Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: Flower Farm

by Phillipa Ashley

  ‘I’ll hold you to that.’ And with that she walked out, forcing her eyes to focus on the walls, the corridor, anything but what she’d left behind her.

  On her way out, she walked past the door to the kitchen where Natalia and a few of the others were filling flasks with coffee. A sob caught in her throat and Natalia must have heard or seen her, and rushed to the door. The others looked at her as Natalia asked if everything was OK.

  ‘Fine,’ said Gaby but carried on walking. No goodbyes. No long agonising decision-making, no time to dread the inevitable or change her mind again and again and go over and over the decision she’d helped her family make to end Stevie’s life. Just a quick clean break and off to pastures new …

  She wanted to turn around. Every bone in her body, every sinew told her to go back and run to Will, but somehow, she forced her eyes to focus on the driveway and the farm gate and her feet to keep on moving towards them. The latch on the gate felt like lead, but she opened it and kept her eyes down while she closed it behind her. Tears poured down her cheeks as she hurried down the road towards the jetty, her backpack propelling her onwards, further and further away from the farm.

  A small voice kept nagging at her. Was she leaving to honour Stevie’s memory or had his loss affected her more profoundly than she’d thought? Was she really afraid of admitting she felt the same way about Will as he did about her – and losing him too if it didn’t work out? Too late now. She couldn’t agonise any more. Her decision had been made and she had to stick to it.

  Chapter 35

  After leaving her mother at the breakfast table, Jess decided to work out her worries in the fields until Luca arrived. She still had no idea what she was going to say to him. Would it be a good thing to take Luca’s offer and spend some time away from the farm or should she try again to help Adam or accept his decision and get on with her life?

  On the way to the top field, she came across Will and could tell by his face that something disastrous had happened. He didn’t even want to speak to her but eventually told her that Gaby had decided to leave sooner than expected. Jess was shocked: he and Gaby had seemed so happy as they’d rowed home and Jess was pretty sure that they’d spent the night together. She had no luck in finding out what had gone on though, because Will angrily refused all attempts to elaborate beyond ‘she has other plans and they don’t include me’.

  So on top of her turmoil about Adam and Luca, Jess was now fretting about Will but there was obviously nothing she could do about it, so she tried to concentrate on replanting the Innisidgen bulbs for the rest of the day. The late afternoon sun was mellowing when Luca arrived.

  She spotted him walking up the road from the tractor and, wiping her hands on her old jeans, she jumped down from the cab and went to meet him in the yard before he started to traipse into the muddy field. She’d almost reached him when Will whizzed past on his quad bike. Luca waved at him, but Will didn’t even lift a hand and zoomed off towards the lower fields, with a face like thunder.

  Luca raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh dear. Something I said?’

  Jess thought there was no point hiding the news. ‘No. I’m afraid Gaby’s left the farm unexpectedly.’

  ‘Oh … I see. Do you know why?’

  ‘She didn’t tell anyone, just packed her bag and walked out earlier this morning. Will won’t say why. He won’t talk about it.’

  ‘So, I was right about those two?’

  ‘Apparently so. I knew he liked Gaby and that she fancied him. I suspected there was more to it, but judging by the mood Will’s in, it must have been more serious than a fling. I’d no idea how deeply he felt about her.’

  ‘And yet she still left?’ Luca said.

  ‘Yes. Something major must have happened and from the state he’s in, she’s the one doing the heart breaking. He’s devastated. He might be a grumpy awkward git at times, but he’s very loyal and now he’s fallen for someone at last, it’s hit him very hard. It’s going to be tough on him and I don’t know how I can help him.’

  Luca sighed. ‘I’m sorry to hear it. Love is shitty at times. It’s brutal and dirty and there are always casualties.’

  Jess swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Have you thought about what I said?’ he asked.

  ‘I haven’t thought about anything else,’ Jess replied. It was half true.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Jess saw her mother making her way over, an anxious expression on her face.

  Anna smiled briefly at Luca before turning to Jess. ‘There’s no water. The pump has stopped again.’

