The Secret of Orchard Cottage

by Alex Brown

  ‘Shuuuuuush,’ Matt coaxed, wiping his sweat-covered forehead with the back of his forearm before slipping off his leather waistcoat and letting it drop to the floor as he edged slowly towards Darby and Joan. They were nuzzling each other in the far corner of the barn, their stable area clean and swept and stocked with hay. April had been making sure of it and had even called the vet several times in between visits to check that she had understood the proper way to care for them.

  As he got closer, Matt’s words became firmer, much more dominant, until he was able to touch Joan and stroke her newly trimmed mane, at which point Darby dipped his head and lumbered over to get a look-in too. Matt duly paid attention to Darby by stroking his nose, yet didn’t allow him to take over. It was like a dance. Matt carefully planning his next step, gauging how each horse might respond to ensure neither animal reared up or got spooked and kicked out, or worse still, trampled him.

  ‘You can’t let them think they’re in charge of you,’ Bella said to April who was watching, fascinated. When both horses seemed relaxed with Matt, he turned so his back was resting against Joan’s body, all the while keeping his eye on Darby. Slowly, Matt smoothed his left hand along the length of Joan’s back and down her hind leg until he was able to coax her enough to lift her hoof. When she did, Matt very gently swivelled his body around so he could secure Joan’s hoof in between his jean-clad thighs, the tendons in his forearms flexing from supporting the weight of the horse’s leg.

  Sweltering now, in the stifling heart, April fanned herself with a piece of cardboard that she had spotted on the dusty old dresser stored just inside the entrance to the barn. After he had finished examining Joan, Matt turned to Bella.

  ‘Pass me the carrier bag, will you please, love?’

  ‘Sure.’ Bella stepped forward immediately.

  ‘And some water would go down a treat,’ he said, glancing at April.

  ‘Oh, sure.’ April went to fetch the bucket hanging on a peg nearby, but Bella giggled. ‘What is it?’ April grinned.

  ‘I think Dad means water for him. He looks really hot.’

  Indeed.

  April quickly dumped the bucket back on the peg, and after swiping her hair from her face – it was sizzling in the barn now – she dashed outside into the garden and gulped in an enormous breath of air. Happiness. Guilt. A swirl of confusing emotions tumbled right through her all over again.

  ‘Are you OK, April?’ Bella was beside her, with a concerned look etched on her young face.

  ‘Yes. Sorry, I’m fine, I just … um, felt a bit faint, that’s all. I’ll fetch the water …’ And April went to walk off.

  ‘Can I come with you?’ Bella called after her, and April turned around; shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, she saw a vulnerability on Bella’s face, mingled with a neediness, almost. Poor girl, she really is in a pickle, and it can’t be easy for her without a mum. Matt seems like a good dad, but I guess there are some things a girl needs her mum for …

  ‘Sure.’ April smiled and waited for Bella to catch her up. And then the two of them walked together. ‘And how about we have some apple cordial? Better than water, eh?’ April grinned at her new young friend.

  ‘Ooh, yes please.’

  ‘Great. And I think there might be some biscuits too! You can help me put it all out on a tray.’ April glanced sideways and was happy to see Bella with a big smile on her face as she practically skipped along, skidding her flowery Converse trainers over the grass in her haste.

  ‘Cool.’ Bella’s grin widened. ‘Have you got Jammie Dodgers? They’re my favourite, but Dad never buys them because he says they have too much sugar inside them.’

  ‘Ahh, well he’s right,’ April laughed, ‘but we’ll take a look in the tin and see what’s there, shall we?’

  Bella nodded, and then stopped skipping. ‘Have you got any children?’ she asked bluntly, turning to scrutinise April.

  ‘Oh, um … not of my own, but I have two grown-up stepchildren. They’re twins.’

  ‘How old are they?’ Bella asked in a matter-of-fact voice, and April turned to face her, amused by the bluntness of the questions.

  ‘Twenty-two.’

  Bella creased her forehead for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought and then stated, ‘Wish I had a stepmum. Someone nice like you.’

  ‘Ahh, thank you love. But you do have a mum of your own …’ April glanced sideways at Bella, unsure if she was overstepping the mark.

