New Arrivals at Hedgehog Hollow

by Jessica Redland

  ‘I can’t stay long,’ she said. ‘I only came round to drop those clothes off and have a cuddle with my great-nephew.’

  There was no mistaking the sly look in my direction so I stood up and handed over Samuel. ‘All yours.’

  Her face broke into a huge smile as she gazed down at him and stroked his soft cheeks. ‘Hello, sweetheart. I’ve missed you.’

  Sitting back down, I swallowed the lump in my throat as I watched her cooing over Samuel. It was obvious she adored him and was capable of giving so much love to him, to Chloe and to Auntie Louise. Just not to Dad or me.

  ‘Are you all settled into your new home?’ I asked Mum.

  ‘Yes. You?’

  ‘Yes, thank you.’

  Silence.

  ‘Sammie was just telling me that she’s still having trouble with the Grimes boys,’ Chloe said.

  Mum didn’t look up from Samuel. ‘Who?’

  ‘The ones who burned down the barn.’ I watched her carefully but she didn’t flinch, even when I added. ‘The ones who nearly killed me.’

  ‘Yes, well, you’re still alive to tell the tale, aren’t you?’ The sarcasm was clear but I couldn’t decide if there was regret in there too. No. Wishful thinking on my part. She’d never come to see me in hospital so apparently she hadn’t been bothered about almost losing her only daughter.

  ‘Sammie’s boyfriend, Josh, has moved in with her,’ Chloe said.

  Mum finally looked up and sighed. ‘At least it’s your house this time so you won’t be inflicting your presence on one of us when it all goes wrong.’

  ‘Why would it go wrong?’ I snapped.

  She smirked. ‘Because it’s you, Samantha. Your track record’s shocking.’

  ‘That’s not my fault. Harry was seeing someone else and—’ I looked pointedly at Chloe ‘—so was James.’

  ‘I’m sure this one will last longer,’ Mum said gently. Had she just been nice to me? Then she smirked again. ‘Huge house, land, no mortgage, no rent. He’s onto a winner there.’

  ‘Auntie Debs!’

  She turned to Chloe, her face a picture of innocence. ‘What? I’m just pointing out the facts.’

  ‘You promised to be nice.’

  ‘I promised to be civil.’

  Chloe sighed and turned to me, picking up where we’d left off when the doorbell rang. ‘What are you going to do about work? Are you going to resign?’

  ‘Leaving another job already?’ Mum asked, dragging out the last word for emphasis.

  My jaw clenched. ‘No. All I’d said to Chloe was that the rescue centre is getting busier and it’s a challenge to fit it round my teaching role.’

  ‘So you’re going to pack in running the rescue centre instead?’

  ‘I’m not going to pack anything in.’

  ‘Oh. So you’re going to give a half-baked effort at both of them?’

  ‘No, but—’

  ‘They’re both full-time jobs, Samantha. What did you expect was going to happen?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ I snapped. ‘I didn’t think it through properly.’

  ‘That’s your problem. You never think things through.’

  ‘That’s not fair! I do.’

  ‘Oh, please. When have you ever thought something through? Name me one thing.’

  I thought as hard as I could but nothing sprang to mind. I’d always thought that Chloe was the impulsive one yet every big decision I’d made over the past five years had been reactive. I’d moved in with Harry to escape from Mum and tried to kid myself that it was love. I’d moved back home the moment that ended without considering the impact of that on my parents. I’d kept seeing James, hoping he’d grow to love me, when he’d made it clear that he didn’t see me as a future wife. I’d made a rash decision to hand in my notice at work and move to the Wolds – even changing my career in the process – to get away from James and Chloe starting their married life in Whitsborough Bay. And I’d accepted the gift of Hedgehog Hollow when I knew nothing about hedgehogs and didn’t have the time or finances to fully commit to it. She was absolutely right but it didn’t stop the words hurting any less.

  ‘Struggling, aren’t you?’ Mum shook her head at me. ‘Honestly, Samantha, is there anything in your whole life that you’ve ever stuck at?’

