Escape To Christmas at Corner Cottage

by Sarah Hope

  ‘Look, Sophia, we could play tag on the green!’

  ‘Tag is for babies.’ Sophia looked over at Star who had begun to whimper and paw at the door. ‘What’s wrong with the stupid dog?’

  ‘Don’t call her stupid. Mum! Sophia called Star stupid again.’ Holding onto Patch’s cage with one hand, Evie leant forward and patted Star.

  ‘She’s just eager to get out and explore our new home, that’s all.’ Pulling up against the narrow pathway in front of the cottage, the trailer bounced to a stop behind them. ‘Umm, that’s strange.’ Leaning across Star, Chrissy wiped the condensation from the passenger window and peered out. The garden was untouched. Leaves, soggy from the rain covered the small cracked slabbed pathway towards the front door and the hedges still competed with each to see which could cover the small gap between them the most.

  ‘He didn’t send a gardener then?’ Sophia crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.

  ‘Maybe he couldn’t get someone to come and sort it out in time. I’ll send him an email when we’re all settled in. Right, I’m going to go and get the key and open up. You two may as well stay here in the dry.’

  ‘You’ll be quick, won’t you, Mum?’ Evie looked nervously up and down the lane.

  ‘Of course I will.’ Pulling her hood up, Chrissy slipped into the rain, making her way to the gate. The landlord had said the key would be under a rock with their door number written on somewhere near the front door.

  Pushing the gate gently open, she squeezed between the hedges and made her way down the path, careful to avoid the puddles filling the gaping holes between the slabs.

  Now, where was that rock? There it was, marked with a number 3. Squatting down, she lifted it up, feeling around in the moss underneath for a key. There it was. It was a bit rusty, but that was to be expected, it being left out here in weather like this.

  Standing up, Chrissy listened, she could hear voices from the back garden, she was sure of it. Maybe Mr Lowen had sent a gardener after all. Would she be able to ask him to fill in a few of the cracks in the path? Chrissy smiled, there was no harm in asking, right?

  Making her way around the side of the cottage she saw two men, one in a suit holding a large black umbrella and a clipboard, the other in torn jeans and a hoodie with the hood pulled up against the rain.

  Chrissy tucked a stray hair behind her ear. The landlord must have come to oversee the gardening. She hadn’t expected to meet him. She was sure he’d said he was now living in Spain. Unless he hadn’t liked the sound of her through the emails and had wanted to meet her in person. What if he decided he didn’t like her? That he didn’t want her living in his house? He couldn’t go back on their agreed tenancy now, could he? She was pretty sure that a tenancy agreement was legally binding once signed.

  Taking a deep breath, she walked up behind them. ‘Hello, I’m Chrissy.’

  Twisting around quickly, the gardener looked at her and smiled, taking her hand. ‘Hello, Chrissy. I’m Luke.’

  ‘Nice to finally meet you.’ Chrissy smiled and turned to look at the man in the suit, Mr Lowen, holding her hand out to him.

  Glancing up from his clipboard, the man nodded before returning his gaze and scribbling something on the paper.

  Lowering her hand, Chrissy tugged her hood further down. He had seemed so friendly through the emails. She shrugged, she guessed it wasn’t as though you can really find out what someone is like through stilted online conversation. Maybe he was just quite a shy person in real life, maybe that’s why he had dealt with everything online. Unless something had happened and he didn’t want them to move in anymore. Biting the bottom of her lip, Chrissy tried to push away the thought of having to rock up on her parents’ doorstep, kids, dog and hamster in tow. They hadn’t spoken to her since Andrew had said he wanted out of the marriage. Maybe they were right, maybe marriage had become a throwaway commodity in this day and age and she should have tried harder to please Andrew. She shook her head, they had some funny views, always had.

  ‘So...’ What was she supposed to do now, just move her stuff in with him out here, or should she wait until he invited her to go in? She shuffled her feet and turned to the gardener, if she struck up a conversation with him then maybe Mr Lowen would join in and make her feel a little more at ease. ‘Are you ok starting with the hedges, please? It’s just I’ve got a lot to get through that small gap.’

