Spring Blossoms at Mill Grange

by Jenny Kane

  ‘That’s because all of his energy’s going into getting better.’ Tom held his son close. ‘You remember when you had a cold last year, and you wanted to sleep all the time?’

  ‘Yes. I felt yucky.’

  ‘Well Bert feels like that, but much worse.’

  Dylan was quiet for a while before he said, ‘We need to buy him some soup and chocolate.’

  Tom laughed. ‘Do we?’

  ‘Yes. Harriet said her dad always gives her soup for a bad throat and chocolate for getting better energy.’

  ‘Does she?’ A stab of jealousy hit Tom that he told himself he had no reason to feel. ‘You like Harriet looking after you when Mum’s busy?’

  ‘She’s fun.’ Dylan looked over at Mabel. ‘Will it be alright, Dad? Does Bert’s mask look scary?’

  ‘A bit, but it’s helping him.’

  As Mabel joined them, she stretched out a hand for Dylan to take. ‘Sorry, Tom, I couldn’t persuade them that Dylan was only little, so didn’t count as a whole person.’

  Tom laughed at Dylan’s expression. ‘I am a whole person!’

  ‘Mabel meant you didn’t take up much room,’ Tom said with a wink. ‘Now, Dylan, I want you to take care of Mabel. Make sure she behaves herself. Okay?’

  *

  Bert’s expression changed from sombre to overjoyed, as he saw Dylan towing Mabel along behind him.

  ‘Well here’s a sight for sore eyes! An afterschool visitor.’ Bert patted the side of the bed, as Dylan let go of Mabel’s hand and scooted forward. ‘Quick, lad, climb up for a cuddle before the nurse spots us and I get told off for allowing you to crease the linen.’

  Dylan giggled as he cuddled up to Bert. ‘You won’t really get told off, will you?’

  ‘Nah.’ Warmth seeped into Bert’s bones as Mabel sat beside him.

  ‘No mask today then, I was about to warn Dylan that you might look like Darth Vader.’

  ‘Ohh! Did you really look like him, Bert?’

  ‘Sort of, but my mask is white. See?’ Bert pointed to the machine behind his head. ‘It makes me sound a bit like him.’ Enjoying Dylan’s giggles, Bert said, ‘I want to hear all about school and Mill—’ He broke off suddenly. A sharp rattling cough took him unawares, making him shudder.

  ‘Bert?’ Dylan turned to Mabel, jumping off the bed and into her arms.

  ‘It’s alright. That’s what pneumonia does, it makes your breathing weird and sometimes you cough. Sounds worse than it is.’

  ‘Okay.’ Dylan didn’t look convinced as the old lady held him tight.

  Mabel wasn’t convinced either, but as she held both the young boy’s and the old man’s hands, she prayed she was right. ‘Why don’t you tell Bert your good news while he’s getting his breath back?’

  Trying to smile through his wheezing, Bert concentrated on the boy’s voice, determined not to have to use the mask.

  Shyly, not sure Bert would hear him properly, Dylan said, ‘I’m going to be living at Mill Grange sometimes. I’ll be with Mum half the time and Dad half the time. I’m so excited. I’ll be sharing a room with Dad until Helen goes back to Bath, then I’ll have her room until we can find a home nearby. Can you imagine, Bert? I’m going to sleep in a room that’s ancient! People used to sleep in there before even you and Mabel were born.’

  As Mabel chuckled at the boy’s concept of ancient history, Bert squeezed Dylan’s free hand. A little husky at first, he mastered his voice. ‘That’s wonderful.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re pleased. Dad said if I was a good boy and asked nicely, you might read me a bedtime story sometimes.’

  Bert took his time, before saying, ‘That’s something worth getting better fast for.’ He beamed at Mabel, who was looking at the child sat between them as if he was a miracle of hope.

  ‘Seems to me, Dylan, that I need some magic medicine to get me better fast.’

  ‘Oh I can sort that out for you easily, Bert.’ Dylan’s expression became endearingly serious as he said, ‘Soup and bars of chocolate. They always make everything better. Harriet’s dad says so. Shall I ask the nurse to fetch you some?’

  *

  ‘How was Bert?’

  Sam was washing down wheelbarrows outside the tool store when Tom parked in Mill Grange’s driveway.

