Chapter 4
Letting the glass door of the large visitor centre positioned on the edge of Meadowfield Nature Reserve close behind her, Polly slipped off her coat and pulled at the hem of her pale blue shirt.
She hadn’t known what to wear. As a volunteer, she’d always rocked up in jeans and an old jumper, but now she was an employee she wanted to make the right impression.
Polly looked around. The vast foyer was largely unused by the looks of things, more a sad corridor leading to the cluster of visitor toilets at the far end.
Someone had tacked tired-looking photographs of the reserve to the walls a couple of feet apart, the curling edges of the information guides beneath told dreary stories of its history.
It didn’t look particularly engaging to her, someone who was interested in conservation, so she could only hazard a guess that the normal day-to-day visitor strode right past, ignoring them at best and not even noticing them at worst, on their way to relieve themselves after the picnic lunch they’d brought with them.
Or maybe not. She glanced back out of the large windows surrounding the double doors as rain lashed against the glass. There’d be no picnics here for a while. Not with this weather.
Looking around, she noticed two doors leading off the foyer, one labelled ‘classroom’, the other ‘offices’.
That’s where she’d be going, then. To the offices.
Now she was here, all the excitement which had been building up to this day had suddenly disappeared and instead been replaced with cold fear.
What if she didn’t fit in? She wasn’t local, after all. What if her new colleagues didn’t believe she could do a decent job because she didn’t know the area? Being local would definitely be an advantage in a role like this.
Or what if they just didn’t think she was likeable?
Even Stacey had once admitted it had taken a while to warm to her.
Polly had tried hard over the years to be more assertive, less shy, but she knew she still had a long way to go.
She knew people still came to the conclusion that she was stand-offish, even though that was the furthest from the truth.
Apart from with Stacey and a handful of old school friends, she’d never felt anything like confident with her peers.
Turning back towards the door, she took a deep breath, hoping the sight of the trees circling the car park, the rain and the general ambience of the nature reserve would go some way to steadying her nerves.
Today was a big deal. She couldn’t pretend it wasn’t.
After all, if her new colleagues didn’t like her, didn’t gel with her, or came to the conclusion that she was incompetent, then the promotion might just be less of a given than Mr Bob had promised her.
But she was here now. She was on the first step of her new journey, and she was damn well going to do her best to make a good impression.
Fixing a smile to her face, Polly turned back around and made her way towards the office door before rapping her knuckles against the wood.
‘Hello?’ A man sporting a dark green short-sleeved polo shirt despite the chill in the air, a brush of a white beard and the greenest eyes she’d ever seen pulled the door open and stood in the doorway, his large frame almost reaching from one side of the doorframe to the other.
‘Hi, Declan, is it? I’m Polly Burrows, I’m your new recruit.
’ Trying to feign an air of confidence, Polly stuck her hand out, grateful when the older man took it.
At least he was wearing a name badge with his title of project manager written beneath.
It was a good start that she didn’t have to flounder and try to work out if he was her new boss or not. He was.
‘Polly! Fantastic to meet you! Come on through. We’re all excited to have you join our small team. We’re small but mighty, ay?’ After closing the door again, Declan held his arms out wide to encompass the room, the one person sitting at her desk turning and grinning at him.
‘Oh yes. We are. Or that’s what we tell ourselves.’ Pushing her wheeled chair back, a woman with jet-black hair stood up and walked towards them. ‘Hi, Polly. I’m Vicki. I’m the program assistant around here, so any admin jobs you need doing, just shout.’
‘Great, thanks.’ Shaking Vicki’s hand, Polly frowned as something bubbled beneath the sleeve of the woman’s dark green sweatshirt. ‘Have you got something in your sleeve? It’s moving.’
‘Haha, that’ll be Rolo.’ Vicki held open the cuff of her sleeve as a small, brown rat poked his nose out.
‘It’s a rat!’ Polly swallowed. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it definitely hadn’t been that.
‘Vicki here volunteers at a wildlife rescue centre in her spare time. Not sure how she does it, but she’s always bringing in some sort of creature or another, aren’t you, Vicki?’ Declan gently stroked the rat’s nose before it disappeared back up her sleeve.
‘I do. This little one is only a baby. He was abandoned by his mother, so he’s being hand-reared.’ Vicki laughed as Rolo continued to make his way up her arm before peeping out of her collar. ‘He’s such a sweet character.’
‘That’s what you say about all the waifs and strays you bring in,’ Declan chided.
‘Well, they are.’ Vicki shrugged before turning back to Polly and flicked her hair dramatically as she grinned. ‘As I said, I’m Queen of the Admin, although there is only one of me for the entire team, but I’ll do my best to support you where I can.’
‘Great, thanks.’ Polly smiled as Vicki turned and flourished her arm towards her desk in the corner, an array of photographs of various animals crammed across the surface, with minimal space left for her laptop, which peeped amongst the clusters of frames.
Turning back, Vicki pointed towards two empty desks sitting side by side at the far end of the large room.
‘Over there are Dennis and Art. They’re out at the moment, but Art is the outreach and education officer and David the community engagement officer.
