by Jenny Kane
‘I can see why it’s so busy in here, but Mabel, I must ask, why did you make me feel guilty for not bringing my custom here? Sybil is, quite rightly, doing well.’
Mabel gave her hair a satisfied pat. ‘I had to tug the heartstrings a little, I admit. But if you are seen in here, then it will be all around Upwich by lunchtime, that Thea Thomas from the manor was here. That you took the time and trouble to come.’
‘I get it.’ Thea’s pleasure at being away from the manor for a while increased as two plates of piping hot crumpets, eggs and ham appeared. ‘Thank you Sybil, these smell incredible.’
‘I hope you enjoy them. Although, I have to say, the eggs aren’t as good as they were when we had them off the manor.’
‘You had eggs from Mill Grange?’
‘Up until the Trust took the place thirty years back.’ Sybil smiled at Thea’s surprised face. ‘I’ve been here since I was twenty so that’s almost forty-five years.’
Thea looked down at her aromatic breakfast. ‘If we reintroduced chickens to the manor, would you be interested in the eggs?’
‘I most certainly would. For the right price, of course.’
‘Which is?’
Sybil waved a hand towards the cooling plates of food. ‘You girls eat up. I’ll do some sums and get back to you.’
Mabel, who’d been observing with satisfaction, thrust her fork into her poached eggs, sending golden yolk flowing across her crumpets. ‘You see why we’re here then.’
‘Oh yes.’ A few mouthfuls of food later, Thea paused for a swig of coffee. ‘Mabel, you don’t happen to know of a hairdresser in the village?’
‘I most certainly do.’ Mabel raised her cup of tea in a salute. ‘We’ll pop in on Phyllis after we’ve been here.’ She leant forward conspiratorially. ‘But don’t worry, she isn’t the one who cuts Sybil’s hair.’
*
‘Chickens?’ Sam’s approval was unmistakable. ‘There’s a place in the walled garden which would afford shelter and enough ground for them to run free. If you would like me to, I could build a coop from the old wooden boards stacked at the back of the stables. We’d need to get safety covers for the nails and so on, so the poultry didn’t hurt itself.’
‘Seriously? You could build one just like that?’
Sam nodded. ‘I’ve seen hundreds of coops. You’d be surprised what some people make them out of. We could put it near to where I thought you could grow vegetables. Tina mentioned that was something else you had in mind.’
‘The idea is to sell as much produce from the manor’s land as we can, as fast as is feasible. Am I being unrealistic, Sam?’
‘For some things possibly, but early spuds and eggs are entirely doable.’
‘How much do chickens cost? How many do we need at once?’
Sam laughed. ‘I have no idea. A job for Tina’s researching skills perhaps?’
‘She’ll probably welcome the change from pricing waterproof sealant and roof tiles.’
Sam said nothing more on the subject of Tina as he dug his shovel into the soil. ‘Shall I show you where I think the chickens would be happy?’
‘Please.’ Thea followed Sam towards the kitchen garden. ‘Have you ever kept chickens?’
‘No. You?’
‘No.’ Rather than feel despondent that this would be something else for her to do, Thea felt enlivened by the idea of having chickens in the garden. ‘I have some reading up to do then.’
‘Being in the walled garden should keep them safe from foxes.’
Thea blanched, ‘I hadn’t considered that. I don’t think I could cope if I came down in the morning to find the girls savaged.’
‘The girls?’ Sam laughed. ‘And there I was about to advise not getting too attached to them in case of disaster or if you need to sell them for meat.’
‘Too late for that. I can already see one called Gertrude, can’t you?’
‘Isn’t that a cow’s name?’ Sam laughed. ‘I thought you’d be calling one Mabel.’
‘We seem to have called a truce. At least, I hope we have.’ Thea felt her heart lighten as she looked across the garden and Mill Grange’s beauty hit her anew. ‘I also have Sybil in the village café willing to buy our eggs.’
‘Good. Better get Tina to source egg boxes as well then.’ Sam stared up at the manor. ‘The trustees would be fools to sell this place. It could make a fortune for the whole area.’
