Chapter Fourteen
She carried on sketching, outlining a new, rather sumptuous hat for Cuthbert.
It was possibly the most flamboyant hat he’d ever worn, but he, the most debonair of the brothers, deserved it.
Very Cavalier. In fact, she might give him a Charles the First wig and buckles on his shoes.
She inked in a purple plume for good measure and sat back to admire her work.
‘Looking good, Cuthbert, my young man.’ She nodded, so caught up she almost expected him to nod back.
‘Quite the dude.’ Which of course he would agree with and doff his hat with a courtly bow.
She drew another quick rough sketch of Cuthbert sweeping his hat off, the plume dusting the floor. Just so she wouldn’t lose it.
She ended up doing several different versions and before she knew it, another hour had elapsed.
Over the last three days, she’d taken to having her morning cup of coffee in Magda’s secret garden when she let Tess out for her morning wee and although she felt a bit silly stroking the flowers and inhaling the scents, she couldn’t seem to help herself.
She’d got into a really good daily routine and her deadline worried her less and she even had ideas for a new book with three alien characters who’d happened on an English village.
Englebert with his mouse angel wings and decidedly skewiff halo had come to life.
He wore an endearingly dopey expression rather reminiscent of a certain vicar.
Ella bit back a smile. Hopefully no one, least of all anyone in the congregation, would ever spot the likeness, with the exception perhaps of the sharp-eyed Devon, who since his rescue act in the church had been popping into her thoughts rather too frequently.
Tess appeared, the lead in her mouth. Ella rolled her eyes, laughing in spite of herself. The dog was a pain but kind of cute with it.
‘Is it that time already?’ She checked the time on her phone. ‘How do you do that? Bets will be here any minute.’
Following the flower arranging, Bets had taken to calling for them for a morning walk before the vets’ surgery opened. Ella looked out of the window. Yes, she could get used to the walking, especially when the weather was like this. Bets had shown her a couple of different walks.
At the sharp knock of the door, Tess raced in circles almost tripping over her own legs and then went charging down the stairs, the metal link on the collar thump, thumping down on every wooden step.
Ella ran down the stairs, trying to dodge the thoroughly over-excited dog to reach the front door.
‘Won’t be a mo.’ She opened the door, Tess’s tail beating a happy tattoo against her leg.
‘No problem,’ said a gruff voice.
‘Oh, I thought you were Bets.’
‘I decided it was high time I walked my own dog for a change. But Bets said you’d be expecting her, she said I had to call in.’
‘Right.’ That told her, then.
‘Are you coming or not?’ His face didn’t look particularly inviting.
What had happened to the man who’d been so charming the other night?
He had cross written all over him. Was it because Bets had probably forced his hand, insisting that he called in?
She seemed incapable of believing that people actually liked being on their own.
She wasn’t sure wanted to go for a walk with this Devon. An impromptu dance was one thing, but what on earth would she have in common with a man who, if the James Herriot books she read as a teenager were correct, spent half his life with his arm up the backside of various farm animals?
With rabid excitement, Tess’s body squirmed as she tried to rub up against both their legs, her tail slicing the air with the finesse of a rolling pin.
Ella’s mouth pursed as she looked down at the dog wriggling with ridiculous over the top excitement. She could hardly say no. The poor dog had been cooped up all morning.
‘I’ll just grab a jacket and some shoes. Is it cold outside?’
Devon wrinkled his face as if giving the question serious thought. ‘It’s bright but the wind’s a bit chilly. You’ll need to wrap up warm.’ He paused and she fixed his face with a warning glare, which of course he ignored. ‘A onesie won’t cut it today.’
‘Haha! Very funny.’
‘I thought so.’ It was a relief to see the disarming smile replace the furrowed lines on either side of his mouth.
She tied on her trainers, grabbed her jacket and followed him out of the door and down the path.
Wrestling the lead from the dog’s mouth, she hooked it onto her collar and did her best to hang on as Tess threw herself forward, frantically pulling to catch up.
In a half run, Ella followed the crazy racehorse-under-starters-orders plunging gait which was par for the course every single day.
You’d think the damn dog had never been out of the house in her life.
‘For goodness’ sake, you need to show her who’s boss,’ said Devon, giving Tess a stern glare.
Ella rolled her eyes, thinking of the constant ache in her shoulders from having to hang on for dear life. ‘You think I haven’t tried?’
