The Whispers and The Wolf

Four

“Unpacking shopping is the worst” I threw myself on a bar stool and flopped over the island.

“Get your lazy arse up” Robyn shouted, her head in the fridge. If I stayed here long enough I wondered if she would do it all…

“I’m not doing this all myself, I’ll stop halfway if I have to. You know I can be a petty b***h when I need to be!”

“Get out of my head, there’s enough people in there!” I laughed, pulling myself down. Short people like me did not belong on bar stools. Grabbing a bag, I started to unpack the spices into the cupboard. The landscapers were hard at work; the hum of the lawnmower and snips of their shears creating a background track for our task. We worked away until the shopping was gone and we were enjoying our iced coffees in comfortable silence.

“Autumn!” Robyn yelled.

“Waaah!” I shrieked. “God sorry, I was away with the fairies there” I blushed.

“You seem so on edge bub, are you sure you’ll be OK for me to head home?” Concern laced her words.

“Honestly Robs, I’ll be fine. I was just thinking about the shop. Something about Sadie…”

“Aye she was a character alright” Robyn swirled the ice in her coffee. “The only vibe I got was that she was trying to look older than she was. And her accent… sounded fake to me, kind of put on. Best to keep an eye on her.” Maybe that was what I focused on when she spoke. Maybe it wasn’t comfort, perhaps it was more curiosity than anything.

“We’re in the highlands, the people don’t have the same accent as us” I rolled my eyes. She was right about one thing though, I had to keep my wits about me. “What time are you heading off?”

“Trying to get rid of me?” she mock gasped, making me smile. “I’ll head out after lunch, are you still ok to drop me at the train station?” I didn’t want to see her go. After last night’s storm and the feeling I had during shopping, I’m not sure I wanted to be alone just yet. I simply nodded, pushing the feeling to the back of my mind. “Don’t be afraid of Fate…” I jumped down from the bar stool to start making us lunch.

‎

I made Robyn’s favourite, a chicken caesar salad with croutons and a side of garlic bread. We ate quietly, soaking in the sounds from the garden. The team were doing an amazing job. They said it wasn’t too bad, just needed a good tidy and they’d be done by dinner time once their boss came to sign off the job. As I was outside checking if they needed anything before I left, Robyn was filling the dishwasher.

“No thanks hen, we’ll be just fine. Will you be long?”

“I don’t think so, I’m just dropping my friend at the train station,” I smiled and headed back inside. I wasn’t expected to find Robyn the way that I did. Shoulders shaking, sniffling, sobbing.

“Hey, what’s all this?!” I rushed over and wrapped her in a hug.‎

“I’m going to miss you so much,” she cried out. “What will I do without you?!” Wailing into my shoulder, I rubbed circles on her back.

“Come on Robs, I’ll FaceTime you tomorrow once the internet is installed”. I held her shoulders and looked at her mascara streaked face. I couldn’t help the tears but laughter soon followed. “Look at the state of us, come on you’re going to miss your train”

We ugly cried all the way to the train station and hugged some more on the platform. “I won’t lie” Robyn began. “I’ll be glad to get some signal when I’m out of here!”

I waved her onto the train. “See you soon bub! Love you b***h!” I blew her a kiss, she always knew how to make me laugh.

…‎

When I pulled back onto my drive, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The garden looked sensational. The freshly painted fence, the gleaming stone path leading to the front door lined with flower beds. I was living in a fairytale. The guys were leaning on their trucks having a well earned rest.

“ I couldn’t have imagined it to be this perfect!” I exclaimed, “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, wee one”, Bruce beamed. He clearly took pride in doing a good job. “Myself and my guys want ye to feel welcome, we look after our own,” he continued.

We look after our own…

“I hope you don’t mind us staying a while, just until the boss gets here to sign off the job?”

“Of course, I’ll get you some drinks while you wait.” I took off down the freshly cleaned stepping stones that made up the garden path and unlocked the door. It hadn’t really hit me that my life had changed, that this was all mine. But it did in that moment and I giggled. Giggled like an excited little girl on Christmas morning. I skipped over to the kettle and made the lads some tea, setting some biscuits and the cups on a tray.

“Here you are, lads. Enjoy!” I sat the tray on the bonnet of one of the trucks. “I’m going to head inside, do you need me to sign anything?”

“No, no hen. The boss will be here soon and the bill has all been settled by your company. You have a nice evening.”

I flashed a smile and a wave at all the workers and let them dig in to their snacks. “The people here are so nice. I’m really going to love it here.” I sighed, resting against the closed front door.