All was calm and quiet when I went back over to the garden early the following morning and I was soon so immersed in my work that I forgot all about the noisy artist and the fact that, according to Chloe at least, he was set to become another new neighbour.
‘Morning,’ she beamed, as she hopped off her bike early on the Thursday morning. ‘How’s it all going?’
‘Good,’ I told her, trying to stifle a yawn.
‘Tiring?’ she ventured.
‘A bit,’ I admitted. ‘It’s been a hectic few days.’
And if I was being honest, I had found some of it rather overwhelming. I was immensely grateful that Luke, Kate and Prosperous Place had landed in my life right when I needed them, but the move to the city, the late-night clanking of the water pipes and the general busyness made me miss Eloise and the tranquillity of Broad-Meadows. I knew it was early days, and that it would soon settle down, but it was challenging nonetheless.
‘I found city life exhausting when I first arrived,’ Chloe said reassuringly, ‘and I hadn’t taken on anything like you have here. Give yourself time,’ she smiled, ‘and be kind to yourself.’
‘I’ll try,’ I promised.
‘Good,’ Chloe continued, happy to have said her piece. ‘Now, where’s my bucket and hoe? I’ve been chasing these weeds in my sleep!’
By the end of the day Chloe had emptied endless buckets. I surreptitiously watched her, deadheading nearby and doing a little light pruning as I worked through the herbaceous border a short distance away. I was relieved to note that, not only was she a hard worker, she also did the job properly. There was no pulling off of leaves and leaving the root behind in her haste to make things look better. The weeds were completely eradicated.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask,’ I called after her, just as she was making off with another load towards the end of the afternoon, ‘what’s the composting set-up like here? I haven’t seen any bins.’
‘We’ve got bays, rather than bins,’ she told me, ‘and they’re behind the wall at the back of the Grow-Well.’
‘That’s something else I haven’t seen.’
‘What?’ she gasped. ‘Not any of it?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘not yet. Luke and Kate haven’t had a minute to show me and I haven’t wanted to just venture over there on my own.’
‘Come on,’ said Chloe, looking at her watch. ‘I’ll take you now. Everyone will be starting to gather to get ready for the bonfire party tonight.’
I’d forgotten all about that. There had been an invitation to the celebration which was taking place on the green, waiting for me on the doormat when Kate and I got back on Monday. As lovely as it was to be included, I wouldn’t be going because I couldn’t leave Nell. She was bound to quake when the fireworks were let off and I wasn’t sure I was up to meeting everyone all in one go. That said, given what Chloe had just announced, I was about to be introduced to them en masse anyway.
‘Don’t look so worried,’ she told me, waiting until I caught her up. ‘Everyone’s really lovely.’
The Grow-Well was amazing. There were productive, packed raised beds, a tidy bothy, a few hens in a large run, fruit trees trained around the walls, a small glasshouse and an area set aside for socialising which included a long table, vast barbecue and brick-built pizza oven. It all looked far better than I had been expecting and a stark contrast to certain other parts of the garden.
‘This is incredible,’ I said in awe, once Chloe had acquainted me with the clever composting system.
‘Thank you,’ glowed Graham, as he caught my words, ‘and I’ve been meaning to come and find you to say that if you ever need an extra pair of hands in the rest of the garden, you know where I am.’
‘There’s every possibility that I might take you up on that offer,’ I told him.
‘Do,’ he insisted. ‘Luke doesn’t want anyone to feel obliged to lend a hand but I’m more than willing.’
‘Duly noted.’ I nodded. ‘I’m certain extra help will come in very handy the nearer we get to opening the garden.’
‘Let me introduce you and Nell to everyone properly,’ he then offered, making my heart race.
Nell was practically welded to my side. She had coped better than I had expected with the changes so far though and I hoped this extra new experience wouldn’t be a step too far for her.
‘Thanks, Graham,’ I said, as I took in the many unfamiliar faces. I hoped it wouldn’t be too much for me too.
Lisa, John’s wife, was present along with their brood of three and Heather, who lived in the first house in the square, and who also had three children, was with her. We had just started to chat when Kate arrived, back from the school run with the girls, and we were soon joined by more of the men.
Ryan, at about nineteen, was the youngest of the guys and he lived with his sister, Poppy, in the house on the right of mine. That, I remembered, was the one that Kate owned.
‘We were working the day you moved in,’ Poppy smiled. ‘Otherwise we would have come and joined the welcoming committee.’
‘That’s all right,’ I swallowed, thankful that they hadn’t been around to further swell the numbers.
‘I daresay you had a houseful even without us, didn’t you?’ Ryan grinned.
‘Something like that,’ I smiled back.
Next there was Jacob, a teacher and also Poppy’s partner. He lived in the house on Poppy’s other side and finally Neil. He and his husband, Mark the baker, lived in the last house as you left the square which was next to Lisa and John.
