06 Educating Jack Read Online Free PDF Page B

was soon to take place in their lives. ‘But Christmas … it’s so soon.’
    ‘It’s also to do with fulfilment, Joseph,’ said Vera quietly as she opened the lid of her mother’s Victorian sewing box.
    ‘Fulfilment?’ said Joseph, unsure of what this really meant.
    Vera’s cheeks flushed slightly as she selected a reel of navy-blue cotton and studied it thoughtfully. ‘Yes, Joseph,’ she said at last. ‘
Fulfilment
,’ she repeated with emphasis. Then she tugged a length of cotton from the reel, threaded it with gimlet-eyed determination and proceeded to sew a button on Joseph’s old tweed jacket.
    Joseph recognized her determination and began to flick idly through his
Beginner’s Guide to Wine Making
.
    ‘Rupert asked us to share his table for the Harvest Supper,’ said Vera, ‘so I’m doing some baking tomorrow morning.’
    Joseph’s face brightened. ‘And I could provide the wine,’ he said.
    Vera saw the eagerness in his expression and her heart softened. She couldn’t find it in her heart to say no, even though his creations tasted like a mixture of decaying mushrooms and turpentine. ‘A kind thought, Joseph,’ she said, ‘although, er, perhaps Rupert may already have that in hand.’
    ‘Oh, it’s no trouble,’ said Joseph as he hurried off to the kitchen pantry. There was a rattle of bottles. ‘I’ll let him sample my Elderflower Glory … my finest creation yet.’
    ‘Oh dear,’ Vera whispered to herself.
    * * *
    It was later that evening, as darkness fell, that Vera found herself in a melancholy mood. She was standing by the sink in the vicarage kitchen and putting the finishing touches to her lime juice cordial.
    She looked down at her hands. There were lines now as age took its toll. Then she glanced up at her reflection in the window. The face that looked back at her was no longer the young woman she had known so well. She touched the greying hair at her temples with her long fingers and smiled wistfully. A lifetime of service to the church, to the school and, of course, to Joseph … but now a new life awaited. Perhaps this really was
her
time.
    It was Saturday morning and Beth had collected all the green tomatoes from the garden and was making chutney. She was standing by the kitchen worktop and, as she worked, her honey-blonde hair caressed her high cheekbones. Her tight blue jeans and cheesecloth blouse emphasized her slim, athletic figure and when she looked at me her green eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief.
    ‘What is it?’ she asked.
    ‘You are so beautiful,’ I said.
    ‘I’m busy, Jack,’ she said with a grin. Beth and I had settled into our married life together in Bilbo Cottage in the pretty village of Kirkby Steepleton, three miles from Ragley village. I had never been more content. ‘Anyway, you said you were going into the village to buy me some ring-binders for my course.’
    ‘I will … later,’ I said as I wrapped my arms around her waist.
    She turned round and kissed me. ‘You know it’s important, Jack. I want to make a good start and then, when I’ve passed, I can get a larger headship and we can probably buy a bigger property,’ she scanned the cramped work surfaces, ‘with a
modern
kitchen.’
    Her thoughts washed over me like spring rain and it was as if I was beginning to know her for the first time. Her words were soft, but there were times when her ambition struck me like an iron fist.
    Four miles away in Morton Manor, Rupert’s daughter, Virginia Anastasia, had just arrived back from giving lessons at her riding school and, still in her skin-tight jodhpurs, she served coffee from a silver pot.
    ‘Can broken hearts be mended, Bunty?’ asked Rupert.
    Virginia Anastasia looked up in surprise. ‘That’s what Mummy used to call me. You’ve not called me that in years.’
    ‘I know, my dear, I know,’ he said quietly. ‘Your mother was a wonderful woman and I miss her still.’ There was a long silence, broken only by the chiming of