Sunday, June 28th, 1927 ~
Another glorious morning with guests departing and new ones filling their place. Sometimes I question how we got so lucky after buying this place…it's becoming quite the business for us! But, I'm afraid that when Winter comes everything will slow down. People do like the sunny countryside, picnics by the river and walks around the lavender fields.
That actually gave me a great idea! Last night I was talking to Anna about us going fishing and having a picnic by the river this week when something struck my mind. Why don't we have picnic menus for the guests? Baskets with sandwiches and something to drink. Maybe even one or two pieces of fruit. A blanket as well. Anna was very excited about it! We can have the guests choose what sandwiches they want. I do think it's a good idea and I'll be talking to Archie about it today. We'll introduce it to the guests soon and see if it works out.
And speaking of new things, Daisy is coming to work today. We are so happy and eager to welcome her in our little hotel. She will start in the afternoon and I will be with her all day today and evening too, and probably tomorrow. I don't want to leave her alone her first couple of days. I want to see how she settles in and be here to answer all her questions, but I'm sure that soon she will get the hang out of it. Daisy is a smart girl and she's a very hard worker. Exactly what we need and I know she'll be a great help to Archie in the kitchen too. She couldn't have had a better teacher than Mrs. Patmore all these years!
I'll get moving now.
~ John Bates
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
'What's happened?' John asked worriedly as he walked toward their upstairs bathroom. 'Sarah came running saying that there was something wrong with the toilet!'
When he rounded the corner, all became clear. 'Oh no!' There was water everywhere, spilling from the top of the toilet down the floor, almost reaching the corridor now. Anna was in one corner of the bathroom just looking at it with horror written on her face.
'I don't know what happened!' She tried not to cry. 'I flushed it and it kept coming and coming and it began to spill over the top and I couldn't stop it. It's going to ruin the wood floor, John! And I can't even kneel down to clean it.' Then she did bring her hands to her face and began to cry.
'Don't…don't do that, love,' Her husband carefully walked through the water towards her and took her hands in his. 'I'll fix it, don't worry. Now, do you have any idea what might have happened? Did it make a big sound when you flushed it? Maybe you dropped something in it?'
'No!' she shook her head on the verge of tears again. At this stage anything and everything made her cry and feel horribly bad. 'I just used it and … that was it. I tried to use the plunger but it didn't work,' Anna said forlornly.
'Alright, then…go downstairs and I'll try to see what's wrong.' John caressed her cheek lovingly and she nodded, leaving the bathroom as he readied himself to start working.
He took off his jacket and vest, hanging them on the wall hook, and slowly he rolled up his shirt sleeves. 'Let's see…' When he flushed the toilet again, more water came, and he had to put a towel on the floor so it wouldn't flood into corridor. 'Dammit!'
Inspecting it with attentive eyes, he opened the flush and tried to understand if the problem was in the actual source but everything seemed to be alright in there. Then he took the plunger in his hands and tried his best to plunge out what it was…but that wasn't helping one bit. Anna was right. The bloody plunger wouldn't solve the problem.
'Alright then…' he whispered, his face cringing at the thought. He had to put his hand down the toilet and see if something was obstructing the pipe. If that was the case, he would have to take off the toilet and clean the pipe himself. So, he kneeled down and closed his eyes, his hand diving into the water.
John tried his best, but his forearm was too thick for the toilet. He began to move his fingers, shifting in his place, trying to grasp at something and to make his hand fit into the pipe, and that's when he touched something hard. Something that was not supposed to be there. It was rounded and hard and he couldn't quite figure out what it was. It felt like a ball.
'Anna!' he called out, and moments later she came. William followed his mother, filled with curiosity. 'I'm touching something.'
'What is it?' she asked.
'Something like… a ball.'
'A ball?'
John looked at his son then, hiding behind his mother's skirt, and sighed, taking his arm out of the toilet. 'What is it, William?'
Anna looked down at her son with widen eyes. 'An apple,' the boy replied sheepishly.
'William! Why would you do that?' his mother asked, and by the tone of her voice the boy knew he was in for was not good, not good at all.
'I didn't want to eat it…' William whined.
'And you threw it down the toilet?!' Anna was raising her voice.
'Uh huh,' he hung his head. 'I thought it would go down.'
'William Bates, you little beggar! Look at what you did now! How will we get that apple out?' Anna was furious. More because of the mess that was before her than for what her son did. There was water everywhere, the floor was soaked, and they couldn't use the bathroom. And on top of all that she was in no state to do a proper cleaning.
