(Part 01)
Copper Beech Farm is in the Dulcets, and the Dulcets consist of a collection of villages and hamlets such as Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary, Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke to name but a few and
After moving up to Copper Beech farm Lynda Radcliffe’s riding School went from strength to strength.
So much so that she increased her stable of horses from six to nine and in addition to the short term girls she employed from the local village she took on an old friend, Hazel Morris, to manage things at the yard for her.
The farm belonged to Anthony Holmes though he was not a farmer and never would be, he was a computer geek and a fairly successful one at that.
He employed a skinny young woman named Charlotte Clode as manager but inadvertently they fell in love and became a couple just before Christmas.
Hazel Morris had fallen on hard times and as luck would have it her arrival at the farm came only a few weeks after Charlotte had moved into the farmhouse with Anthony so she was able to live on site in the converted part of the stable block which had previously been Charlotte’s home.
It had a bedroom, a sitting room, a small kitchen area and a toilet and shower, which suited her needs very well.
It was a very significant moment for Charlotte as it drew a line under her old life and committed her to her future with Anthony.
But Hazel’s arrival also gave them an ally in their quest to finally unite Lynda Radcliffe and Elliott Browning.
She had known Lynda for many years and could think of no one else who deserved happiness more than she did.
Hazel was in a bind financially and all her money was going straight to her debtors even though the debts were her ex-husbands.
Their house was repossessed, as was their car and most of her possessions were sold to pay creditors.
She was left with a modest selection of clothes and two small boxes of photos, family papers and precious mementoes.
As time went on Hazel became friends with Anthony and Charlotte and they were able to help her out by giving her addition work on the farm and in exchange they didn’t charge her rent for her rooms, and as that was her largest personal expenditure she was able to pay off her debts even quicker.
The task of fixing up 28 year old Spinster Lynda Radcliffe with the gregarious larger than life Dr Elliott Browning proved a more prolonged endeavour than anticipated.
Anthony and Charlotte had decided to give the Doctor the gift of six riding lessons as a thank you for the treatment Charlotte received when she was struck down with a very nasty fever the previous autumn.
But although the gift was made in January the earliest opening in the Riding Club diary wasn’t until the beginning of March.
Hazel Morris kept the identity of Lynda’s final Wednesday afternoon pupil a secret.
They had booked Elliott in as the last one of the day in the hope that they would drift seamlessly into a date after the event.
As it turned out it wasn’t until Elliott’s next lesson, three days later, that the big jovial doctor and the good hearted spinster were discovered in the barn locked in a passionate embrace.
(Part 02)
Hazel was almost 29 years old and had thought by the time she reached that age she would have been starting a family or perhaps had already started one and maybe that might have happened had her husband not gambled everything away.
She was fairly slim, slimmer certainly since she had to watch every penny, with bright orange hair which was thick and unruly.
She desperately needed to pay a visit to a hairdressers but it wasn’t something she could afford while she still owed money.
So she kept it tied in a ponytail, which she always thought quite apt for her line of work.
“Six more months” she said to herself meaning she would be debt free and then she could treat herself, and by the time she reached her milestone 30th birthday the following year her life would have begun again.
After the three inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm had succeeded in their match making scheme things on the farm settled down to a peaceful rhythm and by the beginning of June Hazel began to take on extra work in her spare time to train horses.
Her ambition in the long term was to have a sanctuary for old horses and ponies, even donkeys for that matter.
So when a local man Chris Harper approached her with a proposition to train a horse or in particularly an older horse, which required retraining, as he had been ridden, she jumped at the chance.
He was a retired racehorse and like so many others when their racing days were over they were thrown on to the scrapheap, they weren’t even put out to pasture.
Chris Harper was a therapist who used horses to help physically and mentally handicapped people of all ages and his philosophy was that it would be therapeutic for the horses as well to help people.
They just had to unlearn some of the things they had learned in their former lives and that was where Hazel came in.
It was not an easy fix and it took time and infinite patience, which she had plenty of.
