Chapter 2
She sat on the swing with me and the dogs and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“That’s very sad. I’ve known Tom a long time, Albert as well, since Tom brought him here. I went to school with Tom and saw how he was bullied. There are a few other girls from that time who still live around the area. I have a key to this house, in case it was needed, which I’ll give you. He had a key to mine.”
“I was just given his keys. Is it on the ring?”
I handed it over and she took a key off it.
“What are you doing, now, Tony?”
“I’m staying to calm the dogs. Mum has called Toms’ father to see about the property, and I need to find someone to take the poultry before I finally leave. I don’t know what I’ll do about the dogs, then, as I can’t have them at home.”
“I’ve looked after them when Tom and Albert were away, so they could stay with me for a while. You were very close, weren’t you?”
“The two of them helped me grow up. Albert taught me to cook, Tom taught me piano, and also expanded my knowledge of music and literature. Pretty much everything I have comes from their care and attention. I’m going to miss them both.”
“I’ll ask around about the birds. They originally came from the farm next door, before it stopped being a farm. I’m in the group of houses, about a hundred yards back towards the village. You go up the track to the right and I’m in the house on the right. There are two houses on the left. My name is Francis Abbott. I knew a lot of Andersons when I lived in Stevenage.”
“You may have met my mother. She was Mary Anderson and worked as a helper in the library before she got married.”
“Now you mention it, I do remember a bright girl who was there. That would have been in the eighties.”
She had been gone fifteen minutes, and I had rescued the lunch things from my pannier and put them in the fridge when another car pulled into the property. I went out to see my Uncle Edward and my mother. She came over and held me.
“You poor boy, finding Tom like that. How are you getting on?”
“I’m coping, Mum. How about you come in and I’ll put the kettle on.”
We all went into the kitchen and my uncle also gave me a hug before they sat down. Boobs and Boots went to their beds and settled down for a nap as I put the kettle on and found more mugs.
“Sorry about the state of the kitchen. I had to clear out all the old packets and boxes before I could get the paramedics a cup of tea. I’m afraid it looks as if Tom fed himself with junk food for four months that affected his heart. The initial idea is that it was a heart attack, last night. I’m sorry for your loss, Uncle Edward.”
“I think that you may have been closer to my son than I was, Tony. Mary has told me about your visits here on the drive over. You may have had more to do with him than most in the family. My brother, Henry, tried to alienate him from the rest of the family, and did quite well at it, I’m afraid.”
“He was less than gracious on the first time I met Tom. Tom, himself, laughed it off.”
“That lad was always easy on the ones who picked on him. My wife and I were just happy that Tom had found a partner to share his life. We had a few meals in the Two Chimneys with them. Albert was such a real person, almost larger than life.”
“That’s my memory of him as well. Do you know what you’re going to do with the house?”
“For the life of me, I have no idea of its ownership. We’ll have to wait until the death certificate is issued, then the funeral, until we can talk to Toms’ lawyer. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll have a look around to see if I can find where he kept his papers. He was always a neat boy, so I think I know where they could be.”
While he was away, Mum and I spoke about things. She told me that my boss had allowed me two weeks to work things through, which gave me time to tidy up the animals and clean the house.
“The rest of the property needs a tidy. I think that there’s a motor mower in the shed where the chicken feed is. It will give me time to settle. I can sleep in the annex while I’m here.”
My uncle came back with a folder.
“This is his collection of accounts. There’s a card for a legal office in Letchworth, so I’ll take it to them tomorrow. They can notify all the services. Will you be all right, Tony?”
“I’ll be OK, Uncle. I’ll spend time tidying up, as it looks as if Tom didn’t do a lot since I last saw him. That will help things when the house goes on the market, if that’s what happens. If you can organise a bin during the week, I can trim the overhanging trees as well as clearing the underbrush.”
As I walked them back to his car, Mum held back.
“When you get one of the bedrooms clear, love, I’ll bring Margaret over to keep you company for a few days. She can help you clean the house.”
“Thanks, Mum, that would be a help. I suppose that she hasn’t done anything about a job yet?”
