Autumn Leaves at Mill Grange, Jenny Kane [big ebook reader .TXT] 📗

among the team that she was the owner’s daughter, she became more distanced.’ Shaun signalled towards the trench where Sophie was working. ‘That’s Amber she’s talking to. She works for the Cornish Heritage Trust.’

‘Handy.’ Thea studied the proposal for the future of the St Guron church site mapped out on a piece of paper they’d roughed together with Dan. ‘Just the big hurdle left to jump.’

‘I don’t think Sophie deserves this after all she’s done.’ Shaun grimaced.

‘I’m sure she doesn’t.’ Thea stared towards the blonde. ‘But the fact remains, this is her home and, as you’ve told me more times than I care to mention, Sophie is a natural archaeologist.’

‘Thea.’ Shaun slipped both hands into hers. ‘I really am sorry.’

‘You said.’ Thea sighed. ‘All that effort she went to, just to keep you here. If only Sophie knew how much you snore, she’d never have bothered.’ Thea confronted her partner. ‘If you’re ever that stupid again, you will not be forgiven so easily. Got it?’

‘Message received loud and clear.’ Shaun ran a hand through her hair. ‘I can’t say I’m looking forward to talking to Lady Hammett though.’

‘I don’t think we should talk to her, not yet.’ Thea watched the figure observing them through the drawing room window. ‘I think a meeting with just Sophie and Lord Hammett would be the most productive way forward.’

‘Oh course!’ Shaun mentally kicked himself. ‘Lord Hammett’s father! I’d forgotten all about him.’

‘Sophie’s grandfather?’ Thea frowned. ‘You’ve lost me.’

‘Come on, let’s go and see if Sophie can sort us out an audience with her dad. I’ll tell you about his father’s wish to have the church uncovered on the way.’

*

Lord Hammett was overjoyed as Shaun rolled out a set of plans onto the kitchen table. Sophie was hopping from one foot to the other as if her shoes had hot coals in them. Her eyes kept wandering to the kitchen door, half expecting her mother to invade her father’s paper-reading hidey-hole.

Picking up the church plans, Lord Hammett placed them on his lap and sat by the range. ‘Am I right in thinking that the uncovered areas are drawn in black, while the so far uncovered parts found by those survey chaps, are in red?’

‘Exactly.’ Shaun let their host take his time working out how close to the front of the house the hidden sections of the church, and the associated outhouses, got.

‘So, Sophie was right, this is St Guron’s church?’

‘Everything points to that, my Lord. We’ve followed up on the documentary leads Sophie gave us and come to the same conclusions as your daughter: that this is the place of worship built in honour of the founder of Bodmin. Not only that, but the type and age of the building materials help place the church prior to the Norman invasion. Approximately 1010 would be a good estimate. St Guron’s is in the Domesday Book of course, but for some reason the exact location was never stated beyond that it was on the moor; we can only guess at why they were uncharacteristically inaccurate. The lack of other churches on the moor was probably a factor in that.’

Thea could see the fascination on Lord Hammett’s face as she said, ‘The method of construction is another time marker. Church building styles changed almost decade by decade back then. We can be fairly precise in placing ecclesiastical architecture in the historical timeline.’

Lord Hammett stroked the document before him. ‘What does this mean in practical terms?’

‘It means that you have, in your front garden, one of the most important churches in Cornwall.’

‘Umm. Initially my wife wanted to cover it back over, but I’m making headway persuading her otherwise. I might even be able to get her to agree to a ticketed system for people to come and take a look at the site.’

Sophie, who’d been biting her lip as she stood in the corner of the room, couldn’t stay silent any longer. ‘Do you think she would agree to that, Father?’

‘She’s coming around to that way of thinking. She liked the idea of the semi-open house set-up you have at Mill Grange, but without people coming inside.’ Lord Hammett looped an arm around Sophie’s waist. ‘Your grandfather would be thrilled to know about this. I should warn you though, while your mother might agree to keeping the site open as it is for a while, it’ll be difficult to get her to agree to uncovering the rest of the church.’

‘I know.’ Sophie looked enquiringly at Shaun and Thea. ‘Is that what you were talking to Dan from the Cornish Heritage Trust about?’

Shaun was surprised. ‘You know him?’

‘No. Amber told me who he was.’

The delight on Lord Hammett’s face could have warmed the room without any help from the Aga. ‘Amber? Sophie, are you telling me you’ve made a friend out there?’

Seeing Sophie blush, and feeling sorry for the young woman, who suddenly appeared as if she was fourteen rather than twenty-five, Thea said, ‘It’s a friendly team, but I think you’ve hit it off with Amber the most, wouldn’t you say, Sophie?’

‘Well, yes. She’s very kind, but we only really got talking today. We have a lot in common. Well, we don’t, but we read the same books and are interested in similar things.’

Waving the church plans over his head like they were the World Cup, Lord Hammett leapt to his feet. ‘By God, Sophie, you’ve done it.’

‘What? What have I done?’

‘You’ve made connections on the team; found a friend, become part of a group. Worked with others on an equal footing.’

Sophie went the colour of beetroot, and Thea felt even more awkward on the girl’s behalf.

‘I made a private deal with your mother, and you did it. You proved me right. If we play our cards right, we might yet keep the church open permanently; at least, what’s been dug so far.’

‘How do you mean? What deal?’

‘Now don’t be cross, but I told your mother she could have her way and cover the site back up once