Patsy stirred from her deep slumber to the sound of bells chiming somewhere off in the distance outside. They were close and loud enough to wake her, that was for sure.
She took a deep breath, as best as she could with her head in the pillows, and raised her head. Patsy groaned and cracked an eye open, rolling over onto her back and taking a blurry look around. Small room. Typewriter in the corner. En suite. Doilies.
Oh, right. She was at the inn.
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched, giving out a loud groan before reaching over to the bedside table to clumsily feel around for her wristwatch. She brought the thing close to her face and squinted one eye at it, reading that it was 8 in the morning.
What on earth were these bells? Why were they ringing so damn early? Was it going to be like this every morning?
Patsy rose from her bed and approached the window by her desk, opening it and sticking her head out slightly to look in the direction of the bells.
There was a church over the hill, and like any other church it was built from stone, the towers rising high and headstones poking out catty corner around the gardens of the property. This must be where those nuns came from the night before. The vicar looked to be a youngish man, probably her age, Patsy thought, as he stood outside the front doors greeting people as they walked in.
Patsy shook her head, marveling at how people could get up so early for church. She never cared for it herself, having had to attend on a nearly daily basis at her Catholic boarding school growing up as a child. She figured she had had enough church for one's lifetime. Besides. She had things to do. Like writing.
Yes, writing. She would certainly sit down and do some of that sometime today, but first there was a little matter of getting her day started. And maybe breakfast. And dressed, she needed to get dressed. Then she could write, for sure.
But first, tea.
Patsy walked to the door and placed her hand on the knob, then stopped suddenly.
What if Delia was out there? Certainly she couldn't be seen wearing her pyjamas and no makeup. Her hair and teeth weren't even brushed. What was she thinking!?
Delia. Patsy's thoughts turned to the night before, her mind working fervently to recall every detail of their encounter outside the pub after she had seen and heard her play her music. She felt her face grow hot remembering their encounter outside the pub, how she felt about being in her arms and close to the woman. Patsy couldn't remember the last time she had such a reaction to someone like that. She said to herself she would call Trixie to talk about it.
Trixie!
Patsy looked around and saw a simple rotary telephone sitting on her bedside table. She walked over and sat back down on her bed, picking the phone off the receiver and began to dial Trixies number.
As she dialed, Patsy was becoming increasingly impatient as the dial clicked clicked clicked in its slow rotation. She gave an aggravated sigh.
Why did Trixie have to have so many nines in her number?!
The line finally rang on the other end and Patsy stood, picking up the phone and pacing back and forth along the bed, being mindful not to get tangled up in the wire.
'Beatrix Franklin speaking?' came her tired but polite voice.
'Trix, it's me.'
'Pats! Wow, that was fast! I didn't plan to hear from you for at least a week!... whats wrong?' Trixie asked, her voice suddenly serious.
'Trixie, nothing is wrong, everything is confoundingly wonderful,' Patsy replied.
'Then what are you calling me for so soon?'
Trixie paused and Patsy could hear Trixie on the other line light up a cigarette.
'I just… had the most peculiar day yesterday is all and I need to tell you about it.'
'Ooh,' Trixie said in a way that Patsy knew she was gearing up to hear a bit of juicy gossip, 'tell me what happened!'
Patsy went on to relay her journey from the day before, her ride in the truck with the pig, the woman hanging from her ceiling, the squirrel, the mess of food and papers, and the whole debacle with the bathroom sink.
'Oh my good giddy aunt, I would leave,' Trixie said on the other line, rather shocked.
'Really?'
'Absolutely!' she exclaimed, 'I would have run far, far away from that place as soon as I saw a woman hanging from a ceiling. She dropped a ferocious squirrel on you, Patsy! It could have scratched your eyes out! What is the matter with you, why are you still there!?'
'Well you see,' Patsy cringed slightly predicting Trixies reaction, but before she could continue she heard a noise.
Patsy turned and gave a start, gasping and swearing to herself at the sight of Alison the pony suddenly appearing in her window again.
'What's the matter?' Trixie asked.
Patsy shook her head, glaring at the thing, 'Nothing, there's just this… this pony that likes to poke it's head through my window.'
'A what?'
'A pony, Trixie,' she said, waiving the phone at it, 'You know. A small horse!'
'A small horse has its head through your window?!'
