Country Roads by Colin Leonard

Author:Colin Leonard [Leonard, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Inside Roisin Kelly’s greenhouse, the space was losing the memories of the day’s warmth, but the overcrowding of plants created a fragrant stuffiness. Apart from a small workbench, every conceivable space burst with green leaves, tendrils or flowers. In the corner where she kept stacks of pots and containers of various shapes and sizes, Roisin located a long, narrow white tub with a curved lip that resembled a miniature porcelain bath. She went outside and took some small pots of mini heathers from where they sat on a small, sheltered bench. They were a silvery colour and she arranged three of them in the container, spreading out the foliage. It had been a while since she’d created one of these ‘bloodbath’ displays. The silvery heather represented the water and her next step was to choose her reds. Some miniature roses were in bloom, their neat heads like sacs of plasma in a hospital. She set these gently in between the heathers as the main body of the display. Now she needed to add more effect, to create a sense of blood in the water. Outside, beside one of the benches, the wooden one whose corners were starting to rot away, there was a vibrant red rose bush whose petals would add to the impression she wanted and she also thought of the bird-cherry tree behind it whose fruits had started to come in. If she picked some of them, they would look like dark droplets of blood scattered around the heathers.

She took her secateurs from her work bench and hung the handle from her belt. She would prune a few of the rose heads rather than just pull their leaves. The red of the raspberries entered her mind. Best to take a few that were not quite ripe, firm enough to keep their shape and bright red shade if preserved with glycerine. She went back into the kitchen to bring a bowl for the berries. Maybe she’d pick some more to eat as well. While there she grabbed the wine bottle. She had a feeling that she might spend most of the evening in the greenhouse with her plants.

In the garden, the night clouds had parted to allow the moon to share some of its weak light. Roisin went first to the rose bush and carefully removed two heads with her secateurs, hearing the neat, satisfying snip as the sharp blades cut through the stems at a good clean angle. A leaf glided towards the ground. She followed its gentle flight and a movement beneath it startled her. It was a small frog. It hopped once more and then, aware of her towering presence, it sat still in the moist grass. Gently, she hunkered down close, careful not to frighten it off. She remembered the specimens that caused emotions ranging from mirth to upset in teaching college. They had stopped dissecting frogs by the time she had started working in Cromuck. She was happy about that. Roisin squinted at the small amphibian and admired the beauty of its dark glossy skin.

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