When the Mornington
Estate exercised its option to purchase Mornington Field from the MOD it also
acquired all the buildings and infrastructure on the airfield itself as well as 29 houses in the village formally used
as quarters for military personnel.
Plans were immediately drawn up to optimize the newly acquired assets the
moment the property was formally handed over on the 1st of June
2014.
The guardians of the
estate are the St George family and the head of which is Baron Gabriel St
George.
His architect Scott
Collier was tasked with designing appropriate conversions to maximize the
potential returns, and Ray Walker, who dealt with all thing estate maintenance
wise was responsible for getting the
old Air force housing stock occupied ASAP,
Ray worked tirelessly to that end to have not just the first six houses
ready within the month as originally promised, but eight, which were handed
over on the 6th of July, two days earlier than forecast.
Gabriel was then able to instruct Lyndon-Sanders
Properties of Shallowfield to find tenants.
Priority was to be given to local people or people with ties to the area
or those who worked in some capacity for the estate such as agriculture and the
brewery.
Other than that they were to be rented out with the only condition being
that it had to be the tenant’s primary residence.
Gabriel was always conscious of creating a ghost town of professionals
who live and work in Town all week and only return to the village on the
weekend.
One such family to
benefit from
the availability of the new housing in Mornington were the Norman’s, who ran the Post Office, General Store and
newsagents, and they were one of the first families to move into Military Row.
The Norman family had been in the Grocery business since Victorian times when
they started with a small shop in Abbottsford, a business which quickly
expanded and thrived well into the 20th century, but the depression
of the thirties hit the business hard and many shops had to close.
The original Abbottsford shop survived the downturn in the great depression
but fell victim of the Luftwaffe in 1941.
In the 21st century they had shops in Childean, Shallowfield,
the Dulcets and of course Mornington. Each shop being run by a different branch
of the family.
The heads of the
Norman clan in Mornington, were septuagenarians Gavin and Evelyn, who lived in
Bridge Street at School House Cottage with their younger son Owen.
Before the move to number 10 Military Row their older son Gareth and his family lived above
and behind the shop, which was quite cramped for a family of five but the new
house was much more spacious and the move allowed them to utilize some of the former
living space as additional storage as well as providing their oldest child
Michelle with a place of her own.
It was a big family
and a small business so not all the Normans could rely on it for a living, as a
result 24 year old Michelle worked for Bizzie Lizzie’s florists and David who
was three years her junior worked for Paige Turners.
But this particular
story relates to the youngest member of the family Robbie.
Mornington-By-Mere is a small country village that was under the
stewardship of the Mornington Estate headed up by Lord of the Manor Baron
Gabriel St George.
The village was well served with all the amenities with a selection of
all the normal shops and services to make a difference to people’s lives like
Norman’s General Store, Addison’s Bakery, Boddington’s Butcher’s and Legg’s
Farm Shop which were all heavily subsidized by the estate in order to survive.
In addition to the shops there was also Veterinarians, Doctors, Dentist & Orthodontic Surgeries which were an important
asset to the village and the estate.
However because Mornington was such a small village none of the
practices were open full time but the Mornington Estate heavily subsidized all of
them as well as the Small Chemist shop, which shared the Doctors premises.
There weren’t enough patients to warrant full time staffing so in order to make appropriate
use of the facilities the doctors surgery was made available to other
practitioners in the afternoons and evenings, such as chiropractors,
hypnotherapists, acupuncturists etc. but villager Claire Pollard, a Chiropodist was the only regular,
the others tended to be a bit more sporadic in their attendance.
The Doctors, Dentists, orthodontists and pharmacists were all based
elsewhere and provided a skeleton service to the village.
The Doctors presence was maintained by the Dancingdean Health Centre in Shallowfield and one of their number,
Locum Doctor Kelly Spearman lived in one of the Military Row houses.
The Dental and Orthodontic staff came from a large specialist practice
in Finchbottom, Downshire Denticare.
The Shallowfield,
Robert Harvey Pharmacy in Oakwood Road, filled any prescriptions and delivered
them to the surgery every day.
The Normans who also ran the general store and post office provided Lily Norman or her son Robbie
to staff
the chemist shop for its limited opening times.
It was on one of those
occasions when Robbie Norman first saw the girl who would change his life
forever.
Robbie was almost 20
years old, quiet, unassuming, thoughtful and intelligent and totally
unfulfilled.
