(12/13) The Year at Thrush Green Read Online Free PDF Page B

streaks, but he seemed very content.
    'Nice to see you. I'm not making much headway with this - everything's so wet after the snow. But what brings you here?'
    'The pleasure of seeing Thrush Green again,' said Charles, 'and one or two little parish matters.'
    'Come in and have a drink,' said Harold, abandoning his work and leading the way to the house.
    'It's about this summer's fete,' said Charles, when they were settled with their glasses.
    'You're the second person to mention the fete,' commented Harold. 'Heavens, man, it's not till July! Edward Young wants me to do his usual job, by the way, as he's hoping to go away during Paul's summer holidays.'
    'Well, we shall have to bring it up at the committee meeting,' said Charles, 'but I just wondered if you had any strong feelings about where the proceeds should go this year.'
    'I hadn't thought about it. It's usually the church roof or the organ that's in need. What's in your mind?'
    'Rectory Cottages.'
    'But surely they are in good nick? We're both trustees. There's no doubt there, is there?'
    'Well, no. But Jane Cartwright has been wondering if the communal room is really big enough. You see, it's not just the residents of the seven cottages that use it, but their visitors sometimes. And, of course, if they have a party of any sort, it does get rather crowded.'
    'But Edward Young went into all that very carefully when he designed it. And also when the conservatory was added.'
    The rector began to look unhappy. 'I know, and I should not like to hurt his feelings by suggesting that it is too small, but as a matter of fact, Mrs Thurgood rang me about the matter the other day.'
    'Oh!' said Harold, with feeling. 'I begin to see.'
    Mrs Thurgood was also one of the trustees. She was an elderly woman who spoke her mind, irrespective of the feelings of others, and was a power to be reckoned with. Mrs Thurgood usually got her way.
    The rector had crossed swords with her before over the matter of kneelers at St John's church at Lulling, where she and her daughter were regular worshippers. It had been a doughty battle which the rector had won, for despite his gentle manner, which some took for weakness, when it came to sticking to his guns Charles Henstock was as ferocious as the next.
    Nevertheless, his heart sank when Mrs Thurgood approached. It usually meant that there was trouble ahead.
    T thought I'd have a word with Jane,' he told Harold, 'when I call there this afternoon. It is best to find out at root level if there is any need for an enlargement. It would cost a great deal, and mean quite an upheaval while the building was going on.'
    'Too true. And then there is Edward.'
    Charles sighed. 'Yes indeed. There is Edward.'
    They sat surveying their glasses for a moment.
    'He'd probably understand,' said Harold at last.
    'He's very sensitive,' responded Charles. 'I suppose it is because he is creative. '
    'Well, aren't we all? I'm creative when I'm gardening, Isobel is creative when she's cooking, but we don't throw tantrums about it.'
    Charles laughed. 'You're quite right of course. Nevertheless, I don't like upsetting Edward. He's a good man, but just a little - what shall I say?'
    'Touchy?' suggested Harold. 'He was a real pain in the neck when John Lovell said his steps at the Cottages weren't safe. He just can't bear criticism.'
    'I know.'
    The rector looked sad, and Harold adopted a rallying tone.
    'Cheer up! It may never happen. Cross that bridge when you come to it, and all that.'
    The rector nodded, and put down his empty glass.
    'In any case,' went on Harold, 'I'd sooner face Edward than Mrs Thurgood.'
    Isobel put her head round the door. 'Ready for lunch?'
    'Always,' smiled Charles.

    The mild weather continued, and heart-lifting signs of spring were everywhere.
    Yellow tassels of the hazel catkins fluttered from the hedge. Yellow aconites, with ruffs of green, appeared with the snowdrops. Yellow early dwarf irises and early crocuses were about to burst into bloom, and