The Garden of Forgotten Wishes - Trisha Ashley Page 0,112

and his family withered and died on the spot …

‘How did he get in?’ I asked.

‘Must have been over the wall. He’d have ladders in his van anyway. He took a chance, though I suppose he knows I hardly ever miss a quiz night at the pub. Still, he won’t be doing it again, because I’m going to fit security lights and a camera at the back of the house.’

‘That’s a good idea,’ I agreed. ‘Perhaps extend them to the office and courtyard area, too? It might even bring your insurance premiums down a bit.’

‘That’s a thought,’ he agreed, starting to calm down a bit. ‘It’s a pity there’s nothing I can do to bring the public liability insurance down as well. It’s expensive, but I need it in case any of the visitors are daft enough to let their little darlings chew on the plants.’

He ran a hand through his hair, which already looked even more tousled than usual, and smiled ruefully at me. ‘Sorry – what a greeting!’

‘It’s OK, I’m not surprised you’re furious. Do you want me to feed the peacocks and fish, while you fill in the holes again, or the other way round?’

‘I’ll fill them in and try and smooth it over. Just as well the others are coming in later in the morning from today, or James would do his nut. Keeping that bit of lawn immaculate and planting out his borders are the only gardening tasks he’s ever shown any true enthusiasm about, though he was always a hard worker until the rheumatism slowed him down.’

‘I don’t know why anyone fusses over lawns. It’s like outdoor housework, as far as I’m concerned,’ I said. ‘As much fun as vacuuming a carpet.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ Ned agreed. Then Lancelot gave a great, despairing wail. ‘He’s hungry, so if you could just feed everything – the scoops are in the food bins in the Potting Shed, two for the peacocks, one small one of fish food for the koi.’

Guinevere was so eager, she tried to come into the shed with me, but I shooed her out, distributed the food widely, so they both got a share and then spent a pleasant ten minutes by the pond, watching the huge silver, red and gold shapes of the koi circle, surface greedily and then sink back to the depths again.

Ned was still working on the lawn when I went back to ask him what he’d like me to do this morning, since I’d cleared the rose garden and it was ready for mulching.

‘Could you start digging in the rest of the barberry bushes around the wetland area? I’ve put the pots where I want them to go.’

‘OK,’ I agreed, going to fetch my tools and looking forward to getting stuck in to the Grace Garden as a change from the roses.

Ned came to join me a little later, bringing two big enamel mugs of coffee. He told me the phone had been ringing off the hook again in the office, with people wanting to tell him they’d seen the piece about the restoration of the Grace Garden on Look North last night.

‘Really? I didn’t think they’d show it that quickly – or even at all, unless they wanted something upbeat to fill in,’ I said, sitting down with my coffee on the steps that led to the Invisible Gazebo.

‘No, me neither.’ Ned lowered his large frame down beside me.

‘Gert and James both say sitting on cold stone gives you piles,’ I observed.

‘Then they’re taking their time arriving.’

‘Was the TV coverage good?’ I asked tentatively.

‘Apparently. They used much more footage than I expected … But then, Clara, Jacob and Myfanwy are all celebrities in their own right, so newsworthy.’

‘And so are you,’ I pointed out, and he frowned.

‘I was a minor one when I was presenting This Small Plot, but I hardly got mobbed in the streets – or not until I had that touch of notoriety to spice the interest up a bit.’

‘You haven’t been in the public eye since, though, so it’s like I said: everyone will have moved on to something else long ago. I mean, the visitors yesterday were only interested in talking to you about gardening and how much they used to love your programmes, weren’t they?’

‘Yes, and they were all really nice. I think I must have got a bit paranoid.’

‘That’s what comes of thinking social media views represent those of all the ordinary people,’ I told him. ‘I felt better as soon