When I arrived home, I saw that there were two messages on my answer-phone. Both were from Holly saying that they were at their place and that Diana was safe. That made me feel happy but the long day had been very tiring.

I rose early on the Sunday morning and went for a long run. I needed to get the stiffness from a lot of time in the saddle out of my limbs. By the time I returned home I was feeling a lot better and ready for a nice large breakfast. I opted for what I called a ‘Full Welsh’. This was grilled bacon with Poached Eggs on Toast with a side order of Cockles. It wasn’t to everyone’s taste due to the cockles but as the Eggs were from my hens, the Bacon from Pembrokeshire and the Cockles from near Llanelli, you could hardly be more Welsh than that.

The rest of the day was quiet which was perfect for me.

On Tuesday morning, I’d just done the washing up when the phone rang.
“Hello?”

“Oh, hi Holly. How’s Diana?”

“She did? That’s good then.”

“Oh, I see. Yes, that won’t be a problem, I’ll be ready. I’ll see you when… well when you get here. I’ll get the place ready for her.”

I put the phone down and sat there thinking what to do next.

In the end, I went shopping. I needed a few supplies and something suitable for lunch for four people. Then I went around the house clearing things away and getting a room ready for Diana. The call had been to let me know that apparently, the Police were treating Diana’s disappearance as a case of kidnapping and that Diana had told them that her ex, knew about Holly and William. That was why they wanted to bring here to me sooner rather than later. I knew that Holly had been taking copious pictures of Diana and how she’d been kept. She’d even captured the bolt cutters that were used to cut the chain that had been used to keep her prisoner in her old home.

---

My visitors arrived in time for a late lunch. D>ana didn’t say much until the very end of the meal.

“Why are you doing all this for me?”

I looked at her. She had moist eyes. I sensed that it wouldn’t take much for her to start crying.

I smiled at her.

“Holly asked and I said yes. She’s family. You needed help and we were all there to give it.”

Then Holly added her bit.

“I told you about Monica and how she helped me and didn’t ask for anything in return.”
She reached over and took hold of Diana’s hand.

“She’s one of the good people. Why don’t you let her mother you for a bit until you get over what has happened to you?”

She nodded her head. She was still very disturbed by the whole thing with her ‘ex’.

---

Diana took several days to fully appreciate that she was in a safe place. It seemed that I was getting used to rescuing people after Holly and now Diana.

I’d put in a call to Charlie about getting what protection the law could give Diana from her former husband.

I’d also asked him prepare to get Diana a new identity. I wanted Diana to have a fresh but legal start with getting on with the rest of her life. I also knew that it wasn’t going to be cheap either but what the heck, I had more money than I could ever spend in this life.

I also sent Charlies’ team copies of the pictures that Holly had taken of Diana’s old home. Charlie knew people who could pull strings that I never knew existed. Less than 24 hours later, her former husband had been arrested and charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment.
  
A few days later, I was out in the greenhouse getting some fresh salad leaves when I heard the door open behind me. I looked up and it was Diana. For the first time since she’d been with me, I saw a small smile on her face. I very nice smile indeed.

“Are those for Lunch?” she asked.

“Yes. I made a quiche earlier. I’ve already picked some tomatoes, radishes and onions plus there is still some of the beetroot I cooked the other day.”

Diana stood there laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. Here you are so domestic. Making your own bread, growing all this food and then you put your leathers on and go off and ride like the wind on one of those pocket rockets you keep next door. It is such a strange mixture.
Total opposites.”

I looked at her in surprise.

“Holly told me about your bikes when we were travelling together.”

I smiled back.

“It is nice that you are taking an interest in things again.”

“Yes. Sorry about that. I think I am starting to get over feeling sorry for myself.”

“There is no reason to be sorry. You went through a terrible ordeal and one not of your making.”

~o~O~o~
[The following day before Breakfast]

“Good Morning,” I said as Diana entered the kitchen.

“Hello. Breakfast not ready then?”

I chuckled.

“Breakfast will be served later. After our morning run.”

“Run? You have to be kidding.”

“Not in the slightest. I’ve not been out for a few days and if you are going to stay here, I think that it is only fair that you join me for a little run in the mornings. Besides, I find it makes me appreciate breakfast a whole lot better.”

“I don’t run. I haven’t run anywhere or for anything since I was at school.”

“Well, isn’t starting a new life worth starting with a clean slate?”

“Hummmppphhh. I don’t have anything to wear or put on my feet.”

“Everything you need is in there,” I replied pointing at carrier bag that was sitting on the floor near the door.

“You had all this planned didn’t you?”
I grinned.

“How do I look?” asked Diana when she appeared after getting changed.

“Pretty good,” I said grinning.

Actually, she looked very good.

“Ready?”

