‘That,’ his eyes were positively sparkling, ‘is exactly what I was hoping to hear.’
She took a deep breath and put her shoulders back. It was time to move on with her life, to make some decisions that came from the heart – that meant something. What her mother had explained didn’t really change anything – except deep down inside her. She’d realised over the half-term holiday that it was in her power to decide where she belonged, she knew that now. And right now she wanted to belong here. She wanted to stay – whatever her spreadsheets were telling her.
She might not be able to win the battle for Charlie’s heart. But she wanted to be responsible, to stay and help him. Because after all, didn’t she understand? And she could help the village that had already gone a long way towards showing her how her life could be. Once she’d opened her eyes and let it.
***
Out of the corner of her eye Lucy saw the cross-legged Maisie slowly keel over. She knew exactly how she felt. However, she had to do ‘show and tell’ followed by a story before she could go home. Then she had books to mark, a lesson plan to prepare and emails to write before she could collapse on her own bed.
She raised an eyebrow in Jill’s direction, and with a grin Jill stepped in and quietly gathered the little girl up, and took her over to a pile of comfy cushions in the corner of the room by the overflowing bookcase.
At least it was nearly the end of what had seemed like a very long day.
‘Can I pick the story, Miss?’ Daisy had stuck her hand so high in the air she was at serious risk to keeling over as well.
‘You always pick girl books, I want one about real stuff like Batman.’ One of the Hargreave twins (she had no idea which) folded his arms and pulled a face.
‘That isn’t real stuff, is it, Miss? My mam says it’s a load of twaddle.’
Lucy twisted her mouth, to stop herself laughing. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jill’s shoulders shaking.
‘We’ll do show and tell first, and then I think we’ll let Maisie pick the story shall we, once she’s had a little rest?’
‘Do you want to see my newt, Miss?’
She stared at Ted, who was sitting cross-legged near the back, fumbling about between his legs.
‘He’s called Bob.’
She glanced at Jill, who had decided to do some totally unnecessary tidying up but was obviously still trying not to laugh. ‘I found him when we was pond-dipping.’
‘Were.’ She corrected automatically, wondering if this needed stopping now.
Ted lifted a jar up triumphantly in the air and the water sloshed alarmingly, nearly swishing Bob out of the jar and onto his head. ‘I call him Bob cos my dad is always saying Bob’s your uncle.’
‘Right.’ She drew the word out to give her chance to gather her thoughts.
‘But my uncle is called Mike.’ He poked a podgy finger into the jar.
Lucy glanced to Jill for inspiration, or assistance, but her assistant was too busy trying to keep a straight face to offer anything but a shrug, which came from shaking shoulders.
‘Now Ted, what are we supposed to do with everything we catch when we go pond-dipping?’ At Starbaston the nearest the kids had got to pond-dipping was jumping in the puddles, it was potholes not ponds that had featured there. Spending an hour or so in the part of the schools grounds that was known as the ‘nature reserve’ had left her with a smile on her face, after she’d got over the panic of a child falling in face first and her having to explain how one of her charges had drowned.
‘Put ’em back in, Miss.’
‘And why do we do that?’
Daisy stuck her hand in the air. ‘Cos that’s where they live.’
‘But Bob doesn’t live there.’ Ted had a sullen look on his face. ‘He comes from my uncle’s.’ He dropped his voice to a whisper, a loud whisper that even Lucy could hear across the classroom. ‘But don’t tell anybody, cos it’s a secret.’
‘It isn’t a secret, my mam said—’
‘Well I think it’s his home now, wherever he came from.’ Jill expertly whisked the jar out of the chubby grasp. ‘We don’t want him falling out and dying, do we?’
‘Like them worms you had, my mam said it’s dirty to put worms in your pockets.’
‘It’s not.’ The angry response from Ted sounded very much like ‘snot’.
‘Right.’ Lucy clapped her hands briskly. ‘Sophie, sit down. Hand in the air if you want to say anything. I think it’s time for a story, don’t you?’