‘Right,’ I blinked, struggling to fit the names and places to all the faces.
We were missing Heather’s husband Glen, as well as John and Mark and Harold of course, who was still considered as much a part of the team as he had been when he lived there. Which was only proper given that he had been born and raised in the square and had more connection to the place than the rest of us put together.
‘So,’ said Carole, ‘have you got the measure of who lives where now, Freya?’
‘Not really,’ I said, biting my lip.
‘Heather and Glen in the first house,’ she said, holding up her hands as if she was driving around the square’s one-way system. ‘Then me and Graham, Jacob in the third, Poppy and Ryan next, then you, then Lisa and John and finally Mark and Neil.’
‘I see,’ I nodded. ‘That’s kind of what I thought.’
Lisa started to laugh. ‘Simple, right?’
I shook my head and pulled a confused face. By that point, it wasn’t a difficult expression to muster.
‘Don’t worry,’ Lisa giggled, ‘you’ll soon get the measure of it. We won’t make you learn the kid’s names today.’
‘I already know Abigail and Jasmine.’
‘Just six more to go then,’ she nudged.
I knew she meant well, but it really was a lot to take in and, as welcoming as everyone was, I did still feel very much the new girl and rather a meek country mouse, now I was faced with my tightknit town cousins.
‘Where’s Nell?’ I said, suddenly realising that I couldn’t feel her warm body pressed to my leg. ‘She was here a minute ago.’
‘Don’t worry,’ said Chloe soothingly, ‘she’s with Doctor Dolittle over there.’
My eyes darted to where she was pointing and I realised that Ryan and Nell had separated from the group and moved, with another dog, a little further away.
‘He’s a whizz with animals,’ said a girl standing next to me. She sounded utterly in awe, or was it love? I couldn’t be sure. ‘I’m Tam, by the way.’
‘My eldest,’ Lisa elaborated, ‘and the other dog with Ryan is Gus. He actually belongs to Colin, who owns the bookshop, but Ryan’s kind of adopted him. Gus, I mean, not Colin!’
I was amazed to see leggy Nell and the stocky little French Bulldog nose to nose. Nell, with her tail wagging, looked far more relaxed than I felt. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one making friends today, but I got the impression that she was taking it in her stride whereas I was still a bit nervous. For the first time ever, I envied her a little.
‘Are you coming to the party tonight, Freya?’ asked Heather, as she wrestled to clip one of her children into a double buggy.
‘Now then,’ said Lisa sternly, giving her friend a hand as I looked between the two boys and realised that Heather had twins. ‘Stop messing about.’
Heather straightened back up, letting Lisa take over.
‘No,’ I said, ‘afraid not. I know she doesn’t look it right now, but Nell’s of a rather nervy disposition and she’s had a lot to cope with this week.’ We both had. ‘I don’t want to leave her so I’m going to have to give it a miss.’
‘We aren’t having fireworks,’ Heather told me. ‘Just a bonfire and some sparklers. We recently decided not to have fireworks in the square. There are more than enough organised displays around and about.’
I was relieved to hear that.
‘But that doesn’t mean someone won’t be letting them off in the next street along,’ Lisa pointed out having secured the truculent boy back into his buggy.
‘That’s true,’ Heather agreed.
‘You do right to stay with Nell tonight,’ said Lisa. ‘I’ll bring you round a hot dog later.’
Her attention was then pulled away from me by the arrival of Luke, who everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to.
‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said. ‘I’ve been helping Finn move some of his stuff.’
‘That’s the artist guy I was telling you about,’ said Chloe as she wandered back over to stand with me. ‘Have you heard any more from him?’
‘No,’ I whispered back. ‘Is he properly moving in today?’
‘Sounds like it.’
‘And I’m sorry I wasn’t here to introduce you all to Freya,’ Luke carried on, pointing me out and making my face flush. ‘I take it you’ve all met her now.’
‘Yes,’ said Lisa, ‘leave the poor girl alone.’
My hands automatically reached for my plait.
‘Great,’ said Luke, clapping his hands together. ‘Let’s crack on then.’
Graham and Carole then stepped up and started telling everyone what to carry and where to and Luke made his way over to me and Chloe.
‘Sorry I hadn’t managed to bring you over here sooner,’ he apologised to me, ‘but it’s been a bit of week. And I’m sorry I haven’t done much in the garden either.’
Kate joined him and transferred Abigail from her arms to his.
‘That’s what I’m here for,’ I pointed out, ‘and you made a great job of the silver birches.’ That was one job he had been keen to embrace.
‘Thanks,’ he smiled. ‘You were right, they do look good.’
‘We’re hoping you’ll join us for supper tomorrow night, Freya,’ said Kate.