“I suppose so. How far are we going?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be kind to you. Build up in easy steps.”

“Build up to what if you don’t mind me asking?”

“A five mile circuit. Or maybe ten if you are good at it.”

Diana just shook her head and glared.

“Let’s go then,” she said reluctantly.

To my surprise, Diana managed a mile in a few run/walk stages before she raised the white flag metaphorically speaking. We walked back home and the both of us tucked into a hearty breakfast.

~o~O~o~

Over the following weeks, we went out most mornings and gradually, she edged closer towards the target I’d set for her. It was all part of my grand plan of rehab for her.

Some two months after we’d started running together, she completed the five-mile circuit without stopping was a remarkable day.

“Come on. Only a hundred metres to go,” I said as we neared the house.

“You…. You have ….. Been saying that for miles,” gasped Diana in between deep breaths.

The new rounded the last corner in the road and my home was right there in front of us.
We crossed the ‘invisible’ finishing line together and stood there panting. We are only a foot or so apart. Then to my surprise, Diana put her hands on my shoulder and panted.

“Ok. Tomorrow is a lie in. No running ok?”

I laughed.

“Yes but just tomorrow.”

Then she kissed me. I was so taken aback by her sudden move that I responded automatically. Then a few seconds later my brain kicked in and I broke off the kiss.

“Didn’t you like it?” asked Diana.

“It is not that. You are my guest. I don’t want it to seem that I’m leading you on… or something like that,” I replied as I desperately tried to get my thoughts together.

“Don’t you like me?”

“It is not that Diana.”

“Well what is it then?”

“You know nothing about me. I could be … well something bad for all you know.”

“I know enough to make me fancy you something rotten.”

I shook my head.

“Why not?” asked Diana.

“Because…” I wanted to answer but I couldn’t. I realised that I really liked her. I’d tried not to show it before because of the vulnerable state she was in. Even now it seemed just wrong.

“I can’t. It’s not fair on you.”

“Fair?” replied Diana who was starting to well up.

“I’m sorry Diana. If we had met under different circumstances then something might have been possible.”

A determined look appeared in her eyes.

“Sod it Monica. Holly told me all about you a long time ago. A bottle of cheap cider is great for loosening the tongue.“

“She told you diddly squat. Only the tip of the iceberg of how I came to be this monstrosity.”

“Monstrosity? You are far from that. You have more sense than just about any woman I know or have ever known.”

“That’s just it. I’m not a woman and can never be one. I look like this because I ran from my old life. I ran because I could not handle what I’d become.”

Diana shook her head.

“You are wrong. Holly told me that you had said that you left because of the narrow-mindedness of others.

Others who couldn’t see past the end of their nose.”

“And those same people followed me to where I moved to and… well I had to move again. I’m sure in my own mind that they would have found me again even in this remote neck of the woods. I became this monstrosity in the hope that I could be happy. I thought I was until at first Holly came into my life. Then you. You reminded me of what I can never be. Don’t you understand that the most we can ever be is just friends. I can’t give you more than that.”

“Yes you can. You gave me life. Now it is my turn to give you yours.”

I shook my head before fleeing into the house and shutting myself away in my bedroom where I proceeded to cry my eyes out. I’d never really that had many serious relationships before my life changed. I just got on with life sort of hoping that someone would eventually come along. Then I got lots of money and I could have probably had almost any woman in the country if I’d put my mind to it. But I didn’t and therein lies the problem. I was a yellow-bellied coward at heart.

~o~O~o~

The house was in darkness when I ventured downstairs. I’d cried myself to sleep and was woken by my phone signalling the arrival of a text message. I read the message but didn’t move from my bed. I listened for any noise but it was very quiet. The only sounds were the distant ‘baaing’ of the sheep and the occasional seagull flying by. The quietness made me wonder if Diana had left my home after my earlier outburst. In the end, I got fed up listening to the silence so I got out of bed and after checking my hair I went downstairs.

I found Diana sitting quietly in a kitchen that was only illuminated by the moonlight that was streaming through the one window.

“Hello Diana. I’m so sorry for that outburst earlier.”

“Monica, I’m sorry for being so… forthright. I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

I tried to respond with a smile.

“It doesn’t matter. Both of us have been through a lot in the past and I guess things sort of caught up with us.”

Diana nodded.

I took a deep breath before saying,

“Do you fancy a trip to London?”

“London? Why?”

“To sort out your new identity. I got a text from my lawyer a little while ago.”

Diana remained fairly expressionless.

“Don’t you want to go?”

She remained silent for several seconds before answering.

“I hadn’t thought about it happening so soon.”

“I know. Leaving the all of your past behind is a big step. I thought long and hard about it myself when the time came.”

“Yet you went through with it didn’t you?”