  ‘Yes. But she left years ago. It’s horrible not having a mum. What’s your mum like?’

  ‘Well, I don’t actually have a mum either.’

  ‘How come?’ Bella creased her forehead.

  ‘She died when I wasn’t much older than you are now,’ April said, figuring a straight answer was best.

  ‘Really? What happened to her?’

  ‘She was killed in a car crash. With my dad.’

  ‘But who looked after you?’ Bella asked quietly, her voice full of concern.

  ‘My grandparents,’ April replied.

  ‘I’ve never met someone else who doesn’t have a mum.’ Bella’s voice lifted slightly, and she started skipping again, as if she was happy to have made a connection with April.

  ‘Well, now you have.’ And April felt quite touched as Bella slipped her small hand into hers. A kindred spirit.

  They had just reached the path up to the cottage when Edie appeared in the doorway.

  ‘There you are, Winnie!’ Edie looked panicked, her eyes flitting left to right. Bella flashed April a look. What on earth was going on? ‘You need to come in quickly! There’s a strange girl here in the sitting room. You need to get rid of her. And there’s straw everywhere. What shall we do? What will Mum and Dad say? Dad’s going to be furious,’ she babbled, almost incoherently. ‘And who is she? She can’t come in. She might tell them it was my fault. But it wasn’t.’ Aunt Edie’s face crumpled with concern, her watery eyes widened and her bottom lip wobbled like a young child’s, her fingers fiddling with the corner of her crocheted waistcoat, over and over and over. April pulled her aunt in close to reassure her with a big hug, rubbing Edie’s back too to help soothe her.

  ‘It’s OK, Aunt Edie. This is Bella, from earlier … she came here with her dad, remember?’ April paused, wondering why she had said that, as it was quite obvious Edie was struggling to remember anything at all right now. ‘He’s in the barn looking after the horses and we’ve come to get some drinks. Would you like some apple cordial?’

  Edie stared blankly at April. Bella stepped in.

  ‘Lovely to meet you, Edie,’ she said brightly, not missing a beat, as if she wasn’t at all fazed by an old lady talking like a child. April was enormously grateful as she felt her aunt’s body relax a little.

  ‘Is he the widower? Looking for a new mother for you!’ Edie said, pointing, almost accusingly, at Bella’s chest. April felt her cheeks redden.

  ‘No,’ she quickly interjected, all the while shaking her head. ‘Sorry, Bella, my aunt is confus—’

  ‘My niece is a widow too! Her husband died!’ Edie carried on, but it was Bella who stepped in again to ease the situation.

  ‘Oh no, that’s so sad. My dad isn’t a widower. My mum left when I was little. Where’s your mum? And where is the straw? I’ll help you clear it up before she sees it, if you like.’ April held her breath as her aunt looked at Bella like she’d just grown another head, but then miraculously, Edie moved forward and tentatively took hold of Bella’s hand.

  ‘Come in,’ Edie said, ‘and I’ll show you.’ And her whole face lit up.

  ‘Cool,’ Bella beamed, totally unfazed.

  Inside the narrow, low-beamed hallway, the three of them stood side by side.

  ‘Now, how about we all sit down in the kitchen?’ April started, and was just about to ask Aunt Edie about the strange girl she had mentioned in the sitting room, fully expecting her to be in a muddle again, when the sitting-room door burst open. ‘NANCY!’ April couldn’t belie
ve it.

  Her lovely stepdaughter was standing right in front of her.

  ‘Yep. Surpriiiiiiise!’ Nancy said, pulling April in for a hug.

  ‘That’s her!’ Edie shouted, pointing her finger at Nancy now. ‘I went upstairs and she sneaked in … I found her wandering around in the hallway. Check her pockets—’

  ‘It’s OK, Aunty,’ April said quickly.

  ‘The front door was wide open so I just came in. I did call out but you weren’t here,’ Nancy replied, looking worried. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset—’

  ‘It’s all right.’ April nodded and smiled at Nancy, giving her a look as if to say, ‘Let me handle this.’ Then she said to Edie, ‘It’s OK, Aunty, this is Nancy … Gray’s daughter, you remember her from the wedding …’

  ‘Wedding?’ Edie’s face crumpled in concentration.