‘Oh yes,’ said Luke, ‘I almost forgot, I want to talk to you about positioning these sculptures and I’ve found some great historical plans and papers about the garden in the attic.’
‘And have you told Freya about your other idea?’ Kate pressed.
‘No,’ he said, ‘not yet. I haven’t had a chance and actually, I don’t want to tell anyone until I’ve got it all a bit clearer in my head.’
‘I’m intrigued,’ I said, looking at Kate, who was shaking her head. ‘I take it it involves the garden.’
‘To a certain extent,’ Luke said mysteriously.
‘But we’re still pushing ahead with the plans for the Winter Garden?’
‘Absolutely,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve already ordered most of what you had on that list.’
‘Oh, my goodness,’ I laughed. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to buy everything!’
‘Well,’ he said, ‘we want to make an impact, don’t we?’
‘We do,’ I agreed. ‘And we’ll need to make a decision on the final layout before it all arrives.’
‘I’m thinking more of a wintry path through the entire garden now,’ he said, his gaze drifting off, ‘with highlighted points of interest including the sculptures of course, rather than one focused area. What do you think?’
Given that he had ordered so much of what I had suggested, I thought we could create enough of a spectacle to do that.
‘As long as it isn’t too patchy,’ I pointed out, erring for now, on the side of caution. ‘We wouldn’t want to just dot things randomly about.’
‘We can always buy more plants,’ Luke said enthusiastically.
I wondered if I would be able to convince him to divert some of the garden budget in the direction of refurbishing the glasshouses or, if he couldn’t run to that, possibly buying a new one. With the number of plants I could then raise under glass, it would pay for itself in no time.
‘All right,’ I agreed, ‘that sounds great.’
‘We’ll talk more over supper, yes?’
‘Definitely.’
‘Luke!’ called Graham. ‘Can you give us a hand moving these tables?’
Luke gave Abigail back to Kate and rushed off again.
‘He’s in his element,’ she said, watching his retreating back. ‘It’s such a weight off his mind having you here, Freya,’ she added, turning back to me.
I understood that. A garden could be a burden, especially one the size we were working with, as well as a blessing.
‘This summer has been an endless round of just trying to keep on top of everything,’ Kate further explained, ‘but now he can stand back and look at the bigger picture.’
‘I don’t know how he’s managed to do as well as he has,’ said Chloe.
‘Because he’s had you helping,’ I told her. ‘You obviously love the garden too, Chloe, and you’ve worked so hard today.’
I hoped that didn’t sound patronising. I hadn’t meant it to.
‘I do love it,’ she said. ‘It’s a sort of solace, isn’t it? The repetition of pulling up those weeds today let my mind wander and my thoughts drift. Gardening really is soothing for the soul.’
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
A little later, Chloe headed home and I wasn’t all that many paces behind her. I thanked Ryan for looking out for Nell, who was saying a reluctant goodbye to her new best friend, Gus, and together we walked back through the garden to lock up the office.
There was no noise coming from the studio but there was a light on and another shining, in what Chloe had told me had been turned into a flat, above. I’d really had enough introductions for one day, but felt it would have been a missed opportunity to just walk by and not say anything.
The door to the studio was open and I peeped inside, pulled up short by what I saw. The place was filled with towering piles of what looked like, to my eyes at least, junk. It was an indoor scrap metal yard with something big being built on a plinth at the centre of it and some smaller pieces lined up on a workbench at the back. Intrigued, I took a step further in, with Nell still next to me and cocked my head to try and work out exactly what it was that I was looking at.
I still hadn’t worked it out when I heard heavy footsteps thundering down the stairs which ran up the side of the wall at the back.
‘Hello!’ I called, as feet clad in heavy, dust-covered work boots descended and were swiftly followed by a pair of long, solid legs, encased in ripped, oil-stained jeans. ‘I’m Freya,’ I said, my introduction trailing off as a maroon linen shirt followed the bottom half and then a face sporting a beard and framed by long dark hair which was loosely tied back, topped the vision off.
The guy, Finn, I guessed, looked like every inch a Viking and his expression was every bit as fierce. All that was missing was an axe.
‘What the hell?’ he shouted as he jumped down the last few steps, making the floor shake.
His deep voice resonated around the space and I replaced my former idea of him wielding an axe for Thor’s mighty hammer. There was enough electricity in the ether to make the air crackle.
‘You can’t bring a bloody dog in here!’ he thundered.
Nell whimpered, turned tail, shot through my legs and pelted straight out of the door.
‘Oh my God, Nell!’ I called after her, completely taken aback and panicking that I was going to lose her if the garden gate was open. ‘We just wanted to say hello,’ I shouted angrily over my shoulder before taking off after her, ‘and happy moving-in day!’