The Gardens of Blackfell

by Ally Forbes

  ‘Miss, all I’m saying is that I think you need to take this moment. Don’t become old like me and always wonder what might’ve happened.’

  Tara laid her hand on his and smiled at him, ‘You’re a wise and wonderful man.’

  They continued on to the village and Bert directed her to park in front of the little cafe.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘I’m under orders to buy you some lunch, take instruction for the next few days and drive you back home for two.’

  ‘You’re kidding,’ Tara shook her head, smiling.

  ‘Come on Miss. We’ve orders to follow,’ he opened the door and stood on the pavement waiting for her.

  ‘Arlen Emberline.....,’ she muttered under her breath, shaking her head again and proceeded to join Bert, heading into the cafe for lunch.

  Over a steaming hot pot of coffee and a great bowl of homemade pasta, Bert and Tara discussed and agreed on plans for recruitment, where the work should be started and what needed to be saved and what removed.

  Tara knew that she was speaking to a man who understood instinctively what the Garden required and his knowledge of the flora in the Garden was second to none. He agreed with most of what Tara proposed for the Garden but didn’t hesitate to tell her when there was something he thought might be done better or different. His alternative suggestions were almost all good and his contribution to their discussion was enhancing and confidence building.

  When Bert glanced at his watch and asked that they leave to ensure Tara would get back to the cottage at the time Arlen requested, Tara was happy. She trusted Bert completely and knew from Bert’s manner and gesture that the feeling was mutual. The love of the Garden had brought the two together in a way that was pure and noble and their relationship respectful and estimable. Tara drove n b Tara dand they talked all the way back to the Estate. She was entranced by Bert and their time together passed in a blink of an eye. Before Tara knew it, they were back at her home in the hill above the Estate.

  Stopping the car, she leaned over and kissed Bert on the cheek.

  ‘Bert, I feel I’ve known you for a lot longer than a couple of days.’

  ‘And me Miss but you must listen to me now. Take it from an old man, Master Emberline has set his heart on you but I think you will have to be very...careful about Master Ashbrook.’

  Tara blushed, not wanting the old man to worry about her stupidity. She felt embarrassed about her indiscretion and he read her thoughts easily.

  ‘I know this is difficult for you and I’m sure you don’t want to take advice from an old man like me ...’

  ‘Bert, it’s not....’

  Bert continued ignoring Tara’s protests, ‘but I think you know that you and Master Emberline are meant to be together as sure as bees make honey. But I’ve known Master Ashbrook a long time and have heard a lot of stories. He likes to win and get what he wants and I think his feelings run deep for you. You know, I reckon it’s probably an unexpected feeling for a man who can pick and choose and discard so easily. I want you to be very careful.’

  ‘But...’

  ‘Promise me Miss.’

  ‘Yes of course. I promise, I promise. And thank you Bert.’

  They both left the car and Tara asked Bert to wait for a moment. She went back into the house and took something out to Bert.

  She handed him the keys to the huge Mercedes and asked him to take the car for time he would be working on the Garden. He was delighted.

  ‘Oh, I nearly forgot.’ She handed him a small card with her mobile number on it.

  ‘Please just call if you need anything at all. Anything.’

  He took the card and tucked it into his top pocket and patted it.

  Bert winked at her again and climbed into the new car. Tara smiled and watched as he adjusted his seat and rear view mirror, started the car and slowly moved off down the road, leaving Tara in the peace and silence of the glade.

  Relaxed and at ease , she made her way in to the house and to her bedroom to pack her bag, enjoying picking her clothes and finding herself unexpectedly excited.

  At three o’clock exactly, Arlen arrived in a cream Audi Q7 and Tara raced to the door to let him in.izem in.

  He picked her up, held her tight and buried his head in her hair, inhaling deeply. She threw her arms round him, relishing the feel of his strong arms around her.

  ‘I can’t wait to take you away Tara. Are you packed?’

  ‘Sure am,’ she gestured to a couple of small bags beside the door.

  ‘Great. Let’s go.’ He put her down, picked up the bags and headed out the door.

