A sunny afternoon

Lazing On A Sunny Afternoon 

By Jane Scoggins

Early July, and Lorna was sitting in an old deckchair pulled out from the shed in her back garden. So old was it, that she had got a splinter in her thumb from the wood and had to find the packet of plasters. What a treat after thirty years living in city flats with no outside space, to move to a semi-detached cottage surrounded by countryside. She had not relished the thought of retirement initially but after increasingly competitive targets in the world of finance, she was beginning to feel the benefits of entering into a new world. The delights of slumping into a deckchair with no one to see that she was in an old faded sundress, bare legs and not a scrap of makeup on could not be described, just enjoyed. The years of expensive suits, heels and discreet matching accessories could now be a thing of the past. As would the strict diet, and tasteless seagrass smoothies. It had been hard work with no respite, in the world of high finance with increasingly unachievable targets. The glass ceiling had cracked a bit but had not yet been smashed for women in her profession. Looking around the neglected garden she wondered about getting a gardener or having a go herself at pruning the overgrown shrubs and mowing the lawn. Closing her eyes for a minute to defer having to make a decision she listened to a songbird and almost dozed off. The sound of a quiet female voice the other side of the overgrown hedge brought her back to the present.

    ''It's OK, I will phone and get someone to come and get us, don't worry''

     Lorna opened her eyes and listened again.

    ''Don't worry, it will be alright. Shush whilst I phone''

      A couple of seconds silence followed and then

     '' I have a flat tyre. Yes, we are fine. I have pulled into a field off the road. No, no one has seen me, there is no one about, just a cottage. Yes, use my phone tracker to find me''

      Lorna got up and moved towards the high hedge where somewhere amongst all that thick greenery would be a gate of some sort for access to the field and bridleway. It was not easy to open as the catch was stuck hard but when she did, she peered out to see who it was that had phoned for help.

    The young woman and small child must have heard her struggling to open the gate so were prepared to see a face appear but both looked anxious. The little girl held on to the woman's leg and hid behind her.

     ''Sorry to startle you. I was sitting in the garden and heard you on the phone about your flat tyre''

     The woman answered politely.

     '' Help is on its way thank you''

      The child peeped out from behind the woman's legs and then started to move her arms and hands rapidly about her head as an insect buzzed around her saying 'Ouch'' when at the same time a prickle from the field pierced through her sock into her foot.

      '' Why not come into my garden and wait? There are are no buzzy insects or prickles there''

       Rather reluctantly the woman looked at the child who had started to move forward. She turned to the woman

      ''Can we please?''

       Again rather reluctantly, but keen to appease the child the woman replied

      ''That is kind, thank you''

       Inside the gate, the child surveyed the small unruly garden and then flopped down on the grass, and took off her sandals and socks. A prickle had pierced the skin and a drop of blood oozed.

Lorna reached in her dress pocket and produced a plaster and held it out to the child.

       '' Can I put it on by myself?'' she pleaded

        The woman smiled and nodded her agreement. The plaster was put on more or less in the right place and with much concentration, before the little girl slipped her feet back into her sandals and secured the Velcro fastenings before exclaiming.

    '' We have a treehouse and a swing in our big garden, but you have lots of daisies, I know how to make a chain''

      With a bit of help from the two adults, the child made a chain and then put it on her head as a crown and danced about the unmown lawn singing London Bridge Is Falling Down, whilst the woman clapped softly and smiled. At the sound of voices, the neighbours' cat made an appearance in the garden. The child was delighted and sank to her knees to stroke her.

  ''That's Mrs Miggins'' said Lorna by way of introduction.

  Mrs Miggins arched her back and stretched her neck so that the child could stroke her under the chin as she purred.

   ''I like cats better than dogs, apart from Lupo'' she mused.

     '' Granny has dogs, but they are not always friendly and Candy barks a lot, and they sometimes growl, and that's not nice is it? Granny says that they are grumpy because they are old, and they can't help that'' she returned her attention to pampering Mrs Miggins and all was quiet. The woman in white jeans and crisp shirt had an elegance about her even when she crouched down to stroke and tickle the cat that made Lorna aware of her own scruffy appearance.

    ''Mummy could I have a cat for my next birthday?''

      ''We'll see Lottie. Perhaps''

   A car was heard drawing up nearby and a man's head appeared at the gate. The woman called to the child, then shook Lorna's hand saying

    ''Thank you so much for entertaining us while we waited, it was so kind of you to invite us into your garden'' and with that they were gone, the child still wearing the daisy crown on her head and giving Lorna a wave and a smile.

      Lorna went inside the cottage to make a cup of tea. In the hallway, she caught sight of her dishevelled hair and bra strap on display hanging down her arm smiled to herself mouthing 'country bumpkin!'

      Going back outside she found the child’s socks screwed up where she had left them under the deckchair.

    Lorna kept the socks in the kitchen for a few days and then took them upstairs and put them on her childhood teddy as a keepsake. They were almost new, pretty with a lacy top.

    It was not for a few weeks that Lorna gave another thought to the woman and child. She was shopping in Kings Lynn and saw a photograph in the window of the bookshop that triggered memories of that afternoon in the garden. The picture was of Anmer Hall, a house a few miles away used by Prince William and his family when in Norfolk.

  Lorna stood looking at the picture, and the one beside it of William, Catherine, and their two children.

   ''Oh my goodness, Lorna whispered to herself. I have come to live in Norfolk not far from where they spend their holidays. And I think I invited the future Queen into my back garden in my raggy old sundress, my hair in a mess and with my bra straps showing. I gave a plaster and made a daisy crown for a princess, and my old teddy is wearing her royal socks. No, really? Or am I imagining it? No, I don’t think I am. Why did I not think those faces were familiar, and come to think of it I am sure I heard her call the child Lottie when they left. And the dog's names, I will google them when I get home. I must tell Ted bear when I get back, he could be almost as important as Paddington.

 © Copywrite Jane Scoggins