Lintwood Farm Chapter 5

Here is Chapter Five

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