"I'd like to take action based upon the findings of the Housing Survey," said Bill Waddlington, deputy mayor of Mellowdene. "We want more houses in the village itself rather than expanding at the edges. The vast majority opted for homes like those in Cherry Blossom Avenue. They liked the style and everything those fine homes provided."
"I see," said Ben. "Rowan Ivory was the architect and I have to say that his plans were particularly clever transforming what was a difficult landscape into the Avenue. It's true that the houses have been very much admired."
"Yes. And that's why we'd like to extend the avenue."
Ben frowned. "Extend it? There isn't room to do that."
"I have every confidence you'll find a way."
"There are currently twenty houses. Even one extra house would block the road at the river side."
"Couldn't you bend it back on itself? There's some land there, I believe."
"The rock gardens? All those varieties of heather?" Ben stared at the deputy mayor. "Even if we were prepared to destroy that, we'd need to demolish number nineteen to properly extend the avenue back on itself. And they wouldn't have Cherry Blossom Avenue addresses as the new homes would be adjacent to Stonecrop Lane."
"Hmm. Good point. It would be better to extend the Avenue at the other end."
"Cherry Blossom Park? We couldn't do that."
"Of course you could. We have some excellent landscape gardeners in the village. The Park could be relocated. The new houses could replace the old Park site. We might need to renumber the existing house addresses..."
Ben shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mister Deputy Mayor, but that isn't the kind of work that Henry-Lloyd Construction does."
Bill Waddlington raised his brow, fidgeted with his medallion of office and paused to think. "That's disappointing. We wanted the same care of design. That was paramount. I didn't want to approach companies outside Mellowdene. They might be able to copy the style but it wouldn't be what we want."
"Cherry Blossom Park is too important. It is an oasis for meditation. No matter who you contracted to do the work I don't believe Mellowdenians would agree to its destruction."
"Movement, not destruction."
"It amounts to the same thing. We couldn't be part of that."
"Well, I'd like you to go away and reconsider. Failing that, come up with an alternative for houses as beautiful as those on Cherry Blossom Avenue."
o 0 O 0 o
"And that was the end of the meeting," said Ben. "I discussed all this with my father and with Hector Corntop and the consensus was we needed someone with the inspiration of Rowan Ivory. The concept of using the rough land alongside The Wedge, adapting the houses accordingly, was all your brother's idea, Cecile. We need another good idea."
I couldn't keep silent. "I can't believe Bill Waddlington would even consider threatening Cherry Blossom Park. Or the Rock Garden, come to think of it. And the Park is used for so many who go there to enjoy the silence and think of those who have passed."
"I know," said Ben. "As a mayor, Ramsey Nettlefield does a good job for Mellowdene but we all know he has his faults. We tolerate his over ambitious schemes because we know they rarely get anywhere - but he would never..." He gave a long sigh. "I considered Bill Waddlington to be an efficient chap and a great addition to the council. He has proved to be a benefit to the village's administration but I didn't think I'd ever hear him be so cold and dismissive."
The door opened and in came Rowan, Hector Corntop in his wake.
"Eliza let us in. Hector's been telling me about that numpty, Bill Waddlington."
o 0 O 0 o
The discussion was quite intense. I could tell Rowan was annoyed by the way he was walking about during the chat. Everyone agreed that Cherry Blossom Park must remain untouched. No one liked the idea of touching the Rock Garden either.
"What about continuing Cherry Blossom Avenue at the other side of the park?" suggested Hector. "Call it Cherry Blossom Close or something like that?"
"It would mean getting the allotment holders to move," said Ben.
"If the Park was relocated, you'd have the same issue," said Rowan, "unless there were four, or at most six new houses. How many homes did Waddlington want?"
"He didn't get far enough to tell me. Our meeting went downhill as soon as Cherry Blossom Park became an issue."
Cecile stood. "Wait a minute. Did Bill definitely say he was fixed upon extending Cherry Blossom Avenue, or did he just want something to the same quality?"
"Perhaps we could push the latter," said Cecile.
"He'd want something in the village rather than at the outskirts," said Ben, "so we'd need to find a suitable location. Any ideas, Hector?"
"Nothing obvious," said Hector Corntop who then turned to Rowan. "How about you, Rowan? Can you think of anywhere where your design skills would fit?"
"Me?" said Rowan. "I've not done any architectural design for years and you've been doing it all the time I've been away. These days you've got more experience than me."
"Not your flair though, mate. And you know as well as me that your tricksy mind lets you think laterally. It appears as though Bill Waddlington might be swayed by your design skills. Divert his attention from Cherry Tree Park."
"We'd be grateful," said Ben.
"It sounds as though the whole village would be grateful," I added.
"Well..." Rowan regarded both of his former workmates in turn. "I could have a look."
o 0 O 0 o
The following day, Cecile was busy on the telephone so I left her to it and went to make a sandwich. She subsequently called me back into the room, a smile on her face.
"A couple of things. Firstly, Rowan has taken a job at Henry-Lloyd Construction. Temporary for now, but who knows? He's looking into finding somewhere for a dozen houses that he will design."
"That's good. Has Ben informed Bill Waddlington?"
"That's the second thing. You and I - plus a couple of others - have been invited to see Bill later today. We will find out what's happening about the whole Cherry Blossom Park thing."
o 0 O 0 o
When we arrived at Bill Waddlington's office, Ben Henry-Lloyd was there but also - surprisingly - so was Cecile's cousin Coltsfoot Ivory. He and the deputy mayor were laughing and they stopped when we entered.
"Hi Cess," said Colt. "Good news, eh?"
He saw my confusion and added, "Rowan back working as an architect, Jack. Good news."
Bill Waddlington laughed. "The plan worked," he said, which confused me even more.
Ben explained. "I was in the dark too. It appears Cecile and Colt conspired with our deputy mayor to con Rowan to resume his calling as an architect."
Colt nodded. "I agreed with Cess that Rowan needed to do this. Flitting about with part time jobs could only last so long. He needs stability both for himself and his family. I've seen his work for the Henry-Lloyds and - with my engineer hat on - I can say his aptitude is tremendous. I can't abide waste."
"And we owed him a prank," said Cecile. "Incidental to the matter in hand, but we did."
Everything was beginning to make sense. Cecile had expressed her concerns about her brother's ephemeral employment. Was this all one big prank to help settle Rowan Ivory? I asked the deputy mayor.
"The Cherry Blossom Park thing?" said Bill. "Never going to happen. I was talking to my old friend Colt about the need for high quality housing and he told me about Rowan and how he had designed his house. How he had abandoned his job years ago and how he might need a push to get back. Colt brought in your good lady wife and we formulated a plan."
"Our meeting was apparently one big act," said Ben.
"It was fun pretending to be horrible," said Bill.
"I'm still not sure why I wasn't brought in on this," Ben mused.
"You had to be convincing in order to get Rowan all fired up," said Cecile. "I know my brother."
"And me, Cess?" I said. "Why didn't you let me know?"
"Ah, my love, I love seeing the sense of confusion on your darling face."
"At least you weren't called a numpty," said Bill.
I guess I will have to be content at that.
o 0 O 0 o
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