‘Now I know why those farmers down the pub sold me these two so cheaply,’ Willow said, coming over to join me and Blossom on the trail. ‘They aren’t just cheeky and mischievous; they are menaces!’ She threw her arms out. ‘Look at the mess they’ve made.’ She looked at Dylan. ‘This is the pumpkin-patch disaster all over again!’
‘We were fine then, and we’ll be fine now,’ he assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. She gave him a small smile, unspoken words passing between them.
‘Let’s get the ponies into the barn,’ I said. ‘Then we can see what we’re dealing with. Plus, Blake needs to get off, don’t you?’
I saw him hesitate. He turned to Willow and Dylan. ‘I feel so bad about not locking their enclosure properly…’
‘It’s okay, mate,’ Dylan said as Willow tutted. ‘You should head off, it’s fine.’
‘But—’
‘Help Daisy put the ponies into the barn then we’ll sort things out. You get going.’ Willow looked away from him and I could tell she was as disappointed in him as I was.
‘Come on,’ I said to Blossom, clucking, and this time, she followed me willingly like she knew I wasn’t going to take any more bad behaviour from her. I led her to the barn, Blake following with Jasmine. We put them inside for the night and I double-checked they were secure. ‘Well, have a safe journey,’ I said as we walked back out.
‘Daisy, I really am sorry about tonight. About everything,’ Blake said urgently, before I could head off.
I looked back at him. His eyes were wide with regret. ‘I’m sorry too. I don’t know what else you want me to say, though. You’re leaving, Blake. I just hope you do what youreallywant to do.’ There didn’t seem any point in talking any more. I didn’t agree with his decision to go but I knew he felt he had to. I had left something just two weeks ago and I needed to rebuild my life now. Blake was returning to what he had left. I would let him rebuild his life there. ‘Goodbye, Blake.’ I walked off then and didn’t look back.
When I returned to the fields, Uncle Adam had joined Dylan and Willow and Maple as they surveyed the damage the ponies had done.
‘I never want to say, “I told you so” but…’ Adam was saying, looking around with a frown.
‘I thought they would be cute,’ Willow said. ‘This isn’t cute!’
‘How bad is it?’ I asked when I reached them.
‘At least they kept to this area,’ Dylan pointed out. The strawberry plants in the patch we found the ponies in had either all been eaten or trampled on. ‘We can just clear it and maybe we can create something for people to look at or take a photo with so it doesn’t look too bare.’
‘We’ve lost money, though,’ Willow said with a sigh. She wandered over to the sunflowers, and we followed. ‘This is bad.’ Blossom had trampled a whole row of sunflowers horizontally so it wouldn’t be easy to just clear away the broken flowers. ‘There’s not enough time to plant or grow anything else here. And the sunflowers are the first thing people see! It’s not going to be a good start to the trail, is it?’
‘Maybe we can hide the damage with some sort of prop like the bench with the flower arch,’ I mused aloud.
‘Do we have time to sort all this out before we open, though?’ Willow said anxiously.
‘We need to start by clearing up the mess then see what we can do to hide the bare patches from visitors. And yes, we will have lost some money but if we can make the Strawberry Fields Trail a must-do activity this summer, hopefully, we will recoup as much as possible. I mean, you could always sell the ponies on too?’ Dylan added the last part gently. Willow glared at him.
‘Maybe we should just all go to bed,’ Adam broke in hastily before Willow could respond to Dylan. ‘Things always look brighter in the morning. And we’ve come back from worst disasters, haven’t we? We can all have a think overnight and crack on first thing.’
Dylan and Adam started to walk back to the farmhouse. Willow turned to me. ‘Do you think we should give up on the ponies?’ She looked close to tears and after all she’d done for me, I hated to see it.
‘Maybe we can find someone to help us…’ We trailed after the other two. I didn’t know who would be able to handle them as well as Blake had, though. Then I had a brainwave. ‘I have someone I can ask! I need to go to the wholesaler with Mary to look at punnets for people to put the fruit and veg in that they pick. And then after I’ve helped her a bit in the shop, let me go and see if I can get us a hand with the ponies. If you guys will be okay making a start on the clear-up without me?’
‘If you can come up with a solution to those ponies, you can take as long as you need!’ Willow cried, shooting me a grateful look. ‘I’ll call the teenagers that are going to help on weekends to see if they can come over and lend a hand.’
Dylan looked back. ‘Don’t worry. Together, we’ll sort it out ready to open up next week, right, guys?’
We all murmured our agreement but I wasn’t sure if our hearts were really in it.
We sloped back to the farmhouse as the sun faded away.
As we passed the cottages, I looked at the one Blake had stayed in, now empty. It would be strange to be on the farm without him after he’d been such a big part of my stay here so far. But I had no choice; I would take the next steps towards my future on my own.
I knew I wasn’t the only one glad to go inside and to bed so I could put this day behind me.
* * *
The next day was my first proper rainy one this summer. I listened to the soft pitter-patter dancing on the roof above my bed as I lay on my back looking up at the ceiling. I’d always enjoyed summer rain. I jumped up and pulled back the curtains, flinging open a window, breathing in the fresh scent and watching as droplets slid down the window in a lazy pattern. The rain washed over the farm like it was clearing a new path for us.