Chris had already passed his 29th birthday and was knocking loudly on the door of his 30th.
He was quite rugged looking with weathered skin and sandy hair and he stood an inch or two taller than Hazel.
He hadn’t always been a therapist in fact until two years earlier he had been a serving officer in the Downshire Light Infantry and until his discharge he had never ridden a horse.
Lynda Radcliffe soon remedied that however.
He became interested after a friend of his from the regiment was brain damaged by a road side bomb in Afghanistan.
He was greatly shocked by the severity of his handicap when he first went to visit him.
But a year later when he saw him again at a rehabilitation facility in Nettlefield he was amazed by the connection he had formed with a horse.
When he shared his amazement with his friends doctor.
“It’s such a great therapy” Doctor Martin agreed
“It’s just a shame we don’t have enough horses or therapists”
During his final year he resolved after his discharge he would rectify the situation.
(Part 03)
Chris Harper was from a wealthy Tipton family in the north of the county whose business was making money, lots of money, and they didn’t care what they had to do to make more.
His father wanted to put him in harness the moment he left University.
But he turned his back on the family and the business he despised and instead of University he joined the army.
His father cut him off without a penny and never spoke to him again but he stayed in touch with his mum and his sister via email.
The rest of them didn’t bother to contact him and nor he them and in the Downshire Light Infantry he found a new family.
However when he was 25 years old he got the surprise of his life after the death of his Grandfather.
In his will Chris was left a very large bequest much to his father’s disgust but in an accompanying letter he explained how much he admired Chris’s decision to follow his dream, and how he wished he’d had the courage to follow his own.
He didn’t touch the bequest though despite the sentiments behind it, he had managed without the family’s money for the best part of eight years and saw no reason to change, and so he just banked it until he could decide what to do with it for the best.
But he never quite got around to making any decision until the moment he spoke with the Army Doctors and he knew exactly what he should do with his legacy.
So after he had completed his 12 years in uniform he resigned his commission and set off on the path of his new career.
But it was to prove to be a solitary journey as his fiancé Bella did not share his vision for the future.
He found a suitable piece of land in the Dulcets with the right sized property on it with stables and out buildings that would suit his needs.
It was once upon a time known as Larkspur Farm but for the previous 30 years it had seen no farming done on it and it was gentrified for some city gent and his family to use on weekends.
But the particular gent who owned it lost his shirt in the financial crash and had to sell quickly just at the time Chris was in the market.
It was perfect for his needs, plenty of space and easy access to Brownhill Woods and as luck would happen the inhabitants of Copper Beach Farm were his nearest neighbours.
It wasn’t an easy project to get off the ground but with a lot of help from some good people that he met along the way he did it.
His contact from the Army served him well firstly by securing him 4 retired army horses and then a recommendation from Dr Martin at the rehab facility.
The Downshire’s had pledged to give him first refusal on any retiring horses but as the therapy was for all ages he needed other horses and ponies as well.
As Lynda Radcliffe had a Riding school at Copper Beech he employed her services to teach the novices to ride, this she did at Copper Beach and Larkspur and the two of them became friends.
It was through that relationship and the affable conversations they shared that Lynne suggested using Hazel to retrain his newest acquisitions.
(Part 04)
Hazel’s first days training at Larkspur was on the afternoon of the 1st of June.
She was so grateful to Lynne for recommending her, it was perfect for her as the distance between her front door and the stables at Larkspur was less than a mile.
She met Chris first and was very impressed as he very much lived up to Lynne’s billing and they chatted briefly before she went in to meet her new charge.
He was a chestnut named Spartan and he was a former racehorse. There was a lot more to his name than Spartan but in his new career he would have to settle for the shortened form.
Her first session of training with Spartan was just a bonding exercise which involved grooming him and simply talking to him and while she worked Chris watched on from the shadows with admiration for her labours and found that he was rather taken by the skinny girl with the mad red hair.