'Yes. It's name is Alison and has taken a liking to me for some reason or another...'
Patsy stopped for a moment, looking past Alison out onto the grounds where she caught sight of a familiar brunette walking along, wearing a white undershirt with a pair of blue dungarees that had multicoulored patches not unlike the trousers she wore the day before. She was followed by two adorably fluffy dogs that bounded happily around her. Little puffs of smoke rose above her head as she sucked on a pipe. She had a satchel over her shoulder and carried something small under her arm as she walked down a dirt path, disappearing through the trees as the puppies followed after her.
Alison hiffed and shook her head, her unkempt mane falling over her eyes and bringing Patsy back to her room.
'Pats?'
'Trixie, do you remember when I said I came here so I wouldn't be distracted?'
'Hmm.'
Patsy pulled the phone away from her ear so she could speak directly into the mouthpiece.
'Well I'm terribly, terribly distracted!'
'What's her name?' Trixie said knowingly. Patsy could almost imagine the woman blithely looking at her nails as if she expected this to happen.
'Delia,' Patsy sighed wistfully.
'Ooh, pretty name,' Trixie remarked.
'This is her family's place, the inn. She works here. She's Welsh… and she was the woman hanging from the ceiling yesterday!'
'Good grief,' Trixie gripped, and Patsy could just imagine her rolling her eyes.
'She's the handyman, er, woman. She built the en suite in my room. She's a musician, too! She can sing, and she's so cute and strong and handsome. Trix, I can't… I don't know what's come over me.'
'Wait,' Trixie said, 'The handyman? Handsome? Patsy, is she butch?!'
'Yes!' Patsy cried out.
'What! Patsy! She sounds so unlike who you typically go for!'
'I know! That's why I'm so confused! I don't know what it is? I'm panicking here, Trixie. I'm gay and I'm panicking!' Patsy cried into the phone, practically hyperventilating.
'Alright, calm down you goof. Don't want to have a fit now. I'm just so surprised you're making such a fuss about her. Butch, Patsy? Really?'
'Hey now, there's nothing wrong with that!' Patsy cried defensively, 'Besides, she's not like a boy at all… I mean, alright she looks a little like a boy but it's so charming! She has a beautiful smile and gorgeous body. She's strong, too. I feel so safe in her arms Trix,' Patsy sighed again at the thought of being held by her the night before.
'Wait how…? Patsy has this woman held you?'
'I fell and she caught me,' Patsy elaborated.
'Oh boy, this sounds like it's heading in the direction of one of your novels,' Trixie tisked.
'Oh,' Patsy bristled, 'it's nothing like that.'
'How so?'
'Well for one she's nothing like any of the characters I've created. Doesn't seem to be like anyone I've ever met in real life before, come to think. She's sweet, for one.'
'I'm sweet,' Trixie retorted.
'Yes Trixie, and so is Barbara. That's why you two are my best friends,' she said with a smile.
'She says hello by the way, and she's sorry she couldn't come with us to see you off at the station.'
'Oh, that's no bother,' Patsy said as she moved to lay down on her bed.
She landed on the soft duvet with a light thump and sighed, turning her head to look over at Alison who silently watched on.
'Trix, I've got it bad,' Patsy continued, 'I think I like her, but she's terrified of me.'
'Well you are rather stunning,' Trixie replied.
'Oh, well I don't know about that,' Patsy pursed her lips, thinking of the state she was currently in with her hair a mess, no makeup and in a rumpled pair of pyjamas.
'Pats, listen to me,' Trixie said, 'you're gorgeous and wealthy. She might just be intimidated by you?'
'What? Why? I'm harmless!'
'Are you?'
Patsy gasped, offended, 'And just what do you mean by that!'
'You can be rather impulsive,' Trixie remarked, trailing off.
Patsy narrowed her eyes, 'I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that-,'
Trixie cut her off, '...and also rather aggressive.'
Patsy gasped, 'Says who!' her voice grew dark and demanding, 'Tell me their names, Trixie!'
Trixie ignored her, 'You're aggressive in the sense that you just pounce on whomever you like,'
Patsy pouted, cutting in, 'I do not.'
'and you get away with it most the time because you're so damn pretty,' Trixie finished.
'I don't… people do actually like me, Trix! I do not pounce… and even if I do, no one has complained… have they?'
