Chapter 19
With heavy hearts, Gary and Tracy Belcher closed the door for the last time on their small terraced house. They hauled the last of the removal boxes that contained their remaining belongings into their new Range Rover complete with personal number plate: ‘B3LCH’. Tracy wanted to take their pine double bed and her grandmother’s rocking chair, Gary his forty-two-inch plasma television. But apart from those things, their clothes, crockery, framed photographs and cushions, they had basically left the house and its entire contents to the young couple who had bought the house, much to their delight.
Feelings were mixed as Gary and Tracy drove down the motorway to the Cotswolds. The obvious sadness of saying goodbye was tinged with a sense of relief. Both Gary and Tracy had witnessed the looks on friends’ faces when learning of their move. After the initial surprise, the Belchers couldn’t help but detect a foreboding disapproval. Why the need to go? Were they too good for them now? And more to the point, who was going to pay for everything? Once realising the gravy train was about to depart, resentment set in. Snide remarks were made, making them feel uncomfortable. In the end Gary and Tracy had sold their home for a song, desperate to get out. They hardly needed the money and the purchase of the Gate House in Treweham had gone smoothly. Once they’d decided to go ahead with buying the Gate House, it had just been a matter of signing and releasing the money. Oh so simple when compared to the hoops they had had to jump through to get a starter mortgage. Money really did make a difference, they were beginning to learn in many ways.
The one thing they clung to was that they had each other. There was no change to the way they felt, their ideals, aspirations, or what they wanted out of life. Gary and Tracy had always wished for a simple, safe, family life and that’s what they were going to get, but in another location. One free from jealousy, assumptions, opinions and, in some cases, hatred.
Tracy had opened an anonymous, hand posted letter containing malicious threats. A demand of £10,000 was to be sent to a PO Box, unless they wanted to come to some harm or, even more terrifying, they wanted their parents to come to some harm. That was the last straw. Two new homes were bought for their parents. Gary and Tracy moved in with Tracy’s mum and dad for the last week, before completion of the sale of the house, and emptying it of the last bits and pieces they wanted to take with them. Tracy was relieved that it was a Monday, so Cut Above was closed and she didn’t have to suffer Sharon glaring at her from the shop window, arms crossed, eyes narrowed with scorn. It had all gone terribly wrong. It was time to go. Tracy’s eyes filled with tears as they slowly drove away from a happy little home that had such fond memories.
Gary put his hand on her lap. ‘Don’t cry, Tracy. It’s for the best.’
‘I know. It’s just so sad to be leaving with all this ill feeling.’
Gary sighed. ‘That’s human nature, Trace.’
Together they drove past the terraced streets, where children played, mums pushed prams and corner shops thrived. They drove past the old cotton mills, now renovated to apartments, through the busy town, bustling with workers, students and traffic spewing exhaust fumes. They drove past the magnificent Town Hall, the market square, the railway station, past the docklands and onto the motorway to a fresh start, a new life.
It literally was a breath of fresh air arriving in Treweham, surrounded by lush, green meadows bursting with wildflowers. A brook bubbled gently and the cooing of a wood pigeon could be heard in the distance. They had collected the keys to the Gate House from the estate offices and had called in at the local pub for a bite to eat. Sitting outside The Templar on wooden benches, they clinked two glasses of Prosecco in celebration to the future.
‘Here’s to us, Trace.’ Gary put his arm round his wife. He could see she was still slightly edgy about the move.
Ithadbeen overwhelming, considering what they had experienced, he thought: going from being a typical working-class couple in the North-West of England, to winning three million pounds, losing your identity, your friends, your family being threatened, and now relocating alone to a completely new place. Whilst Treweham was charming with its stone cottages and pretty countryside, it wasn’t home. Not yet. Gary knew he had to be positive, for Tracy’s sake. For both their sakes.
‘Do you remember coming here on honeymoon?’ he asked, keen to recall the cheery times they had spent in Treweham.
‘Yes.’ Tracy’s face lit up. ‘They had a barbecue and all the villagers came. It was lovely, wasn’t it?’
‘It was. That’s us now, Trace, we’re two of the villagers.’
‘Yes,’ she smiled, ‘we are.’
‘There’s another do here tomorrow. Racing on the big screen. One of the jockeys, Dylan Delany, has got some connection to Treweham.’
‘Really? Let’s go, it’ll be fun.’
That’s more like it; his old Tracy was back, full of enthusiasm, a bit of bounce. ‘Let’s,’ he replied, squeezing her tight.
