Page 14 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch
She hadn’t seen anyone since Agnes had left yesterday, although Zain must have stealthily dropped her breakfast basket again that morning. It had had a note in it from Agnes, reminding her that the wild swim gang were arriving at tena.m. and that she’d cook up a vat of leek and potato soup for collection. The ‘seasoned swimmers’ would be here in one hour. Rosie put a hand on her stomach, which was clenching at the thought of convincing themandthe potentially snooping Zain that she knew what the heck she was doing. Was it too much to hope that Zain was off stroking his precious pumpkins or disappearing into those mysterious polytunnels she’d recently spied?
‘At least this lovely lake will be warmer than the open-air shower,’ Rosie whispered. ‘Did you know that thing spits out freezing cold water? If I was sticking around, that would be the first thing to get sorted. In fact, I’d need to makequitethe list.’
Her first foray with the outdoor not-so-private shower the day before had ended in a lot of yelping and absolutely no showering. Legging it half-undressed from the compost toilet that morning, with a huge spider on her trouser leg and evidence of a stinging nettle attack on her bare bottom, hadn’t been her finest hour either. A muffled guffaw from beyond the nearby trees had made her wonder whether the elusive Zain had witnessed some of that one.
‘Do you think I was romanticising when I thought a short stay in the country would be the perfect thing?’ She looked at Steve, not sure what she was hoping for. Maybe the solitude was getting to her. ‘I’m used to town life. I can’t even swim that well. It wasn’t something we did growing up, other than if one of Mum’s friends had a pool party. And then I did my best to hide behind a plant pot or help the staff chop cucumber for the Pimm’s. My thighs are a bit too chubby to look good next to Mum and Flick. Flick and I have different dads, you see. Though she’s got most of Mum’s golden genes. Not sure whose genes I’ve got.’ She cocked her head at the feline, whom she guessed didn’t fit into many circles either. Hisstare if you dareattitude was so freeing. Not that she was the sort of person who took life lessons from a cat.
‘Want to join my gang?’ She held up the corner of her towel in case he fancied hopping under. Even for a denim-clad trendsetter, autumn was still on the chilly side.
The cat narrowed his eyes at her and took a jump backwards, landing a little too close to the edge of the jetty.
‘Steady,’ Rosie warned. ‘We don’t want you falling in.’ Maybe she should take him back to the house in case he shouldn’t be roaming too close to the water. She had no idea if cats with three legs could swim. ‘Who’s your human? Do you belong to Agnes, or are you a wanderer? Not sure where I live now.’ She checked over her shoulder. ‘In all honesty, it’s got a little complicated. Though I’ll be on my way before I cause any mayhem here.’ It sounded quite exciting when she said it out loud.
A breeze nipped around them as she spoke, rustling through the vegetation and leaving her with a twinge of panic that someone may have overheard. But who was there, other than Zain, who seemed to do his best to keep his distance?
‘Anyway, I need to rip off the bandage.’ Rosie nodded towards the water. The sun was shining between the odd cloud, so the temperature surely wouldn’t betooterrible. There was no way she could experience her first plunge in front of all those hardcore swimmers who’d soon be arriving. They’d sniff out her ineptitude like wolves on a pumpkin pie. ‘It’s this or get myshort arseout of here. And I don’t really have a home.’
She stood up and stretched her limbs, the too tight swimming suit pinching at her bottom.
‘I’ve got this toe float thingy. I guess you attach it to your toe?’ Rosie wriggled the strap around her non-bruised big one. ‘Though it’s not a great fit. Maybe I have weird appendages.’ She bent down to scoop up the bright orange inflatable float part and hugged it to her churning belly. ‘No, this is stupid.’ She dropped the float and held her arms out to Steve. She shouldnotbe jumping into the water without a clue.
Weooooooow.
‘Oh my God!’
Suddenly, it was too late for decisions. Rosie’s abrupt movements sent Steve scarpering further backwards. His surprised body plopped into the water, and it didn’t look like he was ready or able to swim.
He was sinking.
Before Rosie could think better of it, she grabbed her orange float and jumped after him. Adrenaline pumped through her as she flew through the air, but then her body hit the lake. It was as cold as ice against her skin, making her cry out in shock. Her arms managed to grab Steve, her legs thrashing under the water, panic filling her mind. She gasped uncontrollably. The float shot away from her, freeing itself from her foot and darting out of reach. She kicked and flapped frantically, trying to keep her head and Steve’s above water.
In her struggle, she felt herself gulp in a mouthful of liquid, and then another. Somehow her body was sinking, down beneath the water’s dark surface, its chill filling and surrounding her. She used her feet to try and propel herself upwards, desperate not to pull the cat down with her nor to let go and risk him descending out of sight.
Then suddenly she heard a crash against the water and there was a shape overhead. Instinctively, her free arm reached out. She felt the hardness of something and clamped onto it. Then her head was above the water, her body coughing and gagging as though it wasn’t quite hers.
She was being pulled from the lake and onto the platform and wrapped in something. Bundled into someone’s arms and rubbed and squeezed and held. Steve the cat was there too, cradled against her stomach. He was shuddering, but she could sense he was safe.
There were gruff words, which sounded like ‘idiot’ and ‘what the hell?’ though everything was muffled and watery, like part of her still belonged to the underworld.
‘We’re alive,’ she heard herself saying, through gasps and splutters, her body shaking with cold, her heart racing. She was rubbing the cat’s thin body. And she was smiling – which really was the oddest thing. ‘I feel so...alive.’
This made the warm, wet person who was enveloping her tense with crossness. ‘Reckless, stupid... Why the hell did you jump in there?’
It was Zain’s voice.
‘Steve fell in, and I think it was my fault, and...’ Her teeth were chattering, much like her busy brain.
‘And even though you can’t swim, you thought you’d be the bloody heroine?’
How did he know she couldn’t swim? But it was the wordheroinethat her mind latched onto. Yes, that was exactly it. She looked down at Steve, who seemed to be gazing back at her like he knew she’d just salvaged one of his nine lives. For once, she had played the lead. Not a side character or a pointless, walk-on part. She’d jumped in, feet first, and saved something. And she might be freezing cold and jabbering complete nonsense, but like never before she feltvital.The sense of it was growing inside her and filling her up. As another of Agnes’s cats sauntered past, its eyes wide with wonder, she knew what she had to do.
‘I c-can swim,’ she lied, because this was no time to go blowing her own cover. ‘And Iamgoing to do this. For the w-waifs and strays. Of which I am proudly one.’
‘The cold water has shocked you,’ she heard Zain saying. ‘Maybe you’re hallucinating.’ His strong arms continued to rub her, her body curling into his warmth and wrapping around the cat.
If anything, the cool water had stunned some sense into her. She’d never had a real cause to fight for, other than a job writing about bad teeth. But at Autumn Meadows Farm, there was land to be saved from mean developers. There were cats, dogs and an eccentric older lady who needed a new roof, or they wouldallbe drowning. And this would make perfect material for the novel she’d been beginning to write. Real life could be her inspiration, couldn’t it? Here was her chance to prove shecouldwrite better than any stupid chatbot. And if she could do whatever else Agnes needed, she could get one over on the tech company and their scary-sounding robot cats too. Of course, there was the thorny issue of convincing Zain to offer up his prized crops – but that was a worry for another day.
Rosie’s vision came slowly back into focus, like actual life was a tad inconvenient. She already knew her mind was trying to wind back and remember everything that had just happened, ready to weave it into her story. The smell of woodiness and water on her rescuer’s skin. The way his comparative heat seeped through and slowly became hers. Some kind of strange, soul awakening...
