Chapter
21
"Hello
Chrissie" A voice said as Chrissie was watering the plants outside the front
of the house. She turned around to see who it was, behind her stood two woman
wearing trench style coats and holding a suitcase each,
"Mum"
Chrissie ran to give her Mother a hug
"Hello
little one, well not so little anymore look how tall you've gotten" the
other woman said
"Auntie
Maria. What are you both doing here" she ask them
"We're
here to see the baby of course, I have to meet my granddaughter at some
point" and with that Chrissie lead them inside
Ellie was sat in the study piling up photo
albums her father had made,
"What's
going on in here" Nicky asked as she walked in with Chrissie and Maria
"Mum,
what are you doing here" Ellie got up and gave her Mother a hug "such
a lovely surprise, Auntie Maria, always good to see you"
"We're
here to see you daughter"
"Of
course just through here" Ellie lead them through to the dining room where
Ian sat with Bonnie in his arms,
"Nicky,
Maria, how lovely to see you" Ian stood up and handed Bonnie to Ellie who
handed her to Nicky
"Mum
this is Bonnie. Bonnie this is Grandma and Auntie Maria" Bonnie gave a
little wriggle and waved her hands in the air then settled into her
Grandmothers arms,
"How
old is she now" Maria asked as she gazed down at Bonnie,
"Four
weeks, we got her registered last week. I'm going to make a pot of tea"
"I'll
help you" Maria followed Ellie into the kitchen
"How's Mum doing" Ellie asked, she put the kettle on the cooker
"Much
better, in fact she's laughing again just like she did when she met your
father"
"Really,
that's great, she's not met anyone else has she" Ellie asked
"No
but time away from here has done her good"
"That's
good to hear" Ellie smiled with relief. She then carried a tray though to
the dining room table
"So
how's life on the farm" Nicky asked as Ellie poured the tea
"It's
great we've been moving things around and sorting the study which is to became
Ian's bedroom" Ellie told her mother
"How
come" Maria asked
"Well
there's not enough room for everyone so Ian's moving downstairs, Lindsey and
Chrissie are moving into Ian's room and their room will become Bonnie's
room"
"Oh
well it's about time the study was sorted, I should have done it years
ago" Nicky looked over to the study
"Oh
and we are putting Dads plans to restore the farm to it's former glory back
into action, we found the plans last week whilst cleaning out"
"Oh
really that's great" Nicky beamed with excitement
"There's
just one problem" Ellie said
"What's
that sweetie"
"We
have no money"
"Sure
we do, we can use the savings your Father left" Nicky stood up and started
to rock Bonnie to sleep
"We
have savings" Ellie looked surprised
"Of
course we do, your Father saved up so he could restore the farm after your dope
of a Grandfather ruined it" Bonnie wriggled in Nicky's arms
"Nicky
that's wonderful, also what did you mean by 'we'" Ian asked
"Well
me and Nicky are here to help" Maria stated "we've been talking about
this for months" Maria sipped her tea
"I've
been feeling a lot better lately and I always promised your Father that if he
died I would still go ahead with the plans we made, so another reason to come
back" Nicky put Bonnie in her cot that stood next to the table and sat
back down,
"Ok
well that's great, you will know all the plan's inside out, what's going where,
where to get the animals from, who to sell to"
"Of
course, I'm the one who did all the research"
"Ok,
but one little thing, where will you and Auntie Maria stay" Ellie asked
"Don't
worry about that dear one, we will stay in the attic" Maria told Ellie
"We
have an attic" Ellie looked even more surprised than she did when the
savings where mentioned
"Of
course we do, the stairs at the back of the landing upstairs lead to two small
rooms" Nicky told everyone
"What
stairs" Ellie asked
"Those
stairs" Nicky showed everyone the stairs at the back of the landing
"Oh,
you know I've never noticed them before. Anyway Mum, you're cleaning the rooms,
I've got a baby to look after" Ellie turned to walk away then stopped
"Mum, what about your room"
"Oh
I forgot about that, Maria you're in the attic by yourself"
"Woppie"
Maria did a little dance and they all went back downstairs, Lindsey looked at
Chrissie
"Your
Auntie's weird"
"I
know"
Over
the course of the next six months the farm was restored, horses arrived and
settled into the restored sable, pigs arrived after that and put in the barn,
more chickens came, Chrissie and Lindsey looked after them and the fields were
turned over and by winter all ready for the harvest to grow. Nicky had decided
to stay and Maria found a little house in the Village to live in after she had
also decided to stay as well. Bonnie had grown so much and by Christmas
crawling around the floor.
