in 1988 and the restoration  was completed in 1992. 

The maiden journey for fare paying customers was on the August Bank Holiday in 1993 and ran from Sharping St Mary to Sharpinghead and then onto Sharpington.

It wasn’t until seven years later when the Sharpington spur line was completed, they had access to the main Finchbottom line and were able to go County wide.

It was two years earlier than that when the Flyer had its first outing as the Santa Express which ran from Sharping St Mary station to a secret location where Santa was waiting in his village and grotto.

It was actually the old herb drying sheds which had been preserved and renovated and dressed for the season.

The train picked up children and their parent’s late afternoon so that they arrived at the grotto in darkness in order to make the most of the spectacular lights.

It ran every day from the first of December up until Christmas and there were always plenty of Elves aboard to ensure the children didn’t escape from the carriages.

Clare Gammon was one of those Elves, it was one of the high points of her year, she well remembered her parents taking her when she was a young girl and she liked to see other kids as excited as she used to be at their age.

 

On Wednesday afternoon she drove to Sharping St Mary and when she got there the kids were going crazy with excitement and she found the excitement was quite infectious.

But her job on the trip was to make sure none of the over excited little darlings fell off the train.

There were always plenty of helpers, many of whom she already knew, but there was often a new face or two, and that Wednesday was no difference, but one helper fell into both categories.

She had just got aboard the carriage and closed the door when a voice behind her said

“My God its Miss Piggy”

Only one person had ever called her Miss Piggy, and that was Michael Cooper, but she hadn’t seen him since they were at school together when they were 14, because he moved out of the village, she didn’t know where to.

She turned around to face the speaker,

“It is you” he said and laughed, and the schoolgirl crush she had on him as a 14-year-old girl flooded over her again, even though the tall man with broad shoulders and hands like shovels, short brown hair, neatly trimmed beard, and hazel eyes, was so different from the boy she worshipped, only his infectious laugh was the same.

“Michael!” she exclaimed

“The very same” he replied

“Not the same” she corrected him “but definitely you”

She had never believed in love at first sight or in soul mates, she thought them rather fanciful notions, the stuff of romantic fiction and sentimental movies.

That was until she met the grown-up incarnation of Michael Cooper when she was instantly smitten, but she doubted he would feel the same.

“What are you doing here?” she asked

“The same as you”

“That’s not what I meant” she said, but then became aware that the sounds of bedlam were emanating from her carriage

“I’d better go” she said regretfully  

“I would love to catch up though” she called over her shoulder

“Me too” he shouted after her

 

She did catch sight of him a couple of times after that, the first time was when one of the Elves, Lily Farmer managed to trap him between the carriages armed with a bunch of mistletoe and only when she had satisfied herself in the pagan ritual did, she let him go.

Irrationally, having witnessed the kiss, she was not at all happy about it, but she did enjoy seeing him again.

Now if the kids were excited on the way to the grotto, then judging by the decibel level, they were even more so on the way back to the station.

The second time she saw him was when they disembarked after the return journey, and the children and their parents made their way home, when her own cousin Eleanor kissed him and said goodbye.

Sadly, she never got to speak to him again, not that day at any rate.

 

She drove back to Willow rerunning the day’s events in her head and just as she pulled onto her drive, her phone rang, so she came to a halt and answered it.

“Hello!”

“Hi Clare” her cousin Eleanor said

“Guess who asked me for your number today?”

Uncanny Christmas Tales – (048) The Garden Center Girls

 

Dulcet St Mary was where the Dulcet Garden Centre was located, which was where Jane Price and Mandy Hubble first met, and was also where Jane fell head over heels in love, with Mandy.

Jane had worked at the Garden Centre since she left school but

Mandy joined as a new hire in October, and was also new to Dulcet St Mary, and actually lived in the same mews as Jane.

She was a year younger than Jane, but like her she was socially awkward, and lacked confidence.

As a result, they just smiled at each other for the first month, but at least sat at the same table for lunch, and by December they progressed beyond monosyllabic conversations, and in the week before Christmas they arranged to go Christmas shopping together in Abbottsford.

Jane was a little concerned there might be an awkward silence on the drive over, or at some point during the day as they had never spent more than half an hour in each other’s company before that day.

She needn’t have worried as Mandy chattered away for the whole journey, as she was so full of excitement.

 

Jane had a lovely day, and she was pretty sure that Mandy had too, so when they were heading back to the car park, walking past the library, hands full of bags and chatting, Jane formulated her plan.

Just after the library they turned left by the art gallery and down a cobbled alley which led to the carpark, then they put all their bags in the car and set off back to the Dulcets.

 

Mandy was anxious to go and show her mum her purchases, but Jane had other ideas.

So, when she parked outside her cottage and they had retrieved all the bags, Jane locked the car and rushed up the path to her front door.

“Come on Mandy” Jane called “come in for a minute”

“Ok I’m coming” Mandy called back “Just for five minutes though”

“Alright come in and close the door” she said and went inside.

Mandy followed her in with bags in each hand and closed the door behind her as instructed, but when she pushed the sitting room door open, she found Jane standing in front of her holding up a sprig of mistletoe, and before she could react Jane took her by surprise and kissed her,

“I didn’t think we were doing presents until next week”

Mandy said, dropped her bags and kissed her back. 

 

Mandy had stayed much longer than five minutes when they shared a soft, gentle, and affectionate farewell kiss, before Jane opened the door and Mandy went home to share her news with her mum.