He loved his family
and he loved Mornington but he did not want to spend his entire life in the
Grocery trade, like his father and Uncles had, so his heart was not in his
work.
Robbie was a well-read
young man, in fact his appetite for the written word was quite voracious and he
wanted to travel to the places he had read of and experience the cultures that
had captured his imagination.
He wanted to see the
architecture of the great capitals, visit their art galleries and museums.
But he had no idea how
he might achieve it or more precisely he didn’t know how to tell his mother.
It was when Robbie was
pondering that particularly irksome problem when the girl walked in.
It was a girl he had
known at school, though he had never spoken to her, and that was because she
was a Smith and a Norman never spoke to a Smith and vice versa.
But at the precise
moment he looked at the five foot nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned Karen
Smith with her unruly jet black hair, the family feud paled into
insignificance.
At the precise moment
Robbie Norman looked at the five foot nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned
Karen Smith with her unruly jet black hair, the family feud paled into
insignificance.
She was two years
younger than he was and although she was not a stranger to him it had been a
few years since the last time, and when he had seen her before she was a spotty
schoolgirl with scabby knees.
That girl was as far
removed from the vision in front of him as it was possible to get as she
entered the pharmacy in tight jeans and a fitted t-shirt.
As Karen Smith walked
in she looked up and saw Robbie at the counter and she thought how little he
had changed since they were at the village school together.
He was still
singularly unremarkable to look at, pale skinned with sandy coloured hair.
He was wearing
mushroom coloured shirt and light brown chinos and she thought how apt it was
that he looked beige, because that was how she remembered him beige and bland.
As she approached the counter she said without any preamble
“I’m here to pick up a prescription”
She spoke coldly as that was the way she had been raised to speak to a
Norman, she had actually been raised not to speak to them at all but if the
necessity arose, then any converse had to been spoken coldly.
“I’ll just get it” he
said and stepped out the back and Karen said nothing
As he returned Karen
looked at the bland figure and thought that the only hint of colour about him
were his eyes which were like a Chrystal blue and when she looked at them more
closely she found herself gazing into them where she saw a kaleidoscope of
colour and she was totally captivated and thoughts of bland and beige melted
away as he pulse raced and her stomach fluttered.
In fact she was so mesmerized that she didn’t hear Robbie say
“I’m sorry it’s not in yet”
Nor did she hear him a second time, in fact it was only when he said
“Karen!!”
Quite loudly that she returned to the moment and realized what had happened
and she blushed before she mumbled, muttered and burbled her way towards the
door.
“Sorry erm… miles away… um yes… not ready… back later, definitely… oh
yes… bye”
As he watched her leave the pharmacy in an obviously fluster he was
surprised and delighted at what had apparently just happened, which was a new
experience for him, things like that just didn’t happen to him.
However his delight was tempered by the realization the he not only
still had the problem of how to tell his parents he wanted to leave home,
family, the shop and Mornington, to travel the world, now he also had to inform
them that he was smitten with one of the Smiths and she appeared to be the same
with him.
“What just happened?” Karen asked herself in disbelief as she walked
towards home after having been discovered
gazing soppily into Robbie Norman’s eyes
“He’s a Norman you idiot, that can’t happen with a Norman”
Karen continued to mutter all the way home and when she reached the
gates of Smithfield Farm she said firmly
“Well whatever it was that happened its best that we forget all about
it”
The significance of
her being a Smith and him being a Norman was that their two families were at
odds with each other and the feud had been going on for more than a hundred
years.
The Smiths were
tenants at Smithfield Farm and had been for thirty years before the Norman
family arrived in Mornington.
Ezekiel Smith, who was the head of the Smith Clan at the time, had
also been interested in taking over the village shop, which had become vacant
after the untimely death of the unmarried Patron, but the then Baron, who was
not a tolerant man or indeed a friend to the Smiths let the Norman’s take it
over for no other reason than his intense dislike of Ezekiel Smith.
Ezekiel Smith was furious at the Barons decision but because of the
differences in their stations he was unable to revenge himself on the Lord of
the Manor so he appeased he vengeful heart on the newcomers instead.
He deeply resented an outsider like Joshua Norman moving onto his
patch and taking, what he believed was his prize.
Joshua Norman was not an intolerant man and did his best to pour oil
on troubled waters and tried with all his might to be the peacemaker and make
amends with Ezekiel Smith but every olive branch he offered was thrown back in
his face, but he kept trying regardless.
