Page 102 of Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

Jack put his arm around her and squeezed her in close to him. ‘Try not to fret. This is a big step for him today.’

‘I know,’ she said, allowing herself the luxury of leaning into him for a brief moment.

Then she straightened up and let Jack open up the wooden gate in front of them.

The orchard came into view, alive once more with the buzzing of insects and birds flying from tree to tree. The leaves were now burnished gold from the long, dry summer.

‘Oh, it’s so pretty,’ said Lily, looking down the rows of trees in front of them.

‘Isn’t it?’ said Jack.

As she went past the trees, Lily noticed they were full to bursting with the ripened fruit. But then she began to count up the number of trees and realised the scale of the task ahead.

‘How many trees are there?’ she wondered.

‘Exactly seventy-nine,’ he told her.

‘And how many apples do you think are on each tree?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Around twenty or thirty.’

Lily did some numbers in her head. ‘So that would make maybe around 160 apples.’

Jack laughed. ‘I think you’re missing a nought from that.’

Lily was amazed. ‘1600 apples?’ she said, staring around.

‘At the very least,’ he told her.

‘Crikey.’ Now she was concerned. ‘How long is it going to take to pick them all?’

‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘But your grandad said we’re going to have to get a move on because the weather’s turning at the weekend and we should apparently harvest them whilst it’s still warm.’

‘Why?’

He smiled. ‘I have no idea, but I trust your grandad to know more about these things than I do.’

Lily glanced back at the gate and saw her dad and Arthur finally arrive in the orchard.

‘Well, this takes me back,’ said Richard, smiling as he looked around. ‘We used to sneak in here and do a bit of scrumping when I was a lad.’

Arthur nodded. ‘Oh, yes. I remember those days.’

‘Well, they all look very healthy,’ said her dad, reaching out to stroke the bark of the nearest tree.

‘It always was a good crop,’ said Arthur.

‘Shall I show you the apple press?’ asked Jack.

‘Lead the way,’ said Richard.

They all went together past the trees and into the small shed at the end of the orchard. Lily was pleased to watch her dad become more animated as he, Jack and Arthur discussed the repair of the apple press. It didn’t appear to be a large job, but it certainly required a skilled carpenter.

Whilst Jack and her dad measured up for the required parts, Lily went back outside with Arthur.

They had walked ten or so paces when Lily stopped, suddenly overcome with emotion.

‘It’s good to see him out and about,’ said Arthur softly, coming to stand next to her.