  ‘The hedges? I think they’re the least of our worries.’ Luke grinned, the skin around his blue eyes creasing.

  ‘Oh, really?’ Pulling her eyes away from him, she looked around, taking in the knee length grass and the mound of grey rocks poking up in the centre of the lawn, a nod to a long forgotten rock garden feature maybe. She nodded, it was worse around the back she supposed, but it still made more sense to start at the front, surely? ‘It’s just it would make my life easier, or else I’ve got to lift everything up and over them.’

  ‘Everything?’ Luke tilted his head, shallow lines forming across his forehead.

  ‘Well, yes, it’s not furnished. It’s not, is it, Mr Lowen?’ She looked across to Mr Lowen, pen still in hand, head still dipped across his paper.

  ‘Me?’ Looking up, he tapped his pen against his chest. ‘I’m afraid I’m not Mr Lowen.’ He looked towards Luke. ‘I’ll leave you to it, Mr Cravish. I’ve got an appointment at half-past anyway. I’ll get these plans drawn up and emailed across as soon as I can.’

  Luke shook the man’s hand and they both watched him pick his way carefully across the lawn around to the front of the house.

  ‘I believe we may have crossed wires here.’ Luke crossed his arms and grinned at Chrissy.

  ‘Sorry, I assumed...’ She pointed towards the front garden.

  ‘That he was Mr Lowen? The Mr Lowen that currently owns this cottage?’

  ‘Well, yes.’ Chrissy rubbed her hands together, it felt colder here than it had done when they had left their old house. ‘You are the gardener, right? Sorry, I should never have suggested you started with the hedges, it’s your job, you know what you’re doing.’

  Dipping his head, a strange sound, halfway between a laugh and a cough escaped his lips. Was he laughing at her? Subconsciously touching her cheek with the back of her hand, she felt a blush flushing across her face.

  ‘I’m not a gardener. Why would Mr Lowen have employed a gardener to sort this place out anyway? And what are you here for, Chrissy?’

  ‘I’m here to move my stuff in, of course. It’s the day my tenancy starts.’

  Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and took a few steps away from her, turning his back and dipping his head.

  ‘Who are you, then?’ She shook her head, if she didn’t hurry up, the twins would no doubt start another argument cooped up in the car.

  ‘Are you sure you’ve got the right place?’ Turning back towards Chrissy Luke looked up, his lips straightened and his brow furrowed.

  ‘Of course! I can show you my tenancy if I need to. Are you working on behalf of Mr Lowen?’

  ‘I’m buying this place.’ Taking his arms out of his pockets he swung them at his side.

  ‘Are you? When? Are you going to keep renting it out? Mr Lowen didn’t say anything about it being sold.’

  ‘No, I’m knocking it down.’

  ‘What? Mr Lowen promised me it would be a long term let. I wouldn’t have even considered the place if I had known we’d have to move again after the six months was up.’ Why would he have not been straight with her? Now, what was she supposed to do? It had been hard enough finding this place when no estate agents would even look at her. And the girls? What about their school? There couldn’t be many places up for rent in a village as small as this one. She’d promised them they wouldn’t have to move schools again.

  ‘Six months? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Luke kicked a loose stone, watching as it sprang and landed at the foot of a tree to the side of the garden.

  ‘Hold on. Let me get this straight.’ Chrissy held her hands up
in front of her. None of this made any sense whatsoever. ‘Mr Lowen has sold you this place, but didn’t tell you I was moving in today?’

  ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘What do you mean? He either told you about us or not.’

  ‘I mean, it’s not exactly sold. He promised to sell it to me if he didn’t get a tenant.’

  ‘So, you haven’t brought it then? You’re not knocking it down?’ Chrissy folded her arms.

  ‘Yes, no. No, I haven’t brought it yet, but we had a gentleman’s agreement that he would sell it to me if he couldn’t get a tenant by the end of the year and, well,’ Luke swept his arm around the garden. ‘I took it for a given that he wouldn’t be able to.’

  ‘Why not? Yes, the garden may be a little overgrown, to say the least, but he’s promised to get a gardener in to sort that out so...’

  ‘Have you been inside?’ Luke interrupted her.

