by Holly Martin
There had even been another old lady that walked into the post office at one point. She walked straight past Milly, who was clearly waiting for her turn, joined the chatter whilst she was served and walked back out again, muttering about the Oogie as she walked past her. What was it with the residents of this village? Were they all over the age of eighty and completely insane? Apart from that boy she had seen on his bike on her first day, she hadn’t seen anyone under the age of seventy, and Gladys, Constance and Lavender, although completely bonkers, seemed to be the most normal of the lot.
Maybe it was like those villages in horror films where there were no children. Maybe the Summer Solstice play would be a sacrificial affair, killing all the children in the village and probably a few virgins too. Thankfully she didn’t fall into that bracket.
Finally the old man left. She waited for the chant of ‘Oogie’ as he walked past but instead he smiled at her and tipped his hat as he walked out.
‘You must be young Milly,’ the postmistress said. ‘I’m Agatha. We are all terribly excited about you and young Cameron being in the play. You couldn’t have come at a better time, the Summer Solstice play is the most exciting night of the year. The children have all been practising their songs and dances. Of course the thing they are most excited about is the Great Solstice Hunt.’
Milly frowned. ‘What’s that, like a fox hunt?’
Agatha laughed. ‘No, everyone in the village bakes these chocolate cookies that look like suns, “Solstice cookies”, we call them. They are wrapped in pretty paper and hidden all over the village green for the children to find. Like an Easter Egg hunt, dear, but much more fun. One of the paper wrapped cookies is actually made from gold and whoever finds that is mayor of the village for the next year.’
‘Your village mayor is a child?’
‘Yes dear, Abigail Fletcher is our current mayor, she’s seven years old.’
‘And what does the mayor do?’
‘What does the mayor do in any town? It’s a fancy title, nothing more. Where is the parcel going dear?’
‘Erm … Cambridge.’
‘Ok. Do you want that to go first, second or third class?’
‘Third class?’
‘Yes dear, is that what you would like?’
‘No, first class please.’ Milly didn’t dare ask for third class, which probably meant it would be delivered by horse and carriage sometime in the next few months.
Milly quickly paid and left but only after she had somehow promised Agatha that she would make a batch of Solstice cookies by Friday.
Wondering how she had been persuaded to do that and how exactly she would go about making a Solstice cookie, she found herself walking in the direction of Gladys’s house.
Gladys looked delighted to see her when she opened the door and invited her in for a cup of tea before Milly had even opened her mouth.
‘So any progress with our Lord Heartstone, then?’ Gladys asked, as she threw some black, red and blue tea leaves into a teapot. Gladys wiggled her eyebrows and Milly laughed.
‘No, and there’s not likely to be.’
Gladys frowned in confusion. ‘But you like him?’
Milly sighed. ‘Yes. A lot. But I can’t let anything happen.’ She couldn’t let anything else happen.
‘Does he like you?’
Milly nodded and because there was something about Gladys that commanded honesty she decided to elaborate. ‘We just kissed.’
Gladys’s whole face lit up as if Milly had just offered her a million pounds. The tea was forgotten and Gladys sat down opposite her, her eyes shining with excitement.
‘I knew it, I knew you two were soul mates, I can feel it.’
‘We’re not soul mates, it was a kiss.’
‘Tell me about the kiss.’
Milly ran her tongue over her lips where she could still taste him. Her heart was still beating wildly at the mere thought of his touch. She had been kissed before but it had never felt like that. ‘It was … magical.’
Gladys smiled and reached across the table to hold her hand. ‘Why are you holding back?
‘He is my client and I would be sacked if my company found out.’
Gladys shook her head. ‘Surely no job in the world is more important than true love.’
‘It’s not true love, I don’t know him. That kind of love takes time. You can’t fall in love with someone after a few days. Besides, true love and happy endings is a myth. It’s not real.’
‘Of course it’s real, what nonsense.’
‘What’s nonsense is expecting to be with one person for the rest of your life. Love, it seems, has a shelf life and it’s not eternal.’
‘You’re scared of getting hurt.’
Milly didn’t say anything but she didn’t have to.
‘What if he doesn’t hurt you? What if he is the one you will grow old and grey with? What if he is your happy ever after? Isn’t it worth taking a risk on?’
‘There are no happily ever afters, not for me, and I don’t want to risk my heart again. I can’t.’
‘When you get to my time in life you tend to think about how you should have lived and you don’t want to look back and have regrets.’
Milly looked at her and saw the sadness in her eyes. ‘Do you have regrets?’
Gladys nodded. ‘Just one. His name was Billy. I was fifteen when I met him, he was a year older. I fell in love with him from the moment I saw him and he fell in love with me too. My parents, of course, forbade me from having anything to do with him and like a good girl I did exactly as I was told. I loved him so much, he was the sweetest, kindest man I ever met. When I turned sixteen, he asked me to the village dance but my parents still said no. My dad was a formidable man and not someone I could ever disobey. Billy asked me every day if I would go out with him and every day I turned him down even though it broke my heart to do it. A few months later, war broke out in Europe and he was called up to fight. He never came home. I regretted every day that I had never told him that I loved him, that he had died without ever knowing how I felt, but more than that I regretted that we had never shared a kiss, that we could have been happy together for all those months and I never gave him that chance. If I could do it all again, I’d have taken every beating my dad would have given me in return for being with him.’