  ‘Where’s Len?’ said Jess, exasperated that she could do without any more problems. Still, the farm didn’t stop just because its owners’ love lives were broken beyond repair.

  ‘He should be back from the quay with that delivery any moment.’

  Jess sighed. ‘OK. It’s probably the trip switch and, if not, an airlock.’ She thought of Gaby working her magic the previous August.

  ‘I don’t want to disturb Will, after you-know-what,’ said her mother, lowering her voice when she referred cryptically to Gaby. ‘But the goats need fresh water now, not to mention the rest of the farm.’

  ‘OK. You go and start feeding the goats and I’ll check the pump house. Hopefully it’s nothing serious and we’ll have water again soon. If not, we’ll have to fetch some from the market garden.’

  ‘Thanks.’ She treated Luca to an apologetic smile. ‘Oh, and while you’re up there, could you bring some hay for the goats from the barn?’

  ‘Yes, sure.’ Jess waited for her mother to leave, then sighed at Luca. ‘I’m sorry, I have to go. Life at the farm never stops. You’d think the goats would have more respect for family dramas.’

  He brushed his lips over hers. ‘Goats, eh? No empathy. Look, I’m meeting someone at the St Saviour’s Hotel in a little while. Shall I call in again on my way back, hopefully after you’ve got this – and the goats – sorted?’

  Jess touched his arm. He was funny and charming, but he did look odd in his smart chinos and jacket, standing in the middle of her muddy yard while she was dirty and scruffy. Their worlds were so far apart.

  ‘Thanks, see you later,’ she said and summoned a smile for him. She watched him exit the farm gate before she trooped off to the pump shed.

  As she’d expected, when she checked the control panel and listened to the pump juddering, the problem was an airlock. She opened the vent, waited for the motor to start running smoothly again and when she was satisfied that things were working properly, she left the shed. Just in time, she remembered to go into the barn and collect the small bale of hay for the goats’ feed.

  The hay was at the far end of the barn and as she bent to pick the bale up, she heard Will call her from behind.

  ‘Jess?’

  ‘Will? Are you OK?’

  ‘I’ll survive. What about you? Are you all right?’

  ‘Like you, I’ll survive,’ said Jess, reminded once again about Adam’s terrible dilemma. She would have to share the news with Will soon. He was her brother and Adam’s friend, but now was definitely not the time. ‘The pump stopped but it was another airlock,’ she said, wincing at even this loose association with Gaby. ‘And Mum asked me to get some more hay.’

  ‘I just came in for some oil for the tractor.’ Will hovered by the wooden partitioned-off area where they kept the oil.

  Jess had never seen him so beaten down, not since their father had left. She knew she was risking having her head bitten off, but she had to try and help him.

  ‘I’m so sorry about Gaby,’ she began.

  ‘Yeah. Life’s shit sometimes, but we just have to get on with it …’ He paused. ‘What did Luca want?’ he asked, switching the focus to her. It was typical Will and reminded Jess how closely he guarded his feelings and how badly he must be hurt.

  ‘Just to talk, but I was a bit busy.’ She didn’t dare tell him that Luca had asked her to move to London.

  ‘Tell me to mind my own business
but did you speak to Adam yesterday? I’m sorry I asked him to row.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter now,’ said Jess. ‘That’s gone.’

  ‘And is it over between the two of you?’

  ‘Yes, but there’s more to the situation than he’s let on. Adam spoke to me in confidence yesterday and it’s … well, it’s complicated. I know he thinks of you as a close mate and I’m sure that, in time, he’ll talk to you about it, but for now, let him dictate the pace.’

  Will blew out a breath. ‘Sounds serious.’

  ‘It is, but only he can tell you. At the moment, though, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.’

  ‘Jesus. Poor Adam … but I’ll leave it unless he says anything. We were good mates once, as close as brothers I thought at one time. It saddens me he can’t trust me now.’

  She touched his arm. ‘I hope he will soon. It’s not been the greatest time for any of us.’

  ‘No. So what about you and Luca? Where does this leave the two of you?’

  ‘I don’t know about that either. He was offered a permanent job by Hugo but I think he plans to leave Scilly for good.’