  ‘I’ve seen photos of the inside. Mr Lowen is in Spain and as it’s a private rental he couldn’t get anyone to show me around, but the photos look lovely so...’ Why was he looking at her like that? With his head tilted, he looked as if he was trying to decide if she was lying or just a little crazy.

  ‘You do know he’s not been able to rent it out for over three years, don’t you?’

  ‘Three years? No, I didn’t. I guess with it being in a village the location might put people off.’ She knew some people liked the hustle and bustle of town living and having everything on your doorstep, but if she was honest, she was looking forward to embracing a slower pace of life.

  ‘Those photos you were talking about. They didn’t happen to have a blue Citroen out the front, did they?’

  ‘Umm, there may have been, I didn’t take much notice of what car the previous tenants had.’ Chrissy scrunched her nose and looked at him from under her hood. What was he playing at?

  ‘The photos are from when this place was sold, seven years ago. My old mate used to live here, he drove a blue Citroen.’

  ‘Oh, right.’

  ‘Evie! Stop following me!’

  Chrissy turned around, Sophia was stomping up the path, stepping over puddles and ducking under branches. Evie and Star close behind. Patch must have been left in the car.

  ‘Star hasn’t got her lead on!’ Walking quickly towards them she pulled Star’s lead out from the bag slung across her shoulder.

  ‘She’s ok. She listens to me. Look, sit, paw.’ Evie smiled as she took hold of Star’s uplifted paw.

  ‘That may be so, but she’s never been here before, if she runs off she won’t be able to find her way back to us.’ Clipping the lead on to Star’s red collar, Chrissy looked back at Luke. ‘If you’ve not got anything in writing, then I guess I’m going to move our stuff in.’

  ‘Go ahead.’ Luke held his hand out towards the cottage.

  ‘Who’s he?’ Sophia asked.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure. A friend of the landlord, I presume. Are you ready to have a look inside?’

  ‘No, I’d much rather stand here in this rubbish dump of a garden and get a little bit wetter.’ Sophia crossed her arms and stared at Chrissy.

  ‘Sophia, please. I know this is difficult for you, but please don’t talk to me like that.’ She patted Sophia on the shoulder, she knew it was tough for the girls. She was finding it difficult, and she was an adult, she couldn’t imagine what the twins were feeling.

  ‘Get off me.’ Jerking her shoulder away from her, Sophia stomped to the front door standing to the side, waiting for Chrissy.

  ‘Ok, here we go. Home sweet home.’ Smiling, Chrissy twisted the key in the lock and pushed open the door.

  ‘Urgh. It stinks!’ Sophia and Evie both staggered back, covering their noses with their sleeves.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mum, but we can’t live in a place that stinks like that.’

  ‘It’s ok, girls. It’s not been lived in for a few years so probably just needs the windows opening and some air let in.’ Chrissy took a deep breath and stepped inside. The tiled hallway, though caked in mud, looked ok.

  Opening the door on the left to the living room, Chrissy paused, gagging. Looking around the bare room, the dark wooden floorboards were covered in thick dust and the windows barely let any light in. In the far corner, Chrissy spotted what looked like a splash of black paint thrown against the wall. Stamping the rain off of her trainers, she walked across to the wall. It wasn’t paint. It was mould growing across the wall. A window pane was smashed in the corner of the window next to it. That must be why it was so mouldy.

  The smell was worse near the fireplace. Coughing into her sleeve, Chrissy backed away.

  ‘Yuck! What’s that on the wall? It’s all black!’ Sophia came to stand next to her, her scarf pulled up over her mouth and nose.

  ‘It’s mould. The rain must have been getting in through the broken window.’

  ‘Is that what smells?’

  ‘No, I think there might be a dead bird or something stuck up the chimney.’

  ‘Oh no! The poor little thing. Can we save it?’

  ‘Mum said it was dead. Nothing can be saved when it’s dead.’ Sophia turned her back on her sister and rolled her eyes.

  ‘Anyway. Let’s go and have a look at the other rooms, shall we?’ Chrissy shepherded them both towards the kitchen and gingerly opened the door.

  ‘And we’re supposed to actually cook in here?’ Sophia pointed to the oven. ‘I’m not going to be eating anything that comes out of that.’