“Not yet. It will take a while before places start employing. She has her heart set on being a cosmetician, so she may be lucky and get a job in a salon, doing hair, once everyone gets back into real life. She didn’t do well enough for university.”
I waved as they left, and stood for a moment, wondering what I was going to do now. I went back into the kitchen and cooked the lunch that I would have done, leaving half of it on a plate to cool, and then get covered in cling wrap for reheating tomorrow. I would have to sort out some supplies when the shops were open on Monday.
In the afternoon, I thoroughly cleaned the kitchen, dumped a lot of stuff past its use-by in the bin, and made a stocktake list to take to the shops. Then, I went out to the chicken coop and gathered all the eggs that I could find. I would have to talk to the Cricketers to see if they were still taking them. I had a quick look in the shed, finding the mower and a strimmer, as well as a can of fuel for them. After that, I locked the house and took the dogs for a walk, noting where Francis lived, going all the way to the Cricketers. The publican gave me, and the dogs, a lift back, and went away with the eggs I had collected.
That evening, after tea, I fed the dogs and the birds, made myself a sandwich, and sat in the lounge reading for a while. Except for the snuffling of the dogs, the sounds of the animals outside, and the beating of my heart, it was so quiet I could have been the last man on earth. When I went to bed, I left the kitchen door on a wedge, so the dogs could go out, and slept in the annex, with my own door on a wedge, so they could visit. I woke up with them both on the bed with me.
Monday, I fed the animals and found the key to the Defender, coaxing it into life. With the dogs in the vehicle, I locked the house and drove into Letchworth to get my supplies and fill the tank. Back at the house, I stored everything away and got yesterdays’ meal out to reheat. Then I sat in the swing seat and phoned my girlfriend. When we finished our conversation, I sat there with my eyes closed. We had parted on good terms, but she was not my girlfriend anymore. She was moving south with her family, leaving at the end of the week. I didn’t even tell her of my current situation, as that wouldn’t have changed a thing.
That afternoon, I got the mower out and started working on the long grass. After tea, I cleaned the lounge and vacuumed all the floors. It was the first time that I had ever gone into a couple of the other bedrooms. There was one that was set up as an office come library and music room, with an old upright piano, which I had spent a lot of time in. The other spare was bare, just a bed base and furniture. Nothing in the wardrobe or drawers. That one was an easy clean, so I did it well enough to take a visitor.
The main bedroom was where Tom must have slept, after Albert had passed. It was quite a large room, and I just glanced inside, noting the bed with obviously well-used sheets. The room had that musty smell that you connect with old peoples’ homes. I closed the door for another day. That night, Boots and Boobs followed me to the annex and were on the bed while I was showering.
On Tuesday morning, it was as if I was the normal resident. I fed the birds and dogs, gathered the eggs and put them in trays, made myself breakfast and then continued with the mowing. A flat bed arrived with a couple of small bins on, which were unloaded towards the back of the property. One was for garden waste, and the other was for household waste, including old food. I signed as receiving them and was given a fridge magnet with the number on to call when they needed to be picked up.
I started to gather up the mown grass and dumping it in one of the bins. I then got the kitchen bin and emptied that in the other one. After that, I put the catcher on and emptied the cuttings directly in the garden bin. By the end of the day, the place looked a lot better, and the dogs were able to chase a ball around. Wednesday, I got a call on my mobile. Uncle Edward told me that he, as next of kin, had been officially advised of the death, and had been to claim the body and get the death certificate. The funeral was going to be Saturday, at ten, at the Letchworth Free Church, with a private cremation afterwards.
That day, me and the dogs took the Defender into Stevenage, where I left them in the car while I went into the house to collect my only suit and good shoes, along with a white shirt and tie. Margaret came back to Lower Green with me and made friends with the dogs on the way. She was laughing by the time we arrived.
“This isn’t the Tony I grew up with, you know. You were always so moody and contained. It may be these dogs, but you’re much easier going.”
