Chapter
5
An
ambulance pulled up into the drive and a paramedic helped Ellie out and handed
her some crutches,
"Ellie,
Ellie" Chrissie ran out of the house and gave her sister a hug "Ellie
you're back"
"Of
course I am" she replied. Martin came out to greet her and gave her a
massive hug and kissed her forehead,
"I'm
glad you're ok" he said looking at her, she smiled,
"Me
too, though me knee really hurts"
"Let's
get you inside and sat down". The paramedic handed Martin some pain relief
medication for Ellie to take every four hours.
Back
in the house everyone was sat in the living room talking and laughing. They
told Ellie about the dinner they were going to have that evening,
"We've
got carrots and cabbage and potatoes, even and whole chicken" Chrissie and
Louis said,
"How
did you manage a whole chicken"
"I
managed to pull a few strings with Mr Brook at the butches" Martin said.
Nicky entered the room and everyone looked at her. Ellie held out her hand to
invite her mother over and smiled at her. She walked and took Ellie's hand. She
sat down with everyone else and joined in the conversation.
Later
that evening after dinner Martin, Jennifer, Lindsey, Louis and Chrissie cleaned
the kitchen and dining room whilst Nicky and Ellie talked in the living room,
"Sweetheart,
I am so, so sorry, I didn't mean to push you" Nicky hugged her daughter,
"Mum
it's ok, you were upset and angry and I'm pretty sure I would have done the
same if I had held it all in for a week" Ellie hugged her mother back,
"I
know but I really am sorry"
"Mum,
it's ok, I hope you are feeling better"
"How
can I feel better" Nicky began to cry "I've lost the love of my life and
it's not fair, I can't live without him, I can't"
"I
know you can't, but listen, you have three beautiful children and a farm to
keep you busy, you don't have to think about it all the time, I know it hurt,we're are all hurting too. You didn't just lose a husband, we all lost a
father and it is so hard but it's even harder when you aren't around. We need
you mum" Ellie took her mother's hands "Mum please we need you"
"I
know, Ellie I know, I think I will just concentrate on the vegetable garden,
after all your father was very, very proud of it"
"That
sounds great, at least it will get you outside" Ellie smiled at her mother
as she wiped her eyes, Nicky smiled back.
"Louis
stop it" Jennifer said giving Louis a little push as he tried to throw
water at her whilst washing up,
"Haha,
come on Jenny, it's not my fault you...wet yourself" Louis through a hand
full of water at Jennifer's skirt,
"Louis"
Jennifer shouted
"What's
going on" Martin asked as he entered the kitchen,
"Martin,
Louis throw water at me and soaked my skirt"
"Did
not"
"Did
too"
"Did
not"
"Did
too"
"Oi,
you two stop shouting at each other ok, and Louis stop throwing water around
and behave yourself, ok"
"Yes
Martin" Louis and Jennifer replied at the same time,
"Can't
believe you got us into trouble" Louis said to Jennifer as Martin walked
away,
"Me,
that was you" Jennifer replied with a tone in her voice,
"I'm
watching you two very closely" Martin shouted from the dining room. Lindsay and
Chrissie giggled as they had been watching from the table. The dining room was
all clean and tidy and Martin, Chrissie and Lindsey were getting a board game
out to play. Nicky and Ellie came back into the dining room,
"Hey,
is everything ok" Martin asked as they approached the table,
"Everything's
fine Mums apologised" Ellie replied. Nicky went to give Chrissie hug,
"Mummy"
Chrissie though her arms around her mother as she knelt down to give her a hug,
"Mum, Mum" Louis ran in from the kitchen and also gave Nicky a hug. Martin
approached Ellie and put his arm round her,
"You
ok Ellie"
"Yes
I'm fine, I just hope Mum will be ok" Ellie looked on as her mother and
siblings as they continued hugging.
Later
that night after Martin had tucked Lindsey and Chrissie in to bed and said goodnight to the other two, he went to see Ellie,
"Hi,
Martin" Ellie smiled as Martin entered the room,
"How's
your knee" Martin sat on her bed next to her,
"It's
a little sore, I've taken my medication I'm just waiting for the pain to go
down"
Martin
put his arm round her and took her hand,
"I
was really worried about you Ellie"
"I
know"
"I
don't know what I would have done if you had been in a more serious
condition" Ellie smiled at him,
"I
don't know what I would have done either, I don't know what would have happened
to Chrissie or Louis"
"I
would have looked after them no matter what happened"
"Thank
you Martin" Ellie rested her head against Martin's shoulder and sighed
"I wish none of this had happened, the war, Dad being killed, Mum breaking
down"
"I
know, I wish it hadn't happened either, but I'm not going anywhere, I'm going to
stay here and look after you"
"I
don't need looking after"
"I
know, but at the moment you do"
"Ok,
maybe I do right now but when my knees better I won't need looking after"
"Well,
whether you need looking after or not, I'm always going to look after you"
they both looked at each other, Martin kissed Ellie on the cheek and smiled.
They both leaned in and gave each other a slow passionate kiss.
The
wind blew strong the next morning and whistled as it blew round the house.
