The Bells of Little Woodford

by Catherine Jones

  Ashley held the two designs that were destined for him and wandered over to where Megan was. ‘Sorry I shouted at you earlier,’ he offered.

  Megan looked at him and sighed. ‘And sorry I shouted back.’

  ‘I’m not self-obsessed, am I?’

  ‘A bit. You’re no fun any more. All you want to talk about is this blooming panto.’

  ‘Yeah, but it’s such a big deal.’

  Megan raised her eyebrows. ‘In the grand scheme of things, it isn’t.’

  ‘I suppose. But it is to me.’

  ‘In which case, Ash, you need to grow up.’ She swept off leaving Ash looking miserable. Their reconciliation had been stillborn.

  *

  ‘And where the hell were you?’ ranted Bex when Megan got home.

  ‘At school.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you leave a note or something? You didn’t even answer my text. I was worried sick.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really. I thought… well, never mind what I thought.’

  ‘I bet you thought I’d run away. You’d have liked that, wouldn’t you?’

  ‘How can you say such a thing?’

  ‘Because you don’t care about me. If you did you wouldn’t have…’

  Bex felt as if she’d been kicked. She gasped. ‘Megan, you don’t really believe that, do you?’

  Megan dropped her gaze.

  ‘Megan, I love you, I always have.’

  ‘That didn’t stop you… you know.’ Megan shuddered.

  ‘No, no it didn’t.’

  ‘So why did you?’

  ‘It’s complicated.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’

  ‘Like I said, this isn’t about me loving your dad any less. I’m not betraying him, or being unfaithful, honest. Do you really think he’d want me to be lonely and miserable?’

  Megan shrugged. ‘I dunno,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Daddy would want us all to be happy.’

  ‘But we are.’

  ‘Yes, we are, mostly.’

  ‘Mostly?’

  ‘Look, you and the boys have your friends, people you can have a laugh with, hang out with… don’t you think I might want that too?’

  ‘But you’ve got Zac’s mum and Heather and… well, the book club lot, the PTA.’

  ‘And they’ve got their own lives, their own families, other calls on their time. Sure, they’re nice people but I want more than just a bit of a gossip and a laugh.’

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘And I like Miles, a lot, and I think he likes me.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that’s obvious. What if I don’t?’

  ‘But you do, don’t you?’

  Megan shrugged. ‘Would it have made a difference if I didn’t?’

  ‘Yes, yes, of course.’

  ‘Says you.’

  ‘I do. And I also mean it when I say that I want to hear what you really want… about what happens next.’

  ‘You mean about the baby?’

  Bex nodded.

  ‘I dunno.’

  ‘It’s a really important decision. And now you’re involved I need to know your views too.’

  Megan stared at Bex, her forehead creased. ‘I don’t know. Why are you asking me? I can’t make this decision. This is your problem – you sort it.’ She turned and ran out of the house.

  When she got a hundred yards from her home she stopped and texted Sophie.

  Can I come round

  Of course

  Five minutes later Megan was ringing the bell to her friend’s house.

  ‘Hi, Megs. You’ll have to come into the kitchen – I’m cooking our tea.’

  Megan put her head round the sitting room door and said hello to Lizzie before following Sophie into the tiny kitchen at the back of the house. She pulled a stool out from under the counter and plonked herself down on it while Sophie carried on peeling potatoes.

  ‘So?’ said Sophie over her shoulder.

  ‘So Bex wants me to tell her what to do.’

  Sophie dropped a peeled spud back into the water. ‘Huh?’

  ‘About whether to keep the baby or not.’

  ‘You’re kidding me.’

  Megan shook her head.

  ‘That’s well unfair.’

  ‘What’s this?’ The girls spun round and saw Lizzie in the doorway. Her wheels had allowed her to approach in silence.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Megan.

  ‘Sweetie, it didn’t sound like nothing to me.’

  Megan glanced between Lizzie and Sophie. ‘If I tell you,’ she said, ‘you mustn’t breathe a word.’

  ‘Cross my heart.’

  ‘Bex is pregnant.’

  ‘Oh.’ There was a pause, then Lizzie added, ‘It’s not the end of the world.’

