The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (135) Harvest Festival

 

Paige Chapman went to the University of Downshire where she did Business Studies in Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life defining time.

She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls from Beaumont Island, Stacey Jackson, a tall, beautiful and kindly brunette girl, curvy redhead Poppy Nunthorpe, and Nicole Wilson a quiet busty brunette.

All four of the girls were studying different subjects, but their strong friendship resulted from their shared history as islanders, and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.

 

Paige was five foot two, skinny and flat chested girl, beautiful and painfully shy, with blonde hair and a sweet smile and she lived at Crag Edge Farm which is the smallest of the five farms on the island, on the west of the island bordered in the east by Roman Road and Halfway Lane to the south.

 

There was a major effort during the Indian summer to harvest all the hay before the weather turned, but such was the intensity of the task they didn’t have time to stow it away as neatly as they normally would, so all the barns were full, but not tidy.

So ironically on the day of the harvest festival service at St Clara’s, all the farms were busy frantically getting their barns in order to make sure none of the hay and straw went to waste.

All the farms helped each other out during busy times which was why Phil Wilson from Roman Water Farm was in the barn at Crag Edge helping Paige stack hay bales.

 

They had been at it for about an hour and a half, and there was the normal amiable chatter between them as they stacked the bales, with Phil at ground level handing the bales up to Paige who was about ten feet up, piling them layer on layer, but then as she reached down for the next bale, the one she was standing on crumbled, and she fell forward onto the bale he was holding, which in turn fell on Phil and they ended up in a straw covered heap on the floor facing each other and then while she was still trying to catch her breath he took her by surprise and kissed her

“Oh” she exclaimed when he stopped

“Sorry” he said “I couldn’t help myself”

“Oh, that’s ok, it was very nice” she said “you just took me by surprise”

“Sorry?”

“It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“Well I always assumed you were gay” Paige said

“Why?”

“Well there are at least seven attractive women on the local farms, and I rather immodestly include myself in that number, between twenty-one and twenty-five and to the best of my knowledge, which is extensive, you haven’t tried it on with any of us, have you?”

“No” he said very definitely

“Why?”

“Firstly, because I’m not interested in your sister, random shepherdess’s or the stable girls” he said “and secondly because I was trying to get up the courage to ask you out, but then gravity intervened, and I seized the moment”

“Well you haven’t” she stated

“Haven’t what?”

“You haven’t asked me, you’ve invaded my personal space and assaulted me, but you haven’t asked me out” she said matter of factly

“Oh, I see, well yes I see what you mean” he said, “would you like to go out?”

“Of course, I do” she replied and then pushed him back on the pile of straw and invaded his personal space, and she was doing that to great effect when her sister Stacey walked in  

“I’ll come back later” she said

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (134) Mending a Bridge

 

The following week was very difficult for Stuart and Deborah, the reason for their angst was not the kiss in isolation, they both rather enjoyed that, no, what had them both tied up in knots was the fact they had jeopardised their friendship.

There were a number of occasions over that week when their paths crossed at the hospital or in Manor Row, but they had adopted a distanced stance and only spoke to one another, when necessary, they had also adopted an attitude of deliberately avoiding each other on a day-to-day basis.

 

After a couple of weeks at the farm Natasha Baker said

“You’re a really hard worker, the Beaumont’s could use your energy and enthusiasm with the harvest if you’re interested”

“Really?”

“Yes really” Natasha said

“Then yes I’m interested” Sheridan Tilbrook said

 

October

 

The following weekend, when they would normally have been out and about together, on a very pleasant Sunday morning, they spent it alone walking aimlessly hoping not to bump into each other.    

Their intention was an invigorating walk to clear their heads and not to keep thinking about the other, which of course was the complete opposite of what happened.

It was damp and drizzly by midmorning but an hour later the drizzle had turned to persistent rain, and they made the decision that enough was enough and turned for home, by the shortest possible route, which for both of them was through Bellevue Woods.

They were both rushing along the path, head down and aware only of the fact that they were getting wetter with every step when the paths converged and they almost collided.

“Oh it’s you” he said in a surprised tone.

“You frightened the life out of me” she said and failed to suppress a laugh

He stood and watched rivulets of rain running down her face and she stared at the large droplets on the end of his nose.

Then they simultaneously exclaimed

“I’m sorry” and then they hugged, it was a long comfortable hug, and they were oblivious to the rain, they were just so happy they had their friends back. 

