The air brakes of the number 52 bus hissed as it came to a stop outside Mildred's block of flats. Waiting until the bus was fully stationary this time, Mildred sprung from her seat and left the bus, saying a sunny "Thank you!" to the driver as she jumped through the open door onto the pavement. She raced through the familiar buildings near her home, across the communal lawn and into her block of flats. Her heavy work boots caused the stairwell to vibrate as she ran up the eight flights of stairs to her mum's flat.
"Millie-love!" Julie Hubble said with a smile as her daughter flew through the front door in her usual whirlwind of energy. "How was your first day at work? I'm making us sausages and mash for tea and I thought you could tell me all about it while we eat."
Mildred's face lit up at the sound of food. "Thanks mum! I'll get changed out of this, and then I'll tell you everything."
Julie shook her head in amusement as her daughter stumbled over her own feet into her bedroom. She turned her attention back to the meal she was preparing and flicked the kettle on to start making some gravy.
Mildred sat on her bed and stared at her art covered walls. The pictures chronicled her journey as a artist from when she was a tiny tot all the way up to her graduation. The one consistency across the multimedia display was the content depicted in her artwork. Vines, trees, and colourful blooms populated the walls. Mildred sighed. In her artwork, she had always been in control of the contents and the journey she took the viewer on.
She pulled out her phone and typed the first few letters of the Cackle's website into the search bar of her browser. Mildred had visited the site many times before, so her phone immediately auto-populated the address and took her to the home page. She felt her heart swell with pride as she saw a banner advertising the new Gardening Experience. Locking her phone, Mildred set it aside and unlaced her work boots. The boots had been a gift from her mum - Julie had been so excited when Mildred was offered the apprenticeship at Cackles. "We have a gardener in the family!" she had proudly proclaimed to the shop assistant. Mildred frowned when she noticed a small scuff on the toe of her left boot and pulled the sleeve of her grey overalls over her hand to try to rub the scuff away. Satisfied that the boots were returned to a good as new state, Mildred changed out of her overalls into a pair of ripped jeans and a red and yellow striped t-shirt. She pulled Dimity's copy of the Gardeners' Code from her bag and skipped back into the kitchen.
"Can I help you with anything mum?" Mildred asked, placing the book on the round table in the centre of the room. She began to move some clutter from the tabletop to another free surface, clearing room for two place settings.
"Thanks Millie, I think everything is just about ready now. Why don't you sit down and I'll bring it over?" Julie motioned for her daughter to sit down.
Mildred plonked herself into one of the wooden chairs and opened the Gardeners' Code to a random page.
Section Five - Seasonal Care of Perennials
She skimmed the page eagerly, hoping for a clue for what a perennial was. She soon found the answer wrapped in official looking text. Mildred hoped that it would get easier to understand the jargon as she read on.
i - A perennial may be defined as a plant that lives for more than two years.
ii - Perennials must be kept well watered at all times, however over watering can be detrimental to the plant.
The points seemed intuitive enough once Mildred got past the language used. Mildred was particularly good at gauging how much water a plant needed, even if she didn't know the fancy name for it. Her reading was interrupted by Julie placing a full plate of sausages, mashed potatoes, peas and gravy in front of her. She closed the Code and placed it carefully onto the worktop behind her.
"Thanks mum! You know this is my favourite, it looks delicious as usual." Mildred said.
"A favourite meal for my favourite girl." Julie smiled and lovingly caressed the back of Mildred's head. She sat opposite her with her own plate. "Now tell me all about your first day, you've kept me in suspense long enough."
Hardly able to get her thoughts in order, Mildred tried to tell her mum everything all at once. "So when I got there this morning I tripped over and fell onto the head gardener and now she hates me, she's supposed to be my mentor but she doesn't want anything to do with me and then I spent my afternoon with a man who wants to be a frog, he's really lovely and he's married to Gwen. There are loads of weeds at Cackle's and it's making everyone moody and we, I mean me and Algernon, the frog man, we think it might be someone doing it on purpose as they're only in the flowerbeds but we're keeping that secret so the person responsible doesn't know we know. They all call gardening The Craft and the head gardener, HB is really strict about following it. When you're a qualified gardener you get a cat and there are kittens at the minute." Mildred noticed a look of concern flash across her mum's face. "But don't worry, I think they live at the castle. They were so cute mum! There's a little grey one, he looks like a baby tiger. Oh, and there are researchers there too. Oh, also I came up with an idea to help with the weeding and Ada Cackle liked it and they're trialing it tomorrow. I hope people want to do it."