Trixie laughed, 'No, Pats, I've heard no gossip against the pouncing, merely the being left and forgotten like a toy you grown bored with.'
Patsy sighed, frustrated, 'Trix, you know my life has been a mess since… well forever! Especially recently. I haven't been around to have a serious relationship with anyone.'
'Patsy you went to Oxford for three years and have been in London the entire time until your father grew ill! You can't use your traveling the last six months as an excuse for flitting about from girl to girl the last ten years!'
Patsy blustered, 'Well fine! I'm picky, but I don't treat people like toys that I never pick up again once I have my way with them! I'm just… I mean, what's the point in staying with someone if we're not compatible in every way possible, hmm?' Patsy chided, 'Seems rather like a waste of everyone's time.'
'Patsy it's alright to admit you're having a bit of fun,' Trixie sighed.
'We all can't be lucky like you to have found true love at uni,' Patsy grumped, referring to her and Barbara's very long term and committed relationship.
'Alright, alright,' Trixie said to pacify her friend.
Patsy could hear her give a heavy sigh over the phone.
'So tell me your plans. How are you going to try and woo this Delia?'
Patsy scoffed, 'Throw myself at her, naturally.'
'And what else?' Trixie continued, seeming nonplussed at Patsy's silly response.
'Well I think I brought that dress that pushes my tits out.'
'Pats…'
'What? I look amazing in that dress, damn it. And it has pockets!' she insisted.
'No, really though, your tits are all well and good but you need to get her to like you as a person first.'
'Oh…' Patsy trailed off sadly.
'And then you can let her objectify you,' Trixie finished.
'Oh!' Patsy said, feeling rather cheery about that.
'So, really though… what's the plan?' Trixie asked, 'Do you know anything about this woman at all?'
Patsy took a moment to sigh and look up at the ceiling in thought from her spot on the bed.
'Well… I was talking to her friend last night, um, a woman named Valerie who works here as the bartender. She's another queer woman who has known Delia for ages. Says Delia doesn't like my stories because she prefers love and romance to the vapid nonsense I throw out there.'
'Well why don't you try that then?' Trixie said simply.
'Try what?'
'Court her, silly!' Trixie exclaimed, 'you have the whole summer to get to know one another. You have the time. Take things slowly for once in your life, goodness knows you could use a partner to ground you.'
'I could?'
'Yes,' Trixie sighed, 'it's fantastic. Babs and I have been together six years already and it's always so wonderful to have someone to come home to. Someone who thinks about you when you're away and takes care of you when you're sick or upset. You can't have all that when you spend your life moving along from one woman to another.'
'Yes but what if that's how I want to live my life?' Patsy remarked, 'It's fun!'
'Is it?' Trixie challenged.
Patsy opened her mouth to reply and stopped herself. Was it? Certainly it was fun, dating and meeting new people and all that, but she was going to be 30 in a year and she was growing tired of the life she had been living. The drinking and parties all the time were growing trite and she increasingly wanted what Trixie had. Something long term. Something solid. Something permanent. Something she had never had in her entire life, to have someone there she could count on to be with her through thick and thin. Trixie and Barbara had certainly been there over the years to fill that void as friends, but deep down Patsy knew she wanted to be with someone whom she could love romantically. Someone who she could enjoy a book with snuggled up on the sofa on a rainy day. Someone she could take care of when they're feeling blue or sick. Someone she could be sweet to for no reason.
She had absolutely no idea if Delia was that person, but there was never any harm in attempting to find out. Who knows, at the very least Patsy could have a fun summer fling out of the whole experience.
'Oh,' Patsy replied, finally relenting, 'I suppose not,' she pouted slightly, 'how does one even court, anyway? What do I do?'
'You've never actually pursued anyone in your life, have you,' Trixie asked.
'Yes I have. I pounce, remember?'
'That's not-!'
Patsy could hear Trixie pull the phone away from her mouth to give a choice swears under her breath.
'Maybe she doesn't want to be pounced on,' Trixie finished when she brought the phone back to her head.
'What do you mean?! Who doesn't like a good pouncing every once in awhile? That's absurd,' Patsy retorted indignantly.
'Patsy, really now,' Trixie pleaded, and Patsy could almost see her rolling her eyes, 'if she's like any other butch I've met then she's going to want to be the one who makes the first move. You're going to have to be much more subtle than you want to be. More demure. Not this aggressive pouncy business or whatever it is you do.'
