reliving all the fun he’d had with Denis at the fete.
‘Am I definitely going to go to Denis’s school?’ he asked. It was hard to tell his true feelings on the subject from his neutral tone.
‘I think so,’ said Beth. ‘I’ll need to speak to the head teacher once the new term starts.’
He needed to go to a school and the village one was the logical answer. She no longer had the income to fund a private education and she couldn’t imagine home-schooling. There was a pause before he answered and Beth held her breath whilst glancing at him in her rear-view mirror. This could go either way, she thought.
‘Okay,’ he said eventually, breaking out into a smile, and Beth started to breathe properly again.
By Monday, Carly was once more feeling like a human being as opposed to a small furry-tongued creature that had been trampled by marauding Vikings. Her weekend had been an utter disaster and it was all her own doing. She knew it wasn’t Fergus’s fault that she had built up the image of the treehouse, although he could have warned her that there wouldn’t be any flushing toilets. Equally he wouldn’t have been aware of the large amount of sheep poo, though the fact that the treehouse was on a working sheep farm might have been a clue. However, the lack of a proposal was definitely down to Fergus. She didn’t know what to do about that.
Going to Dumbleford had not salvaged the weekend as she’d hoped. Beth had abandoned her in a pub when she was feeling glum, so that bit was Beth’s fault. She probably should not have finished the second bottle of wine but it was a long while since she’d been that drunk and she was pretty sure that she hadn’t offended anyone, so no real harm done.
She shrugged off any residual guilt, sipped her black chai tea and perused the paperwork in front of her with interest. She’d been asked to sign at pantomimes before but usually refused as, despite having some experience, there was a lot of preparation required for only a handful of signed performances. But this one was different. This one was at a new theatre in Gloucester and Carly was now familiar with its proximity to Beth and the fact that it was an easy train journey from London. It would mean being away from Fergus for a few nights but perhaps that would do them good? There had only been the briefest of text messages exchanged between them and Carly was apprehensive about his return.
Hopefully, by the time the panto season arrived Beth would have made the cottage liveable and she could stay there and spend some quality time with her friend. She was missing Beth, and an opportunity to stay with her was something to look forward to as long as she could convince Fergus that it was a good idea. Oh yes I can, she thought and chuckled out loud as she folded up the proposition. She’d speak to Fergus about it tonight when he got back from the treehouse. She sighed to herself. She really hoped things were fixable between them.
The following week was a blur of activity for Beth, with workmen to liaise with and sorting out Leo’s new school. The head teacher was thrilled to have another pupil joining them and confirmed that Leo would be in the same class as Denis. His uniform was easily purchased direct from the school too, so a day after term started Leo was walking to the local primary, chatting at high speed to Denis. Petra and Beth followed behind. Beth was grinding her teeth – something she seemed to do whenever she was stressed.
‘Look at him, he’ll be fine,’ Petra said, giving Beth a reassuring look. ‘It’s a nice school. I like that there aren’t many children, it means they get more attention. Boys need a watching eye.’
‘I guess so,’ Beth replied. Seeing him in a new uniform brought home the fact that she had wrenched him away from everything he knew and forced him into this situation, although she had to admit that right now he seemed fine about the change. Beth knew that as soon as the cottage was finished she would be looking to move, so this new school situation, and the feelings that accompanied it, would be a recurring state of affairs and another wave of guilt engulfed her.
The builder, Kyle, was on site with two colleagues and they got to work alongside a small weasel-like man who was the electrician. Beth was impressed by the amount the four of them could get accomplished as she battled on her own with the triffid-like plant that had been hell-bent on taking over the kitchen.
Kyle had explained that they were going to do their best to reproduce the original lath and plaster ceilings with modern materials. But they were leaving out the horsehair; Beth had wholeheartedly agreed with that as it just seemed a very bad idea to put any part of a horse in anything. She was also quite keen to get a smooth finish and she hated it when a hair from a paintbrush became immortalized in a painted surface, let alone lots of them.
There had been a steady stream of boards carried into the living room and upstairs, and repeated banging whilst they were nailed into place before it went eerily quiet and the plastering commenced. Beth had poked her head around the living-room door a couple of times and each time she could see a vast improvement from before. She was so pleased to see that they had protected the large beam over the fireplace with sheeting. She loved the look of the old beam – it was a real feature in the room. For a moment, she could imagine her own knick-knacks and photographs on it above a roaring log fire but she dispelled the image quickly as Willow Cottage was meant to be a project. Getting sentimentally attached to it was a very bad idea.
When Beth checked her watch, it was time for school pick-up and she wondered how all the hours had dissolved so quickly. She washed her hands and looked at the stubborn plant stump that was still poking its way through the window frame. She wouldn’t be beaten by it; she’d hack at it from the other side when she got back.
Beth met Leo with more than a little trepidation but she needn’t have worried. Apart from handing her his rucksack with a muffled ‘Hiya,’ he barely acknowledged his mother as he was far too busy discussing football with Denis and two other boys.
Petra gave her a knowing nod. ‘What is it you say in this country? I told you so.’
September proved to be a beautiful month as the daytime hours got noticeably shorter and the colours changed around the village. The village green’s trees put on a vivid display as they took on their autumn hues, with the rich bronze of the large beech trees and the deep red shades of the ash and rowan being Beth’s favourites. The last of the ducklings were just distinguishable from their parents and were now glad of a feed midweek, as the tourists only seemed to appear at weekends. The morning skies were almost lavender, and although there was more cloud about, it was still comfortingly warm.
The school did a brilliant job of putting on the harvest festival, which was very well attended by the villagers and which Leo loved taking part in. He had one line to remember which he delivered perfectly, much to his delight and Beth’s relief. She noticed that Jack gave him a big thumbs-up when he came offstage too.
Beth was working on the cottage every day. She was up before Leo and could easily get an hour in before he stirred. Thanks to the electrician, the entire cottage was rewired and totally safe, so despite still sleeping in the tent, the introduction of a fridge/freezer, microwave, kettle and toaster had improved things greatly. All the new appliances were residing in the hallway whilst Beth tackled the kitchen, making a little progress each day.
By the end of the month, Kyle had finished all the essentials, so Beth now had two new ceilings, a new bedroom floor, a leak-free roof, and a damp course. She had been making progress herself – the whole house had been scrubbed and bleached to within a dust speck of its very existence and she was now making inroads on the kitchen, having banished the creeping plant. In
