The Last Train Home

Chapter Fourteen

We moved on from the Brady farm and back into the woods where Alec led me to a small clearing.

The clearing sat in the middle of a circle of trees. Even with the trees, the sun shone down right in the centre with a slight shadow being created around the edge. Due to a large amount of sunlight that managed to touch down in the clearing, the grass was almost emerald green and there were daisies and other wildflowers dotted about. It looked like something that had come straight out of a storybook.

Alec dismounted from his horse and grabbed the wicker basket that Mrs Goodwin had given him. I followed him and clambered off Jigsaw, watching my footing so I didn't fall face-first onto the ground. Both of us tied our horses to a nearby tree where they started to much away at the grass around them.

"We'll take them down to the creak later so they can have a drink. I figured eating a picnic by a creak isn't as nice as this," Alec said

"So you have a clearing, a creak, endless fields and some woods. Is there anything you don't have?"

"A fountain." He laughed. "We have a lake too."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"We can go down to the lake in the summer. It's usually a good day out."

I didn't say anything and instead helped Alec to lay down the gingham cloth so we didn't have to sit directly on the grass to eat the picnic Mrs Goodwin had packed. Alec had sounded so excited at the thought of a trip to the lake in the summer that I didn't have the heart to tell him that I probably wouldn't be around come summer. Even though Summer was still months away, even Alec couldn't take the excitement in his voice.

We straightened out the cloth onto the floor in the direct patch of sunlight in the very centre of the clearing. Once it was straight, we started to pull out everything that Mrs Goodwin had packed for us. She had prepared a multitude of sandwiches and even made some brownies for us to eat afterwards. There were also plates and two glasses for us to drink the ginger beer from. She had thought of everything.

Alec tucked into the sandwiches immediately and devoured one in just a few bites which wasn't all that surprising given how quickly he ate when we were repairing the fence. I savoured the sandwich a little bit more and nibbled it between sips of the ginger ale and looked around at the clearing. Even after a week living with the Goodwin's, I could still see the appeal in living in a place that held so many small secrets.

I loved the city, but there were some elements of the country that I could probably grow to love. It was a lot quieter than the city for one which I welcomed since I had never been a fan of the constant noise and chatter. The air in the country was clear and clean with no smoke from the factories or the strange smell that often came from the Thames. It certainly was a nice break from London.

"How are you finding your time here?" Alec asked, reading my mind.

"It's quieter than the city, that's for certain." I took a sip of my ginger beer.

Alec laid back against the cloth. "I spent two days in the city once, a few years ago, and couldn't wait to come home. There are two types of people in this, those who like the city and those who like the country. No one is ever both."

"What makes you say that?"

"Most people who move to the city from the country never stay there for too long. Just look at Mr Goodwin, he lived in the city for years and then came back when his father died, no questions asked. He could have just sold the farm."

"That's different, though. It's his family's farm."

"He didn't have to pack up and move, though. It's like you, I bet you can't wait to go back to the city."