He gave a friendly wave and marched off down the lane.
'I wonder what Hettie's got against him?' Garrick said, resuming his seat. 'He seemed a perfectly normal, friendly guy to me.'
'I was just wondering the same thing,' Mia said.
Ella remained unusually quiet, but she craned her neck to watch Tom Tyburn walk down the lane.
Chapter Seventeen
Nine o'clock on Monday morning came far too quickly for Mia's liking, especially as she and her friends all overslept. It was eight-thirty when Garrick banged on her door, popped his head in and told her to get up.
'Hettie'll be here in half an hour. I'm going down to put the coffee on while Ella's in the shower. Mia? Are you awake?'
'Ye-s. I'm awake. Go away and I'll get up.' She was wearing the same nightie as yesterday and there was no way she was risking giving Garrick a repeat performance.
He closed the door and a second later she heard him racing down the stairs. It took her five minutes to shower and another three to throw on jeans and a clean T-shirt.
They had spent the rest of yesterday unpacking and finding space for all of Mia's belongings, not that there were that many, but Mia's clothes still lay folded in her suitcases which she'd shoved into the bottom of one of Mattie's wardrobes. She didn't know what she was supposed to do with Mattie's clothes and thought she had best leave them alone until she'd spoken to the solicitor.
Garrick showered as soon as Ella went downstairs and by the time Hettie arrived at precisely nine o'clock, they had wolfed down breakfast, turned on the dishwasher and were sitting on the decking admiring the view.
'Coo-ey,' Hettie called out from the hall. 'It's only me, deary. Isn't it a beautiful morning?'
'Hello, Hettie,' they all replied in unison.
'D'you mind if I disappear for an hour?' Ella said, getting to her feet. 'I want to go to the top of Frog Hill and see if I can get phone reception. I need to check my emails and make a few calls.'
Mia frowned at her but Ella did have a business to run and she was doing Mia a huge favour by staying with her, so she smiled.
'I don't mind.' She lowered her voice. 'But I'd like you here when I call the solicitor, please. I'll do that after Hettie leaves.'
'I'll be back by ten.'
Garrick also stood and Mia glared at him. 'Don't tell me you've got calls to make too.'
He grinned and shook his head. 'No. But I was going to offer my sister a lift to the top of the hill. I won't though. I'll give her my keys instead.'
'You're looking gorgeous this morning.' Hettie joined them on the decking and poked Garrick on his chest with her finger. 'Didn't have time to dry your hair, I see. Or you, deary. Not early risers then?'
Garrick managed to hide his look of surprise rather well. Mia wasn't so sure she had.
'It's the sea and country air,' Garrick said. 'It makes me sleep like a log. And we're all used to road noise and hustle and bustle in the mornings. There's nothing here to wake us up.'
'There's birdsong.'
Garrick nodded. 'Yes. At five a.m. I heard it and went back to sleep.'
'Never do that, deary. Up with the lark, that's the saying. It's the early bird who catches the worm.'
'I'll try to remember that. Excuse me, Hettie. I need to give Ella my keys.'
'Speaking of keys ...' Mia got to her feet. '... I hope you won't mind, but I need to take the set you've got. Please don't take offence.' Hettie looked as if Mia had asked for her soul. 'It's temporary. I've only got one set, you see and with Ella and Garrick staying, that's a little inconvenient. We don't want to live in one another's pockets, so at least if we had another set, we could be a bit more relaxed about one of us always needing to be in.' She held out her hand. 'I know you'll understand.'
'Oh, I see. But couldn't they call at mine, if they need to get in?'
'We don't want to trouble you like that, and besides, we're from London. We keep late nights.' That was a bit of an untruth, but Hettie wouldn't know that.
'Oh. Well, if you need my keys, you should have them. Only temporary, you say?'
Mia nodded. 'Uh-huh.'
Hettie handed them over but she looked as if she may burst into tears at any moment. Mia couldn't deal with that.
'Thank you, Hettie. I'll let you get on. I hope we haven't made a mess. We tried to clear up as best we could after all the unpacking.'
In truth, the place was spotless. Mia, Ella and Garrick had vacuumed and dusted from top to bottom, although none of them was sure why. They simply felt they had to. Then Mia remembered she hadn't cleaned the shower this morning.