Over the week that followed it was more of the same with Hazel grooming Spartan and Chris watching from a distance.
He liked to watch her working with the horse, although having said that he would probably have like to watch her do just about anything.
For Hazel’s part, she had noticed him in her peripheral vision once or twice over her first week and that made her smile.
But flattered though she was she would have to put a stop to it, she liked him well enough, and in fact she liked him a lot.
He was a nice man and he was doing great work but she thought her husband Bob was nice before she married him and that turned out to be a complete disaster.
So she was in no hurry to set foot on the rocky road of romance any time soon.
After 7 straight days of bonding she decided it was time to get him out in the paddock on the longe line.
It was important to get him to trot around with his head up and not as he had been accustomed to with his head down and focused on speed.
Despite her misgivings about Chris she found that she was disappointed when he didn’t appear to watch her at work with Spartan.
In fact he didn’t appear all the time she was there that day which disappointed her even more, but what she didn’t know was that he was in Nettlefield at the Downshire Light Infantry HQ to look at his latest potential recruit and furthermore she didn’t know that the level of disappointment he felt at not seeing her far outweighed her own.
He left Nettlefield having agreed to take on a gentle giant of a horse called Inkerman, though his name had been shortened to Inky which was quite appropriate as he was jet black.
Hazel finished with Spartan in the paddock and as he behaved himself she let him have a bit of a frolic around in the paddock before taking him in to be groomed, then she filled in the log book and left for home.
When he returned to Larkspur he arrived just in time to see Hazel disappear into the distance.
“Damn” he said and banged his hand on the steering wheel, he was hoping to share his news with her.
“Oh well there’s always tomorrow”
He parked in the yard and before going in the house he went and checked on the horses and read Hazels entry in the log.
(Part 05)
The pattern of training continued for another week and after the 15th day with him she announced to Chris.
“I think he’s ready to be ridden again”
“Excellent” Chris said “then you’ll be ready to take on Inky”
“Yes” she agreed “Anytime now”
“Well why don’t you come over to Nettlefield with me next week to pick him up”
“I’d love to” Hazel said
“Good, next Thursday afternoon then”
Almost at that exact moment back in the yard at Copper Beach Farm Lynne Radcliffe and Charlotte Clode were discussing what to get Hazel for her upcoming birthday which was only two days away.
“What do you get for the girl who has nothing?” Lynne asked in exasperation
“It should be so easy” Charlotte said
“I know but it’s not is it?”
“Then we’re just going to have to ask her outright” Charlotte responded
“I suppose so but there’s no surprise that way” Lynne said resignedly.
They were still in the yard discussing it when Hazel returned to the yard and she was smiling to herself when she heard Lynne call to her
“Hazel”
“What are you two up to?”
“Nothing” Charlotte said innocently
“We were just wondering what you would like for your upcoming birthday”
“Nothing” Hazel said
“That’s not an option” Lynne stated
“I mean it” Hazel said “You don’t need to get me anything”
“Nonsense” Lynne countered “We want to, so what would you like more than anything in the world?”
Hazel thought for a moment and smiled and then replied
“A cut, wash and blow dry”
“Is that all?” Lynne asked
“Is that all? That would be absolute heaven” Hazel retorted and grinned
“Ok then” Lynne said “I suppose that’s settled”
But to herself she added
“Well I think we can do slightly better than that though”
It was Hazel’s birthday two days later and the day began the same as any other with mucking out the stables with the other girls but when she returned to her rooms at 9 o’clock and opened the door she was met with a chorus of “Happy Birthday”.
Lynne, Charlotte and Anthony were sitting at her dining table
They bought her a gift voucher for Mazzone’s Hairdressers in Mornington which she was thrilled with but they also gave her a Spa day, so the three girls could go to the Dancingdean Spa Hotel together.
There were also a pile of birthday cards and a bouquet of flowers from Chris Harper.
