Page 2 of Hope and Happiness in Bluebell Wood
‘Exactly. There’s nothing around here for miles once you leave these tiny villages.’
‘I know, isn’t it lovely?’
Hannah sighs again. ‘But what if you need something important, Mum? You know your . . .healthhasn’t been too good lately.’
‘My mental health, you mean,’ I correct her. ‘Don’t be scared about saying it.’
‘I’m not. But we worry about you, we both do.’
Matthew, my son, emerges through the French windows ofthe cottage to join us in the garden. ‘I think that’s the last of your stuff in now,’ he says. ‘I can’t actually believe we got all that packed into my car.’
‘Thank you, Matt,’ I say, smiling at him. ‘It was good of you to drive me.’
‘Don’t be daft, Mum. We wanted to make sure you got here okay.’
‘Wanted to nose around my new home, you mean!’
‘Well, there is that!’ Matt says, grinning. ‘This village is so old-fashioned, isn’t it? I can’t quite believe places like this still exist. There are no modern homes here at all, as far as I can see. It’s like something from a cosy Sunday-night TV drama.’
‘Cosy is exactly it. Cosy and remote. It’s just what I need right now.’
‘And that’s all that matters,’ Hannah says, putting her arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze. ‘Just as long as you’re happy in this cottage, then we are too. Aren’t we, Matt?’
Matt nods. ‘Yeah, we only want you to be happy again, Mum.’
Again. My children just want me to be happyagain.Because I hadn’t been truly happy for well over a year now.
‘You two might not think much of this little cottage, and how remote it is,’ I continue, deciding now is not the time to dwell. ‘You’re both used to living in places with lots of people. But I really like Bluebell Wood. I think I’ll be very happy here.’
My new cottage isn’t exactly in the middle of a wood, just on the outskirts, to be precise. And contrary to what my children think, the village of Bluebell Wood is really not that small, but it is quiet. Still, it has everything you could need: a tiny village shop with a post office counter, a small old-fashioned primary school, and a very pretty little church. There’s even a pub – quaintly named The Daft Duck.
‘Plus, don’t forget I have my new friend over there to keep me company,’ I say, and we all look over to the scruffy little dog keenly investigating his new home. ‘I think Merlin will sprinkle some magic over this place, just like his namesake.’
‘You’re going to keep calling him that, then?’ Hannah asks. ‘We wondered if you might change his name.’
‘No, I like it, it suits him.’
At my children’s insistence, before I’d moved from the city to the country, I’d adopted Merlin from a local dog shelter to keep me company in the new, more solitary life I was about to embark on. I’d been hesitant at first; some days I felt I could barely look after myself, let alone a dog. But Hannah and Matt had been adamant that I couldn’t live here all alone. So as much to appease them as to help me, I’d relented, and Merlin had accompanied us to my new home in Bluebell Wood.
I watch my new companion carefully sniffing around the base of some overgrown bushes, then equally as carefully lifting his leg to avoid the spiky thorns. ‘Merlin!’ I call. ‘Merlin, come here!’ I pat my thighs in encouragement.
Merlin pricks up his ears and looks at me quizzically. ‘That’s it,’ I call again. ‘Come here, boy!’
Merlin bounds over to me in great excitement, sits down and looks up expectantly.
‘I think he’s expecting a treat,’ Matt says knowingly. ‘Maybe that’s what his previous owner gave him if he came when called?’
Merlin’s previous owners had been killed in a car accident, which he had miraculously emerged from unscathed. He was a resilient little thing, though, with a happy nature, and I hoped some of his confidence and zest for life would rub off on me as we got to know each other better.
‘I’m sorry,’ I tell Merlin, crouching down next to him and tickling him under the chin. ‘I don’t have a treat on me, will a fuss do instead?’
Merlin’s dark eyes look directly into mine, then he nuzzles into my hand, turning his head to one side so I’m now rubbing his ear instead.
‘That seems to be acceptable,’ Hannah says, smiling. ‘I think you two are going to get on just fine.’ She looks across at Matt.
Matt nods. ‘We’re going to have to get going soon, Mum. Or the traffic on the A1 will be horrendous.’
‘That’s fine,’ I say, standing up again. ‘I really appreciate the two of you helping me move. I know you both have busy lives.’