Julie raised an eyebrow at her daughter's scatterbrained account of the day. "It sounds like a very eventful day, Millie. It's a shame about those weeds though, what was your idea?"
"I suggested we do something like the zookeeper experience you got me with the penguins, but with gardening. But HB said it was against the Code, but then another gardener backed me up and they're going to do it starting tomorrow." Out of breath, Mildred pulled her plate closer to start eating, causing brown gravy to slosh over the edge of the plate and onto both the table and her lap where Dimity's precious copy of the Gardener's Code had been only minutes before.
"It's just as well you put that old book out of the way before you started eating Millie-love, it looks very special." Julie laughed, passing a clean tea towel to Mildred to clean herself up.
"Thanks mum," Mildred gratefully took the cloth and dabbed at the spillage. "It's a book about how to be a gardener, apparently everyone who practises The Craft has to know it off by heart and do everything by the book." She surrounded "The Craft" with air quotes with her fingers and rolled her eyes at her mum. "It's so different from what I expected, mum. I thought it would be all about planting things and creating displays, there is so much more to it."
Julie gave her daughter a sympathetic look. "It sounds very complex, but you'll soon get to know the ropes. Did you get a chance to see your old waitressing friends, Millie?"
Mildred nodded, her mouth full of food. She swallowed and took a sip of water. "I went to see them at lunch, but I was so upset about HB being so mean that I cried." She turned red and looked down at her plate, remembering how utterly hopeless she'd felt.
"I have half a mind to go and give that HB a telling off. She sounds horrible, Millie. Can you ask Ada for a different mentor?"
Mildred shrugged. "I don't think so, I'll just try to prove that I am worthy of working at Cackle's."
"That's my girl, you show her!" Julie smiled proudly. She knew that Mildred could achieve anything she put her mind to.
After the pair had finished eating, Mildred dried the dishes while Julie washed up. As a child, Mildred used to have to tiptoe to even reach the worktop, and Julie would gently lift her up to put away the plates in the wall mounted cupboards. Now, Mildred barely even had to reach to open the cupboards. In fact, if Julie ever needed anything from the top of the cupboards, she often enlisted the help of Mildred's gangly arms. "When did you become so grown up?" She asked her daughter nostalgically. "It seems only weeks ago that I was putting your first painting of a daisy in the fridge and taking you to Cackle's for the first time. Now you work there. I'm so proud of you Millie-love."
Mildred smiled bashfully. "It's all thanks to you, mum. I never say thank you enough, but I really mean it."
The pair finished the washing and drying up and retired to the sofa for afters and to watch some trashy TV. This evening, dessert consisted of a cup of tea and a bowl of mint choc chip ice cream.
With the sounds of a couple arguing on a reality TV show in the background, Mildred flipped idly through the Gardeners' Code. A page entitled Section 40 - Symbolism of Plants stood out to her. She gently ran her fingertip down the list of flowers and shrubs, drinking in the hidden meanings they were each said to have. She stopped and grinned.
Dandelions symbolise determination, perseverance and endurance.
She marked her page with an old Co-op receipt she found hiding down the side of the sofa cushion and ran to her room to get her overalls and embroidery kit. Julie raised her eyebrows at her daughter as she returned to the sofa.
Mildred made quick work of deciding her design and threaded a needle. Using the same yellow thread that was so neatly sewn into her dungarees in the shape of daffodils, she began to create bright fluffy yellow dandelion flowers across the lapels. Once the flowers were in place, she added stems and leaves in two shades of green. For good measure on the breast pocket, she embroidered a bright white dandelion clock with its seeds blowing weightlessly into an invisible wind.
She smiled at her handiwork and presented it to her mother. "In my book it says that dandelions represent determination. I really want to show HB I'm serious, maybe she'll respect me more." Mildred explained while Julie cooed proudly over her daughter's intricate skills.
Feeling jittery with nerves, Mildred awoke early. She donned her newly embroidered boiler suit over jeans and a t-shirt, and brushed through her long brown hair, wincing as her brush caught in several large knots. Satisfied that her hair was as brushed as it was ever going to be, she split it in half and twisted the strands into two uneven plaits, securing them at the end with red ribbons
Mildred made sure to be quiet on her way to the kitchen, it was long before her mum would be usually be up and she didn't want to wake her. Julie had recently picked up her own art degree after a long hiatus from studying, and was struggling with managing the workload on top of working full time and running the house.
