Changing Seasons. Autumn V, part 1.

Autumn V, part 1. “I see you’re practising your bare-chested sculptor look,” Amber said mischievously. “I like it.”
“Humph. You’ll be sorry for that comment later.”
“Promises, promises…” “What are we doing today? Straight over to the studios?”
“No,” Rafe said. “Town Hall first.”
“That’s such a grand name for such a basic building!”
“Nevertheless, that’s what it is. Or Town Hut if you prefer.” It was more of a Town Hut than a Town Hall: there was no getting away from that. It was on the site of the previous town hall (remodelling courtesy of Lee Popeman Enterprises) and there was a reason for it being just exactly there. “I just need to put some updates in for Molly ready for when she’s next here. I don’t know how we’d get all this dealt with and sorted without her help.”
Amber was looking at the (sorted: don’t touch them!) piles of letters on top of the old card index boxes.
“If we hadn’t decided to buy all the houses on the old Arbuthnot Estate…”
The replies had trickled in piecemeal, along with changes of addresses for other people which they’d followed up. And then the letter from Georgie Rivers. “Your letter reached me because I’m at my grandfather’s house while he’s in hospital with pneumonia. I can’t speak on his behalf. But I can tell you something that might help you…
…and one of the stories Grandpa Geo used to tell us was the story of how he saved the town’s records from the wreckers, how he sneaked into the town hall one night and moved all the paperwork down into the bottom basement, him and Ludo Meithers when they’d begun to realise what That Company (he always spat those words out with disgust) were up to…”
Amber wandered downstairs while Rafe typed away briskly. This was the top basement, and they’d had to do a bit of excavating to find it, and a lot of clearing away of soil and rubble and a fair amount of making good. But when they’d found their way into the top basement (luckily the stairs had been good solid fireproof ones) they’d found the locked door into the bottom basement and the treasure trove of records and history. From what Amber could see, it was getting steadily sorted out and organised.
“Nearly finished,” Rafe called and she headed back up the stairs. “There, I’m done,” Rafe said. “Molly should be able to make sense of all of that. Let’s head for the studio.”
“You going to take your shirt off to work?”
“Grrr!” I am so sick of all these ugly rooms, Molly thought as she put a couple of books back onto the very temporary bookshelf.
“Hey, you look nice,” John said, coming into the room and hugging her appreciatively.
Yes, Molly thought, because I couldn’t stand the thought of putting on those grubby, paint-stained clothes one more time. But she didn’t say that.
“Thank you. I’m working in the town hall today and I realised I wasn’t going to get messy.”
“I will be though! Irrigation system for the orchard, maybe some painting if there’s time…” “You’re looking real pretty Molly.” Bess saw more than just the clothes: she’d seen Molly getting tireder, more short-tempered. She’s beginning to run on empty, Bess thought, and there’s not a lot we can put into the tank round here. But let’s do what we can.
“Don’t hurry back. Richard and Janet can help me pick fruit and get it ready for the jam making. Go and visit someone after you’re done at the town hall. You deserve a day off, way you’ve been slaving away here like a good’un.” Molly’s eyes were pricking with tears as she cycled away, past the thriving orchard and the newly fenced and greening up nicely pasture. Cattle in the spring, Bess said, and we’ll start the cheese making up. Bess’s kindness, her compliments had made her more aware of how dreary she felt life was at the moment. Marianna and Blake were both in the town hall when she arrived – Marianna because she’d stopped by to drop off the mail Lachlan had picked up in Newborough yesterday, and Blake because he’d seen Marianna’s bike there and stopped by for a chat.
“I can’t believe how many letters we’re getting as a town,” Blake said.
“Enough mail to qualify for a weekly delivery if we had a post office to drop it off at,” Marianna said. “Next stop, our own post office. There must have been one once. I’ll ask Old Tench.” “And if we’re going to get our own post office,” Marianna went on, “I’ll have to clean out our mailbox. For all I know, it’s got a bird’s nest in it. Either that, or it won’t open at all. What are you up to today, Molly? It’s so good of you to do all this paperwork and archive-sorting.”
Not really good of me at all, Molly thought. I almost bit Rafe’s hand off when he very tentatively asked me if I thought I could help a bit. I’m loving having something that feels like a job again. “I’m typing up copies of all the replies we’ve had, cross-referencing addresses, trying to trace owners. I need to get a proper map sorted out as well. Rafe’s left me a load of notes for a proper business registry: we’re going to start charging business rates…”
Blake groaned. “Coping with my taxes is bad enough!”
