Coming Home to Cuckoo Cottage

by Heidi Swain

  ‘Call me,’ said Will, when I was eventually ready to leave. ‘Just ring if you have any problems and I’ll be there.’

  ‘I will,’ I told him, reluctantly untangling myself from his embrace. ‘Thank you, Will.’

  ‘And we’ll go out tonight so you can tell me what you’re really planning for Cuckoo Cottage, yes?’

  ‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘From now on we’ll talk to each other and cut out the gossiping go-betweens who have been the cause of so many problems.’

  ‘Good plan,’ beamed Will, slamming Birdie’s door shut. ‘I’ll pick you up around seven.’

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’ll pick you up and together we can set everyone in the town straight.’

  I needn’t have worried about whether or not I was going to have trouble tracking Matt down because he was already waiting at the cottage when I arrived. The doors of his van were open and his tools were set out ready for the final full day of faux work. I thought for a moment that perhaps I should just hang the situation out until he had replaced every window, wall and door and then let Minnie at him, but one look at his cocky expression was enough to make me realise that that was not going to be an option.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he asked, as soon as he caught sight of me in his wing mirror and jumped out.

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘I’m fine, thanks.’

  ‘But you look a mess and your hair’s all dishevelled,’ he noticed. ‘I’ve been here for ages. I’ve been worried sick.’

  ‘Well, that’s sweet,’ I said, making for the door, ‘but considering I wasn’t expecting you today I had no reason to wait in, did I?’

  ‘Has something happened?’ he started again.

  I was relieved he hadn’t got wind of what had played out in The Mermaid the night before and that I finally had the upper hand.

  ‘No,’ I shrugged, ‘not really. Come inside,’ I said, keen to get him across the threshold before the penny dropped. ‘I want to talk to you.’

  ‘But what about Minnie?’

  ‘Believe me,’ I tutted, ‘she’s the least of your worries right now.’

  Matt reluctantly followed me inside and I closed the door and scooped Minnie up before she had a chance to make the customary dash for his ankles.

  ‘Are you going to put her in the dining room?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘I’d feel better if you did.’

  ‘Well, I’m not very concerned right now about making you feel better.’

  ‘What’s going on, Lottie?’

  ‘You tell me,’ I shrugged, my eyes never leaving his increasingly confused face.

  ‘Nothing,’ he said, but there was a slight waver in his voice that suggested otherwise.

  ‘I went to the pub last night.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘And you’ll never guess what Will has been saying.’

  ‘Oh God, what?’ he sighed, looking slightly relieved. I do believe the poor fool thought he was off the hook. ‘I said you couldn’t trust him,’ he went on. ‘He’s unhinged.’

  ‘He must be,’ I laughed, as Minnie wriggled in my arms and Matt momentarily dropped his gaze to check I still had a tight hold on her. ‘Apparently, he’s told everyone that I’m planning to rent out the field to the caravan club or something like that.’

  ‘He never has?’

  ‘He has,’ I said, ‘and that I’m planning to have the entire place tarmacked over.’

  ‘No way.’

  ‘But now I’ve found out there aren’t any agricultural restrictions to stop me, I suppose I could, couldn’t I?’

  ‘What?’ frowned Matt.

  He was trying to look shocked but it didn’t wash. I clipped on Minnie’s lead and put her on the floor, where she immediately made a lunge for him and he took a speedy step back.

  ‘Don’t look so worried,’ I laughed. ‘I’m not going to let her go. She’s just a bit heavy. I’ve been feeding her up on rogue tradesmen.’

  ‘Lottie, what’s going on?’

  ‘Why did you lie to me about what David said?’ I demanded.

  I had no desire to drag the conversation on now. I’d never been much of a one for playing games and I just wanted to get to the truth, however unsavoury and unpalatable it turned out to be.

  ‘And why did you think it was a good idea to tell Will such a massive lie about what I had planned when you didn’t even know what I had in mind yourself?’

  Matt shook his head but no explanation was forthcoming.