'Come here, William.' John crooked his finger at him and called the boy over.
Will approached him warily. His eyes filled with unshed tears and his lips pouty. His mother had never been so cross with him in all his life.
'Can you put your arm in there and take the apple out?' his father asked him.
Anna gasped. 'Certainly not! It's dirty water, John.'
'He'll take a good bath afterwards, and it's not that dirty. We've both flushed it. Only an arm so little will be able to take it out. It's not very deep. Let him try.'
She sighed before nodding with a disapproving look on her face.
'Come on, lad.' John pulled the boy to him and rolled his right sleeve up. 'Now you try to get that apple out. Go on.'
William took a deep breath glancing towards his mother one last time before putting his arm down the toilet with the help of his father.
'Do you feel it?' John asked.
'Yes…it's stuck,' the boy answered.
'You'll have to call someone, John. He won't be-'
'Let him try, Anna. Come on, lad, try to grab hold of it and pull it out.'
The boy grimaced in concentration, his tongue poking out between his lips and his face red as he tried to bury his arm deeper down…his father was right, he was small enough for the pipe but the apple appeared to be too deep. His short arm couldn't quite grab on to it. 'I'm trying,' he breathed in and he dove one last time, almost to his shoulder. 'I'm holdin' it!'
'Pull it!' John instructed and the boy did as he was told, holding the dripping apple over his head in victory once it was out.
"Yes!' William cheered and John clapped him on the back. 'I did it, Dad!'
'Yes and no,' Anna remarked. 'Don't forget you put it there.' She walked towards her son, 'You will need a two hour bath now, William,' she sighed, giving in. 'Why didn't you tell mummy you didn't want the apple? I wouldn't have made you eat it,' she told him as she took his wet clothes off. William could only shrug his shoulders.
'He won't do it again, right son?' John said, and Will nodded. 'Alright then, you give him a bath and I will clean this mess up. Daisy must be arriving by now.'
'You go wash up, John. I can manage.'
'No, love. I will clean…Sarah, Caleb and Archie are there for her if I'm not. I won't have you kneeling down scrubbing the floor. Wash him first.' He smiled taking off his shirt and undershirt.
'Are you cleaning in that state of undress?' his wife asked him.
'Why not? No sense getting clean clothes dirty. Maybe I'll just take everything off.' He winked placing furtive kiss on her cheek.
Two hours later he was dressing after a nice bath. Anna was watching him with a smile on her face. The bathroom was tidy and clean, smelling of soap, and William taking his nap.
'Daisy must be waiting. I'm sure she's there already,' Anna said.
'That's why I'm going…I would stay a little longer otherwise.' He walked towards her and kissed her lips, placing his hands in her hips. 'You rest and I'll see you later. Don't wait for me, I'll probably stay with Daisy to see how she gets along.'
Anna nodded and he kissed her again before leaving. She couldn't wait for him to start arriving home earlier in the evening.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What an eventful day! Naughty William threw an apple down the toilet and when I flushed it the water began to spill all over and going everywhere! Fortunately, Sarah was here when it happened so she hurried to get John and told him what was going on, and the poor man came running. Oh well, at least it's fixed now. William with his small arm was able to get it out. And I was so cross at him. Throwing an apple down the toilet! The little imp.
I do regret yelling at him though, his tiny face was so sad and scared when I scolded him. My darling boy. But I seem to be unable to control my moods lately. I know it's due to my condition but still…when John asked me what happened I was in tears. Come to that! Silly me.
Anyway, Daisy is working with us! It was her first day today and I can't wait to see her tomorrow and ask what she thinks about it. I am praying that she loves being here with us and that her job fulfills her. That's what's important. Also, I can't wait for John to start coming home earlier at night and have time for us. That's why we hired her in the first place. He won't do it for a couple of days because he wants to be sure she's settling in but after that he'll have more free time for his family and I will be able to fall asleep in his arms every night. How marvelous! William misses his daddy's bedtime stories too, and yes, so do I.
I just walked out to the garden to leave Charlie his bowl of milk. The little stinker still hasn't shown his face to me. There is happy laughter coming from the open doors of the pub. Sounds like a busy night. I hope Daisy's handling it well.
I'm going to bed now. William is already asleep and John won't be arriving anytime soon.
~ Anna Bates