Chapter 6
Zoe wasn’t used to having so much freedom.
Freedom to start and finish work according to whatever schedule she set herself, to use the tiny treatment room set up for her at the surgery or to make home visits if she preferred.
Freedom to roam the hills, valleys and lakesides of her new home whenever she felt like it, and freedom to clean her house or not.
To eat when and what she wanted and to go to bed whenever it suited her, with cold feet or without.
Nobody seemed to mind what she did as long as her days ticked along.
There were parts she liked – the trust the partners at the surgery placed in her to get her job done with minimal interference from them was flattering and welcome.
The time she spent at home doing as she pleased elicited more mixed feelings.
While she took advantage of the spontaneous urge to go walking to discover more of her new home, the moments after she’d locked the doors of an evening and settled down in her cottage alone sometimes stretched out in a more unwelcome way.
She missed Ritchie. Or perhaps she missed simply knowing someone else was there.
Whichever it was, she thought often of the times during her marriage when she’d been content, the small moments, like washing the dishes together as they shared anecdotes from their work days, bickering over what TV show they were going to watch first, Ritchie warming her feet whenever she got into bed after him.
Zoe was no wearer of rose-coloured spectacles – she knew life hadn’t been perfect with Ritchie, and it had been downright difficult towards the end, but it felt like she’d had an ally, someone who had her back.
Now she was on her own, and whenever the notion would strike her, she’d feel its full force.
Two weeks had passed like this. They’d flown by, despite Zoe’s more melancholy moments.
During that time, she’d introduced herself to all the expectant mums on her list, and everyone was taken by surprise at the surgery by how fast it was growing.
Fliss wondered aloud one lunchtime – nodding pointedly at Ottilie’s growing bump – about what might be in the water locally because she’d never known Thimblebury to be in the grip of such a baby boom.
‘You won’t hear any complaints from me,’ Zoe said in between mouthfuls of the cottage pie brought in by Lavender for her colleagues to share. ‘The residents of Thimblebury can rut morning, noon and night and make as many babies as they like – keeps me in a job.’
‘So you’ve already decided you’re going to stay for good?
’ Fliss replied, raising a knowing eyebrow, and Zoe nodded, not realising until that moment that at some point during the previous fortnight she had, indeed, unconsciously decided she was beginning to like life in the Lake District.
For good was perhaps a stretch, but for now, she was perfectly content, absorbed by work and gradually getting to know the villagers.
‘Good,’ Fliss said. ‘You’ll be here for the quincentenary then?’
‘The what?’
We’re celebrating five hundred years of Thimblebury. At least, we’re celebrating five hundred years since it first appeared in the records as an actual village.’
‘Oh…What does that entail?’ Zoe had no clue about that sort of thing, but she was impressed that the village was so old. ‘I mean, if there’s a celebration, it’s going to be a big deal.’
‘I’ll say. There’s going to be all sorts happening in the village. You know – food, music, silly little plays and readings, local dignitaries plying their trade, historical re-enactments and that sort of thing.’
‘And when’s this?’
‘In a month or so. I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned it to you.’
‘No, it hasn’t come up.’
‘And that’s the biggest shocker,’ Lavender put in from across the table. ‘You’d think they were helping to organise the London Olympics the way Magnus and Geoff are going on about it.’
And then she launched into a list of all the other annoying things Magnus and Geoff did, and then the annoying things other villagers did, and the conversation moved along at such a pace that the quincentenary was soon forgotten.
‘So…’ Fliss said into a gap, ‘Zoe, have you manged to see much of the area since you arrived?’
‘Not as much as I’d like to, but I’ve been busy getting the cottage how I like it and sorting out broadband connections and all that sort of thing.
You know, all the boring stuff. I keep thinking I’ll make time to go and see some of the surrounding towns, but it hasn’t happened yet.
I suppose a lot of the tourist stuff will be finishing for the season soon? ’
‘A lot of the tourist stuff barely closes at all these days,’ Lavender said.
‘My brother-in-law works on the steamers on Ullswater and they’ve hardly closed at all over the winter the last couple of years.
People come for Christmas and New Year breaks, and if they’re willing to pay for a boat trip, then why not take their money? ’
‘It’d be freezing out on the lake at Christmas!’ Fliss said. ‘No thank you!’
Lavender shrugged. ‘They can sit inside, and there’s blankets and hot chocolate and that sort of thing. I imagine it’s nice enough.’