“…though all the money’s going to go back into improving the town to start with. We need to have proper book-keeping though.” Some of the letters were tedious to copy, but this one was more interesting. Georgie Rivers again.
“…Grandpa Geo’s getting slowly better from the pneumonia, but his doctor’s saying a warmer, dryer climate for the autumn and winter would do him good. Well, none of us can afford to send him away to anywhere fancy, but seeing as he still has a house in Two Lakes…so I thought I’d come and check it out in a few weeks’ time, when my sister can come here and stay with him…”
It sounded like someone else might be arriving. We should check that house out ourselves, Molly thought. I’ll go and look at it when I’m done here. Chris and Caleb had done a brilliant job on the outside of The Natoma, Molly thought. I must remember to tell them how good it looks. The inside was going to need a fair bit of work yet – but for now it was about getting everywhere looking as tidy as possible on the exteriors. Which reminded her – the big park clear up was getting closer too. Georgie’s Grandpa Geo had lived at 1, Rose Avenue – Clara’s street, in The Wabash. And this didn’t look good at all. They could at least clear away the rubbish before Georgie arrived. And this didn’t look great either. Well, we could put Georgie up, I suppose, Molly thought. She could have Janet’s bedroom and Janet could sleep on Richard’s floor: theirs were the only two bedrooms that had been decorated. And when Georgie’s seen the house and town, she can decide what to do. Downstairs, the bakery/tearoom still looked as bad as ever, though it wasn’t going to stay like that. Clara and Marianna had definite plans for it! Upstairs, their plans had happened. Don’t hurry back, Bess had said. Call on someone. Well, Clara had been out and so had Amber and Rafe, Lucie and Leo, and she couldn’t be bothered to go all the way over to Annette’s, but actually there was something really peaceful about drinking a cup of tea on her own. In civilised surroundings.
I’d like to come here with John as well, Molly thought. Just John. We’ve been so busy, we haven’t had any time together just the two of us. Minnie dropped off some milk for the fridge from time to time – I must remember to put that back in the fridge before I go, Molly thought – and they ran a tea fund at the shop between them, paying in when they’d used the place. Now that they had the phone exchange, it was possible to arrange to meet up. I should say yes, next time Annette invites me, Molly thought. I’m not tied by small children like she is. If she’s got a space, I should go for it.
A day by herself, wearing something not covered in paint, sitting somewhere nice, and Molly was beginning to get some perspective back. Thank you Bess. You noticed how I was feeling. And tried to help. “You have been busy today!”
“Yep,” Bess said smugly. “And I enjoyed every minute of it. You can take the girl out of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girl. How ‘bout you?” “You can take the girl out of the town…I had a lovely day today, doing something different, something more like my old life. And I needed it.” Molly paused, thinking hard.
“If I thought things weren’t going to get any better, weren’t going to change round here, I don’t think I could stay. But things are changing. And the children are happy – and so is John. I think there’s more of the farmer in him than he knew. And there’s a lot of people that I really like here. But I needed today’s different. Needed it a lot.” “Frank’s starting on the wiring here on Monday, isn’t he? I think you’ll find that’ll help too. And getting the place smartened up too…can’t say as I’ve enjoyed living in all this dirty paint either. But it wasn’t worth decorating everywhere just to have Frank mess it up again. Listen - I know we were planning to decorate downstairs next, but I think we should do your bedroom instead. Do you good to wake up to something nice, and it won’t hurt us none to just live in the kitchen a bit longer either.”

Most of the office stuff was by CycloneSue at TSR and Sandy at ATS3

Changing Seasons. Summer V, part 3.

Summer V, part 3 “That was the best party ever, yesterday,” Clara said, tossing her namesake up into the air. “Wasn’t it, Clara Anne? You and Sarah Jane were one, and I was eighteen. I got more candles!” Clara Anne shrieked with delight. “But I am still moving out today.”
“Must you?” Annette said, a little woefully.
“I’ll clean Mary’s booster seat before I go. I’m eighteen now, Annette. The twins are sleeping through the night – mostly, anyway! – and I’m not exactly leaving the district, am I?” “Clara Anne and Sarah Jane will miss you.”
“Come on, Annette. They know I’m moving. They’ve seen the house. Mary knows too. I have a home of my own, waiting for me to make my memories in it.” “You do.” Annette knew that Clara was ready to move out, and she wasn’t really trying to hold on to her. But she would still miss having her there all the time.
