Page 74 of The Garden of Forgotten Wishes
We worked in happy and mostly silent amity until the sun dipped below the encircling hills and, as Shakespeare didn’t quite phrase it, all the birds bogged off back to the rooky woods for the night.
Ned’s spade stopped moving suddenly and he exclaimed: ‘It’s Tuesday!’
‘Is it really? You amaze me,’ I said. ‘You’ll be telling me next that it’s April.’
‘No, I meant, if it’s Tuesday, then it’s the Friends of Jericho’s End meeting in the Village Hut at seven.’
I checked my slightly earthy watch. ‘You’ve still got enough time to clean yourself up and eat something, first.’
‘I do if I get a bit of a shift on. You should come, too,’ he suggested. ‘I’m surprised Elf hasn’t already roped you in.’
‘I think she did mention the meetings, but I’ve only just got here, so I’ve hardly been absorbed into the community yet.’
‘The quiz was a good start – everyone knows who you are now – and Elf’s always looking for new blood.’
‘So it’s a society of vampires?’
‘Ho, ho,’ he said. ‘Nothing so exciting. It’s run by Elf and Gerald and they arrange the regular events, like the Annual Fête, the Christmas pantomime and the Easter egg hunt, which is the next thing coming up. There are occasional litter-picking days, too, when most of the village turns out.’
‘That doesn’t sound too taxing. What other things do they do there?’ I asked, curiously.
‘Well, there’s the book group once a month, and occasional talks, and a jumble sale. Oh, and a mother and toddler group meets one morning a week.’
‘I was wrong, it’s a positive riot of dissipation. When do you have the Easter egg hunt?’
‘Sunday morning at eleven, but the Easter Bunny goes out early and leaves chocolate eggs under all the bushes in the ground round the Hut. In fact, you canbethe Easter Bunny, if you like.’
‘No thank you, I’ve never fancied the floppy ears and fluffy tail look. Anyway, I’ll be working.’
‘It’s a Sunday,’ he pointed out. ‘You don’t have to.’
‘Don’t be daft. Like today, I’ll be there whether you pay me or not.We’ll need to do a lot of our work in the mornings in future, too, once we open to the public, won’t we?’
‘It would certainly be easier to trundle barrows up and down and that kind of thing without the visitors on the paths,’ Ned agreed. ‘And thanks – but I’ll pay you for any overtime.’
‘How about I give you my time free this Sunday and we see how busy the garden is and whether an extra pair of hands is needed?’
‘OK – thanks. Though actually, it’s amazing how much work you’ve already done. You just set to and get on with it, like I do, without being told. It’s almost as good as having two ofme.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ I said. ‘Hadn’t you better get going, if you don’t want to miss the meeting?’
As we headed back to put our tools away, I asked curiously, ‘Who else goes to these Friends meetings besides you, Elf and Gerald?’
‘Sometimes Myfy and Jacob … and Gert, James and Steve, of course. The vicar, if she can make it …’ He frowned. ‘I’ve missed someone out … Oh, yes, Cress comes, too. The first Lordly-Grace to take any interest in village affairs for centuries.’
‘That sounds almost irresistible, but I think I’ll pass,’ I told him.
But then, not five minutes later, Elf accosted me as I made for the stairs to the flat and, after thrusting a box of blueberry ice-cream into my still somewhat grubby hands, insisted I join them at the FOJE meeting that evening.
‘We need more young blood.’
‘Yes, Ned said much the same – but I’m notthatyoung,’ I protested, but she simply smiled and said she’d see me there at seven, and it would be fun.
And you know, itwasfun, even if I did somehow find myself agreeing to don a fluffy all-in-one rabbit suit and hide the chocolate eggs on Sunday.
I woke next morning after a nightmare in which I was buried in a strangely warm avalanche, only to find Caspar lying on my chest with his head tucked under my chin. He is one heavy cat, but when I pushedhim off, he seemed to take it as a gesture of affection and just lay there next to me with his paws in the air, purring loudly.
It was not quite light yet and I lay there thinking about yesterday and especially the Friends of Jericho’s End meeting.
