premier family – well to do – highly respected. Money calls to money – place to place – that is my experience – though I do not suggest that love was absent when she caught the eye of Howard Hollis –
– Hollis? – Dad interrupted – Hog Hollis? – him as got et by his own pigs? –
I saw the twins perk up. Anything grisly really turns them on!
– indeed – there was a tragic accident – said Tom – You knew Mr Hollis? –
– met him a couple of times – said dad unenthusiastically – folk reckoned he kept his pigs in the sea his meat were so salty & watery! Made a fortune but he were a right miserable sod – only time he ever smiled was for yon photo on them Hollis’s Ham freezer packs you see all over the supermarkets – & that were probably wind! –
I caught mums eye & we shared a moment of speculation about when dad had last been inside a supermarket!
Tom said – he was certainly a man who – despite his great success – remained true to his roots. Perhaps it was the contrast offered by the more refined manners of Sir Henry Denham that made the widow look favourably upon his advances. Alas – fate is not sentimental – & within all too short a time Sir Henry was also brought low –
– et by the pigs too? – chimed in David hopefully. Dad gave him a glower. He can say what he wants but he expects his kids to observe the conventions.
– a riding accident – said Tom – & while Daphne Breretons first marriage certainly left her with even more wealth than she brought to it – from her second – it is general knowledge – she derived little more than the respect due to an ancient name –
Pause for applause. Instead – Mary P gave a little gasp – maybe a repressed sneeze – echoed by dads openly incredulous snort.
Parker – unperturbed – went on – She & I – as principal landowners in the area – had already been planning to put Sandytown on the map long before the MYCC proposals. She had led the way by being instrumental in bringing the Avalon Foundation to Sandytown. You have heard of Avalon – of course? –
This time me & dad both nodded. Hardly need to tell you what dad said!
– oh aye – we know all about the Avalon. When I read in the papers – a few years back – the Yanks were building a fancy clinic out on the coast – I said to our Cass – that ud be a grand place for you to work – them Yanks know how to pay nurses & you could get home in an hour – but it were like –
– banging my head against a brick wall! – chorused the twins – then collapsed in giggles.
Dad gave them a glower – & Tom Parker went rattling on.
– Lady Denham & I – in our private discussions – had pre-empted the Councils conclusion that Sandytown was perfectly placed to take advantage of the changes in recreational climate – both meteorologically & intellectually speaking – & formed a loose alliance – & put 1 or 2 projects in train. But now we approached the Councils Development Officer – who was rapidly persuaded by our projections of the increase in local employment – & of tourism – plus our plans for a measure of affordable housing – to join with us in the formation of the Sandytown Development Consortium – a true partnership between the public & private sectors – underpinned – through the good offices of my brother Sidney – by significant investment institutions in the City –
He paused – momentarily lost in the forests of his own verbosity – & his wife came in with a prompt – The Avalon dear – & the healer –
Indeed! – he resumed – the Avalon. The siting of such a famous centre of medical care & recuperation on our doorstep seemed to me a hint almost divine. At the centre of our Development Plan is the conversion of Brereton Manor – Lady Ds childhood home – into a 5 star luxury hotel & recreational health centre. All the conventional attractions – golf – tennis – horseriding – swimming – beauty treatments – saunas – gymnasia – & so on – will be on offer here – & available to all visitors to our town – not just those who can afford the Manors necessarily high prices. However – to place us firmly in the new niche market where Sandytown – I forecast – will rapidly dominate – we are offering a range of complementary therapies for those who find that conventional medicine does not answer their needs –
He paused – for breath not applause – then pressed on – alternative medicine is – you will agree – another great 21st century growth area. We already have several practitioners in residence – an acupuncturist – a reflexologist – a homeopath – a Third Thought counsellor – but spiritual healers are harder to come by. I was hoping to talk to Mr Godley – the gentleman at Willingdene – with a view to persuading him to be – as it were – a visiting consultant –
By now dad had heard enough – indeed too much!
– healers! – he snorted – Load of mumbo-jumbo. Me – Id rather be treated by my vet – even though the bugger charges a fortune –
– then perhaps you should read this article – suggested Parker who seems quite unoffendable – it claims that Mr Godley has had some astonishing results with animals –
A sharp glance from mum made dad choke back his suggestion what Tom could do with the article – but David burst out – Charley thinks its all a load of bollocks too! –
– David! – said mum sternly – Language! –
– but its true – the little gobshite defended himself – You do think its all rubbish – dont you Charley? You were telling us you were going to write a composition about it –
Parker looked at me quizzically – & I said – Ignore him. His ears are bigger than his brain. What he misheard is that Im proposing to do a thesis on the psychology of alternative therapy. The medical establishment says its mostly nonsense – the practitioners point to what they claim are well documented successes. Im not interested in joining in the debate – but in looking at a variety of these therapies – & seeing if I can find any common psychological elements in their practise & their results –
Good – eh? Should be. Parkers not the only one who has a selling line off pat!
Across the table I could see the Headbangers eyes starting to roll & Id hardly finished before he broke out – There you have it Mr Parker. My clever daughters already spent three years with her nose in a pile of musty books – learning a lot of nowt about a lot of nowt just to get some letters after her name – & now she wants to spend another God knows how long doing much the same just to get some more. She can go on till shes got the whole damn alphabet – but wheres it going to lead? thats what Id like to know. Ive tried talking sense into her but its like –
Here he glared at the twins – daring them to finish his sentence again. I think David would have – but Freddie kicked him under the table. Bet she wants to wheedle some more spending money out of him for her school trip this autumn! Since G & me went skiing – she thinks shes owed a month in a 5 star in Miami!
Tom Parker endeared himself to me by saying – But that is marvellous Charlotte – understanding the mind is the first step to restoring the body – we need more young people like you to put this sick world of ours to rights! –
See – you dont have to go shogging