Mildred took two slices of bread and put them into the into the white toaster and flicked on the matching kettle. In the fridge she found a jar of strawberry jam and a tub of margarine and while she waited for her toast to pop up, she flicked through the Gardeners' Code again. She was astounded at the sheer volume of information on plants and the etiquette that surrounded their care. It seemed impossible to learn it all. She absentmindedly stroked the dandelions on her overalls and remembered her determination to prove herself as a gardener. With this in mind, she chose a page and resolved to read everything on it, surprising herself with how quickly she became spellbound by the text on fruit bearing trees. Enthralled by the details and using the momentum of finishing one page, Mildred's reading session turned from one page to twenty. She looked up from a page on gastropods to see that her toast had popped up and was starting to go cold.
She sighed at herself and set about spreading the margarine and jam on her cold toast. She thought about the day ahead, and wondered how much it would differ from her first, hoping she would have time to visit the young kitten who had captured her heart. After finishing the chewy cold bread and downing a cup of over brewed tea, she grabbed a tin of tuna from the back of one of the kitchen cupboards and tucked it in her backpack just in case she had time to visit the kittens.
Mildred made her way quietly to the balcony. The small outdoor space was a small haven of colourful flowers. Among many horticultural achievements, Mildred had proudly managed to coax a deep purple rose to grow in a large pot and she liked to admire it often as possible. She took a deep breath of its soft scent and counted the amount of buds growing on its stems. With deft and precise movements, she sliced off a few deadheads to encourage the growth of more flowers. She thought wistfully of Pippa's description of her up and coming rose garden, and wondered if she would be allowed to help her. She made a mental note to find the section of the Gardeners' Code on roses and to try to strike up a conversation with Pippa around it.
Once out of the flat, Mildred checked the time. She had planned to get the earliest bus to Cackle's to avoid seeing Hecate. The time on her phone stated that there were exactly two minutes until the bus was due to depart. "Thorns!" she exclaimed, looking anxiously around her, hoping she hadn't offended any of her neighbours by shouting. She broke into a run for the bus, barely making it to the stop in time. Panting, she wished the driver a good morning and fell into a seat.
Confident she knew where she was going this time, Mildred walked through the staff entrance and made her way to the very top of the hill near the castle walls. As she passed by numerous shrubs and floral displays, she noticed the telltale yellow flowers of creeping buttercup. She knelt to extract it from the earth and placed the offending plant in a nearby bin. Overhead, a blackbird flew to a hawthorn bush and began to sing her a melody. Mildred smiled and wished the bird a good morning. She carried on up the hill until she found a wooden bench with flaking brown paint. She sat down. From this vantage point, Mildred could see the vast gardens in all of their splendor. The early morning sun sent golden streams of light through the grounds. It illuminated shrubs with a blaze of orange light and ignited the assembly of blooms as they lifted their heads to the warmth. The gardens were awash with amber tinted colours that danced with their own shadows as the sun climbed in the sky. Mildred's eyes darted over the landscape in glee, delighting in the memories it brought. The grassy hill she used to roll down whilst holding hands with her mum as a child, where they would inevitably becoming a tangled pretzel of limbs on the way. The first time she learned that trees had Latin names. Picnics in the summer. Racing her mum to find shelter in storms. Mildred smiled, Cackle's felt just as much a home to her as her mum's flat did.
A reddish brown shape moved in the distant trees catching her eye, and Mildred couldn't help but replay her conversation with Algernon in her head. Who would want to ruin such a wonderful place? She couldn't bear to think about the gardens closing down. She shook her head and convinced herself that the movement was probably just a muntjac enjoying the freedom given by the lack of visitors so early in the morning. with her thoughts back on the weeding problem, she remembered why she had awoken feeling so nervous. The Gardener Experience was due to begin soon. Before the staff had left work the day before, Hecate had communicated a strict summons to an early morning briefing. Mildred checked the time on her phone and berated herself for running late, despite having arrived at Cackle's early.
On her way to the staff room for the morning briefing, Mildred spotted Esme walking to her lab. "Morning!" she chirped.
"Good morning Mildred," Esme said. "You're here early!"
Mildred smiled, "I wanted to do some reading before everyone else got here, but I was distracted by the sunrise."
Esme laughed. "That's why I love working here. The beauty is always astounding, even on rainy days. I know we've only just met, but can I ask a favour please?"
Always eager to help her friends, Mildred nodded.
