Read Online Postcards from the Past by Marcia Willett - Free Book Online

stream, where Ed has planted beech and spindle trees, bluebells and daffodils, Tilly sees Billa wandering slowly towards her with Bear following at her heels. Billa’s head is bowed, her arms are folded beneath her breast as if she is holding herself together, and – even at this distance – Tilly can see that she is deep in thought. Bear pauses to examine an interesting scent and follows it away from the stream, jogging quietly on its track, nose to ground. Suddenly a hen pheasant breaks cover from a patch of dead, brittle bracken; she runs squawking ahead of him and then rockets upwards, wings threshing, soaring to safety in the fields beyond.
    Billa turns to watch, disturbed by the sudden commotion, and sees Tilly who waves and hurries to join her. Billa raises her hand in response and then puts both hands in the pockets of her sheepskin duffel coat, straightening her shoulders as though she is trying to relax.
    ‘I heard the frogs,’ Tilly says, hoping she isn’t intruding on some important train of thought, ‘and couldn’t resist coming to see them. There are going to be millions of jelly babies. I used to love coming here when I was little and taking them off in jam jars.’
    ‘Ed still does,’ says Billa wryly. ‘He’s doing his bit to save the planet. Last year, when we had all that freezing weather, he put lots of them into his tadpolarium, those big plastic containers, and then released them when they’d grown legs and were big enough to withstand the cold or the likelihood of being eaten by birds. You’ll be able to help him.’
    Tilly bursts out laughing. ‘I think that’s brilliant. Does it really work?’
    Billa shrugs. ‘Who can tell? There seems to be even more than usual this year, so I assume it did.’
    Bear comes up behind and overtakes them, disturbing the frogs who dive into the clouded depths in a gelatinous swirl of mud. He pauses to watch them and Billa calls to him.
    ‘No swimming today, Bear. Too cold, and you’ll frighten the frogs. Come on.’
    He turns rather reluctantly and pads on huge paws towards the house; with his lazy, sinuous swagger he looks just like the brown bear for which he was named.
    ‘I’ve had an email from this friend in London,’ Tilly says, ‘saying that she can recommend me to her boss for a job and I can’t decide whether to go for it.’
    ‘What’s the job?’
    Tilly makes a face. ‘IT. Corporate. All among the suits. I’ve done it and I know it’s not really what I want but I can’t decide if I ought to try it.’
    ‘Why “ought”?’
    ‘Well, it’s very nice of Dom to let me use Mr Potts’ bedroom but I feel I’m kind of sponging.’
    ‘Do you pay anything?’ asks Billa in her direct way.
    Tilly shakes her head. ‘He won’t let me, but I buy food and wine and stuff. Of course, Dad’s asked him to look out for me.’
    ‘Does that bother you?’
    ‘Not really. Dom doesn’t patronize me. He sees what I’m trying to do and he respects it. He says he likes having company and someone doing his ironing. Actually, I’m loving it. The thing is, Dom treats me like I’m a friend who’s got a problem and he’s just helping out. He isn’t fatherly.’
    ‘And how is it going with Sarah?’
    ‘Pretty good. The advertisement is getting a really positive response, but it’s difficult to foretell the future and I suppose that now jobs are so thin on the ground I ought to go for the one in London.’
    ‘Even though you don’t want to do it and it’s not where you want to be?’
    ‘You don’t think, then, that it would be a responsible thing to do?’
    Billa smiles at the expression on Tilly’s anxious face. ‘If you had a family to support I might give you a different answer. Right now I think you can afford to give U-Connect a chance so as to help Sarah out while you’re waiting for what you really want to come up. You’re lucky to have Dom but he’s lucky to have you, too, so it cuts both ways. And you’re still working at