Mystery.
At Meadowbank Cottage.
An original story.
Written and performed by by Stephanie Poppins.
Where's it?
By my brother.
John Miles Carter.
Chapter 15 The lane was still wet from the morning's rain when Sissy Bucket came down it,
Her rubber boots leaving neat prints in the soft mud.
A cloth-covered dish.
Balanced in the crook of her arm.
Tuesday heard the latch on the garden gate before she saw her and had the kettle on before Sissy even knocked.
I fixed the little bridge,
" the old woman announced,
Stepping inside and setting the dish on the old kitchen table.
This was the blackberry pie she'd promised Jonathan Green.
It's crust golden and imperfect.
We've got to take care of our lad,
" she said.
He's there all alone up at the farmhouse,
Him and his dog.
Tuesday smile Jonathan's lucky to have you.
Cup of tea?
What you got brewing?
Uh,
Dandelion today.
Oh,
Don't mind if I do.
Tuesday turned to the old copper kettle and Sissy began her daily download.
Now about the bridge.
The third plank's rotten clean through.
I'll put a new one in.
Good oak this time.
That'll last.
Tuesday collected the cups she'd inherited from Jonathan's mother.
Thank you,
Sissy.
I don't know what I'd do without you.
Sissy pulled her chair further into the table.
It's a job that needs doing.
We've all gotta chip in.
We all use that bridge,
Don't we?
And I've got the skills and the time.
But Tuesday?
When I was down there,
There was something I noticed.
Sissy paused.
It's a dead fish.
Just the one belly up caught against the stones near the bank.
Choose to eat glanced up from the teapot.
That means it's not a disease,
" Sissy continued.
Just something in the water.
Something that came from upstream,
Of course.
Jed's Field runs right up to that bank on the north side,
Doesn't it?
He's obviously at it again,
" said Tuesday.
Yeah,
Has to be.
Whatever he's putting on that land,
It's getting into the water.
Sissy's jaw was set in that way it always was when she was containing something much bigger than her words.
I'll note it down,
Date,
Location,
What I saw,
And you should too.
I'll add it to the list.
Thank you.
That man.
Tuesday looked suddenly weary,
And realising the weight on her mind,
Sissy offered to pour.
You sit down,
Love.
You feeling okay?
It's the anniversary of my parents' death today.
Oh,
I'm sorry,
Love.
Justin's coming back to Leighton for the day.
We'll go onto the grave together That's good.
Spike hasn't come home for days.
How long?
3.
You've never done that before.
And I noticed he's been putting on weight,
But I haven't been feeding him anything else.
I thought maybe it was just a cold snap in the weather.
Maybe he was out hunting or something.
Now,
He's a bit older.
Choose to set her mug down.
What do you think,
Sissy?
Sissy was quiet for a moment.
This told Tuesday all she needed to know.
I did see him.
The day before yesterday,
Up near Jed's place,
In the yard near the outbuildings,
Sitting on the wall like a young place,
Colleen was there too,
Looking very pleased with herself.
They must be feeding him.
Fattening him up,
Making him comfortable so he stops coming here altogether.
Then Tuesday's voice broke and Sissy went to her side immediately.
This is not about Spike,
Love,
You know that.
Tuesday did know that,
But it didn't help.
Things were getting on top of her one by one.
All the spells in the world couldn't prevent that.
And if she was honest with herself,
Spike was the only living thing that noticed when she came through the door.
So what was she doing all this for anyway?
Just that thought of Colleen's hand smoothing his fur and Jed watching for the window with that stupid satisfied look he had.
I want him back.
It's a Tuesday defiantly,
He's mine!
I know love.
They're just trying to chip away at you.
The land,
The water.
The cat.
Tuesday and Sissy sat in silence for what seemed like forever.
Then the sound of voices outside the garden gates jolted them out of their mood.
Tuesday recognised Justin's voice immediately and jumped up.
It was so long since she'd seen him.
Sissy,
Meanwhile,
Took a second longer.
Outside the gate,
Justin was looking at Jonathan Green,
In the way people do when something important needed to be said.
Car crash it was.
Together.
Tuesday suffered the most,
I reckon.
That Robert Shafe was useless.
He didn't support her at all.
Justin watched as Jonathan looked away,
Shane faced.
He knew it wasn't his fault.
But he needed someone to step up and things being the way they were,
He would have even less time to be around in the foreseeable future.
He needed Jonathan's help.
After my folks went,
" said Jonathan wistfully.
The farm felt enormous,
All that land and no one to share it with.
I guess me and Colleen were more about convenience than anything.
Convenience for the both of us.
Justin was quiet for a moment.
Then he landed his sucker punch.
He knew he'd told his sister he'd say nothing.
But being here in front of Jonathan.
Meant he was finally seeing things as they really were.
I'm worried about my sister.
She's got too good at making do alone.
She's being stronger than she normally would need to be,
But she shouldn't have to.
She gave up a lot of her youth to that loser Robert Schafer.
And now she's here.
Trying to do it on her own,
With no help.
He glanced towards the cottage,
Checking the front door was still shut.
But Jed Norman's been at her.
Jonathan's jaw tightened.
I wouldn't have said anything,
Continued Justin.
But my wife Betsy's expecting,
Next summer they think.
He couldn't quite suppress his excitement when he said it.
