After the drama of the previous day, Dixie woke up feeling remarkably positive. She knew her adventure had to come to an end at some point and now was as good a time as any. After three weeks she wanted to go back to civilization– living on her own had made her read far too much into things with Ned. What she needed was to draw a line under her adventure, savour all the positives from it and move on, emotionally and physically. Her fingers had hovered over the number of the local garage but something had changed her mind.
‘Well, bugger me backwards, would you look at this place?’ said Renee, setting foot inside the van. ‘It’s more dapper than dangerous Dave Cameron’s shepherd hut!’
‘Do you like it?’ Dixie knew she was fishing for more compliments, but she needed a little boost.
‘You’ve done a lovely job with it. I admit, I thought it was a pile of shite when you bought it. But it goes to show that while you can’t polish a turd, you can roll it in glitter.’
Dixie had a feeling there was a compliment in there somewhere. ‘Did you want a sit-down and a cup—’
‘Bloody hell no. I’m not dead yet. I want to see the sights and then I’ll have one last go at getting this baby running.’ Renee waved her crossed fingers in the air.
Dixie followed her out of the van and locked up quickly. ‘Be careful, it’s uneven underfoot!’ she called.
Renee was already strolling through the woodland when Dixie caught up with her. ‘It’s a lovely spot,’ said Renee.
‘It is. I’m going to miss it.’ Dixie sighed.
‘It’s only thirty minutes up the blinking road. You can come back any time you like,’ said Renee with a chuckle.
‘Hmm. I can’t really. It’s all turned a bit weird with the landowner so I think when I leave I won’t be coming back.’ Dixie didn’t like how much it hurt her.
Renee linked her arm through Dixie’s. ‘Then leave it up to me and you’ll go out with a bang.’
‘Now I am worried,’ said Dixie.
Their walk took them through all Dixie’s favourite places. Renee didn’t question the new names she’d given them. The sun was glinting spectacularly through the trees making it feel like they were walking through a piece of art. The familiar, fresh, flowery scents were stronger somehow, and Dixie tried to commit it all to memory.
Dixie pointed out all the natural ingredients she could see and Renee picked up a few others that she recognizedas well, including wild thyme and some mushrooms. She was suitably impressed with the truffles, although the only ones they could find were those nibbled and discarded by the squirrels. They stood together on the ridge by Tidy Trees and looked across the rippling hills.
Renee was sucking in a great lungful of air. Had the walk been too much for her, Dixie wondered. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Fresh air. You can’t bloody beat it. Unless you have alcohol, then no contest. Come on. Let’s go back and get cooking and then we’ll get fixing.’
Dixie realized it was the last time she’d look out over Tidy Trees and walk past Woody Corner and try not to scratch herself going through Prickly Patch or stub her toe on the Bastard Stump and it was hard not to feel sad about it.
‘Stop being maudlin! Life’s too short for it,’ called Renee, snapping Dixie out of her doldrums.
They were chatting about what cocktails Dixie had missed at Crafting and Cocktails when Renee put her arm in front of Dixie to halt her, a lot like her mum had used to do when she was in the front seat of the car and she was braking heavily– Dixie’s mum wasn’t the best driver. Renee put a finger to her lips and then pointed ahead.
‘What is it?’ asked Dixie, but she had already spotted what Renee had seen. ‘Ned! What the actual f—’
‘We’d better go and investigate,’ interrupted Renee, her voice low.
They crept closer until Renee gestured for Dixie to go one way around the van whilst she went the other. Dixie did as Renee asked but her mind was buzzing. What was Ned doing back here? Why were they creeping up on him rather than shouting at him?
‘What are you doing?’ asked Renee, popping out from the cover of the van and making Ned jump.
‘Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. I’m—’
‘We know who you are and what you are,’ snapped Dixie, making him jump again as she appeared on his other side. She leaned over and snatched the note from under Elsie’s wiper.
‘Right, let’s see what this says, shall we? “Dear Dixie, I’ve never met anyone quite like you before. It feels like I’ve found something I didn’t even know I was searching for. You’re bold, unorthodox and completely unique. I’d hate things to end like this. Please can we talk…”’ Dixie stopped reading. She couldn’t have been more surprised if Arnold had started to sing opera.
Ned scrunched up his shoulders in his discomfort. ‘I maybe should have led with an apology. But you get the gist. Anyway, I—’ He waved a thumb over his shoulder.
‘Oh no you don’t,’ said Renee. ‘I’ve got a great recipe and I’m about to whip it up. So you two have a walk and sort out your differences or when you get back in thirty minutes I’ll be banging your heads together. Got it?’
Ned looked mildly alarmed by Renee, which was fairly usual.