  ‘And why did you lie about all the work that needs doing here and your connection to Gwen, and more importantly and shocking than all of that put together, why did you make up such a horrific story to explain why that poor man had to leave the army?’

  For a moment my mind was reeling. It was hard to believe that one person alone could sink to such deceptive depths, especially when they had only days before gone out of their way to say that all they had ever wanted to be was my friend and someone who I could rely on to help put things right. I don’t think I’d felt this much animosity for one person in a very long time. I was almost tempted to let Minnie go to town on him.

  ‘Well?’ I shouted.

  Whatever Matt was going to say, if anything, was cut short as someone began hammering on the door and shouting. For a mad moment I thought it was Will, come to sort the situation out with his fists again, but then I realised it was a woman and she sounded absolutely terrified.

  I ran to the door, Minnie taking an opportunistic swipe at Matt as we passed, and wrenched it open.

  ‘There’s been an accident!’ sobbed a woman I didn’t recognise. ‘You need to call an ambulance.’

  Chapter 34

  My heart was in my mouth as I dialled 999 then passed the receiver to the woman and set off on foot up the road with Matt hot on my heels. I hadn’t had the sense to jump in the car but it wasn’t all that many paces from home that I felt bile rising as I caught sight of Ed’s bike strewn across the drove in a mangled heap and the pile of clothes that I guessed was Ed in the ditch on the left.

  ‘Oh Jesus,’ I gasped, coming to a sudden halt and looking over my shoulder at Matt who was right behind me. ‘Will you go to him?’ I asked. ‘Can you see if he’s all right?’

  ‘I can’t,’ shuddered Matt, shaking his head and taking a step back. ‘I daren’t.’

  Without hesitating, I dumped Minnie, who I had run all the way up the road with, into his arms, and scrambled down the ditch to where Ed was lying in a crumpled heap.

  ‘Ed,’ I whispered, edging my way towards him and hoping for more than anything I’d ever hoped for in my life that he was all right. ‘Ed? It’s me,’ I said a little louder, ‘it’s me, Lottie.’

  A quiet groan met my ears and I let out a sigh of relief. The situation was bad, but not as bad as it could have been.

  ‘Ed,’ I said again, as I pushed aside a massive patch of nettles and weeds to get to him.

  ‘My leg,’ he groaned, ‘I think I’ve broken my leg.’

  I wanted to cry when I heard him speak but one glance told me he was right. No limb could be sitting at an angle like that and not be broken, even if the owner of it was double-jointed. I knew there was nothing I could do. Trying to move him when I didn’t know what else was wrong could have been disastrous, so we would just have to sit tight until the ambulance arrived.

  ‘It’s all right,’ I said, pushing his curls away from his face, ‘the ambulance is on its way.’

  ‘My arm hurts as well,’ he gasped.

  I looked at the sleeve of his left arm. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the fabric of his long-sleeved T-shirt should have been the same pale blue as the rest, but it was rapidly turning red and darker by the second.

  ‘I think you’ve cut it,’ I told him. ‘I’m going to take a look.’

  Carefully I pulled back the fabric. There was a deep gash which was pumping out blood, quite a lot of blood.

  ‘Oh God,’ said Matt, who had finally dared to peer into the ditch.
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  ‘What?’ cried Ed, struggling to look. ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s all right,’ I said soothingly, laying a hand on Ed’s chest to stop him moving while glaring at Matt. ‘Matt’s just a bit of a wuss, that’s all. You’ve got a cut on your arm, but I’m going to use my shirt to stop it bleeding.’

  ‘OK,’ said Ed, biting his lip and turning paler than ever.

  ‘And to hide it so Matt won’t pass out,’ I added.

  ‘OK,’ said Ed again, the shadow of a smile playing around his pale lips.

  ‘You just lay still,’ I instructed, ‘and we’ll have you out of here in no time.’

  ‘The ambulance is on its way,’ said the woman who had alerted us as to what had happened, ‘and I phoned Will who lives up the road as well. He’ll be here any minute.’