As the children shuffled round into a circle, she took the opportunity to sidle up to Jill. ‘What is it about newts?’
‘You mean you haven’t heard about newt-gate yet?’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Should I have done?’
‘The last time the school was under threat?’
‘Well actually, Jim did mention…’
‘Ask Elsie Harrington. You should have seen your face when he asked if you wanted to see his newt!’
****
Lucy had realised, after the first week at Langtry Meadows that she needed a rucksack if she wanted to avoid looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame by the end of term. It was quite a novelty living within walking distance of work, but meant that she could no longer just fling all her school work, and laptop, onto the back seat of the car.
What with all her animal duties, the walk to school carrying a load of books, and her gardening she’d certainly got fitter in the two months or so since she’d arrived. Even if all the glasses of wine and lager that she’d drunk with Sally, and the pizzas seemed to have settled around her middle. Maybe she needed to start jogging. She’d always preferred a session at the gym in the past, but that was when straying on foot off her estate was inviting physical assault, or at the very least the kind of verbal assault which would have soon had her bolting back towards the safety of her front door.
‘You look very jovial this evening my dear.’
Elsie Harrington was standing at her garden gate, looking as elegant as ever. Molly was at her side, wagging her tail, and the puppies were spilling over the borders flattening the flowers as they played.
‘I am.’ She smiled. ‘They look a bit of a handful.’
‘Wonderful as the little treasures are, I can assure you that Molly and I will be quite relieved when life gets back to normal. Do you have time to humour a lonely old lady and share a pot of tea?’
The weight of the rucksack dragged down on Lucy’s shoulders. ‘Of course, that would be lovely.’ What on earth had happened to her work ethic? She’d be working past midnight at this rate.
‘I hear a small celebration is in order.’ Elsie smiled broadly, mischief spread across her features.
Lucy shook her head. ‘How on earth?’ She tried to look annoyed, but she couldn’t stop the fizz of pleasure. Who was she to complain that she was actually being talked about? ‘And I hear,’ she swung the rucksack from her shoulders as she followed Elsie into the cottage, ‘that you can tell me all about newt-gate.’
‘Ahh.’ Elsie laughed. ‘When young Timothy gets a notion there is no stopping him.’ She filled up the kettle, and Lucy waited for her to switch it on. ‘The Parish Council think that they solved the problem, but without Timothy and his obsessive search for facts we could have lost part of the village to development. Not that I’m against progress, but there is a time and place my dear. Sugar, milk?’
Lucy nodded.
‘Villages do need new blood, we all know that, but they were all set to develop on the land behind the school.’
‘Really? Where the chickens are?’
‘Oh yes, the chickens, that lovely little vegetable patch and the dipping pond would have all disappeared. Rather sad, don’t you think? Much better to build on the other side of the village, which they were eventually persuaded to do. The main problem,’ she patted Molly’s head and sneaked her a biscuit, ‘was that the land there was owned by somebody quite influential. A major landowner who knew just which string
s to pull, a nimby they call them, don’t they? Quite ridiculous, the man doesn’t even live in the village.’
‘But why newt-gate?’
‘Ah yes, Timothy very luckily discovered that there were newts in the pond.’
‘Newts?’
‘Yes, newts.’
She sighed at what Lucy knew was the blank expression on her face.
‘They might not be much to look at, but they’re rare and very valuable.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Rapidly declining numbers, and where would we be without our newts?’
‘Indeed.’ Until this afternoon, Lucy hadn’t even known what a newt looked like. In fact, she still wasn’t very sure as she’d only seen the poor thing at a distance as it was being sloshed around. They were a bit frog-like weren’t they?
‘Great crested newts are protected by law. Now,’ Elsie paused, ‘you might know young Ted Wright – he of the worms in pockets?’
Lucy nodded.
‘Well that poor boy has been known to get a little confused. He may well tell you that the newts came from his Uncle Michael’s pond, and not to tell anybody, but those of course were different newts altogether.’ She gave Lucy a stern look, and waggled a finger for emphasis. ‘There are of course quite a few newts in the ponds round here, despite their rarity. For some reason they’re quite prolific. Easy to get confused.’