"My little sister Sybil is going to be doing the Gardener Experience today. She was so excited to be able to see the place where her sisters work and to have a go at being a real gardener. The thing is, she's very reserved and shy. Can you keep an eye out for her?"
Mildred smiled at Esme, she could see how much she cared for her youngest sister. "Of course I can."
Mildred ran the remainder of the way to the staff room. "I'm sorry I'm late," she mumbled as she made her way to stand next to Algernon, hoping he would protect her from Hecate's wrathful gaze.
The head gardener eyed Mildred with a look of utmost displeasure. "A gardener should never be late," she tutted. "Now that we are all here," she glared at Mildred, "We can begin this morning's briefing. I have been told by Zachary Hawthorn, the receptionist, that we have twelve untrained gardeners signed up for the Gardener Experience today. With four gardeners trained in The Craft, each gardener will take responsibility for three untrained gardeners." Hecate's lip curled into a disgusted sneer at the thought of a gardener untrained in the ways of The Craft.
Mildred counted the gardeners in the room. Algernon, Dimity, Hecate, Pippa. One, two, three, four. Crestfallen, she raised her hand.
"Mildred Hubble, I am not a teacher and this is not a school. You may speak without asking permission," Hecate said with an air of irritation in her voice.
"You haven't given me a group, what am I going to do?" Mildred asked.
Hecate huffed in exasperation. "When... If you become fully qualified in the ways of The Craft, you may take responsibility for unqualified gardeners. Until that point, you may assist a group with the weeding."
"How am I ever going to become a qualified gardener if you don't let me do anything?" Mildred felt the angry words escape her lips before she had hardly even thought them. She froze, taking the smallest of looks at her mentor, hardly daring to for fear of her response.
Hecate's lips were pursed together in a thin straight line and her eyes were widened like a bull being taunted by a red cloth. Mildred used to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings before she left to visit Cackle's. She used to laugh at the characters that became so angry that smoke left their ears. However, faced by her furious mentor, Mildred would not have been at all surprised to see Hecate doing an impression of a steam train.
Pippa sighed in sympathy for Mildred and interjected before things could become heated between the two women. In a calm soothing voice, she said "Why don't I take Mildred under my wing this morning? We can share a group with the weeding and then she can help me prune the rambling roses before lunch. How does that sound?"
Mildred stood next to the Cackle's gardeners at the front of the morning's Gardener Expereince cohort. They were waiting on one final participant to arrive. She surveyed the group, intrigued to see who else shared her interest in gardening. There was a range of ages from young teens to retirees, the youngest seemed to be a shy blonde girl clutching a trowel tightly to her chest. The girl looked like she would pass out in fear at any point. Unlike her older sisters' high and swishy updos, the girl's hair was neatly pinned back in a plaited crown, but regardless, with her pale complexion and petite stature, she looked unmistakably Hallow. Mildred smiled encouragingly at the young blonde girl, who she assumed was Sybil. Sybil smiled back.
A sudden commotion at the back of the group announced the arrival of the final unqualified gardener.
"Mum!" Mildred exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd come and support my daughter on the first day of her new initiative, sorry I'm late." Julie said with a proud smile. "It looks like you've got a great turn out today love, you must be so pleased."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of Hecate clearing her throat. "Ahem. We are on a tight schdule and there will be no time for frivolous chit chat. Now that you are all here, we will begin. In this basket are gardening gloves for you to wear whilst at Cackle's." Hecate stood tall in front of the crowd of customers and presented the basket. "I will now sort you into groups based on the order you arrived in today." She read the names aloud, her tone full of judgement.
"Holly Aspen, Willow Root and Oakly Linwood. You may follow Algernon Rowan-Webb to the bee garden to begin your gardening lesson." Hecate drawled the names and indicated for the three to follow a grinning Algernon. He gleefully led his group towards the other side of the grounds.
"Lily Sparrow, Daisy Pollen and Flora Meadow. You will be attending your gardening lesson with Dimity Drill in the woodland glade." Hecate lazily waved towards Dimity. Dimity smiled and ushered her group towards the trees.
"Felicity Foxglove, Sybil Hallow and Flora Clementine. You may join Pippa Pentangle and Mildred Hubble in the walled garden." Pippa waved a welcome to the group. They appeared to be the youngest of all of the experience customers.
"Lastly, that leaves Olive Winter, Everly Thorn and... Julie Hubble. You are to assist me in the herb garden. Yes, Ms... Hubble?"
