Into the light

Draft version..not complete

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not

Gospel of St John 1-5

‘Was it just me or did your dad mentioned moving to the West Country a thousand times this time round?’ 

‘I know I feel he is really ramping it up. Maybe they just want us nearby to look after them when they become old and crusty?’

‘Ha. Maybe!’

‘Mum even said we’ll have to buy a double buggy to wheel them round the town when they’re old and incontinent.’

‘I know. None of that shit. One way ticket to Dignitas.’

‘Harsh!'

‘I know, only a joke, maybe not a joke’ Rupert turned to look at Annie and gave her one of his joking smiles before squeezing her knee.'

'Oi you, pay attention to the road ahead. We have precious cargo in the back.'

Annie looked at her husband Rupert admiringly and thought how lucky she was to have a partner in crime who she still fancied the pants off and who knew how to keep her smiling.

‘You are naughty. So, what do you think?'

'About what?'

'You know what! We can both work remotely so technically we can live anywhere. We’re not that bothered about the current school options for George and who knows, it may open up a totally new lifestyle for us all: swims in the sea at lunchtime? Possibly get a dog?’

‘It sounds like they may have worked their magic on you. It does sound very appealing. I absolutely love that walk up the coast when the tide is out. It feels like permanently being on holiday.’ 

‘I have loved living in our village in Sussex and the friends we have but it’s increasingly a rat race and I don’t like the prospect of George growing up so close to that increasingly dangerous road outside. I want him to have the childhood I had, feel safe cycling around the country lanes, but I just don’t think it is where we are now. Also, maybe it’s time for us to have a bit more time together. Being close to mum and dad, we would have free babysitting? Bit more time for mummy and daddy nookie?’

‘I’ll say yes to anything that includes more sex.’

‘You would!’

‘So, what do you think?’

‘I think we should let it marinade for a while.’ 

Annie and Rupert had just spent two blissful weeks with their four-year-old son George at Annie’s parents' beautiful farmhouse in North Cornwall. They had wanted for nothing during their stay. On the six-hour drive from Sussex to Cornwall, as soon as they hit Stonehenge and the traffic suddenly slowed down with cars slowing down to look at the heritage site, all cares in the world went out the window.

'I think those stones are here deliberately to prepare visitors for the slow pace of life in the west country.'

'I think you may be right.'

'Either that, or someone at the highways agency needs shooting for causing this bottle neck.'

'You really want to shoot everyone don't you?'

As soon as they arrived at her parents' house, they were greeted by a very excitable grandad who handed Annie a large glass of Chardonnay and scooped up George and carried him off to terrorize granny. The excitement continued as George was their first and only grandchild and likely to remain so. Their stay was very restful as George could run into granny and grandad as some ungodly hour and leave Annie and Rupert to catch up on sleep and hopefully some overdue nookie, but mostly sleep.

Their days were spent enjoying the sea pool, lots of beaches and then heading out for dinners or enjoying lots of lovely meals with Annie’s parents. As granny and grandad were very happy to babysit on several occasions, Annie and Rupert made the most of it and headed out to their favourite restaurant ‘Life’s a Beach’ overlooking the beach and sea pool so they could watch the sun go down and eat the most fantastic surf and turf with the ‘surf’ being caught that morning by the restaurant owner. 

Their relaxed feelings came abruptly to an end as they returned from Cornwall to discover work had started outside their house to install 'traffic calming' measures in the form of lots of huge bollards.

As they sat at their desks the next morning to start work, the sound of huge haulage trucks driving at speed over said bollards was enough for Rupert to spring into action and contact the local parish council. This was after several hours of shouting 'what the fuck was that? who do I need to shoot now?'

After weeks spent trying to resolve the issue with ‘les incompetents’ as Annie and Rupert endearingly referred to most forms of local government, Ruper declared 'right they're not going to do anything about this either so for all our sanity, we're going to have to move.'

Rupert suggested they consider renting a lovely Oast house in Sussex but for some reason Annie just couldn’t shake off the calling to the West country. ‘I just can’t shake it off…the lifestyle, we’d get more for our money on the house front and George could go to my old school. It all fits.’

After a week or two of mulling it over, Rupert said ‘you’re right, I love the thought of the outdoors and all those beaches. I do have one request though?’

‘Anything’ Annie squealed with delight. ‘Can we possibly look for somewhere not in the same village as your parents? Just for my sanity’ 

'Agreed.'

And with that they put their house on the market and after carefully a selecting a very dynamic estate agent who ran the company and was ex-Coutts, they had twenty viewings booked and an offer from a cash buyer in the bag. It almost seemed too easy.

During this time, they had headed back down to the West country and come across a lovely farmhouse that they could purchase and be mortgage free which one of their dear friends had said ‘would be like winning the lottery’.

Once their house sale in Sussex had gone through and they had concluded their purchase of ‘Cold comfort farm’ as they liked to call their new home. they were so excited to have found somewhere in an outstanding area of natural beauty and which was in such a small quiet hamlet, all you could hear was the occasional tractor. 