  ‘It’s gross,’ said Megan.

  ‘It’s life.’ There was another pause. ‘Is Bex happy about it?’

  ‘I don’t know. She said she thought about getting rid of it till me and Miles – that’s her bloke – found out.’

  ‘I expect,’ said Lizzie, ‘that was what she planned when she thought she could restore the status quo with no one being any the wiser.’

  ‘You think?’

  Lizzie nodded. ‘But, if I’m any judge of human nature, I don’t think Bex would want to have a termination. Not that I know her that well but I don’t think it’s what any woman wants. But she’d do it if she felt she had no choice – like if it was going to make you very unhappy.’

  Megan thought about it. ‘I think I’d be unhappier if she did.’

  ‘Then I think you have your answer. I don’t expect Bex planned this – it’s just one of those things.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘We all make mistakes. None of us is perfect.’

  ‘I suppose. And Miles is OK. The boys like him.’

  ‘Do you?’

  ‘He’s all right.’

  Lizzie smiled at her. ‘Your mum thinks so.’

  ‘Stepmum. And yeah, I suppose.’

  ‘She’s got a life too. She’s only young – she’s fit, she’s healthy, she’s very pretty. Don’t you think she deserves to have some fun?’

  ‘Suppose.’

  ‘I think you ought to go home and have a long chat with her.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘She’s been there for you all these years, maybe now she needs some support from you.’

  Megan nodded. ‘Yeah. Thanks.’

  Chapter 29

  The following morning, feeling slightly apprehensive, Heather rang the bell of The Beeches. She had her excuse for her visit at the ready but, even so, she couldn’t be certain that Bex wouldn’t smell a rat.

  The door was opened by Amy. Damn, she’d forgotten Amy did for Bex on a Friday.

  ‘Oh… hello, Amy. Is Bex in?’

  Amy nodded and yelled over her shoulder. ‘It’s Mrs S, Bex.’ She opened the door wider. ‘I’m sure Bex wouldn’t want me to keep you waiting on the doorstep.’

  Heather stepped over the threshold as Bex trotted down the stairs.

  ‘Hi, Heather, what can I do for you?’

  ‘I came to see how you are. I heard on the grapevine you haven’t been well – some bug or other,’ said Heather, avoiding looking directly at Amy although, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amy’s expression of astonishment at the lie.

  ‘I’m much better now,’ said Bex. She turned to Amy. ‘Do you want to hoover the stairs first, rather than do the kitchen? That way Heather and I won’t be getting in your way.’

  ‘I was going to finish off downstairs but if that’s what you want – you’re the boss.’

  Amy’s tone was sullen. Heather reckoned she was unhappy at being deprived of an eavesdropping opportunity but she grabbed the vacuum cleaner and lugged it upstairs. As Bex led Heather into the kitchen, the whine of the electric motor echoed around the stairwell. Even so, Bex shut the kitchen door behind them.

  She picked up the kettle and, with her back to Heather as she fille
d it, she said, ‘So, what did you really hear on the grapevine?’

  ‘Ah.’ There was a pause.

  ‘Because the whole town seems to know my business.’ Bex put the kettle on its stand and flicked the switch.

  ‘Well…’

  Bex turned and faced Heather. ‘Bert knows, Mags knows and that means that probably everyone else does too, now. I’d hoped to sort out the situation in private. Fat chance of that.’

  ‘Amy told me she’d found a positive pregnancy test in your bin.’

  ‘She found a…’ She sighed. ‘So that’s how the word got out. Bloody Amy.’ Bex snorted angrily. ‘I’ll have to apologise to Belinda. I blamed her for telling everyone. I confided in her – I needed to talk to someone. It never crossed my mind for a second that Amy had gone through my rubbish.’ Heather could see Bex’s jaw working in anger. ‘I’ve a good mind to sack her.’

  ‘Isn’t that rather shutting stable doors after the horse has run off?’ said Heather, gently.

  ‘Probably – but it would make me feel better.’ Bex got out two mugs and dropped teabags into them.

  ‘So what are you going to do?’

