Chapter 14 #2
Rowan’s expression was pained, but then he slowly nodded.
‘Thank you, Leo,’ he said. ‘I know you well enough by now to accept that there’s no talking you out of it.
But you have all your meals with us, you use all the facilities in the house and you spend the evening with us.
You only come out here to sleep. Though I think it’s very unlikely that anything like his will happen again. ’
‘And I’ll make sure it doesn’t,’ said Leo.
Gemma could feel the call of the book on gardens all through dinner, knowing that with today’s task now finished, the time had come for her to find out what information it held.
She was well aware that she had pinned far too many of her hopes on it, when really there was nothing to suggest that it would provide any more detail about the house and its garden than they already had.
But it was a hope, and that had to be worth something.
So, as soon as the washing-up was done, she went quietly to her room, retrieved the book and her bag and slipped outside.
A gentle light flushed the garden, the last of the spring sunshine beginning to dim as the sun journeyed towards the horizon, and the air was still and peaceful.
She pulled up an old crate and sat down, laying the book on her lap.
Just like the box containing Schrodinger’s cat, the book held, while not exactly life or death, certainly a future and an ending all at the same time.
Only upon opening it would she find out which it was.
She took a deep breath, her finger tracing the image of a garden in full bloom on the front cover.
It showed an elegant sweep of lawn to the rear, while in the foreground, a stone bench provided a place to rest a while and take in the scent from the roses which grew alongside it.
To marvel in the colours of the flowerbed opposite, and to listen to the hum of bees and the twitter of birds as you did so.
Gemma offered up a silent plea and opened the pages.
She flicked back and forth for a few minutes, familiarising herself with the layout of the book, checking its scope, glancing at photos and skimming snippets of text. Then, with excitement mounting, she began to read.
After ten minutes or so, she closed the covers and held the book close to her chest, as if hugging the information she had discovered within its pages.
Her first instinct was to rush back to the house and share what she had learned but, thinking for a moment, she reached for her bag instead, taking out her notebook and pen.
Head bent, she was unaware of anything until she suddenly heard footsteps approach and looked up. It was Leo, and he was holding two mugs.
‘I saw you leave,’ he said, handing her one. ‘And I thought you might be here. But I can go if…’
Gemma pointed to another of the crates. ‘No, it’s fine, sit down.’ She lifted the mug to her nose. ‘Mmm, hot chocolate.’ Its warmth was welcome and soothing.
‘Cocoa,’ countered Leo. ‘Made the old-fashioned way. Gently warmed milk, a little sugar and cinnamon. None of that instant rubbish.’
Gemma didn’t have the heart to tell him about the machine she had, now sitting in storage, which made it thick and creamy, just like you could order from a coffee shop or café.
Or the array of different flavour sachets she’d had on subscription, each one filled with shavings of real chocolate.
She took a sip, surprised at the rich sweetness.
The cocoa she remembered from her childhood was bitter and watery. ‘This is lovely, thanks.’
Still clutching the book and her notes, she watched him for a moment. She hadn’t finished writing yet, but perhaps… After all, there had been a time when she’d shared everything with Leo.
‘I found something, just now,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to tell the others yet because I’ve got some sketches I want to make first, but… would you like to see?’
She tucked her notes under her arm and, moving her crate to stand beside his, reopened the book at a page she had already marked. It was a double-page spread. ‘What do you think of this?’ She held the book out flat so he could see it better.
He leaned in to her side, his shoulder touching hers. He stayed that way for a moment before pulling away and holding out his hands. ‘May I?’
She passed the book across, feeling his warmth leave her.
‘Is this what I think it is?’ he asked, looking up into her eyes.
‘Because if it is… this is incredible.’ He balanced the book on a splayed-open palm, and lightly touched the page with his other hand, his fingers pressing the spine gently to flatten the pages even further.
‘This is it. This is what the garden looked like.’ He looked up, his gaze travelling the space in front of them.
She nodded, feeling a smile rise up from her boots.
She’d been keeping it contained for a while, but now all her excitement, all her joy came welling up.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ She studied the pages again, taking in every last detail of the garden which had once stood there.
The garden that was still there, waiting.
‘You can see it all. Look… There was a fountain, and stone benches in a circle, all the paths lined with box hedging. A little herb garden… It’s just how I imagined it might be.’
Leo was silent for a few moments more, like her, still taking in the wonder of what Gemma had found. There was a look on his face which… Despite the hard work of the day, and the awful events which preceded it, he looked happy, she realised. At peace.
He smiled, and handed her back the book. ‘Can we do this?’ he asked. ‘Can you do this? Is it even possible to make it like it was? We have so little of what we need. Even less now…’
‘I know.’ She nodded sadly. ‘But we have to hope. It’s not going to happen overnight, but even just uncovering the layout would be something. We can work on it a bit at a time. It isn’t going anywhere.’
‘True.’ Leo nodded, deep in thought. ‘But what about you? I thought you were only planning to stay for a few months.’
Her heart sank, the reality of his words biting hard. In all her excitement she’d almost forgotten that living here was only ever meant to be temporary. Three months had already gone by, and now only three remained.
‘There’s still a lot we can do,’ she replied. ‘I’ll just have to make the most of the time and crack on.’
‘Hmm… provided we have the tools to do so.’