Chapter 96
The morning service at the church began at 10:00a.m. promptly. Mrs Tishell, as usual, was playing the organ and the quiet music rolled throughout the building.
Reverend Paul took his place and began with the hymn "Breathe on me, breath of God." Moving through the prayers he came to The Lesson.
"Exodus Chapter 20 verses 16 and 17:
You shall not bear false witness, against your neighbours.
You shall not covet your neighbour's house, his wife, servants nor his ox or grass nor anything that is your neighbours."
"This gives us a code of conduct to act upon when dealing with the people who surround us. It has as much relevance today, as when it was written, more than 2000 years ago.
Please note that in these enlightened times "his" may be substituted by "her" and "wife" by "husband".
A smile from the congregation acknowledged the bon mot.
"Matthew Chapter 7 verse 12
In everything then, do to others as you would have them do to you: this is the essence of the Law and the prophets."
He went on to say, "I fear that some of us have strayed from these sayings and strictures. It seems to me that nobody is happy with the status quo, but many must have the latest gadget, car or partner. This in turn encourages greed, and envy. Qualities which only serve to belittle ourselves rather than making us happy.
Enjoy the company surrounding you for what they are, not what they have."
I would recommend that you read a prose poem, written by Max Ehrmann in 1927. It is called Desiderata and is a list of those things which are desirable in life."
He saw several people nod in agreement.
At the organ, Mrs Tishell was beginning to feel that the whole service was about her, and not generalisations meant for the entire congregation. She looked surreptitiously around but could see no one was looking at her.
Paul asked the congregation to kneel and began reciting "The Lord's Prayer."
Eventually the service ended and he moved to the doorway at the back of the Church to say goodbye to his parishioners.
Mrs Tishell switched off the organ and put her stool under the keyboard, out of harm's way. She collected her belongings and went to join Paul at the doorway.
"Lovely service, Reverend Clark. I'm sure it will give everybody a lot to think about." She looked piercingly at him but couldn't detect any signs of satisfaction or amusement in his face.
"Glad you enjoyed it, Mrs Tishell. Will you be along for the keys on Friday, as usual?"
"Er, no. The service next Sunday is in Delabole. I'll be playing there."
"Oh of course! I must be getting old, I'd forgotten that. Was there anything else, then?"
"No, I'll see you two weeks on Friday for the keys. Goodbye." With that she swept out of the door and off to her home.
Paul closed the door behind him and smiled. He felt sure that some of his message had been heard. Of course whether it was acted upon, remained to be seen.
Louisa and Martin were on their way to the Parsons. They had spent the morning pottering about until it was time to get ready. Louisa had donned one of her newish dresses and Martin had decided to wear some of his new casual clothes.
Louisa's eyes lit up when she saw him, "You look good." She decided not to belabour the point and smiled happily when he replied, "Not as good as you!"
The trip to Truro was uneventful and they were soon pulling up outside the Parson's detached house. "Gosh Martin! This looks impressive."
"I suppose so. Chris said he needed space for the boys and a room where he or Carol could work in peace."
"Well, it looks as though there is lots of space."
They approached the front door and Chris came out to meet them. "Come this way! It's good to see you, Louisa. You too, of course Martin."
Chris led the way into the lounge where Carol was waiting to meet them. "Hi! It's good to see you both again. Carol immediately noticed Martin's more casual look, but elected not to say anything.
"Have a seat and make yourselves comfortable," she ushered them towards the sofa. "Do you want anything to drink after your trip?"
"May I have a fruit juice, please Carol?" Louisa was pleased to be still on the wagon, but actually longed for something alcoholic.
Martin wanted water.
"How are things with the baby, Louisa?" Chris was interested to find out if everything was progressing normally. He knew that if anything was untoward, Martin would need time off.
"Fine thanks, Chris. Dr Lewis didn't do a scan at my last check-up and so I didn't bring one with me."
Carol came in and gave them their requested drinks. "What was that about the scan pictures?" she asked.
"I was just saying we didn't get any at the last check-up. Everything is fine, though. When we were away on holiday, Martin felt the baby move, for the first time."
"Ah. Nothing like it, is there mate?" Chris was beaming and it was obvious he had his own memories of their two sons.
"Erm, no. In fact the baby kicked me awake, and I blamed Louisa for thumping me in the back. It took me a moment to catch on!"
Chris and Carol looked at each other, in surprise. Martin didn't usually give out that level of detail.
"With my two the kicks and bumps seemed quite gentle to begin with. They progressed in severity as the months went by. I remember once being sat on the couch and then my ribs were jacked up, from the inside! That took me by surprise, I can tell you!" Carol laughed as she was telling them, but it had been very disconcerting at the time.
"Chris," began Louisa, "I must say a huge thank you to yourself and the 'powers that be' for the generous donation of the new computers. It has really made a big impression at the school. The teachers involved have enjoyed being able to pick out new software, also. We are expecting them to be installed over Whit week. Is that still the case?"
"Ah, yes Louisa. As far as I know, everything is on track for that week. The other schools will have theirs installed then, as well. It would be good if one or two teachers were there as the machines are put in. I'm assuming power sources are close to hand, and suitable tables for them to go on?"
Chris went on to say that the technicians would show the teachers how to use the computers, initially. "My department will be in touch to let you know which day, they will be coming."
"I'll let the head know and he can make sure we have suitable places for them."
"I didn't mention before, but there will also be a spare server for back-up uses. We try and drum it into our users to back their work up frequently. Our new computers will be set up to do it automatically."
"Wow, it just keeps getting better!" Louisa was over the moon at this new piece of news.
