Page 65 of The Village Midwife
‘I’ve come to see how Billie is,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t be crashing your party over on the fields.’
‘She’s still in bed. If I’d known you were coming, I’d have got her up.’
‘But she’s all right?’ Zoe asked pointedly and was satisfied that his response was relaxed enough.
‘Better, actually. Whatever you said to her seems to have had some effect. She said she was tired last night and went to bed early, but she wasn’t ill or anything, so I thought better to let her sleep as long as she needs.’
‘I think that’s probably the best idea.’ Zoe smiled up at Victor, patting Grizzle, who’d diverted his attention to her, absently. ‘I reckon I’ll get back then. Thanks for taking me to visit the girls.’
‘Girls?’ Alex looked from one to the other with interest.
‘My herd,’ Victor said. ‘They’re all girls, see.’
‘Ah, right. You know, I think I must be the only person around here not to have met them yet.’
‘That’s easily remedied,’ Victor said. ‘Say the word and I’ll happily take you over. Your lass too.’
‘Oh, I don’t think Billie should go,’ Zoe cut in. ‘Sorry,’ she added at Victor’s look of vague confusion. ‘It’s a germ thing…She’s pregnant, and she needs to be careful around livestock.’
‘Fair enough,’ he said with a shrug. ‘In a few months then.’
‘Sorry,’ Zoe said again, but Victor simply shrugged off the apology.
‘Not to worry. So what are you going to do with your morning now? Corrine’s home if you want some company.’
‘I don’t want to keep bothering her; I’m sure she’s got lots to do. I expect I’ll clean the house or something. I was meant to do that anyway.’
Alex glanced at Victor with raised eyebrows. ‘Couldn’t we use an assistant? If you wanted to come over to the pod site with us,’ he added, turning to Zoe. ‘It might not be very exciting if we don’t find anything, but you seemed interested the other day, and I don’t mind you tagging along if Victor doesn’t.’
‘Of course not – you’re more than welcome,’ Victor said with a smile that Zoe could have sworn was a bit too knowing.
‘All right,’ she said after running every alternative scenario rapidly through her head and deciding that poking about on Alex’s land looking for treasure sounded far more fun. ‘I’ve already got my wellies on, so I’m ready to go when you are. If you’re sure I won’t be in the way.’
Alex called Grizzle over, opened the front door, ushered him inside and then shut it again. ‘He’d end up eating whatever we found, daft dog,’ he said before going over to a collection of tools standing next to his shovel and pulling a mud-splattered metal detector out. ‘There you go – you can be in charge of this.’
Zoe grinned as she took it. ‘You mean I get to do the beep-beeping?’
‘Why not? You’ve probably got more patience than me with it, if I’m honest. I think most people would have.’
‘I don’t know about that, but I’ll have a go.’
‘Right then. You take that and I’ll grab the other tools.’
‘Can you manage everything?’ Victor asked. ‘I can get the Land Rover if we need it.’
‘I’ve got it,’ Alex said, collecting his equipment. ‘No need to go all that way.’
‘I can carry something else,’ Zoe said, which made Alex grin and hand her a trowel.
‘There you go.’
‘Why does everyone think I’m a weakling?’ Zoe huffed but only pretending to be annoyed.
‘Because you’re…and I realise this might not be a very feminist thing to say, but I think the word ispetite,’ Alex said, making Victor laugh again.
‘I think the word you want isBorrower,’ Victor said, still laughing, and then Zoe had to laugh too. She’d heard all the jokes before, but told in the right way by the right person, they were still funny, even to her.
As they walked towards the site of Alex’s intended camping field, Victor whistled so loudly it seemed to bounce from the hillsides. Alex was in a good mood – Zoe considered that it might be the most cheerful she’d ever seen him. Perhaps the fresh air made him happy too, or perhaps it was a sense of anticipation at what they might find. Or maybe it was the company, which was certainly doing a lot to improve Zoe’s mood too. Digging about in a muddy field looking for ancient odds and ends wasn’t what she’d imagined she’d be doing with her Saturday off, but it had come as a welcome surprise. And wasn’t life full of little moments like this: unexpected, totally out-of-the-blue pleasures? Wasn’t that how it ought to be?
