Despite the changes, the farmhouse still churns with dreams and gentle ghosts.
The sound of car doors slamming; there are voices in the farmyard. From the office window, Amy sees Aubrey talking to his mother, Lynn. The woman disappears into the cottage. It’s where she’s staying for the funeral; she needs to fetch something. Aubrey takes Daisy’s hand and tells his half-sister a joke; the little girl breaks into giggles. Julian and Miriam call for Peter and turn to see him holding open the farm gate so Simon can drive in. Everyone waits for him to park, then they walk together towards the farmhouse.
She is not ready, not yet.
Through the boot room and out the back door she slips into the garden. The vegetable patch has grown over and the fruit bushes are gone. Now there is a lawn, worn thin in patches near a football goal and a large trampoline. The flower borders are full of happy weeds. How gratifying it is to see the apricot tree is still here. She planted it against the warm garden wall when Seymour gave it to her. It’s ablaze with blossom and a breeze lifts the shock-white flowers into the air. Petals drift like snow.
Perhaps Chloe will eat its fruit this summer? Last night, as they stacked the dishwasher while their hosts put their son to bed, Aubrey confided in Amy and Simon. He said with a blush that now Chloe has finished her degree, the two have decided to start seeing each other again. That he wants to renovate Bramble Cottage. That he hopes Chloe will help him.
It made them chuckle, those plans of Aubrey’s; had them in stitches when they were getting ready for bed. Did Aubrey have any idea quite how lazy princess Chloe was? Amy has other thoughts that she does not share with Simon for she is not sure if her husband would understand. To her there’s a kind of moral beauty that Aubrey now owns the cottage. Possessing it allowed them all a nostalgic sashay into the past. It was no longer relevant.
How happy she is to think that Chloe might live for a time at Wyld Farm. Amy’s link with the place will continue through her daughter and, though it is hard to understand quite why, it is gratifying.
She can hear the murmur of voices through the open kitchen window, the guests for Mrs Morle’s wake. With a slow thankful breath, Amy steps back into Wyld Farm.
THE END
Afterword
In the 1970s, I lived and worked for a few years on a Somerset farm. I fell in love with the landscape and the life, and the things I did there formed the fabric and foundation of my life. Some of those experiences have influenced what’s written in this book but little bears direct resemblance to what we got up to. That’s for another book, perhaps.
A Note from the Author
I recommend these further inspirational foody reads:
The Fat of the Land by John Seymour and Sally Seymour
Food for Free by Richard Mabey
Organic Vegetable Growing by BG Furner
Easymade Wines and Country Drinks by Mrs Gennery-Taylor
Perfect Cookery by Marguerite Patten
The Tassajarra Bread Book by Edward Espe Brown
Acknowledgements
There are many people to thank for their support in the writing of this book. Greg Hodder, Sally Wilkinson, Hugh Constant, Michelle Fink, Richard Holmes, Toni Turner, Callum Holmes Williams and Kipper Williams.
Thanks also to my agent, Laura Morris, and to my publishers, Bloodhound Books.
A note from the publisher
Thank you for reading this book. If you enjoyed it please do consider leaving a review on Amazon to help others find it too.
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About the Author
Wyld Dreamers is Pamela Holmes’ second novel following the bestselling historical drama The Huntingfield Paintress.
‘A genuinely original, utterly enchanting story’– A.N.Wilson
‘A slice of Suffolk history brought beautifully to life’– Esther Freud
‘an atmospheric and enjoyable story of a singular and free-thinking woman’– Deborah Moggach