When Ezekiel died in 1892 Joshua believed that would be an end to it
and he continued to be the peacemaker but the sons were as bad as their father
had been.
But Joshua had faith that things would change, until that it is the
night that the Smiths gave Joshua’s eldest son George, a savage beating in the
yard of the Old Mill Inn and after that night the only use he had for an olive
branch was to beat a Smith with it.
That was when the feud began in earnest with a series of tit for tat
exchanges and every time some misfortune befell one of the families the other
was automatically blamed.
The Smiths even claimed that when their barn caught fire it was a
Norman who set it ablaze even though it was struck by lightning.
With Joshua’s death in 1899 any hope of reconciliation died with him,
so the new century came along but the old hate carried over as the hatred was
nurtured and gilded and passed on to the next generation.
There was a cessation of hostilities during the great war as they both
had a common enemy but with the armistice came a return to the old rivalry
which continued up until the World War Two and then got worse as food rationing
came in and the Grocers lorded it over the farmers.
Attitudes softened by the time the sixties came around and incidents
of actual harm to the other disappeared but mistrust and the sense of “them”
and “us” continued into another century where the dislike and animosity still
held sway.
So after more than a century and a half of feuding Robbie and Karen
fully understood the gravity of the situation where a Norman and a Smith viewed
one another as anything other than enemies.
So he was prepared to think of it as a temporary aberration.
That said however Robbie was desperately disappointed when his mum
Lily said she would do the afternoon session at the pharmacy, but on reflection
thought it was probably for the best.
Karen shared his feelings of apprehension and thought it best not to entertain
the idea but when she returned to the pharmacy after lunch and found he wasn’t
there, she chose not to go in and resolved to return the following morning.
Karen was normally a bit of a tomboy and most days she was in jeans and
a t-shirt but on that particular morning she had decided on something a bit
more girlie and wore a pale lemon summer dress because she wanted to make an
impression on him.
Not that she hadn’t done that already the day before dressed in jeans
and a t-shirt.
He was two years older than she was and was a lower form of life,
according to her family, and good for only one thing and that thing was
definitely not for flirting with or making a good impression on.
Normans were to be despised, distrusted, and ground underfoot, they were
not to be admired, adored or cause her heart to skip a beat, but she couldn’t
help herself.
She left Smithfield Farm and was muttering to herself all the way
along the farm lane.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?”
She asked herself
“It’s madness, complete madness”
She continued her muttered discourse all the way from West Gate Bridge and all
the way along the river bank until she reached Church Bridge and climbed the steps
up to the road
“Turn around and go back” she said
“I can’t” she replied “I have to get the prescription”
“Get it another day”
“I can’t”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ve never looked into someone’s eyes and ….melted before” Karen
said and sighed
“Ok I will admit his eyes are gorgeous” she said wistfully
“But it’s a non-starter, firstly he’s a Norman and second he wears beige”
“I know all that, but….. his eyes” she replied and crossed the road.
The first thing Robbie did when he got to the pharmacy was to check to
see if Karen Smith had collected her prescription the previous afternoon and he
smiled broadly when he saw it was still in the wire basket.
Karen peeked in the window of the pharmacy before she opened the door
and she had butterflies in her stomach as her eyes searched for him and she
gasped when he appeared, still wearing beige, and she immediately chastised
herself
“For god’s sake get a grip”
Then she took a deep breath and walked in and when Robbie saw her in
her yellow dress it took his breath away.
“Wow, you look very… summery today” he said
“Thanks” she replied and blushed
“I thought it would be cooler to walk in”
“Well it makes you look hot” he thought but actually said
“Well it’s a nice day for a walk”
“Yes, yes it is” Karen agreed
“I hope it’s still nice later” Robbie added as he handed her the
filled prescription
“It’s my afternoon off, I thought I might take a walk myself, down by
the Mere”
“Really? Yes it’s nice there” Karen said as she took the medicine from
him
“Thank you, I hope you enjoy your walk this afternoon”
“So do I” he said and Karen blushed
“I think we have a date” Karen said to herself as she left the
pharmacy “How did that happen?”
Karen had only had one boyfriend in her life and he had recently dumped
her after only three months because he wanted to have sex and she didn’t,
because she wasn’t ready, he didn’t care about that and decided to go elsewhere.
Gary had been her first and only boyfriend and she thought she had loved
him, but she had no benchmark, but she also thought he was nice and that proved
to be untrue.
