Page 36 of Sunrise over Strawberry Hill Farm

Nico looked at Grams with raised eyebrows. ‘I apologise. Have I just invited a local hoodlum into your home?’

She laughed and shook her head. ‘The lad’s all right,’ she said. ‘He’s just having a bit of a tough time at home, that’s all. His younger brother’s got a long-term illness and takes up most of Mum’s attention with him being in and out of hospital a lot. Dad disappeared off a long time ago. She tries her best, but Tyson has to shoulder a lot of responsibility on young shoulders.’

As Nico helped Grams back into the car, he glanced over the river to the other side and saw Tyson watching them in the distance. He gave him a small wave and saw the teenager immediately tear off into the distance and around the corner until Nico couldn’t see him any more.

Tyson looked like someone in need of help and Nico found himself hoping that he turned up at Strawberry Hill Farm at some point soon.

21

Once the tents had been unpacked from the lorry, Flora and Nico needed to ensure that they were usable.

‘They’ll be fine,’ Nico told her. ‘Mrs McKinley might have been a somewhat dubious hostess, but I don’t doubt her word that they are in good condition.’

Despite the incline of the hill, they decided to put the first one up in its intended site in the wildflower meadow.

After laying down a large tarpaulin sheet to protect the tent from the sodden grass, Flora and Nico used various ropes to secure it until it appeared structurally sound. Finally, after a bit of manoeuvring, the first tent was up. It was a cream-coloured bell tent, round with a pointed roof held up by a large pole which reached up to the apex. The high roof gave it a light and airy feeling which Flora hadn’t expected when she went inside.

‘I like it,’ she said.

‘Me too,’ said Nico, coming to stand alongside her. ‘There’s plenty of space for a double bed and extra furniture.’

‘I couldn’t keep away,’ called out Grams before stepping inside. ‘My word! It’s much larger than I thought it would be.’

‘Which is a bonus because it means there’ll be space for a large bed as well as a sofa too perhaps,’ said Flora.

‘A sofa?’ Nico looked surprised. ‘Why would there be a sofa inside a tent?’

Flora smiled at him. ‘I thought we were going for a glamping vibe?’

Grams chuckled. ‘Folks today want a bit of luxury, I reckon. Plus, if we had sofa beds, you could have people with families come too.’

‘That’s a great idea,’ said Nico, nodding thoughtfully.

Flora walked around, screwing her eyes up to think. For a moment, she could see exactly how she could decorate it. The bedding would be soft and warm, in pale colours, matching the bedside lights and numerous fairy lights that would be twirled right around the pole to the top of the ceiling.

‘The structure is good,’ she heard Nico say as he and Grams wandered back outside. ‘And we can respray them so that they remain waterproof.’

‘Good job if the next month’s forecast is to be believed,’ said Grams.

‘It’s not good?’ asked Nico.

‘Not for the farmers, that’s for sure,’ Grams told him. ‘A little bit of rain is always good. A lot of rain is not any good for anyone but the ducks.’

Flora headed out of the tent to join them.

‘Thankfully, they don’t always get the forecast right,’ said Nico smoothly.

‘Let’s hope not,’ said Grams. ‘So how are you going to make these things level?’

‘I’m going to build a platform for each one,’ Nico told her. ‘Like decking, so that also creates outside space as well as keeping the tents on even ground.’

‘No soggy bottoms here then,’ said Grams, with a chuckle. ‘Talking of which, I must take that cake out of the oven.’

After she had left, Flora turned to look at Nico. ‘I’ve been thinking about your flat-pack furniture suggestion,’ she said.

He raised his eyebrows. ‘And you hate the idea?’ he prompted.

She shook her head. ‘Not hate, but I just don’t think they’re going to suit what we’re hoping to achieve here. New beds and mattresses, absolutely. But I thought perhaps we could look at a second-hand furniture shop in Aldwych. There might be a few things we could work on to give it a more glamorous vibe.’