Julie had raised her hand to just above her shoulder to ask a question. "Well you see, I'm actually here to support my daughter, Mildred. Would it be possible to be in her group?"
Hecate raised her eyebrows at what she perceived to be an impertinent question. "I do see. Unfortunately the groups have already been assigned based on order of arrival, as per the rules. Had you been on time, perhaps you would have been placed in your daughter's group. I can see where her lack of punctuality originates," she scorned.
Julie glared at the head gardener and looked at a helpless Mildred. "Alright Miss Bossybroom, I'll stick in your group if the rules matter that much. I will have to come back another time to work with Millie." She smiled cheekily at Mildred. Mildred smiled back, albeit disappointed. She had desperately wanted to show her mum around.
Mildred joined her group as they followed Pippa's elegant strides with their own bouncy steps. She slowed her pace slightly until it matched that of the youngest Hallow. "Hi, I'm Mildred, I'm training to be a gardener here. Are you Esme and Ethel's younger sister?"
The girl nodded shyly. "I'm Sybil," she whispered.
"Nice to meet you Sybil. Do you want to be a gardener?" Mildred asked.
Sybil lit up. "It's all I've ever wanted to be, ever since I visited Esme when she first started working here. When Esme told me about you, I knew that I had a chance to work here too one day."
Mildred grinned at Sybil. "I hope you will. It would be great to work with someone who isn't old." She glanced at Pippa cheekily.
"I heard that Mildred!" Pippa called from the front. "I'm not that old," she pouted, feigning offence. "One day, you won't be the youngest anymore, and you'll know exactly how I feel right now." She stopped at an archway enveloped in ornamental ivy and punctuated with colour from purple clematis flowers. "Through here is the walled garden, our first task of the day is to remove any weeds."
The young gardeners paled. One of them raised her hand earnestly.
"I have seen more people raise their hands to ask a question today than I have in the last twenty years," Pippa giggled. "Please feel free to interrupt and introduce yourselves and ask questions, I don't bite."
The girl lowered her hand. "Sorry, Miss - um, Pippa, sorry. I'm Felicity. This is a stupid question, but how do we know what is a weed and what isn't?"
"There is no such thing as a stupid question, and that one was actually rather clever Felicity. Mildred Hubble can show you, isn't that right, Mildred?" Pippa prompted.
Mildred gulped and nodded, frantically trying to recall everything she had learned when weeding with Hecate the day before. She led the girls to a border that was thick with weeds and began to show them how to untangle them and remove the full plant including the roots. She showed the girls a few types of common weeds and asked that if they were unsure, to check with her or Pippa.
Once the girls were engrossed in the task, Mildred started weeding her own section. Entangled in a impossibly large thistle to have grown unnoticed and certainly not just overnight, she found a ruffled white zigzagging ribbon. She frowned at the object, wondering where on earth it could have come from. Before anyone else could see it, she pocketed it, keeping in mind her promise to only discuss suspicious goings on with Algernon.
Mildred removed the last traces of weeds from the bed she was working on and wandered over to where Pippa was working, keeping an eye on the Gardener Experience girls as she walked. "I can't believe how quickly we are working, we might be weed free by mid morning," she said in a hushed voice.
Pippa beamed at her. "It was a wonderful idea Mildred. Now, why don't you help the girls finish their border and then we can start the fun stuff! I have some gorgeous lobelia I'd like us to plant in some of the gaps left by the weeds."
With Mildred's help, the borders were soon weed free. Sybil eyed Mildred admiringly as she pulled a particularly stubborn plant free from the ground. Mildred dusted the dirt from her gardening gloves and smiled. "Now for the fun part!"
Pippa carried two seed trays overflowing with cascades of tiny violet, indigo, and white flowers and set them down next to the girls. "It's time to bring some colour back to the borders," she said. With quick and purposeful movements, she showed the girls and Mildred how to release the small plants from the trays and how to plant them, spacing them out to create the most effective coverage of the earth. When the seed trays were empty, she asked the girls to step back and admire their work. They grinned in delight. The purple and in some parts, almost blue blanket of new flowers under the existing larger shrubs and flowers gave the garden the appearance of floating on an ocean.
"It's so beautiful," Sybil said.
Mildred smiled proudly at the group. "When you come back and visit, you can show your families all of your hard work."
The young gardeners thanked Mildred and Pippa, and left, still chatting excitedly about their morning and how much they felt like professional gardeners. Sybil turned to wave at Mildred before she left. Mildred waved back cheerily.