Chrissie was the first out of bed and dressed. She went into everyone else's
rooms to see who else was awake, but they were all still asleep. She went
downstairs and set the table for breakfast. She put a bowl and side plate with
a spoon and knife in each place at the table. In the middle she put the cereal
boxes, butter and toast rack. She slipped her coat on and ran out in to the
wind towards barn,
"Good
morning Dee Dee, good morning, Lisa, good morning Missy, good morning
Bernadette, time for breakfast" Chrissie poured bird food into the chicken
feed. After she went back to the house to find the milkman had arrived,
"Hello
Mr. Milkman, thank you for the milk" Chrissie said as she took the milk
from his hands.
"You're
welcome Miss Pickard"
Chrissie
went back into the house and put the milk in the fridge. She filled the kettle
and put it on the stove to boil. She got three tea cups out of the cupboard and
put tea bags in them.
"Good
morning Chrissie" Martin stood in the doorway to the kitchen,
"Good
morning Martin, cup of tea" Chrissie replied
"Yes
please Chrissie" Chrissie took the kettle and poured hot water into one of
the cup on the kitchen side and made Martin a cup of tea,
"Thank
you Chrissie" Martin said taking the cup from Chrissie "did you sleep
well" he asked sipping his tea,
"Yes
I did, though the wind did wake me up this morning" Chrissie replied as
she made two more cups of tea,
"Yeah
it woke me up too, are they for Ellie and Nicky"
"Yes
this one's Ellie's, I'll take Mummies" Chrissie picked up her mother's cup
of tea and left the room, Martin looked on as he thought about what happened
between Ellie and him the night before.
"Morning Mummy" Chrissie said as she walked into her mother's room. Nicky was awake
and standing at the window looking down onto the vegetable garden,
"Morning
sweetheart" Nicky turned around to see her youngest child bring her a cup
of tea "is that for me"
"Yes,
are you feeling better now" Chrissie replied as she handed her mother her
cup of tea,
"A
little but I'm still hurting" she gave her daughter a big hug.
In
Ellie's room, Ellie was lying awake in bed thinking back to the night before,
she heard a knock at the door,
"Come
in" she shouted from her bed,
"Morning
Ellie, mind if I..."Martin poked his head round the door,
"No
not at all" Ellie cut him off, Martin approached the bed and handed Ellie
her cup of tea,
"Chrissie
made you a cup of tea"
"Aww
how kind of her" Ellie sipped her tea,
"Yeah
she is quite kind" Martin smiled
"Yes
she is, she's always been this kind and bubbly, It's who she is" They both
sat in silence for a few minutes,
"Look
Ellie" Martin began "about last night, I...I" he sighed
"The truth is I really, really like you and I think we could really have
something" Ellie looked at him "I know there's a spark between
us" they both looked at each other,
"Martin,
I really like you too" she smiled and blushed,
"You're blushing"
"I
know" Martin leaned in and kissed her again,
"Ellie
do you want to, maybe go out with me"
"Yes,
I thought you'd never ask" they smiled at each other then gave each other
a long sultry kiss.
"Good
Morning" Ellie and Martin entered the dining room together,
"About
time you two got together" Jennifer said smiling at them,
"What,
you two are together" Nicky stared at them,
"Well
Martin and me have romantic feelings for each other" Ellie replied,
"Oh...that's
great" Nicky stood up and gave them a hug "we were hoping this would
happen one day"
"We?"
Ellie and Martin said together,
"Ian,
Patrick, Lucy and me, who else" Nicky smiled and sat back down, Martin
pulled out a chair for Ellie and helped her sit down,
"Thank
you Martin"
"You're
welcome" Martin kissed her.
Mrs.
Latham returned to teach that morning and Louis wasn't happy,
"But
she's really mean" he fussed as Martin insisted he get into his school
uniform,
"Louis
uniform now"
"But
I don't want to" Louis through his uniform on the bed,
"Louis
you have to go to school now, put your uniform on"
"No"
"Louis
Alfred Pickard" Ellie stood at the door "What did you promise Dad
before he left"
"To
take care of the farm"
"And"
"To
take care of his favourite girls"
"And"
Ellie stared him down,
"And
to attend school"
"Right
so uniform on now" Louis started to put on his uniform "just because Dads not coming back doesn't mean you can break your promises to him"
"Yes
Ellie"
"Now
downstairs, Mrs Latham is waiting for you" Louis ran downstairs and into
the classroom,
"Good
morning Louis, I trust we are ready to begin" Mrs Latham said as Louis
came in,
"Yes
Mrs Latham" he replied
"Please
be seated" they all sat down ready to begin, "now today, British History
starting with Henry VIII. Now please read the handout I have given you then we
will discuss it." Everyone started reading as Mrs Latham poured herself a
cup of tea.
