The Last Train Home

Chapter Forty-One

Mark stood at the base of the tree, his hair tousled a little from the climb up to the Thompson farm and he appeared several inches taller than the last time I saw him. Our plans to try and meet up more regularly became impossible to uphold with everyone far too busy and even my meetings with Eva had become significantly less. When we first set out for the country, I never imagined it affecting my relationships with some of my best friends.

He wasn't on his own. Enid stood off to the side, eyeing the tree cautiously and I knew she wouldn't be a fan of me being in the tree or working on one. She held the same values my grandmother did. Eva had also joined them, a smile having returned to her face since receiving the letter from Anthony and the spark in her eye had returned.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked, wiping more dust off on my slacks.

"Eva told us about the treehouse project and we wanted to see how it was coming along. None of us ever had gardens, let alone a treehouse. This is something new," Mark said.

"Did you really get permission for this? It doesn't seem very safe."

"One of Barbara's conditions is that the project comes to an end the moment someone gets hurt. With Alec, it's a hard condition to follow."

"I haven't hurt myself yet."

"Yet being the important word."

"You're so mean to me."

"It keeps things interesting." I grinned at him, but Alec just pouted. "Come on, let's get away from this tree. The pieces of wood that aren't nailed down aren't exactly safe up there."

We moved away from the tree and a little further down the farm to where Jigsaw and Duchess were grazing in an empty paddock. The two of them appeared to enjoy spending time with each other, or they enjoyed spending most of their time grazing in a field rather than in their stalls.

They both ignored us when we entered, focusing their attention on the grass rather than what we were doing. We walked a little way into the paddock and sat down on the grass just beside one of the fences, watching the horses and listening to the birds chirping away in nearby trees. Despite how long I had been with the Goodwin's, the stillness of the country continued to amaze me. Had we been in London, our moment in silence would have been punctured by cars and the clean air would have been obscured by the smoke billowing from chimneys and the smog that came from the Thames. London would always be home, but nothing could beat the stillness of the city.

Once the war was over, I knew it would be a tough task to return to city life after so long in the country. Even after a few months, I didn't think I could stand the smoke and smog of London. Mum would never accept the idea of leaving the city, though, especially as everything is in convenient reach for her and the country is far too spread out. She always thought the city to be far too unclean even though the city was worse as far as I was concerned.

"So, why a treehouse? Out of everything?" Mark asked, turning back towards the tree where we could just make out the beginnings of the treehouse amongst the branches.

"I've always wanted one," Alec said. "Dad was always too busy to build it and since Syb's handy with tools, I thought now would be as good a time as ever. It's our summer project if we can get it done in time."

"Why'd you agree?" Mark nudged me with his elbow.

I shrugged. "Something to do. It gets me off the farm for a bit. Plus. Jigsaw gets a decent amount of exercise going from the farm to here which he seems pleased about."

At the mention of his name, Jigsaw's eyes perked up and he trotted over to us, bending low and nudging my cheek with his nose so I would stroke him. He could be a really clingy horse when he wanted to be.