Witch Part 1

13: New

Quaint, the picturesque village of Déspoina felt like it had been painted, not created.'Unreal?'An oasis within a desert of five hundred shades of green.'With row after row of cottages dotted in amongst larger semi and detached period properties, nothing looked out of place.Clean and fresh, open and inviting.The couple use to the sights, sounds and smells of the city found the cobbled market square framed by perfectly designed and immaculately kept mini gardens with small patches of lawned and raised flowerbeds with integrated wood and stone seating beautiful.'Breathtaking.'Encased by a vast and varied array of small family run retail businesses. 'Comfortable.'Use to the smells of the streets, Lloyd and Martha savoured the armours of the fresh grass and growing blossom.'Impressed.'The exploring newcomers saw where to gain whatever it was they needed.'The butcher & the baker.'Martha admired the hand crafted candles and trinkets alongside what was advertised to be local glass and pottery.'The cobbler & Key maker.' Knitwear which had never been anywhere near a machine was joined by fabrics waiting to be turned into individually fashioned designs.'The fish monger & green grocer.'While Martha's attention remained focused on the practical, Lloyd's attention was drawn to the antique furnishing, the carpenter and the stone masons. 'Strange?'A sign inviting people to design their own coffin was seen as being a service which took the pressure off the bereaved while making certain the deceased got what they want.Holistic therapies and counselling sessions.Mr. and Mrs.Scott joked about making notes of the time for the advertised group sessions, just in case? Old fashioned, small cafes and uncluttered coffee shops, in some; customers were encouraged to browse the works of local artists hanging on the wall while inside others people were invited to stay and read what they had the time to; from the small library of newspapers, magazines and books.When making enquiries about the things they couldn't see, the new arrivals were directed into the neighbouring town and Rosa's Retail Shopping Mall.Happy to promote what stood on the other side of Ebony Wood, Lloyd and Martha were told the town of Erebus sold almost everything the village didn't.'New beds.'They couldn't afford what they were looking to find, but they needed to know how much they were looking at having to save. Quaint, different, more open, but old fashioned, compacted, but not closed in. All which the newcomers saw as being traditional was what their judgmental offspring would call outdated.'Both a tea & a coffee shops.'A sweet and ice cream shop, the parents of two had to read what described itself as being especially for the young, a place for them to gather after school and call into to pick up a warming drink on the way.The Vimto Shop was seen to be a good idea.5p a cup and 15p for a filled flask, a poster displayed how the shop owners would be happy to fill hot water bottles when the early morning walk to school meant children walking on ice.'Thoughtful & comforting.'What was heated in the winter, contained added ice in the summer.

Not crowded like the city, but busy enough, the villagers they met, agreed the place they worked and lived within provided everything anyone could need.A community spirit neither Lloyd or Martha had experienced before. 'Something had to be wrong?'In the same way the happy couple knew they should never have trusted what sounded too good to be true, the wandering pair reminded one another to be wary of what, if put onto paper; would sound like paradise.'Where was the sting in the tail?'Aware of all the things they and their children would need to put right, adapt and overcome within Ebony Wood.Both wondered what it was their children found not to like when exploring the surroundings.A doctors and a dentist, popping in to each to register their intent to become full-time residence, the couple agreed to fill in what they could and return with all official documents needed as soon as possible.'Back the next day.'Agreeing to liking what they saw, when stopping by her place of employment and introducing her husband to her employees both were encouraged to call into Tinkers Tavern if wanting a meal before heading home

The oldest building in the area, it was when told the large establishment was always looking for staff that Lloyd said they should call in.Not afternoon drinkers, the truth was, the two rarely drank anything stronger than coffee.'No money?'Using the line of having to speculate to aciculate Martha apologised when she laughed at the thought of her husband working behind a bar.'Any job was better than no job.'The couple together since they were at school, knew they would always be there for one another in everything each chose, or needed to do.'Sorry.'Only the tea shop served breakfast which finished at eleven.The fish and chips shop only opened twelve to seven Tuesday and Thursday and three to ten Fridays.'Sorry.'The village bakery said it was usual for them to be sold out of everything by noon.Home to see what they could find, or lunch inside Tinkers Tavern? Spending a little could be worth much, both adults agreeing the local drinking place was quite often the font of all knowledge.