But she was only 17 and she didn’t really want to settle for nice, she
wanted the “hoppy skippy heart” kind of love, which after breaking up with
Gary, she doubted it actually existed but then she looked into Robbie Norman’s
crystal blue eyes and there it was.
So she rushed home to Smithfield Farm to change.
Robbie was stood inside the pharmacy smiling and scratching his head
“Did we just make a date?” he said to himself “Did we just arrange to
meet by the Mere this afternoon?”
Robbie had never had a girlfriend because none of the girls he had met were
able to live up to those that he read about.
They were self-obsessed, shallow and vacuous and lacked even the
smallest inkling of substance as any of the strong and resolute women he could
have lifted from the page.
So he read his books and lost himself in their pages of wonder and
certainty until the moment he saw into the heart of a girl he had been raised
to hate.
Robbie knew that his family would be furious if they found out he had
fallen for a Smith but, the heart wants what the heart wants, and his wanted
Karen Smith.
As Karen was normally a bit of a tomboy, it was a miracle that no
one at Smithfield Farm noticed that she had shed her normal jeans and t-shirt
and was not only wearing a dress, but was wearing the second dress of the day,
a white one this time, as she left the farm after lunch and headed towards Manor
Wood and the Mere.
Robbie Norman left his home in Military Row and had changed out of his
beige and brown work outfit and was wearing blue chino shorts and a white polo
shirt.
But as he walked through the woods towards the Mere he began to doubt
himself and wondered if he had in fact imagined the whole thing, after all
Karen Smith was a very beautiful girl, and she was also a Smith, which probably
meant she was just playing along.
But he couldn’t believe that, but just in case she was a no show he
had a book in his back pack.
He never understood the hostility between the two families, why should
it matter what her great-great-grandfather did to his great-grandfather? That
was all ancient history, unfortunately in his family he appeared to be the only
voice of reason.
But he was on his way to meet the
girl he had known at school, though had never spoken to, because she was a
Smith and a Norman never spoke to a Smith and vice versa.
But at the precise
moment he stepped onto the Mere side path and he caught sight of the five foot
nothing, whippet thin, olive skinned Karen Smith with her unruly jet black hair
the family feud paled into insignificance.
Karen Smith was 17
years old and stood five foot nothing tall, was whippet thin, olive skinned
with her unruly jet black hair moving in the soft afternoon breeze and was
quizzing herself as to what she thought she was doing wearing her best dress to
meet one of the enemy.
She never understood the animosity between the two families, she
wasn’t even sure what had caused the feud in the first place, it was something
to do with her great-great-grandfather but she didn’t know exactly what and she
didn’t really care, it was all ancient history, unfortunately in her family
everyone else did care and they would go ballistic if they knew what she was
doing.
“Well it doesn’t
matter anyway” she said to herself “because he won’t come”
“He’ll be too scared
because of the family feud” she convinced herself
But she had only been stood there for three or four minute when she saw
Robbie coming her way.
“Oh god he came” she gasped “What am I going to do now?”
She tried to look away but couldn’t, he was medium height and sleight
and she still thought he was singularly
unremarkable to look at, pale skinned with sandy coloured hair, but the most
dreamy crystal blue eyes.
“Hello Karen” he said nervously
“Hi” she replied shyly
Having met by the Mere neither of them knew what to do next, after all
they only had one prior relationship between the two of them and an awkward
silence ensued.
After a minute or two he said
“Which way were you going to walk?”
“Oh, um just around the lake” she replied so they began to walk anti
clockwise around the Mere between the water’s edge and the Manor House.
As they walked the two of them were struggling to converse with each other,
as neither of them seemed capable of anything other than monosyllables and they
both tried hard to think of something interesting to say.
And it might well have stayed that way had they not had help when they
were about hallway around the Mere and they heard a call
“Karen!”
She turned around and saw a figure in the distance who was her friend
Emma
“Oh shit” she exclaimed
“What’s the matter?” Robbie asked
“It’s my friend Emma” Karen replied “if she if she sees us together it
will be all around the village in a heartbeat”
“Come on then” he said and grabbed her hand “lets run for it”
“KAREN” Emma shouted as they ran off down the path, and then Emma began
to run after them.
“Down here” He said and took her down a path leading into Manor Wood but
it looked like Emma was gaining on them.