“Not right away. I sat on my hands for more than a week before taking the plunge.”

“Do you regret it?”

“Sometimes I do, like earlier but most of the time I wouldn’t dream of going back. There is nothing for anymore me where I came from. Besides this place is far better than a terraced two up, two down in a former pit village.
What I have here is something that I don’t want to give up in a hurry.”

“But you had that prize money from the TV behind you.”

For an instant, I almost told her about the other win that I’d had. Then I decided that now was not the time nor place for that.

“Yes, I did and it helped but I still had to make a go of it pretty well on my own. Both Holly and I will be here for you. That should make getting used to the new you a lot easier.

Diana nodded but I still felt the reluctance in her to accept that a really big change was about to happen.

“If it is ok with you, I think we’ll take the train from Carmarthen and stay overnight in London?”

Diana looked troubled.

“What’s wrong?”

She hesitated before answering.

“It’s the train. You know…”

Then I remembered the last time she’d been on a train.

“Ok. I don’t want to take my Land Rover all the way to London. The tyres are a bit close to the minimum tread depth for such a long trip. I’ll make arrangements to rent a car for the trip.”

Stood up and went to get my phone. I was about to switch the light on when Diana said,

“Can we take the Bike?”

I stopped mid dial. Diana had not shown any interest in riding a bike let alone taking such a long trip.

I shook my head saying,

“I’d like to take the bike but there are two problems. Firstly, I don’t have a helmet that you can use. Your head is a lot smaller than mine. Then I only have one set of waterproofs and the forecast for tomorrow in not brilliant. I did have some but our good friend Holly still has hers.”

She looked disappointed so I tried to make amends.

“I’ll tell you what. If we go by car, we can get you some gear when we are in London. I know of just the place to go.”

Diana gave me a brief smile in return. I wondered if her sudden keenness for riding with me was real of just another attempt to kindle favour with me. I put that issue to one side for the time being.

“Shall I email my lawyers and say we’ll see them on the day after tomorrow?”

I got a nod of affirmation in return.

I went into the sitting room and switched on the light. I opened up my laptop and composed an email to Charlie.

With that done, I went back into the kitchen. Diana had cleaned up the mess from lunch and was preparing us something to eat. That was one part of sharing with Diana that I liked. She was very different from Holly who didn’t know much more than how to make Coffee and burn the toast when it came to culinary skills.

While I was waiting for the food to be dished up, I made the arrangements to rent a car for the following day plus two nights at a hotel in London that had on-site parking.

~o~O~o~
Two days later, we presented ourselves at the offices of my legal representatives, Palmer, Quayle and Hemmings in South Kensington.

“Mr Hemmings please,” I said to the receptionist. I let myself have a mental sigh. Every time I came to visit Charlie, there was someone new manning his reception. A second sigh was because they were always young and blonde.

“Do you have an appointment? Mr Hemmings is a very busy man you know.”

“Yes I do. My name is Monica Roberts. I am expected.”

“Oh yes Ms Roberts. Please go through. He is expecting you. His office is the second on the right.

I knocked on the door and went in. Charlie was sitting behind his desk writing. He put down his pen and stood up smiling.

He came around the desk and wrapped his arms around me.

“Darling. How nice to see you! It’s been ages.”

Two ‘faux’ kisses on my cheeks and he turned his attention to Diana.

“Now who have we here?”

Nervously, Diana said,

“I’m Diana.”

“Come here my Darling let me hug you. I know that you have really been through the mixer. It is so nice to see your smiling face at last.”

After two more faux kisses on the cheek, he led her to one of the three chairs that were placed around a circular table.

“Please take a seat my darling.”

Diana sat down with a bit of a bewildered look on her face.

“Don’t worry Di, Charlie here chats up all his female clients despite him being the gayest man I’ve ever met.”

She visibly relaxed as Charlie and I sat down around the table.

“Maria will be in shortly with some Coffee. Did you guys have breakfast?”

“We looked at what was on offer at the Hotel and decided not to pay more than twenty quid for a bit of toast and a pot of tea.”

Charlie laughed. For a lawyer, he had a good sense of humour.

Just then the receptionist Maria came into the room with a large Cafetiere on a tray.

“Marvellous”, exclaimed Charlie. “Maria, be a darling and pop down to Oscar’s for a round of Cream Cheese Bagels, there’s a darling?”

As he said that, he took his wallet from his jacket pocket and fished out a £20 note and handed it to her.
With a wry smile on her face she took the money and left the office.

“Shall I be ‘Mother’?” asked Charlie.

I tried not to snigger but Diana gave me a swift kick under the table. She was relaxing which was the plan.
With cups of Coffee in front of us, Charlie pulled a think buff folder broom his desk and put it on the table.