  ‘Are you going with him?’

  She smiled. ‘How could I leave the farm? We’d be out of business in a week.’

  Will’s lips tilted in an ironic smile. ‘Same here. If I left you on your own, we’d go under in five minutes.’

  Jess gasped, but her heart surged with affection for him. So that’s what had happened, had it? Gaby had issued an ultimatum to her brother.

  ‘Both of us are pretty crap at this stuff, aren’t we? Love, relationships …’ he said.

  ‘So it seems,’ said Jess, allowing herself a smile. ‘I’ll talk to you later about Adam if I can. And I’m always ready to listen. I can’t promise to be any help, but you know where I am.’

  ‘Will!’

  A bellow reached them through the far door of the barn and the smell of cigarette smoke made Jess’s nostrils twitch.

  Will rolled his eyes. ‘Great. That’s Len. Last thing I need. Want a hand with the bale?’

  ‘No, it’s fine.’

  ‘Will, are you in there? I need you!’

  Will picked up the bale anyway, calling, ‘OK. No need to go off on one, Len.’

  Jess turned away, trying to compose herself before she had to go back to tell her mother the water was fixed. Will was right: they were both pretty rubbish at relationships. Perhaps that had something to do with falling in love with the wrong people.

  She took a deep breath and followed Will towards the door before a huge bang lifted her off her feet and she was flying through the air.

  Chapter 36

  Gaby was about to step off the last boat of the day onto St Saviour’s quay when there was a loud bang from the middle of the island. Everyone turned at once to stare at a plume of grey smoke curling into the sky.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ said the skipper, shouting from the wheelhouse.

  ‘Looks like a chimney fire,’ said a man, cradling a huge camera lens.

  The boatman was on the quay, helping the passengers disembark. ‘That’s not a chimney fire,’ he said.

  The smoke plume was rapidly growing thicker and darker.

  ‘That’s a house fire and something’s gone up like a rocket judging by the noise,’ the boatman shouted to the skipper. ‘I’ll tie up, then I’m going to see what’s happening.’

  He tied off the boat, then ran down the quay towards the road, leaving the passengers talking and staring at the smoke. Some people were debating whether to go after him as the smoke billowed higher and blacker. A flame flickered within the grey cloud and Gaby’s legs turned wobbly. No, it couldn’t be …

  She dropped her bags on the cobbles. ‘It’s the flower farm!’ she shouted and ran after him. She raced up the slope, her heart pumping hard. It had been a last minute decision not to get the ferry back to Penzance half an hour earlier. She’d actually walked into the ticket office on the harbour ready to buy the ticket before walking out again.

  If she hadn’t decided to stay, she wouldn’t even be on St Saviour’s, and now it looked like some disaster had befallen the farm: the farm she couldn’t bear to leave because she now knew for certain she was in love with Will. Those few hours she’d spent wandering around Hugh Town, trying and failing to buy a ticket and leave Scilly, had made her realise that sometimes the greatest adventures could lie in familiar, well-loved places. One day she hoped to see other parts of the world, but she now knew for certain that she could never enjoy any place unless Will was by her side.

  Even from a hundred yards away, the bitter reek of smoke was strong and she could hear people shouting from the yard. Though her lungs were bursting she didn’t stop until she’d overtaken the boatman and reached the gate.

  Then. Oh God. It was total chaos. One end of the storage barn was in flames, with smoke blown across the yard by the wind. Anna was screaming while Natalia, Lawrence and the other staff ran in from the fields, yelling for people to fetch water and call the island fire service. There was no sign of Will.

  Gaby heard Lawrence shouting that the part-time fire crew had already been alerted and would be on their way once they could gather at their base at the other end of the island and get to the farm with their appliances. She shielded her face as a gust of wind blew a tongue of flame in her direction. The heat, even from yards back, was fearsome.

  She caught Lawrence by the arm as he raced past with a fire extinguisher which seemed pathetically inadequate for the blaze. ‘Oh my God. What happened?’

  Sweat glistened on his face. ‘Don’t know but the fire crew are on their way.’

