Page 8 of A Helpin g Hand for the Village Nurse

‘Book club and film club? Thimblebury is already starting to sound like my sort of place. I’d love to.’

‘A new member! Geoff will be so pleased; we haven’t had a new member since…well, since me probably. We have a Facebook group where you can see what we’re planning to show this month and you can make suggestions of your own if there’s something you really want to watch. We don’t put anything smutty on – Florence doesn’t like that – and no gory stuff, because Geoff’s not keen, but other than that we’re all fairly open-minded.’

‘Sounds good – I’ll look you up when I get home.’

Magnus clapped his hands together looking very pleased with himself. Clearly he thought Ottilie’s recruitment to the film club was something of a coup. ‘And don’t forget there’s book club too if you’d like to join that.’

‘I’ll have to see how much time I have to read. It’s far easier to spare an hour or so for a film than a week for a book. It might be that comes when I’ve settled in a bit and I know what my work schedule will be like. It does sound lovely, though and I will try. Who knew so much was going on in one tiny village?’

‘Oh there’s loads. We have a bunch of lake swimmers – I mean, why wouldn’t we when we have so many beautiful lakes on the doorstep? Rani runs a cookery night once a month where she shows you how to make something or other – Geoff does that one, but I don’t because I’m a terrible cook and there’s really no hope for me. There’s yoga and Zumba at the village hall. We used to have a mum and baby group, but sadly that’s had to wind up.’

‘Oh…?’ Ottilie looked up from a block of cheese she was inspecting. ‘Why’s that?’

‘Gwen – our old nurse – used to run it but she’s gone now and nobody else has the time.’

‘Hmm…seems like a thing you’d need though. Were there many mums using it?’

‘Maybe a dozen. Some travelled in from neighbouring villages. Used to run every Tuesday morning.’

Ottilie was thoughtful for a moment. She couldn’t promise to be free every Tuesday to take on a new group herself; she couldn’t guarantee she’d be free once a week without fail because her nursing duties would eat into her time and there would undoubtedly be emergencies to attend, but perhaps she could organise a new group and get someone else to deputise for her when she couldn’t make it. After all, Gwen seemed to make it work and she had nursing duties too. Perhaps Ottilie would ask Dr Cheadle about it. A parent and child group seemed like a very important thing to have in a place this remote.

She’d seen many patients during her career, and often the thing they needed as much as care for their physical health was consideration of their mental well-being. Becoming a parent could be isolating and even a once-a-week place to go and chat to others who understood the pressures was often a lifesaver. Out of all the clubs and societies that Thimblebury seemed to have, that one felt like the one they couldn’t afford to lose.

‘I’ll have to see what I can do about that,’ she said, more to herself than to Magnus.

‘People would definitely use it. Especially as we’ve got a couple of youngsters in the village ready to give birth any time now. Of course, when I say youngsters, I mean they’re younger than me, which could be anything under the age of fifty.’

Ottilie smiled. ‘I’m sure I’ll meet them at some point then.’

‘I’m sure you will. In fact, Geoff’s niece is about to pop.’ Magnus lowered his voice and cast a wary glance around the shop, despite it being empty apart from the two of them, as if he was about to share something scandalous. ‘Not quite eighteen yet. Poor thing got caught out by a proper scally on his holidays. He’s skipped off back to Lancashire and left her quite literally holding the baby. At least, when it comes she will be.’

‘Ah. Who’s that? Should I go and visit her?’

‘I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you called to say hello. Stacey – that’s Geoff’s sister – lives at Watersmeet Cottage. She’s still got Chloe at home with her so she’ll be easy enough to find.’

‘Chloe is her daughter? So that’s who’s pregnant?’

Magnus nodded.

‘Right,’ Ottilie replied thoughtfully. ‘I expect she’s already under the care of a midwife, but I don’t think it hurts for her to have a second point of contact, just in case she needs it. If you think it’s all right, I’ll pop over later. Perhaps you’d give them a call for me to warn them I might visit, if you don’t mind. Nobody wants a random stranger turning up on their doorstep.’

‘Not at all, though Stacey won’t mind. She’s very sociable and a bit lonely, quite honestly. Her husband left her for another woman when Chloe was eight, and she finds it very hard to be single.’

Ottilie nodded. Although Stacey’s situation was clearly a source of sadness, at least it would be common ground between them. And she didn’t doubt that she’d come across more stories like theirs, and it would be good for her to be faced with the knowledge that she wasn’t alone in loneliness or grief, and that people everywhere were living their lives through those hardships. Anything that could shake Ottilie out of her self-pity had to be good for her.

She paused. Magnus seemed to know a lot about the village and was keen to share. Perhaps he’d be a mine of information, and it never hurt to be armed with some foreknowledge. But perhaps it wasn’t very professional of her to dig for personal information about people she’d potentially be treating at some point. Foreknowledge could be useful, but it could also create prejudice and she certainly didn’t want to be guilty of judging someone before she’d even had a chance to get to know them.

‘So that’s the film and book clubs I’ve got to look out for, yoga and lake swimming if I fancy them, and a playgroup to organise. Well that ought to keep me busy enough! I’m so glad I came in for milk!’

Magnus tapped the side of his nose with a cheeky grin. ‘You’ll always get more than you came in for here. Whatever you need to know about anyone or anything usually comes through this shop eventually. Geoff says I’m a terrible gossip, but I make no apologies for it.’

‘Well, like I was saying to someone yesterday, how do you find out about anything unless you ask?’

‘Hmm. So what secrets do I need to know about you?’

‘Oh, there’s nothing. I’ve led a very boring life.’

‘I don’t believe that for a minute. Nobody – even the people who think they have – have led boring lives. Everyone’s got a story.’

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