As Molly and Danny were walking to the Church Hall for the committee meeting on Monday, they were surprised to see Dr Cameron leaving the vicarage and get into his car, they said good morning, but he didn’t respond or stop and as he drove away, they wondered what the Doctor was doing there, when making house calls was not in vogue.
When they got to the Church
Hall, they were almost the last to arrive and they found the assembled group in
sombre mood.
Also in the room was Henry
Noble who was standing in for Arielle for the rest of the week.
It seemed that the stresses
and strains of the Christmas calendar had taken its toll on Arielle.
But by all accounts, she
would appear to be no more than thoroughly run down and had been advised to
take a complete rest.
That was obviously the reason
why the Doctor was leaving the vicarage.
Full bed rest for the week
would hopefully put her right and she would be strong enough to participate on
Christmas Eve.
Reverend Noble would be
standing in for her wherever and whenever necessary until then.
There was still a busy
program to get through, an advent Sunday, midnight mass and Christmas morning
itself as well as the Christmas Wagon and
the proceeds from the Christmas Bazaar to
discuss.
The meeting moved on at a
pace once they got started and they covered a good deal of ground.
As she had a day off on
Monday, Fiona decided to take the water taxi to St Giles so she would have a
chance to see Simon again and met them just as they were leaving the Seaview.
“This is a nice surprise”
Jeannette said and embraced her friend
“I thought I would give you
some more moral support” Fiona said but Jeannette knew that was only part of
the reason she was there.
They walked with her as far
as the Meteorological Station and wished her luck and watched her walk in then
Simon and Jeannette took a walk round the Hastings Lake and got to know each
other a little better.
He was from Northchapel like
Jeannette but was living in Sharpington until he sold his house.
His marriage had just ended,
and he just wanted to off load the house and draw a line under an unhappy
episode in his life.
“I wouldn’t mind living on
the islands” Simon said “first impressions and all that”
“I wouldn’t live anywhere
else” Fiona admitted “but you’re not even seeing it at its best”
“I’m looking for a change
once the house has been sold” he said “And I like what I see”
When Fiona looked up, she saw
he was looking at her and it flustered her.
“Houses don’t come up for
sale very often, and tend to remain in the family” she said
“That’s a shame” he said
“But tied properties are a
different matter” Fiona suggested
When Jeannette finally
reappeared it was clear that she had got the job and couldn’t keep quiet about
it for the rest of the day because she was so excited, but for Fiona and Simon
they were excited for quite different reasons because they had shared a kiss
beside Hasting Lake.
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