The Magic of Ramblings by Kate Field

Author:Kate Field [Field, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Magic of Ramblings
ISBN: 9781786152411
Publisher: Accent Press
Published: 2016-09-13T23:00:00+00:00

Barney took Frances’ arm and tried to steer her back to the car after the church service.

‘Stop yanking me, Barney. You are going the wrong way,’ Frances objected. ‘The vicarage is over there.’

‘What do you want to go to the vicarage for?’

‘Tea and biscuits, of course.’

Barney turned to Cassie for interpretation. She smiled at his bewildered expression.

‘The vicar’s wife serves tea after the service,’ she explained.

‘And Frances goes? Since when?’

‘Since Cassie offered to take me,’ Frances replied. ‘You may have noticed that she did not huff her way through the service either. Sunday morning has been transformed.’

Cassie laughed, though she didn’t want to dwell on today’s service. Barney had sat between her and Frances, and if he had huffed, she didn’t hear it. She had heard his rich baritone singing the hymns; had felt the warmth of his body radiate across the inch of pew between them; and had been plagued with thoughts that ought not to have dared entered her head in church. Sometimes it was hard to think of him as Barney, and not as an attractive man.

They were the last to reach the vicarage, but the armchair under the window had been left for Frances as usual. The living room was ringed with an assortment of chairs foraged from the rest of the house, but there wasn’t enough for everyone, and as one of the youngest present, Cassie normally stood up. Not today. Ethel thumped her husband on the arm as soon as Cassie walked in.

‘Get up!’ she said to him. ‘Let Cassie have that chair.’

He put down his teacup and stood up, moving away from the chair.

‘I don’t need to sit down,’ Cassie said, stepping back. ‘I’m happy to stand.’

‘Of course you can’t stand up,’ Ethel said. She glanced round the room, and with one nod set off a Mexican wave of pensioners rising from their chairs, until only Frances remained seated. Cassie looked round, mortified that guests twice her age were wobbling on their sticks, offering her their chairs.

‘Sit down,’ Barney murmured in her ear. His breath ruffled through her hair. His lips were so close that to her starved mind it felt as intimate as a kiss. ‘No one else will until you do.’

Cassie sat down, and everyone followed suit. With a little judicial shuffling from Barney, seats were found for everyone who wanted one. Ethel moved her chair closer to Cassie.

‘You’ll be all right,’ she said, nudging Cassie’s arm. She opened her handbag, and showed the contents to Cassie. ‘I’ve brought some Jelly Babies, just in case. And I’ve ordered extra bags for the shop, so we don’t run out. Let me know if there’s anything else we can stock for you. You’re lucky to have Barney, aren’t you?’

‘It’s not an area I’ve ever specialised in,’ Barney said. He was still hovering, and seemed to have no qualms about eavesdropping whatever conversation took his fancy. ‘But I went to see an old university friend yesterday, who is an endocrinologist, and he brought me up to date.

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