They restrained themselves from kissing again even though that was the opposite of what they wanted to do and contented themselves with the hug.

 

After the hug they trapsed less urgently back to Manor Row and had lunch at his house.

The problem was that the kiss had opened a “Pandora’s Box” of emotions in him and now he was desperately attracted to her, Deborah was now coming to terms with the fact that she had fallen in love with him, and had he ever known love before in his life he would have recognised the fact that he loved her.

As they sat in his lounge enjoying a hot chocolate she suddenly said

“Perhaps in future we should wait to be invited before we do any more kissing”

“Good idea” he concurred

This was reassuring for both of them as it meant that kissing was very definitely not off the menu.

 

The Beaumont’s were every bit as impressed with Sheridan Tilbrook as Natasha Baker was, but they weren’t able to keep her on more than a couple of weeks after the harvest.

“I’m sorry” Natasha said “I wish I could keep you on longer”

“That’s ok”

“But I have a friend at the Beaumont Manor, and I recommended you” She said

“Really?”

“Yes, she’s emailed me an application form for you” she said

“Oh, I can’t do it then” Sheridan said

“What do you mean?” Natasha asked

“I can’t fill in forms”

“Why not?”

“I can’t read or write very well” she said quietly and started to cry

“Don’t cry honey” Natasha said

“It’s ok, I’ll help you with the form”

“Will you?” she asked as she wiped tears off her cheeks with her sleeve

“Yes of course”

“But what if they ask me to read something, or fill something in while I’m there” she said in a panic

“You’ll be making beds and cleaning bathrooms” Natasha said “All you need to be able to do is recognize room numbers, and I know you can do that”

“But…”

“And I will help you improve your reading and writing in the meantime” Natasha said

“Honestly?” Sheridan asked and began crying again

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (133) Overstepping

 

Also on that morning Doctors Woodward and Cameron took advantage of the fine day and the fact that they were both off work on the same day.

When Deborah knocked for Stuart, he had his binoculars around his neck and when she saw them, she said

“I hope you’re not going be saying “Oh what a beauty” every five minutes”

“I don’t say that” he said, and she laughed

“Or “Cor look at that lovely pair”“

“I don’t say that either” he said indignantly “People only say that in “Carry On” Films”

Deborah was chuckling loudly

“I would only say “Oh what a beauty” if I was looking at you” he said

“Oh!” she exclaimed and they both blushed

 

It was wet underfoot as they walked through Bellevue Woods following all the rain from the past week and with the wet  leaves beneath his feet, he suddenly lost his footing.

“Wha…” he exclaimed, followed by “oh shit” and the sound of breaking branches and a thud.

She pushed her way through some bushes and found Stuart getting to his feet and rubbing his hip.

“You didn’t see that coming with your binoculars?” she said, and laughed

“You’re mean” he replied and rubbed his hip again as if he had just remembered he had hurt it.

“Are you ok?” she asked, and they both giggled and then he replied

“I’m fine”

“Are you alright to continue?”

“Yes” he said “but somewhere more stable underfoot”

“Ok” she said, “What about up by the river?”

“Ok the river it is” she replied

 

When they got back to Manor Row Stuart was feeling the effects of his fall so, she offered to apply some Voltarol gel on his hip and lower back and when she had finished, without any warning she kissed him and he kissed her back and then almost telepathically they communicated that they had made a big mistake, and without speaking she left the house. 

“You are a stupid, stupid woman” she said out loud as she marched towards her the house “what on earth were you thinking”

She went through the front door still berating herself.

“Well that’s the end of the friendship now, and he’ll never trust you again” she said and went into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her.

 

As Deborah was stomping her way to number 6, Stuart was doing much the same thing in his own house.

“My God man, have you no self-control?” he muttered

“Just because she’s a beautiful woman, you think it ok to go and kiss her”

He ran the bath still muttering

“Just because she’s funny and has an infectious laugh and has a pretty smile, and smells divine, you cannot go around kissing her, her….” and as he struggled to complete the sentence he plopped down on the toilet and concluded.

“… beautiful soft lips”

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (132) Surprises and Endeavours

 

The next day after Frank Neary and Maya Davenport shared a goodbye kiss, and Frank was walking away, Maya suddenly said

“Oh Frank I almost forgot”

“What?” he said and turned around

“Violeta wants you to pop into the shop, sooner rather than later,” she said

“Ok”

He had to admit he was a little intrigued, but he would have to wait until the next day to find out what Violeta had to share that was so important.