“Maybe we just didn’t move in the same circles, sis. I’ve been concentrating on getting a job and expanding my knowledge. Come on in and I’ll show you how far we’ve come.”
I showed her around the house, now clean enough in most places. I opened the door to the spare room.
“If you come and stay, next week, this is where you’ll sleep. I haven’t checked if there’s bedsheets, but there should be something around. I doubt that Tom would have thrown them away. The bed looks like a double. It’s bigger than the one I sleep on in the annex.”
“Uncle Eddy said the place was a tip when he dropped Mum off on Sunday. You’ve done a wonderful job. If I look in the cupboards and find the bed linen, would you mind if I stay earlier?”
“That would be great, sis. During the night, it’s so quiet that I can hear my heart beating. The dogs are good companions, but don’t say a lot.”
She went off to look around, no doubt less worried about looking in cupboards as I was, seeing that I still felt Toms’ spirit in the house. I went outside and filled the tank of the strimmer and spent a couple of hours going around the edges to make the place look better, with special care around the house walls. I was quite proud of my efforts when I had finished.
Back in the house, Margaret had made a difference. Where I had cleaned, she had wiped and polished. I found her in the spare bedroom, checking out the drawers. She had found where everything was stored, and we made up the bed.
She had also cleaned in the office.
“I’ve wiped the mouse with a disinfectant cloth I found in the laundry. The washing machine is useless, so old, it should be put out to pasture.”
“I’ve got a bin outside for that sort of thing. It can go in that. There’s a lot of other junk outside that can go. Do you want to give Mum a call at the library to see if she minds you coming early. If it’s all right, I can drop you off while I see my boss at the Poachers and pick up a few bottles. I want to be prepared if anyone wants to visit after the funeral.”
I looked around the room while she rang Mum. The CD library was as I remembered it, but there was an extra shelf with some orchestral DVDs, as well as a few of a woman performing in a nightclub setting, playing piano and singing. I turned the computer on and found that the old password – Albi – still worked. I checked the emails, finding a few that were from the last week, answering the personal ones with the message that Tom was now dead and giving the funeral details. My sister finished her call.
“Mum says that I can stay with you for as long as I like, so we can go home, and I’ll pack for a week. Do you still play the piano? I can’t remember ever hearing you, just that Mum has always told me that you played.”
I sat at the upright and started playing an etude, then moved into something ragtime as my fingers remembered what they needed to do. It had been a good five months since I had sat here and there were tears in my eyes as I finished with a ballad, softly singing along.
When I sat back, she hugged me, and I finally sobbed my heart out.
“I’m sorry, sis. I’ve been keeping it all together for too long. I’ve spent hundreds of hours at these keys, with Tom encouraging me and teaching me how to play. The things he knew were so awesome. It’s now that I fully realise that he’s never coming back, and in a week or so, I’ll never be able to visit here again. It’s a big thing to get my head around.”
“It’s perfectly all right, Tony. You’ve been a tower of strength, and something had to give. Come on, dry your eyes and we’ll pick up my things. You can loosen up with me around. I won’t tell anyone about this. It’s between us as brother and sister.”
“Thanks, Margaret. Perhaps a week in close company will allow us to move forward together. There’s only eighteen months between us, and that sort of difference gets less as we get older.”
I splashed some water on my face, and we got into the Defender to go to our home, with the dogs jumping in to see the countryside. On the way, she scratched the head of one.
“Which is which?”
“The female with the row of nipples is Boobs, and the male with the white paws is Boots. I would have thought that Tom would have named them with something more classical.”
“What! Like Romeo and Juliette. That wouldn’t fit these playful mutts. We’ve never had an animal in the house, and it’s only taken me half a day to wonder why.”
We stopped outside the house to let her out, and then I took the dogs over to the Poachers. They were happy to sit outside where the water bowl was while I spoke to the boss and bought a case of mixed wine and a crate of beer. He helped carry them out.
“Nice wheels, Tony.”
“It’s Toms’ old one. It’s helpful at the moment, but I’ll be losing it once the will has been read and the house and contents distributed. It’s almost made me want to trade the Honda in in something with four wheels.”