They’ll be back at lunch, so you’ll catch them then. ’
Polly blinked. Had she heard that right?
Had Vicki said Art was the outreach and education officer?
Did that mean there were going to be two of them?
She’d been told her job was to fill a gap and, given the nature reserve wasn’t particularly large, she’d assumed she’d be the only one.
Unless Art was here to show her the ropes and would then be leaving? Yes, that seemed likely.
‘The ranger, Harold, will be pottering about somewhere,’ Vicki continued, not once letting her cheery smile slip.
‘Sorry, can I just check that you said Art was an outreach and education officer?’ Polly glanced back towards the desks at the far end of the office as if half expecting him to appear on command.
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Vicki nodded before leading the way towards the other end of the office, where two more empty desks sat. ‘And this is your desk right here. Well, either of them, to be honest. You’re the first newbie to arrive so you can have first dibs.’
Polly glanced between the two empty desks and Art’s desk. Wouldn’t it make more sense for her and Art to sit together? It seemed slightly daft to have the two of them located at opposite ends of the office if he was going to be training her up.
‘Which would you like? I’d choose quickly if I were you, your colleague might arrive at any point and then you’ll be left with no choice.’ Vicki laughed, her delicate voice taking on the sound of a hyena.
‘Oh, umm.’ Polly shrugged before placing her handbag on the desk closest to where she was standing.
Both desks were centred in the middle of a large window overlooking the nature reserve, although it looked as though the view from the other desk would be hindered slightly by a large shed-like structure.
She felt a little bad for taking the desk with the best view, but she figured she’d worked long and hard for this opportunity and given up a ton of stuff too.
Besides, as Vicki had said, she was here first.
‘Good choice.’ Vicki grinned before pointing towards an open door revealing a small kitchen leading off from the end of the office. ‘I’ll let you get settled in. Would you like a coffee?’
‘Oh, I’d love one, please.’ Polly smiled. She wasn’t too sure she actually had room for a drink after the delicious breakfast of cinnamon-sprinkled French toast and filter coffee she’d enjoyed at the inn this morning, but she didn’t want to offend her new colleague.
‘Great. I’m parched. I ran out of the door without even attempting to make one this morning. Milk? Sugar?’
‘Milk, one sugar, please.’
‘Coming right up.’ Vicki began to walk towards the kitchen before calling back over her shoulder. ‘Declan, you want a cuppa?’
As he answered, Polly wheeled her chair out from beneath the desk before sitting down. Swinging it gently from side to side, she grinned. She could get used to this comfort. It certainly beat sitting on hard miniature plastic chairs in the classroom.
Pulling herself towards her desk, she rested her elbows on the pine surface and cupped her chin in her hands.
The view was stunning. From here she could see a narrow gravel pathway winding its way towards a little bridge over a stream to lead the way into the midst of the nature reserve.
Trees hugged the pathway, birds fluttering from branch to branch as though on some secret mission or other.
Perfect. It may have taken five years of dedication, five years of juggling teaching with volunteering, but it had been worth it. She was out of the classroom but still able to work in her field of expertise and passion – teaching. What could be more perfect than mixing educating with nature?
Yep. She had her dream job – outreach and education officer.
She might be new to the nature reserve and Meadowfield itself, but she wasn’t new to her position and what would be expected of her, she’d volunteered for five years assisting in the role.
She could do this, and she couldn’t wait to get started.
Tearing her eyes from the idyllic view, she began to unpack her tote bag.
She hadn’t really known what would be provided and what wouldn’t, so she’d bought a new notebook and pen set for the occasion, just to have something she could take notes in before getting to grips with where stock was kept and before she got the laptop the trust would provide.
She’d also brought the photo frame holding an image of her and her grandparents.
The one which had taken pride of place on her desk in the classroom for twelve years and would now take pride of place on her desk here.
Three months of being dedicated to the job in hand and she’d be promoted to project manager, which is what she needed if she were to be able to make ends meet and settle in this part of the Cotswolds.
Next, she pulled her mobile from her bag and grinned as she spotted a missed call from the estate agent.
This might be just the news she’d been waiting for!
Her grandparents’ flat, which she’d been struggling to sell for months now, ever since she’d been offered this job, might just have had an offer.
She hadn’t heard about any viewings, but she’d been out all day Saturday and, of course, travelling here to Meadowfield yesterday, so perhaps David, the estate agent, had shown someone round on Saturday.
She’d given the agency the key after all.
Everything was coming together. After months of uncertainty and living off savings, things were on the road to aligning.
‘Here you go, Polly. One coffee with sugar and milk.’ Vicki slid a large green mug onto her desk before hitching her thumb behind her. ‘You’re being summoned to the meeting room. I think the other newbie has finally arrived and Declan wants to speak to you both.’
‘Oh great. Thanks for this.’ Nodding towards the mug, Polly slipped her mobile back into her bag and stood up.
She’d ring the estate agent back when she had a spare moment.
Picking up her heavy mug, she headed towards another door next to the small kitchen, which she hadn’t actually noticed until Vicki had pointed it out.