  ‘That blaze could spread in this wind. I’ll run down to the station, to make sure they know it’s desperate,’ said the boatman. ‘Anyone unaccounted for?’

  Anna ran up to them and clutched at Lawrence. ‘My son and daughter! Jess and Will.’

  ‘Everyone’s out except for the twins,’ Lawrence confirmed, holding Anna.

  Jess … And Will … Gaby’s legs buckled. Tongues of orange and red flicked up one side of the barn. If they were trapped in that part of the building, there was no hope.

  Len ran up, coughing, his face bleeding. ‘I was walking past. I heard Will talking and then there was a bang and the far end exploded. It threw me back into the hedge. Is everyone OK?’

  ‘Will’s in there. And Jess?’ Gaby repeated, almost dazzled by the dancing flames.

  ‘She was fetching some hay for me. I asked her to! It’s my fault,’ Anna sobbed.

  ‘We have to do something!’ said Gaby, taking a step closer to the blaze.

  ‘No. We have to wait for the firefighters. We can’t put anyone else in danger.’

  Ignoring Lawrence, Gaby darted forward but had to stop. Sparks and ash flew into the sky and the heat was unbearable. Hands reached for her and dragged her back.

  It was Len who held onto her tightly. ‘Don’t be so stupid. Wait for the fire brigade!’

  ‘They’ll be dead by then!’ Gaby twisted free of his grip and dashed in the other direction, around the back of the barn. She ducked low to avoid the smoke but the flames were blowing away from her now and she was by the small outbuilding that housed the pump. She heard shouts above the crackle of the flames and the hiss of splitting wood.

  There was a small door at the intact end of the barn. The smoke made her gag and the heat was still fierce, but it wasn’t as intense as standing in front of the flames. She snatched a damp rag from the pump house and pushed open the wooden door into the barn. The contrast between the dark at one end and the blinding orange and red at the other hurt her eyes and the smoke caught her throat even through the wet cloth.

  She took it off her face and called, ‘Will!’ then immediately started to cough violently. She was going to be sick. God knows what horrible stuff they kept in there.

  With the rag back over her mouth, she spotted a figure on the floor a few feet away. It got to its knees and crawled towards her. It w
as Will. She didn’t dare take the rag from her face again, so she fought her way to him and with one hand clamped to her mouth, tried to drag him towards the door. He was struggling to move, so she abandoned the cloth and used both hands to help him to his feet. With an arm under his shoulder, she half dragged, half pulled him to the door. He was so heavy, and acting like a drunken man, staggering around, Gaby thought she might collapse under his weight. Her lungs burned worse than they even had in the race and her throat was on fire, but suddenly light and air hit her face. In seconds, Lawrence and Len had come round and taken Will’s weight and pulled them both outside into the sunlight.

  Natalia was waiting, and helped Gaby onto the yard where Anna let out a scream. She’d spotted Will, but in the same moment, realised that Jess must still be inside.

  ‘Where’s Jess? Someone find Jess!’ she wailed.

  A fresh explosion burst from the far end of the barn.

  ‘Get back! There’s oil and diesel for the pump at the back,’ said Len.

  Will was sitting on the grass, coughing his guts up, but he kept muttering, ‘Jess. Jess … have to get her.’

  Anna screamed and ran towards the barn, but Len held her back. Through her tears Gaby saw Lawrence trying to stop Will from crawling on his knees towards the barn.

  Will choked. ‘I have to go to her.’

  Len was with him. ‘No. You can’t even stand up.’

  ‘I have to.’ He crawled forward.

  The smoke billowed and a gust blew it across the yard, covering everyone momentarily. When it cleared, there was a new face in the yard. It was Adam, breathing hard. ‘I saw the flames from the cottage and knew it was the farm. What’s going on?’

  No one spoke for a second, then Anna tore at Adam’s clothes. ‘Jess is in there. In the barn.’

  ‘Jess is in that?’ His hand flew to his mouth. ‘Christ, no …’

  The smoke had blotted out the sun and the flames were brighter. The fire lit up his face. Gaby could feel the heat on her skin. Adam seemed frozen with terror.