"Esme's sister seems to idolise you, Mildred. You did such a good job teaching those girls how to remove the weeds," Pippa said, causing Mildred to blush.
Mildred soon found herself blushing even more as Dimity and Algernon returned with their groups.
"Great job coming up with this, Mildred," Dimity said as she placed a hand on Mildred's shoulder. "This has been my most efficient morning of work since I started at Cackle's,"
"I can quite believe it," cut in a snide voice from behind them. Hecate looked especially on edge, and was uncomfortably eyeing her group as they left. Julie sent daggers at the raven haired gardener before softening her face and smiling at Mildred as she walked out of the gates.
Hecate scowled at the back of Julie Hubble's head. The curly haired woman had been nothing but contrary throughout the whole session. Hecate was sure that if Julie's eyes had been lasers, they would have bored angry holes into her skull. However, outside of Mildred's difficult mother, Hecate was disappointed that she couldn't find a fault with Mildred's idea. She clenched her jaw.
"Mildred Hubble, it appears that your little... idea was adequate." Hecate reluctantly pointed a long finger at Mildred. "However, this has been one rose among many thorns. I have discussed the matter with Ada this morning and a decision has been made to place your employment her on a trial basis for six weeks. If you make a single mistake during that period, you will no longer be in the employ of Cackle's Botanical Gardens. Frankly, I will be surprised if you make it to the end of the week."
Mildred gasped at the beauty of the roses scrambling up tree trunks and over thoughtfully placed walls. The garden was awash with delicate pinks, peaches and yellows. The delicious scent of the roses intermingled with the smell of loose earth from weeding was almost enough to make Mildred forget what Hecate had said. Trial. She was hurt by Hecate not believing in her, but for now, she was not working with Hecate. Pippa had been nice to her from the beginning and Mildred was looking forward to spending the rest of the morning with her. She cast aside the sadness caused by Hecate, and instead focused on the gardening tasks at hand.
Pippa passed her a pair of secateurs with pink handles. "To avoid me telling you things you already know, how about you show me what you can do, and I will build on that," Pippa said.
Mildred was shocked at the stark difference between Pippa and Hecate's teaching styles. Hecate was a much more teach and then do kind of mentor. Nervously, she took the secateurs and identified some thin weak looking stems, she screwed her eyes shut and hoped for the best as she closed the blades of the secateurs around the plant. The unwanted twigs fell from the plant to the ground. Pippa nodded in approval.
"Very good technique, Mildred." Pippa sang in praise as an emboldened Mildred snipped some more excessive growth from the stem. "I think I can leave you to look after this plant, it needs a bit of thinning out. Removing one in every three stems should do the trick."
The two gardeners worked harmoniously, with Pippa intermittently checking in on Mildred's work.
"So what's the difference between a rambling rose and other roses?" Mildred asked.
Pippa happily explained the differences. "Of course, I'm sure you've seen the section in the Gardener's Code, so this is probably just revision for you," she said.
Slightly embarrassed, Mildred admitted that she hadn't yet read the Gardener's Code section for roses, but promised to read it that night. She told Pippa how she hand't even been aware of it before joining the team at Cackle's.
Taking pity on Mildred, Pippa told her "If you haven't read the Gardener's Code, and you already have such skills and intuition with plants, I can't wait to see what you are like when you have read it all. Tell you what, I'll test you on the rose section once you've read it. Perhaps when you qualify you could take on the responsibility of some of the roses."
Mildred turned the same shade of pink as the rose she was pruning. "If I qualify... You heard Hecate earlier, one more mistake and I'm fired. She hasn't even given me a chance."
Pippa's face softened. "Hecate is a tough nut to crack, Mildred. She and I are old friends and we even went to horticultural university together. For our first year we were inseparable. Her creative vision with my eye for detail led to some spectacular displays, we even had plans to open our own gardens some day. At the annual flower show, we were supposed to run a symmetrical topiary demonstration, but she never turned up... and well... Let's just say it wasn't very symmetrical with only one gardener. When I started working here she did everything in her power to discredit my work and undermine me. I know what it's like to be shunted aside like a broken trowel."
"What changed?" Mildred asked, eyes wide. "It seems like you're the only person she'll listen to apart from Ada."
Pippa laughed and gave Mildred's hand a friendly squeeze, "Of course it was different for us, we had history, but we talked things through. I proved myself. It all worked out in the end. I am so pleased that I stuck it out here, Hecate's gardens are wonderful to behold. It is always such a joy to work with talented gardeners. That's why I'm so pleased to be able to work with you today, you have a real talent, you'll prove it to her eventually."
