Return to Sparkhouse

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

While Kate had never been vain, exactly, there was a time when she would have spent a while deciding on her wardrobe, and at one time she hadn't been opposed to showing a little skin!

Still, that was years ago now, in the days when she didn't mind tottering through town on four inch heals at two in the morning, usually the worse for wear.

Recently though her wardrobe consisted mainly of jeans, trousers and shirts, a sort of mix and match collection that required little thought, so it came as something of a shock that she couldn't quickly decide on an outfit for Saturday night. Mostly she thought her clothes were too casual and the only smart pieces she had were too smart.

Eventually she settled on black trousers, a red shirt and a black jacket that she'd pinched from one of her suits. The very definition of smart-casual.

Still, as she and Lisa drove out to Sparkhouse Farm, Kate was nervous.

"It's all right, we don't bite," Lisa said, sensing her agitation and trying to make her feel better.

"No, I'm sure you don't, it's just... Well it's been a while since I've done anything like this."

"Surely you must have gone to lot's of dinner parties in London?"

Kate laughed.

"I might not have a strong accent, Lisa, but my peers weren't exactly the Harley Street dinner party set."

"Yeah, but most people don't say 'peers', do they?"

"Okay, so maybe I am middle class, but even middle class under twenty fives don't do dinner parties."

"Yeah, but you're not under twenty five now, are ya, so you must have been to a few."

"I uh," Kate swallowed. "I had an accident when I was twenty three... I was in hospital for a long time and when I wasn't, I really wasn't in the mood for socialising."

"I'm sorry," Lisa apologised. "I'm always puttin' me big foot in my even bigger mouth. John says I should come wi' a public health warning."

Kate smiled.

"You're only asking questions, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it should be encouraged."

"As long as they're not about you."

"Touché," Kate tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace. "Look, it's not that I want to keep secrets, Lisa, I don't, but the things you want to know about... They're hard for me to think about. Right now it's been five days since I took a valium, that's the longest I've gone without since I moved here."

Lisa was silent for a while. The talk of popping pills was finally making her understand that Kate's condition was real, at least to her.

"Well, we still don't bite." she said, trying to lighten the mood. "But stay away from Bess 'cos she does."

"Bess?" Late asked, wondering if this was her step mother perhaps.

"Aye, Bess..." she smiled because she knew a secret Kate didn't. "She's our oldest sheep dog." she finally confessed. "She's getting grumpier with age."

Kate laughed.

"Right. I'll remember that."

"John's gonna retire her soon but he'll need to get another one to start trainin' up first. He should have had her put down if she can't work no more, most other farms would but he raised her from a pup and he doesn't want to let her go."

"She won't hurt Daisy, will she?"

"No, she's a gentle old soul really, she's just too old to go chasing sheep over the hills now. She's got arthritis."