“Now down to business, he said calmly.

With a smile, he opened the folder.

“Now Diana, this is your new identity. It is completely legal and above-board. I had to call in a few favours to get all this done so quickly. Normally something like this takes at least three months but with your ex-husband up on some very serious charges, the people who mattered saw that it was all in a good cause.”

He passed a sheet of paper over to Diana. It was a birth Certificate.

She took it with slightly trembling hands.

“Helen Lydia Carson, born…”

She smiled.

“Born a week before I was in the same hospital.”

“Helen is a real person who now lives in Australia.”

“I never thought of myself as a Helen,” remarked Diana.

“That won’t be your final name.”

Diana looked at Charlie with a distinctly puzzled look on her face.

Charlie grinned as he took another sheet from the folder.

“This is a deed poll that we use to change your name to… Cheryl Dawson.”

For the next hour that was only punctuated by the arrival of the Bagels and some fresh coffee, we went through all the bits of information that goes to make up an identity. These included National Insurance numbers, Bank Accounts and importantly, a driving License and Passport.

“But I can’t drive.”

“That is good. If someone comes looking for you, they won’t be looking for someone who drives a car and has three points on their license from two years ago in Inverness.”

I knew that Charlie had pulled more than a few strings. That good an identity is just not available unless the Home Office is involved. I could only guess that the threats towards her that her former husband had made at his initial court appearance despite his intention to plead guilty when he came up before the judge next month for a pre-trial hearing.

At the end of the exercise, Charlie sat back with a satisfied grin on his face.

“Ok, Charlie, how much is this going to cost me?”

“Seventy Five if that is ok with you?”

Diana now Cheryl looked at me angrily.

“Is that Seventy Five Thousand Pounds?”

Charlie nodded.

“I can’t accept this!” she said while glaring at me.

“Calm down Cheryl. I have the money, more than enough. It costs a lot of money to give you a new life. Consider it my birthday present.”

“I can’t accept this,” she replied pushing the folder away.

“This is your chance at a new life and not be looking over your shoulder every hour of every day,” said Charlie quietly but firmly.

Cheryl took hold of the passport and opened it at the page that contained her photo. I’d taken it the day after we’d rescued her.

“Is this real and not a forgery?”

“Yes dear, it is 100% real.”

Then she took it and held it to her chest. As she did so, she looked at me and said sternly.

“We will talk about the money when we get home!”

I laughed trying to diffuse her obvious annoyance.

“We will at that.”

Despite my best efforts, Diana would not give up on the money thing when we returned home.

“Are you sure you weren’t born in Yorkshire?”

“Why are you evading me?”

“Look Cheryl, I have sufficient funds to do what I want with my life. Paying that money to get you a new life was money well spent in my opinion.”

“It was far too much. I need to repay you.”

“I won’t accept one penny from you for this. It is my gift to you and that’s the end of it.”

Her glare told me that I’d have to tell her eventually.

---

The following weeks and then months saw a big change come over Cheryl. She still got a kick out of me calling her by her new name.

One day, she said to me, “I think that I should get a job. I can’t sit here all day doing nothing.”

I laughed.

“You really don’t have to? Besides you aren’t exactly doing nothing now are you?”

“I know that I’m doing things around here. But I can’t keep sponging off of you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I just can’t.”

I guessed the real reason. She never wanted to be beholden to anyone ever again.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

I smiled.

“Well I have a few irons in the fire locally. Perhaps you can help out. Didn’t you say that you worked in the Planning Department of your local Council?”

“Yes why?”

“I happen to own a few properties in the village and surrounding area. I have a little project in my mind that is larger than anything I’ve ever done before.”

“Sounds good. What do I need to do?”

“There is a bit of a problem.”

She gave me the ‘Oh yeah!’ look.

“I have a sort of a partner in the venture.”

“So?”

“Firstly, she only knows that I’m a bit if an eccentric woman who dabbles in property. She really knows nothing about you.”

Cheryl nodded.

“I think I get it.”

I shook my head.

“No. It is more complicated than that.”

I went on to explain.

“As soon as we appear together in the Village, the gossip drums will start beating loudly. Sure, some of them have seen us out for our runs or in Lampeter doing the shopping. But it getting obvious that you are not just visiting.”

“Ah, the lesbian’s are taking over?”

“Yes, something very much like that.”

Cheryl thought hard for a few seconds.

“Why don’t we give them something to talk about rather than pure rumour and conjecture?”

“I…”

She put up her hand.

“I know you have reservations about us but for the sake of appearances isn’t it a good idea? I was thinking about identical engagement rings.”

I knew that she was right. I didn’t like it but it was about the only solution I could think of.

“Well, we’d better go and do some shopping hadn’t we?”