But they reached a small clearing with a large fallen oak
“Up here” he said and scrambled up onto the oak then he reached down and
hoisted Karen up as if she was a bundle of matchwood.
After which he went up to the next bough and repeated the operation and then
again on the next until they were concealed beneath the foliage and were in the
safety of the leafy shade by the time Emma arrived in the clearing.
Emma called Karen’s name a few times more and then she muttered
something under her breath before she went back the way she came.
“Up here” Robbie said and scrambled up onto the fallen oak then he
reached down and hoisted Karen up as if she was a bundle of matchwood.
After which he went up to the next bough and repeated the operation and
then again on the next until they were concealed beneath the foliage and were
in the safety of the leafy shade by the time Emma arrived in the clearing.
Emma called Karen’s name a few times more and then she muttered
something under her breath before she went back the way she came.
“That was fun” she said
“Wasn’t it” he agreed
After about five minutes they deemed it was safe to climb down.
Robbie went first and swung down from the large bough fairly effortlessly.
It was a little more problematic for Karen because she was so tiny.
“Slide down on your bum” he said
“What if I fall?” She asked
“I’ll catch you” he said “I promise”
“You’re doing great” Robbie said as he stood with his feet apart, braced
to catch her
“Am I nearly there?” she asked
“Oh yes” he replied “Just let gravity do the work now and I’ll catch
you”
“Ok” she retorted not at all sure that he would, but she let herself fall
and good to his word he caught her in his arms and she instantly wrapped her
arms around his neck and kissed him and any lingering doubts either of them had
about “consorting with the enemy” simply melted away.
It took another half an hour before they were both back on terra firma
as Karen demanded another kiss at each stage of the operation and even when
they were back down to earth she still wanted another one.
“Come on” he said and took hold of her hand
“I want to take you to my favourite place in Mornington”
“Ok” she said doubtfully but went anyway
They returned to the path around the Mere and returned on their original
course until they reached the Weeping Willow that grew on the west side of the
lake.
“In here” he said and pushed his way through the foliage
“Is this your favourite place?” she asked
“Yes” he replied proudly
“It’s mine too” she exclaimed and launched herself at him.
On the walk home she met Emma
“That wasn’t very nice” she said indignantly
“What wasn’t?” Karen said
“Running away like that” Emma said “I know you saw me”
“Sorry” Karen said
“Why did you do it then?” she asked
“We wanted to be alone” Karen replied
“What for?” she persisted
“Honestly Emma you are such an innocent” she said
“Why do you think a girl wants to be alone in the woods with a man?”
Emma just shrugged then a look of alarm spread across her face and she
said
“You had sex with him in the woods?”
“No I did not” Karen replied indignantly
“We just wanted to be away from prying eyes”
Emma was the same age as Karen almost to the day yet they were years
apart in every other respect.
“Who was he anyway?” Emma asked “I couldn’t see”
“No one you know” Karen replied “He’s not from around here”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“Maybe” Karen replied “when he’s comes back to the village again”
Knowing only too well that she would definitely see him again and very,
very soon.
After that first meeting on a hot Saturday afternoon in July the two met
in secret all summer long spending their time either up in the boughs of the
fallen oak where they shared their first kiss or beneath the weeping willow
tree where they shared many more.
Robbie and Karen were like the star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet,
as they both came from feuding kin, so they had to hide their love from
everyone.
So the pair met in secret beside the quiet waters of the Mornington
Mere where the only sounds were of the faintest breeze disturbing the lofty
tree tops and ducks squabbling out on the lake.
But despite the quiet they were always fearful of discovery so they embraced
safely hidden from view beneath a weeping willow tree, whose leafy pendulous
branches trailed down into the still water, where, stirred by the gentle breeze
they dipped in an out of the water Like the toes of a reluctant bather.
When they meet beneath the protective foliage they kiss there in the
quiet shade and feel at once renewed and often no words are spoken, their
language is of caress and kiss, such tender converse with limitless vocabulary
and a gently languid pronunciation, every syllable well employed and when the
final paragraph is reached they end with perfect punctuation.
However it’s not just love that they make beneath the weeping willow
tree they also make plans for the future when they will escape their warring
families and leave Mornington behind them and even leave the shores of
Downshire and cross the channel to Europe and the adventures they will share,
in places he had read of and had read to her about.
They were working hard and saving money, they had their passports and
had rucksacks packed and ready to go, stored safely in a storage locker in
Sharpington.