  ‘Arlen. I’ve just one short call to make. Be with you in a minute.’

  She watched Arlen make his way to the car and quickly dialled Xander’s number. It was with a feeling of relief that it rang and then clicked straight on to the answer phone.

  ‘Xander. It’s Tara. Sorry. I can’t make it for dinner tonight. I’ll be away for a few days,’ she paused and added, ‘Look Xander, I’m sorry. Last night, well, it shouldn’t have happened. I don’t think we should see each other again. Just on a .....professional basis. Sorry.’

  When she pressed the ‘End Call’ button on her phone she breathed a deep sigh of relief, aware of the tension in her shoulders and the speed of her heart. She was glad to be leaving Blackfell for a few days – it felt like a good idea to let things go ‘cold’ for a few days.

  She picked up the key for the house, slipped a small piece of paper under the door and went to join Arlen, who by now was tapping the steering wheel impatiently.

  As she climbed in beside him, he asked her, ‘What’s the paper for?’

  ‘Just want to make sure that no-one’s been in the house when I’m gone.’

  He looked at her, concern written all over his face.

  ‘Have you had problems?’

  ‘Just the once. I dealt with it.’

  He sighed angrily.

  ‘He doesn’t know where to draw the line.’

  ‘Let’s not think about Xander Ashbrook. We’re going away!’

  Arlen smiled at her and the strain on his face vanished.

  They made their way out of the Estate and Tara realised that her breathing had been shallow and her hands clenched tightly until they got past the entrance gates, half expecting to meet Xander travelling in the other direction. When they got to the main road and the car started to acce uprted tolerate, she felt she could breathe normally again and at last she relaxed.

  She remained quiet for a while, feeling the anxiety drain from her and she reflected on her stupidity. How could she have slept with Xander Ashbrook?

  Because he is .....magnetic.....handsome., she answered herself.

  ‘Are you OK Tara?’

  Arlen had been driving for some time and had let her have the peace that she needed.

  ‘I’m good,’ she replied and added, ‘You know, Blackfell gets a little ...claustrophobic. It’s not until you leave that you realise how much so.’

  ‘I think that possibly has more to do with the occupant than the Estate.’

  ‘I guess.’

  He glanced at her and left her to her thoughts.

  After a short period of comfortable silence Tara asked,

  ‘Arlen, I’ve never asked where we’re going.’

  ‘I was wondering when you’d ask,’ he laughed, ‘We’ve some commercial forestry on the Estate that’s about to be felled. I want to replace it with native woodland and the man I need to see to get these trees lives in Fife. I bought a cottage in a fishing village called Crail years ago. It’s a small place on the hill that overlooks the Harbour. Thought I could take you down the coast on my yacht. Just a small one of course.’ He laughed again.

  Tara continued to gaze out the window.

  ‘Tara?’

  ‘Oh Arlen. I’ve a confession to make.’

  Arlen took a deep breath, pensive and tense.

  ‘Bert told me that Xander and you are brothers.’


  Arlen sighed resignedly, ‘It was only a matter of time before you found out.’

  ‘I’m sorry Arlen. Bert was filling me in on the background to the Estate and he kind of, well, let it slip.’

  Arlen remained quiet concentrating on the road ahead.n>

  ‘Did he tell you much about my father?’

  ‘No. No details,’ she lied. Another silence followed.

  ‘I was illegitimate, the son of Alexander Ashbrook. My mother died in childbirth but I loved my father and we were very close. I hardly knew my half-brother Xander. He lived in Italy and didn’t visit the Estate often. My father provided well for me on his death but it was Xander, as legitimate heir, who inherited the Estate on my father’s death.’

  ‘Is that the reason why you and Xander don’t get along?’

  ‘You know Tara, that we’re just so very different. He’s a business man, a smooth operator. He has a different woman on his arm every week. He has fast cars, a private plane, a yacht, a house on almost every continent. Am I painting a picture for you?’

  Tara’s heart sank. Arlen’s words cut her deep and she felt the stupidity of her night with Xander keenly.