Back at the house, Margaret had two cases on the doorstep and another in her hand when I stopped. I put them in the back, and we set off for Lower Green.
“I thought that you were packing for a week!”
“That is only just enough, if there isn’t a working washing machine. You may have to bring me home to catch up with the laundry next week.”
“What about the smaller case?”
“That’s my beauty case. I’ll give your hair a trim before the funeral.”
That evening, she watched TV with a dog on her lap, while I tried to read my book with one of my own. It was calming, and I couldn’t hear my heartbeat.
Thursday morning, I woke up with just the one dog on my bed. I put on jeans and a top and went out to feed the birds. When I put the feed out for the dogs, the other one came out from inside the house to dive in. Margaret came out in her dressing gown.
“What hour do you call this?”
“This is the hour that the animals have decided that it’s feeding time. It’s about a half an hour after dawn, every day of the year, and they don’t follow daylight saving. I’ll get us breakfast, and then you can help me collect the eggs. After that, if I’m not gardening today, I’ll have a shower and dress.”
She looked at me and then burst out laughing.
“OK, big brother, you’re on! I’ll get myself ready to face this crazy hour, and then, after all that, we’ll work on that master bedroom. I know that you feel as if you’re trespassing, but you can’t put it off for ever.”
It seemed as if I had a new reason to live with Margaret in the house. We had a cooked breakfast, with eggs from the birds outside, and then I went in the coop and collected eggs while she had a bucket of water to wash the eggs before putting them in trays. After that, I went and showered, then dressed in clean clothes. I stripped my bed and remade it with the last set of sheets in the cupboard, taking the sheets and pillowcases into the laundry to add to a hamper.
When we went into the master bedroom, she wrinkled her nose, opened the window wide, and went into the laundry room to find some air freshener. The first thing we did was strip the bed, putting the sheets, pillowcases, and even the pillows themselves out in the big bin. We turned the mattress over. Once that had been done, I got the vacuum and went around the floor again, going under the bed and moving it so that every inch of the room was cleared.
Margaret was going over the furniture with a polishing cloth, and it started looking good. She was doing the chest of drawers when she stopped and stepped back.
“Look at this piece. What do you see?”
“It’s a chest of drawers like you’d find in any bedroom, but with a mirror added at the back.”
“Agreed. What sort of mirror.”
I looked more closely.
“It’s slightly magnifying. And there’s a row of small bulbs down each side.”
“Look at yourself and see if this makes a difference.”
She flicked a switch on the edge of the mirror, and I suddenly realised that I needed a shave.
“This is a professional actors mirror, Tony. It’s fantastic. Why would Tom have a mirror like this. Didn’t Albert have a beard?”
“He did. I can’t answer your questions. There’s something else I’ve noticed. There are two wardrobes in this room. One is perfectly normal, and the other has a keyhole in one door. That one also has a small plaque on it. If you look closely, you can read it.”
She went over to it and peered at it.
“Toms’ Cabinet of Curiosities’.”
“I have a full set of keys that were taken from Toms’ pocket, I’ll go and get them.”
I went and found the keys and we tried every one of them without any success. After that, we started working on his clothing. There was a surprisingly large number of good shirts that I’d never seen him wear. They were expensive, in very good material, and not the size that would have fitted him.
“These look as if he’s had them for years. I’d put them as being bought in the end of the eighties. The colours aren’t what you’d see today.”
“I think you’re right, sis. In fact, I’d say that he was about my age when he bought them, during the time he was in London. They would fit me quite nicely.”
“I think these slacks would look good on you as well. They are also one size smaller, and hardly worn.”
“OK, leave them in place. They may be handy stock if there’s a garage sale. We’ll clear out all of the current things as we go and put it in garbage bags for the bin. All the shoes can go.
We had cleared all of the worn clothes by lunch, with one pile for the bin, one for charity, and just the good slacks and shirts and a good suit in my size left. I had a closer look at one of the shirts and saw that it would need to be washed and ironed when damp to get the creases out, after being folded for so long. There were a few that I thought I may spend some money to get for myself when we had the sale. That would have to be back in Stevenage, as there was no passing traffic on Lower Green, unless you were lost.
