Clifton Falls

by L A Taylor

  Maybe, she thought, he’s thinking of harassing another female colleague instead of me. I suppose I should be grateful.

  Karen snapped out of her weird daydream and responded to Vincent’s question. “Yes, I know of it. He received the delivery this morning. Why are you so interested in the stuff?”

  “I have a small garden on my property at home. I want to grow vegetables but those pesky bugs keep spoiling my chances of this. I’ve heard the fertilizer kills them.” He aimed a sneaky smile at Karen. “Could you have a word with Blake, see if he can be so kind as to spare me a bag. I’ll pay whatever it cost.” Karen remained stunned by the conversation. “Could you do this for me please my dear, and tell me what the outcome is? Thank you, that’ll be all. You can go now.”

  Karen hadn’t been able to get a word in during Vincent’s speech. “I’ll ask him, but I don’t know if he’ll have any spare to sell you. I’ll let you know.”

  Inwardly she was fuming. Who does he think he is? Demanding I ask my husband to save him a bag of fertilizer. The man’s got a cheek. She thought about saying those words to the fat boss, but they were safer inside her head.

  She rose from the chair and moved toward the door.

  “Don’t forget to mention the bit about me paying. I’m sure you could do with some extra pennies,” Vincent shouted out.

  What was he going on about this time, extra pennies? Was he trying to say that we were poor and needed his cash? Fuck him, the pig. Karen did a great job in keeping these bad thoughts locked up, but couldn’t believe that he’d not tried to be obscene in a sexual nature. However, he did make up for it by taking the piss out of her.

  Once seated at her desk again she did what was asked. “Hey, sex machine. Have you missed me?” she said, as the phone was answered on the other end.

  “This is a surprise at ten o’clock in the morning. Anything wrong, love?”

  “No, no. Everything’s okay. Did you get the delivery sorted?”

  “Brilliant. Exactly the fifty sacks they said we were going to get. Now we’ve some spare for later on in the season.”

  Karen paused, wondering if she should tell Blake that Vincent was an utter twat. Her mind now stored a large capacity of abusive language and it would be a worrying sight for the poor person who finally ended up receiving the immense amount of words. One day they’ll all spill out, as she cannot store them in her head forever.

  “So, you have some left then.” The words raced out.

  “Yes. Why? Would you like some?” Blake asked.

  “Funny,” she smirked. “I was wondering if you could spare a bag for Vincent. He wants to try the stuff out on his garden. I think he’s trying to grow the world’s largest marrow or something like that.”

  Blake was normally a stickler for abiding by the rules, but surely one bag won’t be missed. “Is he going to pay for it?”

  “Oh yeah, he said he would pay whatever it cost to get his hands on the stuff, and I mean whatever it cost. He’s that desperate for it.”

  “Okay. You tell him to get in touch with me and I’ll see if we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

  “Will do... I’ll speak to you later.” Karen paused for a second. “Oh, what do you want for dinner? I mean, you must be starving after missing out on real food last night. We could eat out?”

  A pleasurable smile danced on Blake’s lips now.

  “Last night was worth it though, but eating out sounds like a good idea. Let’s just say we’re celebrating a new beginning in crop rotation.”

  “Sounds good to me... I’ll see you later. Bye.”

  Karen put down the receiver, telling Vincent what her husband had said. He wasted no time in calling Blake.

  “Hello, Blake. It’s Vincent Smythe here. Your wife has informed me that you may be able to help me acquire one of your fertilizer bags?”

  “Yes something like that. It’ll cost you one hundred pounds and you’ve to let Karen go home early this afternoon. If you can manage that then the bag is yours.”

  “You don’t want much.” A silent moment slipped by. “Okay, it’s a deal. Will you deliver the product to me?”

  “If you want it then you’ll have to pick it up. Make it around twelve.” Blake stood his ground.

  There was no arguing from the older man. “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

  Everything went to plan at the factory as Blake neared completion of the morning’s paperwork. He took a sip from his caffeine drink and gazed out of the window. He stared at his employees then casually strolled toward the main entrance of the building. Once outside inhaled a deep intake of breath, allowing his lungs a taste of fresh air.

  Blake decided to become more involved in what the staff members were doing, so walked over to Todd.

  “How’s it coming along? Do you think we’ll have it completed by the end of the day?”

  “Don’t panic boss. Have I ever let you down?”

  “Good point. If this stuff is as good as they say it is then this company’s going to have an excellent year.”

  Blake produced a slender grin until it mapped across his face. The company meant a lot to him and for it to achieve something big was a huge boost, quenching the rumours of a possible closure.

  “This stuff they put in the fertilizer, do you know what it is?”

  “Todd, as long as it does what it’s supposed to do then I don’t really care what it is.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” The foreman shuffled his gaze over to the busy workers. “We should be on schedule to complete the job by about four o’clock.”

  “Good, hopefully I won’t be here then as I’m taking Karen out for a meal. Can you use the spare set of keys to lock up?”

  “No problem. What’s the big occasion for you to have time off?” asked Todd, knowing Blake must have a good explanation, as he wouldn’t normally want to miss out on supervising an important job.