Ellie was sat at the dining room table
writing yet another letter to Martin informing him how Bonnie, the farm and the
family where all doing, she looked up and two of the chickens sat outside of
the window,
"Chrissie"
she stood, picked up Bonnie and opened the front door "Chrissie the
chickens have got out again" Chrissie came bouncing round the corner of
the house, Lindsey in tow
"Not
again, the lock on the fence needs replacing it's not a very good one is it,
Ellie can you help us round them up please" Chrissie asked her sister
"Sure,
let me get mine and Bonnie's coats and the pram" Ellie went back inside
and emerged five minutes later. They spent the next hour chasing and rounding
up the chickens. Ellie then found a new lock in the shed and fixed it to the
gate
"I
never knew you could change locks Ellie" Ian said driving in on the new
tractor from the fields, barrels of hay on the back,
"Dad
taught me, like most things related to the farm, we got enough hay to last the
winter"
"Yes
we do, plenty of it" Ian and Louis started unloading the hay into the barn,
"Hi
everyone" Jennifer came walking up the drive
"Hello
sweetheart" Ian said hugging his daughter
"Ellie
we need another order of fabric, we've only one role of white cotton left"
she told her
"Again,
I only ordered a few weeks ago" Ellie looked shocked
"I
know"
"You
should change supplier" Maria told them as she came out of the barn
"I
think your right Auntie Maria, they're a bunch of cheap skates"
"Try
this company, Right Now Fabrics" Maria handed Ellie a newspaper cutting
"excellent review by Selfridges, though they don't schedule meetings in
December due to Christmas"
"There's
an address here, I'll write to them see if I can get meeting for the new
year" Ellie put the cutting in her pocket
"There's
something else too" Jennifer said
"What
is it Jenny" Maria asked
"The
Butches is closed till further notice"
"What,
where are we going to get out meat from" Maria asked
"How
come" Lindsey put in
"I
don't know is the answer to both those questions"
"We're
not eating the chickens" Chrissie stated
"We
might have to Chrissie, that's what they're there for you know that" Ellie
said
"Only
when they stop laying eggs and you leave Missy, Dee Dee, Lisa and Bernadette
alone"
"Of
course we will. You don't think Charlie's been killed do you" Ellie said,
sorrow in her voice
"I
don't know but I'm going over to Farmer Michaels later with some barrels of
hay, I'll find out what's going on and see if I can strike a deal to get meat
from him, otherwise we are going to have to go all the way in to town to the
butchers there" Ian said, he then got back to work, Jennifer gave her bag
to Ellie who took it inside as she helped her father, Louis and Maria.
Ian
returned from Farmer Michaels late in the evening,
"You
took your time" Nicky said as he walked into the living room "also
Meg ate your dinner"
"It's
ok I ate over there" he sat down
"How
did it go" Jennifer asked
"Well
Charlie Brook has been killed in action"
"Oh
my god how terrible" Nicky said
"Mr
Brook has asked Farmer Michaels if he can sell his meat to his customers,
seeing as he gets his meat supply from his farm anyway. Farmer Michaels is
going to put a notice on the shop door tomorrow"
"Did
Farmer Michaels say anything about Martin" Ellie asked worried
"Only
that they were split into different regiments, as far as he's aware he's still
alive, oh and Mrs Michaels knitted this for Bonnie, she hopes it will keep her
warm over winter" Ian handed a little jumper over to Ellie, it was pink
with the letter B on the front of it
"Oh
how sweet, I will write her a thank you letter" Ellie got up and left the
room
"Well
I'm off to bed, see you all in the morning" Ian left the room for bed
The next morning Ellie wrote Mrs Michaels
and Right Now Fabrics a letter
"Right
I'm off into town going to sent these letters and buy some more nappies for
Bonnie, she's grown up so fast" Ellie told her mother, Ian and Maria as
they mucked out of barn,
"Ok
love, can you pick me up some new tea towels please, I'll give you the ration
for them" Nicky left to get her ration book
"Are
you taking Bonnie with you dear"
"Yes
I am Auntie Maria"
"Here
you go darling, about time we had new ones, not had any since 1939" Nicky
gave Ellie her ration and got back to work
"I'll
be back soon" Ellie walked off up the drive
Ellie made her way into town, baby Bonnie
in tow. She posted her letters, then want into the baby shop. As well as buying
Bonnie's new nappies she also bought her two Christmas presents, a new dress
and a new blanket. As she left the shop she noticed Mr Brook standing in front
of her,
"Mr
Brook" she walked over to him, he looked up,
"Oh,
hello Miss Pickard, oh I mean Mrs. Dinsdale"
"Please
call me Ellie, easier to remember" there was an awkward silence
"I
heard about Charlie, I am so sorry"
"Thank
you, you're the first person to be nice about it, that greengrocer cheered when
he heard the news"
"I'm
so sorry Mr Brook, I never knew he could be like that"
"I
know my son was a little terror when he was younger but he was still human, he
still had a heart" Mr Brook gave a little cry
"Oh
Mr Brook, if there is anything we can do to help please let us know"
"I
will, look I've got to get on, preparations for Sunday, we're having a memorial
at the church, 10am, you can come if you like"
"We'll
be there"
"Such
a bonnie little girl, what's her name again" Mr Brook looked at Bonnie in her pram
"Her
names Bonnie"
"Well,
see you Sunday"
"See
you Sunday Mr Brook"
"I'm
back" Ellie shouted as she walked through the door
"Hi
Ellie" Jennifer came out of the dining room with a tray of tea and went
into the living room "tea" she asked as Ellie sat down with Bonnie on
her knee,
"Yes
please, did you sort the fabric order"
"Yes
I did this morning" Jennifer handed cups of tea to Ellie, Ian, Nicky and
Maria
"I
bumped into Mr Brook in town today"
"How
is he" Nicky asked
"Devastated.
Their having a memorial on Sunday at 10am I've said we'll be there" Ellie
sipped her tea
"Oh
of course, they were at your Fathers so we will be at Charlie's" Nicky
replied "Such a devastating thing to happen" she sipped her tea.
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