Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
By the time they’d got back downstairs, the wonky tree had amassed quite a crowd.
Word had either spread very quickly or people had seen it from the town and come hurrying up here to see what had happened to their treasured landmark for themselves.
The atmosphere was quite subdued, people were sad or shocked.
Although the wonky tree was important to them, most of them clearly hadn’t been up to see it in person or they’d have realised that it was slowly dying over the last few years and it was only the cables holding it up.
Luke did feel a little bit guilty that while people had gathered around the tree to mourn its loss, he’d been upstairs having the time of his life, but he certainly didn’t regret it. It wasn’t as if not having sex would have changed the outcome.
Ethel eyed them as they walked over to the tree and joined the crowd. ‘Where have you two been?’ she said in such a way that said she knew where they’d been and what they’d been doing and how disgusted she was by it.
Luke couldn’t care less what she thought. He couldn’t be happier and nothing could burst his bubble of happiness. He thought about telling Ethel he’d just had Flick pinned to the wall and again in the shower just to see her face but he didn’t think Flick would appreciate that.
‘We were trying to contact an arborist,’ Luke said, calmly, which was partly true. He had phoned one while Flick was getting dressed.
‘Why?’ Aidan scoffed. ‘The tree is dead.’
‘The roots are still intact, we might be able to do something to save it.’
‘Why?’
‘Look around, Aidan. These people have come up here because the tree means something to them, it means something to the many people who have captured stunning pictures of it over the years or come up here specifically to see it. It’s been here for over a hundred years, it’s part of the heritage of Lovegrove Bay and while we might not be able to save the life of the tree, we should try to save the structure of it. Restore it back in its place.’
‘Well, I for one will miss seeing it,’ Ethel said, pulling out a tissue from her sleeve and wiping her eyes. ‘Every time I drive back from London and I come over this hill towards the town, the tree is like a sign that I’m finally home.’
‘I agree,’ Rose said. ‘It’s a symbol of Lovegrove Bay. It’s on every postcard, it’s used as the logo for lots of local establishments, it’s not just iconic for the people of Lovegrove Bay, it’s a national landmark.’
‘It’s also been the inspiration for a lot of art over the years, paintings, sculptures, embroidery. I’ve even done mosaics of it,’ Katherine said.
‘Well, yes, I suppose it would be a shame if it wasn’t there anymore,’ Aidan back-pedalled.
‘If we can’t save it, we can lift it back up and set it in concrete so it doesn’t fall over again,’ Luke said.
‘But without the leaves it’s not going to look particularly attractive though, is it?’ Aidan said. ‘It will just be a dead tree. No one is going to come and see that.’
Maybe he had a point. Although the famous shape would be preserved, without the life would it lose its appeal?
They were all silent for a moment while they thought.
‘Luke could carve the trunk of the tree with patterns or pictures,’ Flick said, looking at him hopefully and he smiled.
He loved how hard she was fighting for this place and how she kept coming up with different ways to save it.
Carving the tree was a great idea and quite honestly he would give her the world if it kept that smile on her face.
‘I can do that,’ Luke said, giving her hand a squeeze.
‘I can embroider or quilt some leaves that we can add to it,’ Ethel said.
‘I could mosaic some glass beads into any of the cracks,’ Katherine offered .
‘I could paint some rocks to go round the base or inlaid into the concrete,’ Rose said.
They all looked at Aidan to see what he would offer and he sighed. ‘I could make some flowers out of clay.’
‘All of that will be gorgeous additions to the tree,’ Flick said. ‘And will showcase the art from the studios brilliantly.’
‘And if we are doing a big reopening, maybe we need to launch with a new name too,’ Ethel said. ‘Maybe it could be called the Wonky Tree Studios instead.’
Flick smiled. ‘I like that. I’d have to check with Audrey of course, but maybe a new name would really help the relaunch.’
Luke was quite confident that it would be her passion and drive that would help the relaunch, but a new name couldn’t hurt and it might help the people of the town get behind it too.
Nick, the arborist, shook his head. ‘Sadly I think this is beyond even my capabilities.’ He ran his hand over the thinner, spindly parts of the roots. ‘Ninety percent of the roots are long dead and even the best care and supplements or plant food aren’t going to bring them back.’
