Clemency's Point

Chapter Three

Monday morning was a whole new scene in Boroughford upon Tweed. Instead of being a relaxed market village, it became the hive of work-based activity. C&C became the takeaway coffee haunt for those who worked at the Council Chambers, mainly those trying to make themselves look more important whilst The Purple Rinse Brigade took up their posts at the W.I. Offices just outside the Council Chambers. Jenny herself became part of the weekly rat race, donning a grey suit, black roll neck and heels to transform herself from wife and friend who loved the outdoors into the Features Editor of the only paper that mattered; The Boroughford Gazette. It probably was a little self indulgent for a small fishing village to have its own paper but as far as villagers were concerned they deserved it and anyway, it served the whole county and not just Boroughford. As Jenny walked the length of High Street, she glanced over to Pip's Books, to find the "open" sign was firmly stuck on the door and Pip was indeed in residence.

'I am going to kill him.' Jenny said to herself, loudly enough to gain a few strange looks from passers by. 'He's supposed to be resting!' she offered as an explanation but was ignored. With a shrug, Jenny glanced down at her watch and realised that she wouldn't have time to run and grab a coffee despite the fact that a) Alex had left the house while she was still in bed and b) she really needed a caffeine hit but alas it was not to be. With a deep sense of regret and an even bigger sense of annoyance Jenny pulled her handbag further onto her shoulder, put her head down and made her way to the office.

The Boroughford Gazette was always a place where you could fall over a human body and not notice. The Health and Safety Officer at the Council had already warned the owners several times about the over occupancy but this had fallen on deaf ears. And of course, the HSO would do anything to enforce his complaints for fear of upsetting the Mayor's granddaughter who just so happened to be a high-ranking member of staff. So that's why the office remained the overgrown playground it was today. The first thing Jenny had to do when she opened the door was to duck to avoid a flying paper aeroplane that had been masterfully crafted by the Office Juniors. The looks on their faces as Jenny picked up the offending item and then shoot them a raised eyebrow was enough to think they had come face to face with the Queen herself that, in the paper's terms, they had. The fact that they were only met with a silent look rather than a full on dressing down was far more terrifying. Jenny really didn't have the time or the patience for their puerile humour so just threw the recyclable aeronautical feat of engineering in the waste bin. The office was its usual buzz of telephone calls, the sound of keyboards being abused and employees trying to look a lot busier than they actually were. Jenny weaved in and out of the desks that were bunched too closely together to be safe before she reached the safety of the little room she called her haven. Jenny's office was probably the smallest room in the building but it was the quietest and away from the flying paper objects and staple fights. Her desk was just large enough to hold the ancient computer that was probably older than the Death Trap at C&C, a telephone that rarely worked, a few notepads and of course the photograph of the four of them sitting on the Rainbow Sun alongside a photograph of her wedding day and one of Alex, leaning on the Harbour Wall looking out over the horizon with the broadest and most natural of smiles on his face. It was Jenny's favourite picture and if she couldn't stare at her husband in person then the photograph was the next best thing. Shrugging off her jacket, Jenny turned on the computer before she sat down on the chair that not only had three wheels instead of the standard four but also could be declared a national monument and placed in a museum.

'So what have you got in store for me today then world of news.' She said to herself, clicking into her emails. The first three were the usual junk mail, with the fourth being an almost full-page rant from Jamie about the fact that Pip had disobeyed his direct order to stay in bed. Jenny made a mental note to give Pip a lecture at C&C during her lunch hour because for once in his quite mad life, her brother was actually in the right. On the subject of Pip, as Jenny feared, the rest of the emails were from "concerned citizens" aka The Purple Rinse Brigade, demanding to know if the paper was going to "name and shame" the hooligan that dared to tear up the High Street.