Page 38 of Lazy Days At The Farm On Muddypuddle Lane
‘I said,good. It’s about time you thought about spreading your wings.’
‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’
‘Never. It will always be your home and you’ll always be welcome, but you need your own space.’
‘Hang on, Mum, I can’t think about getting a place of my own when I don’t know whether I’ll have a job at the end of the month.’
‘You will. And when all this is behind you, you can have a good think about what you want to do with your life.’ There was a pause, then her mum blurted, ‘I wish I could be there with you. I hate to think of you rattling around in that house on your own, miserable and lonely.’
She had a point. Carlawouldbe miserable and lonely. ‘Dulcie has asked me to stay on at the farm, but I don’t want to intrude any more than I already have.’
‘If Dulcie didn’t want you, she wouldn’t have suggested it.’
‘True, but I do feel guilty. Everyone descends on her. Otto must be a bloody saint to put up with it.’
‘I’d like to meet him. I’ve never met a celebrity chef.’
Carla laughed. ‘Next time you’re home, I’ll see what I can do. But perhaps we’ll stay in one of Picklewick’s B & Bs rather than at the farm, otherwise Dulcie might get you cleaning out the chicken coop.’
‘Ugh, no thanks! I’d better go, work calls. Let me know what you decide. Stay safe, sweetheart. I love you.’
‘Love you too, Mum.’
When Carla went downstairs, Dulcie wasn’t at her desk. She was in the kitchen, on her mobile phone. When she spied Carla, she ended the call and beamed at her.
‘I’ve had a brilliant idea,’ she announced. But when Carla wanted to know what it was, Dulcie refused to say anything further.
‘If you think I’m walking up this hill, you can think again,’ Dulcie told Carla a short time later, as her little hatchback groaned up the rutted track behind the farm which led to the top of themountain. Carla hadn’t been up this way, preferring to take the less arduous path around the side of the hill.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked.
‘To Adam and Maisie’s place.’
‘Is it far?’
‘Far enough, which is why we’re not on foot.’
‘Where is Maisie anyway? I didn’t see her at the farm.’
‘That’s because she isn’t there. She’s at The Forever Home.’
Carla didn’t bother asking any more questions, since Dulcie was being evasive, and stared out of the window instead.
The top of the mountain was a wilder place than its slopes, bleaker and windswept, with bracken and long grass stretching into the distance. There was no peak as such, just rolling grassland dotted with sheep, that seemed to go on forever.
When they finally reached a cluster of buildings, Maisie hurried out and the sisters greeted each other, then Maisie gave Carla a hug.
‘It’s looking good, Maisie,’ Dulcie said, gazing at the house.
‘Want to see inside?’
‘Duh! Does a sheep poop in the heather? Lead the way!’ Dulcie turned to Carla. ‘I haven’t been up here for a few weeks, and there wasn’t any plaster on the walls last time I came.’
When they stepped inside, Dulcie let out a low whistle. ‘Oh, wow. I can’t believe this was once a shell with no roof and a tree growing in the middle of the living room.’
Neither could Carla. Maisie and Adam’s house looked like something out of a magazine, with whitewashed walls, vaultedceilings and polished hardwood floors. It was the ultimate in barn conversions.
Maisie said to Dulcie, ‘As I told you on the phone, we’re moving in on the weekend, so any help will be appreciated.’