Pleased with Mildred's progress, Pippa sent her ahead to the staff room for lunch early.
With Mildred out of sight, Pippa set about finding Hecate. Since making up from their feud, the couple had taken to taking lunchtime strolls around the grounds together. They would spend the time planning displays and discussing new cross pollinated plant types. After some searching, she found Hecate kneeling in the herb garden by a large thyme plant. "There you are Hiccup!"
Hecate startled. Half expecting to see Mildred stood next to Pippa, she turned bright red. She breathed a sigh of relief to see it was only Pippa. "I didn't think we were using our nicknames for each other around Cackle's... Pipsqueak," she said.
"Oh Hecate, you always were a stickler for formalities," Pippa laughed. "I thought perhaps we could go for a walk?" She delicately offered her hand to Hecate.
Hecate stood. "I suppose that would be acceptable," she took a gentle step towards Pippa and took her hand, interlacing their fingers. "I know you wish to discuss Mildred Hubble, but I am finding my patience is wearing thin at even the very mention of her name. Contrary to popular belief, I do not despise the girl. However, I do believe that Ada hired her in a lapse of judgement after Mildred saved the overwatered plant and Ada found out that it was that awful woman watering the plants too much."
There was so much that Pippa wanted to say on the matter, but she knew when not to press Hecate. "Why don't we spend our lunch away from the topics of Mildred and over watered plants? We can take a trip to see Morgana and the kittens if you like?"
A small smile crossed Hecate's face, "Thank you, Pippa. I would like that."
The pair walked hand in hands across the grounds to the red brick stables. Occasionally, they would pause to admire a flower or comment on a gap between plants that needed filling.
As they approached the stables, a voice seemed to echo around the yard. The two women sprang apart. They slowed their walk, hiding from view as they tried to see who was with the kittens.
Mildred Hubble was kneeling by the stable door with a tin of tuna. "Hey, little tabby kitten, let your brothers and sisters have some, you're such a greedy guts," she laughed as the grey kitten purred and nuzzled into her leg.
Vexed, Hecate began to storm across the yard, but was stopped when Pippa pulled her back to prevent her from doing anything rash. "Hiccup darling, it's okay, she is clearly very taken with the kittens. She reminds me of you when we were qualifying, you used to visit the cattery every evening after our lectures. She's not doing anything wrong."
Hecate let Pippa hold her close. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to for Pippa to know that she had calmed enough and was no longer going to disturb Mildred with the kittens.
Pippa gently stroked her arm. "Hecate, it may not seem worth it yet, but I believe that with the right support from us, Mildred will go far. Please try to be kind to her, she has such little confidence as it is. I will support you in mentoring Mildred, but perhaps it is best for you to allow Mildred to grow for a week and then try again with her once she's more settled in."
The week that followed was bliss for Mildred. With Hecate taking a new, unexplained hands off approach, Mildred had plenty of time to spend with all of the other gardeners. She even was allowed to spend an afternoon with Ada Cackle, helping to draft the high level plan for the future of the estate. The Gardener Experience had taken care of the weed problem so spectacularly, that Mildred forgot about her suspicions. She had plenty else to think about with all of her training.
On one afternoon, Mildred was paired with Dimity to do some tree maintenance. Mildred found she enjoyed working with Dimity, she had a wicked sense of humour and never took things too seriously. As they replenished the mulch around some young trees, the two chatted away.
"How are you finding reading the Gardener's Code?" Dimity asked. "It's a lot, isn't it?"
Mildred laughed. It certainly was a lot. "It took me a while to get used to the language, but I'm getting there. I already knew a bit about flowers, but trees are completely new to me. Some of the book is really useful, but some of it seems weirdly outdated." Only that morning, Mildred had been reading an antiquated set of rules on how to tie bootlaces for different occasions.
"You wait until you read the section that talks about the proper etiquette for meeting the Great Horticulturalist," Dimity said with an impish grin. "Luckily, a lot of it can taken up to interpretation."
Mildred giggled. "I look forward to finding it. I like to get here early to read some pages in the mornings before the Gardener Experience starts. It's really nice seeing the empty gardens."
