Moonlight glinted
On the frozen land
Of the silent vale
Dressed crisply
In winters cloak.
A shooting star
Flashed across the sky
And I made a wish
Nothing profound
Just a simple thing
But immensely special
Because I wished
For a Christmas kiss
With the girl I loved
Shooting a prize Turkey, with bullets
Of sage and onion, was his crime
He claimed that he was attempting
To kill it and stuff it at the same time
Their breath plumed
In the frost filled air
And the night sky
Sparkled with stars
Like diamonds sewn
To the curtain of night
And they both sighed
Beneath its majesty
And felt so blessed
To be in love beneath
Such a Christmas sky
There
has never been a good time to be poor
Certainly
not Christmas
As
Dickens wrote
“This
time when want is keenly felt by the poor”
And
there has never been a good place to be poor
Certainly
not Victorian London
Now
a wealthy Victorian family
Would
dine upon a Christmas dinner
Of
Vegetable soup
Oyster
patties,
Roast
turkey or goose,
Boiled
leg of mutton with caper sauce
Followed
by Port wine jelly,
Mince
pies and plum pudding
Queen
Victoria is known to have eaten roast swan
While
in the country
A
piece of Smoked bacon
Or
rabbit pie was had
The
poor in town or country
Dined
upon whatever could be found
On the west side
of Downshire is Eastchapel, a quiet medieval village living in the shadow of
its noisy neighbour, the Industrial powerhouse of Northchapel, and on Boxing
Day it was even more quiet than usual, and it was snowing.
In fact, as
it was eerily quiet as Sharon Colligan and Duane Gingell
conspicuously stood in the corner of the bus shelter.
And it was conspicuous for the simple
reason that no buses ran to the village on Boxing Day, but then they weren’t
there for the bus they were there for the kissing.
“I have a
confession to make” Sharon said.
“Oh?” What?” Duane asked her “Are you Gay?”
“No, I am not
Gay” she said indignantly “Why, do I kiss like a Lesbian?”
“No, no you just
said you had a confession to make” he said defensively
“And you automatically
thought, Lesbian” she snapped “Why would a Lesbian be kissing a man in bus
shelter in this weather?”
“Fair enough,
sorry” Duane said, “Are you married then?”
“What? No, not
that I remember” she replied “I would hope if I were, I wouldn’t be standing in
a bus shelter kissing another man”
“Good point” he
said but she could have been married for all he knew, he hadn’t known her long
and they’d only had their fifth date on Christmas Eve and so there was still a
lot he didn’t know about her.
Sharon was new to the village, her
family had moved in to the house next door to his parents, a few weeks before
Christmas from somewhere in the Vale.
He liked the look of her from the first minute and asked her out, but it
took a couple of attempts before he wore her down.
It was kind of
an instant attraction thing, for him, and since the first attraction it had
gradually deepened and by Christmas he was head over heels in love with her.
They were on the
way to the village pub, The Grapes of Wrath, when they stopped for an intimate
interlude in the bus shelter, they were headed to the pub because they showed
live football in the bar and there was a huge match on.
It was an FA cup
2nd round replay between Northchapel Athletic and Finchbottom Forest
which was a first because neither team had been on TV before, and the prize
would be another first for either team, a tie in the 3rd round,
against, and if that wasn’t enough of an incentive, their opponents would be
Man Utd, so it was hugely important because Duane was Northchapel fan.
Everything was
going great when they were kissing in the bus shelter until she said she had a
confession to make.
“What then?” he
asked
“I’ve been dreading saying this” she said “But here goes”
Duane was really
worried, especially after she said she was “dreading it” and began to wonder if
he really wanted to know, and when Sharon took a deep breath Duane braced himself
“I’m a Forest supporter”
she said and closed her eyes and grimaced, it took a moment for the full
implications of her statement to sink in.
“I think I would
have preferred it if you were married, or a Lesbian, or a married Lesbian” he said,
and she moved close in to him and asked
“Do you mean you
would prefer a married woman to be in love with you rather than a Finchbottom
Forest supporter?”
“She loved me” he
said to himself and he wasn’t sure if that shocked him more than the fact she
supported Forest.
“I'm sorry” she
said “Not much of a Christmas present for my new boyfriend I’m afraid”
“You couldn't be more wrong” he said “It was the perfect Christmas
present, when you said you loved me”
Then he kissed
her and when they paused she said
“We’re going to
miss the match”
“It’s only a
game” he replied and returned to the kissing
In the small but thriving English county
of Downshire people go about the tasks of their everyday existence in ways that
range from the mundane to the extraordinary as their forebears had done for
centuries before, in the varied and diverse landscape, from the Ancient forests
of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the
Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, to
the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and the short but beautiful coastline to the
east.
