Changing Seasons. Summer VI, part 3 (a)

Summer VI, part 3 (a). “Well, well, well. Mayor Tom Tench. Who’d’ve thought it? Me, bein’ mayor? Ain’t nobody predicted that for me, for sure. An’ now I’m takin’ a look round my town afore that big meetin’ that’s a-comin’ up with them stealin’ company types.”
“When I think what this street ‘d become – well, it useter near break my heart walkin’ past them houses. An’ seein’ what that company had done to this town." “But now? This street’s sure lookin’ good. Grandpa Geo an’ them schoolkids done a good job on these gardens. Them houses is still needin’ a load’ve work, but we ain’t advertisin’ them as anythin’ but doer-uppers. Place is lookin’ good, though, lookin’ much better.
Real generous of Marcus ‘n Annette to pay for them plants ‘n all this real smart fencin’ too. Leo suggestin’ we have one of them on the town council ‘to represent the business interests of the community’ was a real good idea. Made Annette laugh some, hearin’ him say, with a dead straight face, ‘After all, you are the biggest employer round here…’ Thought she’d never stop!” “We’re goin’ ter need a new school. Ain’t no way of gettin’ round that. This old one worked fine when we was all sittin’ in rows, two to a desk. But schoolin’ ain’t like that anymore.” “I mind the time this room held twenty-five of us, an’ Miss Kirk as well, standin’ by the blackboard. She was a sharp one. But fair, I haveter admit. An’ a real good teacher, I reckon. You allus knew as how she really cared ‘bout us. Weren’t no soppiness ‘bout her though – sharp as a tack, she was. Iffen she’d been a young’un today, I reackon as how she’d’ve been runnin’ her own company by the time she was thirty. ‘N runnin’ it fairly, too – not like them skunks as nearly killed this town off.” “How you feelin’ ‘bout tomorrow’s meetin’, Molly?”
“About as ready as I’ll ever be, I guess. We’ve planned what we’re wearing, Georgie and Patience and I, and Patience has mended the Mayoral Sash for you, and it looks as good as new…”
“You reckon as I should wear it, then?”
“For sure! Clothes are weapons just as much as facts and figures. Wait until you see what Patience is going to wear! But I’m still a bit nervous.”
“Now don’t you go worrying none. Rafe ‘n Leo say that the financial ‘n legal side’s sewn up tighter ‘n a drum. An’ you’ve got a load of facts and dockerments that company don’t know you’ve got, thanks to a certain schemin’ pair all those years ago.” “You’re right,” Molly said, smiling. “They’re not going to be expecting this. And I am so going to enjoy taking the wind out of their sails. Bess says do you want to come to dinner tonight? She’s doing a real spread because we’ve got a visitor.”
“Real nice of you to ask. I ain’t goin’ to refuse an offer like that, iffen you’re sure I won’t be in the way of the visitor. Who you got comin’?”
“A guy called Andy Ravenscroft. He’s from John’s university days, when they shared a (slightly smelly, as I remember) house with four other guys. You know how Richard wants to be a scientist when he grows up? Well, he’s fretting about how to get there, how to grow up to be a scientist when your father’s a farmer, so we asked Andy if he’d come for a visit, seeing as he’s got a Ph.D., works at a university, goes to international scientific conferences, has written papers…Okay, he’s an ecologist, but science is science. He can give Richard some tips on how to grow up to be a scientist.” “But I don’t know what sort of scientist I want to be yet! So how can I learn how to be a scientist?”
Old Tench and John exchanged sympathetic smiles as they listened to Richard’s passionate questions. “Science isn’t just about knowledge. It’s also about skills, and you can develop those now, no problem.”
Andy was a nice guy, Molly decided. He was taking Richard seriously and so calming him down. It was as though he understood where Richard’s intense moods came from.
“What skills? Do you mean that if I want to be an X-ray astronomer, I should start learning how to use a telescope? But I don’t know what I want to be yet!”
“No. You can learn these skills in any field and you will need them for every field of research. Observation. Data collection. Data analysis. Positing and testing theories.” Andy was wondering if Richard would get that, but he understood straight away.
“Like Dad reading up on the best grasses for horses, and then testing them out to see which ones do best on our soil, in our climate, and how much water they need and so on?” “That’s exactly it!” Andy said delightedly. Now it was Bess beaming with pride over her grandson.
“At your age, I’d say you need to find a three-month or so project. Something you can investigate in some depth. You can send me your findings and I’ll comment on them for you, though if you want any in-depth input from me, it would be better if it was in my field of research. Ecology, basically – I can always ask a colleague if it’s something I really don’t know much about or they know loads about. Any ideas, anyone?”
“Them gardens you’ve been replantin’? Seein’ how they goes on?”
“We’re doing that in school anyway in the autumn” Richard said. “It’s our science for that term, because it’s so near to the school. And it won’t be properly scientific because the houses might get sold anyway and then we can’t follow up on it.” “I know,” Janet said. “Amber showed me it the other week, took me up to her studio at the art gallery. That old dried-up lake has been coming back to life since they took over the art gallery and started planting things and watering and so on.”
“That sounds perfect. Good idea, Janet. We’ll go and look at it tomorrow. Do you want to come too?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Janet saw Bess shake her head very slightly, and shape a no.
“No I won’t. But thank you very much for the invitation,” she said politely. “More tea, Andy?” Bess asked. “That’s real kind of you, to take such an interest in Richard.”
