Page 39 of Rough Around the Hedges

I looked in its direction and smiled. “What I do best. Cause complete chaos and make the new duke’s life a living nightmare.”

“Someone call Shaun and Isadora. Maybe we should raise her bail money instead!”

“Very funny, Uncle Dean,” I said, glaring at my mum’s brother. “What we need to do is exercise our legal right toprotest. If that inconveniences the lord in the big fancy house, then so be it. We still have a chance to change his mind. The duke and the developer haven’t exchanged contracts yet due to business reasons on the developer’s side, and it doesn’t seem as though it’s going to happen within our notice period. If we can make enough noise and get enough eyes on our cause, then we might be able to do something. Our goal is to save the allotments, whether it be at the same site or a new one.”

Colin stepped up beside me and motioned for the mic. “Just to be clear, that when Rose says we will be exercising our legal right to protest, she meanspeacefulprotests.”

I shook my head.

He might. I didn’t. Peaceful was not a word I understood.

“Rose,” he warned, glaring up at me. “We must toe the line of the law. We must show the new dukewhythe allotments are so important to the community and our village. As important as making noise is, we must show him why we care so much. With that said, Leah has a table set up to our right.” He pointed towards her. “If you would be willing to be interviewed by a journalist, please fill out the forms with your contact details. Paula is next to her taking interest for a pop-up market at the allotments during the summer in a few weeks to sell our fresh produce. We must work together in order to keep Rose under control.”

“Hey!” I protested. “You think peaceful protests get people’s attention? No. Nobody cares about people holding placards wandering down the high street. You know what people want in their protests? Chaos! Passion! Football hooligan chants!”

“Yes, and I will leave the chaos to you. Don’t drag these poor, innocent gardeners into it.”

“Oh, Colin, you’re no fun.” I swiped back the mic. “If you have any other ideas for fundraising or to help us raise awareness, you can grab any one of the committee members when you see us. I know it’s counter-productive to ask that any ideas are run through us first, but anything you do will reflect on us as the authority.”

“What about whatyoudo, Rose?” Uncle Dean shouted.

“I’m already the resident weirdo. What I do reflects on me and me alone.” I laughed. “Like Colin said, please see Paula and Leah to sign up for the pop-up market and to consent to interviews. I won’t keep you any longer but thank you all for coming tonight. I know what the allotment means to you all, so please know that we will do everything we can to preserve this space for our community.”

With that, I ended the meeting and jumped off the chair with Colin’s help.

My night didn’t end so quickly, though. As I’d expected, we committee members were harangued by the numerous plot holders who all had their individual questions. Some were things I’d already covered, and by the time we’d cleared the hall out, I’d repeated myself so many times that my throat was scratchy.

All in all, the meeting took far longer than we’d intended, thanks to those who stayed behind to discuss the whole situation with us.

We finally managed to escape at a little past ten, and I got into my mum’s car to drive home. A full day of work, checking my plot, and then all of this had me absolutely shattered and completely starving, so I rushed home, almost crawling through the door when I arrived.

“I made soup,” Mum said the second I stepped inside. “It’s warm in the slow cooker.”

“I love you so much,” I replied, yanking off my shoes. “You’re the best mum ever.”

“Mm. Hang up my keys. Last time you used my car, I found them in the bathroom sink.”

I hung them up before I forgot and yawned. “Done.”

“Did you eat dinner?”

“When did I have time for that?” I looked through the door at her. “I only just managed to escape the clutches of some very furious gardeners.”

Mum sighed. “I knew it. What have I told you about making sure you eat properly? You do a physical job, you have a physical hobby, and you’re going to overexert yourself if you don’t get proper nutrition. I didn’t hand the business over to you just for you to collapse midway through trimming a hedge, you know.”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Now sit down, and I’ll bring you some soup.”

“Yes, Mother.” I dutifully trotted into the living room and sank down onto the sofa. It was no good arguing with the woman. It was impossible at the best of times, and she’d most definitely stayed up late to welcome me home.

The least I could do was do as I was told.

“Here.” She handed me a tray with a steaming bowl of her vegetable soup and several slices of crusty bread on the side. “Eat this. I used your early potatoes.”

Yum.

“How did it go?” Mum asked when I’d shovelled down half of the food.

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