‘Here, let me.’ He grabbed the lead from her. ‘She needs to learn some manners.’
‘Be my guest.’ Just when she’d started to think better of him, Captain Grumpy was back with a vengeance.
He held out Dexter’s lead for her to take over. Immediately she could feel the difference as the handsome pointer walked beautifully alongside her, matching her pace.
Tess started to pull ahead and Devon stopped, pulling gently on the lead but not yanking the young dog back.
‘I don’t think she’s ever been trained properly. That’s the problem. But you can teach her a few good habits.’
The stop, start, stop, start took for ever but Devon’s earlier grumpiness seemed to vanish, replaced by an infinite well of patience as he talked soothingly to Tess.
It was slow progress and a massive relief when they turned off the road to take the footpath down to the canal.
The two dogs charged off the minute they were released from their leads, joyfully leaping through the almost waist-high grass of the open field.
Devon and Ella wandered along in silence for a good fifteen minutes. His mood seemed to have improved.
‘Sorry.’ Devon lifted his head and looked up at the sky.
‘I was in a really shitty mood this morning. Getting out always puts things back in perspective. Realigns things.’ He picked up a loose branch and scythed at the grass with it.
‘Gets rid of the City blues.’ He thrashed at the foliage again, this time a little more viciously. ‘I was in London again yesterday.’
‘Don’t you miss it?’ asked Ella, curious rather than challenging as she might have been a week or so ago. ‘Living in London? Bets said you lived there until recently.’
‘Not really. You can be there in under an hour. In fact, when I get back here, I realise how little I miss it. The only thing I miss is knowing what the future holds. I’m in limbo at present.’
‘I know that feeling.’ She dug her hands into her pockets.
‘You missing London?’ Devon didn’t look at her, just continued to walk by her side.
‘Yes! Of course I am.’ Was he stupid?
‘What do you miss?’ he asked, his voice tinged with scepticism.
She paused for a moment. ‘Well . . . I miss . . . I miss being able to nip out for a decent cup of coffee and . . . ’ She frowned.
There were heaps of things she missed, nothing precise she could put her finger her on.
‘The buzz. You know, lots going on.’ It sounded feeble but she couldn’t identify one particular thing.
Devon let out an incredulous laugh. ‘Don’t let Bets hear you say that.
There’s plenty going on here. She’ll have you roped into things quicker than you can find a coffee bar on Islington High Street.
There’s always some event happening: the Village Hall fund raisers, the Spring Fayre, the Christmas Fayre and local charity events, the Muddy Run, the Santa Run and the Chiltern Peaks Challenge, and then there’s the Canal Festival, not to mention the action-packed programme of the WI and the primary school events plus all the things at the theatre, the pantomime, comedy festival and there’s talk of a literary festival.
It’s never-ending.’ He gave a wry smile.
‘And I get roped into most things. I don’t see why you should escape. ’
‘I’ve done the church flowers!’ she said, indignantly. ‘That’s my bit for village life.’ All those other things sounded hideously dull.
‘Not quite. Don’t forget the chance to play shopkeeper.’
‘I’ve been trying to. Hopefully they’ll forget about me.’
‘I doubt it, everyone has to take a turn. It’s written in the village bylaws.’
‘Really?’ She raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
‘Well, I’m sure if it isn’t, it should be. And if I have to, you do too. And sometimes you get free stuff.’
‘Like what?’
‘Out-of-date Swiss roll!’ He grinned at her.
‘Marvellous, I can’t wait. Although I could give it to George. He refuses to believe I can’t bake a cake for him now and then. He’s a right pest.’
‘George? He’s all right. Just lonely, I suspect. Magda used to keep an eye on him, although she lets him think it’s the other way around.’
Ella cringed. Not nosy at all. She felt a touch ashamed now. Perhaps next time she saw him, she might offer him a homemade cappuccino from Magda’s machine. Although she drew the line at baking anything, despite Magda’s magic box. That was never going to happen. He’d have to go homebaked-cake-less.
They reached a stile, the path left continuing along the canal and the other way looping away through a field.
‘Which way do you want to go?’
Ella lifted her shoulders. ‘No idea.’
‘If we go along the canal it cuts back to the other reservoir and we have to cut across the fields to get back. If we go across the field now, it loops back and brings us back to the village behind the church.’
Devon’s face looked a touch too innocent.
‘And what’s the time difference between the two?’