Tony Littlejohns - The Hoffmann Plague

They all agreed that would be a good thing to do. Jamie told Bill about his idea to start coppicing the area again. ‘We’re certainly going to need wood in the future for fencing, hedge repairs and fuel, etc., and the sooner we begin managing the surrounding woodland, the better.’

‘I agree, mate’ said Bill. ‘The same thing occurred to me earlier in the year, but that was before we met you and I kind of forgot about it. We’ll need to repair the hedges bordering our fields fairly soon as they haven’t been tended to for a few years now. The woods around here haven’t been coppiced for at least thirty years, since my dad’s day. I’ve got three of his old billhooks in the tool shed, though they’ll want cleaning up and sharpening before they’re usable, I suppose.’

Peter said ‘Let me know when you’re going to make a start, will you? I’d like to come, too.’

‘Of course, Pete,’ said Jamie, ‘we’re going to need a few of us, anyway.’

‘That’s great. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years. I was looking into doing some courses on countryside management before the plague came and ruined everything! I’ll look forward to it, cheers.’

‘I’ll tell you what you could do in preparation, Pete;’ said Bill, ‘you could clean the rust off your granddad’s billhooks and sharpen them up.’

‘Okay, Dad, I’ll get onto it,’ replied Peter, smiling.

Jamie, Megan and Jane left, saying they’d see them later. Megan called to Max, who got up from his warm spot in front of the range, stretched, and followed them back to their place. Jane went into the kitchen to make lunch, while Jamie and Megan sat on the sofa and Max curled up in his new bed by the stove.

‘What’s a billhook, Dad?’ asked Megan.

‘It’s a tool used in hedge-laying and forestry work, honey, and for making hurdles; like a heavy curved knife. They’ve been used for hundreds of years and there are many different types from different counties around the country. After lunch I’ll get mine to show you – it’s probably easier than describing it to you.’

‘When you say hurdles, do you mean like in athletics?’

‘No, sweetheart, though I think that’s where the name and the sport originated. A hurdle is a fence panel, made from interwoven young branches that have been got from coppicing, as they’re long, straight and pliable. A billhook is used to split the branches down the middle to make them easier to weave through the uprights horizontally.’

He picked up a pencil and paper and drew a diagram to explain it to her. It made a lot more sense to her after seeing the picture he’d drawn. ‘It’s been a bit of a dying craft for many generations now, sadly. I’ve never made hurdles, though I’ve done some hedge-laying and coppicing.’

After lunch Jamie went next door to find his billhook and took it back to show Megan, along with the cigar-shaped sharpening stone used with it. It had a wooden handle with a heavy steel curved blade like a hook and was around twelve inches long. Jamie showed her how to sharpen it outside with the cigar-stone and she tried it for herself.

‘I used to love going out for walks in the woods with my parents,’ said Megan, ‘though neither of them really had an interest in it the way you and Mum do.’

She looked down and fell silent as she thought of them, and Jamie put his arm around her and kissed her head. She looked up at him with a wistful smile and hugged him. When they went back inside Jane was sitting on the sofa with her hands on her belly.

She smiled at Megan. ‘Honey, come and feel this; the baby’s started moving around and kicking.’ Megan sat next to Jane and put her hand on her stomach, concentrating. After a minute the baby kicked and Megan jumped slightly, looking at Jane and smiling. ‘Oh wow, Mum! That’s amazing. It must feel so weird! I can’t imagine what it must feel like to have something growing inside you and to feel it move like that.’

Jane smiled at her. ‘Well, hopefully you’ll experience it someday as well.’ Megan gave a little smile and blushed, mumbling something that Jane couldn’t catch, and then she hugged her and went quiet. Jane grinned and stroked her hair.

They needed to check the new rabbit snares and Jamie said he’d go out with Max. Megan jumped up, saying she’d go with him, so Jamie got a bag and took a shotgun from the rack on the wall, along with extra cartridges. Max got up, wagging his tail and eager as ever. They kissed Jane and left, heading out across the field to the rear. They walked along the hedgerow to their right, staying to the edge of the field and keeping their eyes out for pheasant as they walked.

‘Dad?’

‘Yes, honey?’

‘When did you first realise you loved Mum, and how did you know?’

‘Ooh, blimey! I don’t know, sweetheart; it just kind of happened as we were, sort of, thrown together by circumstances. We were both scared and lonely and realised we needed each other. I mean, we got on well from the start, but I don’t recall there being a definite moment when I suddenly felt I loved her. We kind of just grew into it and our feelings got stronger over time.

If we’d met before all this had happened I don’t even know if we would have got together, if I’m honest; maybe, maybe not. But we saw things in each other – qualities, I mean – that we probably wouldn’t have seen in normal life before the plague. Most people never got the chance to show their true colours: who they really were and what they were capable of. I don’t think I ever did. Since the plague, we’ve had to do things that we’d never have done before. Relationships of all kinds have been magnified because of our circumstances, and because we realise how precious life is and how important people are in our lives. D’you know what I mean?’

‘Yes; I get what you’re saying and it makes sense, I guess.

It’s just that…’ She got slightly embarrassed and mumbled a bit. ‘Well… Mum, like, got me thinking with what she said about me hopefully having a baby one day… and I wondered if I’ll ever meet someone and fall in love…’

Jamie smiled and looked lovingly at her. ‘Well, I certainly hope so, honey.’

Twenty feet ahead, Max stopped suddenly at a gap in the hedge and went stiff as a board, looking into the next field. Megan pointed to him and Jamie took the shotgun off his shoulder. They both crouched and moved quietly up to where Max was standing. Jamie peered through the gap and saw two pheasants within a couple of feet of each other, about sixty yards out. Megan stroked Max and whispered ‘Good boy, Max!’ Jamie kneeled down and brought the gun to his shoulder.

‘If I’m lucky I should get them both with one barrel.’

He took careful aim and fired. Both birds dropped together and Max raced off to fetch them. Jamie and Megan looked at each other, smiling, and then gave each other a high five. When Max brought the second bird back Megan gave him a couple of treats and patted him. They carried on to where the new snares were and found one rabbit, which pleased them, and then turned round and headed for home.

Later that night, when Megan was asleep, they were sitting on the sofa talking quietly. Jane was stretched out, leaning back against him and he was stroking her hair.

‘Megan asked me something when we were out this afternoon that made me think,’ said Jamie.

‘What was that, hon?’

‘Well, she asked me when I first realised that I loved you, and how I knew.’

Jane smiled. ‘And what did you tell her?’

‘I said I didn’t know; that there wasn’t really a definite moment as far as I could remember. We didn’t date over a period of months, or have time apart to miss each other’s company, like people used to before the plague; we’ve just always been together… I just came to love you the more I got to know you and saw what great qualities you had; your strength, determination and resourcefulness. The thing I thought of this afternoon, though, was that I don’t know if I’ve ever actually told you I love you in those words. Everything’s happened so quickly and it’s been so full-on this year…’