  My stomach churned. There was one thing. One thing I’d stupidly stuck with my whole life. ‘You,’ I spat, my fists curling into balls. ‘My whole life, I’ve stuck with trying to get you to love me. Heck, even liking me would have been good. Waste of time, that was.’ I rose to my feet and looked at Chloe. ‘I think I’d better head back to the farm now.’

  ‘I thought we were going to have a proper catch-up.’

  ‘I’m sorry but I need to check on the hedgehogs.’ I didn’t need to rush back at all but I had no energy to stay and fight with Mum again. I stared at her, hoping she’d insist on leaving instead, especially after her declaration that she couldn’t stay long, but then I realised that had been her exit strategy if I hadn’t broken first. It didn’t matter. Even before she’d arrived, the afternoon hadn’t been how I’d imagined it and I felt quite relieved to be leaving.

  Chloe walked me to the door. ‘I didn’t invite her,’ she snapped. ‘I wasn’t trying to interfere again so don’t you go blaming me for this.’

  ‘I’m not blaming you but surely you understand why I can’t do this.’

  She shrugged petulantly: a typical Chloe-ism.

  I opened the door, stepped outside and gave her a weak smile. ‘We’ll catch up properly soon, yeah?’

  ‘If you can be bothered.’

  I flinched at the sarcasm but said nothing. I’d normally have hugged her but she had her arms crossed tightly across her chest and was leaning against the doorframe with a face like thunder. ‘See you, then.’

  ‘Bye.’

  She slammed the door behind her before I’d even unlocked the car. I sighed and shook my head, wondering if I should go back but what was the point? Chloe hadn’t exactly been welcoming, she’d been dismissive of Josh moving in, and she’d only perked up when I’d told her about everything going wrong with my life, as though she was revelling in my misery.

  Why had she invited Mum in when I was there and then insisted she stay? She could have told her I was there and asked her to come back when I’d gone. It wasn’t like Mum had made a long journey. She lived less than a ten-minute walk away. And how rude had Chloe been at the door just now? She knew how much altercations with Mum hurt me yet she was acting as if it was all about her. Living in Chloe-world as usual.

  The stress had brought my headache back with a vengeance so I drove to North Bay and parked along the seafront. Some fresh air would hopefully clear it before I headed home.

  I bought a takeaway tea then ambled along the promenade with it. The beach was busy but not quite as packed as the one at South Bay had been. Many of the colourful orange, yellow, red, sky-blue and lime-green beach huts were in use and the smell of barbeques filled the air. Each step made me feel a little calmer.

  At the far end of the promenade, past the beach huts, I leaned on the sea wall and sipped on my tea. Why had Chloe been like that today? Sarcastic, distant, argumentative. As for Mum, where could I start? Her comments, as always, had been cruel but the worst was her comment about me still being here to tell the tale after the arson attack. Was that really all she had to say about it? Why had I ever expected anything different? I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Enough. I’d wasted too much time and energy on wishing things could be different. They couldn’t be. I had to let go.

  14

  Josh

  ‘Looks like Sam’s back,’ I said to Rich and Dave, spotting her car as we approached the farmyard with a van full from Wisteria Cottage. ‘That was quicker than expected.’

  ‘Another bust-up with Chloe?’ Dave suggested.

  I shrugged. ‘If it is, it’s no great loss.’

  ‘Not a fan either?’ Rich asked.

  ‘To be fair to her,
I’ve only met her a handful of times but I’m not impressed with how she treated Sam.’

  ‘We’re not either,’ Dave said. ‘Sam was in a pretty bad place last year thanks to Chloe yet she still idolises her. We don’t get it.’

  He reversed the van along the front of the house and we all clambered out. I unlocked the front door and called out Sam’s name but was met with silence.

  ‘Do you two want to make yourselves a drink before we unpack? I’d better go and find Sam and see why she’s back so early.’

  I left them in the kitchen and found Sam in the barn massaging Gollum. She looked up and smiled as I approached. There was no sign of tears so it couldn’t be all bad.

  ‘How was Whitsborough Bay?’

  ‘Whitsborough Bay was lovely.’ Then her smile slipped. ‘It was the people that were the problem.’

  I sat down. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Chloe was in a strange mood, almost hostile, and then Mum turned up and was her usual delightful self.’

  ‘Your mum was there? Was that part of Chloe’s plan?’