‘I think so.’
‘And in the meantime, it can start to earn its keep.’ Sam shifted, uneasily from one foot to the other as if suddenly uncomfortable. ‘Actually, I wanted a private word about that.’
‘Go on.’
‘I wondered if I could camp in the garden. I’d pay a pitch fee. What do you think?’
‘Yes!’ Thea didn’t hesitate. The idea of Sam being on hand if John were to pester her out of hours, and for a chaperone to be around should word get out that she and Shaun were both sleeping in the manor, was a godsend. ‘That’s a brilliant idea.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. You could use the bathroom inside, you know. If you wanted to?’
Sam looked uneasy. ‘Thanks for not asking me about that. About the not going inside thing, I mean.’
‘Your business, not mine. But if you want to talk, I’m here.’ Thea pointed to the back door. ‘Just so you know, the room next to the scullery holds an ancient but usable toilet and the only shower in the place. It’s a ghastly 1960s thing which the family put in not long before they left. It’s literally only three footsteps inside the back door, and there’s a large picture window onto the garden.’
‘So I wouldn’t feel enclosed while in there.’ Sam nodded. ‘Thank you, Thea. You’re very kind.’
‘Not that kind. Shall we say that you’ll pay the same to camp here as whatever you’re paying at the site you’re staying at now, minus five pounds per week?’
‘Deal.’ Sam beamed. ‘Starting tonight?’
‘Perfect.’ Thea, floating high on the positive nature of the day, headed off to source some chickens for sale and to see if Tina fancied helping Sam build a coop. She’d only taken a few steps, when Sam called after her.
‘Your hair looks nice by the way.’
Twenty-Two
April 17th
‘I don’t want him living here.’
Thea bit her lip and started to mentally count to ten. Her grandmother had sworn by giving life ten seconds before commenting on difficult situations, and often it helped. However, Thea had found herself counting to ten so often over the past week that she was considering reciting the colours of the rainbow or listing the top ten most worshipped Roman gods and goddesses, just for variety.
‘And I don’t want you working here, so I suppose that makes us even.’
John was sitting on the opposite side of her desk, fidgeting with a pile of paperclips. ‘He is clearly after you.’ He placed his palms flat against its edge, his legs wide as if trying to make himself bigger. Thea found herself holding back a hysterical laugh as she remembered a nature documentary she’d seen. Sir David Attenborough had been explaining how lower ranking male gibbons attempted to make themselves appear more attractive to the female gibbons. John’s current stance was almost identical.
‘Did you hear what I said, Thea? I don’t want that man…’
This same scenario had played out over each of the last five mornings. And every morning Thea had given the same response. She found the words forming on her lips in readiness. Any minute now John would ask her when she was coming out for a meal with him. Then he’d return to the subject of not wanting Shaun to move in that evening. Well, enough was enough. Today she didn’t want to hear it.
It was bad enough that everyone here liked John. At least, the women did. Diane seemed particularly susceptible to his charms, and Thea had heard the girlish giggles of the Biggleswaite sisters undercutting her ex’s dulcet tones on a number of occasions.
On the other hand, Thea thought she’d seen Derek g
iving John a wary eye glance every now and then, although that could have been wishful thinking on her behalf. Sam had passed no comment, but Tina was convinced he was keeping a quiet eye on their less welcome volunteer.
Shaun was polite to John, but then Shaun was polite to everyone. Nonetheless, if Thea was alone in a situation where John could get to her, the archaeologist would magically appear. She was convinced it was Shaun’s ability to continually get in the way of his plans that had led John to start showing up so early in the morning.
Ignoring the tingling numbness that was racing down her arms, ready to remind Thea how much she hated confrontation, she slammed her own palms on the table.
‘This is the very last time I am going to say this. The only reason you are still here is that we are desperate for hands and I have no legal grounds to remove you. We are never going to date again. I do not want to be part of your life. You do not know me. You just think you do. Do you understand?’
