The Garden of Forgotten Wishes - Trisha Ashley Page 0,63
up and the paths raking … and more information added to the website.’ He searched his pockets. ‘There’s more. I’ve got an urgent to-do list here somewhere.’
‘All those are minor things,’ Elf said comfortably. ‘Now, gather round and I’ll explain the till. It’s dead simple.’
She demonstrated and then everyone had a go, though I was the only one who repeatedly jammed it. The instructions on inserting a new paper till roll were also beyond my understanding.
James and Steve didn’t have any problem with any of it, and nor did Gertie, when her mind could be dragged away from pondering what cuttings and plants in her greenhouse were surplus to requirements and could be sold in the shop.
‘I think we’ll only put Marnie on the till if some plague wipes out the rest of us,’ Ned said drily. ‘Now, James is used to putting the float in the till and then cashing up when we close, from previous open days. There will, I hope, be a lot more money than before, so at the end of the day, Steve or James can print out the till roll, put in the float again and bring the rest to the office.’
‘I’ll show Steve all that as we go,’ James said.
‘Good, and I should think when it’s fairly quiet, one person could sell the tickets and handle the shop, but you and James can work it to suit yourselves. I know you’ll have to dash out from time to time, Steve, to open or close the Village Hut, or to your other jobs.’
‘They don’t take up much time and I can always clean the Hut first thing in the mornings and the conveniences in the car park after the garden’s shut.’
‘Fine,’ Ned said. He’d found a little notebook now and was scribbling in it.
‘Did you order paper bags?’ Gertie asked suddenly.
‘Yes, brown paper ones, but also some inexpensive cotton totes printed on the side with a design Myfy did for me: a circle of flowers and foliage with little angel or fairy faces peeping out and “Grace Garden” written across the middle. They’re supposed to arrive tomorrow.’
‘They sound lovely,’ I said. It all seemed like a good start, but quite low key, as if Ned was unsure how many people would actually turn up to visit a partly restored old herb garden, but I thought he’d be surprised. People would go a long way to look at an unusual garden, and this was certainly that. Then during the school holidays and the tourist season a lot of visitors to the valley would visit it just because it was another thing to do. He could well soon find himself radically expanding the stock of the shop, if he wanted to make more money.
And I’d have to train him not to call the souvenirs ‘tat’!
‘There’ll be a glossy guidebook,’ Ned said. ‘I’ll have to update it regularly, as parts of the garden are restored. The rose garden will have to be included in the next one – it’s amazing how much difference you’ve made to it already, Marnie. You’re a one-woman powerhouse.’
‘The thought of cleaning up the temple folly certainly speeded up the path clearing today,’ I said. ‘And I keep wondering what other varieties of roses we’ll find in the beds when I start actually working on them.’
I remembered the latest metal tags I’d found and fished them out of the big pocket inside my anorak, along with a generous amount of ripe leaf mould.
‘You give those to me,’ James said, taking them. ‘They’ll come up a treat, like the others.’
‘How much are you charging people to come in?’ asked Steve. ‘It used to be a pound on open days, didn’t it?’
‘Four quid,’ said James. ‘But concessions for geriatrics like us, and the disabled.’
‘Who are you calling a geriatric?’ demanded Gertie. ‘I’m in my prime.’
I grinned, but Ned’s mind was on more serious matters. ‘Maybe when people know how much it costs to get in, they won’t bother,’ he said gloomily.
‘I really don’t think so, Ned,’ I assured him. ‘In fact, if you put out a collecting box asking for donations towards the restoration, people would put in loads of money. Most of them really will be interested in what you’re doing here.’
He brightened up. ‘I did wonder about having a “Become a Friend of the Grace Garden” page on the website, with an annual subscription that gives Friends unlimited free access. There could be newsletters and special events later.’