Page 69 of The Garden of Forgotten Wishes
‘Yes, and he’d have had the rake, too, if he wasn’t too thick to realize the head of it wouldn’t fit through the railings.’
‘Nothing’s safe,’ he said. ‘Did James tell you I found him in the stables very early this morning?’
I nodded. ‘I suppose he was up to no good there, as well.’
‘He had an excuse, but it wasn’t a good one.’ He looked at me, amber eyes serious. ‘What was he saying to you earlier? I hope he wasn’t making a nuisance of himself again?’
‘Not really. He’s got hold of a copy of Elf’s book, because someone told him his family was mentioned in it, but he seemed more interested in the chapter about hidden treasure. He’s got a metal detector. I must tell Treena to warn Luke, in case he tries to use it at the dig site.’
‘He’ll be sorry if he does, because Steve’s sheepdog will bark his headoff if he hears anything at night, and if he’s let out, Wayne will be sporting a set of toothmarks up his legs for weeks.’
‘He asked me if I thought your pirate ancestor had really hidden treasure here and I told him no, because if he had it would have been found.’
‘He’d better not try digging up my garden!’
‘He won’t. I reminded him the Grace Garden wasn’t there until long after Nathaniel, so if there had been anything there before, it would have been found.’
Then something connected in my head and I said, ‘That old sundial with the galleon in the middle – the words round the edge mention golden bars, though of course they meant sunshine. But perhaps someone reading that got the wrong idea and it started the rumour?’
‘It’s surprising how little it takes sometimes, so you could be right. But it’s probably just wishful thinking – though I could really use a chestful of pirate treasure right now!’
He went to change, leaving a gleaming white bench and a trail of soapy water behind him. He and James were going to sort out all the new signs next and start putting them up.
Later, they came in and cemented one in the rose garden, while I was packing up my tools and gathering the full bags of prunings together: River Walk time, again.
‘Just leave all that,’ Ned said. ‘We’ll put it away. You’ve done enough for one day.’
‘I am a bit stiff, but nothing a hot shower won’t fix,’ I agreed.
‘Never mind, you’ve got all tomorrow to recover.’
I stared at him: ‘You only have three more days before the garden opens! You can’t possibly think I’m going to take all tomorrow off.’
‘Nor Gert and me – and Steve says he’ll be round when he can, between jobs.’
Ned looked taken aback. ‘But—’
‘Nor do we want paying. We’re a team effort, aren’t we, young Marnie?’
I liked being called ‘young’; it reminded me that I still was. ‘We certainly are,’ I agreed.
‘Well … thank you,’ he said. ‘Marnie, I could do with some help in the office first thing, if you wouldn’t mind – and then perhaps we’d better finally go and distribute the leaflets everywhere we can think of. Or maybe Charlie could? His sister, Daisy’s, taken over helping in the café now it’s her school holidays and he said earlier he could give me a hand with anything I wanted doing, before he starts on that dig.’
‘What about the expense?’ I teased him.
‘Charlie’s coming cheap, as long as he gets cash in hand,’ he said. ‘I wonder what he’s like at putting wooden walkways and bridges together?’
‘They’re all brought up on Lego; it’ll be a doddle,’ I told him.
21
Flower Power
For the next few days I knew I’d have to devote myself to the Grace Garden, so I spent a quiet early morning hour trimming the remaining lavender bushes into pleasant hummocks, ready for the new growth later in the year. One of the bushes had been half-pruned into a sort of Mohican, presumably by Myfy before inspiration made her wander off again.
Ned wasn’t expecting me for a little while yet. He’d rung me briefly the previous night to make sure I reallydidwant to work today. He’d had another word with Gertie, James and Steve, too, and in the end persuaded them to take the day off, in order to prepare themselves for a very busy two days getting the garden as ready as possible for the opening – and all the visitors we hoped would come over Easter weekend.
Of course, I’d given my new, permanent mobile number to Elf and Myfy as well as Ned, since they were my employers … though after the Paranoid Years it felt odd that anyone other than my family and my solicitor should know it.
