Page 20 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘Happy that my trespassing has helped,’ Nora said.
Archie laughed. ‘It’s hardly that now.’
‘And the chimney pot. If you give me the measurements, I’m happy to see what I can do.’
‘I can’t ask you to do that,’ Archie said.
‘It’d be a welcome challenge. The clay will cost next to nothing. It’s the least I can do in exchange for my morning swims.’
‘In that case, I accept. Thank you. I’ll jot down the size and pop down one morning.’
‘Lovely,’ said Nora, pleased that he had a reason to come back. ‘I had better go.’ She stood up and gathered her things.
Archie gulped the rest of his tea, stood up next to her, and handed the cup back. ‘Thank you for the unexpected refreshment.’
‘No problem. Perhaps I’d better make extra for next time I see you.’
They faced each other, not more than a footstep between them. Archie shoved his hands in his pockets and began moving from one foot to the other, as if he had something else to say.
‘I look forward to seeing you soon, Nora,’ he said. It sounded slightly formal, and perhaps not exactly what he was hoping to have said. If he was feeling anything like she was, he was hoping the next time they saw each other would be the following day, but Nora didn’t want to assume anything. Perhaps he just had such good manners that he put people at ease. Found it easy to befriend people. And perhaps she had so few friends here she was clinging to the idea of Archie becoming one of them, when really, if she hadn’t been caught in the lake, their paths would never have crossed.
‘Me too, Archie. Bye.’
Later that day, after throwing endless pots on her wheel for the never-ending test firings, Nora finally reached the quota she’d set herself. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stood, stretched, and went in search of Val.
‘I’ve finished,’ she said, as if she was telling her mum she’d finished her homework.
‘Fab. Come on then, let’s get cracking.’
The kiln technician, Neil, helped them carry the pots into the drying room, exchanging them for pots that had been thrown the week before. They needed to dry out for at least a week before firing, so Nora had been throwing for the past seven days to make sure there was an ample supply for all the tests. They’d decorate them like they did with the mass-market lines and sell them as seconds if any of the firings were successful.
They carried the next dry batch downstairs, then Neil and Nora decided on the settings for the first run.
‘Let’s go with the suggested settings for a bisque firing,’ he said. ‘If it goes well, brilliant, and if not, we’ve got something to work on tomorrow.’
Neil sounded hopeful, but they all knew that there were so many variables involved; the thickness of the pots; how many pieces they loaded; whether there was any moisture left in the clay when it went in. And it was hard to control all of those variables at once. But that was what they were trying to do.
‘Can you fix me up with some terracotta clay?’ Nora asked Val while they were grabbing a coffee in the kitchen.
‘What are you dabbling in?’ Val said. They only used porcelain clay in the pottery, both for the production line and for Nora’s bespoke pieces.
‘I want to make a chimney pot.’
‘Oh, times are so desperate that you need to throw your own chimney now?’
Nora laughed. ‘You know Lord Harrington? Archie? He asked me if I could. It’s ridiculous really. All of his have those beautiful twisted, ornate pots and I’m not sure I’m up to that standard, but I fancy having a go.’
‘Funnily enough, we haven’t got any on hand, but I’ll get some added to the next delivery. Look at it as a reward for getting the new kiln sorted out.’
‘Anything that isn’t throwing boring test pots is a reward.’
‘Are you staying tonight?’
Nora sometimes stayed in a local hotel if she had a late finish and an early start, but it wasn’t as far to go home and back as it had been before she moved. And she wanted a swim in the morning.
‘I won’t. There are enough pots for the tests now, so I don’t need to be here first thing. And who knows, the kiln might fire perfectly tonight and I won’t need to worry.’
‘We can but hope. Do you want to get dinner before you go?’ Val asked.