  ‘I didn’t get to see him myself. They’re strict on the visitor numbers. I thought he’d enjoy Dylan’s company more than mine.’

  ‘Where is Dylan?’ Sam gestured towards the empty car seat.

  ‘I dropped him off at Sue’s and then I took Mabel home too. She was worn out, bless her.’

  Sam nodded. ‘She fell asleep on the way back from the Musgrove with Tina yesterday.’

  Tom smiled. ‘I can report however, that according to my son, who did not stop talking about Bert all the way home, he’s on good form. Still having coughing attacks, but not so bad or so often. He sounds like Darth Vader on occasion apparently.’

  ‘Is that so?’ Sam peered around the door to the store, to make sure Helen wasn’t there. ‘You know I asked for your help on a secret matter the other day?’

  ‘Yes. I’ve looked into some of that by the way. It’s possible but pricy.’

  ‘Right.’ Sam rubbed his hands together. ‘Well, there’s something else I’d like us to plot and plan.’

  Tom’s eyebrows rose. ‘I’m beginning to think you’re missing your undercover work in the forces more than you realise!’

  ‘On this occasion, I’m less confident my idea will be well received. I need to talk to Thea about it really, but as you and Helen get on well and work together, I thought you’d have more insight than me.’

  On hearing himself mentioned in the same breath as Helen, Tom’s stomach gave a light jolt. He hoped he wouldn’t give his feelings away. ‘What’s this all about then?’

  ‘You know Helen is leaving us on the tenth, well, it’s her birthday on the twelfth. Her fortieth. Tina thinks Helen would secretly like to celebrate, but at the same time, she’d like to hide under a stone and pretend it isn’t happening.’

  ‘Right, so…?’

  ‘So, if we are going to arrange a party we need to get on and do it, or it’ll get lost in the wedding plans that somehow aren’t quite being made, what with one thing and another.’

  Tom ran a hand over his mouth as he tried to work out if Sam was merely asking his opinion as to whether Helen would like a party, or if he was being asked to do the organising. Buying thinking time, he said, ‘That reminds me, I measured the plot between the chickens and the greenhouse, I scribbled the figures down and posted the piece of paper into your tent before I collected Mabel and Dylan. It should be big enough for a marquee.’

  ‘Fantastic, thanks, Tom.’ Sam looked thrilled. ‘Tina wants to get married where the chickens can watch.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yep.’ Sam laughed at Tom’s expression. ‘We got to know each other while we built the chicken coop for Gertrude and her pals. Seems only right they should be there.’

  ‘Can’t argue with that.’ Tom laughed. ‘So is marquee hiring next on the to-do list?’

  ‘It is.’ Sam’s eyes fell to the clipboard of lists propped up against the side of the store. ‘We had a guy here last year who supplied them for the open day. Nice and local, so I’d like to use him again.’

  ‘Do you want me to call him, or do you have it covered?’

  ‘Thanks, Tom, but I’m okay on that.’ Sam upturned the final wheelbarrow needing to be washed down. ‘Anyway, about Helen. I’m going to talk to her about the excavation in a minute. It’s only a fortnight until she goes. I want everything labelled and written up, so we know where we’re at until Thea comes home.’

  Tom looked out across the garden. ‘It’ll be strange without her here.’

  ‘It will.’ Sam hesitated as he noted a hint of wistfulness in Tom’s voice, and for the first time wondered if Tina’s conviction that he and Helen should be a couple was correct. ‘Her arrival was unexpected, but I’m honestly no
t sure we’d have managed so well without her.’

  ‘Then maybe you should ask her to stay?’

  Sixteen

  Friday March 27th

  It didn’t feel right sitting in the back room of The Carthorse, tucking into something off the gastro pub’s a la carte menu, when the rest of the workforce were stuffed into the bar and pub’s small restaurant on a busy Friday night. Catching Shaun’s eye as she lifted a forkful of perfectly cooked Beef Wellington to her lips, Thea could see he wasn’t happy about it either.

  Shaun hasn’t been happy about much since we got here.

  Thea’s sigh merged into a suppressed giggle as she saw Ajay and Andy turn away from the table for a second and roll their eyes at each other, as Julian started talking about the show’s ratings. It had been a relief to find the geophysics boys had been invited as well. Shaun had been convinced it would just be himself, Julian and Thea; and that Julian would insist on sitting next to Thea. When she’d explained that, as the tables in the function room were circular, and that, if there were just three of them, she’d have to sit next to Julian, Shaun had gone quiet on the subject.