Carol stood up and said she was going to check on dinner, and Louisa joined her in the kitchen. Making sure the door was shut she turned to Louisa and asked her how she'd got Martin out of his suit?
"I'd mentioned that if we were going to walk around a lot, on holiday, he would be uncomfortable in a business suit. For once he listened and he ordered some new, more casual outfits, from his tailor. The guy has a website with a range of outfits, Martin picked out what he thought was serviceable and had the outfits sent to Joan. The first I knew of it was when he came in to the lounge of our apartment dressed in one of them. I jumped when I saw him, because he didn't look like Martin! If you know what I mean?"
Carol laughed. "Well he looks good in this one, that's for sure." As she was saying this, she checked the meat in the oven and then put in a tray of monkfish, for Martin. The veg was beginning to cook and everything was on course for their meal. "Another 15 minutes ought to do it. Let's go back to the men." She led the way back to the lounge.
Martin and Chris had been discussing the lack of help available to GP's who had to try and manage their accounts on their own. "Even the basics cost a lot more now. It seems the price of everything is going up by the week!"
"Er Chris, I wanted to know for definite that I have your approval to close the surgery on a Saturday, at least once a month to be able to enjoy some family time?"
Chris's eyebrows went up? "Just once a month? Will that be enough? Surely, every other weekend would be better?"
"You might be correct there, Chris. When I was away there were fewer emergencies and those who needed to, did find their way to Wadebridge without much trouble. I think I'll begin with the first and third Saturdays in the month. Get them used to my not being available every Saturday. I may, at a later date, open late one evening to cater for those with routine enquiries and who work during the week, to see me. "
Chris laughed. "You've been spoiling them, Martin. Now you have a family, they can't expect you to come running at the drop of a hat. Just make sure you put notices up from the beginning of June, telling them what to expect and they'll adjust. They'll have to. Don't put up with any backsliding, either."
Martin was grateful for Chris' support. "I must admit I was flabbergasted when Dr Lewis told me he'd seen very few of my patients. I was also annoyed to think they'd been conning me. Even Louisa remarked upon it."
As the ladies came back into the room, Chris asked "And how did your holiday on Scilly go, then?"
Louisa sat down next to Martin and said, "It was wonderful. We had a great time, apart from the medical emergencies, obviously. Well I expect Martin enjoyed them, didn't you?"
"Hmm," was all he said.
"If you get the chance, Carol, I'd recommend it. Mind you for most places there you have to book up well in advance, or be willing to go at the drop of a hat to get a cancellation. That's pretty much how we got there."
"Was there much to do for children? I'm thinking about our boys, here. Ages 11 and 13."
"There are loads of activities, from astronomy, kayaking, swimming, surfing, rock-pooling. Just loads. The beaches are very clean, to have picnics on. Obviously, you can go on boat trips, as we did, and visit the seal and puffin sanctuaries. Trips to the other main islands such as Tresco, to see the gardens. Well worth going."
Carol laughed, "You sound like a tourist board advert!" She checked her watch and asked Chris to come and carve the meat. When everything was on plates or servers, she called Martin and Louisa through.
"Roast beef with Yorkshire puddings for us. Martin – monkfish, no butter for you."
"Carol, that's lovely." Louisa admired the table layout and hurried to sit down. They helped themselves to vegetables and after Louisa's first mouthful she sighed in pleasure. "Oh, it's been ages since I had beef. It tastes wonderful."
"Er yes, thank you Carol. It is just the way I like it." Martin concentrated on eating and listened to the ebb and flow of conversation between the other three.
Once Chris loaded the dishwasher up, Carol invited them to a tour of the house.
They'd seen most of the ground floor and went upstairs. Three bedrooms, a bathroom and a master bedroom with an en-suite shower room. There was a staircase to an attic office space as well.
When they went back down Carol led them out to their garden with a patio area and a lawn set up with goal posts for the boys to play football. At the rear of the garden, Chris had a shed, a greenhouse and a vegetable plot. Carol's flowers were mainly in the front garden. Along the side of the garden trees were maturing.
"It's lovely, Carol How long have you lived here, now?"
"We've been here coming up 8 years in August. Of course when we bought it, there was still a lot to do. We've tried to do something each year to get it to where it is now. Are you and Martin thinking of moving?"
"We considered it, but have decided to remain in the surgery for the first year or two. I've moved around a lot in this past five years and I just want to be stable for a while. We will eventually move, as Junior grows as a surgery isn't an ideal place for a toddler. Isn't that so, Martin?"
"Yes," was the response from him. "I mean, we'll think about it after the baby is born. There isn't a lot of choice of houses which are close to the surgery, and what there are a) too close and b) too expensive. I'd like somewhere close enough to get home for lunch, but not so close as to have patients ringing the bell for attention outside surgery hours."
"So you have given it some thought then, Martin?" asked Chris.
"Seemed logical."
There was furniture on the patio and Carol invited them to sit while she went to make a drink.
Martin and Chris discussed the business of the surgery, whilst Louisa looked around and thought that this sort of a house was something she and Martin could aspire to.
Eventually it was time to go, so Louisa thanked them for a lovely time and promised them an early view of Junior. Once in the Lexus and on their way home, Louisa said to Martin, "Their house is lovely. Do you think we could get one similar to that? It would be great for Junior to have an enclosed garden to run around in."
Martin thought for a while. "We don't have to make an immediate decision, so I think we should keep our eyes on the property which comes up for sale and at what price. Then decide."
Louisa smiled and settled back in her seat. It wasn't long before she was asleep.