‘But even if you had been together, it wouldn’t have lasted forever,’ Milly protested. ‘He would still have gone off to war and not come home.’
‘Life is short and precious and we never know what is around the corner. So you live for now, seize every moment that comes your way and if you’re going to look back on your life with regret, it’s easier to regret the things that you did do, rather than the things you didn’t.’
Chapter Ten
When Milly walked back into the kitchen a while later, Cameron was sitting at the table in an office chair, tapping away at his laptop. As soon as he saw her he stopped what he was doing, leaned back in his chair and stared at her.
‘Hey,’ she said, brightly.
‘Hey.’
She kicked her shoes off and filled the kettle with water before placing it on the stove, determinedly not looking at Cameron. She wasn’t ready to discuss that kiss yet or any part of their non-professional relationship.
She turned round to grab some mugs, picking one off the table near where Cameron was sitting, but he stopped her from moving away with a hand at her waist. Her eyes locked with his; God, his touch on her was electric. He pulled her, gently, to stand in front of him, his other hand cupping her waist on the other side.
He stared up at her, his thumbs gently caressing her hips. ‘I really liked that kiss,’ he said.
She swallowed. ‘I did too.’
‘But you don’t want to pursue it?’
She wanted to, more than anything she wanted to continue that kiss and see how much chemistry they really had between them. But she knew she couldn’t do that.
‘I can’t.’
�
��Do you want to share your reasons?’
‘You’re a client. It would be very unprofessional.’
‘Your professionalism means that much to you?’
She hesitated for a moment. ‘Yes.’
He nodded thoughtfully and his hands slipped from her sides. Her hips felt cold without his touch. ‘I won’t harass you about this. You have my word I won’t mention it again.’
She stared down at him for the longest moment then turned away to finish making the tea.
‘I thought you might be more comfortable in one of the bedrooms down here tonight, it’s too cold in that tower,’ Cameron said after a while.
‘Yes, I was thinking that myself,’ Milly replied, still trying not to look at him.
‘So I moved your stuff.’
‘Oh, which room?’
‘My guestroom,’ Cameron said, casually.
She whirled round to face him. ‘The one that’s about three metres from your bedroom door.’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t really think about it like that.’
‘I bet you didn’t.’ She couldn’t help but smile at the tiny smirk playing on his lips as he returned his attention to his laptop.
‘What are you writing? A new book?’
‘Yes.’
‘Try not to make it shit.’
He laughed. ‘I’ll try my best. It’s nearly finished. You can read it if you like, when it’s done. See if it passes the Milly test.’
She smiled hugely. ‘I’d like that.’
She turned back and grabbed the mugs of tea, handed one to Cameron and sat down opposite him.
‘I might give my brother a call, see if he can arrange a time to come and see you.’
Cameron nodded, his eyes still burning into hers, despite the fact that he had said he would not pursue their relationship.
‘He’s very busy, but I’m sure he could come and see you in a few weeks,’ Milly said, diverting her attention to her mobile phone.
Weirdly there were lots of messages, fifty or more from Facebook, several text messages and a few missed calls. The phone had been on silent and she’d barely even looked at it since she arrived.
She scrolled through her list of contacts, ignoring the messages for now and phoned Jamie.
He answered and almost immediately launched into song, giving her a clue as to what all the messages were about.
‘Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Tigger, Happy Birthday to youuuuuuuu.’
She laughed. ‘I’d completely forgotten today was my birthday! You sing so beautifully.’
‘You’d forgotten it was your birthday? Did the million messages on your Facebook page not give you a clue, or the cards or presents that have been delivered over the last few days?’ Jamie laughed.
‘I’m not at home, I’m away on business and I’ve not really looked at my phone. Time just sort of got away from me, I forgot what day it was today.’
How was it Wednesday already? Had she really been there three days? If today was Wednesday then she only had two days to persuade Cameron to be in the play. Though she had no idea how she was going to do that.
‘Oh man, no cards or presents, what a sucky birthday,’ Jamie said.
She looked across the table at Cameron who was watching her carefully. ‘It’s not so bad. Listen J, I’m staying at a property you might be interested in.’
‘Another of your rejects,’ Jamie laughed.
‘Jamie.’ She eyed Cameron across the table, but she didn’t think he could hear. ‘This place is beautiful.’
‘All your rejects are. I’m not complaining. If it’s anything like some of the other Castle Heritage rejects, I’m interested already.’
‘Can you come and look at it, talk to the owner about what you could offer?’
‘Sure thing, where are you?’
