Chapter 30
Moments later, Gemma heard the slow crawl of a car coming along the track.
Her head was buzzing, full of noise like water crashing against rocks, filled with everything that Ashley had told her.
And she still wasn’t sure how she felt. Gemma had come to Thistledown as a last hope, not expecting anything beyond a place to stay, to grieve, and a place to hide away from the chaos her life had become.
And for the first few weeks that’s all it had been, until slowly the farm and the people in it had begun to weave their magic, changing the way she felt, changing her view of the world, changing her future.
So if it could happen to her, surely she should understand how it could happen to someone else?
She thought that Leo had let her down too, once upon a time, until she realised that there was always more than one point of view to any situation.
So couldn’t the same be said for Ashley?
The car had almost reached her and whatever thoughts were yet to be sifted would have to wait. This day was about repairing the damage that Ashley and her family had caused, and there was much still to do.
She blinked rapidly, pasting on a smile to try to brighten her face, but as she watched the car coming into view, she saw that it was not one, but two, the other following close behind.
Her smile widened when she saw that the first was a Land Rover, and widened even more when she realised that the driver was not the only person in the vehicle.
She was trying to count how many more heads she could see, but it was impossible.
‘Sorry we’re late,’ said the first woman to climb from the car. ‘Had a slight emergency with the husband this morning, but all’s well that ends well. No stitches needed, just a bandage and some painkillers.’
‘Oh…’ Gemma’s face fell. ‘Are you sure you don’t need to be at home?’
The woman stared at her. ‘Definitely not. He’s fine. Got the whole day to himself, sole custody of the TV remote and an array of drinks and snacks to keep him going. He’ll have the most marvellous time. I’m Gilly, by the way,’ she said. ‘We spoke on the phone.’
She thrust out her hand which Gemma took in somewhat of a daze. This was the woman from the gardening club who had given her such short shrift when she’d called. But by the time everyone else had climbed from both vehicles, she was surrounded by nine people.
‘I know you said to bring tools,’ she continued. ‘But we weren’t sure what you needed. We’ve managed to rustle up a fair few, good excuse for a clear-out. I had four spades when I rounded them all up. Not really sure why…’ She shook her head as if totally perplexed by this mystery.
Gemma’s brow wrinkled. ‘Um… sorry, when I said bring tools, I just meant for you to use today. We’ve got some, but we weren’t sure how many people would come so there might not have been enough to go around.’
‘Oh right, bit of a mix-up, well, never mind. I’m sure you can make use of them.’
A short while later the ground was piled with all manner of hardware.
‘Some of them might need oiling, gone a bit rusty in places, but perfectly serviceable all the same.’
‘I don’t know what to say,’ said Gemma. ‘That’s amazing, thank you.
’ She looked at the crowd of people gathered around her.
‘I’ll take you down to the garden then, shall I?
’ she said. ‘Rowan and Willow are both there and they can run through what we’re aiming to do today, and show you where we need help.
Is that okay? And we’ve got refreshments set up in the old farmhouse here, so whenever you’re ready, just pop back.
There’s tea, coffee, squash, cakes, sandwiches too. ’
‘Very kind.’ Gilly nodded at her fellow club members.
‘Now, we’re all pretty good with veg and—’ She stopped.
Three more cars were pulling into the yard.
‘I was about to say we’ll look after ourselves depending on how busy you are, but it looks like you might have need of some extra help.
Would it be useful for a few of us to split off from the rest and help anyone who might not have much experience? Don’t want to overstep the mark, but…’
‘Oh, would you? What a brilliant idea.’
‘And then perhaps if you ask folk when they arrive what kind of experience they’ve got, and if they’re fine on their own, great stuff. If not, point them in our direction and we’ll do our best to get everyone on the right track.’
‘I can’t thank you enough,’ said Gemma. ‘I know Rowan and Willow will really appreciate it. And given that you don’t know us from Adam, it’s incredibly generous of you.’
