Chapter 50
Louisa eventually woke up and was taken aback at the time. She hurried through her morning routine before going down for breakfast. She opted for toast and marmalade, with some tea.
Putting her coat on and grabbing her bag she made her way down the hill towards the shops. Bert called out "Have a good day, Louiser!" as he was walking up to the surgery.
She acknowledged him with a smile and carried on going. She did a shop for groceries, looking at the magazine rack in the supermarket first, and then carried on to Eric's the fishman.
His counter was always attractively arranged and she took her time viewing the fish. "What do you recommend, Eric?"
"Cod's always good, and obviously the monkfish. Those sardines are fresh in as well.
She picked a selection and had them wrapped up.
"How are you Louisa, after your accident?" asked Eric.
"I'm doing well thanks Eric. Thankfully no harm done to the baby." Louisa smiled at him, before heading out of the door.
Her last port of call was to Mrs Tishell's for some toothpaste. She opened the door and heard the familiar jingle of the cowbells.
Looking around, she didn't see Mrs T. so decided to browse the cosmetics. She was fairly well stocked with lipstick, but decided she needed some of her body lotion. She picked it up and turned towards the counter. She jumped when she saw Mrs Tishell standing there, watching her. "Ooh, Mrs Tishell, you startled me as I didn't hear you come down."
"You were too interested in the make-up. Is there anything else, you wanted?" Mrs Tishell asked coldly.
"Yes, I'll have two of these tubes of toothpaste, thank you."
Louisa paid for her purchases rather than putting them on Martin's personal account. Something about Sally Tishell's manner towards her, always left her feeling on edge.
She walked slowly up the hill enjoying the view. Although cold, it was a very clear day. She entered the kitchen in time to see Martin disappearing back to the surgery. No time to call him, as he would no doubt be busy. She set to and put the shopping away.
Checking the storage cupboard for herbs and spices she saw she had enough ingredients to make sardines with mint and almonds. She prepared the sauce and assembled the rest of the constituents, leaving them in containers or foil covered bowls. That will do for dinner tonight, with some cheese and crackers.
Lunch today would be just soup. She nodded her head, satisfied that everything would be considered optimally nutritious. Of course, the tea and cake at Joan's would add the decadence to the day.
With lunch out of the way, Martin dropped Louisa off at Joan's and went to get his hair cut.
Going inside Joan's kitchen she called out a greeting.
"Down in a minute, Louisa." Joan called back.
Louisa removed her coat and hung it up. She was just admiring the cherry sponge cake on the table when Joan came bustling in. "Hello Louisa, Martin gone to Wadebridge?"
Louisa said he had and then seated herself at the table. She reached into her handbag and offered Joan the latest scan picture.
Joan looked at it, noting that the baby had grown and that the heart was also still visible. However, she could not determine the sex of the child. "Oh Louisa! Isn't it wonderful what they can do these days?"
Louisa smiled and said, "It is indeed!"
"I've got some more pictures of Martin for you. That's what I was doing upstairs, just now." She handed over several photographs and explained what each of them were.
"Here's Martin exploring the rock pools in the harbour." The photo showed a serious-looking lad holding a net, staring raptly into a pool. "This one I took in the meadow over there, near the cliff top. We were watching the yachts sail in and out of the harbour." Still the boy looked fairly serious and unsmiling. The last one was definitely an improvement on the others. In the barn Martin was holding a bottle for a lamb to suckle on. He was definitely smiling in that one! "That last one was taken when he was here over an early Easter holiday. The only time he came at Easter, to us." Joan looked sad at the memory. "Phil and I would have loved to have him stay with us all the time, but Christopher wouldn't hear of it."
Joan straightened in her chair, "No time to get maudlin over memories. What's done is done. Now, how have you been? Are the bruises gone from your back, and have all the scabs from your hands gone?"
Louisa explained that her bruises were mostly a ghastly shade of yellow, those that were left, that is, and then she showed her hands to Joan.
"Good, you're definitely on the mend. Did Penhale catch up with you for your statement? He was like a dog with two tails when he was asking me what happened!"
Louisa laughed and said she'd had her interview and accepted that it was her fault. "Martin didn't agree, though. He thought the cyclist should have been blamed and said Christopher would have made sure that if it had been Martin, he wouldn't have been able to sit down for a week!"
She suddenly sobered when it hit home just what that would have meant. A tear formed in her eye and slowly ran down her cheek. Joan reached over and patted her hand. "Nothing you can do about it now, Louisa. Right, how about some cherry sponge cake to go with our tea? I just made it this morning."
Louisa was glad of the change of subject. She picked up the photos and put them in her bag. "Yes please, Joan. I plead guilty to looking forward to a slice of one of your cakes!"
Joan made the tea and then they chatted away for a while before Joan asked suddenly, "Have you thought about names, for the baby?"
Louisa looked up in some surprise. "To be honest, Joan, that's something we haven't mentioned, although I expect neither Christopher nor Margaret will feature in the discussion!"
Joan laughed, "No indeed! Martin's grandfather's name was Henry. It was he who left sufficient money to Martin to enable him to study medicine. I'm sure that if it had been left just to Christopher, Martin wouldn't have seen any of it."
"In that case, Portwenn has even more reason to be grateful to the Ellinghams. Martin's made a big difference to the health of the village since he came." Louisa admitted.
Joan agreed and said, "but Martin wouldn't accept any credit."