  “There isn’t one. My wife needs pampering sometimes and today happens to be one of those times.”

  “Right, so if I don’t see you before you go then have a nice time and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Todd was the one who seemed happy now. Not only was he in charge when Blake went home, but would be credited on his achievements when the fertilizer did its job on the fields.

  “Thanks Todd, I will.” Blake turned away, but spoke again before finally making the walk back to his office. “Oh, before I go, if you ever need a favour, just ask.”

  “Cheers boss.”

  Blake remained at his desk as the time reached 11.30am. He hated being stuck for something to do, but knew his office was the right place to be in just in case Vincent popped in to close the deal.

  After another dozen or more checks on the time the clock handles finally faced upwards, and sure enough, dead on the stroke of twelve, his phone rang. He was told that a gentleman was waiting to see him. Blake didn’t want anybody finding out what he was up to as the fertilizer wasn’t his to sell to the public, so the fewer people who knew about it the better. A quick race was on to reach the banker before he gave the game away.

  Vincent had occupied himself with a couple of female staff by the time Blake entered the reception area. Blake moved swiftly, hooking an arm between one of the other man’s and pulling him away to have a quiet chat.

  “You haven’t told anyone why you’re here, have you?”

  “What do you take me for? I know you shouldn’t be selling me this stuff. I’m not going to get you into trouble now, am I?” There was a scrunched up scrooge-like appearance on the older man’s face. “You did say seventy-five pounds, didn’t you?”

  He gave Blake a look to imply that he had him over a barrel and there was no way he was going to get the full one-hundred out of him. Blake bit his tongue, accepting the offer before it went down even more.

  “Okay. You win, but my wife still gets out early. Is that a deal?

  “Deal... I’ll let her go at three. I’ll get cover for her.”

  Vincen
t became impatient, needing to see the stuff now. “Well my friend it’s good doing business with you but where is it?”

  “Keep your voice down. Where’s your car parked?”

  “It’s just outside,” the hurried reply came.

  “Good. You drive up to the factory gates and I’ll fetch you your bag.”

  Both men left the building, separating as they reached the outside. Blake opened the gates, walked into the storage barn, making sure the coast was clear before removing one of the sacks from the pile. He lifted it up onto his shoulder, moved away from the area and waited for Vincent to pull up. As soon as the car stopped, he raised the boot, placed the bundle inside and shut it down while glancing around to see if anyone was watching. It was all clear. He walked up to the driver’s side window and the fat banker slapped the cash into his hand. “Thanks a lot. I’ll make sure Karen gets out early. Anyway, I’ve got some gardening to attend to.” Blake raised a hand, producing a fake wave as the bank manager drove away.

  FIVE

  Vincent eagerly gathered his thoughts as he prepared himself for the blossoming task waiting for him. He could easily have forgotten all about Karen but was in such a good mood that he kept to the agreement.

  “Good afternoon, this is the National Bank, you’re speaking to

  Karen. How may I help you?”

  “This is your dirty secret coming back to haunt you.” Karen recognised the filthy-minded voice, but wasn’t going to

  say anything just in case there was another weird pervert out there. “Excuse me. Who’s this?” she said, putting on a shocked tone. “It’s me, Vincent. Who’d you think it was?”

  “I thought it was you, but you don’t normally phone from

  outside the bank.”

  “I know, but this is important. I won’t be back in today, so I’m

  letting you know that you can go home at three o’clock. You’ve got

  two and a half hours to find some cover.”

  “Okay, whatever you say. See you tomorrow then.” “One more thing before I attend to my garden, if anybody asks to speak to me and it sounds urgent, pass on my home phone

  number but don’t mention why I’m not at work. Be a good girl and

  you’ll be rewarded. Bye.”

  Karen was left thinking about what he said, but hoped Vincent

  wasn’t going to attempt to reward her.

  He changed into his gardening dungarees, placing a little straw

  hat on his head before sorting out the dreaded back garden, but

  stalled. He hadn’t set foot on the blasted thing for the past six

  months, well not since his mother died. She was the keen gardener

  and had taken great care in keeping it perfect. The house originally

  belonged to her. It seemed she hadn’t wanted to leave it, so had

  written in her will that she wished to be buried on the property.

  Margaret had been born in the house and thought it the perfect

  goodbye if she was laid to rest there as well.

  The grave was out of sight from the public eye so not many

  people knew it was there, but it made Vincent feel anxious. Each

  time he went outside the back door could feel his mother’s eyes all

  over him, as if she was watching him from her new home. It took another hour before he finally erased the nasty stomach

  churning thoughts about his dead mother and stepped onto the

  garden. The sack had been unloaded from the boot of the car as

  soon as he arrived home and now rested on the paved surface near

  to his back door. He dragged it to the end of the concrete slabs,

  slicing it open with a Stanley knife.

  Vincent knew he would have to do some weeding before

  spreading out the fertilizer. After quite a few months of neglect,

  weeds, thistles, and even litter had taken over the once immaculate

  showpiece of a garden, so he gathered together the vital tools from

  his shed and started tidying.