As she dashed through the kitchen with Hettie close behind, she spotted a bag on the table with a loaf of bread sticking out.
'I've brought bread from Justin's bakery, and milk, eggs, butter and cheese from Little Pond Farm. I've left the receipt inside. You can pay me on Thursday. Matilda always paid me once a week on Thursday. Unless she asked me to get her anything special. Gave me the money right away if she did that.'
Now Mia felt really guilty. They had only been saying over breakfast that they'd have to go and get some fresh supplies today and the things Hettie had bought included several of the things they had wanted.
'That was so thoughtful of you, Hettie. And I'll pay you now. In fact, unless you'd rather not, I think I should pay you each time you come instead of once a week. That way, I'll know that we're all square at any given time.'
Hettie appeared to give the matter a moment's thought before she nodded and smiled.
'That's perfectly fine with me, deary.'
'Good. Then today I'll pay you ten pounds plus whatever I owe you for these. The receipts are in the bag, you said?'
'Yes. Well, deary, I'll get on. I always make a cup of tea when I finish. Not one for coffee but if that's what you'd prefer that's fine by me.'
'Oh. Um. Please don't trouble about me. You can get off home as soon as you're finished and I've paid you. In fact, I'll pay you now. That way you won't need to come and find me.'
'Nonsense, deary. I always made tea for Matilda and had a chat. It brightened my day. Prince Gustav isn't very talkative and Hector never comes to me in the mornings. It's good to have the company.'
Hettie Burnstall seemed to have the ability to make Mia feel guilty every time she spoke to her.
Mia forced a smile. 'In that case, I'll have coffee. And so will Garrick,' she added as Garrick reappeared.
'So will Garrick, what?' he asked.
Mia beamed at him. 'Join Hettie and me for coffee at ten. Right, I'm going upstairs to do a few things. I'll see you both later.' She winked at him as she passed by and he returned it with a glare.
'Where's your sister off to?' Hettie asked.
Mia heard Garrick say, 'Frog Hill.' She also heard Hettie gasp, and she couldn't help but wonder why. Against her better judgement, she returned to the kitchen, making the excuse of getting the receipt so that she could bring the right money down later. She thought Hettie would explain her reaction but she didn't and Garrick was on his way out in the two seconds it took Mia to reach the doorway. She grabbed his arm and spun him round.
'I forgot the receipt,' she said. 'By the way, Ella's gone to Frog Hill but she'll be back in time for coffee.'
No gasp this time, merely a shake of her head.
'It's an odd name for a hill,' Mia added.
Hopefully that would extract the necessary information.
'It's called Frog Hill for a reason, deary, and if you know what's good for you, you won't go near Frog's Hollow on a Monday. I'd have given your friend that advice if I'd known that was where she was going.'
'Really? Why's that?'
'It's a long story, deary.'
Mia pulled out a chair. 'Well, why don't we sit and have coffee now instead of later and you can tell me and Garrick all about it.' She saw Garrick raise his brows but before he had a chance to respond, she added: 'Put the kettle on, Garrick and make some coffee. Oh, but tea for Hettie, I believe.'
Hettie thought about it for a second before pulling out another chair and sitting at the table. 'Nice and strong, for me, deary. Like my men.' She winked at Garrick whose shoulders appeared to shake slightly as he turned to the kettle.
'So why should we avoid Frog's Hollow on a Monday?' Mia asked. 'And what, exactly, is Frog's Hollow anyway?'
'Terrible place. I've not been there more than once or twice in my lifetime, but many go there deary, especially in the winter when the pond is frozen over. They skate on it! Madness, deary. Utter madness. But there's no accounting for some people, is there? And of course, Alexia and her brother, along with all the other young things, go there on Midsummer's Night and bathe in the pond. Naked, deary. Naked!'
A clatter of spoons made Mia glance at Garrick. His head had shot up and he half turned to Hettie as if he was suddenly interested in her story.
'Need some help there, deary?'
'No thanks, Hettie. I'm fine.' Garrick brought three mugs to the table and smiled. 'I'll make a pot of coffee and one of tea in case we're here awhile. What were you saying about Midsummer's Night?'