  ‘No. I genuinely think it was a coincidence but it wasn’t a happy one. Long story short is that I left early, had a walk along the seafront then drove home. I’m okay. Just fed up with the whole thing. I’ll tell you the full sorry tale later. Where’s Rich and Dave?’

  ‘In the kitchen.’

  ‘Give me ten minutes to finish up here then I’ll come over to say hi and help.’

  I gave her a quick hug then walked back to the farmhouse, cursing Chloe under my breath and also kicking myself for suggesting she drive over there. I thought the company would do her good but it sounded as though she’d have been better off staying here.

  ‘Your mum should not have said any of those things,’ I said after Rich and Dave left and Sam had given me the full lowdown on her afternoon.

  She shrugged. ‘I think it’s become her default setting. It’s impossible for her to say anything nice in my presence.’

  ‘And I can’t believe Chloe let you leave. It should have been your mum going home.’

  ‘You’d think so, but I’ve given up trying to understand Chloe’s logic. It was pretty much a disaster from start to finish.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Yeah, me too. It’ll be interesting to see whether Chloe reaches out to say sorry.’

  ‘Do you think she will?’

  ‘No. Chloe doesn’t do apologies.’ Sam sighed. ‘It’ll fester and then she’ll make out that I said or did something to upset her and I’m the one who was in the wrong and should be apologising. It’s a recurring pattern.’

  I bit my tongue. The more I heard about Chloe, the more I disliked her. She sounded just like Beth, playing the victim and manipulating people. And I knew how easy it was to get sucked in by someone like that.

  ‘Why don’t you take a shower while I unpack my clothes, then I’ll take you out for dinner to celebrate me moving in? I don’t care what your cousin thinks, I say it’s a big thing and it’s cause for celebration.’

  Sam smiled. ‘That would be lovely. Thank you.’

  I’d finished unpacking my clothes and was in my office putting some papers in my desk drawers when I heard Sam crying out my name.

  I dashed across the hall, panic gripping me. ‘Are you okay?’ She was wrapped in a towel, her long dark hair dripping down her back, clinging onto the open en-suite door.

  ‘Dizzy.’

  ‘Do you need to lie down?’

  ‘Floor.’

  I placed my left arm round her waist from the front and my right round her shoulders and took her weight as I gently lowered her to the floor.

  ‘Pillows. Feet,’ she mumbled.

  I grabbed a couple of pillows from the bed and raised her feet onto them. She was white as a sheet as she rapidly breathed in and out, her eyelids flickering. I dashed into the en-suite and ran a flannel under the cold tap then rested it across her forehead.

  ‘Anything else I can do?’

  ‘No.’ The word was barely audible.

  I sat beside her and held her clammy hand. I had questions but they could wait until she was feeling better. She shivered. ‘Are you cold?’

  ‘A bit.’

  I grabbed her fluffy dressing gown from the back of the en-suite door and lay it across her arms and shoulders then returned to the sink to rinse out the flannel.

  ‘Thanks,’ she whispered as I placed it back on her forehead.

  ‘Anything else you need?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  We stayed there for several minutes and slowly the colour returned to her face. ‘Can you help me up?’

  After I’d eased her to her feet, she sat down on the edge of the bed. ‘Sorry.’

  I sat beside her. ‘No need to apologise. Are you sure you’re okay?’

  ‘I am now. The room just started spinning. I must have had the shower too hot or something.’

  ‘It hasn’t happened before, then?’

  She hesitated then her shoulders slumped. ‘Once.’

  ‘Recently?’

  ‘On Thursday when you were out on call. I went outside to have my tea on Thomas’s bench and the same thing happened. I dropped my mug.’

  I frowned. ‘The hedgehog mug?’

  She nodded.

  ‘Did you scald your feet? Was that what those red marks were?’ I’d noticed them but she said she’d had an allergic reaction to her new shower gel, which sounded plausible.

  She nodded again. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ I asked, keeping my voice gentle so she’d know I was concerned rather than annoyed.