“It’s no problem. There’s a lot about him that reminds me of myself at the same age. But I’m sorry I asked Janet – is it too far for her?”
“Land’s sakes, no. But I figured Richard needs some man-to-man time. He’s the oldest boy round here, and he needs someone to look up to. Think you’ll be able to find something for him to do?”
“It probably won’t be very exciting. An insect count maybe, or seeing what’s growing back again.” “There’s fish up there,” Old Tench chipped in. “The one lake didn’t quite dry up completely: that company didn’t quite kill them all off. And I’ve been helpin’ them along a bit. Kinda encouragin’ them. Movin’ a few of them from one pool to another. Ain’t introduced anythin’ new, just moved a few things around a bit.”
“Well, that sounds promising. And a fish count’s more fun than an insect count unless you’re really into insects. Give him more of a food chain to look into as well. Now, tell me about this meeting Molly’s going to tomorrow…” “So why didn’t you want me to go with Richard and Andy today?”
Janet and her grandmother had got up early and picked strawberries for jam, and now there were neat piles of washed fruit all round the kitchen. And it was nice doing things with her grandmother, but Janet still felt a bit left out.
“You can start hulling those strawberries in a moment. Don’t eat any until I’ve weighed out what I need, but then I reckon you’ve earned yourself some.”
Bess paused, checking the pan to see if the previous batch looked ready yet.
“Cause I figured your brother needed some time and space to do some growing up. To be invited into it, you might say. This Andy guy – he’ll find Richard a project to do, something to put his passion into.” Bess paused again, wondering how much to say to Janet.
“You now – you’ll grow up sweet and easy. I don’t say as there won’t be hard times, ‘cause there will be. But you’re like me. Real straightforward.”
Janet flushed with pleasure at the comparison.
“Richard now, he’s kind of complicated. He’s got a mind as has always to be reaching for something, and if we don’t help him find those somethings, he’ll go looking himself regardless. And might end up in a heap of trouble one way or another.” “So this town was called Two Lakes because there were two lakes here.” Richard was busy being the best guide he could. “Well, this is one of them. The other one’s on the far side of those buildings. Most of the other one used to look just like this one, except that there was still a big pool at one end of it that had never dried up. And there were still fish in it too. But nobody fishes there much at all, because there’s plenty in the river. Do you want to look at this lake first or go on to the other one?”
“I think we’ll just head straight for the other one,” Andy said, hiding a smile. He could feel Richard’s eagerness to show him the other lake. “It’ll be hot later on, and even with your hat and sunscreen, you’ll notice it.” They came to a stop outside a deserted factory building though, to Andy’s surprise. Richard was quick to explain.
“Dad asked Leo to open this up for us. You get a really good view of the whole lakebed from the top of it, and I thought you’d like an overview first.”
Andy was touched by how carefully Richard had thought about their trip.
“How long can you stay here?” Richard went on.
“Well, it depends on how long John will put up with me. But I’ve got a month off – my last post-doc’s just finished and the next one doesn’t start for a month. I’m filling in for a colleague who’s just about to go on maternity leave. I need to work on some grant applications – there’s a tranche of funding coming up soon, and I need a really good project to have a hope of getting some of it, but I can do that here.” “There! I said you’d get a good view from up here, didn’t I?”
“But Richard – this is amazing. You say this lake looked just like the other one?”
“Well, almost. That pool on the left – that’s really deep and it’s always been there. That was all that was left of the whole lake. Do you think the whole lake will refill?”
“No. But this looks like it’s turning into a wetland area, and I think it will spread. And apart from Mayor Tench moving fish from the original pool to others, no-one’s touched it. Nature is doing this all by herself! Come on, Richard – I want a closer look!” “Richard, this place is amazing! There is so much to study here. I thought the best on offer might be an insect count or maybe a fish count, after Mayor Tench mentioned that some had survived. But this! Plants, animals, flowers, rate of spread, habitat changes, food chains, fish, aquatic life…I don’t think you could do soil analysis, that needs quite specialised equipment…This is a scientist’s paradise!” Richard looked up at Andy who was, after all, A Real Scientist. “So I could learn how to be a scientist here? Where I live?”
“Definitely,” Andy said, looking at the water, at the plants that were growing again due to the presence of the water, a fish leaping from the water, and longing to explore it himself.
“Definitely.” That morning stayed in Richard’s memory as one of the best days of his life, was the moment he referred back to when he was asked “Well, Professor Preston, what led you into science?” after he'd had accepted another (increasingly prestigious) award.
Andy, talking and explaining, showing Richard what was going on and how it would have happened. And understanding Richard’s deep passion for finding out.
“You might not grow up to be an ecologist like me. But you can grow up to be a scientist. Notice and observe. Collect the data. Analyse it. Make a guess about what it means. Test your guesses. Scientists call them hypotheses, which sounds grand, but they are guesses. And then the hard bit. Be ready to admit that your guesses might have been wrong. You can’t afford to fall in love with your guess. You have to be prepared to start again from the beginning.” “Do people fall in love with their guesses? I thought you only fell in love with people.”
“They do. And then they fake their results to support their guesses. And that’s bad science, and you don’t want to go there.”
“Like a villain in a film: the Bad Scientist? He’s always evil.”
“Exactly,” Andy said, laughing. “You don’t want to become The Bad Scientist.”
“Or the Mad Scientist either. Aha! Ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!” Richard said, doing a very good manic laugh. They went back to the farm very pleased with each other.


Most of the old factories were made by Cyclone Sue over at TSR3.