  Arlen continued, ‘It’s not that I dislike him for his lifestyle. Or the fact that he’s the legitimate son of my father. We get along by staying away from each other. We do our own thing. Opposite sides of the same coin perhaps, I don’t know. We’ve always managed to stay sufficiently apart to make things work. Until now.’

  ‘You mean until I arrived.’

  ‘Look, I can’t stand being away from you Tara. And I know that Xander likes a beautiful woman. We’ve...... collided..... over you.’

  ‘I should leave Blackfell.’ Not for the first time Tara found herself wishing she had left Blackfell and stayed away.

  ‘No. We’re two grown men, brothers for God’s sake but I know Xander and he’s a man who doesn’t give up, doesn’t like to lose.’

  ‘I’m sure that he’ll move on quickly when knows we’re together Arlen. He...’

  ‘My lovely Tara,’ he sighed, ‘He can’t stand losing but particularly not to me. And I know that he’s very.... interested in you. You’re stunning Tara and you don’t realise it.’

  Tara remained silent, guilt coursing through her, heart beating faster.

  He glanced at her, and Tara smiled weakly at him.

  ‘Tara, please don’t worry. It’ll sort itself out one way or another. As you say, maybe he’ll figure it’s ben bre itst to move on.’ But Tara could tell that he didn’t believe his own words and a frown creased his brow as he drove, lost in his own thoughts.

  After another long silence in the car, Tara flicked on the radio and they listened to the music, gossip and chatter and their mood lifted.

  As they drove the few clouds that were in the sky disappeared. The sky was a dazzling blanket of clear blue.

  The roads became narrower and quieter and Tara caught her first sight of the sea, the Bass Rock perched on clearly on the horizon. The air had clarity and sharpness and the colours of the landscape were intense, like an artist had taken the colour straight from his palette.

  Tara sat straight up in her seat, loving the change of scene and excited by the sight of the flat calm sea.

  ‘We’re nearly there Tara.’

  ‘I can’t wait.’

  The big car twisted down the narrow roads and it wasn’t long before they entered the small village, travelling through the main street, colourful bunting fluttering in the gentle breeze. The cottages were whitewashed and crow step gabled with red pan-tiled roofs, quaint and beautiful.

  Arlen turned the car off the main street and down a narrow lane signposted ‘Harbour’.

  They stopped outside a tiny whitewashed cottage at the top of the hill that led down to the 16th century harbour.

  ‘We’re here.’

  Arlen pulled a bunch of keys from the glove compartment of the car and stepped out. Tara opened the door and followed him to the small white wooden door of the cottage.

  There was a light breeze threaded through with a slight salty tang of the sea but the day was warm.

  Arlen opened the door and Tara ducked her head under the low entrance door and drew in her breath. The low ceilinged cottage was open plan, and wooden floored and the far end of the cottage was floor to ceiling glass. The view out to sea was uninterrupted and spectacular. Tara walked over to the windows and placed her hand on the glass. The ground fell away from the cottage in small terraces and finally plunged off a cliff to the sea and rocks below. The sea stretched out to the horizon, clear and calm, a small fishing boat close to the shore.

  ‘Arlen, it’s just........incredible.’

  Arlen put his arms round her, pulling her stomach in to him, kissing her neck.

  She couldn’t take her eyes off the sea.

  She stood at the window, watching the gulls circle in the up draughts that surged up from the base of the cliffs.

  Arlen slowly unbuttoned her blouse from behind, his fingers slow and sure and he eased it off her shoulders. She continued to stare out the window, mesmerized.

  Kissing her shoulders, he unfastened her bra and pulled it gently from her and Tara could hear his breathing become heavier, struggling to control his desire. He cupped her breasts from behind, feeling their weight and softness. His hands moved down her stomach but she stopped them moving any further.

  ‘No Arlen. Stop. Please.’

  He turned her round to face him and kissed her and she couldn’t help respond.

  ‘No Arlen, please. I have something to tell you.’

