Hello folks. I've been busy again at work and as usual it has prevented me from writing. The current bad weather here in the UK has helped slow things down a little so I have had time to finish this latest chapter although at this rate it will be Christmas again before this story is finished! Thanks again for all your support and readership and I hope you are all well.
ML x
PS Please note that I call the meal eaten on Christmas day "Christmas Dinner" if you are not in the UK you might or might not be familiar with the use of dinner and lunch and tea to describe meal times. Generally in the north of England lunch (midday meal or thereabouts) is referred to as dinner and dinner (evening meal) is referred to as tea. On Christmas day it is still dinner, even though it can be eaten later in the day, say between 2 and 3pm. Usage of course, may vary and these language quirks may differ throughout the UK and in relation to other things – it's complicated, but there you go. . .
After their Christmas dinner, Robbie and Laura relaxed in the little sitting room.
Laura lay across the small sofa, her upper body resting on a cushion on Robbie's lap. She felt immeasurably happy, a feeling that seemed almost to arise from delighting in the pure simplicity of the situation.
Robbie had his arm gently across her almost protectively, his hand clasping hers, his thumb caressing the top of her hand while they chatted. It was late afternoon and outside the cottage the sun had set and a clear and deep dark blue sky had replaced the brightness of the day. The air was polar cold and the stars seemed to shiver, twinkling and flashing in the freezing air.
Inside Darkdale cottage, however, it was warm and cosy. Robbie had kept the fire fed with logs and as the daylight had faded after they had eaten their Christmas dinner Laura had turned on the little lamps in the front room and the room felt snug and warm.
As they relaxed in the warmth, they shared stories of Christmas past; Robbie recounting tales of family traditions that had established themselves in the Lewis household and Laura talking about her visits to family that were scattered around the globe.
"Sounds like your brother is a good cook then?" Robbie said as Laura described the lavish spread her brother in New York liked to provide for his guests at Christmas.
"He's not too bad. Actually that's not fair. He can cook, quite well in fact but by god he likes to talk about it" She said with a smirk
"Let me guess, there's a bit of sibling rivalry in the mix eh?"
Laura chuckled "yes, yes there is. I'm the better cook of course"
"Of course" he said, laughing back with a nod and his eyebrows raised
"What about you, did you have anything to do with the cooking on the big day?"
"We used to go to Val's mother's on Christmas day. She would cook the dinner for us all; she wasn't a great cook" Robbie pulled a face at the recollection. Laura laughed softly. She was loving every second, basking in the feeling of how effortless it was to just be together and talk at ease, with no agenda and with Robbie clearly feeling he could talk about the past and that perhaps it indicated that he already seemed secure with how he felt about the future they both might have together.
"The kids used to take the mickey and tell Val's mam that December the 13th was the last day for her to put her sprouts on for Christmas day"
Laura chuckled and it turned into a small laughing fit as Robbie laughed along with her; it felt good to talk to her about memories that were precious to him.
"After Val's mum died, we went to her sister's for Christmas. Val wasn't one for cooking much. She enjoyed it but the results weren't always what she wanted" He frowned at the memories but Laura saw there was a quiet and calm sense of peace as he continued.
"Then, of course, Val was gone" Robbie sighed "That first Christmas and New Year, after she died, I don't even remember. I was an absolute mess"
"Hardly surprising, Robbie" Laura said, her thumb caressing his hand as she saw his brow furrow as he spoke.
"Poor Lyn and Pat; they kept it together for my sake I think." He continued "I'm sorry, you don't want to be hearing all this, not on Christmas and well, now that we're, y'know. . . " Despite his reservations there was an implicit understanding between them that made it easy for Robbie to talk of the past, about family and Val. He realised that he was talking of the past and Val without any pain. It had taken a long time to arrive at such a juncture and he knew it was with no small help from Laura.
"Robbie, it's fine. Please. You know you can always talk to me and even moreso now, nothing's changed" She squeezed his hand to emphasise her insistence.
"Thanks" He smiled at her, but there was still a look of resigned regret on his face. Laura knew he wanted to talk again and she smiled back, lifting her eyebrows in encouragement for him to continue.
Robbie sighed and looked down at his hand in Laura's, feeling how soft and yet so present it felt in his.
"I worry I drove Pat away, after Val died. I mean, Australia, you can't exactly get any further away from here than that" he frowned, still looking at Laura's hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb over her knuckles before he continued.
"I wasn't there for him, I know that now. I couldn't relate to him because I was falling apart myself" He sighed again "I should have been a better dad. Before and after Val died. I just haven't been able to properly tell him that. It's difficult. I don't know why" He looked at Laura with a sad expression.
"Sounds like you worked out what went wrong though?" She said, her heart aching a little for the anguish he was conveying. "And it doesn't mean you can't tell him in the future, Robbie. I'm sure you did what you could. It was a terrible situation to find yourself in. You know that"
"Yeah, I know." His smile was reserved a little, as if he didn't want an excuse behind how things had turned out with his son. "Maybe one year he'll come home for Christmas, that's what I keep hoping. There's no routine now at Christmas, that's part of the problem maybe. Since Lyn moved away I either go to hers or she comes back down to Oxford and we go to Val's sister's. She's lovely but bloody hell, the cooking is just as bad as their mother's was. I know it's out of order to complain when she's cooking a big meal for everyone, but, well"
Laura laughed softly again, mainly at Robbie's clear discomfort of having to endure years of unpalatable but lovingly cooked Christmas dinners. Robbie laughed back, joining in and finding light at the situation, but mainly just enjoying that Laura knew him well enough to find the situation amusing.
