A Proper Family Christmas by Jane Gordon-Cumming

Author:Jane Gordon-Cumming
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline

CHAPTER 13

Frances could hardly believe her luck. Here she was, being whisked off to Cirencester after all, seated like a movie star in the back of Oliver’s posh car, with Daniel beside her! The winter sunshine had struggled through the mist now, bathing the fields and stone walls and silhouetted trees in a magical golden glow. What a contrast from her drive through this same countryside with the Shirburns yesterday! She felt like Posy, wanting to bounce up and down with delight.

“Does anyone know the way?” enquired Oliver. “I take it I start by going back to the village. What happens after that?

“Haven’t a clue, mate,” said Daniel cheerfully. “Just about made it here from London, - but I think Cirencester’s in the other direction.”

“Oh dear, we did go once, but Ben was driving and I didn’t take much notice.”

“There’s a signpost,” Frances pointed ahead. Oliver drew up at the little crossroads and they scanned each arm in vain. “…We could go to Ready Token instead.”

“Or Ampney Crucis,” said Hilary.

“Sounds painful!” Daniel made a face. “I fancy Meysey Hampton.”

“Nice girl,” Oliver grinned. “I’ll try Barnsley. If we end up in Yorkshire, I can always find the M1 and come back.”

Hilary was beginning to feel that, in this company, she wouldn’t greatly mind if they never found Cirencester and were destined to meander round these pretty Cotswold lanes for ever. Any awkwardness there might have been if she and Oliver had been alone in the car was dispelled by Daniel’s light-hearted presence, and she liked his friend, the gently humorous Frances. …How different from that awful journey with Leo last night! She’d always loved this part of the world, and Oliver pointed out things she’d never noticed before, - the grassy hump of a prehistoric tumulus in a neighbouring field, an ancient boundary marching across the landscape, its ragged hedge made up of a dozen different kinds of shrub, a weathered milestone almost buried in the verge. “This must have been a turnpike-road. Did you see that little toll-house at the crossroads? …And I think that lane could be Roman.” He pointed to a track bordered by tall trees, which continued the line ahead when their own road swerved away. “Not just because it runs straight, - you can get that with later Enclosure roads, - but those old oaks must have taken centuries to grow. Pity about the mud! It would probably lead us to Cirencester.”

“Well we’re on the right road now,” said Daniel a few moments later. “That’s Stephen’s car in front.”

“Oh no!” Frances sank down in her seat a little.

“You’re quite safe,” he grinned. “Stephen doesn’t make a habit of using his mirror, from what I remember. …Anyway, what’s the problem? They didn’t forbid you to come to Cirencester, - they just didn’t want you to come with them!”

Nevertheless Frances was relieved when they watched the Shirburns turn into one car park, and Oliver deliberately drove on to the next.

“No sense in following at their heels. …Good lord,

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