Life Less Lived Ch. 04

This called for a clear overwhelming mortal strike at the enemy.

"Delighted to meet you, Ms Shaw is it?"

Lady Barbara bent down at the waist to emphasise Marina's lack of stature and put her arms around her and air-kissed her extravagantly around both cheeks. "Welcome to Underhill Grange. I suppose you know our Daniel from Brussels, or perhaps the Sussex County set? Although I have lived here for nearly three whole years I simply haven't got around to meeting all of the people of Daniel's wide acquaintance."

Immediately Marina had the thought that of course Daniel and Barbara must have a history between them! 'How could they not? His poor wife on her death bed and this beautiful ... what was she, widow, divorcee? Is "Dowager" the correct term for an unattached titled Lady? She was clearly ready and available for Daniel, whenever he was ready to take a lover again and firmly asserting her claim even as we speak?'

'I feel so desperately foolish to even remain here in their presence,' she thought. All Marina wanted to do now was get away from Daniel's home and Daniel's life and back to her simple uncomplicated and virtually emotionless existence again. It was necessary for her sanity to get her heart back out of the danger it was in here. Peace of mind, that's what she wanted, needed, wished for, even if it meant forever living alone and unfulfilled. All the while she was desperately thinking of escape, knowing that the weather had shut down all the roads and she was trapped in this prison of her own imagination. Her heart would have to keeping breaking, by halves, by quarters, by eighths, by ... Oh! for however long this torture would continue...

***

Sir Philip received a call from his secretary Patience Page-Turner, reminding him to ensure he assumes a high profile on Christmas Eve. He had left the office early. He had scheduled in a game of golf, but the weather had put the scuppers on that.

"Bah! Humbug!" Sir Philip snorted at the suggestion.

Sir Philip ran his pudgy fingers through his grey thinning hair as he replied to his personal assistant's suggestion. Although he relied heavily on Patience to keep track of his appointments, he resented those occasions where his public diary interfered with his private affairs. He was also aware what expression would most push her buttons. Besides, he really didn't have much in the way of plans for Christmas. Ever since his wife left him he had endured two lonely miserable Christmas holidays and this would make a third. His daughter stayed with him the first holiday, then she celebrated with her mother last year and he had been looking forward to having her all to himself this year. She had been due to arrive this morning from her university in Scotland, but had been held up by the atrocious weather. The current forecast did not hold out well for any early arrival of his precious daughter.

Patience wasn't fazed by Sir Philip's apparent grumpiness, she would have been quite disappointed if he had been cheerful. There was little in the way of good humour to spare with the company merely ticking over, due to the scarcity of new road-building contracts in Britain and the Continent which were in the pipeline. This motorway extension had been won on tender a couple of years ago, but was still held up in red tape. The bigger towns and resorts on the route were all for it, it was the villages and rural districts in between which couldn't see the benefits of much more traffic flow and were putting up the fight.

"We need you to be very high-profile, this year, Sir Philip, to counter the bad publicity."

"My daughter is supposed to staying with me-" said Sir Philip before Patience interposed impatiently.

"Last year you escorted a glamorous young lady to a top West End nightclub when we needed some positive publicity but it wasn't considered newsworthy enough and we didn't get a single picture in the gutter press. We want something much more punchy this year, how about ... inviting Lady Barbara?"

"What?!" he exploded, spluttering into the mouthpiece. Patience imagined his already ruddy complexion hinting towards the violet end of the rainbow. "Are you mad? We have barely spoken this past three years!"

"It would certainly be newsworthy, Sir Philip."

"I'll think about it. But I know she'll never do it," he growled.

"She's been alone with Daniel for over two years now," Patience pointed out, "and she hasn't even filed for official separation let alone divorce. It doesn't look like Daniel is falling for her charms ... Perhaps her title means more to her than an indifferent possibility so far, and probably eventually unrequited, romance?"

After thinking about Patience's suggestion for several hours, Sir Philip actually tried to contact Lady Barbara, if only to wish her the compliments of the season, without much enthusiasm and even less success. He left her a voice mail and poured himself another generous malt.

***

WWAG met in Mark and Lauren's flat in Brighton that first lunchtime following the heavy snowfall. The College had closed for the rest of the week due to pipes freezing and lack of staff, unable to get in via the roads.