‘Not a bit of it. That’s how you get to know folk, isn’t it?
None of us knew each other before we started this club.
Well, Mo and I did, but then we’re neighbours.
The rest were all perfect strangers.’ She eyed the incoming cars.
‘You’re going to have your hands full for a bit, so why don’t you just point us in the right direction and we’ll make a start. ’
Gemma nodded. ‘Just head for the line of trees,’ she said. ‘And you can’t miss it.’
The cars contained a husband and wife who had heard about their plight on the radio, two sisters who were not only keen gardeners but avid bookworms, and had been told about what was going on by Hannah at the library, and two more volunteers from the food bank.
After that came a contingent from the first gardening club Gemma had called, and then Amy from the radio station along with her two children, the youngest of whom was clutching a set of bright red hand tools.
‘I got these for my birthday,’ she revealed, proud as punch.
‘We mostly dig up worms at the moment,’ whispered Amy. ‘But I’m hoping we’ll move on to plants really soon.’
Gemma dropped to her haunches so she was more or less on the child’s level. ‘Well they look amazing,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you’ll be an expert very soon.’
Amy took her daughter’s hand with a final twinkling look at Gemma. ‘Right, kids, come on. Let’s go and do some digging!’
By the time two o’clock rolled around, Gemma was beginning to feel a little light-headed.
Partly out of relief, and partly down to the unexpected generosity and friendship being shown to them.
It might also be due to the fact that she hadn’t had anything to drink since early morning, and the slice of carrot cake she’d eaten earlier seemed a long time ago now.
But mostly it was down to being among people who had come to help, simply because they could and for no other reason. It was a wonderful feeling.
She darted into the farmhouse to grab a cup of tea and a sandwich.
There had been a steady stream of folks looking for refreshments for the last hour or so, and even though there was still plenty left, without Vicky’s contributions it would have been a rather poor show.
She straightened the little card which let people know that their tearoom’s proprietress had been the baker behind all the sumptuous cakes, and helped herself to a blueberry muffin and a cheese and chutney roll.
She didn’t even hear the footsteps until someone walked past her, crossing to the window on the other side of the room.
‘Interesting place, this,’ said Gilly. ‘Those trees down by the planting… they look a bit lost down there. Like they’re marching off to somewhere but the somewhere doesn’t exist. Don’t suppose you’ve done any research into it, have you?
Only I wouldn’t mind betting there was something else here once upon a time.
Something a little grander, shall we say. ’
Gemma joined her at the window. ‘We have, as it happens. And found something rather unexpected but completely wonderful. You can’t quite see it from here, but if I take you around the other side of the building you might be interested in what we found there.’
‘Lead on then,’ said Gilly. ‘Piece of cake first, though,’ she added, making straight for the tables where the food was laid out. Moments later, she wafted a slice of Victoria sponge towards the doorway. ‘After you.’
It was still something of a surprise to find the garden there, even to Gemma, who came every day. A little slice of heaven among the chaos that still grew on either side of it. Or a rose between two thorns, as Leo had said. She smiled at the memory.
‘Good lord,’ said Gilly, striding forward. ‘This is a bit unexpected. A proper Victorian showpiece, no less. What’s the story here then?’
She stood patiently listening while Gemma recounted the history of Thistledown and how she had found its story inside the pages of an old book. Then she nodded towards the pathway. ‘May I?’
‘Of course,’ replied Gemma. ‘Please do.’
She held out her hand inviting Gilly to go first and then followed her as she made her way slowly along the paths, pausing every now and again to inspect something a little more closely.
‘Need any help with this?’ she asked, as they reached the garden’s centre. She bent down to run a hand along the rough stone of one of the benches which stood there.
Gemma stared at her. ‘Do I?’ she said. ‘Yes please… if you can spare the time. It’s rather a labour of love as you can see, and needs a huge amount of work to return it to its former glory. It’s time which is not always easy to come by given everything else which goes on here.’