Page 97 of Escape to the Country

‘Oh yes please!’ said Annie, looking pleased. ‘That would be great. Country chic. You know the kind of thing.’

‘But without the heavy price tag,’ said Eleanor.

‘But we’ll pay her,’ said Annie in earnest. ‘Do you really think she’ll do it?’

Eleanor nodded. ‘I’ll ask her, but I think she’d be glad to help. Besides, I think it will give her something to focus on. Especially as a couple of the animals are leaving this week.’

‘Awww, the donkey’s going?’ asked Annie, looking sad.

Eleanor rolled her eyes. ‘Not yet. But the local school is having the tortoise and goldfish.’ She sighed. ‘We’re starting off with the small animals. Baby steps and all that.’

She followed Annie back down the wide sweeping staircase, deep in thought. Perhaps this was just what her mum needed. She had always been so good at needlework.

The plan had been for Annie to show Eleanor the stable block, but she suddenly she received a call from somebody regarding marquees for the fete and wandered away to make some notes whilst still chatting on the phone.

‘You okay?’ asked Sam, as she loitered in the hall.

Eleanor was dismayed to see Tom right behind him, her face immediately glowing red once more. ‘I’m just waiting for Annie to finish her call so she can point out where the stables are,’ she replied.

Eleanor was still feeling bashful around Tom, so hid her burning cheeks by playing with Dylan who had rushed up to see her.

‘I’ve missed you these past few days,’ she said, crouching down to stroke the dog’s soft ears. ‘Do you want to help me find the stables?’

‘I can take you,’ she heard Tom say.

‘Oh. Thanks,’ said Eleanor, trying and failing not to carry on blushing. ‘That would be great.’

Feeling a bit nervous, she reluctantly went with him.

‘So,’ he said, ‘what are you needing it for?’

Eleanor felt uncomfortable. This was about her. She didn’t open up to many people, but maybe he understood that as well. ‘I just need a bit of space to make some soap and few face creams for the fete,’ she told him. ‘Nothing fancy.’

The stables were only a few minutes’ walk from the house. They went out the back door and along the narrow path. Once it had been a wide track, but now it was so overgrown that only one person could squeeze through at a time.

She glanced over at the huge back lawn which had become a wild flower meadow, thanks to the complete lack of care and mix of sunshine and rain. Swathes of bright blue cornflowers were marbled with red poppies and tall grasses. There were certainly worse places to be in the summertime.

But the stable block seemed a bit large when she saw it through the trees. It all seemed to be a lot of fuss over nothing. Maybe the carrot oil would help her fingers but she was highly doubtful. But as she went to scratch the eczema patch between her fingers, she figured she might as well give it a shot.

As they rounded a large tree, the group of buildings came properly into view. One was what Annie had described as a coaching lodge. There was another barn there as well.

And then there was the old stable block.

Eleanor stopped abruptly, rooted to the path in shock.

‘It’s falling apart,’ she said, staring aghast at the long brick building in front of her.

It was an L-shape block, holding about ten individual stables. Or, it once had. These days, the brick looked to be crumbling apart.

‘At least the roof looks intact,’ said Tom, staring up at the dark slates.

‘It’s the only bit that is,’ she told him, going across to the stable nearest to her at the end of the block. She went to pull the wooden door open and found only the top half opened. The bottom half of the split stable door was firmly wedged shut.

Tom moved in front of her and yanked it hard until the whole thing fell apart in his hands. He looked sheepish. ‘Well, at least it’s open now.’

‘I don’t suppose Annie and Sam will worry about one more building rotting away,’ said Eleanor.

She poked her head inside and looked around. It was actually quite a large room with a window next to the door making it seem bright and surprisingly airy. And it didn’t smell of horses, thankfully. Just musty, unused, with lots of cobwebs.