'Again, not aggressive!' Patsy shouted, 'I'm proactive! Besides, you know how lesbians are. If we all just sat around waiting for the other to make the first move, no one would ever get anywhere!'
'Well you've only met her yesterday, Patsy. Just... spend some time with her. Talk to her. Let her get to know you so she's not so bloody terrified of you, for a start.'
'Then pounce?' Patsy asked hopefully.
'Try and read her, would you?' Trixie sighed, 'Body language and all that. You pounce at the wrong time and you're in for an awkward summer.'
Patsy sighed, 'Oh, I suppose you're right.'
'I know I'm right…,' Trixie trailed off for a moment and Patsy waited for her to continue, 'and I highly suggest the green summer dress with the white cardigan.'
'Ooh, I do love that cardigan.'
'Quite… and the dress doesn't show off your tits too much.'
'Just enough though, right?'
'Right. Good luck, darling!'
The two said their goodbyes and Patsy jumped out of bed, glad to have some semblance of a plan. She begrudgingly pushed Alison back out of the window and closed it behind her, drawing the curtains shut before she headed to her en suite to get ready.
Patsy walked along the path she had seen Delia take earlier, wearing the outfit Trixie had suggested. She came to a bit of a clearing between the trees, and saw on her left another little bungalow that was next to two rather large pens, one for pigs and the other for chickens with a goat or two lazing about. The animals were grazing or laying out and resting in the sun, and Patsy also noticed the dogs Delia had been walking with earlier were curled up on the front stoop of the bungalow. Patsy caught the sight of the other of Delia's brothers in the window of the small dwelling, simply wearing a vest and trousers and shaving his face, looking as if he was just waking up.
Delia did not appear to be here, so Patsy kept walking. She soon emerged from the trees and was happy to find the brunette sitting on the grass and casually smoking her pipe as she flipped through the pages of a book. What caught Patsy's attention, however, was the massive stone structure Delia happened to be leaning against.
There were two large stone slabs standing upright with another large slab laying against them at a right angle from the ground, acting as a roof over the other two.
'Goodness me, what on earth is that?' Patsy mused.
'Oh!' Delia looked up surprised and began to scramble to rise from her spot.
'No, no!' Patsy said, holding her hands out, 'It's alright Delia, you don't need to get up. I don't need anything, just… going for a stroll.'
Delia stopped her motions and relaxed a little, placing her book to the side while Patsy turned her gaze back to the structure.
'Do you know what this is?' she asked.
Delia looked over her shoulder and up at the stones, puffing on her pipe before responding.
'Megalithic era portal tomb,' she said simply.
Patsy blinked, 'It's a mega what now?' she asked as she began to slowly walk around the structure.
Delia rose from her spot and puffed on her pipe some more, looking back at Patsy as she circled the structure and looked it up and down curiously.
'It's an ancient burial sight, Miss Mount,' Delia elaborated.
'Really?' Patsy said with wonder, her eyes wide.
'Sure,' Delia said, waving her pipe at the structure, 'I imagine the neolithic farmers used it for the burial of important members of the community or as a gathering spot of sorts.'
'Neolithic?' Patsy paused, raising an eyebrow.
'That's right,' Delia nodded, squinting her eye slightly as she looked up in thought, 'Probably about six thousand years ago or so.'
'How… did it get here?' Patsy marveled, 'Surely they didn't haul it from some far away place like they did with Stonehenge?'
'Well, I can't wrap my head around how they actually got these stones to stand as they are,' Delia said as she scratched her head, 'but I do know this type of rock is the blue stone they mine down at the quarry. '
'Oh,' Patsy made a face as everything suddenly clicked in her head, 'This is blue stone. We're surrounded by it, aren't we,' she wiggled her finger in the air as Delia gave a cute smile back at her, 'Blue Stone Inn and all that. Explains why the lads were so happy about that song you sang last night.'
Delia winked, 'Good on you for catching on.'
'Nothing gets past me, Delia… usually,' she said with a smirk, turning her attention back to the structure.
She took a step back and just marveled at it.
'So you just… have an ancient… massive… megalithic stone structure,' Patsy's hands flailed slightly in front of her as she worked this out, 'what I'm assuming is an important piece of human history… just sitting here on your property?'
