A Year at Appleyard Farm by Emma Davies

Author:Emma Davies [Davies, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838886295
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

Freya looked up in shock.

‘From what you told me that was pretty much how it happened, wasn’t it?’ asked Willow.

Freya nodded mutely. ‘So Jessie knew,’ she continued. ‘She actually knew…’

Willow leaned over to touch Freya’s hand. ‘There were other things of course, things I never told you about back then; you all thought I was weird enough. I don’t blame you for not believing me, but to me she was just my mum.’

‘And just like her own mum I’m guessing?’ Freya said, eyeing the notebook still in Willow’s hands. ‘So that’s granny Gilly’s, is it? Her book of spells.’

Willow looked at the ceiling. ‘I know it sounds far-fetched, but you should see what’s in here, Freya. Some amazing recipes apart from anything else, which is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. But aside from that there are some… well, let’s just call them remedies, shall we?’

Freya stayed silent for a moment, weighing up what she’d just been told. ‘So why am I here?’ she asked eventually.

Willow inhaled deeply, letting her breath out in a slow, controlled movement.

‘Because I’ve had a few weird dreams of my own lately, nothing that momentous, but they’ve got me thinking about what we do here, or rather the potential for what we might do here. Once I started to think about it, I couldn’t stop… only I might need your help.’

‘Me?’ asked Freya, surprised. ‘What can I do?’

‘Well, I heard on the grapevine that you and Sam are changing a few things at the orchard and that maybe you’re not going to be making cider any more?’

Freya sighed. ‘The jungle drums work well, don’t they? My fault. When Sam and I got back together, I didn’t realise quite how difficult it would be for him to up and leave the family business and his home. He’s totally committed to Appleyard now, but still, having his brother as our main competitor down the road wasn’t easy, and you know what Stephen’s like.’

‘Is he ever going to grow up, do you think?’

‘Well, actually, it’s early days, but I think there might be some progress in that direction. There’s been something of a truce called lately, but I don’t count my chickens where Stephen is concerned. I thought moving away from cider production and into juices instead might help Sam feel more settled, more like it was our business and not just mine any longer.’

Willow took a sip of her drink. ‘And has it?’ she asked, over the rim of her glass.

Freya’s reply was immediate. ‘Oh yes,’ she said. ‘Just try stopping us now; we’ve got that many plans. A range of our own juices for definite, perhaps other products too, and we’re also going to set up a community juice pressing service so that locals or other small growers like ourselves can come and press their own fruit.’

Willow’s grin was getting wider and wider by the minute.

‘I take it that was what you wanted to hear.’ Freya laughed.

‘It might be… Do you remember

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