‘But these leaves have grown so there’s still life in there,’ Flick said, clinging to hope with her fingernails.
‘A healthy tree this size would have thousands of leaves, or tens of thousands. But there’s probably no more than a hundred leaves and they don’t look good.
They’re dry, curling and turning brown long before autumn is here.
Plus if there was the slightest chance the tree could be saved, which there isn’t, it would need to go back in the ground now and we would need a JCB or a crane to lift it back in and that would take a few days to organise, which would be too late.
The best thing I can do is take cuttings and plant them now and hope for the best. Hopefully we might have wonky saplings this time next year. ’
Flick smiled at the thought of baby wonky trees.
‘What about our plan to at least try and save the structure of the tree, raise it up somehow and set it in concrete? Would that work?’ Luke asked.
Nick shrugged. ‘It should be OK. That’s not my area of expertise.
But I know wooden sculptures, chainsaw carvings, things like that, have been set in concrete to stop them falling over or from being stolen so it should be fine.
With my health and safety cap on, you’ll need a lot more chains and supports to secure it.
You don’t want any visitors up here to get squashed if the supports break like they did last night. ’
‘No, I’m sure we can make it safer,’ Luke said.
‘Right, I’ll crack on and get those cuttings planted. Anywhere in particular you’d like them?’ Nick said.
Luke deferred to Flick.
‘Umm, along the driveway would be great,’ Flick said.
Nick nodded and started work.
Flick let out a sigh of disappointment. She felt sad that the tree was dead and there was nothing they could do to save its life but it had clearly been dying for many years.
But at least they could still preserve it as a landmark and with the artists’ help they could bring it back to life, at least visually.
They wandered over to Ethel who was tapping away at her tablet.
‘I’m just letting our followers know the latest update,’ Ethel said.
Flick was surprised that she had set up a Facebook group to save the tree and in a few hours it already had seventeen thousand members. She hadn’t known Ethel held such sway with the town. The tree obviously meant something to a lot of people.
‘Everyone loves our idea to resurrect the tree and then bring it back to life with our art,’ Ethel said.
‘I’ve set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a JCB and driver or a crane.
Hopefully a JCB would be enough to lift it.
I’ve asked a company to come up here and quote for it and see if it’s something they could do.
If not it will have to be a crane which will be somewhere between eight and ten thousand pounds.
But if everyone in the group donates a pound, we’ll easily have enough money for that.
We’ll also need a concrete lorry with enough concrete to fill that hole and support the tree so that will come out of the funds raised too. ’
‘Wow, thanks for doing that, Ethel,’ Luke said.
‘You don’t have to thank me. Enough people in this town see you as a cash cow, why should you pay for everything?
’ She gave Flick a glare, obviously not impressed with Flick inadvertently letting Luke pay for her gift shop, and Flick shifted uneasily.
‘And you’re leaving, the tree isn’t going to benefit you in any way.
If they want to save the tree then they need to put their hands in their pockets. ’
Luke was clearly surprised by this attitude. He cleared his throat. ‘I want to save the tree as much as anyone else. I’m happy to contribute.’
‘One pound, you’ll pay the same as everyone else,’ Ethel said.
Luke nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Right, I’ve got some calls to make,’ Ethel said, and walked off before they could say another word.
‘Well, it’s nice to see Ethel finally rally behind something, even if it is just the tree and not the studios itself,’ Flick said.
‘Who knew it would take a storm and the tree falling down to get her to do it.’
‘Now we just need to figure out what it will take to get Aidan on our side.’
‘That might take a small miracle,’ Luke said. ‘Fancy a walk?’
‘Yes, that would be lovely.’
He took her hand and they started walking along the clifftop coastal path that went straight past the house.
The sky was already starting to turn a candyfloss pink painting the town below them in a rosy glow.
It looked beautiful. Out in the bay, Flick could see dolphins playing and jumping through the waves.
She would never get tired of watching them or looking at that view.
They were quiet as they walked along and Flick couldn’t stop thinking about Ethel’s comment about everyone seeing Luke as a cash cow and her glare that inferred that Flick was clearly as bad as everyone else.
‘You’re thinking about what Ethel said, aren’t you?’
She smiled. ‘How did you know?’
‘I can feel it when you’re worried. You go all quiet and inside yourself.’