Page 32 of Autumn in Sycamore Park
‘Hello, dear,’ came Angela’s kind voice. ‘I thought I recognised the soles of your shoes from my window. Are you in the middle of a crisis or is this some new form of meditation?’
Jennifer sat up. Bonky was curled up between her knees, panting in Angela’s general direction.
‘Definitely a crisis,’ Jennifer said.
Angela sat down. ‘In that case it was a good job I came out to check on you. I was in the middle of a book, but it wasn’t very interesting. There’s no story that can match the intricacy of real life, is there?’
‘None that I’ve read.’
Angela smiled. ‘I don’t know how long you’ve been lying there, but it’s been an hour since I first noticed you. It’s almost lunchtime, and since the rain sent us on our way yesterday, I thought we could try again today.’ She nudged a picnic hamper sitting on the grass by her foot. It was like something out of an Enid Blyton story: a wicker frame and handle with the contents covered by a checkered blanket. ‘I have pumpkin pie, camembert, apricot and ham sandwiches—which taste a lot better than they sound—and some chestnut pudding I rustled up this morning. All ingredients sourced from round here, or at my local organic supermarket. Oh, and coffee, in a very large flask.’
Jennifer smiled. ‘Are you sure you’re not some kind of fairy godmother?’ she said. ‘Because if you are, you’ve come along at exactly the right moment. Again.’
‘Would that require me to wear some kind of fancy dress?’ Angela asked, tilting her face so the sun caught it. ‘It’s a bit too chilly for that, I’m afraid. You’re going to have to put up with jeans and a jacket.’
‘It’s better than nothing.’
Angela squatted down and pulled a picnic sheet out of the bag. ‘Much better to sit on this,’ she said. ‘You’ll get a chill lying down like that.’
‘Thanks.’
Jennifer sat up and repositioned herself on the blanket. Bonky had come back to life, and was busy dashing around them, chasing a late-season butterfly. A breeze rustled through the tree branches nearby, and the light chill of the wind seemed to welcome Jennifer back into the world.
‘I think I lost it for a minute, there,’ she said. ‘I really don’t know what’s wrong with me.’
‘Sometimes it’s all right just to let the world pass by,’ Angela said. ‘None of us can stop it, after all. Just enjoy the passing moments. Be happy for what we have, and don’t pine on what we don’t. Look at me, I’m proper old and I still have hopes and dreams.’
‘Like what?’
‘Oh, nothing like changing the world, not at my age. Simple things, like seeing the children of my regulars playing in the fallen leaves this November. Seeing a blanket of snow over this hill right here come winter time.’ Her eyes twinkled. ‘Perhaps even meeting a nice toy boy to whisk me off to Paris. I’ve never been, you know.’
‘Really?’ Jennifer sighed. ‘I’ve been twice. The first was on a school trip during Sixth Form, which I only remember because the bus broke down. The second was with Mark … only what I thought was going to be a romantic weekend turned out to be an excuse to meet a client. I only saw him for half an hour either side of the flights. I wandered around on my own.’
‘At least you got to choose where to go.’
Jennifer smiled and looked up. ‘That’s true. It wasn’t all that romantic, but there are some amazing chateaux and museums. I’ll tell you what … half term’s coming up. Why don’t we go together, if you have nothing else on?’
Angela beamed. ‘That would be fantastic.’
They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching a group of teenagers attempting to play with a frisbee while the wind picked up at the most inappropriate moments to throw the disc off course.
‘Let’s tuck in,’ Angela said at last, then took to unloading the basket’s contents on to the blanket. When the wonderful aromas attracted Bonky’s attention, Angela pulled out a little plastic Tupperware pot. ‘I even have something for you,’ she said, holding out the pot’s contents to the dog. ‘A little dog food of my own invention.’ Glancing at Jennifer, she said, ‘You don’t mind me feeding your dog?’
‘Go ahead. Smells good enough for us to eat.’
‘It’s just a few mashed up leftovers,’ Angela said. ‘Perhaps I’ll go into the gourmet dog food business.’
Bonky stuffed down his lunch in a few swift bites, then raced off to chase things. Angela turned to Jennifer.
‘So, what happened?’
Jennifer told Angela about Mark, and what she had seen that morning. At the end, Angela just shrugged.
‘But isn’t that a good thing?’ she said. ‘He was already in your past, so now you can put it all to bed. He’s moved on. I know you’ve been having second thoughts, but really, there’s no need. The only reason you’re looking back is because you’re worried about looking forward. You’re still young. You have your whole life ahead of you. No reason to be worrying about the past when the future’s got so much going for it.’
Jennifer nodded. ‘I know you’re right. Of course I do. It’s not so easy to switch feelings on and off, though, is it?’
Jennifer thought about Amy’s obsession with Rick, even when he showed her no interest, and even appeared to have a woman on the go. She remembered all the times Mark had left her frustrated by not showing up, ducking out early, talking through her, ignoring her, and how he had softened any anger she had tried to muster with his usual charming smile, and a promise that things would be better.
