Page 37 of Hope and Happiness in Bluebell Wood
‘Actually, I was wondering if I had anything I could give you to sell, but yes, I quite like a bargain. I’ll definitely come along,’ I say, trying to sound keen. But I knew if there was going to be a lot of people I’d be keeping well away.
‘Great, so did you enjoy the quiz last night?’ Jemima asks. ‘You and Lonan were a real asset to the team.’
‘Thank you. Yes, I did. It was fun.’
‘I bet it was much fun,’ Alouette pipes up, and she winks at Jemima. ‘Secret little tête-à-têtes with our ’andsome vicar all night.’
Jemima smiles but doesn’t say anything.
I feel my face flush. ‘It . . . it wasn’t like that—’ I begin, but Jemima rescues me.
‘Don’t pay any attention, Ava. Alouette is just teasing you, aren’t you, Alouette?’
‘Teasing?’ Alouette asks.
‘Joking. Having a laugh?’ Jemima explains.
‘Ah, yes, a laugh. Do not listen to me, Ava, I am – how you say? – jealous. I adore my Jack, but we have been married together for a long time now. Things can be a little . . . dull. You are not married, Ava?’
I shake my head. ‘Not any more. But I do have two children – they’re all grown up now.’
‘You see,’ Alouette says, her hands gesticulating in a Gallic way at Jemima, ‘she is free and single. I thought so. You can have all the fun you want with Father Callum, yes?’
Again I blush.
‘Lovely as this is to stand and chat,’ Jemima says, very clearly changing the subject, ‘I have to be getting back to my class in a minute. Year Six: they’re usually quite well behaved, but if I leave them too long the temptation to misbehave will become too much for them to resist. You’re lucky to catch me; I was only out here because we’ve had a spot of vandalism.’
I’m surprised to hear this. The last thing I expected to find in Bluebell Wood is vandals.
‘The Year Threes have been doing a project this term on the Romans, and we built this Roman mosaic here on the school wall.’ She gestures back to a wall behind us. ‘Only this morning we came in to find bits missing. At first I thought they’d fallen off – not enough glue, perhaps. But the pieces can’t be found anywhere. It’s a real shame; the children worked so hard on it.’
We all look at the mosaic behind her. It’s a large seascape, but it’s a bit too far away to see any gaps. ‘Which areas are missing pieces?’ I ask casually.
‘Parts of the sea, mainly. You see where the bluey-green waves are supposed to be?’
I nod.
‘Just there. It’s very odd. I can’t think who would want to deliberately remove pieces from the children’s work.’
‘Yes, that is very strange,’ I say, thinking about the shards of pottery on my mantelpiece. ‘I hope you can repair it. It seems such a shame to have it ruined.’
‘Yes, indeed.’ Jemima turns back towards us. ‘Well, thanks again for helping Alouette with her bags. Hopefully I’ll see you around a bit more now we’ve met properly.’
‘That would be nice. Right, I’d better get back to our walk or Merlin won’t be happy. Are you heading back to the pub, Alouette?’
‘I am. We have a delivery due at any moment.’
‘Okay, I’ll see you both soon. Bye for now.’
They both wave as Merlin and I head off to find the footpath. With Merlin wondering what new scents he was going to discover today, and me, how pieces of a children’s school project had been left on my bird table this morning.
*
As we walk along the pretty footpath, I enjoy spotting and naming, thanks to Evelyn’s books, wild yellow daffodils, white cow parsley just beginning to bloom, and a few wood anemones with their pretty white petals and yellow centres. We pass fields scattered with new-born lambs, and pass through long canopies of tall trees, which I guess must have been part of the wood at some point in its distant past, before the road split it in two. We walk in a long loop around the outskirts of the village until we’re almost back at the cottage and the part of the wood we usually walk through. While we’re waiting at the side of the road for some traffic to pass so we can cross safely, I notice that the field we’ve just walked around the outside of is up for sale, according to an estate agent’s board that’s nailed to one of the gateposts.
Merlin and I are about to step across the now empty road, when suddenly from nowhere an open-top white sports car speeds past us, taking both of us by surprise.
Merlin cowers back from the road, and I have to catch my breath.