They were a sorry group indeed. Andy chaired the meeting, as was his wont, and Mark and Lauren were also present by virtue of their occupancy of the flat, so they had little choice in the matter. There were a couple of long-haired extremely thin characters, named Jimbo and Timbo, who shivered in the corner near the night storage heater which had apparently exhausted any residual heat in the heavy bricks a couple of hours earlier. There was a gas fire in the chimney grate in front of the sofa, but Lauren was absolutely adamant; they simply could not afford to have it on. If anyone was cold, they better keep their blasted coats on, she told Mark through gritted teeth.

A couple of other activists, Mikey and Leon, were still trudging through the snow and the rest of the group sat in their outdoor coats drinking hot drinks to keep warm. The drinks came from old out-of-date vending packs which Mark had 'received' some time ago from a summer vacation job.

Andy wasn't prepared to wait for the last two expected activists before convening the meeting. He was already pissed off that fat Tina hadn't gone into work at her fast food restaurant that morning because of the snow. This meant that he wasn't able to get the free burger and fries which she usually slipped him, which was his main daily source of calories. Although the shift manager had banned him from the place, he lived miles away and definitely wouldn't have made it in today. As a consequence of the closure, casual worker Tina was being docked a day's wages, and denied the slice of the tiny tips shelled out at shift end, either. This change Andy used to buy his baccy, which meant that he wouldn't get his normal ration of smokes today either. He wanted to get the meeting over quickly and get back to the room he shared with Tina in her mother's house, where at least they had the heating on all day. It wasn't worth hanging on for Mikey and Leon anyway as the bank clerk Mikey never took part in the actions and body builder Leon was pretty thick and would just agree to what everyone else suggested anyway.

"We are presently being undermined in our struggles by this Medcalf meddler," Andy announced bitterly. "I have a reliable contact in the SandRock Corporation who tells me that Medcalf and Lady Barbara Sands are lovers, and that she moved in with the bloke even while his wife was dying in an upstairs bedroom."

"No!" said Lauren, softly, unable to contain her secret admiration of Medcalf. She was disappointed both with the thought that he was romantically linked to another woman and that he had been disloyal to his late wife while she was losing her final battle with life. This was a direct assault on her vision of Daniel being the perfect gentleman, who was devoted to his late wife until perhaps a certain young woman who was deserving of eternal devotion came along. Surely he should be joined with someone who cared for the environment, not some titled tart previously married to someone who habitually ravished Mother Nature. Knowing the justification for her own low self-esteem was not an obstacle to her appreciating his love for another, providing it was as pure and romantic as she would have liked for herself.

These thoughts reinforced to her how little of her true feelings were invested in her present relationship with Mark. She was even beginning to feel uneasy about working with this group, who seemed so hell-bent on alienating Daniel Medcalf, even though he appeared to be a potent ally in their battle with SandRock.

"Dirty old bugger!" chuckled Timbo, looking over Jimbo's shoulder as he Googled the good lady on his iPhone and pulled up a picture of Sir Philip and Lady Barbara about to step into a gala a couple of years or so ago. Lady Barbara was slim and wearing an elegant silk dress and dripping with a mass of sparkling jewels around her neck and dangling from her ears. She looked beautiful, a picture of glamour. Lauren got up and looked at the image herself, her lips pursed. At least she's old and probably very wrinkly under that dress, she thought, with a hint of maliciousness.

Andy took back control of the meeting, saying, "We need to act decisive-like to give this Medcalf bloke summink to worry about so that he gets out of our hair and stays out of it for the duration. Anyone got any suggestions?"

"We could send him hate mail, which would occupy him for a while." Mark suggested weakly, feeling he ought to offer something, anything.

Jimbo chipped in with the disclosure of Medcalf's address, which he found on the county council website. Then he looked up the address on Google Earth and passed round the image of Daniel's lovely old thatched farmhouse, shot from the road in perfect brilliant summer sunshine. There were a few whistles from the students as it went round. The warm brick mansion looked like it belonged on a chocolate box, with climbing roses on the walls and rambling roses threading through the front hedge.

"We could do something at his place, like dump a load of rubbish on his drive," Timbo chimed in.

