Julia Williams - Pastures New

‘Kids, hurry up,’ she called as she loaded Ellie into the buggy.

The trouble was that the children were still exhausted from Florida, so getting them up this morning had been a complete nightmare. She had so much on her plate at the moment, the last thing she needed was the kids being late for school.

Her other major headache – how to regain the trust of her clients and rebuild the business – was also not going away, despite her and Pete’s best efforts. But he was right to point out that she couldn’t do it alone, and while he was immensely supportive, he couldn’t run the business for her. But who on earth was she going to find to help her out? None of her mum friends were into gardening. Perhaps she should do as Pete had suggested and advertise. Thank God, at least, for Pete. He had been so fantastic, she had to hold on to that. Gerry would have given her no encouragement at all.

What were the children doing? She had sent them upstairs ten minutes ago, to brush their teeth, and they had disappeared.

‘Children, come downstairs NOW! We’re going to be late,’ Saffron yelled up the stairs, picking up assorted PE kits and book bags as she did so.

‘Do you really need to shout that loud first thing?’ Pete was halfway down the stairs still doing his tie. Their relationship was still new enough for Saffron’s heart to skip a beat when she saw him. Pete looked gorgeous even though his hair was all mussed up and he looked half-asleep. Still adjusting to this parenting lark, he hadn’t quite got to grips with sleepless nights.

‘If I didn’t shout, we’d never get anywhere,’ said Saffron, giving him a kiss. After the misery of her marriage to Gerry, she still had to pinch herself to believe that she could have been so lucky as to have found Pete, even with the permanent weight lodged in the pit of her stomach about their lack of sex life.

As if by magic, two pairs of feet thundered down the stairs, and Becky and Matt presented themselves to her, both blaming the other for their tardiness.

‘Not interested,’ grumbled Saffron. ‘Come on, we’ve got to go – now !’ Kissing Pete goodbye again, she hauled coats on and shoved the children out of the door. If they ran, there was an outside chance they could make it.

As she approached the corner of her road, opposite the little country churchyard she cut through every day on the way to school, she spotted another pair of latecomers hurrying up the road that ran at right-angles to her own. It was a woman she didn’t recognise and a little boy about Matt’s age. The woman looked a bit perplexed, as if she weren’t quite sure of the way.

Saffron smiled as they met at the corner to cross over – in the three years she had been walking to school with Becky she had discovered that the children didn’t moan so much if they had a friend to walk with. As she had only recently managed to prise Matt from the buggy (the arrival of Ellie had been the key turning point, and four months later he was still sore about it), Saffron hoped that finding a friend on the walk to school might prove to be a help.

‘Hi,’ said Saffron as they waited to cross the road. ‘This your first day?’

‘Yup.’ The stranger smiled. ‘Josh and I only moved here on Saturday. And despite poring over maps all weekend, I think I’m a bit lost.’

‘Follow me,’ said Saffron. ‘We cut through the graveyard every day. The school’s at the bottom of the hill on the other side, about five minutes from the high street.’

‘Great,’ said the stranger with a grateful smile. She was pretty, thought Saffron – and also, she noted jealously, incredibly thin.

‘I’m Saffron Cairns, by the way, and this is Becky and Matt. Matt’s starting in Miss Burrows’ class today.’

‘Amy Nicolson,’ said Amy. ‘Josh is in Miss Burrows’ class too.’

‘Matt, that’s nice,’ said Saffron. ‘Josh is going to be in your class.’

Matt and Josh both appeared completely uninterested in this stunning piece of news, although they quickly bonded by running in and out of the gravestones. Amy laughed and said, ‘Oh well, I’m very pleased to meet you at any rate. I don’t know a soul around here. Apart from my neighbour, Harry.’

‘Harry Hartswood?’ Understanding dawned in Saffron’s eyes. Harry had mentioned someone had just moved in next door.

‘Yes, do you know him?’ Amy was surprised. In her busy street in North London no one knew anyone else much. Not one of her neighbours had called round after Jamie had died, and whenever she needed help round the house she’d always had to resort to the Yellow Pages.

‘Oh yes, everyone knows Harry. He’s an institution, particularly on the allotments. Though I’d avoid his elderberry wine if I were you – it’s lethal. You must be Caroline’s new tenant.’

‘If she’s the Caroline whose name is plastered all over my tenancy agreements, then yes,’ said Amy. ‘Blimey, does everyone know everyone else round here?’

‘Sure do,’ said Saffron with a grin. ‘Actually, I should know Caroline. She’s my business partner. You’re never more well than when you’re in Nevermorewell, so they say, but it’s the kind of place where if you sneeze at the top of the high street you’re dying of pneumonia by the time you reach the bottom.’

‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ said Amy, laughing, and finding to her surprise that they were nearly at the school gates.

‘I’ll have to love you and leave you here, I’m afraid,’ said Saffron. ‘Becky’s starting in the Juniors today, and I’ve just got to find out where she needs to go. All change this year. Do you know your way round?’

‘I think so. I’ll be fine,’ said Amy. ‘It’s been lovely to meet you.’

‘Well I’m sure we’ll catch up again,’ said Saffron. ‘Particularly if the boys are in the same class. Perhaps when you’re more settled we can do coffee?’

‘Coffee sounds great,’ said Amy, and headed off with Josh. Maybe making friends around here wouldn’t be so difficult, she thought.

Saturday morning found Amy playing plumbers. It had been a very busy week, and she had barely paused for breath. She had had several forays into the centre of Nevermorewell, where she had discovered a fine butcher’s and baker’s, a greengrocer’s, a couple of takeaways, an Italian restaurant, and a few of the usual high-street shops. On her trip on Thursday, Amy had been delighted to see the whole high street was shut to traffic for the farmers’ market. There were two rows of stalls running the entire length of the street, selling everything from organic veg to homemade honey. The market had been so well-attended, Amy had counted herself lucky to make it back with bags of fresh produce, a free-range chicken and some homemade bread.

Nevermorewell boasted two decent-looking pubs – the Plough at one end of the high street, and the Magpie at the other. Not that Amy had much time or inclination to go into pubs, but they might be worth investigating for Sunday lunches. According to Saffron, whom she had seen a couple of times that week on the way to school, the Magpie was quite family friendly.

Amy had also discovered the library and the town hall, where she had managed to find the number of the local education authority and register for supply teaching. Luckily she wasn’t desperate, so she could afford a couple of weeks off to sort herself out. She had also signed up at the doctor’s and the dentist’s, which were in the same location, a smart new purpose-built building, just off the high street. All in all, despite a couple of terse conversations with Mary on the phone, and a niggling angst about Josh, who had cried every morning when leaving for school, she had been too busy so far to feel gloomy.