Page 23 of The Twilight Garden

‘I wondered if I could talk to you about Thistledown,’ she said, refusing to acknowledge Merryn’s barb. ‘I’m trying to find out about the past history of the site, and Vicky mentioned that you run a local history group at the library. I wondered if you could advise me where to start looking.’

‘Well now…’ Merryn’s expression suddenly changed and she sat a little straighter. ‘There are all sorts of places to find information like that, and much depends on what period we’re looking at. The past is quite a big place.’ Her lips quirked in what might have been a smile. ‘Can you elucidate?’

‘I can try,’ replied Gemma, damping down a wry smile of her own. ‘We’re looking for information about what might possibly have been an estate, or at least a much larger dwelling than what’s been there more recently. But nothing much comes up if I google it.’ She raised her eyebrows, realising that she hadn’t exactly answered Merryn’s request. ‘The run-down farmhouse that’s there at the moment doesn’t look much older than Victorian, so perhaps sometime within the last two hundred years or so. Maybe three hundred.’

‘Well in that case…’ Merryn thought for a moment. ‘I’ve lived here all my life, as did my parents before me, and there was a big place there. They used to talk about it sometimes. But I couldn’t tell you what it was called if it’s not Thistledown. If it was an estate perhaps it wasn’t a very important one.’ She cleared her throat as Ashley returned to the table, laying a large slice of Bakewell tart in front of her grandma as she did so. Merryn studied it for a moment before raising her head once more. ‘But for information during that time frame the county archive is the best place to look.’

Gemma nodded. ‘I see, and how do I do that?’

‘The best way is to go into the office… but of course they’re hardly ever open.’ She studied her tart for a second time. ‘You’ll have to leave it with me. I’ll find out what you need to know and give Vicky here the information. Then she can pass it on to you.’

Gemma’s heart sank. She had rather hoped to be able to look for herself, but it was clear that Merryn had a certain way of doing things. Nothing Gemma said would make her deviate from that, but she had no way of knowing how long Merryn would take and, given the pursed nature of her lips, Gemma didn’t want to ask. What had seemed so positive ten minutes ago was really nothing of the sort. She would have to find out about Thistledown in her own way… once she had figured out what that was. She gave a bright smile.

‘That’s very kind of you, thank you. And just anything you can find, really, that would be great.’ She nodded her head towards Merryn’s plate. ‘I’ll let you eat your tart. Thanks again.’

Giving Ashley a brief smile, she hobbled back to her own seat again. She might as well send Willow a message and ask to be collected straight away; there seemed little point in staying here. Meanwhile, she could use the time to change a few more addresses on her various online accounts. She pulled out her phone and fired off a text, hoping that Willow would see it before too long and then, opening another browser tab, she settled down to some admin.

She completely ignored any further comings or goings in the tearoom, and it wasn’t until she became aware that someone was standing beside her that she looked up, realising it was Ashley. And she was on her own.

‘I’m sorry about my nan,’ she said. ‘She can be a bit, well… She’s eighty-two,’ she added, as if that excused Merryn’s behaviour. ‘But the county archive is all online. You can search through it yourself. She’s right about the office never being open, but that’s only because it’s run by volunteers and most of them work from home.’ She smiled. ‘It might take you a while, though. A lot of the archive material is very old and much of it’s in poor condition, so it doesn’t scan very well. Plus, for many of the documents or photos there’s very little information known about them.’

‘That’s okay. I really don’t mind working through things.’

Ashley glanced through the window before pulling a slip of paper from her pocket. ‘Have you got a pen? I’ll write down the web address for you.’

‘Thanks, that’s absolutely brilliant.’

‘Oh, you’re welcome. I hope you find what you’re looking for.’ She paused. ‘Perhaps I’ll see you around sometime and you can let me know how you got on.’

Gemma thought back to the comment Ashley’s grandma had made. ‘I’ll definitely be around. How about we meet for coffee in a few days?’

9

As soon as Ashley had gone, Gemma typed in the web address for the county archive and waited impatiently for it to load. She hadn’t heard back from Willow yet so there was still time to alter their arrangements if she needed to, but she would check the site first. It might turn out to be completely useless.

She looked up as Vicky appeared to take away the empty tea things.

‘Have you found anything?’ she asked.

‘Not yet, but Ashley gave me the details for the county archive so I can check it myself. I’m just waiting for it to load now.’

‘That was kind of her.’

Gemma nodded. ‘I think she felt a little awkward… you know, because her nan was a bit…’ She made a face at Vicky, who gave an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry. You were probably wondering why on earth I’d set you up with her, but I didn’t want to warn you what she was like because, well, some days Merryn can be really very lovely. Polite, friendly, generous even… It’s just that on others she seems to arrive having spent several minutes beforehand sharpening her tongue.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re never really sure which version you’re going to get, that’s the problem.’

‘Don’t worry, I can take care of myself, but it was the way she treated her granddaughter that I didn’t like. Doesn’t Ashley ever stand up for herself?’

‘If she does, I’ve never heard her,’ replied Vicky. ‘Perhaps it’s easier to let it go over her head.’

‘I’m sure it is, but it doesn’t help the situation in the long run, does it? Maybe if she took Merryn to task on the odd occasion, the old lady would learn some better manners.’ She sighed. ‘Sorry… I’ll get off my soapbox now. I just don’t like that kind of behaviour from anyone, whatever their age. But it’s none of my business. I’ve only been here five minutes, and look at me.’

‘Nothing wrong with caring about people.’

‘Hmm… But I have a horrible tendency to try to fix things, and sometimes they can’t be fixed. Sometimes you just have to let them lie or you’ll drive yourself crazy.’

Vicky smiled. ‘There speaks the voice of a woman with a story to tell.’