John’s face flushed. ‘Then let me get to know you. I want to, Thea. You’re everything to me, you must see that. Beautiful, funny, driven, clever, and I…’ He slumped back in his seat, as if all the fight was wiped out of him. Pity hit Thea’s kind heart as she looked at him across the table.
‘If you want to stay here to work, then I can’t stop you, but if you want to get to know me as a friend, then you’re going to have to stop acting like this.’ Thea bit the inside of her lips, choosing her words carefully. ‘You’re capable of being a nice man. Start proving it to everyone here. Remember your self-respect.’
‘Self-respect?’ John pushed his hands into his jacket pockets as he spoke with controlled calm. ‘The thing is, Thea—’
‘Thea! Are you about?’
The echo of Mabel’s shrill voice as she called ahead of herself down the servants’ corridor cut John’s sentence in half as he rose to his feet.
‘Good morning, Mrs Hastings, you’re looking most appetising today.’
Giggling girlishly, Mabel beamed. ‘Foolish boy.’ She gave him a playful push. ‘Have you finished with Thea? I have a few things I need to talk to her about.’
‘For now.’ He almost bowed to Mabel as he turned so that only Thea could see his face. ‘I’ll be back later to finish what we were discussing.’
‘Are you alright, dear?’ For the first time, Mabel noticed Thea was looking a bit pale. ‘Can I get you some water?’
‘I’m fine, thanks. I didn’t get much sleep.’ Licking some moisture back into her dry lips, Thea asked, ‘How can I help you?’
Flourishing a large piece of paper, and a calendar, Mabel sat down. She was clearly very pleased with herself. ‘I’ve made a plan for the volunteers’ work structure. It’s more efficient than what we had before.’
Glad of Mabel’s timely arrival, Thea would have agreed to listen to any plan she had at all. ‘Sounds good – let’s hear it.’
*
Thea sat on the edge of her bed. She’d only caught a few parts of Mabel’s plan; enough to know she wasn’t dooming the volunteers to a Victorian prison-like regime of hard labour.
The whole time the old lady was speaking Thea had been visited by flashbacks of her time with John.
When she’d first seen him, literally across a crowded room, she’d been hit by his amazing smile. It seemed to grow wider the longer he grinned, making you feel as if he was the happiest man in the world, simply because he was talking to you.
How did we get from there to here?
It had been a Christmas party for a local business. The Baths often hired out rooms for such events, but Thea had only been involved on that occasion because half the events team had been hit with a bout of food poisoning after an unwise night out in a suspiciously cheap burger bar.
John had mistaken her for a waitress at first. He’d run out of champagne and wanted his glass topping up, ‘by the woman with the most beautiful chestnut eyes I’ve ever seen.’
She’d laughed openly at the cliché, but he hadn’t minded. They’d got talking, she explaining she was more host than waitress, and he that he was bored with office gossip and welcomed the chance to speak to someone more interesting.
Thea had been so surprised when he’d asked her out for ‘some good food and fun,’ that she’d accepted without hesitation.
Food and fun. ‘And that’s what it was for me, John. When did that change for you?’
Moving to the window, keeping back from the glass so no one could see her from outside, Thea surveyed the grounds. Sam was raking over the most recently cleared area of garden. John was near him. He stood out like a sore thumb in his designer overalls and rubble clearance gloves. She wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be doing according to Mabel’s new rota, but what he was actually doing was piling up branches and weeds for burning.
Deciding to do as much admin work as she could from her room and more practical jobs once everyone else had gone home, Thea sat at her little desk.
Tina would soon be back from a meeting she was having with the trustees, so she could keep up-to-date on the properties she was temporarily neglecting in favour of Mill Grange, and Shaun was due to arrive with his luggage around twelve. All week Thea had been telling herself she had to move out of the manor. She had to find a room to rent before Shaun arrived. Somehow it hadn’t happened. There had always been something more urgent to do.
It was going to be impossible not to tell him she was also living in. The best she could think of, was to pretend she’d just arrived; that his idea of paying rent to the Trust was such a good idea that she’d decided to do the same. She was sure Shaun would believe her if she said she wanted to keep the arrangement private because she didn’t want John to find out where she was staying.