But our story is set in and around
Turnoak-Under-Hawthorne, a large rambling village, originally settled in the 12th
century on the sparsely wooded slopes on the Northern fringe of the Finchbottom
Vale about 5 miles from Purplemere, and it was everything you would expect from
a Downshire Village.
It was the village where the Higgins and
Hewer families lived next door to each other and the families should have been
tied by the marriage of Helen and Neil, but instead of a joining of the two
families they were split apart when Helen ran away, and two years passed before
the couple met again, on Boxing Day.
Neither knew that the other would be in
the village on that day and they were both taken aback when they bumped into
each other at the Hen and Chickens, he was on the way up the steps and she on
the way out, and they stood there as the snow fell and minutes past before
either spoke, but it was Neil who broke the silence.
“I’ve really missed you”
She seemed both surprised and pleased by
the revelation and he wondered if she had heard him correctly or if it was just
whatever she’d been drinking having an effect on her processing ability,
“I’m sorry” she replied
“Why did you go?” he asked “I never
understood why you left”
“I had to” she replied earnestly
“But why??” he asked
“Because I was scared” Helen confessed
“Scared?” he asked aghast
“Yes”
“Of what?” Neil asked angrily
“Marriage” She admitted
“So, all you had to say was no” he said
and then there was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as the snow began
to fall faster but then she said
“I thought it was for the best”
“It wasn’t the best for me, or you” he
said and turned and began to walk away and Helen followed him
“Let me explain” Helen said as she trotted
behind him, but he ignored her and pressed on across the car park towards the road,
but she caught up with him as he stopped to allow a car to complete its maneuver.
“I made a mistake” she said from behind
him and he span round on her
“I realised almost immediately” she
continued
“So why didn’t you come back?”
“I didn’t know how” she said and fell in
to his arms
“So, you just made us both unhappy” he
said gently
“Yes” she replied, and Helen began to cry
When he imagined them meeting again he hadn’t
expected to see that side of her, vulnerable, that was a different girl to the
one who had run away, she wasn’t vulnerable or unsure of herself on that
day.
So, when she looked up at him through tear
filled eyes he kissed her, a kiss they had both longed for, and dreamt of for
two years.
In the north
of Downshire is the old market Town of Nettlebridge which was quainter and more
peaceful than its neighbour Nettlefield, which was a Military Town whereas
Nettlebridge prospered from the sheep and wool trade, which is
evidenced by the road names, Sheepfold Street, Woolsack Lane and Shepherds Bridge,
and this trade had historically generated a great deal of
wealth, and it was also the village where the family home of the Porthnall’s
was which was where the family were expected to return to for Christmas.
There were
four daughters in the family Julie, May, April and June, the older two were
married and had been in Nettlebridge since the schools broke up for the
Christmas Holidays but the younger pair couldn’t get there until Boxing Day
because they were both Nurses at the Winston Churchill Hospital in Abbottsford
and were both on duty on Christmas Day.
April and June lived together and were as different as chalk
and cheese, June was tall, slim and blonde while April was shorter and brunette,
in fact the only things they had in common were blue eyes, a surname, a
profession, and a taste in men, in every other way they differed, and the best
way to sum them up would be to say that April had a heart and a brain whereas June
possessed neither.
They set off
from Abbottsford at the crack of dawn after June’s boyfriend Dave Hicks pick them
up from the hospital, he was medium height, black hair, gypsy eyes, a kind
heart and April loved him.
As the
sisters had been on duty all night they slept all the way to Nettlebridge and
when they arrived, refreshed by a few hours’ sleep, they found there was a
house full at the Porthnall’s and a great day followed, a huge family dinner and
plenty of wine and as they were staying the night they all got a bit merry,
apart from June who got hammered after gorging herself.
It was a big
house but even so a reshuffle on the accommodation front was required, due to
their mother’s insistence that June and Dave sleep in separate rooms, because
their mother was a good Christian woman and didn’t believe in that kind of
thing.
The result of
the reshuffle meant that Dave shared the spare room with Cousin James while April
was forced to endure her sisters’ constant drunken snoring and farting as they
each slept on a sofa in the lounge.
April found
it difficult to drop off, partly because of June and her horrendous snoring,
but also because her head was full of images of her sister’s boyfriend.
After tossing
and turning for about an hour her attempts to drop off were further frustrated
by an acute need to pee so she got up and tiptoed her way upstairs to the loo.
April was
yawning as she left the bathroom and stepped back onto the landing not really
paying attention to what she was doing and subsequently bumped into David
coming the other way, who wrapped his arms around her and carried her back into
the bathroom where he planted a passionate, sensual kiss on her lips.