---

The following day, we set off on my Triumph Trophy on our shopping trip. Cheryl had the opportunity to try out her new one-piece leather suit. We’d bought it on our trip to London where she’d acquired her new identity. Since then other things had gotten in the way of us going out on the bike. Our shopping trip presented an ideal opportunity.

Cheryl was just like Holly in that she was a very good passenger. She quickly learned to lean into the corners by just the right amount. This made the ride from my point of view very enjoyable.

We headed for Cardiff with hopes of successful purchasing two rings.

After visiting five shops and finding nothing that was either suitable or an item where they had two in stock in sizes that would fit both of us we were in a bit of a quandary. Therein lay the problem with my logic in coming as far as we had. Neither of us really wanted to come all the way back to get rings that had been altered.

We were sitting in a Café on St Mary’s St having some lunch when Cheryl suggested,

“Why don’t we try the Pawn shops?”

I just grinned back at her. It was so obvious and I kicked myself for not thinking about them sooner.

An hour later we had what we wanted. Two almost identical rings that would fit both of us had been purchased from a Pawn shop. The sad bit was that I couldn’t fit my Motorcycle gloves on with the ring on my finger.

“That will never do!” exclaimed Cheryl when she saw me taking the ring off.

“Tough. Do you want to take control?”

“Me? No chance.”

“I guess I could put the ring on a chain when I’m on the bike?”

I got a swift peck on the cheek for that.

When we were back home I looked at my Calendar.

“There is a W.I. Meeting in a few days. Are you ready to be introduced to the women of the Village?”

“I’ve never been to a W.I. meeting.”

“I think that a certain couple will be the centre of whispers. It is a shame really, we have someone up from Tenby coming to talk about the Wildlife of Madagascar.”

We had some lunch and then went down to the Village.
  
Ruby was busy in the Post Office so we waited until she’d dealt with all the customers.

“Ruby, have you got a moment, we need to talk?”

“Sure. I’m due a break anyway. Let me get the boss to take over for a while.”

We waited outside for her to appear.

“What’s all this about?” she asked.

“Ruby, I’d like to introduce you to Cheryl.”

“Please to meet you Cheryl,” she said smiling. Her gaze went downwards to our hands that were clasped together.

“I take it that you two are an item then?”

“Yes but…”

“I know, mums the word.”

She giggled for a few seconds.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Fire away.”

“Do you know who owns the property over the road?”

Just over the road was the old Garage/Filling station. It had closed a few years ago because it couldn’t compete with the Supermarket prices.

“Angharad’s husband owns it,” said Ruby in a matter of fact way.

My heart sank. Cheryl saw that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s say that Angharad and I are not the best of friends. I beat her and her sister in the Christmas Cake
competition a few of years ago.”

“Angharad is a stuck up bitch. The whole Village knows it and you did everyone a favour when you won,” added Ruby with a huge smile on her face.

“So?” said Cheryl.

“So what?” I asked.

“Put up enough money and I’m sure that they’ll sell.”

“But that place is far too big for what we were planning,” said Ruby.

“Think big, not small,” said Cheryl.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m an outsider here but I can see that for one, this place is too small,” she said pointing at the Post Office.

“Move the Post Office over the road. It seems that lots of people already park there when using the Post Office. Then why not open a small Coffee Shop/tea room. Then the gossips won’t have to stand out in all weathers to spread their rumours. I’m sure there is probably room for some sort of store that sold local produce. Monica’s eggs for example.”

“I can’t sell them. I can give them away. To sell them, I need my hens checked for… things like Streptococcus, Septicaemia and Staphylococcus,” I argued remembering the information I’d been given when I bought them.

“So?” said Cheryl again.

“I have to get back to work,” said Ruby coming to my rescue.

“Ok,” I said trying to be non-committal.

“Bye for now Ruby but please keep what I just said to yourself for the time being but if it comes to fruition, there will be a place for your cake shop and bakery. I feel I owe it to you after the last thing fell through at the last minute.”

“Don’t worry Monica, I like you and I don’t gossip unlike a lot of people in this village.”

Then Cheryl added,

“Ruby, it has been nice to meet you. I’m sure that we can sort something out soon,” said Cheryl as Ruby turned to make her way back to work.
  
I was doing the washing up that evening when Cheryl came into the kitchen to lend a hand.

As she was drying the last of the plates, she said,

“You know what your problem is, you are scared of commitment.”

I just stopped what I was doing and stared out of the window.  The Sun was just dropping below the horizon. The ruined barn was silhouetted against the orange sky.

I couldn’t move.

Cheryl put down the plate and the tea towel on the drainer. Then she took hold of me and turned me towards her.

With a smile on her face, she kissed me long and hard. I tried to resist but couldn’t. In the end, I responded to her kisses.

When we came up for air, she said.