She wasted no time in cashing in her voucher at Mazzone’s hairdressers in Mornington to sort out her thick, unruly bright orange hair, and afterwards she felt wonderful and it was every bit as good as she was expecting it to be.
After close to three years after splitting with her husband she had resigned herself to the fact that she would never see or hear from him again, and she was perfectly happy about that, so nobody was more surprised than she was when Charlotte called her over to the office after she returned from Mornington.
“Hazel! Phone call”
“For me?” she called back
“Hello?” she said
“Hello Haze” a voice responded
It was quite a shock for her to hear Bobs voice after all the time that had passed.
“How did you get this number?” she snapped
“Comme ci comme ça” he retorted
“What do you want Bob?”
“Oh don’t be like that babe” he said
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard”
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
(Part 06)
After she found out about Bobs gambling Hazel’s world fell apart, as one by one the bricks that formed the foundations of her life and their relationship were removed.
The roof over her head was repossessed, their car was taken off their drive in the dead of night, and bailiffs took away all their possessions.
Credit cards had been maxed out and bank accounts emptied and insurance policies cashed in.
But as if that wasn’t bad enough it then transpired that it wasn’t only their money he was gambling with, he had stolen from the company he worked for.
And during the time the bailiffs were removing her belongings she had a visit from a Sgt Griffin and a DC Deacon from Sharpington CID who were looking for her husband in relation to the theft.
All she could say was that she hadn’t seen him for more than a week and when she did they would have to investigate his murder.
But she never saw him again or even heard from him for that matter though the police were still anxious to speak with him.
So getting a call out of the blue from him shocked her to the core.
“Don’t you dare babe me you bastard” she snapped
“Alright calm down” he said and she hung up but a minute later the phone rang again.
She let it ring three times before she picked it up again.
“That wasn’t very friendly” he said
“What do you want Bob I’m busy?”
“I need my share of the house” he said and she laughed out loud
“The bank has your half of the house along with my half plus the car and every stitch of furniture we owned”
“Well you must have a few quid tucked away” he said “you could give a stake for old time’s sake”
She was so angry that his antics had pulled the rug from under her and left her to cope with the fall out on her own so her first thought was to tell him in no uncertain terms where to go, and she was actually on the brink of saying it when she said
“Ok for old time’s sake, a one off, never to be repeated payment, give me an address and I’ll send you a cheque” she said
“I’d rather do it face to face” he said
“Ok” she said “Where?”
“There’s a pub in Sharpington called the Ancient Mariner I’ll meet you there at 12 on Friday”
“Ok” she said and hung up.
On Thursday she travelled over to Nettlefield in the horse box with Chris Harper.
Although she had been looking forward to the trip she was in pensive mood on the journey over.
When they arrived he introduced her to Inky and then left them to get acquainted while he touched base with a few of his ex-colleagues and then they got him on board the horsebox and settled before setting off on the return journey to the Dulcets.
She was a little more conversant on the way back so Chris chanced his arm and asked her out to dinner.
“Oh I don’t know” she said “my life is a bit complicated at the moment”
“Another time perhaps” he said and she nodded then after a few minutes she said
“Could I ask you a favour?”
“Of course” he replied and she proceeded to explain the complications in her life
On Friday Chris Harper drove a pensive Hazel to Sharpington and waited a discreet distance away and watched Hazel as she sat alone at a table and continued to watch as a shifty looking man joined her but he couldn’t hear what was said.
“Hello Haze” Bob said and moved to embrace her “it’s good to see you”
“It’s not mutual” she said and evaded his embrace
“Well without being indelicate how much have you got for me?” he asked
“Nothing” she replied “but they’ve got something for you”
And when he turned around Sgt Griffin and Detective Deacon were there and quickly took him into custody.
A tirade of abuse was levelled at her as the police handcuffed him.
“You ugly ginger bitch” he screamed “You won’t find anyone better than me”
“I already have” she shouted back and ran to where Chris was standing and buried her face in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and after a few minutes she said
“My life just got a lot less complicated, so is the offer of dinner still on?”
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