They would meet at the seaside town, once every two weeks and repack
their bags and then spend the rest of the time on the beach or in the fun park
or a café on the seafront.
The only thing they were waiting for was for the schools to start back
in September which marked the end of the holiday peak time which would save
them money on travel and accommodations.
They would have to stay in hostels and work their way across Europe
towards their various destinations, it would not be easy and would test their
mettle and their love, but they were both willing to risk it.
When they had to stir from their love nest among the willow they had
to tread separate paths home to re-join the warring tribes and had to adopt the
all too familiar adversarial manner.
If they met face to face in the village, the pub, the shop or the
pharmacy, no knowing looks could to be exchanged and no casual brushing past
each other when for an exquisite moment hand might touch hand.
They had to remain entrenched until they can once again embrace beneath
the weeping willow tree and plan their escape.
The secret meetings and clandestine planning lasted into the first week
of September and they just had to keep up with the secrecy for one more week,
when they were discovered.
As they sat beneath the foliage of the weeping willow tree a face
suddenly appeared and said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
The scheming couple looked like a couple of rabbits caught in the
headlights by their discoverer.
The secret meetings and clandestine planning lasted into the first week
of September and they just had to keep up with the secrecy for one more week,
when they were discovered.
As they sat beneath the foliage of the weeping willow tree a face
suddenly appeared and said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
The scheming couple looked like a couple of rabbits caught in the
headlights by their discoverer.
Robbie had been seen hurriedly leaving the village via Church Bridge on
a grey damp September afternoon by someone who knew he had reason to be over
there.
Michelle Norman parked the Bizzie Lizzie’s Florists van in the lane
outside St Winifred’s Church and stealthily set off in pursuit of her brother.
Michelle went in the
direction he had taken and she soon caught sight of him on the path around the
Mere.
“Where the hell are
you going boy?” she said to herself and kept pace with him, keeping him in
sight but when she reached the western end of the lake he had disappeared and she
stopped and scratched her head.
He couldn’t have reached
Manor Wood without her seeing him and she had a clear view of a hundred yards
of path ahead and there was no way he got around there in the time even if he
had broken into a run so she was at a loss as to where he had gone and then the
penny dropped the only place he could possibly be was under the Willow, but
why?
And as she pushed her head and shoulders through the foliage she saw her
brother Robbie kissing Karen Smith which was when she said
“What the hell is going on under here?”
Well it was a stupid question really, it was obvious what was going on,
they were snogging.
The two love birds didn’t speak in response though not because they
thought that the question was rhetorical but because they were scared,
terrified that their secret was out, and so close to their escape date.
“Are you Karen Smith?” Michelle asked
Karen lifted her head and thrust her chin out and replied proudly
“Yes”
“You’re playing with fire Rob” Michelle said
“I don’t care” he replied “I love her”
“You love me” she exclaimed
“You know I do, I’ve told you enough times” Robbie said
“I know but now you’ve told someone else” she explained “that makes it
more…. Real”
“And do you love him?” Michelle asked
“With all my heart” she replied
“So what are you going to do about it?” she asked “You can’t hide in the
trees forever”
“We know that” Robbie stated
“And I don’t know how you can live in the village either it’s going to
cause a shit storm”
“We know that too” Robbie said “That’s why we’re leaving”
“You’re leaving?” Michelle asked “When?”
“In a weeks’ time” he said “can you keep our secret for one more week?”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, that bloody feud is the bane of all our
lives” Michelle said and Robbie hugged her and then Karen did the same.
After the hugging was dispensed with, Robbie and Karen unburdened
themselves with the plans they had made.
Firstly they told her about having their bags packed safely in a storage
locker in Sharpington, along with their passports.
Then they went on to say that they would leave home early on Monday the
21st of October, with the remaining bits and pieces they wanted to
take with them in a small backpack.
Robbie would catch the first bus from the village at 6.45am and Karen
would get on the same bus in Manorside five minutes later and they would sit in
different parts of the bus and not converse until the last Mornington passenger
had disembarked.
Once they arrived in Sharpington they would go to the cash point to
withdraw some cash for the journey, which they would change into Euro’s once
they reached the ferry terminal, then after having breakfast on the seafront
they would retrieve their luggage and get another bus to Pepperstock Bay.
From there they were booked on the 11am ferry to Dunkirk and freedom.