  “What are you doing?”

  He looked up to see that his wife had returned from doing the

  shopping. She never worked much these days, but sometimes

  would help out at the local school doing dinners and other duties,

  but not this week.

  “Hello dear. I’ve decided to take some time off to attend to the

  garden. I know I’ve been stupid about my mother being here, but

  I’m okay now. She wouldn’t want me to leave it, so I’m not going

  to.”

  “I see you’ve made a start. I’m glad for you. I’d better leave you

  to it before you change your mind.” His wife gave a little smile.

  “I’ve just bought you a bottle of that wine you like. Would you like

  a glass?”

  “No thanks, love. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you inside soon.” It took another half an hour to clear the debris before Vincent

  scooped contents from the sack into a bucket. He then scattered the

  soft, soil like fertilizer over the piece of land. All areas needing

  urgent attention received an overdose of the wonder-growth. He

  then grabbed the garden fork, mixing the dirt into the fertilizer.

  Once completed, gathered the rest and placed it in a wheelbarrow,

  wheeling the remaining fertilizer and the tools into his shed before

  locking the door.

  With his clothes now dirty, Vincent walked back to the house,

  but forgot to pick up one of his tools.

  “Vince, love, could you put your clothes down by the washing

  machine, I’ll wash them later,” Mary shouted from the next room. “I wouldn’t bother washing today if I were you, the sky’s

  clouding over and it looks like it’ll rain,” he replied, while removing

  his dungarees and hat.

  “It looked okay earlier. Are you sure it’s going to rain?” “If you don’t believe me then take a look yourself.”

  Mary entered the kitchen, staring out the window to witness the

  sky form into one huge mass of blackness. It looked strange, and as

  Mary watched, smaller, black clouds teamed up to join the large

  one.

  There’s going to be a major storm and one that could go on through the

  night, she thought.

  “Get ready for some thunder and lightning dear, you’re right

  about the weather.”

  Vincent looked up to the sky upon hearing the first sound of

  thunder. The noise slowly increased with every deafening ‘CRASH’.

  The storm seemed to have developed out of nothing, like an

  unexplainable freak of nature.

  Rain pelted down, splashing with a whip-like force against the

  windows around the house until they were close to breaking. In just

  five minutes the garden looked more like a swimming pool than a

  plot of land ready for seeding.

  Together, the married couple watched in total amazement as

  the storm turned into a multicoloured mixture of darkness and

  light. The pitch-black clouds smothered the daylight but the lightning flashes brightened the sky again like fireworks on bonfire

  night.

  “Don’t worry, love. The garden could do with some water on

  it.”

  “Mary, are you taking the piss? I’ve just wasted the last hour or

  so putting down compost and now it’s vanished without a trace. So

  please, don’t tell me it’s fine because the garden could do with some

  watering.”

  Vincent never normally swore at his wife, but when he did, she

  knew he was upset over something.

  “I’m sorry dear. I didn’t mean to annoy you.”

  He wasn’t going to be mad
at Mary for very long as it wasn’t her

  fault it rained like a waterfall. “It’s all right. I’ll just have to do it

  again on another day.”

  Vincent placed the dirty clothes by the washing machine,

  slipped on some clean ones, and walked away from the kitchen. He

  felt grumpy that all his good work seemed to have been for nothing,

  but knew he would get over it.

  He entered the living room and sat down in his favourite chair.

  Mary followed him in after a few minutes. She held two mugs of

  tea, placing them on the sideboard before sitting in the seat next to

  his. Both were like quiet little mice for the next fifteen minutes. By 3.00pm, Mary had gone into the kitchen to prepare Vincent’s

  lunch. He thought about watching some daytime television but the

  noise of the thunder made him change his mind on that idea. Knowing my luck, he thought, the lightning would aim a bolt right at

  my aerial and blow the bloody thing up.

  Mary returned with Vincent’s rations. He was supposed to be on a strict diet and his wife didn’t trust him to make his own lunch. Vincent’s version of a diet was a lot different to hers. “Here you go, love. Get this down you,” she said, grinning slyly.

  Vincent produced a fake smile. He knew his life was under threat if he didn’t eat properly and didn’t want to let Mary down, but sometimes, the food she gave him tasted disgusting. “Cheers love. It looks tasty, yum, yum.”

  Mary slapped him on the shoulder and huffed. She wasn’t going to give in and returned to the kitchen. The weather change had stalled her daily plans so preparing food for later on was now top priority. Dinner was going to be a treat for her moaning old husband.

  Vincent prodded the sandwich then lifted it up to determine what was in it. There was no meat, no cheese, nothing resembling a dairy product, not even butter, but it did contain lots of salad, lots of salad on brown bread. Vincent sighed, but ate his sandwich to please Mary. A few minutes later and he contemplated about going to bed for a nap before dinner. “I think I’ll have a lie down. I’m a bit worn out after all that gardening,” he shouted out to her in the kitchen.

  “Okay,” she replied. “I’ll wake you when dinner’s nearly ready.”

  Vincent headed upstairs while his wife carried on peeling the potatoes.