'Structures like this are all over the UK and Ireland, Miss Mount,' Delia shrugged and puffed on her pipe, and Patsy was completely flabbergasted at how indifferent Delia seemed to be about it, 'Though I do suppose someday we'll have someone come out and excavate it, but we figure if they did bury people here we ought to just leave 'em be.'
Patsy sighed, 'Fair enough.'
She looked out and saw that Delia had been facing a crystal blue lake when she approached, a small rowboat was tied to the shore and it bobbed slightly from the gentle waves. On the other side of the lake, Patsy could see the church over the hills with more buildings and cottages. Little white fluffy sheep dotted the green hills and a warm breeze tickled the skin on Patsy's arms. Her breath caught in her throat at the beauty of it all.
'This is such a beautiful place, Delia,' she smiled, turning back to the brunette, 'I can see why you came to this spot to read.'
'I do find it quite peaceful here, yes,' she replied shyly, shifting from one foot to another, 'Um… would you like to join me? I brought myself a spot of breakfast that I haven't touched yet. Be happy to share it with you.'
Patsy's heart fluttered frantically at the invitation and she smiled, 'Delia I would be delighted.'
The two sat down in the grass and Patsy fluffed her skirt out around her as Delia put down her pipe and reached into her satchel, pulling out a white handkerchief, which she unraveled to reveal a scone. She broke it in two and handed half of it to Patsy, the redhead noting with delight that it was still soft and warm from the oven.
'I have some jam if you like,' Delia said, reaching into her bag again, 'and some tea.'
'Yes to both, please,' Patsy smiled as she brought the scone to her nose and took a deep breath in, 'my this smells delicious,' she said.
'Da just made it fresh this morning,' Delia replied, 'the jam is home made, too, but it's from last summer.'
The two situated their scone with however much jam they wanted, and Delia pulled out a thermos of tea from her satchel.
'So I take it you're not a church goer, either?' Patsy asked as she nodded in the direction of the stone church across the lake. The bells were ringing and echoing throughout the hills again once more, noting the change in the hour. People were slowly starting to filter out, children running around and laughing.
'Not particularly,' Delia shrugged, looking in the direction patsy was looking, 'I prefer to see the beauty of god's work outside those four walls. Yourself?'
'I'm similar, I suppose,' Patsy sighed, looking out onto the gorgeous scenery, 'though, I don't need to believe in fairies to see the beauty of the garden, so to speak.'
'Ohh,' Delia tutted playfully, 'Don't ever let Sister Monica Joan ever catch you saying something like that. She'll not hear a nary word against the fairies.'
Patsy raised an eyebrow, 'Which one is she?'
'The oldest one. Half blind,' Delia pointed to her eye, 'wonderful woman and can quote Keats for days, though otherwise a bit… how should I say… not all there? Very kind woman though. My brothers loves her. They had her as a teacher when they were coming up through school.'
'Are they all teachers?' Patsy asked, 'The nuns?'
Delia nodded, 'That's right Miss Mount.'
'Ah,' Patsy said with a nod, now understanding why the three women seemed to be held in such high regard by the men in the pub. They were probably their teachers, if not teachers to their own children now.
'I had Sister Evangelina, the more bulldoggish one,' Delia shrugged indifferently.
'Great dart player!' Patsy remarked .
'She's a wild one, for sure,' Delia smiled, 'remember once she threatened to throw a girl out the window by her pigtails for her backtalk.'
'Goodness!'
'She didn't, but the imagery still plays in my mind to this day!' Delia said with a laugh, 'How horrible that would be!'
'I can only imagine!' Patsy grinned.
Delia smiled kindly as she moved to pour some tea from her thermos into a little cup.
'Delia, I saw one of your brothers on the way over here,' Patsy remarked casually, 'He looked as if he lived in that little bungalow by the pigs and chickens?'
'Oh, yes, they both do,' Delia explained as she handed Patsy her tea and moved to pour her own cup, 'Mam kicked them out of the house a year or so ago to make room for guests, you see. We all built that little place together out there as they tend to the livestock anyway. We figured it was a good spot so they can keep an eye on them.'
'They don't mind living in such close quarters with one another?' Patsy asked.
'Oh, they don't mind at all, the boys. They're twins. Always been together. They get rather depressed when they're apart for too long.'
