Page 39 of The Village Midwife
‘But you—’ Zoe began.
Corrine cut across her, a shrewd smile on her lips. ‘You want something to do?’
‘I’m looking for a job, yeah.’
‘And I still say nobody will hire you right now,’ Alex insisted. ‘You’ve only got about…how many months?’
Billie rolled her eyes. ‘I’m nineteen weeks.’
‘We could use some help over at Daffodil Farm,’ Corrine continued. ‘We wouldn’t be able to pay much, but you might enjoy it.’
‘What would it be?’
‘We could do with some help with the alpaca. Grooming, washing, feeding them…that sort of thing.’
Zoe had serious reservations about that plan: not only did it sound strenuous, but she would absolutely advise any woman in her care to be cautious around farm animals. She wondered whether to intervene and say so, but then realised that, based on what she knew of Corrine, her neighbour would already have considered that. She was sure Corrine had made this job up on the spot – because it was the first time she’d said anything about wanting help – and that she’d ensure they only gave Billie easy and safe tasks to do.
‘No, thanks,’ Billie said. ‘Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, but I want something more than a bit of Saturday work.’
‘Billie…’ Alex said, a note of warning in his voice. ‘Hear Corrine out. You don’t know that it’s Saturday work.’
‘It’s the kind of thing you’d offer a fifteen-year-old after school,’ she said and then turned to Corrine. ‘No offence.’
‘None taken, sweetheart. Think about it,’ Corrine said. ‘Let us know. Like I said, we’d pay you.’
‘It’s a kind offer,’ Alex said.
‘What’s that?’ Billie nodded at the foil-covered dish on the table.
‘Your dinner,’ Alex said with a smile. ‘Also courtesy of Corrine.’
‘Oh.’ She glanced at Corrine. ‘What is it?’
‘Chicken and leek pie.’
‘Right. I don’t know if I’ll eat much, but it sounds nice. Thanks.’
‘Billie,’ Alex began carefully, ‘Corrine has gone to a lot of trouble to?—’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Billie cut in. ‘I said thanks.I mean…’ She turned back to Corrine. ‘What I meant was my appetite is weird right now. It looks good, and I’ll try.’
‘You don’t have to explain to me,’ Corrine said with a reassuring smile. ‘I’m old, but I still remember what it was like to be pregnant.’
‘While I’ve got you both,’ Alex began and went to search through a drawer, ‘I wonder if I could ask you about these?’
He came back to the table and let some tiny pieces of metal clatter onto it.
‘What are they?’ Zoe picked one up and turned it over in her fingers, studying it closely.
‘I think they look like they might be arrowheads or something. Old anyway. I found quite a few when I was digging foundations on the fields today. Is there a lot of that kind of thing around here? I hardly think of the Lake District when I think about archaeology. Not that I think about archaeology on the regular or anything.’
‘I couldn’t say.’ Corrine took one into her hands and examined it. ‘Quite a few years ago, someone found a great load of Bronze Age bits in a burial mound. I think that was closer to Keswick. It would make sense that if people lived there, then they probably lived hereabouts too. Is this all of them?’
‘I don’t know. I’m surprised Ann and her husband didn’t find anything like this when they were farming the land. These weren’t buried all that deep.’
‘I doubt they were looking so close,’ Corrine said. ‘And quite honestly they’d have ignored it – wouldn’t want anything disrupting their work. Having a load of archaeologists traipsing up and down would do that, all right.’
Alex nodded and collected the pieces up again. ‘I have to say, I’m curious to see if there are more. There’s still a kid in me that would love to find something bigger still.’