  ‘OK,’ I said, ‘did you hear that, Ed? Your mum’s always telling me you’re part animal, well, now you’re going to get some treatment from the vet.’

  Ed nodded, but didn’t say anything. The poor boy looked terrified.

  It wasn’t many seconds before I heard Will’s truck flying along the road and this was definitely one occasion when I wouldn’t be moaning about his driving.

  ‘What’s happened?’ he said, jumping straight into the ditch with a first-aid kit which would no doubt do far more good than my old shirt.

  ‘Broken leg,’ I told him, ‘and a nasty cut on this arm.’

  ‘Has he been moved at all?’

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘not an inch. I know he’s uncomfortable but I’m not qualified to assess him so he’s been stuck like this since he landed here, I’m afraid.’

  Will nodded and reached into the kit for a thick cotton pad.

  ‘Let’s swap your shirt for this pad on the count of three, Lottie,’ he said, manoeuvring it into position. ‘One, two, three.’

  The transition was smooth and the flow of blood nowhere near as fast as it had been when I first applied my shirt.

  ‘I haven’t been pressing too hard,’ I said quietly. ‘I’m not sure if there’s anything in it or not.’

  ‘You’ve done great,’ said Will, as we carefully swapped places. ‘Really great.’

  ‘Ed,’ I said, ‘where’s your mum?’

  ‘She’s with George,’ he croaked. ‘She’s been helping him with his housework.’

  ‘So she isn’t likely to drive up here any time soon?’

  ‘No,’ he gasped, wincing from the pain, ‘but she was worried that she’d upset you last night. She was cross with herself and said that she’d listened to gossip when she should have talked to you instead.’

  ‘She hasn’t upset me, Ed,’ I told him, looking accusingly at Matt, who was still keeping his distance and had passed Minnie on to the passer-by. ‘Not at all.’

  ‘I didn’t think she had,’ he said, ‘and I told her that, but I thought I’d come and see you myself. I wanted to make sure everything really was all right. That’s why I was coming up the road.’

  ‘So how did you end up down here?’ asked Will.

  ‘There was something on the road,’ panted Ed. ‘I didn’t see it until it was too late and I ran over it and it flipped me off. Is my bike OK?’

  ‘Listen,’ I said, deciding not to tell him that his bike was totalled. ‘I can hear sirens.’

  Thankfully the ambulance came from the Wynbridge direction and not via Hecate’s Rest, which would have alerted Mags far sooner. As it was, she and George arrived just as Ed was being carefully lifted into the back of the ambulance by a pair of efficient paramedics who had taken no time at all to make him more comfortable and stable. I grabbed hold of Mags before she had a chance to panic.

  ‘Ed’s fallen off his bike,’ I said, holding on to her tight and looking right into her eyes. ‘He’s broken his leg and cut his arm, but he’s conscious and he’s been talking the whole time.’

  ‘I’ll take you to him,’ said Will, taking her arm and steering her in the right direction, ‘and then I’ll take you to the hospital. Will you be all right?’ he called to me over his shoulder.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Yes, I’ll sort things out here then follow on.’

  It wasn’t until the ambulance went off with Will, Mags and George following on behind that I realised how much I was shaking.

  ‘I’ll drive you back to the cottage,’ offered Matt once we had loaded up Ed’s mangled bike and the first-aid kit into the back of Mags’s truck.

  ‘Are you all right, love?’ asked the woman who had stopped to help as she passed Minnie back into my arms.

  ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘yes, I’m fine. Nothing a hot, sweet tea won’t cure.’

  I knew I was talking gibberish but I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t want a fuss. I just wanted to be left alone.

  ‘Do you mind if I call by later to find out how he’s doing?’ she asked.

  ‘Not at all,’ I said, ‘and thank you for your help.’

  Matt drove us back to the cottage in Mags’s truck in silence. Minnie for once settled on my lap, intuitively aware that this was not the time to take a chunk out of Matt, not that I would have been inclined to stop her.

  ‘Are you happy now?’ I spat as he parked on the drive. My temper had been gently simmering during the short journey back, but now it had reached boiling point. ‘Are you satisfied?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Well, this is all your fault, isn’t it?’