‘I bet it’s a great job,’ Zoe said.
‘He’s done it for years and he complains, but I don’t think he’d do anything else.
His boat is lovely. It’s about a hundred years old – maybe more.
They’re very particular about the upkeep too.
You know, if you wanted to take a trip, I’d take you over there – just say the word.
I’m sure I could get us a couple of tickets…
he owes me enough favours from over the years. ’
‘Really?’ Zoe sipped from a glass of water. ‘That would be nice.’
‘Forecast is good for this weekend,’ Lavender said carelessly. ‘If you’re not busy, it might be a good time to go. I can phone him to expect us if you like.’
‘Oh, I’d love that!’ Zoe beamed. ‘Are you sure it’s no bother?’
‘It’d give me an excuse for a couple of hours out of the house, and I haven’t been to Ullswater for ages, so I’ll sort it. Sunday good for you?’
‘Yes, please!’
‘Right – it’s a date!’
Lavender picked Zoe up from outside the shop.
She’d arrived early to get some flowers as a thank you, then indulged in a lazy chat about the Indian summer they appeared to be enjoying.
Finally, she had stepped outside as the sun rose above the rooftops to warm her face, watching as a bee bumbled in and out of a hole in a nearby tree.
All around was birdsong, and a gentle breeze rustled the trees.
On a day like today, it was easy to see why Ottilie had fallen so deeply in love with this village.
‘You didn’t need to do that!’ Lavender said as Zoe offered the flowers.
‘I just wanted you to know I appreciate the effort you’ve made for me today.’
‘It’s hardly an effort to have a nice day out on a lake. Besides, it’s good for us to get to know one another, isn’t it? We barely have time to exchange two words at work, and there’s usually someone else around when we do.’
‘Agreed,’ Zoe said. ‘I’m looking forward to hearing all about…well, everything, really. And I’m looking forward to the trip. You weren’t wrong about the weather – it’s glorious.’
They called at Lavender’s house so she could pop the flowers in some water, and while Zoe waited in the car, Lavender’s husband came out to introduce himself and warn her that his brother was prone to terrible dad jokes, and then Lavender was back in the driver’s seat and ready to set off.
They wound their way through scenery that Zoe was getting used to now, but no less breathtaking for all that.
Along twisting, steep-sided roads, speckled with leaves that were just beginning to turn into their autumn colours.
The place seemed deserted apart from the odd rogue sheep clinging to a heathered hillside, unbothered by a rushing torrent of water pulsing from gaps in the rock, or the occasional red kite or falcon riding the air currents high above as it searched for prey.
Lavender switched the radio on, and while Zoe found it pleasant enough, the soapy pop music seemed lacking in the right kind of drama as she gazed out of the windows at the passing landscape, a landscape that had been millennia in the making, as eternal and old as the earth itself.
Whenever they emerged from the shelter of the hills and out onto open road, there were yet more peaks, rising up in the distance, and the odd glint of water from rivers and lakes.
After finding a parking space, Lavender locked the car and led Zoe to the pier where the boat sailed from.
By now, the town and nearby lakeside were getting busy, full of people making the most of the last days of warm weather with picnics and ice creams on benches.
Every so often, there would be a shriek and someone would be running from a persistent wasp.
Lavender shook her head as a group of teenage girls squealed and ran around in circles, trying to evade a trio of stripey pests. ‘All people have to do is stay still and the wasps bugger off eventually.’
‘Easy for you to say,’ Zoe replied. ‘I’m with them – terrible around bees and wasps. I’ve never been stung, and I don’t want to be, so if there’s one trying to get into my cheese butty, I’m running.’
‘I can’t see Pat,’ Lavender added as they approached the pier. ‘He said he’d meet us, but we’re a bit early.’
‘I don’t mind buying a ticket,’ Zoe said. ‘I feel as if I ought to, really. It can’t be very good business for them to give tickets away.’
Lavender waved an airy hand. ‘Ah, they can afford two freebies for family.’
She turned and headed for the ticket office and went to the assistant at the sales window. ‘Is Patrick around?’
‘Oh, you’re Lavender?’ the girl asked.
‘Yes.’
‘He said you’d probably come and ask for him. He’s gone to pick up some supplies for the boat. I’ll sort your tickets out while you wait for him – he won’t be long.’