“There. Isn’t that better?”

“Yes. I was nice.”

“You should do the same to the Village.”

“I can’t kiss them all?”

She laughed.

“It may come to that but instead of keeping in the shadows, come out into the open and put your money where your mouth is and invest in the shop come café come whatever.”

She was right and I knew it. I’d really been hiding for far too long.
  
My resolve was put to the test the very next day at the W.I. meeting. A few people said, ‘about time too’, some gave us a little smile but as predicted, Angharad was a bitch. She even went as far as to demand that we were thrown out.

The branch chairwoman stated calmly that the rules of the W.I. were such that it is open to all women. Only men are not allowed to become members but they can attend many meetings and social functions. The thought ‘If they only knew…’ crossed my mind several times during that debate.

Angharad stormed off swearing to get us barred.

As a result, the meeting was a great success and Cheryl and I received a lot of congratulations even from some of the older members.

~o~O~o~
Once we’d come out in the open about our relationship Cheryl and I really let the barriers down and I fell in love with her. At first, I didn’t think that she was in love with me but as we worked together on the project, it became clear to me that she was here for the long game and that made me very happy.

The only time that Cheryl got angry with me was when I’d received the estimates from our architect for the costs of our project.

“This is going to cost a heck of a lot more than I’d expected”, said Cheryl when we’d returned from Cardiff with the plans.

Before I could say anything, she added,

“Don’t say ‘I can afford it’. Isn’t it time for you to come clean. Just how much did you win on the lottery?”

I knew that eventually I’d have to tell her.

“Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you over some tea and cake.”

Cheryl let out a loud sigh.

“Everything around her seems to get decided over tea and cake.”

“Well, what’s so wrong with that. Our morning runs keep us pretty fit.”

“You are really a one off aren’t you.”

“Hmmpphh”, I replied as I filled the kettle.

With a cup of tea and some ginger cake in front of us, I started to tell her my story.

“When I was learning to be the new me, as you know I worked with a hairdresser in Devon. Anyway, one Friday a group of us went out for a girls night out to celebrate one of their birthdays. We bought a load of Euro-Millions lottery tickets and gave half of them to the birthday girl. Well, to cut a long story short, I won the whole shooting match.”

“Well?”

“Around a hundred and fifty.”

“A hundred and fifty what? Pounds.”

“No, a Hundred and Fifty Million.”

Cheryl looked at me aghast.

“You are kidding me.”

“No. You should know me well enough to know that I don’t joke about money.”

“But…”

“That is just between us. I really don’t want more people than is absolutely necessary to know. Holly, Charlie, my shrink and my friend Devon and now you are the only people who know. I’d really prefer to keep it that way.”
Cheryl reached over and took my hand.

“Darling, you are so modest and that’s why I love you. You haven’t let that money go to your head and that is wonderful.”

“So? You aren’t after me for my money then?”

Cheryl laughed.

“Not yet but I’d like to get married at some point.”

“Not had enough of being married then? Didn’t the last one put you off for ever?”

“It did until… well I fell in love with you. You are so kind and unassuming. I love that in a woman.”

She laughed for a few seconds. Then she squeezed my hand.

“Darling, I won’t tell anyone about the money. I’ve seen how money can destroy people. I don’t want that to happen to us.”

I leaned over and kissed her.

~o~O~o~
[Three Months Later]
“Are you ready?” asked Cheryl.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Shall I open the doors?”

“Yes. Go on and let the hordes in.”

Cheryl let out a small laugh as she opened the doors to the Village Hall.

Twenty minutes later, everyone who was coming was seated and looking at the stage expectantly.
I looked at Cheryl who gave me a small nod. Then I stood up and climbed up onto the stage. There were a few murmurs from the audience.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for coming out tonight. For those who don’t know me, I’m Monica.”

I took a deep breath.

“As the notices said, this meeting is to discuss the possible re-development of the old garage site that is just across the road from here.”

“As all of you know the Garage closed almost a decade ago and since then the site has remained empty and unused. Ever since I moved to the village I wondered if another use could be found for the site. It was obvious that the owners had no idea what could be done with the site. I am pleased to say that last week, I completed the purchase of the whole site and the whole of the field that separates the Garage Site from the Doctors Surgery. I am now in a position to reveal my plans for the site.”

“Lights please.”

Cheryl dimmed the light as I switched on the projector.

“Many of you love to spend time chatting in and around the Post Office.

The first image was of a group of people standing outside the Post Office as an HGV thundered by a few feet away.

“I am sure that you will all agree that this is not the ideal place to have conversations.”

I carried on for another ten minutes outlining the issues as I saw them.