Dimity's face lit up. "That's exactly what I used to do! Let me show you my favourite reading spot." She led Mildred to a grand ancient oak. The tree towered, statuesque above the grounds. The trunk was broad and strong, splitting into two with one half reaching up to the sky, and the other large bough growing outwards before curving up to join its twin. Where it curved upwards, it formed the perfect shape for a person to lounge and read. Dimity hooked her arm up over the branch, pulling herself into the tree. "Come up, Mildred," she called down.
It took Mildred a few attempts to get enough grip on the bark to climb into the tree, but once perched on the branch she beamed. "The view is amazing, you can see the whole garden from here!"
Dimity nodded, pleased that Mildred appreciated the view from the tree as much as she did. "Feel free to read here if you like, we'll make a tree hugger out of you yet!"
After that afternoon, the tree became the place where Mildred would read every morning before the Gardener Experience customers arrived. She loved to read in the tree, and she enjoyed being able to see the comings and going's of the staff as they arrived for their day's work.
Hecate arrived at Cackle's earlier than usual. Since the Gardener Experience had begun, she was enjoying having more time to focus on her future creations, and nothing was more inspiring that walking around Cackle's before it was open to the public. The acres of uninterrupted beauty were her pride and joy. She removed her coat and hung it on a hook in the staff room, noticing that her coat was not the first. She widened her eyes in surprise at Mildred Hubble's denim jacket hanging askew against the wall.
Mildred had been working at Cackle's for nearly a week, and despite her major flaws, the other gardeners seemed to revere her. Hecate recalled her conversation with Pippa at the stables, the girl was trying to learn, even if she had a strange way of showing it.
She stepped out into the gardens to search for her apprentice, mentally preparing herself to have a conversation with Mildred. Pippa's voice saying just give her a chance swum around her head, repeating itself over and over.
Hecate walked past her favourite bench and let out a small nostalgic sigh as she remembered how she first came to know of Cackle's. Shaking the memory from her head, she looked into the woods and spotted Mildred perched precariously in one of the ancient oaks. The girl clearly had no respect for the enchanting history of Cackle's woodland. Hecate quickened her pace and straightened her back, ready to be angry if Mildred didn't have a good explanation.
"Mildred Hubble. Why are you sitting in a tree like a common bat?" Hecate said from the ground below the tree.
Jumping quickly from her perch, Mildred overbalanced upon landing and toppled into a neighbouring blooming purple buddleia. She yelped in pain as something stabbed through her sleeve on the back of her arm.
"Dimity showed me, she said it was a nice spot to read." Mildred gestured at the Gardener's Code by way of explaination and winced in pain. "I didn't know butterfly bushes had thorns," Mildred said with confusion, brushing a cobweb from her leg. Her arm was throbbing. "Could you take it out please? It's really painful."
Hecate made a scornful sound. "That is quite enough drama, Mildred. Buddleias do not have thorns, you have most probably been poked by a stray twig." Nether the less, Hecate motioned nonchalantly for Mildred to turn around so she could remove the offending article. Her brow furrowed in surprise as Mildred turned to reveal a fluffy bumble bee, caught in the fabric of her overalls.
"It appears you have upset the local wildlife, Mildred Hubble." Hecate said as she gently untangled the bee from the cloth. She cradled the buzzing insect in her cupped hands and showed it to her lanky apprentice.
Mildred's bottom lip quivered.
Hecate raised her eyebrows at the display. "It is only a bee sting Mildred, you are in the same amount of pain as you were when you thought it was a thorn."
Trying to hold back tears, Mildred managed to utter "I-it's not that I'm scared that I got stung by a bee, I was shocked at the sting, but it's not that bad. It's not even that much pain. It's just, don't bees die if they sting you? I don't want this bee to die because of me." She looked down at her dew soaked boots in embarrassment.
Hecate quirked a surprised eyebrow at the young woman in front of her.
"It seems your knowledge of bees is lacking substance. Only honey bees die when they sting, bumble bees like this one have smooth stingers and do not leave them behind when they sting. This beautiful creature will not die because you fell on her." Hecate released the fuzzy bee into the air and and it buzzed busily back to the buddleia.
"It is reassuring to see your respect for pollinators, Mildred Hubble. They do just as much work here as we do." Hecate abruptly tapped her forefinger of the copy of the Gardeners' Code that a gawking Mildred was still holding. "Section eight, paragraphs twelve to twenty-three cover pollinators in a good level of detail." Hecate frowned, as if unsure what to say next. She started to leave, before turning to face Mildred again and adding "Morgana prefers pilchards to tuna if you wish to feed her and her kittens again."