“And besides,” Clara added. “I have my new venture! All thanks to you and Marcus. So once we’ve had breakfast and cleaned up, I’ll finish packing up. And with me gone, you’ll have an empty bedroom and Clara Anne can move out of your room.”
“Well, I guess every cloud has a silver lining. Do you need a hand?”
“I’ll get one of the guys to help get the desk onto the back of the truck. The rest I can shift myself. Well – they can take the book boxes as well, maybe.” I am going to miss them all. Especially these three. But I do have a house. Old Tench gave it to me, and I’m going to live in it – and use it too. Want to find out my plans for it? This is my new plan. No, I’m not suddenly expecting twins – I’ve got far too much sense for that. But I’m going into the childcare business: we’ve got a lot of small children and no handy grandparents to leave them with. So I’m going to be the grandparent. I’ve had plenty of practice and I know all the children.
And in between, I can work for Marcus and Annette on the farm, paint the art gallery for Rafe, Leo and the others…not the horses though. I’ll leave those to Sal. And Blake’s bees – I don’t fancy those either. But I can earn a living for sure. And this is my garden. I’ve been cultivating it for ages now and it’s coming on nicely. Old Tench is right though – all the watering I’ve done here has got other stuff growing out there. And I’m looking at those weeds next door. I don’t want them coming back to life and invading me. I think I’m going to have to do some weeding there as well. Still, now I’m living here I can do that – the odd half hour every so often.
Every very often, looking at the quantity of them! “Tickla! Tickla!” Mary practically hurled herself into my arms. Clara Anne was much more pragmatic and just made it very clear that she was hungry! Annette was going into Newborough for the day, clothes shopping for all of them, and reckoned that one child was enough to take with her, so I have the other two today. Suits me. Clara’s fun – very outgoing. Very physical: loves being tossed in the air, tickled – you name it, she’s up for it. Well, she was named after me, I suppose. Sarah Jane is much quieter, much gentler…They’re not identical twins, though they do look very much alike; their eyes are different colours, which was very useful when they were babies. Rug. The next thing I’m buying is a rug. This floor’s smooth enough – I know: I sanded it! – but it’s hard on my old bones. I haven’t got a diaper over them like these two have. I don’t actually miss this bit much – Clara Anne’s getting there though: she actually knows when she needs the potty sometimes even if she’s not got round to sitting on it herself yet. Of course, she’s had Mary to watch and copy. Mary can use the potty all by herself, but she still likes an audience. Actually, she likes a story. That’s because I used to tell them to her when we were potty-training her, to encourage her to sit there until she did her business, so to speak. Might have been a mistake, that…And I hope Clara Anne’s not getting any ideas about copying Mary in this. Well, I definitely earned my money today and that feels really good. I’ve done what I swore I’d do when I was only nine years old, when I thought, ‘There must be more to life than this.’
I’ve found somewhere safe. I’ve made a home of my own. And – more than that – I have friends. People who love me. My nine-year-old self just wanted to be safe. She didn’t dare hope for love as well. “You really are going for the ‘see the hunky sculptor at work’ aren’t you?” Rafe said to his brother.
The transformation of the gallery was going on apace now that they’d semi-moved out. “Yep. And I still think that you should sculpt bare-chested. You could be an art installation in your own right. The naked male torso has figured in sculpture from Egyptian times, through the Greeks, the Romans…so a naked male torso sculpting would be amazingly and symbolically self-referential…”
Rafe just looked at Leo. Darkly and meaningfully. It seemed to him that Leo was having way too much fun with this idea. Annette had gone to the top of the building where she’d found those old telephones. Away in the distance, beyond the dry bed of one of the two lakes that had given the town its name, she could see the green walls and red roof of the hut that housed the repeater, giving them their in-town telephone system. They were going to need a mobile signal eventually, but Rafe, Leo and Frank all thought that would come as the town came alive again. “Once we’ve got people coming here…” they’d said.
And that was why she’d come up here – to see how things would look to the people who were going to be coming here. It was looking better, she thought. They needed some flowers outside Leo’s place – trees would be even better. And the roof garden they were planning for the gallery would make a big difference. They needed greenery outside the gym too, and not just inside it. She turned to look out over the other almost-vanished lake – and gasped with amazement! Pools of water had formed in the dried up basin and things were growing there. Clean, fresh water. And greenery, spreading. There had been some plants growing round the original pool, but now there were more. I could ask Old Tench about putting fish in here: he’d know which ones would do well, Amber thought.
