Although Grania’s hamper would more than feed them – in fact Anna thought she might give some of it to Mattie – they had run out of milk and Anna craved fresh fruit and vegetables, having eaten so much heavy food, so now they were down here, she’d go and see what the village shop had in stock.
She’d been told it was situated out of the main drag of the village and the flood had not affected it. They soon found it on the corner of a short street of mostly little redbrick houses, where there was also a garage and a small hotel – now closed for renovation, thus unable to help those affected by the flood.
When they arrived, they soon realised that being the only working shop not affected by the flood, it had become the meeting point for everyone.
The few people gathered there seemed to know who they were and yet again they were hailed as heroes for standing in for Sidney and Philly.
Mrs Petit and Daughters was painted over the shop. There was no sign of any daughters, but Mrs Petit inspected them quite openly as if they were some new species dropped in from some unknown land, watching them, with interest, buying their milk and a small plant with yellow ball like berries on it to put in Freddie’s flowerpot.
Anna was relieved when Simon turned up in his Land Rover to buy a snack for lunch, and as he was on his way up to the castle again, he offered to drop them back. Anna, who’d planned on going on a longer walk, decided to abandon that and agreed to a lift, feeling it was the only way to escape the mild interrogation that Mrs Petit and some others were putting them through.
She pushed Freddie in the front seat beside Simon and clambered in after him.
‘Don’t you have a dog, like Julius does?’ Freddie asked as Simon turned round and headed back to the castle.
‘I do. But he’s only a puppy and I’ve got to train him before I let him come out with me,’ he said.
‘What kind is he? What’s his name?’ Freddie asked, excited at the mention of a puppy.
‘He’s a terrier, a bit of a mix. I haven’t really decided on a name yet, I’ve only had him a couple of weeks. Perhaps you could think of one.’ He turned to smile at him and Freddie flushed with pleasure.
‘Can I, can I really?’
‘Of course, I’d like you to, as I can’t think of one.’
Anna stared ahead at the road going up to the castle, watching the turrets and slowly the rest of the castle coming into view, feeling strangely warmed by Simon’s comments. They were here barely another three weeks and everyone was going to be very busy helping out with the aftermath of the flood, the New Year and the coming wedding, and surely none of the men were looking to adopt a small boy who wanted a dad for Christmas, let alone his mother who’d just passed her thirty-ninth birthday, she told herself sharply.
‘What colour is he, what does he look like?’ Freddie went on eagerly.
‘You must come and see him, think what name would suit him,’ Simon glanced over at Anna. ‘I’ll be home around five, working on things we’ll need for the coming year on the estate, if you want to pop by.’
‘What sort of things,’ Freddie asked before Anna could answer, ‘Tractors and new Land Rovers?’
‘Thankfully not this year, but some of the fence is down where the Christmas trees were and we need vegetable seeds for the kitchen garden, and we’ve decided to make another flower border on the path going from the castle to the kitchen garden.’ He listed his chores before turning back to Anna. ‘I live just outside the village, but you could come over about six if you’d like. It’s not difficult to find, the second cottage in a row of four, about a mile out of the village, on the side away from the river, a bit further on from Lucy and Colin.’
‘Yes, we’ll come, won’t we, Mum?’ Freddie looked at her eagerly.
‘Well… thanks, if you’re sure we’re not disturbing your work,’ Anna said lamely.
‘Not at all.’ They clattered over the drawbridge and Simon stopped the Land Rover outside the flat. ‘OK, see you about six; you have my mobile if you get lost, but I doubt you will. There’s a huge holly tree just before the cottages and I’m the second one, you’ll see the old lantern hanging by the door, been there forever apparently but it still works.’
‘Look forward to it, thank you.’ Anna got out and reached in for Freddie before he held up Simon with his chatter. Perhaps it would be nice to go to Simon’s cottage. But what if they found Cathie or another person happily living there? Though what business was it of hers? He’d only asked them over so Freddie could choose a name for his puppy, nothing more.
*
Freddie bounced round the kitchen as Anna prepared lunch, throwing out names for Simon’s puppy. ‘What about Lightning, or Dusty?’ he asked.
‘Perhaps we should wait and see what the puppy looks like first,’ Anna advised him, with a laugh.
Her mobile rang and it was Daisy.
What with all that was going on here as well, as thinking no news was good news with Daisy’s love life, Anna had decided to wait until she rang. She braced herself now for her news.
‘Well,’ Daisy gave a great sigh, ‘Andrew’s gay and he brought his partner with him; they are writing a book together.’
‘Oh, Daise, I’m so sorry.’ This was a first; usually they had a wife ‘who didn’t understand them’.
‘I should have thought, but he’s so kind and seemed interested in me and I imagined us having sexy episodes among the Victorian artefacts over Christmas.’ She laughed at herself.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Anna said again, ‘but did you enjoy any of it?’
‘Yes, it was a lovely place and wonderful food, but I thought I’d see how it’s going with you,’ she said.
‘It’s going fine, apart from the flood…’
‘Flood? Where, in the flat?’ Daisy sounded horrified.
‘No, in the village, the river burst its banks, there’s dreadful damage.’ And she went on to elaborate.
‘Oh, Aunt Philly will be devastated, do they know? They’ll probably come back at once,’ Daisy exclaimed.
‘No, various people have thought it better not to tell them and spoil their holiday, after all what can they do being so far away?’ Anna said. ‘Fortunately, it hasn’t affected the castle at all.’
‘Good point, I won’t mention it if I ring them, but how bad is it?’
‘Pretty bad in the village, cottages on the riverside are flooded too badly to live in and the shops in the main street are the same. Some people had to sleep in the castle,’ Anna went on to explain, before saying, ‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out with you and Andrew, are you OK?’
Daisy said, ‘Yes, I’ll get over it, but I thought I might come and stay in the flat if that’s all right with you? I’ll come on my way to my parents in Scotland, I’m going to them for New Year.’
‘OK, that would be great, Freddie would love that, but surely it’s a bit out of your way, isn’t it?’
‘Not really, I’ll be glad of a break after travelling out from London, it takes forever over the Christmas period,’ Daisy said
‘OK, we’d love to see you,’ Anna said, thinking Freddie could come in with her and Daisy could go in his room.
‘Great… have Francy or Grania been in touch?’ Daisy asked nonchalantly.
‘Yes, Grania came over to escape her stepdaughters actually, but she’d barely arrived when James sent them to their mother and she went back.’
‘So, met anyone nice there?’ Daisy asked then.
‘Perfectly nice, I’ve made a good friend with Lucy who owns the cake shop and has a son the same age as Freddie,’ she said, ‘but everyone’s so busy working on the estate and there’s a wedding to cope with.’
‘I’ll see for myself, I’ll come the day after tomorrow around lunchtime. That suit?’
‘Absolutely. Freddie will be thrilled to see you.’
‘And you won’t?’ Daisy teased.
‘Of course I will, but no matchmaking, Daisy, I don’t want to cause embarrassment with anyone here,’ Anna said firmly before she rang off.
‘Daisy can help me choose a name for Simon’s puppy,’ Freddie said as he spun round the kitchen in excitement. ‘Will Francy come too? Then all my godmothers will have been here.’
‘Francy is away skiing, she won’t be back until after the New Year, and Daisy is not coming today,’ Anna said, hoping her friends wouldn’t all gang up together to suss out a dad among the men here for Freddie.
Anna loved her three best friends, but she could feel overwhelmed by them when they were on a mission. They meant well and they’d been so supportive over the years since Gary’s death and helping with Freddie. They could all count on each other in a crisis, but she didn’t want them to interfere with her love life, not that she had one.