“Those are some of the problems that I’ve noticed. Now for my proposal. What I am about to show you are my ideas for solving some of the problems I have just outlined.”
“Please try to think of the possible and not the problems for a moment.
“What if we had a new Post Office.”
“What if we had a bigger Doctors Surgery so that we could have some treatments such as physiotherapy here rather than going into town?”
“What if we had a purpose built nursery school with an outside play area.”
“What if we had somewhere where local small businesses could setup shop? Then we the residents would have to make less journeys to the Tesco megastore in Aber.”
“What if we had a place where local producers could sell their wares in one place?”
“What if we had a Library?”
“What if we had a small tea-room come coffee shop?”
“What if we had the main road diverted so that the road outside wasn’t such a death trap?”

Then I showed the next slide. This was an architects illustration of the building that we’d designed.”

“What if we had something like this?”

I showed a picture of the Architects design.

Then I got an interruption.

“But who’s going to pay for it then?”

“Good question. Can I have the lights on please.”

Cheryl brought up the lights.

“There is a cost involved. A project like this if done properly does not come cheap as I’m sure that you will agree.”

I took another deep breath.

“Here’s the deal.”

“I thought there’d be a catch,” shouted the same voice as before.

“The deal is that I will pay for the construction of the whole thing. No catch, no caveats. Then when all construction is finished I’ll transfer the ownership into a trust. Then it will be over to you, the people of the village and the people who take the units to manage. I’d hope that the profits would be ploughed back into the business.”

“Aye but can thee afford it?”

I smiled.

“There is one person in the room that does know the answer to that question besides myself. Ruby? Would you care to comment?”

Ruby’s face went a bright shade of red. Slowly, she stood up.

“I know that Monica has a good deal of money. That is obvious from what she spent doing up her home and now buying the land. I also know that it is in her nature to help those who want to help themselves. That is called being a Philanthropist. She had tried to help me find somewhere so that I can start a business making cakes. Her solution to my problem might well be this project. I can see that by thinking big rather than small we could end up with a fantastic asset to the Village.”

“What a load of rubbish!” came a voice from the back of the Hall.

Everyone turned to see who’d called out.

It was Angharad.

“Angharad. Welcome to the meeting. Aren’t you and your husband due to leave for pastures new very soon?”
That stopped her for about a second.

“Yes. We sold the land to a company that Monica apparently owns. If we had known, it was her then I’d have made sure that she would not have bought it.”

“Angharad? What is your beef with me? At least I am trying to something for the Village. How long was the land lying derelict?”

“All that stuff about giving the development to the Village is a load of baloney. No one in their right mind spends close on a Million pounds on some land and god knows how much on putting up a building only to give it away. Believe me, it will never happen. No one is that foolish.”

Everyone turned back to look at me.

“Thank you Angharad for your view on the world. My view of the world is a little different from yours. Ok, I’m foolish. There I’ve said it. I’d really like to do something for the Village. I’m a stranger here. I’m an incomer but most of you have made me very welcome in the relatively short time I’ve lived here. As regards giving the building away after spending a load of money on it. Well, I can afford it. So why shouldn’t a foolish person such as myself waste their money on what they like? Only I don’t really think I’m going to waste my money. If I can help create something that the village will be proud of then I’ll be happy.”

“If the land is so important to you, why didn’t you or your family redevelop the site? I can tell you why. The garage was operated by your family from 1932 until 2003. The site is contaminated and before it can be used for anything else it needs to be cleaned up. The estimate for that work is at least a quarter of a million pounds. It is only natural that you didn’t want to spend that amount of money with no guaranteed return on any subsequent investment. I don’t have those limitations.”

Then I added,

“I want to do this for the village. If the people decide that they don’t want it then fair enough. I’ll clean up the garage site and turn the field into a park for everyone to use. Then I’ll call it a day. It is all up to you, the people who will be affected by this proposal.”

After a second or two of silence a few people started to clap.

When that had died down the doctor, Victor Churchill stood up to speak.

“When Monica came to me and outlined what she was thinking of my first thoughts that she was totally mad. After her third or fourth visit, I began to warm to the whole concept. There are so many things that I could do with extra space and facilities. I’d probably be able to attract more patients and staff. All of this would improve the healthcare that I can offer to everyone here. Monica has included most of my ideas into the design we see here tonight.”

Then he turned to Angharad.

“Angharad, your family had a golden opportunity to do something like this. You already owned the land but you didn’t. You did nothing. It is no wonder that you don’t like the idea. I expect that you feel a bit cheated. Please accept that there are a good few of us there tonight who have been involved with Monica and her ideas. This plan is not just her ideas. She came and talked to a lot of people to get their thoughts and ideas. I am totally behind this.”

Then Ifor Williams who runs the Post Office stood up.