Dragging herself away from her desk, Thea travelled to the opposite end of the servants’ corridor to what would be Shaun’s temporary abode. Admiring the view from the window, which took in the other end of the garden, Thea knew part of her wanted Shaun here. ‘But do I want him here because I want him to ravish me, or because I want someone to show John I’m off limits?’
*
‘Tina looks happy.’ Shaun dropped his oversized holdall onto the little bed. ‘Sam tells me she has found some chickens.’
‘She has. We get delivery of six Light Sussexes tomorrow.’ Thea smiled as she thought of Tina and Sam working together on the construction of the coop with all the care reserved for decorating a nursery.
‘What’s a Light Sussex, apart from it being a chicken I mean?’
‘According to Tina they are one of the easiest breeds to keep. They’re hardy, will forage for some of their food around the garden, and they are good layers. We can also use them for meat if we have to.’
Shaun laughed. ‘But you’re already squeamish about that.’
‘Yeah. Stupid as I eat meat, but there you go.’
‘Human nature, not stupid at all.’
‘Don’t forget, if you hear someone moving around downstairs in the evening or early morning, it’ll be Sam. He’s started using the downstairs bathroom now he’s camping in the woods.’
‘He’s coming inside?’
‘The only time I was around to witness it, he was in and out incredibly fast, but the shower had been used, so yes. I’d love to know why he’s so averse to being inside but…’
‘But you’re wisely leaving it to him to tell you when he’s ready.’
‘Yes.’ Thea frowned. ‘You know why?’
‘I have my suspicions, but I don’t know. And like you, I will not ask.’ Changing the subject, Shaun surveyed the room with an air of approval. ‘This looks great. Thanks, Thea.’
He sat on the edge of the bed and immediately Thea realised her mistake. How hadn’t she seen it before? Shaun’s broad frame already dwarfed the slim servants’ single bed. No way would his six-foot-plus length squeeze inside the sheets and blankets she’d just used to make it up.
‘You are never going to fit in that little bed.’
‘I’ll be
fine. I sleep curled up.’
Finding herself picturing Shaun asleep, his knees under his chin, his arms hooked up over the counterpane, Thea said, ‘Even if you were to squeeze yourself up like a concertina, there is no way you’ll get a good night’s sleep.’
Cross for missing the obvious again, Thea hooked Shaun’s holdall up in her arms. ‘Come on, let’s go downstairs and find you a double bed. We can redo the room before we open.’
Thea was already marching down the corridor when Shaun caught up with her.
‘There’s no need, I’ll be fine. I told you, I’m used to simple sleeping arrangements.’
‘Well, there’s simple, and there’s stupid.’ She kept walking down the narrow stairs. ‘I’m not having you move out of one of Moira’s comfy rooms into an army billet.’
Shaun laughed. ‘You sounded just like Mabel then. Good to see you two in harmony.’
‘If she’d just see that the sun doesn’t shine out of John’s butt, she’d be perfect.’
The mention of John cast a cloud over them as Thea pushed open the door to the smallest, and therefore easiest to re-clean, of all the double rooms. ‘This do? Not exactly the best bedroom. It belonged to the governess originally.’
‘It has a bigger bed, a desk, a window with a stunning view and its own sink. What more could a man want?’
The way he looked at her sent Thea’s pulse racing. His eyes made it very clear what else a man might want. Thea gulped. She had intended this to be the moment when she told Shaun she was living there too. No way could she do that now.
Twenty-Three
April 18th
Thea couldn’t sleep. Every time she turned over in her rickety little bed, she worried Shaun would hear her.
She’d been so focused on finding him somewhere more comfortable to stay, that she hadn’t realised she’d placed him in the bedroom directly below hers until it was too late. Could he hear her? She couldn’t hear him, but perhaps he was a light sleeper. Perhaps he didn’t toss and turn like she did. Perhaps he didn’t have a squeaky bed frame. Thea felt her cheeks flush as an image of helping Shaun make the bed springs protest entered her mind and didn’t want to leave again.