'I see, and have you also been kicked out?' Patsy asked, blowing on her tea before she took a sip.
Delia gave a bit of a smile and Patsy was happy she seemed to be more relaxed around her, 'No, Miss Mount. I stay on the main house with my parents. Mam likes to keep me close by as I… well, she wants me near so she can look after me,' Delia remarked and sighed a little despondently.
Patsy's eyes darted to the scar on Delia's eyebrow but she looked away before Delia could notice.
'So are you settling in alright Miss Mount?' Delia asked conversationally, Patsy thinking she sounded as if she was rather eager to change the subject.
'I am, thank you,' she replied as she took a bite of her scone and had to control the inappropriate moan of pleasure she wanted to let out for tasting something so delicious, 'Slept like a baby after the day I had yesterday,' she said instead.
Delia winced slightly, 'Sorry, Miss Mount, I do still feel so terribly awful about your arrival.'
'Oh,' Patsy waived her off, 'I was talking more about being tired from traveling on the train than anything, and besides, I thought my arrival here was rather entertaining,' she smiled, and leaned forward slightly, 'It's not everyday a beautiful woman falls out of the ceiling and into my arms like that.'
Delia hiccuped into her tea and turned red.
Patsy thought her reaction was rather endearing but leaned back, remembering not to pounce. She decided it would be better to compliment Delia on something other than her appearance.
'And my gosh Delia, the music you played last night was just delightful,' Patsy gushed.
'Oh, Miss Mount, it's nothing special, really,' Delia insisted shyly, 'Lots of pubs have live music.'
'Yes but do they sound as good as you and your brothers?' Patsy watched as Delia shrugged shyly and continued, 'You have such a lovely voice, Delia, and you play so well. Have you and your brothers… sorry, what are their names?'
'Oh, um, Michael and Nicholas. We sometimes call them Micholas when they're together,' she said with a small smile.
'Cute,' Patsy remarked, 'have you three been playing together very long?'
'All our lives, I think, since we were old enough to pick 'em up,' Delia looked up in thought as she broke off a bit of her scone, 'The instruments have been passed down in our family. My gran thought it was appropriate I play the mandolin, see, since it's the smallest, and, well… so am I.'
'Well she certainly made a good choice there.'
'Do you play any instruments Miss Mount?' Delia asked, taking a bite of her scone.
Patsy opened her mouth to reply, but a familiar hiffing noise of one Alison the pony caught her attention, the pony seemingly having followed her and was now snuffling her hair and nuzzling the side of her head.
'For the love of…' Patsy looked to Delia, 'have you been sitting there this whole time watching her come up behind me and didn't say anything?'
Delia tucked her bottom lip into her mouth to hide her smile, looking incredibly guilty. Patsy didn't have it within her to hold one iota of anger or resentment at such a cute face.
Patsy shook her head as she batted Alison away from her by the nose.
'Well at the very least can you tell me why on earth this beast seems to be so infatuated with me?'
Delia finally let herself smile, 'Miss Mount, if I had to guess, she probably thinks your hair looks like a giant apple.'
'An apple?' Patsy asked, 'Oh well that's just splendid, my hair looking like one giant piece of fruit. That was completely the look I was going for today,' she gripped, but her mood lifted when she noticed Delia smiling endearingly at her.
She gently pushed the snuffling pony away from her again, 'Shoo! Sit! Go lay down!' she commanded as if it were a dog, subtly happy that Delia was giggling at her antics.
'I don't think that'll work on her, Miss Mount,' Delia said, rising to her feet and walking to Alison.
She placed her hand on the pony's neck and guided her away, making a clicking noise with her mouth. Delia led her to an apple tree and picked up an apple that had fallen to the ground, bringing it to Alison's mouth and holding it there until the pony ate. Delia let her be once Alison seemed to realize there were apples all over the place, and the Welsh woman made her way back to Patsy and say beside her, picking up her tea.
'Sorry about that,' she said, 'she's an old girl and probably can't see very well.'
Delia took a sip of her tea before looking back to Patsy.
'Sorry, what were we talking about?'
Patsy blinked, needing a moment to remember where their conversation had left off.