We made up the big bed with everything fresh, using spare pillows we had found in the linen cupboard, and then I went out to the annex and brought all of my things in and put them away. Tonight, and every night until we left, I would sleep in the master bedroom, with the bathroom across the corridor. Working the bathroom in conjunction with my sister was something we had perfected at our home.
That afternoon, we worked on the final rooms that needed more done. The bathroom, toilet and laundry. Finishing with a last burst of energy in the annex. It had only been five days since I had found Toms’ body, and the house looked as if he’d never been here in most of the rooms. That evening, I drove us to Two Chimneys, where we had dinner. Several of the staff remembered me and we were treated well. Margaret was thoughtful on the way back.
“That was an eye-opener. You spent time in that place with Albert, what, six or seven years ago, and at odd times in between, but they still remember you with kindness. What on earth did you do there?”
“Albert taught me to cook, and I helped out in the kitchen for a lot of lunches, preparing food for the paying customers. Tom and I would have many dinners there, with Albert coming out of the kitchen to join us after the other diners had left.”
“How well can you cook?”
“I could take one of the chickens out of the coop in the afternoon and serve it for dinner, with a range of roasted vegetables. I can do more exotic meals but would need to buy in supplies for that.”
“Have you done that, with a chicken, I mean?”
“I have, but only a few times, with chickens that were too old to lay. We had duck, once, but it was too much against my instincts to do it again. Albert made it all seem so normal, and to a chef, it is normal, except that you’d have someone else do the killing.”
“I’ve had a look in the kitchen drawers. There’s some serious tools there, obviously what a trained chef would use.”
“I don’t have a yardstick to gauge them by. I wasn’t exactly in the kitchen with Mum as I grew up, and everything that I’ve used since I’ve taken as normal.”
That night, I slept in the comfort of the big bed, with both of us with the doors open and a dog joining us. Boobs seemed to love being with Margaret, perhaps it was a female bonding. Friday morning, after we had fed the animals and collected the eggs, we took the egg trays to the Cricketers and was told that the dinner, tonight, was on the house, with a live band afterwards.
We went into Stevenage to get a little bit more shopping. We were in Tesco’s’ when my phone buzzed. It was Uncle Eddy.
“Tony, how are you getting on?”
“Good, Uncle Eddy. Margaret has been staying with me for a couple of days and we’ve been able to clean the house thoroughly. I’ve done the garden but haven’t started on the branches yet. I was going to leave that until next week.”
“You’re doing a great job, lad. The reason I’ve called is to ask you to get to the church a little early tomorrow. It would be nice if you could stand with me and welcome the others. I’m not sure how many are going to turn up, but we’re catering for fifty in the church hall afterwards. Will you be bringing Margaret, or will she be coming with your parents.”
She was standing close enough to hear, so said that she would be with me, loud enough that he could hear.
“All right, that’s good. It would be nice for his two cousins to be part of the ceremony. I have one other thing to ask, Tony. Would you give a little eulogy?”
“I’d consider it an honour, Uncle. How did you go with the lawyer?”
“I left the folder with him on Monday, and he got back to me yesterday. He wants us, and that includes you, to attend his office next Monday, at eleven, and he’ll give us the details of the will. That’s when we find out the real state of affairs and can move on from then. I’ll see you tomorrow, looking good and ready to give my son a fond farewell.”
When I pressed the disconnect, Margaret gave me a hug, right there in the Tesco’s aisle.
“We’ll go back via our home, and I’ll pick out a suitable dress for the funeral. This afternoon we’ll sit you outside and I’ll tidy up those split ends of yours. When we’ve got the shopping, can we visit Mum in the library and get her up to speed with everything?”
We finished the shopping, we went home so that Margaret could choose a suitable dress, shoes, handbag, and underwear. At this rate, it would take two trips for us to return to our home when we left the house.
Marianne Gregory © 2026