Page 17 of A Christmas Wish for the Village Midwife

‘You sound like a nature documentary.’ Billie put the book back.

‘Victor didn’t sound quite so enthusiastic when he was last here.’ Zoe took off her coat and hung it on the peg by the door. ‘It’s the first time I’ve seen him close to having words with you – not good ones.’

‘It’s because he doesn’t know all the facts yet.’

‘So you thought you’d read everything there is to read and enlighten him?’

At this, Alex looked sheepish.

‘You’ve got too much time on your hands with the camping field closed,’ Billie said as she went to sit Louisa in a high chair. ‘Roll on summer when it opens again and you’re busy.’

‘The camping field will be the first place to profit from the rewilding scheme,’ Alex insisted. ‘Visitors will love it.’

‘And you’re determined to get the ball rolling?’ Zoe asked.

He nodded. ‘I’ve got an email address for the person I need to talk to.’

‘First it was archaeology, and now it’s rewilding,’ Billie said in a withering tone. ‘You’re like a big kid – you know that, don’t you?’’

‘I want to be a part of the future of the area. I mean, we’re here to stay, right? So why not make a difference?’

Billie didn’t offer a reply. Instead, she put a rattle down in front of Louisa and then began to peer into the pans on the stove, wrinkling her nose at each one in accordance with how exasperated the contents seemed to make her feel. Zoe couldn’t help but smile as she watched her for a moment, before answering Alex’s statement in her stead.

‘I think it’s great that you want to make a difference and you see your future here. I do too, but maybe that means treading carefully, because it’s not only about what you do to the landscape but about the relationships we build with our neighbours too.’

Alex waved a vague hand. ‘Victor’s all right. He’s from a different generation – all he’s ever known is farming, so he can only see that way of life.’

‘I don’t think that’s entirely fair. Victor and Corrine are quite progressive in their views on most things.’

‘For their age,’ Alex said, causing Zoe’s forehead to scrunch.

‘Again, I don’t think that’s fair. It makes it sound as if they’re stuffy and old-fashioned, and you know they’re not.’

‘I didn’t mean it to sound that way. I only meant they’re of a certain generation. The landscape here has looked like it does for hundreds of years because of farming and because of people like Victor, but it’s not the way it’s supposed to look, and it’s not how it once looked.’

‘We should never have let you watch that programme on telly.’ Billie turned down the flame on one of the stove rings. ‘You’re going to piss off Victor in the end.’

‘No, I’m going to make Victor see that good things can come of it. And then he’ll persuade his mates too. There are already some farmers finding ways to do both.’

Billie returned to her tight-lipped assessment of the dinner progress, and Zoe could feel her disapproval from across the room.

‘Where’s Griz?’ she asked.

‘In the other room,’ Alex said. ‘He was getting under my feet, so I had to shut him in.’

‘I’ll get him,’ Billie began, but Alex cut her off.

‘Leave him be for a minute. We’ll eat, then he can come in. And don’t look at me like that,’ he added at the sight of Billie’s scowl. ‘You’ll be complaining if he’s jumping up at you when you’re trying to feed Louisa.’

‘I wouldn’t, but whatever.’

‘The trouble is,’ Zoe continued patiently, ‘that you make it sound like an attack on Victor’s way of life.’

‘What do I make sound like an attack?’ Alex turned to her.

‘The whole rewilding thing. Victor feels like it’s an attack on his way of life. On traditions that have been a part of this area for hundreds of years and countless generations. So I get what you’re excited about, and I agree with you to a point, but I just think you have to tread carefully. It took some diplomacy to get everyone on board with the campsite as it is, but now they’ve accepted it, and they don’t mind the people it brings in. Don’t go pushing your luck with something even bigger and more invasive than you’ve already asked them to put up with.’

‘It’s just planting trees, and it’s on my land – I don’t know what they could get so upset about.’