‘I can imagine.’ Lucy tried to cover her smile up by taking a sip of the too-hot tea. ‘He did actually produce one this afternoon, and said something about his uncle. But it would be er, wrong, probably illegal to move one, on purpose.’
‘It would.’
‘I expect there are so many scattered around the area because you’re so careful not to destroy their habitats.’
‘Exactly. The point is though that Timothy went to great lengths,’ she paused and Lucy was sure there was a twinkle in her eye, ‘to protect that patch of land for the school, and I’m sure he will be equally determined to win the battle to keep the school.’
‘Through fair means or foul?’
‘I couldn’t possibly comment, but I’m delighted to hear he has persuaded you to stay and help. Another biscuit, dear?’
‘Did Jim have a role in saving the land as well then?’
‘Oh yes, Jim is on the Parish Council as well as being a governor, he has a foot in both camps as it were.’ She smiled to herself. ‘He’s very determined in his own way, a credit to the place.’
Which Lucy thought was a bit of a strange thing to say. ‘He’s been very kind to me since I came, and it was him that told me about the newts, in a roundabout way.’
‘Ah, he did, did he?’ She chuckled. ‘Quite the mischief maker, and has his finger in every pie.’
‘A bit like somebody else I know.’ Lucy didn’t quite like to overstep the mark, but she’d have said exactly the same about Elsie.
‘There’s nothing wrong with having your finger on the pulse. Timothy and Jim were quite fixated with that pond though, like a lot of little boys. Look, be a dear and pass me that photograph.’
Lucy looked over to where she was pointing and picked up the black and white photograph of a group of young boys in short trousers gathered around what had to be the dipping pond.
‘That is Jim, and that,’ she stabbed the photograph, ‘is posh George. He’s in the next village now, a councillor, always was a bossy boy, liked to meddle.’ Lucy had to smile at the disapproving look on her face. ‘And there is little Annie, podgy even back then.’ She sighed. ‘It has quite a history our little pond, and of course the school. Now you see over there,’ she pointed at an album, ‘I’ve got photographs going back years, there’s May Day of course, and the wonderful summer picnics. Everybody is in them, and some of those children have done very well for themselves, quite influential they are now. You might want to borrow it dear.’
Lucy wasn’t exactly sure when she’d have time to look into the history of the school, but it seemed rude to say no. ‘Thank you.’
‘Now, my dear, am I right in assuming you will be here all summer then? Or will you be spending your break back in your own house?’
‘Well I had thought it was a bit of a shame to go back.’ Lucy sighed, one of the best bits about agreeing to stay until September was that she’d get to spend her summer in the lovely village, pottering about the garden, looking after the animals. ‘If Annie will let me.’
‘Oh Annie will be delighted, believe me.’
‘I thought I’d try and get a long-term tenant in my house, the agent said she didn’t think there’d be any problem at all in renting it out.’ ‘Desirable property, sought after location, however long you require’ were the terms she’d used. And a year was all she required. Tops. In a year’s time she was sure they’d know if the school had been saved or she was out of a job. Again. But either way, she was sure she wouldn’t regret doing this. It was her new start, a conscious decision not something she’d been forced to do. It was the first step in trying to wipe out all those insecurities that had lurked in the back of her mind for far too long.
‘Splendid. Then I can ask you a favour. I need somebody to look after Molly for me for a week or so while I’m away, and she’s very fond of you. I know I can trust you not to spoil her and she’s stayed with Annie before. She likes it there.’
Now how did she say no to that? Except she didn’t really want to. Molly was no trouble, and it wasn’t like she was in her own home with its cream carpets and spotless cushions. Annie’s cottage was lived in, very lived in, by animals as well as people.
‘But what about the puppies?’
‘They will be off soon, dear. All growing up. I’ve got homes for all of them, but one. I’m sure you can fit him in as well.’