Hettie chuckled and poked a finger at his stomach. 'I thought that might get your attention, deary. Naked as the day they were born. I've seen them myself, so I know it's true. But that's the thing with witchcraft, isn't it? All naked bodies and dancing and getting up to who knows what.'
'Witchcraft?' Mia shot a look at Garrick but his mind was clearly elsewhere as he had a dreamy look in his eyes and a strange sort of smile on his face. She could guess where that was.
'Yes, deary. The tale goes that if you bathe naked in the pond at Frog's Hollow on Midsummer's Night, your loins will be fruitful and your body will forever be entwined with the one you love.'
'That doesn't sound like such a terrible place to me,' Garrick said, grinning. 'When is Midsummer's Night?'
'Next month. But it's nonsense, deary. Even the vicar agrees with me on that.'
'So what does that have to do with not going there on a Monday?' Mia asked, giving Garrick a reprimanding look. She couldn't stop the image popping into her head of him and Alexia frolicking naked in a pond though and she made a mental note to go on a strict diet right away.
'Nothing. That's another tale.'
The kettle boiled and Garrick made the tea and brought the pot, together with a pot of coffee over to the table. He took milk from the fridge, found a jug and poured it in, placing that and a sugar bowl in front of Hettie.
'Would you like a biscuit?' he asked. 'We've got chocolate digestives.' He retrieved them from one of the cupboards and offered the half empty packet to Hettie.
'Trying to sweeten me up, deary?'
'Impossible,' he replied, and winked at Mia.
Hettie chuckled. 'Just one then.'
'So, Monday?' Mia persisted.
Hettie munched on her biscuit before replying, her face suddenly serious. 'Well deary, when people moved here and built the village hundreds and hundreds of years ago, they chased all the frogs and toads from the pond opposite. The toads moved elsewhere but the frogs kept coming back, so the villagers bundled them all together and took them to a new pond they had dug, halfway up the hill. But the frogs didn't like it so back they came. The villagers weren't having that, so they captured a pack of wolves, which ran wild in England in those days, and a skulk of foxes, a kettle of hawks and a flock of wild ducks and once they'd taken all the frogs back to the new pond, they set all the predators loose. Well deary, you can imagine what happened, can't you? Wild creatures are just that, deary, so not only did they eat all the frogs, they ate one another, and then the ones that were left, turned on a couple of the villagers who were daft enough to go and watch what happened. It was a Monday and to this day, anyone who goes to Frog's Hollow on a Monday is asking for trouble.'
Mia gasped in horror, picturing the scene but Garrick sniggered.
'Are there many wolves, foxes and birds of prey in Frog's Hollow then?' he asked, somewhat sarcastically. 'And do they just gather on a Monday? How do they know it's Monday? As for the ducks, I don't think I could ever be afraid of one of those. Or even an entire flock. And, just out of interest, what happens if Midsummer's Night falls on a Monday? Is it a scene of complete carnage?'
'You may laugh, deary, but I've seen the results with my own eyes. No one gets eaten, or anything like that. Well, not so far at least. That would be ridiculous, deary. They simply get a warning by seeing a frog on their doorstep and the Monday after that, they die an unpleasant death. And the curse of Frog's Hollow only applies to the day, not the night. If you go there after dark, you're safe.'
Garrick grinned. 'Even on a Monday?'
'Even on a Monday.'
'That's rather convenient for the naked bathers, isn't it? I'm sorry, Hettie, but I simply don't believe such superstitious tales. And I don't believe in witchcraft, either. Although Midsummer's Night is a pagan celebration, isn't it? Not specifically to do with witches.'
Mia shrugged. 'Don't ask me. I have no idea. I think I agree with Garrick, Hettie. I don't see how going to a pond on a Monday can possibly lead to someone dying unpleasantly exactly one week later. And why do they get a warning by seeing a frog on their doorstep? Surely if the curse says the person will die, it wouldn't bother to give them another warning?'
'Tell that to my Hector. He went to Frog's Hollow on a Monday. Found a frog on the doorstep on the following Monday and on the Monday after that, he got hit by a car, tossed several feet in the air, and landed on his head. It was very unpleasant, let me tell you, deary.'