'It's just so quiet' Annie kept saying.

'I know, you keep saying than. But will it be too quiet?'

On completion day, Annie and Rupert asked the estate agent to meet them at the farmhouse but in true ‘jobs worth’ style, he claimed to be too busy, and they had to drive the extra fifteen miles to collect the keys to their home.

As they turned off the main road and drove down the winding lane to the small hamlet, they pulled over to enjoy the breathtaking view out to sea and where on a clear day there were excellent views of 'Puffin Island'.

They had to turn the radio off as it was full of gloom about entering yet another lockdown and school closures.

Trying to forget the broadcast, Annie said in her chipper tone: 'Amazing, it'll be amazing, once the clouds disappear and we can see clearly.'

They had left George with Annie's parents while they surveyed Cold Comfort Farm and worked out what needed to be done right away.

'Ok the place is a lot cleaner than I was expecting. And look bun, they've left us a note, some cookbooks, and a lovely bottle of wine.'

'Is that because the heating is about to pack in?'

'So cynical. Maybe, maybe not.'

The room that had sold the farmhouse to them was the living room with the most amazing inglenook fireplace which covered one entire side of the room.

'This is just the most amazing fireplace. Can't wait to get the fire going.'

'I know, it's amazing. Have we got time for a quickie before the removals chaps arrive?'

'no. I need to get cleaning before they arrive.'

Rupert set himself the task of assessing the gardens which were in a complete mess but he loved the challenge of thinking about the design.

Once the removals van had been and delivered all their belongings, they decided to head into the nearby village for a well-earned pint.

'Gosh we'll get fit coming up and down here.'

'I know, it's so amazing. Which pub to try first?'

As they crossed the fields, they encountered a chap and his dog. 'Good afternoon' they both said.

The chap looked up, did a sort of half smile, and then walked past.

'Mmm, hope all the locals aren't that unfriendly.'

'Shh, he'll hear you.'

'Oh well.'

As they reached the top of the cobbled street down to the village, they took a moment to catch a breath and admire the view.

'This is like something from a fairytale.'

'oh, you sentimental thing you. I wonder what beer they'll have on tap.'

As they entered the first pub on the cobbles, Annie and Rupert surveyed the place looking for signs of life.

Eventually a girl came through from the back door and said ‘can I help you?’

'Hello. What a beautiful place.' Annie couldn’t help but be chipper. As far as here.

Not sure how to react the girl then said 'are you visiting for the day?'

'We're actually new neighbours. Well not quite but we've just moved into our new home today.'

'Oh cool.' sounding less than bothered. what can I get you?

'we'll have some of your local brew if ok? is this brewed here?'

'yes, the owner brews this on the estate,'

'Oh amazing.'

Rupert took a sip and almost spat it out. ‘mmm, quite florally. I'd stick to wine' turning to Annie.

On the way back up the hill, they ran through a list of the things they should try and get through over the next few days while Annie’s parents had George.

As they walked towards the farmhouse, they noticed the chap they had seen earlier walking towards the house next door to them.

'oh, he must be one of our neighbours.'

'Mmm, well maybe they'll introduce themselves properly tomorrow.'

After cooking steak and drinking lots of red wine, they collapsed upstairs, and Rupert fell asleep immediately. Annie eventually drifted off but felt she was kept awake by the new creaks in their new home. She looked at her bedside clock which said 2am so she went downstairs to get a drink of water and noticed what she thought was a figure walking up and down her drive. 'Strange' she thought. She must be seeing something. Without wishing to disturb Rupert, she went back upstairs and after quite a fitful sleep, work up at about 6am.

On heading downstairs to make a cup of tea and go back to bed with her book, she noticed a little old lady walk past the farmhouse and look up at the windows. She was carrying a dog who seemed to be shaking quite a bit and was wearing a very thin pinny. 'She must be freezing out there.'

Annie went up to bed and managed to drift off for a couple of hours. A completely rested Rupert felt full of beans and ready to tackle the garden the next morning when they had a knock at the door.

‘Hey’ said the chap they recognized from their walk. ‘I’m your neighbour.’

‘oh hi. We’re annie and ruper. Pleased to meet you.’

‘yeah’ he said disdainfully. ‘well I have some papers here which show you can’t park here.’

‘oh am I being served?’ joked rupert.

‘I don’t understand. We can’t park on our own drive?’ said annie in a slightly concerned tone.

‘yeah. You can’t park there.’

‘I don’t think that’s right at all. I did all the conveyancing when we moved and there was nothing to say we couldn’t park on our own drive. I can check with our solicitor.’ Said annie getting slightly irritated as she had an eye for detail and knew where they were legally.

‘sounds like you need a new lawyer.’ And with that the chap left and slammed his door.

‘mmm, I know he’s completely wrong bun. I did all the conveyancing with katie and its our neighbours that have a covenant and have restrictions. Its our drive.’ And with that