‘Er.’
‘That’s wonderful.’ Lucy was pretty sure the word ‘yes’ hadn’t come out of her mouth at any point. ‘You have taken a weight off my mind. Actually, in a week’s time I’m off to my sister’s in London for a couple of days, dear. You could take them then as a trial to see how you get on. It’s her birthday and we see so little of each other these days.’ She gave a heavy sigh. ‘And who knows how many more years we have left.’
Lucy thought she was pushing it now.
‘It’s only for a few days, and Sally is always happy to help out as well if you’re busy at school. I’ve spoken to Timothy.’
Lucy raised an eyebrow. There was no stopping this pair she decided, and she was very suspicious of Jim too now. He seemed to have steered her right in Elsie’s direction, and the red-herring that was in fact a newt.
‘He is more than happy for you to take Molly in to school if you wish, all the children love her.’
‘I’m sure they do.’
‘She’ll be quiet as a mouse under the desk, you won’t know she’s there. Although that podgy puppy might be a different matter.’ She frowned briefly, then patted Lucy on the knee. ‘But I know you will sort it. You’re very sensible, capable. I won’t keep you then dear, if you’re busy.’
Lucy put her empty cup down on the tray and picked up her rucksack, wondering just how she’d been persuaded to take on a permanent, but not so permanent job, plus the job of dog-minder all in one afternoon.
‘And Jim will keep an eye on my house, he’s a great help like that, so you’ve no need to worry about it.’
It had never occurred to Lucy to be worried about the house as well.
‘Elsie, can I ask you something, something personal?’
‘I’d love to be able to say ask anything, my dear. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to say? But old ladies like me have secrets that are so far in the past that they’re long forgotten, and that’s the best way.’
She’d said something like that before – about things she’d left too long, about the right and wrong time to make choices. ‘Are you happy, Elsie?’
‘Most of the time, my dear.’
‘Do you have any regrets about the way your life has gone?’
Elsie paused and looked her straight in
the eye. ‘Oh yes,’ her voice was soft, that faraway tone she’d had when they’d first met and chatted by the pond. It seemed years ago now.
‘Who did you lose?’
‘A child my dear. A child. Which is why you have to make sure that young man of yours—’
‘He’s not my—’
‘Don’t let him do anything he will regret.’
‘You can change things, Elsie. Sometimes you need to dig up the past, that’s what my mum did for me, and she didn’t want to.’
‘Your lovely mother did it for closure my dear. With me it would be opening up a can of worms, altering somebody else’s life, and I’m not sure that would be fair. Now,’ her tone was brisk again, ‘I thought you had work to do young lady? You can show yourself out, I’m sure.’
***
Lucy shook her head as she pulled the gate shut behind her. She’d get to the bottom of this. Elsie and Timothy might consider themselves experts at unearthing every secret the village had, but she could be just as determined when she got her teeth into something. She really did want to get to the bottom of Elsie’s sadness – she seemed so capable at helping everybody else, it just didn’t seem fair that some incident in the past was still coming back to haunt her. Because Lucy was pretty sure that the mystery child was constantly in the back of the old lady’s mind.
‘So,’ there was a chuckle in her ear and she jumped guiltily, ‘you all up to date on the old newt situation then?’ Jim fell into step with her, looking very pleased with himself.
‘You’re a devious man.’ In fact, he might be as good a person to start her inquiries with, he seemed quite close to Elsie. ‘Sending me off like that, you knew I’d be too nosey to ignore it!’
He grinned. Then sobered up. ‘She might come across as sprightly as ever my dear, but she’s getting older.’ He shook his head, and Lucy was struck again by the similarities between the pair. All the time they spent together had obviously rubbed off. It was a shame Elsie’s elegance and good dress sense couldn’t rub off on her, she’d give anything to look like that when she was eighty, or even now. ‘I reckon she gets a little bit lonely, like we all do, so I try my best to pop in and help her out. She’s glad of a chat though.’
Summer with the Country Village Vet Page 28