The Garden of Forgotten Wishes - Trisha Ashley Page 0,75
husband’s the poet, Henry Doome, but he’s not so keen on crowds, so I don’t know if he will come with her,’ Elf said. ‘But our beekeeping friend, Tottie, probably will.’
I must have looked at sea, because Ned said, ‘Starstone Edge is a valley high up on the moors, a few miles above Thorstane, though most of it was flooded to make a reservoir. Clara, her husband and a mixed bag of family and friends all live in the Red House, part of the hamlet that escaped the drowning.’
‘Yes, and now in summer there’s lots of holidaymakers and sailing on the lake and that kind of thing,’ Elf said. ‘One of the Doomes has opened up the old manor house as a very expensive wedding reception venue.’
‘The weather can be really bad there over winter, but then there’s a bit of a population explosion from late spring to early autumn, so any businesses have to make their money then,’ Ned said.
‘You can take some of your garden leaflets over there – and there are lots more places you can leave them.’ Elf began to count on her fingers: ‘There’s the Pike with Two Heads, the cracker factory on the other side of Great Mumming … the ghost trail and the Roman Bath up in Halfhidden … and there are a couple of big houses further afield that are open to the public, like Rufford Old Hall, near Ormskirk.’
‘I’d better quickly draw up a list,’ Ned said. ‘It’s not something I can put off until we’ve opened.’
‘Like expanding the shop – I think that really would make a lot of money and you did say there was an outbuilding on the other side of the wall that you might possibly be able to knock through into. I’d like to see that,’ I said.
‘I think the money would be better spent on the garden for the time being,’ he said dubiously. ‘But I’ll be about all day tomorrow, if you want to come over and look at it.’
‘I could do, in the morning, but I think my sister’s coming over later in the day,’ I said. ‘I’d like to have another walk round the Grace Garden anyway and see what you’ve been doing.’
‘Well, don’t let Ned rope you into working on your day off,’ Elf said. ‘You need a rest.’
‘You’re right, Elf. Marnie’s already working more hours than she’s being paid for and she’s only been here five minutes.’
‘But we’re all – Gertie, James and me – working more hours than we’re paid for, because we enjoy what we’re doing,’ I said. ‘If you want me to work on Sundays too, I will.’
‘You’re a glutton for punishment,’ Elf said, but she was smiling. ‘I hope you’ll join us for Sunday dinner tomorrow evening? It’s an open invitation, because of course sometimes you might want to go off for the day, but Jacob and Ned usually come, and Gerald.’
‘Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding,’ Ned said reminiscently. He didn’t seem surprised I’d been invited to join them for dinner, but then, I expect he knew how hospitable they were.
‘I’d love to, thank you,’ I agreed, capitulating, and Elf beamed.
Ned got up, stretching, his head almost touching the ceiling. ‘Well, I’d better get back to the office for a bit, even though I don’t want to. See you in the morning, Ellwood.’
When he’d gone, Elf looked at me. ‘Why does he call you by your surname, Marnie?’
‘It’s just … sort of a running joke from when we were students.’
‘Well, as long as you don’t mind.’
And I didn’t – in fact, I’d welcomed it as a sign that we were resuming our old friendship.
Treena had sent me a message saying she was definitely coming over to Jericho’s End tomorrow, when Luke wanted to do a little initial surveying at the ruins, so I was really looking forward to showing her where I now lived and worked.
Caspar and I had a quiet night in, snuggled on the sofa, while I read a bit more of Elf’s book. I’d missed a couple of pages at the end of the Lost Treasure chapter, about a miser who was supposed to have buried a wonderful hoard of gold in his garden, but it was never discovered … until more recently a rotted wooden box was found hidden in the beams of an old outbuilding. It contained a few halfpennies and a small leather bag of silver sixpences. The place had promptly been rechristened