Page 76 of Forgive Not Forget
“Really?” Katherine was a little taken aback.
“It must be so cool looking after the abbey. You’re like the mother hen that keeps everything together.”
Katherine laughed at her idealistic view. “It doesn’t feel like that most of the time. It often feels like my chicks are all running around the farmyard out of my control.”
“Chicks do that.” Abigail nodded. “But they always end up back in the coop at night under the mother hen’s wings.”
Katherine was thrown off balance by this keen observation. Had she been too focused on the things that had been going wrong at the abbey and failed to see all the things she had achieved? Visitor numbers were on the increase, Abbey Barn had been successfully renovated, the visitor centre was on its way to completion. These were all remarkable achievements considering this time last year she was a humble General Practitioner. She inhaled a deep breath and remembered that none of this stood for anything if a bomb detonated that morning and wiped it all out.
“You can keep your job, for the time being,” Abigail sniffed. “I won’t need it for a few years yet.”
“Why, thank you, Abi.”
The girl flashed a cheeky smile and disappeared into the hall.
“Ready!” Anna’s voice came from behind her. “What were you thanking Abi for?”
“She’s after my job. I’m allowed to keep it a little longer until she’s ready.”
Anna tucked her shirt into her jeans. “You better watch out. I’ve played board games with her; she’s ruthless. Let’s see them to the bus and then head up to the site?”
The bus was just entering the village as they closed the gate; Tom and Abigail ran off to meet it. As they waved goodbye and passed back down the high street, Katherine felt Anna’s hand slip into hers. She squeezed it, not ever wanting to let go of it again.
“Let’s see what fresh hell awaits us at the top of the road,” she said.
The top of the high street was as busy as it had been the previous afternoon. Gloria was clearing tables outside the tearoom as they passed.
She waved at them. “This bomb nonsense is great for business.”
They smiled and nodded.
“Her business maybe,” Katherine muttered. “I’m not sure it’s doing ours much good.”
“You never know,” Anna said. “This might have put Nunswick Abbey on the map, what with all the press coverage. I can see it now, on our website: ‘As seen on BBC One’.”
“You might just be right. I knew there was another reason I was marrying you other than that pretty face.” Katherine realised as soon as she spoke the word that, although things appeared to be back on track, they hadn’t yet discussed marriage. Luckily, the major waved at them before the conversation could continue.
“Please tell me you have good news,” Katherine asked him.
He nodded. “The disposal team came in at first light and confirmed that it had been deactivated. They’ve just loaded it onto a trailer, and — oh, here it comes now.”
He rushed off under the cordon and started bellowing for everyone to keep back as an old Land Rover left the abbey car park, pulling a trailer covered in a tarpaulin. Several other vehicles followed, leaving the abbey car park empty.
“Bomb voyage,” Katherine shouted as it passed. Laughter spread through the small crowd, which quickly dispersed as the major began to remove the cordon.
She turned to be met by a stone-faced Anna.
“Bomb voyage, seriously? How long have you been waiting to say that?”
Katherine ignored her. “Shall we go and examine the damage?”
“Do you even know where it was?” Anna asked, following her across the car park.
“No. I guess we just look for a large hole.”
What they did find five minutes later resembled a small crater rather than a large hole. It was located within a few metres of the tent.
Anna peered down into it. “Wow. I think that’s a little more than the gardeners had bargained on.”