“More and more of you are shopping online. That means more parcels needing to be delivered. There will be space for them to be kept until you come home from work. Who amongst you really enjoys trekking to god knows where to collect your parcels just because you weren’t at home when the driver arrived? With the new office and the associated space, I can provide a both a drop off and collection point for all the delivery companies.”

Then it was Ruby’s turn.

“I feel at least partially to blame for this. Many of you have helped me out by letting me use your kitchens to bake my cakes. Monica has gone a big step further in helping me become virtually a full-time cake maker. In my wildest dreams I never thought that she’d come up with something as totally radical as this. All I can say is ‘Bring it On’.”

This time there was a lot of applause.

I looked towards the rear of the hall. Angharad had slipped out but her sister, Cerys was still there smiling. She saw my gaze and nodded back at me. I knew then that we’d won.

---

Now that we had the general support of the Village, the hard work could start. Getting planning permission was going to be fun but at least Cheryl could really help here but as they say, ‘the best laid plans etc’.
It didn’t take long for placards and posters to start appearing all over the village saying in big red text, ‘The Village is NOT for Sale. Stop the Garage Development’.
 
A couple of days after the posters started to appear, I was having my morning cuppa when Mike Edwards, the Village Postman knocked on my back door. I felt that this was a bit strange because he normally left my mail in the box near the road.

“Hello Monica. I’ve been seeing lots of these all over the Village. All the people who spoke at the meeting the other night have had them plastered all over their cars. The Doctor is not amused. He was called out to Emily Griffiths in the middle of the night. She’s a week overdue. He couldn’t drive his car so he called the Police. Whoever did this is in for it big time.”

“Oh?”

I was stunned.

“How is Emily?”
“She’s fine. She and her son are in Bronglais and doing fine by all accounts.”

I smiled back. Mike knew just about everything about everyone in the Village.
“Who do you think did this?”

Mike smiled back at me.

“Guess?”

“Angharad? Surely, she wouldn’t stoop to plastering over the Doc’s car, would she?”

Mike shook his head.

“She would not be so stupid as to do it herself after her so public objections at the meeting. My guess is that she probably paid a few youngsters to do it and they got a bit excited.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

“I’d expect a visit from the Constabulary in the not too distant future though.”

Mike’s brother was a Sergeant in the Aberystwyth Police.

“Thanks for the heads up Mike. It is much appreciated.”

“No Monica. It is my pleasure. I think what you want to do is just what the village needs.”

“Thanks for the support Mike.”

I sat in the kitchen trying to understand what was going on when Cheryl came down still trying to get the sleep out of her eyes.
 
“Was that the postman?”

“Yes, it was Mike. He had something to show me.”

I showed her the poster that Mike had left me.

“These have been plastered all over the Village including all over the Doctor’s Car.”

“Shit!”

“Yes. My thoughts exactly.”

“Who? Who would do this?”

“Angharad. Who else. You saw her at the meeting. She hasn’t liked me ever since I beat her in the Christmas Cake competition a few years ago.”

“All over a cake?”

“Yes. Well that and the special sweetener I use. The one that I grow in the greenhouse.”

“Oh yes. I know now.”

“What happens next?”

“Apparently, I’m going to get a visit from the Police. Apart from that we carry on as planned.”

“So, I’m to meet the Architect and do stuff?”

“Yes. He’s just about ready to submit the application for outline planning permission.

---

Two Officers from the CID turned up late that afternoon. I was unable to help them apart from giving them a bit of background to the project. The two officers were not very clued up. One even asked me if I’d had the posters made and that it was all my own work. I almost swore at them and from then on, I became very defensive. At the end, I said the words, ‘If you need to speak to me again then please do so through my lawyer.’ My smartass idea backfired because that made them even more suspicious of me.

My parting words to them were,

“I’m the victim here so why don’t you try to find out where those placards were printed? I’m sure that won’t be too hard. It might even help you find out who is responsible?”

Neither of them answered me. That told me that they thought that it was all my doing.

---

With them gone, I sat down and tried to stop shaking. After a while, I called Charlie and brought him up to speed.

“Don’t worry my darling. I’ll call the Inspector and make sure that they direct all questions to me.”

“Thanks Charlie, you are a brick.”

“Darling, that’s what you pay me for. Now tell me all about this Angharad woman. If you want, I’ll try to dig up some dirt on her. You never know when it may come in useful?”

I thought for a few seconds.

“Charlie, please. That would be perfect. Thanks.”

 

I tried to do some housework but my mind was not on it so I sat down and started thumbing through the channels on the TV.

My bad day was just about complete when I saw my old self on TV.  The Bravo Channel was showing an episode of ‘Classic Who Wants to be a Millionaire’.

I just fell apart and cried when I saw my former self. To be reminded of my former self was just about the last thing I needed given my current mental state,

[To be continued]