  Bex shook her head. ‘Honestly? I haven’t a clue.’ The kettle boiled and she turned her back on Heather to make the tea. ‘I was going to ask for a termination – then I could pretend that nothing had happened. And that idea was just fine and dandy until both Miles and Megan found out.’

  ‘Oh, my dear.’

  Bex sloshed in milk and put the mugs on the table. ‘No, that bit definitely wasn’t in my plan. Miles is desperate to be a father and he’d be a great dad. He’s lovely with my lot and they like him.’ Bex shook her head. ‘I like him.’

  Heather nodded. ‘And Megan – how did she find out? Was it someone at school?’

  ‘She got sent home from school yesterday morning with a headache and she overheard me and Miles talking. I think she hates me for what I’ve done. She’s angry, hurt… It’s awful.’

  Heather reached across the table and took Bex’s hands in hers.

  ‘We had a long chat yesterday evening – a real heart-to-heart – and she’s really unhappy but she’ll be even more unhappy if I have an abortion.’ Bex gave Heather a pinched smile. ‘She’ll hate me even more if I do that.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It’s a ghastly mess.’ She pushed both hands through her short curls. ‘I wish it had never happened.’

  ‘Sadly, we can’t turn the clock back.’

  ‘More’s the pity.’

  The kitchen door banged open.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Amy, who obviously wasn’t to judge by the look on her face, ‘but if you want the kitchen mopping…’

  She sounded a bit belligerent, thought Heather, like the kids at school did when they knew they were in trouble and felt they needed to front it out. Amy glanced from one to the other and shifted from foot to foot. A guilty conscience if ever there was one.

  ‘Thank you, Amy,’ said Bex. ‘Do you want to do that before or after you’ve gone through the bin?’

  ‘You what?’

  ‘You know exactly what I mean.’

  Amy narrowed her eyes. ‘I didn’t go through it, the bag split. OK? Everything fell out.’ She glared at Bex.

  ‘Really. And then you took it upon yourself to tell all and sundry about what you’d found, because, as far as I can see, half of Little Woodford knows I am pregnant.’

  ‘I never told no one – well, apart from Mum.’ She glanced at Heather. ‘It was only her. Cross my heart and hope to die.’

  ‘In future,’ said Bex, ‘I would much rather you didn’t discuss me or my family with anyone. Understand?’

  ‘Whatever,’ said Amy.

  ‘I think,’ said Heather, ‘an apology wouldn’t be out of order.’

  Amy shot her a sulky look. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘How was I to know Mum’d tell people?’

  Heather had to suppress a laugh. After Amy, Mags was the biggest gossip in the town. Of course Mags would have talked.

  The two women took their mugs into the sitting room while Amy clattered around the kitchen.

  ‘Anyway, the upshot is…’ She paused and took a breath. ‘I’m going to keep the baby.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘I don’t feel I’ve got a choice. Miles wants me to and Megan has made her views more than plain.’

  ‘But what about you?’

  ‘I don’t suppose being a single mother with four kids is so very different to being a single mother with three kids.’

  ‘That’s not quite what I meant.’

  Bex shrugged. ‘My mess, my fault, my responsibility.’

  *

  Zac got off the school bus in the middle of town and looked towards the station and the houses behind. Beeching Rise was such a dump; he hated it there. It was marginally better now Jade was living with the vicar but the house was still gross. Besides, his mum always expected him to do stuff like clean the bathroom or take the bins out. It’d never been like that before.

  He sloped off towards the skatepark. It wasn’t very warm but he’d rather be cold than at home. And Ash or Megan might be hanging out there. Then he remembered the play – no, Ashley probably wouldn’t. Since he’d got into acting he’d gone really weird, always talking bollocks about characterisation and motivation. Anyone would think he was playing Hamlet at the National, not an ugly sister in a school panto.

  Zac mooched over to the ramps which were almost empty. A couple of young kids were mucking around on their BMXs and there were some teenage girls sitting on the roundabout in the kids’ play park but other than that he had the place to himself, not surprising given that the weather was damp, dreary and decidedly chilly. Zac ran up one of the slopes, hitched himself onto the edge of a half-pipe and dangled his legs over the edge. He saw someone else come into the park and walk along the path towards him – he recognised the figure.