  Thea, on the other hand, had been sure the AA would be invited. It would have looked odd if they’d been excluded. Ajay and Andy had been with Landscape Treasures from the start, and were household names within the show’s fan base.

  Julian was tucking into his chilli roasted salmon with gusto, talking between each mouthful about his plans for the show now they’d uncovered a mosaic every bit as impressive as those in Chedworth and Cirencester. His words, all revolving around how much kudos the find would bring Landscape Treasures, were becoming white noise. Thea was happily zoning out, when she suddenly heard her name mentioned.

  ‘Have you ever uncovered a mosaic as impressive as the one we have here, Thea?’

  ‘I have actually. I was part of a team that excavated one in Africa when I was a student. That was equally stunning, but different of course. Cultural influences can often be seen within mosaic designs. It was in a mausoleum on the edge of a—’

  Interrupting, Julian flapped away the idea that the mosaic could have been anything like as good as this one. ‘Impressive it may well have been, but I bet the design wasn’t as good. A dolphin, splashed right across the bath floor – if you’ll excuse the pun! And made from locally sourced stone tiles as well. What were the chances?’

  Thea didn’t answer. She had a feeling Julian wouldn’t want to hear that local stone was the obvious source for the tiles, nor would he want to hear that a dolphin design had been used on similar mosaics before, although not on such a scale.

  As Julian waffled on, Thea found herself wondering if Shaun had been right about him all along. Not concerning his feelings for her, that was old fashioned jealousy as far as she was concerned. But, despite the impression he’d first given her on meeting, the fact Julian didn’t care about the archaeology was becoming clearer all the time. He was here to advance his career. Organising the television coverage of the discovery of one of the most important mosaic finds in decades would do him no harm whatsoever. One glance at her friends told her they felt the same.

  ‘Where in Africa, Thea?’ Ajay asked, in an attempt to stop Julian’s monologue.

  ‘Lepti Minus. It’s near Sousse in Tunisia. Well, near-ish.’ Raising her wine glass to her lips, Thea added, ‘Incredible place. I was lucky enough to be part of a team working on an entire Romano-African city, rather than a single building complex. There were baths, and villas and a forum and—’

  ‘Yes, that sounds great, Thea.’ Julian laid down his knife and fork and immediately picked up the dessert menu. ‘But your work ten years or so ago isn’t going to make any impression on our ratings now. They aren’t bad, but they could be better.’ Julian sat back with a self-satisfied belch. ‘No, this mosaic couldn’t have popped up at a better time, and it’s all thanks to you, Thea.’

  ‘Hardly.’ Thea’s palms tingled with unease. ‘I opened the first section with Shaun.’ She turned and toasted her colleagues. ‘It was the AA here, who confirmed its whereabouts with the geophysics.’

  ‘And the farmer who rang the show and told us about the finds he’d been ploughing up might have helped,’ Andy muttered.

  ‘Not to mention the aerial photograph of the place taken in 1976!’ Ajay threw in. ‘And the team from Cotswold Archaeology, who did the initial assessment and have been helping us ever since.’

  Shaun nodded. ‘And while we’re at it, Julian, Thea and I may have taken back the first layers of the bath house, but it was the guys crammed into the other room, getting in the way of the locals, who did most of the work. So why the hell aren’t they in here too?’ He shook his head. ‘Phil had his faults as a producer, but he never put us, or himself, above the team.’

  ‘Okay, okay!’ Julian held up his hands. ‘Give me a break, guys! This was supposed to be a treat from me, to say thanks for all your hard work. A pat on the back.’

  ‘Pat on the back?’ Shaun bit back his temper. ‘We’re doing our job, Julian. That’s it. Yes, it would be great to celebrate when the dig is done. To raise a pint with all the people involved, but most of those people aren’t here. What did you really want to talk to us about that couldn’t be shared with the rest of the workforce?’

  ‘Well, I—’

  ‘We are a team, Julian.’ Shaun lowered his voice as Thea rested a supportive hand on his thigh. ‘That’s what makes Landscape Treasures work, why we’re asked to keep coming back by the television company year after year. Nothing lasts forever, and one day we’ll be axed, but while…’ He trailed off. ‘Hang on, you were talking about the show’s ratings just now. Is that what this is all about, buttering us up before you tell us this is the final series?’