‘It’s not far from you, maybe half an hour. I know you’re busy …’
‘I could do tomorrow, if that works. I had a meeting that was cancelled. I could be there about ten?’
‘Is tomorrow ok?’ Milly whispered across the table. Cameron nodded. ‘That’s perfect J, thank you. I’ll text you directions.’
‘Brilliant, it means I can bring your birthday present too. Right, I’d better go, I’m in the middle of a meeting.’
‘You sang to me in the middle of a meeting?’
‘You’re my sister, nothing is more important. Later, Tigs.’
He rang off and she smiled with love for him.
‘It’s your birthday today?’ Cameron asked as soon as she returned the phone to the table.
‘Yeah, I just forgot. I actually thought it was Wednesday tomorrow. Time just moves differently here.’
‘It does feel like that. Well, we should have a celebration tonight.’
‘Oh no, don’t worry. It’s not a big birthday or anything like that.’
‘So you’re twenty nine now?’
She nodded.
‘Ah, you’re a baby.’
‘I am not, how old are you?’
‘Thirty-four.’
He was watching her carefully, maybe thinking the age gap was too big. Well, if it meant his interest waned and they could get back on to a more professional relationship, that couldn’t be a bad thing.
Milly looked at the reading on her laser digital tape measure and recorded the length of the banquet hall on her iPad, along with all the other facts she had written down about the building materials used and the methods and styles in place.
It felt a bit redundant as Castle Heritage almost certainly wouldn’t take it on in its current fairy tale state, but she had promised Cameron she would do a thorough investigation and there might be some detail somewhere that might make them change their minds. In reality, she needed to do something rather than just sit opposite Cameron and stare into his dark, unrelenting eyes. He had work to do anyway and she definitely didn’t want to disturb that.
She took a few more measurements.
If Cameron didn’t want to work with Jamie, there were other ways to fund the castle. Ghost tours and tours of the secret passageways would be an obvious choice. Weekends only. Then Cameron could be on his own during the week. It would bring more custom to the pub when all the tourists needed lunch and he could probably hire a few of the villagers to do the tours, so he wouldn’t need to get involved. Gladys would be the perfect candidate. Who better than someone who looked like a witch to deliver the ghost tours?
Though the tours could only really be a success if people saw ghosts. What was it Lavender had said? The Grey Lady only showed herself to those that were descendants of the Heartstone line. Was that true? She needed to go down to the dungeons by herself to test that theory and she wasn’t keen on that idea.
She walked out to the staircase and eyed the dungeon door underneath the stairs. She had a sudden idea and raced upstairs to the library before she could change her mind.
Cameron was getting hungry and after having written over two thousand words since Milly had left to do some measurements, his bum was starting to ache, too.
He got up and tripped over her shoes as he walked out in to the banquet hall. He strode across the room and into the stairwell. He stopped when he saw the dungeon door open and became disturbingly aware of voices coming from below. He moved closer to listen. Not voices, one voice. Milly’s. Though he couldn’t make out what she was saying, she was too far away for that.
He walked down the stairs. In the passageway, between the cells, Milly was sitting on the cold stone floor, reading out loud from his book. If the ghosts were there, they hadn’t showed themselves.
He walked softly towards Milly and she looked up briefly at him as he approached, flashed him a brilliant smile and returned to her reading.
Confused slightly, he sat down next to her. Instinctively she leaned into him as she carried on reading. There was something so beautiful and enticing about hearing his words being spoken by Milly. She brought magic and enthusiasm to his sto
ry. He waited patiently for Milly to finish the chapter and then he put his hand over the book to stop her reading any more.
‘What are you doing?’
‘It occurred to me that it might get quite lonely down here for the ghosts and as most of them are probably your ancestors, I thought they might be interested in seeing what you have achieved. Sadly it seems the ghosts have far better things to do with their time than listen to me read.’
‘You wanted to read to the ghosts?’ Would he ever stop being surprised by this girl?
‘I was thinking more about getting them on our side. This seemed like a good way to do it.’
He stood up and offered her his hand, pulling her up too. ‘Why do we need the ghosts on our side?’
‘Because if we offer ghost tours, we need people to see ghosts.’
‘You’re determined to turn this into some kind of tourist attraction, aren’t you?’ He put his hand on the small of her back, escorting her up the stairs.
‘If Castle Heritage take this place on, it’s likely they would want to do that too. They are a charity and they rely on tourists paying to visit places like this to fund the renovations and upkeep. They don’t have many properties on their books that aren’t open to tourists. But I honestly think you’d be better off on your own, then you can control how the place is run and when you’re open to the public. You could stay here too. If you wanted. I just don’t think you should pin all your hopes on Castle Heritage when there are other options open to you as well. If you want to keep it, you have to make it work for you. I don’t think your writing will be enough to sustain this place, especially if you keep churning out shit books.’
She grinned up at him as they walked into the kitchen and he laughed.
‘I’ll be very interested in what Jamie has to say.’
