Abigail Gordon - Country Midwife, Christmas Bride

It was as James came down the stairs, showered and dressed in one of the smart suits that he wore at the practice, that the phone rang. When he picked it up a voice that was beginning to sound familiar spoke in his ear.

‘James, forgive me for bothering you, but you’re the only person I know in this place,’ Lizzie cried frantically. ‘There’s a bull at my kitchen window. I’d left it open and it’s staring at me while it’s munching one of the plants on the window sill. I’ve never been so near one before and I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.’

‘It will belong to Bryan Timmins, who delivers your milk,’ he said as he watched Helen put his breakfast on the table. ‘I’ll be right over. Keep the door shut, Lizzie, and I’ll phone Bryan to come and get it while I’m on my way.’

‘Please don’t be long,’ she begged. ‘It’s nearly finished eating the plant and I’m scared what it’s going to do next.’

‘I’m coming,’ he promised, and before the children got wind of it and wanted to come he was striding swiftly down the main street to where the cottage stood beside the peace garden, which he was relieved to see had so far escaped the wanderer’s appetite.

When Lizzie opened the door to him, wrapped in a tightly belted robe with hair hanging limp from the shower, she said anxiously, ‘It’s still there! I don’t know what to do, James!’

‘All right,’ he soothed as he went through to the kitchen. ‘Bryan is on his way. We’ll soon have it back where it belongs.’ He smiled when he saw the unwelcome visitor. ‘It isn’t a bull, Lizzie. She’s just a harmless cow from his dairy herd that has wandered through the broken fence at the bottom of your garden. I’ll point her in the right direction while we’re waiting for Bryan to show up.’

He opened the back door of the cottage, went outside and herded the obedient cow towards the gap in the fence.

As Lizzie watched in complete mortification he stopped and looked down at his feet and she saw that Daisy had left a calling card. James had stepped in a cow pat.

With his expression giving nothing away, he continued herding the intruder towards the field from where it had come, and Lizzie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

What a ghastly beginning to her first day at the village practice, she was thinking. It was almost time to put in an appearance and she was only half-dressed, hadn’t had any breakfast, and her knight in shining armour was going to have to change his trousers, which were spattered around the bottoms, and clean up what looked like a pair of hand-made shoes.

At that moment the farmer appeared and apologised for his animal’s wanderings. ‘Daisy wouldn’t harm you,’ he said. ‘Will you forgive her for the intrusion on to your property if I mend your fence?’

‘Yes,’ she agreed weakly.

On receiving her agreement, he went to take charge of the cow and when James returned to the cottage she said awkwardly, ‘I’ll pay for the dry cleaning and any damage to your shoes.’

‘Forget it,’ he said easily. ‘That’s what country life is all about. I’m going to go and get changed and will be hoping that my breakfast hasn’t dried up in the oven. What about you? Have you eaten?’

‘Not yet, no,’ she said uncomfortably. ‘I’m so sorry for making such a fuss. The thought of being late on my first day at the clinic doesn’t bear thinking about, so I’m going to grab a slice of toast and then get dressed…and thank you for coming to my aid. I don’t usually freak out like that, I can assure you.’

‘I’m sure you don’t,’ he told her, ‘but even a harmless cow can seem menacing when close to. Bye for now, Lizzie,’ he said. He paused with his hand on the latch of the garden gate. ‘Make sure you have a proper breakfast, not just a piece of toast. There’s no rush. The mothers-to-be aren’t queuing up for your services yet, so no need for further panic.’

He’d been smiling as he’d said it, but as she went back inside Lizzie wondered just how much James had meant it. Had he seen the episode with the cow as a confidence crisis on her part? If he had, she would have to remind him that she was here to see babies safely into the world. The animal kingdom was someone else’s responsibility.

Lizzie ignored James’s advice not to skip breakfast and had just a glass of milk before quickly drying her hair and then putting it in a long plait that swung smoothly against her shoulders. It was hardly the height of fashion but was soon done and time was something she hadn’t got if she wasn’t going to be late at the clinic.

Uniform, tights and shoes were soon on, followed by a swift application of make-up, and she was on her way, carrying the case that went everywhere with her when on duty.

She would be hungry before the morning was over, she thought as she hurried along the main street, but it was an important day in her life and she was not going to be late for it.

Every time she thought about the cow at her window her face burned. The animal hadn’t got horns, she should have known it wasn’t a bull, but she would still have felt most uneasy at finding it there.

There were children on the street, all heading for the village school and the first day of term. Ahead of her she could see James’s twins skipping along beside the nanny and she wondered what she did for the rest of the day during term time once she’d seen them safely inside.

When James stepped out of the front door of Bracken House he saw her coming up the street with the brisk grace of a woman who was in charge of her life, and thought whimsically that there was no resemblance to the dishevelled person who’d begged him to come quickly and get rid of her unwelcome visitor earlier that morning.

This was the real Lizzie Carmichael, he thought, dressed in the standard blue uniform of her calling, with hair swept back into a plait of all things and sensible flat shoes on her feet that bore no resemblance to the ones that Polly had admired.

His daughter hadn’t been the only one who had noticed the wedding guest in pale blue elegance.

Though his interest had been only mild curiosity until she’d introduced herself as the person appointed by St Gabriel’s to be in charge of the new maternity clinic. Since then it seemed as if she was everywhere he turned.

‘Well done,’ he said in a low voice when she was near enough to hear him, ‘but you haven’t eaten, have you? You can’t have, there hasn’t been time.’

‘No. I’ve had a glass of milk, though.’

‘I see. So shall we go inside? I’m sure you must be eager to see where you’re going to be working. Once you’ve had a good look round and I’ve introduced you to the surgery staff I suggest you pop across to my place and Helen will make you a pot of tea and a bacon sandwich, or whatever you’re used to at this time of day. I think we can manage without you for half an hour or so.’

Lizzie could feel her colour rising. She wasn’t used to being looked after. He’d already done her one favour with regard to the cow. She was uncomfortably aware that he’d changed his suit, and that his shoes had got back their shine, both chores he could have done without on a Monday morning before he’d had his breakfast. And hadn’t there been just a hint of patronage in his last comment?

But she could hardly refuse the offer in the circumstances and so she said in the same polite tone as on the night before when she’d been invited into his home for a drink, ‘That is very kind. An offer I can’t refuse.’

He nodded. ‘That’s good, then. So shall we start the day? I told the receptionists last week not to make me any appointments for the first hour this morning so that I can be available to show you around, and once that’s done I’ll leave you to get acquainted with the new maternity clinic.