  The AA lowered their pints as one.

  ‘I can assure you that it is not.’ Julian smiled, but Thea noticed that it failed to reach his eyes.

  ‘But you do have a reason?’ she asked, ‘For this get together including just us, I mean. After all, I’m only a guest expert. If you need to talk about the show’s future, maybe I ought to leave you to it?’

  As Thea pushed her chair back to go, Julian’s hand shot out and briefly held hers against the table, before letting go and tapping it lightly with his fingertips. ‘Not at all. You should stay.’

  Glad to see Thea remove her hand with speed, Shaun asked, ‘So what did you want to tell us?’

  Lowering his glass, Julian leaned forward. ‘The word on the wire is that our main rival, Treasure Hunters, is out to recruit a new lead presenter.’

  ‘So?’ Shaun looked at the others, who all shrugged.

  ‘Treasure Hunters are looking for someone to rival you, Shaun.’ Julian refilled his glass, ‘Doesn’t that bother any of you?’

  Ajay, Shaun, and Andy shook their heads as Thea asked, ‘Why should that worry them, Julian? They don’t work for Treasure Hunters. And everyone knows Treasure Hunters is the show that is trying to be Landscape Treasures, but without the budget.’

  Shaun nodded as he remembered their brush with Treasure Hunters’ dodgy excavation acquirement tactics in the summer. ‘We’ve dealt with them before. Our ratings knock them under the table, and they aren’t on such a well-watched or funded channel.’

  Julian rested back in his chair. ‘Well, I wouldn’t be quite so relaxed about that if I were you. Word is that along with the new presenter, they’re switching to a better channel.’

  Shaun sat forward a little. ‘Which one?’

  ‘I don’t know, but there are rumours of Channel Four, or even BBC Two.’

  Ajay winced. ‘Okay, so that’s more serious.’

  Andy wiped a piece of bread around the gravy left on his plate. ‘Good thing we’ve found an incredibly important mosaic then, isn’t it?’

  *

  Not wanting to be on her own, but not sure she could face being cooped up in Shaun’s campervan with him, when he was bound to want to rant about Julian, Thea suggested a walk around Birdlip vi
llage. She slipped her palm into Shaun’s as they strolled past the pub and along the main street, between picture book Cotswolds cottages, complete with thatched roofs and stone walled gardens.

  ‘I know you can’t stand the man, but try not to let Julian get under your skin.’

  ‘Difficult not to.’ Shaun raked his free hand through his hair as they walked, turning the gesture into a wave, as someone spotted Shaun Cowlson ‘off the telly’ passing their garden. ‘Did you see how he patted your hand?’

  Thea shuddered. ‘It was like being licked by a wet haddock.’

  Shaun laughed, as he put his arm around Thea. ‘I’ve been an idiot about him on that score, haven’t I?’

  ‘At last, the penny drops!’ She hugged him close as they walked through a narrow pathway, leading to a duck pond. ‘Do you think what he said about Treasure Hunters is true?’

  ‘Can’t see why he’d make it up.’ Shaun scowled. ‘They put together a good show. Okay, Treasure Hunters don’t have the budget, but they are all good archaeologists. I wonder why the current presenter is leaving? Gareth, his name is. Nice bloke.’

  ‘Maybe he isn’t leaving so much as being replaced. New format, new channel, etc. You know, like they did for The Great British Bake Off.’

  ‘Possible.’

  Shaun led them to a seat by the pond. It was an almost classic circle, with reeds and lily pads tastefully growing to one side, as if whoever built it wanted the pond to look like a children’s drawing. The ducks were all grouped beneath the reeds, clearly surprised to have late night visitors, but not intrigued enough to bother dabbling over in the hope of being fed.

  ‘What I don’t understand, is why Julian thought only the four of us should hear about Treasure Hunter’s plans?’

  ‘Perhaps it’s not public knowledge yet?’ Thea laid her head on his shoulder. ‘We hadn’t heard had we?’

  ‘No, but we’re on a dig in the middle of the countryside with little Wi-Fi.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ Thea watched the water ripple as a fish brushed the surface before descending to its nightly rest. ‘Providing Landscape Treasure isn’t axed, I can’t see the problem.’