Chapter Eighteen
There really wasn't much either Mia or Garrick could say after Hettie's revelation about her husband's death. They merely gave her their condolences and profuse apologies for appearing to make fun of it. After Garrick somehow managed to deftly change the subject to rugby, Hettie quickly finished her tea and said she really should be getting on with her work. Mia raced upstairs as soon as she could and Garrick disappeared to somewhere in the garden.
By the time Ella showed her face, Mia had paid Hettie what she owed her and Hettie had left the cottage after saying she hoped that Ella hadn't fallen victim to the curse of Frog's Hollow and warning Mia to be on the lookout for frogs appearing on the doorstep.
When Mia told Ella all about it over coffee, Ella didn't seem the slightest bit concerned.
'I know it's all nonsense,' Mia said, 'But I must admit it did give me the shivers. Especially when she told us about Hector's death.'
'Finding a frog on the doorstep would freak me out. But that's because I don't like frogs. Anyway, I'm perfectly safe, because I didn't make it to Frog Hill, so I didn't go to Frog's Hollow.' She had a rather strange smile on her lips. 'I got side-tracked.'
'Side-tracked? How?'
Ella grinned. 'I spotted Tom outside the church so I stopped to say hello and when I told him where I was going and why, he suggested I might like to go and see his bells.' She giggled. 'What he really said was that if I fancied climbing three hundred stone steps, I could get a signal in the steeple and if I was at all interested in a tour, he would take me to the belfry and show me the Angel Bell. There're four other bells up there but the Angel Bell is special. It's cast from bronze and dates from the early 1500s and it's named after Edward Angel, some local rich guy who paid for it to be made. And get this, Mattie made a substantial donation towards the cost of having the thing cleaned, and the oak beams and bell wheels restored, shortly after she arrived here. Tom wasn't the vicar then obviously, but he can remember his gran telling him about it when he visited her here as a boy. Isn't that amazing? And the weirdest thing is, it was actually very interesting. If you'd asked me before I went out this morning if I'd be happy to spend half an hour looking at a bell, I'd have laughed in your face.'
'The vicar?' Mia was surprised Ella would be happy to spend ten minutes with a vicar, let alone more than an hour, half of which was spent looking at an old bronze bell. But knowing Mattie donated to its restoration even mad
e Mia keen to see it.
'I know!' Ella laughed heartily. 'I'll have to think twice about my vicar and tart jokes now, won't I? 'Cos I'll be seen as the tart.'
'Are you saying you like Tom Tyburn?'
'I'm saying he's going on my list and he's nowhere near the bottom.'
'Who's going on your list?' Garrick reappeared from the garden carrying a massive bunch of tulips. 'Hope you don't mind, Mia, but I helped myself because I've no idea where the nearest florist is and I happened to hear Alexia mention yesterday that tulips were her favourite flower. I thought I might pop to the pub for coffee after we've called the solicitor.'
'Oh. Um. No. Of course I don't mind.'
'Thanks.' He smiled at Ella. 'So who's on your list?'
She grinned. 'The vicar.'
Garrick burst out laughing. 'Now I've heard everything. I thought Hettie's story was the most bizarre thing I've ever heard, but my sister fancying a vicar beats that hands down. This place is having the strangest effect on the three of us. But you may soon be needing a vicar. Did Mia tell you about the curse of Frog's Hollow?'
'Yep. But I haven't been there so I'm safe. I like the sound of the skinny dipping on Midsummer's Night. But not if the pond's full of frogs.'
'Hettie didn't mention that,' Mia said. 'But if the frogs are back, then how come there's still a curse? And wouldn't they be in the pond across the road if they had come back?'
Garrick tutted. 'Why are we talking about frogs? Let's call the solicitor and get some answers to our questions. Then I can go to the pub before these flowers wilt.'
'You should've cut them later,' Mia said. 'Put them in water and they'll be fine.'
'And if we don't get the password for the WiFi,' Ella said, 'Tom says we're all welcome to use the internet at his house. He lives in that cottage with the white picket fence. The one right opposite the pub.'
'Then why was he going down the lane yesterday?' Mia asked.
'To visit his gran. She still lives here in Corner Cottage. It's the blue one as you come into the lane. She's had a bit of a cold so she didn't go to church. Bloody Nora! Listen to me. I sound like a right country bumpkin, don't I?'
The Cottage on Lily Pond Lane-Part One_New beginnings Page 9