Nicky
was rummaging through the cupboard in the greenhouse looking for Asparagus to
plant,
"Mum
are you Ok" Ellie hobbled into the greenhouse,
"I'm
fine just looking for the Asparagus,
"It's
on top of the cupboard"
"Oh
thank you" Nicky smiled at her daughter then got back to work. Ellie made
her way back to the house though the strong wind. Martin came walking up from
the barn as he been feeding the cows and put his arms round her to keep her
steady,
"Oh
thank you Martin"
"Don't
want you falling over do we"
"No
we don't" they smiled at each other then kissed. They made their way back
into the house and sat down at the table for a cup of tea,
"How's
your mum" Martin asked as he took Ellie's hand,
"Planting
Asparagus" she laughed
"At
least she's not in her room",
"Yes
that's good but she's still grieving, we all are, I mean Louis this morning,
he's never been like that before, I know Mrs. Latham is strict but he has never
done that before"
"Ellie"
Martin put his other arm round her "things will get better , it will just
take time, Jennifer was exactly the same when my Mother died, but they will
recover. Time is the only healer"
"I
know, but it's just so hard, I'm trying to be strong for everyone, for Louis
and Chrissie and Mum and all I want to do is sit around and cry" Ellie
began to cry, Martin pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her,
"Ellie,
Ellie come on, it's going to be alright, it will, I promise"
"I
know" she tried to stop herself crying "you must think I'm
pathetic"
"No,
I don't, I was exactly the same last year and it's ok to cry" he held her
close and softly caressed her hand,
"Martin"
"Yes"
"Does
it ever stop hurting"
"No"
More tears streamed down Ellie's face, "but you learn to live with it and
move on, you find something else to make you happy and keep your mind off
things" Martin kissed Ellie on the head,
"What
did you do"
"I
focused on helping my dad out with my sisters and making up stories for them.
It actually really helped them"
"Any
chance they will help Louis" they both gave a little laugh,
"You
really are a great man Martin, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world"
"And
I'm the luckiest man in the world" They both kissed.
"Right
so Jennifer, what did the hand out say about Henry VIII" Mrs. Latham asked
"He
became king in 1509" Jennifer replied
"Yes,
Lindsey what did you learn"
"He
separated the Church of England from the Catholic Church"
"Very
good Lindsey, Louis"
"He
had six wives" Louis said
"And
Chrissie"
"Two
wives were called Anne, three Catharine's and one Jane"
"Well
done Chrissie, gold star" Mrs. Latham put a gold cut out star on chart that hung on the wall,
"Now
who can tell me what year Henry VIII was born in" they all raised their
hands.
"Ellie
you have a letter" Nicky handed Ellie a letter,
"Oh
my god, it's from Brenda" Ellie said as she read who the letter was from,
"Who's
Brenda" Martin asked
"My
friend from school, she's in London training to be a nurse, she left in
September"
"How
is she" Nicky asked
"She's
fine, she's been dating a soldier from Cornwall and is really enjoying her
training"
"That's
good"
"Aw,
she won't be home for Christmas" Ellie looked sad again,
"Are
you ok beautiful" Martin asked,
"Yes,
I'm fine, I just could do with a nice girly chat after everything that's
happened"
"Come
here you" Martin hugged Ellie and made her smile,
"Are
you making lunch darling" Nicky asked
"Yes,
that's why all the lunch stuff is on the table" Ellie replied
sarcastically with a smile
"Oh
alright" Nicky replied softly
"Mummy"
Chrissie shouted as she walked into the room, she ran and gave her mother a
hug,
"Is
lunch ready" Louis asked
"Yes
but you need to tell me what you would like in your sandwich first" Ellie
told him,
"Tuna"
Lindsey shouted
"Me
too please" Louis replied
"Jam
for me please" Chrissie said still with her arms wrapped around her mother
"Ok
and Jenny what would you like"
"Um
can I have ham please"
"Of
course you can" Ellie made Martin and her siblings their lunch and handed
it to them
"Thank
you Ellie" they all said,
"Martin
what would you like"
"It's
ok sweetie, you make yours, I'll make my own" Martin said, everyone looked
at them,
"I'll
take it" Lindsey said " 'Sweetie' "
"Yes
Lindsey, we are together, you know that from this morning"
"Yes
but the pet name" Jennifer put in,
"All
couples have pet names Jenny" Nicky weighed in "Me and Patrick did
anyway"
"What
pet names did you and dad have" Ellie asked
"I
called him my farming hero and he called be Bluebell due to the obsession I use
to have with them, ooh maybe I should plant some in the garden"
"Yeah
you could go down to Mrs. Browns shop and see when she is going to get some in
to plant" Ellie replied with a smile, Nicky smiled back.
"Guess
what we were learning about today" Chrissie said to her mum,
"What
did you learn about today"
"Henry
VIII"
"Really
and what did you learn"
"He
had six wives and was really over weight"
"Really"
"Yes,
he loved his food" Chrissie laughed
Everyone
sat down and ate lunch chatting away about what to do at Christmas,
"We
should do something nice for dad maybe make a little memorial or
something" Louis said as he chewed away at his sandwich,
"Louis
don't speak with your mouth full, it's rude but yes that sounds like a lovely
idea" Nicky replied
"I
like it" Ellie said "It would be nice to have a place to lie down
flowers for dad every Christmas, birthday, anniversary and father's day"
"Yes it
would" Nicky said looking on