“We shouldn’t
be doing this” she said coming up for air
“Why? You
were enjoying it” Dave said and kissed her anew
“That’s not
the point” she protested
“So, you
admit you were enjoying it” he said “so let’s do it again”
“We mustn’t” April
insisted and opened some distance between them
“But it’s
really nice” He said wistfully
“I know but
we can’t be doing it anymore” she said indignantly
“I know you
like me” he continued as he leant against the door
“I’ve seen
you looking at me when you think no one’s looking”
“Ah” she
exclaimed and sat down on the loo.
David had been
going out with June for about three months and April fell in love with him the
instant she brought him home.
But the
thought never crossed her mind to do anything about it, she had a strong moral
compass and you didn’t do things like that, it wasn’t cricket, even if her
sister didn’t deserve him.
So, she just
worshipped him from afar.
“I’m sorry” she
said
“Why are you
sorry?” David asked
“For being
too weak” she replied “I had no right to fall for you”
“I don’t
think you’re weak” David said “Far from it, a weak person wouldn’t have stopped
me kissing them”
“Maybe” she
conceded
“Your sister
wouldn’t have stopped” he added
“I’m not my sister”
she pointed out
“I realize
that only too well” he said and stepped forward
“I’d better
go, but this is for Christmas” he
said and kissed her gently
“Merry
Christmas”
April went back downstairs and tried to sleep but she
found it even more difficult after her encounter with David, than she did
before.
“This is a real Christmas surprise” she thought as he
lay wide awake with only her sisters snoring for company.
When June rolled over onto her side she let out a
ripping fart, which was as a result of her skinny body trying to deal with all
the food and drink she shoved into it during the course of the day.
A minute or so later a cloud of noxious gas drifted
over April and was so foul she decided to leave the room and take sanctuary in
the kitchen.
She walked out into the hall and turned towards the
kitchen and just as he reached the kitchen door a voice from behind said
“Hello again”
She turned
around to see David sitting on the stairs.
“Hi David” she
said, “Are you stalking me?”
“Would you
mind?” he asked
“No comment,
do you want a drink?” she said and went into the kitchen and David followed on
behind.
She made the
drinks and sat down at the table opposite him.
“So, you
can’t sleep either then” she said
“I’m afraid
not”
“Something on
your mind” April asked
“Something”
he agreed but didn’t elaborate so she didn’t pursue it any further.
But after
five minutes he asked
“Would you go
out with me if I wasn’t spoken for?”
“If you
weren’t going out with June I’d go out with you in a heartbeat”
She replied
“Why?” David
added
“Why would I go
out with you?” she said
“Where do I
start? Your hair, your eyes, your smile, your laugh but most of all your heart”
David gave her
a dazzling smile when she had finished her catalogue and said
“I’ve broken
up with her”
“What?” April
asked
“We broke up”
he replied
“When?”
“Last week”
“But why?”
“Well partly
because she’s been seeing my best friend Kenny” he replied “or my ex best
friend Kenny I should say”
“Was she?” April
asked in disbelief
“You didn’t
know then?”
“No, I
didn’t, honestly” she said “she wouldn’t tell me something like that because she
knows I’d disapprove”
“No, that’s
because you are a better human being” David said proudly
“I don’t know
about that” April said, “What was the rest of the reason?”
“What?”
“You said June
and Kenny was only part of the reason”
“Oh yes I
see” he said “well mostly I broke up with her because she’s not you”
April
couldn’t believe her ears, did those words really come out of his mouth, it
wasn’t possible that he was really attracted to her.
“So, if you
broke up with her last week why did you still come today?” she asked
“Because
you’re here” he replied and walked around the table, bent down and kissed her.
It was a long
and lingering kiss and when it was over she enjoyed it so much she was feeling
guilty.
“Does June
know?”
“Yes” he said
eager to resume
“So why
didn’t she say something?” he asked “she’s rubbish at keeping secrets”
“Because I
told her I’d send the nude selfie she’d sent me to all my friends if she didn’t,
especially if it spoiled my chances with you” he replied and kissed her again
before she could speak anymore.
The prolonged
kiss showed no sign of abating until a voice said
“What’s going
on in here then?”
It was Cousin
James who David was sharing the spare room with.
“He’s just
wishing me a Happy Christmas?” April said
“Result”
James remarked as he poured himself a glass of water and then added
“I’ll leave
you two alone”
“Good because
I want to wish her a Happy New Year now” David replied
“I think
that’s a given” April said
They left Nettlebridge
shortly after lunch the next day and had a clear run back to Abbottsford.
David was
driving and April rode shotgun while a rather fragile June sat in the back and
judging by the aromas emanating from back there it was obvious her digestinal
tract was still processing the garbage she consumed the previous day.
It was a very
quiet and uneventful journey home with all of them lost in their own thoughts.
Aprils were
quite philosophical as she pondered the difference a day makes, on the journey
up she was envious of her sister and felt guilty for the way she looked at
David, while on the way back she couldn’t stop smiling and looked like the cat
that got the cream, which of course she had.
