Page 71 of The Twilight Garden

‘Let’s hope so,’ replied Willow. ‘Have we any idea how many people might be coming?’

Gemma shook her head. ‘Not really. Roger from the food bank said he’d come, and he reckoned at least three other volunteers would be up for it. The lady from the first gardening club just said she’d see what she could do, and the lady from the second said maybe half a dozen. Plus, there’s the chair of the PTA and anyone else she can rustle up.’ Gemma totted the numbers up in her head. ‘So that’s eleven… and possibly a few more. Hopefully a lot more.’

A panicked look crossed Willow’s face again. ‘I’m not sure how many we can cope with. If too many people turn up it’ll be utter chaos.’

Gemma spun Willow’s notepad around so that she could read it. ‘Let’s have a look at your list, and we can see what we need to do and where we might have problems. How did you get on with Vicky?’

This, at least, caused Willow’s face to light up. ‘She’s promised us all sorts. I couldn’t believe it. A tray of brownies, one of carrot cake, a Victoria sponge and some choc chip or blueberry muffins. And… she has a wholesale delivery coming tomorrow so she’s going to add on some teabags, coffee, milk and squash for us as well as some stuff for sandwiches. Good stuff, she said, not rubbish.’ She smiled. ‘And she wouldn’t take a penny for it. Said she’s owed us for countless loaves of bread and eggs over the last few months and this was her opportunity to repay us.’

‘What goes around comes around,’ murmured Gemma. ‘Okay, so we need to make some bread, and perhaps some biscuits or something – that shouldn’t be a problem.’ She pointed to number five on Willow’s list. ‘What does that say?’ she asked.

‘Weather…’ answered Willow. ‘What if it rains?’

Gemma shook her head firmly. ‘It won’t. What’s next?’

‘Parking… I think we need someone roadside to direct folks down to us, and then someone by the farmhouse so that people can see where to go from there.’

Gemma nodded, her eyes scanning ahead. Tools, boxes for produce, mugs, plates, cutlery… the list went on. ‘Information?’ she asked. ‘What kind of information?’

‘I think we need to give everyone some kind of fact sheet,’ replied Willow. ‘To explain what we’re doing and what we hope to offer in future, and then have a form to fill in too.’ She scribbled something else down. ‘We’ll need pens as well. That way, people can sign up to get more information about how it will all work once we’ve thrashed out the details. I’m so conscious we don’t really know what we’re doing yet, but I’d like some way of making sure we can keep in touch with people.’

‘So you need a pitch,’ said Gemma, grinning. ‘Fortunately, I know someone who might be good at that. I’ll write you the best advertising spiel you’ve ever seen.’

She got up to make the drinks. ‘Right then, tea, a piece of flapjack to keep us going and then we roll up our sleeves. How does that sound?’

‘Like a plan,’ said Willow, taking the lid off the tin of sticky treats. ‘And while we’re at it, you can fill me in on what happened between you and Leo last night, because something has. You only got back a few hours ago, but I’ve seen the way you’re looking at each other…’

29

Gemma hardly dared open her eyes. Not that she’d slept all that much, kept awake by alternating periods of excitement coupled with terror that their plans would all go horribly wrong, but the moment she did, relief flooded through her. The sky was high and wide and palest blue. It was a beautiful morning.

She scrambled out of bed and flung on her jeans and a tee shirt. It was six o’clock, and the start of what she hoped would be a very busy day. Even so, Rowan, Willow and Leo were already in the kitchen. One day she would beat them to it.

Three pairs of anxious eyes met hers as she entered. Nobody needed to say how much was riding on the day’s event, and no one wanted to think about what would happen afterwards if it wasn’t a success. Thistledown had to have a future, it simply had to.

Rowan threw open the kitchen door and strode outside, where he stood for several minutes as if he couldn’t remember what he had gone out there for in the first place. His arms were by his sides, his head tilted slightly upward to catch the morning sun and his body relaxed and perfectly still. What he was thinking, Gemma had no idea – whether he was running through the plans for the day in his head, whether he was imploring the universe to be benevolent, or whether he was simply breathing in and out, she couldn’t tell. But there was something about his stance which made it impossible to look away. Whatever he was doing, he seemed to be doing it for them all. Then, as abruptly as he had left the room, he re-entered it, leaving the door wide open.

‘Right then,’ he said. ‘Let’s get this day started.’

Of course time was doing its weird thing. One instant the minutes disappeared in chunks, leaving them panicked that they would never be ready, and then the next, every second seemed to last an hour and Gemma felt as if she was wading through treacle. But eventually the clock ticked round to nine and her heartbeat went into overdrive.

Roger Bowen arrived at ten past, an advance party, he explained, before four others who would follow shortly. As he looked around him, Gemma tried to imagine herself seeing the farm again with new eyes, as if she were the one who had only just arrived. And she had to admit that outwardly nothing much had changed since her first view of it, except that it was now considerably less muddy. It still looked run-down and scruffy, and standing as they were beside the old farmhouse, as if nothing much ever took place there. Only she knew how much had been achieved in the last four short months – the changes they had made and the seeds for the future they had sown – and now it was time to show him, to show everyone just how magical a place it was.

‘I can’t thank you enough for coming,’ she said. ‘And for giving up part of your weekend. We’re in a bit of a pickle, but people’s generosity has been amazing.’

‘What’s a weekend?’ he said, smiling. ‘But I’m happy to help. From what you said on the phone, this could be an amazing opportunity for the community.’

‘We hope so,’ Gemma replied. ‘It didn’t seem right to just ask for help and then give nothing in return, but it also fits with the way Rowan and Willow live their lives. They’re extraordinary people, but even extraordinary needs a little help sometimes.’

‘Doesn’t it just.’ He looked around him. ‘So where do you fit into all this?’ he asked. ‘I’m guessing they haven’t employed a PR and events manager to work on their behalf?’

She laughed. ‘No… although you’re not that far off actually. My background is in advertising, but as to how I fit in…’ She paused, wondering how best to explain. ‘I came here when I had nothing,’ she said. ‘And somewhere in between the mud and the digging and the planting, frozen fingers and stiff knees, I found a life.’ She squinted up at the sky. ‘I reckon that’s worth sharing.’ She dropped her head, a little embarrassed by her emotional oversharing. Her words had seemingly come from nowhere, unplanned and without conscious thought, but they were the absolute truth. And they shone brighter than any sun. She cleared her throat.

‘Shall I take you down to the kitchen garden?’ she said. ‘Rowan and Willow are both there, and I know they’d love to talk to you about everything we have going on here.’

He nodded. ‘That would be perfect. I came early in the day in the hope that someone would have time for a bit of a chat. The local council has tried to get various allotment-type schemes off the ground before. Guerrilla gardening… you name it, we’ve done it, but there isn’t really any land available, not of any size anyway. It all becomes a bit piecemeal and then fizzles out altogether. Thistledown could provide a real solution, not just for individuals, but for the food bank as well. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how challenging that is – donations down, and yet the numbers of people wanting to use us ever increasing.’

Gemma pointed to the avenue of trees on the left. ‘Then let’s get you to Rowan and Willow and see how we can help. We’re going that way,’ she said.