“Where will you live?” Michelle asked
“We have a list of hostels, Auberges, and farms that have been recommended
by fellow adventurers”
“And work?” she asked
“Likewise” he replied
“Well my little adventurers you appear to have everything planned”
Michelle said with a smile “What about telling the families?”
“We have written letters which we will post just before we board the
ferry” Karen said
“Ok but rather than catch the bus I’ll drive you to Sharpington in the
van” Michelle offered “On one condition”
“What’s that?” he asked
“That you promise to keep in touch, send me postcards, regularly” she
replied
“Ok deal” Robbie said “but where to? I can’t send them home”
“Send them to the Sharpington shop I can pick them up there”
So early in the darkness of a cold October Monday morning Robbie Norman
crept quietly out of the house and into the side door of the Bizzie Lizzie’s
Florists van and then Michelle closed the door and got in and drove off up
Military Row and through the South Gate to Mornington Field.
She then drove around the industrial units and out towards the West Gate
where Karen was waiting in the shadows.
Robbie opened the side door and Karen joined him inside and closed the
door behind her.
“Okay?” he asked
“Yes” she replied and they embraced
“How do you feel? Scared or excited”
“A bit of both” she admitted “but no regrets”
Once Karen was safely aboard Michelle drove them to Sharpington and parked
the van in a side road and let them out.
“Here” she said handing him an envelope
“What’s this?” he asked
“There’s another list of highly recommended accommodation and some
contacts in the flower trade where you can get work” she said “And stamp money”
“But there’s £300 here” he protested
“I expect to receive a lot of postcards”
“Thanks sis” he said and kissed her “For everything”
“That’s ok” she said trying to hold back the tears “now do you have your
letters?”
“Yes” Karen piped up
“Well give them to me and I’ll post them tomorrow if I don’t hear from
you” she said
“Good idea” Karen said handing over her letter before hugging Michelle.
Michelle cried as she watched her kid brother walking hand in hand with
the girl he loved, she didn’t want him to go but she knew it was for the best.
Once they had reached the end of the road they turned and gave Michelle
a final wave and then turned left and stopped at the cash point to withdraw the
cash for the journey, but when they reached it they realized they didn’t need
to as they had the money Michelle had given them, which was more than enough
for them to change into euros once they reached the ferry terminal.
So not needing to withdraw cash they went straight to the café on the
seafront, where they had been many times before and had a “farewell to Downshire”
breakfast.
After breakfast they walked along the seafront to the storage facility
and retrieved their luggage and just outside there was a bus stop where they
caught the bus to Pepperstock Bay.
They were booked on the 11am ferry to Dunkirk but because Michelle gave
them a lift to Sharpington they had more time at the terminal than they had
planned so it was a lot less hurried and they even had time to look around the
shops before it was time to board.
They stood at the stern rail as the ferry left Pepperstock Bay with
their arms around each other and Karen said
“We’re free”
“We are” he agreed “So how do you feel?”
“Like my life has finally begun” she replied
“Good answer” he said “And how do you feel about being stuck with me?”
“Incredibly happy” Karen replied and stood on tiptoes and kissed him.
When it was discovered that Robbie and Karen had disappeared it was
not believed at first by anyone that it was anything other than a coincidence
that they both left at the same time, after all one of them was a Norman and
the other was a Smith.
But as time went on it became apparent that it was to all intents and
purposes, an elopement, and this was confirmed when the letters arrived.
The realization that the missing pair were indeed a couple caused a
good deal of anger and upset with countless accusations and recriminations
being fired back and forth between the feuding families.
It was only when the two mothers, Margaret
Smith and Lily Norman sat down together in the bar of the Old Mill Inn and got
drunk that the two families started to think of the couples welfare and
happiness and not their own petty squabbles.
Considering Karen hated farming and Robbie didn’t like being a grocer
they did a lot of farm labouring and shop work along with waiting tables and
washing dishes as they worked their way around the capitals of Europe.
And good to his word he sent a postcard from every one of them to
Michelle at Bizzie Lizzie’s in Sharpington.
At first Michelle kept the fact she was getting the post cards to
herself, but after the incident of her mums public drunkenness, and the
softening of the families stances, she showed them to her.
By the time the second anniversary of their elopement came around they
had worked their way to Athens and by Christmas they had reached the island of
Andros in the Cyclades and once there they were there they never left and when
they married the following Easter at the Agia Marina church the Normans and the Smiths were there to witness
it.