 

Violeta and Arron were outside the shop arranging the assortment of goods on display.

“Hello, you two” Frank said brightly

“Frank” she said excitedly and ran towards me.

“Frank” she said again “Arron darling Frank’s here”

“Frank” Arron said as he offered his hand

They were both in a state of great excitement

“Is everything ok?” he asked

“Oh yes” Violeta said grinning from ear to ear, then after an exchange of looks between them and a nod from Arron she waved her slender hand under his nose and displayed the sparkling engagement ring.

“We wanted you to be the first to know” Violeta said and then danced excitedly on the spot, then after a quick glance at Arron they said together

“We are engaged”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Aunt Louisa said as she stepped out of the shop

“Congratulations” he said shaking hands with Arron

“Congratulations” he said again kissing Violeta “I couldn’t be more pleased”

And he really couldn’t have been more pleased, especially with himself as he had engineered the union unbeknown to both parties.

After leaving the lovebirds he continued on his way to work.

 

Rachel Musson was a very stern looking young woman with short brown hair, who managed the commercial side of the Yacht Club in Sharpington.

Her attire was always dour, and drab and she never smiled, and peered superciliously over her spectacles at everyone, and was universally believed that she was not a joyful person.

William Bailey was the treasurer of the club, and they exchanged pleasantries, if you could call them that, but nothing more than that.

However, one weekend a month they travelled independently to the Beaumont Manor Hotel on the island, where they entertained one another, while her normal dour and drab attire was replaced by much more exotic garb.

 

While the Island was enjoying an Indian summer Molly and Danny’s near miss with Max Parsons the previous week threw them into a blind panic.

So they spent Monday to Friday working frantically to get the Sharon Jacques Book back on track and worked from early every morning and burnt the midnight oil, and when they were done Molly said

“Wow that’s good stuff”

“I agree,” Danny said “perhaps we should work like this all the time” 

They looked at each other for about 10 seconds and they both said simultaneously

“Nah”

 

Elisa and Henry were staying on St Giles for the weekend so Molly and Danny could have a chilled-out weekend which was just what they needed after the kind of frantic week they’d just had.

In the final week of September the Island was still enjoying an Indian summer as the harvest came to an end while they had a more restrained week of writing and by Saturday, they were ready to take a trip up to see Max after the weekend.

 

Midday on Monday Molly and Danny left St Pierre on the ferry when the weather broke, and it rained all the way

to Applesford where they stayed overnight at the flat.

It was still raining heavily when they set off again the next day, but it had eased off by the time they got to Abbotsford.

They booked straight into the Regents Hotel and had a relaxing remainder of the day then met up with Max on Wednesday and he was delighted with their output and over dinner that night they announced that they were taking the rest of the month off, which he took surprisingly well.

They spent Thursday in Abbottsford and did some shopping and in the evening had dinner and went to the theatre.

The weather on the return journey on Friday was atrocious so they overnighted at the flat again and got the ferry back to the island on Saturday morning in the sunshine.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (131) Assignation’s

 

On Tuesday Danny received a message from his publisher

Max Parsons to say he was visiting the island which threw them into a panic because they had allowed themselves to be side tracked from the Sharon Jacques Book that they had been  working on and had turned their attentions to a Fraser Markham story instead.

 

As it turned out he wasn’t there to pester them about the latest chapters, which were well overdue, he was there to see St Clara’s Headteacher Margaret Johnson.

Max had been seated next to the striking redhead at Arielle and Harry Archer’s wedding reception and they spent the first of many nights together, and it was the busty redhead that had drawn him to the island.

 

On Wednesday, single parent Billy Forster walked his daughter Kayleigh to school and made sure that he made eye contact with her teacher Maureen Morrow who smiled knowingly at him.

When he had kissed Kayleigh goodbye, and she went inside he stood beside her teacher.

“Hello Miss Morrow” he said

“Hello Mr Forster” she replied a little flustered.

“So you have a busy day today then, with it being parents evening” he said

“Yes, busy and late” She replied “Not quite burning the midnight oil though”

“But quite late” he mused

“Yes,” she replied with a blush “No later than 9 o’clock”

“I’ll bear that in mind Maureen” he whispered then much louder he added “Goodbye”

Then he walked back home safe in the knowledge that their assignation had been arranged.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (130) Changing GP

 

Austin Freshwater had been away from the island for almost a week, but she didn’t get to see him until the Monday of the following week when he walked into the Gilbert.