'Ah, instruments,' Patsy shrugged, tapping her finger to her chin in thought, 'I was made to take piano lessons and played the violin a little in school. Found it quite dull, actually. Wasn't allowed to listen to or play rock and roll at school, so naturally, I now have a rather large collection of records back at my flat in London,' she smiled, 'I assure you, Delia, between the two of us you are the one with all the musical talent and I am so very blessed and pleased you and your brothers choose to play together and share that talent with the rest of us.'
'Oh, Miss Mount,' Delia gave a kind smile, 'I think everyone can play if they love it enough. It sounds like you do. Maybe just haven't found the right instrument?'
'Delia, I assure you I'm much better at enjoying music when I'm not the one having to create it,' Patsy said reassuringly.
Delia smiled, 'You really like music quite a bit then?'
'Oh, absolutely. I listen to just about everything I can get my hands on. And I did so enjoy your performance last night, you know. If you and your brothers ever made a record I would buy ten copies,' she grinned.
Delia laughed shyly, her cheeks turning red, 'Miss Mount you wouldn't have to do a thing like that.'
'Of course I would! Would play them so often the needle would scrape the record bare. I'd need so many copies just to always have a backup on hand, wouldn't I?'
Patsy's heart fluttered as she watched Delia turn more red, her dimples appearing as she shyly held her hand in her face, peering back at Patsy through two fingers. Patsy decided right then that Delia was possibly the cutest woman she had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.
'Besides, us artists need to support each other!' Patsy finished, pounding a firm fist into the palm of her other hand.
Delia's smile widened and she sat up straight in her seat looking rather excited.
'Oh, speaking of which,' she reached behind her and proudly displayed the faded paperback, 'I've just been reading one of your books-,'
Patsy gasped in horror as she saw the title of a book that she knew to be particularly raunchy and terrible as it was one of her earlier works.
Without thinking, Patsy snatched the book out of Delia's hand and flung it so hard away from them she felt the joint in her wrist snap. It flew through the air like a frisbee for several agonizing seconds before landing somewhere out in the lake with a prominent plunk, and promptly sank beneath the surface.
The two women remained completely still and silent for several moments, Patsy clearing her throat awkwardly as a few choice words Trixie used to describe her came to mind… what were they? Impulsive? Aggressive? This, Patsy felt with a sinking realization, was probably what she meant.
Patsy's mind went back to the conversation she had with Valerie the night before about Delia being slighted by the likes of the very women Patsy wrote about in her books. She didn't want Delia to associate her with one of those women, even if she had been one. She didn't want to be like that now, not anymore.
Patsy looked over to Delia, who remained wide eyed and frozen in place, too terrified to make a move.
Patsy fluffed out her skirt over her knees again to have something to do with her hands and gave a tight smile.
'It's a rubbish book anyway,' she said quietly, 'They all are. No need to waste your time with all that now.'
'...That was Valerie's copy,' Delia quietly eked out, still staring out onto the lake.
'I'll send her a brand new one,' Patsy said, her tone light and airy and desperate to move on, 'with an autograph.'
Delia finally blinked back to her senses and turned to look at Patsy, giving a rather nervous smile.
Oh good going Patsy, she thought, you're scaring her.
'I don't write that series anymore, Delia,' Patsy said calmly, 'I'm going to start something new. Something completely different… soon as I think up something,' she smiled hopefully, 'I'm sure lightning will strike! And when it does you'll be the first to read it, alright?'
'Oh, um, sure Miss Mount I would like that very much.'
'Splendid,' Patsy breathed a sigh of relief as Delia seemed to relax a little.
Her good mood was dampered slightly when a familiar hiffing noise sounded in her ear and the hot breath of one pony smelling her hair once more tickled her ear and neck.
'Oh, for Pete's sake,' she said as she pushed the pony away once more, 'Delia I'm beginning to think I ought to go back to being a blonde.'
Delia merely laughed, standing and collecting her thermos and placing it back on her satchel.
She extended her hand to help Patsy rise, and lifted the redhead to her feet easily.
'What do you think, Delia,' Patsy prodded, fluffing her hair slightly, 'should I go blonde or do you prefer the red?'
'My preference should be of no concern, Miss Mount,' she smiled kindly, 'I think what's important is that you wear your hair however makes you happiest.'
Patsy blinked, rather appreciating her answer. She watched silently as Delia walked past her towards the apple tree and she bent down, collecting several apples into her satchel.
'Is that what you do?' Patsy asked, thinking she had some idea of the answer.