"That dinner you cooked was out of this world" he said, smiling down at her after their chuckles had subsided.
"Well, we lucked out with the contents of the shopping delivery" she said, her eyes bright and pleased with how the situation had turned out.
"Yeah, we did" he said and he gazed at her, his hand still caressing hers
"I feel like I've lucked out in other ways, too" he continued
"So do I, although some would say you make your own luck" she replied and her eyes shone with emotion once more.
"Listen, I just want you to know; that this Christmas, how it's all turned out, well, it's up there with the best" He gently squeezed her hand as he spoke, seeing the sincerity of his words have an impact; Laura's eyes shone back at him, she was clearly moved. "And, well" he continued "I er, well I hope it's just the start"
"It is, Robbie, it's just the start" and her eyes shone again and he bent his head down and they kissed, a soft gentle kiss that was full of emotion and then with a promise of more, much more to come.
They chatted and kissed for a while longer until Laura went to the kitchen to top up the champagne glasses with the last of what was left in the bottle. Robbie also got up and stoked the fire in the stove. The logs were getting low in the basket and he wondered if perhaps there were some more available. If the chill weather continued and the snow didn't begin to thaw then they would need more from Dan. Robbie put another log on the stove and gave the fire a final poke before closing the door. To the left of the hearth something caught his eye; it was the framed photograph that had fallen off the wall the night before. He picked it up from where it had dropped to and standing up replaced it onto the picture hook on the wall. He stood back and looked at the framed photograph of the trees and the cliff. Laura returned to the sitting room and handed him a glass of champagne.
He took the glass from her with a frown before putting it down on the little table, still looking at the framed photograph. Puzzled at his behaviour Laura saw there was a quizzical look on his face. She watched as he went to the alcove next to the fireplace and retrieved a book from the shelf. Laura saw it was a guidebook to the local area and had a sticker on the front that said Property of Darkdale Cottage Please Do Not Remove
"What's that you've got?" She asked, curious and also seeing that Robbie had something on his mind. She smiled to herself; she knew the look well from all the year of working with him. He thumbed through the pages, first looking at the contents and then the index before turning to a page in the book. He read for a few seconds and Laura saw his face change from an expression of concentration to one of surprise and then a frown.
"Robbie?" She asked again, a little more insistent this time; something really had taken hold of his attention and the frown remained on his face as he continued to read. After a few more seconds he looked at Laura, still frowning.
"I thought I recognised those trees in the picture" he said, nodding his head towards the photograph. "Darkdale Cliff it says at the bottom of the print, also known as Lover's Leap. According to this guidebook it's just at the end of the field at the back of the cottage." He said.
Now it was Laura's turn to frown. She looked at the black and white photo and she too suddenly saw that the trees in the picture were familiar and indeed were the ones at the end of the field behind the cottage. She had looked at the numerous times since arriving at the cottage and with a chill she recalled the figure of the girl, standing while they loomed above her. She realised that the photo showed what must be the other side of the trees. The trees were poised at the edge of a vertical cliff. She knew the rocks were old in this part of the peak district and had been carved into cliffs and valleys over the millennia by water and geological time. The cliff was part of a deep valley, cut over hundreds of thousands of years by running water which now formed a river. There was a path that ran beside the river and Laura felt an odd shudder as she realised that it was clear from the photo that the drop from the top of the cliff to the bottom of the river valley and path was at least 50 feet.
"Listen to this" Robbie said with a serious look on his face as he read from the guidebook. "The ancient carboniferous limestone rocks that form the valley sides of Darkdale are over 300 million years old and are a magnet for walkers and tourists throughout the year. The valley and river are home for many endangered and rare species of flora and fauna and the whole of Darkdale is a protected site of scientific interest. The area is also rich in history and local legend and folklore, the most notorious of the legends being connected to the cliff that sits just below Darkdale farm. It is said that in the 1700s a local girl fell in love with a farm boy. The girl lived in the cottage at the top of Darkdale Cliff with her uncle, who disapproved of the farm boy and forbade her to see him. The pair would meet in secret at the bottom of Darkdale Cliff, until one day the uncle discovered that they had been meeting. The boy was sent away to work as a servant in a local hall and distraught, the girl is said to have flung herself off Darkdale cliff. It is said the boy ran away from the hall and on his return discovered the fate of the girl and devastated also threw himself off Darkdale Cliff. To this day it is said that the ghostly figures of the girl and the boy can be seen at the top of Darkdale Cliff, searching for each other in vain, meanwhile the ghost of the uncle is said to haunt the top of Darkdale cliff. . ."
Robbie looked at Laura. She looked terrified.
"Robbie. . ." She said, her voice trailing off.
He looked back at her, a chill prickling the back of his neck. He swallowed hard but Laura saw, on his face too, a look of abject terror.