We could actively help this ecosystem restore itself. Old Tench was saying that he’d seen things changing as we’ve all watered, tended, cared for the place. We need some scientists to help! Who knows any scientists? The second pool of water was smaller, but when Amber looked up at the gallery she could see how the green was spreading down the hill from it, ready to meet the green coming up and out from the water. I’m not sure if the lake will refill itself completely, Amber thought, but with a bit of help maybe this could be a beautiful wildlife area. I must tell the others about this, ask round everyone to see if they know anyone who could help. This was going to be the entry to the gallery, the shop, the exit too…Leo and Rafe were considering the fire exit.
“What do you think we should do? I reckon leave it as it is, as a nod to the industrial past of the building.”
“You could be right,” Leo acknowledged. “Plus that means we can leave all the others as they are too!” “Clean the brick in here…”
Lucie came over to join in the discussion.
“But leave the industrial feel. And this is going to be the community space, this and the next door room.”
“I’ll miss my big painting space,” Lucie admitted. “It’ll be odd being in a smaller studio.” “We’re not keeping this wallpaper thought. This room looks dreadful! We’ll keep the panelling, see what’s underneath the carpet and do neutral walls for displaying people’s paintings. I thought a children’s section for in here. And over here…” “Don’t mind me,” Amber said as they all piled into her room.
“Over here, I thought settees, coffee tables, coffee machine and we’ve got somewhere for the parents to sit while their children do arty things. But a coffee machine probably means that we’re going to need bathrooms up here.”
“We’re going to need bathrooms on every floor anyway,” Leo said. “I like that idea, Lucie. You and Amber are going to have to shift your stuff very soon though.”
Amber sighed. Loudly. “Bags I Clara for helping me with the painting.” “Which room do you want then?” The old workshops had been knocked down to make way for parking (“Essential,” they had all agreed) and the rooms in the tall slice (“We’ll call it The Slice as an address, when we let the rooms”) were going to be studios. “Front view or back?”
“Front,” Lucie said promptly.
“Back,” said Amber.
“Well, that was painless,” Leo said. “Come and choose.” “And this back door will be the private entrance to the studios,” Rafe said, leading the way in and heading for the staircase to the rooms above.
More painting, Amber thought as she looked at the grubby walls. That hallway wasn’t going to appeal to anyone. “Looking round here makes you realise how much we’ve done already, doesn’t it? I mean, it all looked like this when we arrived. I thought we’d put a couple of bathrooms here in this space. We won’t run to one on every floor though.”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” Lucie said thoughtfully. “We’d all be here to work – you take bathroom breaks at work and you don’t expect an en-suite office, do you?”
Amber was looking at the view. I want to be higher up, she thought. “This one,” Lucie said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The light’s fabulous.”
“Then you shall have it, my love. I’ll help you paint it my own self. Or clean the brick, or whatever it is you want to do.” “This one’s too small.”
“Back down to the floor below then?” Rafe asked.
“Isn’t there another floor?”
“I didn’t see another staircase.” It didn’t have stairs, it had a ladder. “This is the view I want.”
“I can see why. But how do we get all your stuff up that ladder?” “Not a problem,” Amber called to him. “Look – there’s a walkway to the main building. This is my room, my writing space. This is where I belong.” They were all in the kitchen at Lucie and Leo’s house – Rafe had kept the van as he needed it to transport his sculptures, so Lucie and Leo had got the kitchen.
“I’m not complaining,” Amber had said. “Leo’s a better cook than Rafe.”
“Humph!” Rafe had said.
“So what was it that you did yesterday that you wanted to tell me about?” Amber asked Lucie. “I biked up to Blake’s place to see how he was getting on – outside the house is looking really good now. I mean, inside’s just the same and he’ll have to do something about the downstairs if nothing else before he opens – people are bound to peer in through the windows – but outside’s okay. And the bee fields are looking good…” “And the pond’s lovely – it gives the whole place a focal point. A far better one than those house ruins, which he’s finally knocked down. Come spring the whole place should be green and growing, and Smallcott Honey will be totally worth a visit. Blake’s thinking of putting a tea room in – tea and scones and honey. It’s far enough away from the other one not to be competition.” “So we can move all of Amber’s and my stuff into our studios tomorrow?”
“Yep. Then you can work all day over there and come home and work all evening here.” But Leo was laughing as he spoke.
“And we should have a kitchen by the weekend,” Amber said. “So we can start cooking for you and you can just rock up for a meal.”
“So if you cook we get omelettes, and if Rafe cooks we get baked beans?”
“Humph!” Amber and Rafe said together.

The art gallery was made by CycloneSue at TSR.
The booster seat is by Sandy at ATS3