  She pushed him gently back from her and crossed her arms in front of her breasts.

  ‘Tara? What is it? Are you OK?’

  ‘I’m sorry Arlen. I shouldn’t have come here. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Of course you should’ve come here. What’s wrong Tara?’

  He tried to put his arms round her but she pushed him away again.

  ‘Arlen. I.... I...’

  She turned from him and grabbed her top off the floor, pulling it on as quickly as she could.

  Arlen touched her shoulder.

  ‘No Arlen.’ Her voice was sharp and she pulled her hair self-consciously over her shoulder.

  ‘Tara, I’m sorry if I ..’

  ‘I slept with him,’ she blurted out.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I slept with him.’

  He pulled her roughly round to face him again, his face hard and pushed her up against the window she had been facing.

  Inches from her, he whispered,

  ‘When?’

  Scared she tried to push him sito pushoff her but he held her tight.

  ‘Arlen I..’

  ‘When?’ he yelled in her face, making her turn from him in shock.

  ‘It was after you dropped me back at my house, after you and Xander fought.’ She blurted out as quickly as she could in a breathless whisper.

  ‘Was he good Tara? How was it? Tell me..’

  ‘Arlen, no. Don’t do this. Please.’

  ‘I knew he’d find some way of...of .....fucking you’

  Tara jerked her wrists from his grip and tried to push past him but he grabbed her again and picked her up.

  She yelped.

  ‘Arlen, put me down. Put me down,’ she tried to sound commanding but she despaired at the frightened whisper that was all she could manage.

  She twisted in his arms but he was far too strong for her. He held her tight in his arms.

  ‘Put me down and I’ll leave. You won’t see me again, I promise.’

  A tremor of panic crept into her voice.

  ‘You’re going nowhere Tara.’ He moved across the room towards the stair gripping her firmly.

  There was a knock at the door and Arlen stopped.

  The knock came again and this time a call, a ladies voice,

  ‘Mr Emberline?’

  He put Tara down and glowered at her.

  ‘Don’t move. I need to talk to you.’


  He walked to the door and Tara quickly took stock of her situation. She wanted to get out the house and at this moment she wanted to leave Blackfell, leave the two brothers forever. She saw her bag on the small table beside the front door that Arlen now stood at and she made a split second decision.

  Arlen pulled the door open, smoothing back his dark hair.

  Tara could see an elderly lady at the door and the woman’s face lit up when she saw Arlen answer the door.

  ‘Mister Emberline. I wondered if it might be you. I saw the car at the front door. I’m so glad...’

  ce.

  Tara seized the moment, hurried towards the door, grabbing her bag as she went and pushed past Arlen, smiling at the woman at the door.

  ‘Please excuse me. I’m in a bit of a rush.’

  She was out and hurried up the street, turning at the next road. She heard him shout her name but she dared not look back.

  The road led to a narrow pathway that took her down to the coast and Tara kept walking.

  Her breathing was fast and ragged as she half jogged, half walked, determined to put as much distance between the little cottage and herself as possible. After some time, she dared to look back and saw with great relief that Arlen had not managed to follow her.

  She slowed her pace and stopped at a bench at the edge of the path, sat down and cried.

  Before she knew it, great wracking sobs overwhelmed her but gradually the fear that she had felt diminished.

  Her panic and fear were slowly replaced with a feeling of calm which flooded through her. She sat in the sunshine and listened to the waves, watching the sea creep up over the rock pools and golden sand, edging its way slowly towards her.

  She lost track of how long she sat there but the sky was starting to darken and she realised she needed to work out how she was going to leave this beautiful little village.

  Could she catch a taxi, maybe travel to St Andrews and book into a hotel? She thought she might be able to call a taxi to collect her from the village but when she checked her bag her mobile wasn’t there - she had left it in her coat pocket which was still in the car.

  Thankfully she had her wallet. She decided to make her way back to the village and find some way to travel up the coast. She would book into a bed and breakfast and take a little time to work out what to do. She needed to get away from Blackfell. And Xander and Arlen.