Alison bunted her head against Patsy's arm and she begrudgingly pet the creature as she waited for an answer.
'It's complicated,' Delia said quietly, rising to her feet and giving a tight smile, 'the apples here ought to keep Alison busy while she's grazing by your room. You should keep them nearby and toss them so she has something to chase after and won't bother you.'
Patsy was flummoxed slightly at the rather sudden change of subject, looking down at the apples in Delia's hand and satchel. She noted that this was the second time during their conversation that she changed the subject, steering the conversation away from herself. Why didn't she want to open up to her?
Maybe she's just shy?
Or guarded.
Patsy pushed those thoughts aside and smiled back at Delia
'I think that's a very clever idea, Delia. Let me help,' she said, and removed her cardigan and bent down to collect some apples herself, but a hand on her arm stopped her.
'Oh, Miss Mount, it's alright,' Delia said, almost pleadingly, 'I'm able to hold plenty of apples in my bag. No need to go and ruin your lovely cashmere now.'
'Oh, Delia,' Patsy shrugged with a smile, 'I don't mind at all. It's just a cardigan.'
'Yes, but it's a nice cardigan…' Delia trailed off quietly.
Patsy stopped herself from collecting any apples as she realized she was about to go ahead and make a mess of this nice garment in front of a woman who was standing before her in tattered dungarees, patched up all over from being worn and worked in for several years, probably.
'You're right,' Patsy smiled back up at Delia before she rose again to her feet, 'I think you've collected enough to keep Alison busy for a bit. Perhaps I'll come back tomorrow and collect some myself with a basket.'
Patsy placed her cardigan around her shoulders, and the two women began walking side by side down the path towards the Inn.
Delia smiled kindly, moving to pack her pipe once more with fresh loose tobacco, 'I believe I have a basket you can borrow if you like.'
'That's very kind of you, thank you,' Patsy said softly.
The two continued on down the path, Delia puffing away on her pipe while Patsy chatted happily until they reached the main house.
Patsy resolved that she needed to get started on her work and Delia mentioned there were a few things around the house to take care of that day. They parted amicably and spent the rest of their day working on their tasks, Patsy finally finding it within her to settle in and at least try to sort through her fathers papers. The best way she could figure to put them in order without them being ruined was to pin them to the wall in the order she believed them to be in. She fed apples to Alison through her bedroom window throughout the day while she did this, and she was about halfway through his memoirs before hunger overcame her and she left her room again to enjoy some supper in the dining room for the first time since she arrived.
Although, while pleasant, she was the only person in there save for a married couple who was passing through. She was halfway through her meal when she decided she had enough of their bickering, the man looking to be the most henpecked husband she had ever seen, and she promptly picked up her supper and moved to the pub where she could at the very least smoke.
She was delighted that Valerie was there, and she sat at the bar and ate while she chatted idly with the Londoner, discussing life back in the city that she missed and quite enjoying the rave reviews she was receiving for her Spitalfields Spitfire books, as much as she didn't want to think about that bloody series, she was glad it had made someone out there happy.
When she finished her supper and made Valerie happy by ordering a few rather complicated cocktails for her to put together, Patsy went back to her room. She was rather surprised to find a new appliance resting on the chest at the foot of the bed.
It was a small record player with speakers attached, a small stack of 45's sat nearby.
Patsy softly closed the door behind her and moved to sit in front of the player, taking one record off the stack, and then another, reading over the labels.
It was folk music. Classical. Rock and Roll. Blues.
It seemed Delia had a rather eclectic collection, albeit small.
After the incident earlier with her cardigan, Patsy wondered if this small collection of things was part, if not all, of what Delia had to herself. Her possessions. If they were, surely she must be putting a lot of faith in Patsy to treat them well, to take care of them.
Regardless, Patsy was quite touched at the gesture, missing her records herself. Not that she didn't enjoy the quiet, but she found life to be so much more pleasant with music in it.
It seemed Delia shared the same sentiment, and the thought made Patsy smile and think of her.
Patsy took a record out of its sheet and placed it on the player, laying the needle down and closed her eyes as a tune by Bob Dylan filled the room. As satisfying and catchy as it was, she thought to herself that she would always much rather prefer to hear the voice of the sweet Welsh woman she couldn't seem to stop thinking about.
