The Pepperstock Hills National Park stretches from the bare, and often
barren crags of Oxley Ridge in the North to the dense wooded southern slopes on
the fringe of the Finchbottom Vale and from Quarry
Hill, and the Pits in the West to Pepperstock
Bay in the East.
It is an area of stark contrasts and attracts a
variety of visitors who, thanks to its closeness to the Finchbottom Expressway and the deepwater
seaport of Pipershaven, have easy
access to the park.
Amidst the
magnificent mixed forestry to the south and east of the Pepperstock Hills
National Park sits the beautiful village of Pepperstock Green.
Throughout Downshire and the Finchbottom Vale there is
an abundance of quaint and picturesque villages and hamlets, but Pepperstock
Green is particularly picturesque, with evidence of the thousand years since it
was first settled everywhere.
Notably its 12th century Church, two Tudor Inn’s, a
Victorian Schoolhouse and Cottages representing ever era, spread almost
haphazardly, amidst the craggy woodland, around the green that gives the
village its name.
At the center of the large rambling village, both
geographically and spiritually, is St Agatha’s Church where Reverend Samuel
Virtue has been Vicar for 20 years, from which he administered to the spiritual
needs of village and its environs.
Fifty-year-old Samuel lives in the vicarage behind the
church with his wife Chloe and 18-year-old daughter Verity who was destined to
be significant in the life of Stephen
Farnsworth in his sixth
year in the village.
He was only 20 when he inherited the Starlings, a
cottage on the west side of the village, from his maiden great aunt Edith.
He was halfway through his second year at university
when she died so for the first two years, he was only a part time resident
while he divided his time between his studies and modernizing the décor of the
cottage.
Being an only child of wealthy parents from Tipton, in
the North of the county, who travelled a lot and were seldom at the family home,
having inherited a nice country cottage, suited him very well, he found himself
in the enviable position of being financially independent after securing his
degree and was able to attain a Master’s degree in addition.
There was an old ramshackle garage at the end of the
garden which had not been used as such since God was a boy as far as he could
see, in fact he was a little bemused as to why it was even there, because there
was another garage adjacent to the cottage, however its lack of usefulness as a
garage presented him with the perfect place for a studio.
November
He had no family ties except for his globetrotting
parents and no binding romantic attachments at the time, so in his fourth
year in Pepperstock Green, with two degrees under his belt and the studio fully
functional he decided it was time for him to fully engage in village life.
His first steps into rural society were the most
logical ones for him, because he was a committed Christian, and so they took
him to St Agatha's Church, because of his faith and his passion.
It might be a good time to mention what that passion was,
namely music, and the purpose of the studio in his garden was to facilitate his
work as a composer of amongst other things, Choral Music, which meshed
perfectly with St Agatha's because they had one of the best Choirs in
Downshire.
He had slipped quietly into the back of the church
many times since he first moved in but always slipped out again before the service
ended as he wasn’t ready to meet people at that time.
But this time he stayed till the end and met some of
the congregation, some of whom he recognized from around the village, and
over the weeks he became known to more and more of them, but it wasn’t until November
when he joined the choir.
For the two years following, that was his life,
Church, Choir, Studio and the occasional trip to Abbottsford or to the family
home in Tipton if his parents were back in the country.
It was during practice for the first Sunday of Advent when
he first became aware of Verity Virtue when she appeared at choir practice one
evening to play the organ when she was 16, in the absence of Adele King who had
been taken ill earlier in the week.
Although she was clearly uncomfortable performing with
an audience, she was a natural musician.
She was not entirely unknown to him, he’d seen the
skinny little redhead at church and she would occasionally fill in if they were
short of choristers and he remembered her as a skinny unremarkable looking
schoolgirl always seemingly in a hurry to get to wherever her destination was,
dressed in her Barnabus Boarding School uniform, Burgundy blazer with green
piping, white blouse, burgundy tie, plaid skirt, and green socks or tights
depending on the time of year.
But he’d never spoken to her or even made eye contact
with her as she always had her head down.
But when he realized she was actually very talented
musically she became more interesting to him.
Over the following year or so he saw more of her as
Adele King’s illness turned out to be more long term than was first expected and
she came out of herself and grew in confidence, she even helped him in the
studio from time to time.
He was a composer, and he drew on his idol, John
Barry, and as he was working on the theme tune for a TV series and because,
apart from keyboards she also played Clarinet, Oboe and Guitar she was very
useful to him.
Consequently, they grew closer because of their shared
interests.
But it didn’t manifest into a relationship, not
because she wasn’t attractive, or because he wasn’t attracted to her, but because
she was only 17 and he was 8 years older and on top of that she was the vicar’s
daughter.
On top of which he was no monk and had occasional
visitors to the cottage for amorous assignations, mainly renewing coupling with
former university lovers, so he kept his relationship with Verity firmly in the
friend and collaborator zone.
Then on New Years Eve, things changed when they kissed,
albeit on the spur of the moment initially, but it lingered, considerably so,
and it affected them both, in particularly him.
She slept that night very soundly and dreamed about
that kiss over and over again.
On the contrary he did not sleep well at all, his head
was full of contradictions and confusions, and he kept repeating her name,
Verity Virtue, and the meanings.
Verity, an enduring or necessary ethical or
religious or aesthetic truth
And Virtue, the quality of doing what is right and
avoiding what is wrong, a particular moral excellence, morality with respect to
sexual relations and any admirable quality or attribute
But he couldn’t get the latter out of his head, any
admirable quality or attribute.
In the cold light of New Year’s Day, he decided to put
some distance between them for a couple of weeks and to a sojourn to Tipton so
her infatuation would cool.
As it happened, for various reasons he was gone for
six weeks, and it seemed to have the desired effect.
February
However, his plan unraveled on a chilly Morning at the
end of February when Verity knocked on the front door of Starlings cottage and
in spite of himself, he was not displeased to see her.
“Hello” he said cheerfully, but she was obviously not
happy to be there.
“Mum asked me to drop this music off so you can catch
up with the Easter program now you’re back from chasing posh girls in Tipton”
she said curtly which he sidestepped
“How come you’re wearing school uniform? I thought you
were at college” he asked, and she thawed out a little
“I am, but at Barnabus’ we have to wear this
abomination for the Friday assembly every week regardless of what year you are
in” she replied
“It’s very fetching” he said and smiled
“Of course, you would find it attractive” she retorted
but she smiled as well “Perverts do, anyway I have to go now”
“If you like you could pop round later and help me,
get up to speed” he suggested as he held up the music sheets
“No thanks I wouldn’t want to cramp your style” she
said coldly and left.
Over the coming weeks Verity slowly thawed and by the
end of May their relationship had returned to their pre, New Years Eve kiss
level.
So, he was pleased to be back at the uncomplicate by
sexual attraction stage while still being able to enjoy the company of an
attractive, funny musical equal, and it would probably have continued like that
had it not been for the Vicars wife, Verity’s mother.