  ‘Mine!’ he gasped, looking horrified. ‘How do you work that one out?’

  ‘Well, if you hadn’t gone spouting lies and spreading rumours about me, that poor little lad wouldn’t have been pedalling down here trying to find out what was wrong between me and his mum, would he?’

  I didn’t care if what I was saying was right or fair. I had been betrayed, Ed was badly injured and Will had been viciously slandered, and the person responsible was sitting right next to me and I was determined to call him to account for his actions.

  ‘You might not have dumped whatever it was that was lying in the road, but you as good as put that poor boy in the back of that ambulance,’ I accused. ‘I don’t know what your motives have been, Matt, and right now I don’t much care, but I do know I never want to see you or your cousin or any of your damn family ever again. Now get off my property before I set my dog on you, and don’t you ever come back.’

  It wasn’t until he was gone and I was in the house that I realised I had nursed Ed and spoken to the ambulance crew wearing nothing more than a blood-splattered lacy bra and the tiniest pair of shorts imaginable. Not that it mattered, I supposed. I may have been scratched, bitten, bruised and bloody but I was in a far better state than poor Ed, and I hoped that Mags could find it in her heart to forgive me for being at least partly responsible for the state her dear son was in.

  On autopilot I threw my soiled clothes in the washing machine and then jumped in the shower and let the warm water rush over me. I didn’t wait to dry my hair but fed Minnie and shut her in the kitchen then went back outside to Birdie. I had absolutely no idea how to get to the hospital, no satnav and no phone signal, but fortunately I did have a huge dose of luck as just at that moment Amber pulled on to the drive.

  ‘Will telephoned from the hospital,’ she explained. ‘He told me what happened and asked if I would come over to see if you’re all right.’

  ‘I’m OK,’ I told her. ‘A bit shaken up but otherwise all right, although I could do with directions to the hospital. I was just going to try and find my way there.’

  ‘I can do better than directions,’ said Amber, leaning across and opening the passenger door. ‘Hop in and I’ll take you now. This is certainly one occasion when you can get away with not driving yourself.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Of course,’ she nodded. ‘Mags is going to need all of her friends around her right now.’

  ‘Has anyone phoned Liam?’ I asked, jumping in the passenger seat and trying to ignore the pain in my legs inflicted by the stinging nettles. It felt unnerving
ly familiar and reminded me of my first few days at Cuckoo Cottage.

  ‘Jake was trying to get hold of him as I left,’ Amber said. ‘He’ll find him, don’t worry. Let’s just get there and find out how Ed is.’

  En route I explained to Amber what had played out in the pub the evening before and how that was the reason why Ed was on his way to see me when he hit something in the road and ended up in the ditch. Needless to say, I didn’t mention what had happened between Will and me in the interim.

  ‘I’ve never told a soul about what you have planned for Cuckoo Cottage,’ she said the second I had finished my explanation of events. ‘I haven’t told anyone. Not even Jake.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ I reassured her. ‘I didn’t think for one second that you had said anything.’

  ‘So how did Matt know?’

  ‘Well he didn’t, did he? He just took what little he had seen for himself and decided to fabricate that evidence and make up the rest.’

  ‘But why?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said, biting my lip and looking out at the mysterious landscape. ‘I still haven’t worked that one out yet, but he also lied about Will and why he had to leave the army. He said some terrible things, which I’m guessing he knew would keep the two of us apart, but I get the feeling this is about far more than just trying to stop me becoming friends with my neighbour,’ I mused.

  ‘But you know the truth about why Will left now?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’ve spoken to him myself and everything that needs to be out in the open finally is. I’ve also told Will that I never had any intention of harming the wildlife or jeopardising the field and he’s explained to me why he felt the urge to knock Matt out before everything became such a muddle.’

  ‘And what was his reason?’ asked Amber as we reached the town and turned down the road marked with a large ‘H’.

  ‘If you don’t mind, I’d rather not say.’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.’