"Did Martin tell you he was going to give a talk on accidents to the villagers?"
Joan looked surprised. "He's not mentioned anything like that to me. When?"
"I don't think he's got his speech written yet, but what sparked him off was the scalding case he had over Christmas. It set him thinking and as you know, once he's on a path he follows it to the end. I'll see you are informed as to the time and location, Joan."
At that Joan saw the Lexus approaching the house and got up to prepare a fresh brew. Martin came in and greeted his aunt before smiling at Louisa.
When he came fully into the kitchen her eyes lit up as she saw his hair wasn't as short as usual. She didn't say anything though, so as not to embarrass him. Martin was grateful for the tea, but as usual declined any cake.
Eventually they waved goodbye to Joan and set off for home.
Once he was on the road home Louisa lifted her hand up and ran a finger through his longer hair. "Thank you for leaving it longer." He blushed and concentrated on his driving.
They got home and Louisa set about preparing the special meal. She assembled the ingredients, putting the sardines in the oven to cook. In no time at all it was ready and she called Martin through from his surgery.
As he came through, she waved at the table "Ta da!"
Martin paid more attention to what the meal was and he looked suitably impressed at this new culinary diversion. "Looks good, Louisa. Where did you get the recipe?"
"It was simple, I just put 'sardine recipe' into the browser and this was one of the things it came up with. It looked nutritional so I thought I'd give it a go. I'd be happy to try other new recipes, not just sardine ones."
Afterwards they both voted the meal a success and Louisa was proud of the fact she'd managed to cook something to his taste all by herself. If he'd eaten it before he didn't let on.
When the washing up was done Louisa sat on the couch with her cup of tea. "Martin, have you given any more thought to your talk? I told Joan about it and said I'd give her date and time when you'd set it up."
"No, it's one of the things I meant to make a start on, this weekend. Do you want to input anything?"
"I thought I'd wait to see your first draft of it, and then chip in anything which comes to mind. You could combine accidents in the home with a few suggestions as how to avoid them, together with some simple methods of first aid? I do think you will be listened to, but sadly I can't swear that anything will be done. Even if you remind folk that these things are important, caveats such as finances and time get in the way. I'm afraid that it is only if something happens to them or their family do people mend their ways."
"I know what you mean, Louisa, but I'm someone who has to try and fix the broken ones. Some days it is very hard." He looked quite downcast at this.
"You may not realise it but since you came into the village, more and more people are beginning to practice self-help, such as frequently washing their hands, or being more careful of how much they are eating."
"You're right. I don't see much evidence of that." He offered, dryly. "I think I'll go and list out some possible points for my talk and think about what it is I really want to say. See you later."
Louisa took out her book and began to read. After half an hour she got out her laptop and began researching "accidents". She made notes as she went along and was staggered by some of the statistics she found.
Meanwhile in his surgery, Martin was outlining what he wanted to say in his talk. He thought Louisa's idea of simplifying things was relevant as he didn't want to overwhelm them with too much detail. He didn't have a high opinion of their acumen, but knew better now, than to voice that thought to her!
He wrote down,
Greet them and thank them for coming. Explain that this was only a very basic First Aid course.
Get their attention by asking where is the most dangerous place in village? Hold up a mirror and angle it around – in your home!
Most accidents occur in the home, caused by overlooking obvious hazards, lack of attention to basic safety, momentary lapses in concentration, not taking enough care of yourself.
Outline what you mean – storage of dangerous chemicals, bleach, washing powder, washing-up liquids, weed-killers etc. Allowing young children in kitchen when cooking, not supervising older ones enough. Hazards in the home include faulty wiring, not getting gas boilers maintained, cupboards which don't lock, worn carpets on stairs, uneven paths in the garden, equipment left lying around.
Give some statistics, explain other places to get help, first aiders, firemen, lifeboat crew. Learn to do bandages, stop bleeding, cover burns.
Ask for questions.
Conclude.
He typed it up on the computer, printed it out and went back to Louisa. "I've jotted a few thoughts down, what do you think?"
She read through it and offered her newly-garnered statistics. He was staggered when he read just how many accidents did occur in the home, and even more so when he read how much it cost the country to mend them. "Where did you get the facts from Louisa?"
"They're on the RoSPA site. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents," she told him.
"Good idea to look there," he complimented her. "I can mention that in the talk and the more computer-literate will be able to check for themselves."
"Now, where should we hold the meeting? School hall, village hall, somewhere else?"
Louisa said, "I think the village hall would be best as it's not too big, it's heated and equipped for tea-making." She saw his sneer begin and said, "People like to mingle and chat amongst themselves. You must have seen that when you've been to seminars, yourself?"
"I'm afraid I rarely joined in because I saw it as a waste of time, unless I'd been instructed to talk up the merits of some schemes," he explained.
"Well think of it in those terms, then." She advised.
"Hmm, I'll take this work back to the study and put it into a more formal speech. I can begin to work on it tomorrow."
Louisa looked up at him, "Not bad for someone who doesn't do speeches!"
"I can do lecture notes, I've given plenty of those."
She looked horrified, "Martin, whatever you do, don't talk down to people!"
"You'll have to give me some input then, I just write the facts and let the audience make of them, what they will."
Louisa looked at the clock and said "It's time for bed. Come on Professor Ellingham, let's be having you!" she grabbed his hand and went upstairs.