Footsteps In Ashbridge Episode 03
This was impossible!
Sarah prided herself on being practical, but there didn’t seem any way the wardrobe could be put together.
After five minutes of studying the instructions further, she concluded that three hinges were missing.
This morning, when she’d went food shopping, she’d passed an old-fashioned ironmonger’s – maybe they could help.
She popped one of the hinges into her bag and walked down the road and into the town’s main street.
She congratulated herself on the location of her new home, tucked in behind the old part of the town and only a 10-minute walk from school.
Her life in Milton Keynes seemed a million miles away.
She looked curiously at the young families that she passed.
Would any of these children be her pupils when term started next week?
There was the corner site, with its signs declaring Jackson & Son above the door and Ironmongery and Hardware over the window.
The older man behind the counter beamed in approval when she produced the hinge.
“Not everyone thinks to do that,” he said. “I have to do a lot of guesswork.
“Three? I’m afraid they come in packets of six.”
He handed one over and held out the card machine for payment.
“I haven’t seen you in here before, if I may say so. Are you new to the area?”
“Very new.” Sarah laughed. “I moved in three days ago. I’m going to be teaching at the junior school.”
“Ah. Welcome to Ashbridge.” The man leaned over the counter and held out his hand.
“I’m Cliff – the ‘and Son’ of this establishment. And you’re Sarah Dixon.”
He smiled at her surprise.
“I’m one of the school governors. We only have one new member of staff this year, so it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“Thank you,” Sarah replied. “I’m slowly getting to know Ashbridge.
“But finding somewhere to live that has my name in the address makes me feel at home right away!”
“Ah, you must be in Betty Dixon Road, then,” Cliff commented.
Sarah hoped he would tell her something about her almost-namesake, but the shop doorbell jangled.
“No doubt we’ll meet again, Sarah,” he said as he turned his attention to his customer.
If I get the wardrobe finished this afternoon I can put clothes away and that will be my bedroom ready, Sarah thought.
It was a satisfying prospect, but all the same she dawdled, keen to get more acquainted with her surroundings.
She came to a halt outside the registry office.
A little crowd had gathered on the pavement to watch a wedding party coming out.
“We’re going to the park to have photographs taken,” the groom announced.
As the group milled about, someone vaguely familiar caught Sarah’s eye: a woman in her forties with curly brown hair.
She gave Sarah a little wave and then came over.
It was Lou, Sarah realised, her classroom assistant.
They’d met briefly when Sarah had come up to see the school at the end of last term.
“Sarah! It’s great to see you. I hope you’re finding your way about,” Lou said with a friendly smile. “That’s my brother Neil who’s just got married.
“And this is his daughter, Chloe,” she added, putting her arm around a teenage girl who’d come to join her.
“Chloe, this is my new teacher!”
Chloe smiled politely at Sarah and then tugged her aunt’s sleeve.
“We’d better go. Dad wants to have the photos taken while the park is still quiet.”
“Coming, darling. Sarah, would you like to come for coffee tomorrow morning?”
“I’d love to,” Sarah replied.
It would be good to get to know Lou away from the busy classroom.
Lou gave Sarah her address and went back to her family.
They moved off, presumably in the direction of the park, amid much laughter.
Sarah took out her phone, feeling an urge to speak to her dad or mum or a friend back home.
No. She began to put it away again.
She could Facetime later and show off her DIY skills, but she had to start making a life for herself here.
And with that thought she retrieved the phone, fumbling a little for the right app to find the way to Lou’s house for tomorrow.
She couldn’t quite figure out her current position and turned this way and that trying to work it out.
“Can I help?” A tall man hovered beside her. “Although I do better with a paper map myself.”
“I know what you mean,” Sarah replied. “You get a bigger picture. I’m looking for Old Grange Street.”
“Ah, as the name suggests, it’s in the old part of town, the original village. Not far.”
He raised a long arm in a curved movement.
“As the crow flies, it’s over the top of the registry office there and about four streets behind.
“But as you’re not a crow, it’s down there, round the corner –”
Sarah burst out laughing.
“That must be very near where I live myself. I – ”
The next thing she knew, someone careered into her back.
She had to grab hold of the man to keep her balance, and in the process her phone flew out of her hand and landed with a crash on the pavement.
“Jamie!” the man cried. “Look what you’ve done.”
To be continued…