  ‘Hi, Megan,’ he yelled and waved at her. She waved back and headed towards him. ‘Not rehearsing with Ashley?’ asked Zac as she got closer.

  She shook her head. ‘Not today, and with any luck I’ll be able to avoid him over the weekend too.’ She ran up the half-pipe and sat down beside him.

  ‘I thought you liked him.’

  ‘I did, but now all he can talk about is bloody acting. I mean, don’t get me wrong the panto is fun but…’ She sighed deeply and shrugged. ‘I’m not obsessed with it and he is.’

  ‘I know what you mean. He’s no fun any more.’

  Megan nodded. She shivered and pulled the sleeves of her blazer down to cover her hands.

  ‘Are you cold?’

  ‘A bit,’ she admitted.

  ‘So why don’t you go home?’

  ‘Home sucks.’

  ‘Yours too?’

  Megan nodded morosely.

  ‘At least,’ said Zac, ‘you’ve got space to get away from your family. The only place I’ve got in the shithole we live in now is my room and there’s nowhere to rig up my computer and PlayStation. Mum says they’ve got to live in the conservatory but then she complains at me for playing games. I mean, what the fuck does she expect me to do on them?’

  ‘Your homework.’

  Zac rolled his eyes. ‘Anyway, what’s your problem? Fallen out with your brothers?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘With your mum?’

  ‘Stepmum.’ Megan sighed. ‘Not really. It’s just… oh, never mind. Look, I’m freezing. Want to come back to mine? Bex was making a cake when I left. It might be ready by now.’

  ‘Lush.’

  The pair wandered out of the park and along the road to The Beeches. Megan banged open the door, hung her blazer on a peg and trailed into the kitchen. Bex was standing by the table slathering strawberry jam onto one half of a Victoria sandwich.

  ‘Hello, Zac,’ she said. ‘Long time no see.’

  ‘Hello, Bex. Yeah, well, been busy moving and stuff like that.’

  Megan made them both a cup of tea wh
ile Zac watched Bex assemble the cake, topping it off by sifting icing sugar over the surface.

  ‘Fancy a slice?’ she offered when it was done, just as Megan put their drinks on the table.

  ‘It looks too good to cut,’ said Zac.

  ‘Then there was no point in me baking it,’ said Bex, selecting a large knife. She cut a big wedge which she shoved on a plate and handed it to Zac. ‘Megan?’

  ‘Please, only about half what you gave Zac.’ She accepted the plate. ‘Come on, Zac, let’s go up to my room.’

  The pair disappeared out of the kitchen and took themselves up the stairs.

  Bex watched them go thinking that now Zac had cleaned his act up Megan could do a lot worse. And maybe, if she had a boyfriend, she’d understand a bit more about her stepmother’s need for that sort of companionship.

  Chapter 30

  Autumn progressed with deteriorating weather, half-term came and went, everyone in Little Woodford turned their calendars to the November page, the local rugby club had a fireworks display, Bert harvested the last of his carrots and autumn raspberries down at his allotment and Olivia was now a key member of the front-of-house team at Woodford Priors. At the secondary school, the rehearsals continued and the first of the costumes had been produced and fitted while the coolness between Ashley and Megan continued. Bex, thankfully, had stopped feeling sick and had been for her first scan, accompanied by Miles. She’d dithered about inviting him but he was so ridiculously thrilled and excited about the baby she decided she had to let him be involved as much as possible. And his joyful reaction when he saw the pictures made it all worthwhile.

  Down at the vicarage, Heather was feeling less joyful. For a start, having Jade as a paying guest was a cause of almost constant friction despite Brian’s list of house rules which Jade seemed to mostly ignore. But the rent made a significant difference so she and Brian had privately decided that they would persevere – for the time being. And then there were the bells; her leafleting campaign had yielded a certain amount of money and Brian’s strategy of cold-calling local businesses had also reaped rewards but the gap between the cost of the repairs and the balance in the bank was still considerable – thousands of pounds – even if the Heritage Lottery Grant came through, which wasn’t a done deal. Frankly, thought Heather, they needed to make another push at the fundraising. Taking a cup of tea and a plain digestive she knocked on Brian’s study door.