  ‘I didn’t want you to worry. You’d have told me to take more time off and—’

  ‘And I’m going to tell you that now. Come on, Sam. You’ve nearly fainted twice in the space of a few days, you’re barely eating, and I know you’re not sleeping properly. I know you think you’re letting Auntie Lauren down but you’re not. Your health’s more important. I really think you need to phone in sick next week and give yourself more time to recover.’

  I expected Sam to protest but she hung her head, suggesting my worries weren’t ill-founded. ‘I’m not trying to order you about,’ I added gently.

  She sighed. ‘I know. How about I make a promise to take it easy tomorrow and see how I feel on Monday morning?’

  I hugged her to my side. ‘Okay. And maybe we’ll go out next weekend instead. How does macaroni cheese and a film sound tonight?’

  ‘It sounds good. Thank you.’

  While Sam dressed and dried her hair, I continued to unpack in the office but I felt uneasy. Two dizzy spells since returning to work. That wasn’t good.

  15

  Josh

  Sam went to bed after we’d watched a film. It was only 9 p.m. but she obviously needed the sleep as she was spark out when I went upstairs a couple of hours later. She seemed a lot livelier when we woke up on Sunday morning but promised me she’d take it easy.

  It was another bright sunny day so we ate breakfast on Thomas’s bench, watching Misty-Blue chasing butterflies in the meadow. Afterwards, Sam checked on the hedgehogs then returned to Thomas’s bench with a book while I continued to unpack. I wasn’t particularly productive because I kept checking out of the window to make sure she was resting and that she was okay.

  We were in the kitchen together around mid-morning making a drink when I spotted a car coming down the farm track.

  ‘Looks like we might have another patient,’ I said to Sam. My stomach lurched as the car pulled into the farmyard. ‘I should have known.’ I tossed the teaspoon into the sink with a clatter and strode towards the door.

  ‘Who is it?’ asked Sam, chasing after me.

  ‘Who do you think?’

  Beth was walking across the yard as we stepped outside.

  ‘Was I not clear enough last week?’ I called to her. ‘I’m not interested. Leave us alone.’

  She took a few steps towards the house. ‘I need to talk to yo
u.’

  ‘And I don’t need to talk to you.’

  ‘But it’s important.’ Cradling her stomach protectively, she moved even closer.

  ‘To you, perhaps. Not to me. Nothing you say could possibly be important to me.’ Shaking with rage that she’d dared to turn up at our home again, especially after the horrendous weekend Sam had faced, I marched back towards the house. ‘Go away, Beth! You’re not welcome here.’

  ‘Josh! Stop! I have to talk to you.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered to Sam as I passed her. ‘She makes me so mad. Why won’t she listen?’

  Her fingers lightly touched mine. ‘I’ll speak to her. I’ll sort it.’

  I nodded gratefully and stepped into the hall.

  ‘Josh!’ Beth screamed. ‘Please! Josh!’

  Silence.

  ‘Josh! Help!’ Sam yelled moments later.

  I was halfway up the stairs and stopped dead, a shiver running down my spine at Sam’s cry. That didn’t sound good.

  I dashed back outside and my pulse raced. ‘Shit! What happened?’ Beth was lying on her right side on the gravel path in front of the house with Sam bent over her. Beth’s face was deathly white and she was eerily still. Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed hard. ‘She’s not…?

  ‘It’s okay, Josh. She’s breathing. We need to try to bring her round.’ Sam sounded so calm – the exact opposite of how I felt.

  ‘What do you need me to do?’ I tried to keep the panic out of my voice but I don’t think I managed. Sick animals I could deal with but sick humans? Especially sick humans I couldn’t bear the sight of.

  Sam stood up. ‘Can you talk to her?’

  She ran into the house and I crouched down beside Beth. Talk to her? What the hell was I supposed to say? I’d just told her I never wanted to speak to her again and now she was unconscious outside my home. I had no idea how to feel about that. The anger still raged inside of me but how could I not feel sympathy? I wasn’t a monster.

  ‘Erm, Beth, can you hear me? It’s Josh.’ I gave her shoulder a nudge but she didn’t stir. I cleared my throat and increased the volume, trying to sound confident and in control. ‘Can you open your eyes, Beth? Hello? Beth? Wake up!’ I reached out towards her hand then changed my mind and nudged her shoulder again instead.