  ‘My wedding to Gray,’ April prompted. ‘It was a long time ago now, but you wore a mint-green coloured dress and bought a beautiful gold locket for me to wear,’ she added, hoping these details might help her aunt remember.

  And then a small miracle occurred, and Edie did in fact remember.

  ‘Yes! That’s right. And I still have the dress in my wardrobe. It smells of Lily of the Valley, which always makes me think of your wedding, dear.’ April breathed a sigh of relief, and filed this fact away for further use – perfume being an evocative reminder of events. ‘Why didn’t you say who you were?’ Edie then said to Nancy. And Nancy glanced first at April and then at Edie.

  ‘I, um … thought I did, but, I guess … maybe I didn’t.’ Nancy looked again at April for direction.

  ‘Well, never mind, you’re here and it’s lovely to see you,’ April smiled.

  ‘Do you like snowballs?’ Edie jumped in, making Bella giggle.

  ‘Sorry,’ she quickly said, slapping her hand over her teenage mouth.

  ‘Come on, I’ll make us all a snowball,’ and Edie pottered off into the kitchen, leaving April, Nancy and Bella in the hallway, exchanging glances as they each smiled and shook their heads in amazement. It was hard to keep up with Aunt Edie’s changing moods, not to mention time zones!

  ‘So how come you’re here?’ April asked Nancy.

  ‘Excuse me, shall I go and help your aunty, April?’ Bella asked, apprehensively.

  ‘Sure. That would be very kind of you. Thanks love.’ And Bella darted off into the kitchen.

  ‘She’s a sweet kid, who is she?’ Nancy whispered.

  ‘Oh, she’s the farrier’s daughter … a long story, but we’ve sort of become friends,’ April said in a low voice as she discreetly pulled the kitchen door to.

  ‘Ahh, I see. The guy in the barn?’ Nancy made big eyes as she leant in closer to April.

  ‘Yes, that’s him.’ April motioned for Nancy to follow her to the other end of the hallway out of earshot.

  ‘Riiiiight,’ Nancy said, making April feel a little confused. She wasn’t sure what Nancy was thinking, but before she could dwell on it, Nancy explained, ‘I’ve got a few days off so I thought why not whizz here to Tindledale to see how you are. I’ve got a tent packed on the back of my scooter so you don’t even have to put me up, I’ll be fine in a field … as long as the cows leave me alone. I don’t do cows.’ She pulled a face and pretended to grimace. ‘Or I’m sure I could sort something else out, I passed a lovely-looking pub in the village, the Duck and something, maybe they do rooms. I don’t want to upset your aunt again … is everything OK with her?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve arranged for her GP to pop by. It’s all in hand,’ April quickly said, and Nancy nodded discreetly. ‘And you’re not sleeping in a field, or the local pub,’ she added, knowing full well that her aunt probably wouldn’t even be aware, but back in the day when Edie had been fully compos mentis, she would have been horrified at the mere thought of a guest staying elsewhere. She had been very hospitable. And April fully intended on respecting that fact. Just because her aunt was old, muddled and forgetful didn’t mean her wishes were to be dispensed with. ‘And neither would I.’ April grinned, grateful that Nancy had turned up. It was wonderful to see her.

  ‘Well, then if you insist. I’d love to. I’ve missed you.’ Nancy smiled, and April felt a pang of guilt for having left her back in Basingstoke. But she was here now. ‘I thought it would be nice to see how you’re getting on here. And from what I’ve seen so far … you appear to be getting on just fine.’ Nancy pulled a cheeky face. ‘When I was standing in the sitting room looking out of the window, I saw a fit guy coming out of the barn and going to fetch something from his van.’

  ‘Oh, um. It’s so lovely to see you, darling,’ April said, straightening her hair, feeling flustered.

  ‘You too. And you look amazing. The country air obviously suits you, your cheeks are all flushed.’

  ‘Ahh, that’s because I’ve been in the barn. It’s really hot in there.’

  ‘Ha-ha. I’ll say!’ Nancy made massive eyes and gave April a playful nudge in the ribs before lowering her voice and leaning into April. ‘Who is that gorgeous creature in the barn? And I don’t mean one of the horses!’