  The glass panel was missing from the oven door and judging by the amount of ingrained food around the rings, the previous tenants had been worse cooks than Chrissy herself.

  ‘Oh, Mum, look at the tap.’ Evie shook her head at the dripping tap, a ring of limescale circling the plughole. ‘What a waste of water.’

  ‘Yes, what a shame.’ With her hands on her hips, Chrissy swivelled around, taking in the small galley kitchen. The only drawer lay on its side propped against the back of the work surface and one, no two, cupboard doors were hanging off.

  ‘A little different to the photos Mr Lowen sent you, isn’t it?’

  ‘Luke! How did you get in?’ Chrissy spun around.

  ‘The front door.’ Lowering his hood, Luke ruffled his ash blond hair with his fingers.

  ‘A little different, yes.’

  ‘Mr Lowen couldn’t be bothered to fix anything after he got the bailiffs to kick the last tenants out. Hence, why it’s in such a state and he hasn’t been able to get a tenant.’

  ‘Oh, ok.’

  ‘Never mind, I’m sure you can find some other place to rent. Somewhere that has a working oven, maybe?’

  ‘It’s not as easy as that.’ Curling a loose piece of hair around her finger, Chrissy blinked back the tears.

  ‘Sure it is. Just pop along to an estate agent and, voila, you’ll soon be the proud tenant of a habitable house.’

  ‘Girls, why don’t you go and check on Patch for me?’ Chrissy watched as Evie and Sophia ran back through the living room and out to the car.

  ‘Let me find out where the nearest estate agent is for you. We used to have one down on the High Street, but that shut down years ago.’ Bending his head, he scrolled through his phone.

  Looking out into the garden, Chrissy tried to slow her breathing. She was being daft, panicking. All she needed to do was to send an email to Mr Lowen and he’d send some contractors round to make the repairs and clean the cottage up.

  ‘I don’t suppose you have Mr Lowen’s number, do you?’

  ‘No,’ Luke laughed. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, but he doesn’t give out his number to us villagers. He had too many complaints about his last tenants so he changed his phone number.’

  ‘But you said you had an agreement with him about buying this place? You must have his number.’

  ‘Nope, afraid not. We had an agreement in place from when I saw him last. He lost a poker game, the prize being that he’d sell up if he couldn’t get a tenant.’

 
‘Well, he has. Sorry, you lost.’

  ‘Nah, you don’t want to stay here, not with two kids in tow. It’s a health hazard.’

  ‘It’s less of a health hazard than living on the streets.’

  ‘Now that’s just being melodramatic.’

  ‘Is it?’ With the pads of her thumbs, Chrissy wiped her eyes before turning around and facing Luke. ‘All my money is wrapped up in this tenancy. I’ve paid six months in advance.’

  Luke whistled through his teeth. ‘Without seeing it?’

  ‘Yep, without seeing it. The estate agents wouldn’t even consider a single, unemployed mum with a dog. This place seemed perfect, our only choice.’

  Tapping his fingers on the grimy work surface, Luke looked at her, a half smile on his face. ‘No chance you’re walking away from this place then?’

  ‘Not for six months anyway.’ Chrissy slapped her forehead. ‘How could I be so stupid?’

  ‘You’re not stupid, just trusting, that’s all.’

  ‘I think that’s been the problem my whole life.’ Why was she even talking to a complete stranger like this? Especially one who wanted to make her and the twins homeless.

  ‘In that case, I guess my grand plans of knocking this dump down to build a four bedroom money-maker will have to wait.’

  ‘Thank you. Right, I need to get on, it’s getting late and my girls start their new school in the morning.’

  ‘Are you seriously going to sleep here with it in this state? You’ve no idea what it’s like upstairs.’

  ‘Nope, I’m going to see if they have room in a little B&B for tonight and then I’ll clean it tomorrow once Mr Lowen has replied to the strongly worded email I’m going to send him.’

  ‘Ok, good plan. You never know, Mr Lowen might give you your money back.’

  ‘Umm, I doubt that very much from what you’ve told me about him.’

  ‘Stranger things have happened. I think they let dogs stay at the B&B in the centre of the village, so your luck might be changing.’