"Or manure," Jimbo piped in.

"Naw," laughed Mark, "He'll only stick it on his bloody roses!" The room laughed thinly.

The doorbell rang then and Lauren jumped up to let Mikey and Leon in, together with a freezing chunk of winter air.

"What's happening then?" asked Leon as he breezed into the room, considering removing his coat before thinking better of it. He had half a thought that it was slightly warmer outside than in.

"We are thinking of dumping something on Medcalf to slow him down a bit, allowing us a higher profile," said Jimbo.

"Yes, we need to fingk of summink a bit more drastic," insisted Andy with an evil grin on his pinched face.

"Smash 'is bloody winders!" somebody shouted, without clearly identifying himself, the rest of them laughed, although Lauren was feeling increasingly uneasy the way the suggestions were going.

In the resulting conversation, taking their stance from Andy's prompting, the majority opinion was to strike at Daniel Medcalf where he lived over the Christmas holidays, when he was bound to be in residence. The actual content of the strike was to be agreed nearer the time.

Laura wanted nothing to do with what they were considering and told Mark of her serious misgivings later. He ignored her as usual.

***

Marina and Lady Barbara danced around Daniel in the kitchen while preparing lunch. Lady Barbara wanted to cook something elaborate with pasta or rice. Marina, however, suggested warming up some soup accompanied by toasted cheese and ham sandwiches using the crusty fresh bread that Daniel had baked first thing that morning, explaining that Sophie had prepared pasta and rice just the previous evening. So Daniel decided in his guest's favour. Marina smiled to herself as she prepared the sandwiches, while Lady Barbara was relegated to the menial task of laying out the kitchen table. Daniel helped her by stirring the soup and brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

Just as they were virtually ready to serve, Sophie turned up at the kitchen door and Marina rustled around and stretched the lunch to include her, just as Sophie had accommodated her arrival the previous night.

Sophie had walked all the way down to the village and confirmed that the roads to the outside world were cut off for today and the snow ploughs would probably not appear to clear this part of the village until Friday or Saturday at the earliest. She said this to her father while he helped her out of her coat and with her boots at the kitchen door.

"Auntie Barbara!" Sophie yelled when she saw her and gave her "Aunt" a hug as the older woman rose from the table, "I haven't seen you since October."

Sophie then kissed her father on the lips and gave him a squeeze as he approached the table with a couple of steaming plates in his hands. Then she moved into the cooking area and put her arms around Marina, whispering "Thank you for last night" so quietly, ensuring her father and particularly Lady Barbara couldn't hear. Marina smiled at her and gladly returned the hug.

Marina had heated up sufficient soup to pour a helping for Sophie and they all sat down with the toasted cheese sandwiches and soup to warm them up.

Sophie had brought news from the village. For a start, her nanny Mavis Short was warm and coping well. She needed some milk and bread, so Sophie had walked into the village and got hold of them for her. Sophie mentioned that the shop was quickly being cleared out of everything and they had had no deliveries of fresh food that day and probably wouldn't for a few more days yet. However, she was able to say that Grange End Farm down the lane hadn't had their milk collected by the regional dairy company, so they were offering it free to anyone collecting for a small contribution to a local charity. No sign of any snow ploughs yet, she said, as they were occupied clearing the main town streets and major highways. Apparently the roads leading in and out of the village were so congested with broken down cars and trucks and these needed clearing by towing away first. More snow was forecast for tonight.

Daniel was resolved, in light of the forecast of further snowfalls, to go out on horseback to check the condition of his sheep. Lady Barbara instantly proposed to accompany him, the smirk on her face indicating she was clearly an accomplished horsewoman. Marina kept quiet, having never sat astride a horse before. Sophie piped up that she was too tired to go out, due to all the walking she had done in the morning but that Marina would be able to go out to help in her stead. Marina briefly glared her disapproval at her but Sophie was not to be denied.

"What are you doing?" Marina hissed at Sophie as they walked around to the stables some distance behind Daniel and Lady Barbara, "I've never ridden a horse before, except a donkey on Southsea beach a couple of times when I was a little girl." Sophie had her arm tucked into Marina's as they walked around to the stables.