She's unexpectedly taken to the idea.
More than taken to it,
Actually.
To be honest,
I'd kind of given up the ghost.
I know what that feels like.
Said Jonathan through gritted teeth.
Well,
Congratulations!
Only don't say anything to tea,
Not just yet.
Right.
I just need an extra pair of eyes looking out for her,
That's all.
Looks like I'm going to be even busier than I was before.
I guess having a baby does that,
" said Jonathan.
Secretly frustrated he left things the way he did last time he saw Tuesday.
He should have worded things better.
He should have been more sensitive.
Hadn't she recently uprooted everything?
He wasn't the only one going through things.
It's a shame you never had them yourself,
Children.
" said Justine,
Jolting them out of this negative train of thought.
There's still time yet.
Only half believing it himself.
There is that!
Said Justin.
Then opening the cottage gate he said Come on then,
Let's go and see how my sister's doing.
Inside Meadowbank Cottage,
Tuesday stepped back from the window.
And by the time Sissy opened the door,
She was standing in the middle of the kitchen with what she hoped was a neutral expression.
Although she couldn't be sure.
But the precise second Jonathan ducked through the low door frame behind her brother.
.
.
She felt her stomach drop and catch and drop once again.
It had been more than a week since she'd seen him.
Not that she counted the days,
Had she?
Jonathan,
Meanwhile,
Looked at her without his recent guardedness.
This talk with Justin had taught him all he needed to know.
Tuesday stared before their last conversation.
She would have fancied this look in his eyes as longing But she was not that naive now.
She had made that mistake before.
And how's my favourite brother?
" she said,
Forcing a trademark smile.
Your only brother to Justin.
Disappointed at the sad look in Tuesday's eyes.
Still,
It was the anniversary of their parents' death.
What did he expect?
Only this was more than that.
He knew it was more than that.
Maybe moving into the country so far away from him.
Hadn't been such a good idea after all.
Jonathan,
Meanwhile,
Stood just inside the door.
And Tuesday glanced over again,
But she couldn't believe it.
Bring herself to do any more than that.
Her mind went without permission to the last time they worked on the lodges.
Those weeks in early summer where they were with each other every day,
Stripping back the old window frames and repainting the shutters.
It was so easy then.
Before they spoke about the past.
Why oh why did they have to talk about the past?
There had been this one afternoon,
She remembered it distinctly,
When he'd come down from the roof of the second lodge and sat beside her on the steps.
Where she was cleaning the brushes.
He confided in her about the summers his parents used to picnic with him.
And said,
Some things are worth coming back to.
Even when you've been a long time away from them.
She fancied at that time.
This meant him and her.
She couldn't help but think that it meant him and her.
But what did she know?
After what he said about what Robert told him all those years ago.
And how he had believed every word of Robert's lies.
It was hard to believe.
She'd ever really known Jonathan Green at all.
Things could have been so different had he just asked her to tell him the truth.
But at least the man had been big enough to make peace with his mistakes.
So why couldn't she?
Whatever he'd done wrong,
And however long it had taken him,
And she knew he'd had taken time.
Jonathan Green had put it to the side and moved forward.
Tuesday St Clair had not done that.
He was looking at her still,
Her stomach dropped again.
Whatever her brother had said to him in the lane had changed something.
She didn't need a spell to sense that.
Tuesday thought about the water.
And her cat Spike.
And all the small persistent erosions that she told no one but her brother.
And she wondered if he had in fact.
Confided in Jonathan.
After all.
Sissy?
Said Jonathan,
Breaking the silence.
You're baked!
Just for you,
" said Sissy,
Getting to her feet and nodding at the pie.
Blackberry,
I know your weakness.
Lifting her coat from the hook by the door,
She said,
I want to show you where their thickest down by the Southfield.
Tuesday.
She looked back.
I'll call you tomorrow.
And suddenly they were gone,
Leaving brother and sister alone.
Justin trying his best not to look as worried as he felt.
We're going to judge then,
He began.
This is getting salty today one way or the other.
Tuesday curled her hands around the mug he slid towards her.
Her varnish was chipped,
He saw,
And her skin dry.
But first,
T,
I've got something for you.
He handed her a small box.
Inside was the locket she'd left with him all those months ago to get fixed.
She opened it and burst into tears.
It still held a photo of their parents.
Don't worry sis,
We'll get this sorted.
I promise I'm not leaving here until I do.
Drying her eyes,
Tuesday looked up.
Her brother seemed more relaxed somehow,
Less fractious,
Less eager to rush things along.
Sorry,
She said.
Don't be.
You've applied,
It's done.
You've been through enough.
It's my job as your brother to sort this out.
You don't deserve any of this and today it ends.
I've spoken to Betsy and I'm staying here till this gets sorted.
She's fine with it.
Tuesday was surprised.
What's changed?
She's pregnant.
But I thought.
.
.
So did I.
But actually,
I've never seen her happier.
I can't believe it!
Well you better start believing it because you are about to be an auntie.
Justin,
I'm so happy for you.
Tuesday smiled,
A genuine smile this time.
Her brother was actually glowing.
He'd been so brave for so long,
Never telling his wife exactly how much he wanted this.
And now it had happened anyway.
Organically.
Naturally.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
There was hope for her.
After all.