  ‘Oh, um, that’s Matt.’

  ‘Ahh, I see … Maaaaatt!’ Nancy lifted one eyebrow and said his name slowly as if mulling over the implications of this piece of information. ‘Nice name. So tell me all about him …’

  ‘What do you mean? He’s just here to, er … um …’ April willed her cheeks to stop burning. ‘It’s complicated,’ she settled on.

  ‘Really? Looked pretty obvious to me,’ Nancy said, in a much more serious voice now, and April couldn’t tell if Nancy was upset, cross, annoyed or whatever … but what she did know was that this moment right now was blooming awkward. She was thrilled to have Nancy here, but the last thing she wanted was her stepdaughter getting the wrong end of the stick and assuming that there was something going on between her and Matt, when there wasn’t. Definitely not. How would that look? As if she was off meeting new men at the very first opportunity, without so much as a second thought for her late husband, Nancy’s dad. No. April didn’t want Nancy thinking that at all …

  ‘Come on, let’s go and get a drink and see how Edie and Bella are getting on,’ April said to change the subject.

  In the kitchen, and April knew right away that her aunt was feeling panicked again. She was crouched in the cupboard under the sink and muttering something again about needing a broom.

  ‘Found it!’ Bella said, holding up the broom as she gently patted Aunt Edie on the back.

  ‘Well done, my dear. No time to waste. Now off we go!’ And Edie went to dart from the kitchen with a very anxious look on her face, Bella close behind her as if colluding in whatever adventure Edie had planned.

  ‘Hang on!’ April interjected. ‘Why don’t we have a drink first?’ She looked at Bella and then Nancy, wondering what was going on.

  ‘But we can’t do that!’ Edie said, panicked. ‘What if the whole house falls down? Then where will we be? You need to get Dad. Go and get him in from the fields.’

  ‘House?’ April repeated, a horrible sinking feeling swirling within her.

  And then something clicked.

  Straw.

  The thatched roof.

  April took one look at Bella and Nancy, before racing up the rickety little winding stairs, practically on all fours so as to negotiate them in record time. She wasn’t wasting precious seconds going carefully, walking upright with her head bowed to avoid colliding with the biggest beam right under the turn as she normally did.

  April made it to the second landing. The door to her bedroom, Winnie’s old room, was wide open. She put a hand over her mouth as she went inside.

  ‘Oh my God!’ Bella shrieked, coming into the room right behind April, with her hands over her mouth. They stared, motionless for a few seconds. Barely able to believe their eyes. It was surreal. Cloudless blue sky was peeping through a hole the size of a tennis racket above the beautiful Art Deco wooden wardrobe that was now covered in bits
of thatched roof mingled with plaster and pulp and all kinds of debris that April didn’t even want to hazard a guess as to what it was exactly. Especially as she could see a pair of prone little bird’s legs peeping out from under a piece of plaster on the floor beside the pink sink.

  ‘I’ll go and get Dad!’ and Bella raced out of the room.

  ‘And I’ll keep an eye on Edie, April. We don’t want her wandering around up here alone. In the meantime, stay out of the room, in the doorway, in case the whole lot comes down,’ Nancy instructed firmly. April nodded, figuring Nancy knew about such stuff, being a firefighter.

  Moments later, Matt came charging along the landing.

  ‘Jesus Christ!’ He let out a long whistle and put his hands on his hips as he saw the damage. ‘How long has it been like this?’

  ‘Um, I don’t know,’ April mumbled, focusing her attentions on the gaping big hole in the roof, because now it was her turn to avoid eye contact. In fact, she couldn’t even glance in Matt’s direction, because he was topless! His smooth, sun-bronzed chest was drenched in sweat, tattoos covered his arms, he had leather chaps on over his jeans, a T-shirt slung over one shoulder and a very packed tool belt hanging from his hips. He looked like a pin-up in a calendar, especially when he pulled a band from his belt and proceeded to scoop his curls back into a bunch at the nape of his neck. And, somehow, having Nancy in the cottage, her late husband’s daughter just downstairs, made April feel even more self-conscious.

  ‘Right. Well, er … How precious is this to your aunt?’ Matt asked, nodding at the wardrobe as he pulled the T-shirt on over his head.