"I'll bet Lady Barbara hasn't been on a horse for at least 20 years," grinned Sophie. "Daddy will give her Ginny's horse and you can take mine. Ginny's can be a bit of a monster, actually, very spirited, but Ginny can more than cope with him. I don't think Dad ever rides Storm, either, so I reckon he hasn't even been saddled for more than six months. My mare Daisy is so calm and relaxed, you can just give her her head and trust her to pick her way across the field on her own." Sophie laughed as she handed Marina a shiny apple for her horse, "This is going to be such fun!"

The stables were as warm and cosy as Marina remembered from her visit this morning. Daisy still remembered the sweet apple and carrot that Marina had treated her to on her first visit with Daniel and whinnied a welcome as she approached. Marina obliged the horse with another apple, hoping she had made a friend, if not for life, at least for the rest of the afternoon. Daniel saddled Lady Barbara's mount for her and sorted out a suitable helmet and boots. Meanwhile, Sophie got Daisy ready to ride and did her best to get Marina boots, helmet and warm gloves to fit.

Once they were all ready, Daniel set out leading the way. Lady Barbara followed and Marina brought up the rear. Daisy was clearly the smallest of the three horses and was a beautiful rich chestnut colour with a much lighter-coloured mane. She seemed happy to trudge sure-footedly through the deep snow behind the other two, carrying the slim light weight of Marina on her back. Daniel had a spade strapped to his back and a couple of bags on each horse carrying a little hay and sheep nuts stuffed inside. The pathway through the meadows was straightforward, or at least seemed to be as Daniel led the way and the other two horses followed naturally with little intervention from Marina. Lady Barbara's horse didn't seem as happy walking through the snow as Daisy did.

The pattern soon established itself of Daniel opening gates, Lady Barbara swanning imperiously through in the middle and Marina shutting the gates behind them. She found the tips that Sophie gave her of gently steering the horse with her knees was relatively effortless. Daisy seemed to understand and accept that her job was to help Marina close the gates behind them. Marina imagined that this had long been Sophie's role when the family rode out and Daisy was gently, and calmly complicit in the scheme to show Marina appearing as though she was an accomplished horsewoman.

The first couple of fields had pigs in but they all seemed to be happily sheltering in open sided little huts, their food automatically dispensed from weather-proof hoppers. Daniel told the two women that he hadn't really expected to have any trouble with the pigs or the goats for that matter. It was three or four fields up the hill before they reached the first of the sheep. There were some large drifts in hollows and also a few bare patches in the snow, scoured out by the wind during the blizzard. Daniel did a quick count in each field and noted the numbers in his notebook. He dropped off some food in each area. He seemed pretty satisfied that the sheep were comfortable and they returned to the house by a different way back, with Daniel continuing opening the gates and Marina closing them. Every time Daisy helped her close the gates Marina gave her a pat on the side of her neck and she felt reasonably comfortable, even after being on board for over an hour. Heading back downhill was not as easy as the way up but part of it was through some open woodland, where the snow was much lighter, but the way became darker as the sun sank lower in the sky.

They emerged into an open field again, with quite a steep slope and it wasn't long before Lady Barbara fell off and landed in a large drift, after her mount suddenly decided not to proceed any further. Fortunately, Daniel was able to grab the bridle after the horse had lost its rider and tried to squeeze past Daniel on its way back to the warmth of the stable. Daniel dismounted and checked that it was only Lady Barbara's pride that was hurt and she had no physical damage. He helped her remount and they continued on their way. Daisy, with her lower centre of gravity and lighter load had no problem with the slope and Marina made it to the stable without mishap. She jumped down lightly and made a big fuss of Daisy. Sophie saw them return, came out and helped Marina take the horse back into her stall and stow the gear. Marina thanked Daisy with another carrot and apple, which Sophie had brought from the kitchen.

Marina was full of enthusiasm about the ride, while Lady Barbara was somewhat subdued with her pride hurt in the fall. Daniel was delighted with the way Marina performed with the gates and volunteered his opinion that she was a natural horsewoman and he hadn't any concerns about her abilities after the second gate they had gone through. Marina and Sophie chatted away about how great her little mare Daisy was; Lady Barbara barely had a comment to make about Ginny's more spirited gelding.