“Hello stranger” she said and smiled

“Hi Caroline” he said

“Sit down and I’ll get your coffee” she said so he complied

When she returned, she was carrying two coffee’s and she sat down opposite him.

After a brief conversation about his family and what had taken him to the mainland she said 

“I have a pair of tickets for Madam Butterfly, in Abbottsford, it’s not Covent Garden, but it’s a good company”

“Oh, yes?”

“I would like to take you on your birthday” she said nervously

“What as a birthday present or a date?” he asked

“Well both” Caroline replied

“Then I can’t” he said

“Oh” she expressed disappointedly  

“I can’t go on a date with you” Austin replied “you’re my patient”

“Ah and that’s a problem?” she asked

“Yes, it wouldn’t be proper” he said “Or ethical”

“We meet for lunch and coffee all the time,” She pointed out

“And that’s fine, as we meet as friends” he said

“But it’s a shame to waste a ticket” she persisted “Its Puccini”

“I’m afraid I can’t, you will have to invite someone else” he said “or change your Doctor”

“Ok” Caroline said and got up

“Oh that wasn’t quite what I had in mind” he said to himself as he watched her walk away.

 

When he got back to the Saxvirdan surgery he settled himself in his consulting room and was updating some records when there was a knock on his door.

“Come in” he called

When the door opened, he saw it was fellow Doctor Stuart Cameron.

“Hi Stuart, how are you?”

“That would depend” he responded

“Oh?”

“Is there something you need to tell me?” he asked

“Why?”

“One of your patients has just requested a change of Doctor,” Said Stuart

“Oh, Which patient?”

“Caroline Wells”

“Really?” he said “That really is excellent news”

“So is there a problem with her?” Stuart asked

“Is she a bunny boiler or the village idiot?”

“On the contrary” Austin said “She’s neither”

“So why did she request a change?”

“So she can take me to the opera” Austin replied and smiled

Stuart just shook his head and left, and Austin was smiling broadly as the door closed behind him.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (129) While Aunties Away

 

Poppy Nunthorpe went to the University of Downshire where she did Business Studies in Abbottsford and it was for her, like many girls of her age, a life defining time.

She was in halls for the first year and she shared with three other girls from Beaumont Island, Stacey Jackson, a tall, beautiful and kindly brunette girl, her cousin Paige Chapman, a skinny flat chested girl, who was beautiful but painfully shy and Nicole Wilson a quiet busty brunette.

All four of the girls were studying different subjects, but their strong friendship resulted from their shared history as islanders, and as they got on so well the four of them decided very early on to rent a house between them for the second and third years.

 

Poppy was five foot eight with long cascading red hair, and mesmerizing green eyes, a heart melting smile, a gorgeous figure, substantial breasts and a pert derriere, all gracefully underpinned by stunning legs.

Out of all the girls Poppy was the only one of them who had a boyfriend when they first arrived on campus during fresher’s week.

Tyler Simmons was four years older than Poppy and had already been through university.

He was literally the boy next door for her, and she had loved him since she was 12 years old but because she was younger and was a skinny tomboy with braces on her teeth, she was invisible to him.

She finally got him in the summer before she went off to Abbottsford and she had his heart, body and soul.

 

After University Tyler got a job at Accountants Webster and Lindstrom in Pipershaven, and rented a flat there, but he returned to St Pierre every weekend to his parent’s house, and to see Poppy.  

Poppy Lived with her Aunt Lily but she was away on a dirty weekend with David Lee on the mainland, which is why on Sunday he knocked on the front door of her house, but there was no reply, so he knocked again and was just about to ring her when the door opened, though only a crack, and Poppy peered around the door at him.

“Hi babe, I was beginning to think you weren’t in” he said

“Hello Mr. Simmons” she said in a lispy Violet Elizabeth voice “Mummy and Daddy aren’t here”

“Oh” he said and then it dawned on him that little Poppy wanted to play dress up “Can I come in”

“Yeth” she lisped and opened the door.

As he closed the door, she stood in the hall with her red hair tied in pigtails and was wearing her old school uniform.

“Do you like my uniform?” she asked as she stood pigeon toed in her stocking feet with her hands behind her back.

“Yes, you look very pretty” he answered as he took his coat off.

“Would you like to see my room?” Poppy asked

“Yes please” he replied, and she darted upstairs so he followed the giggling schoolgirl.