The Mist of Moningsbury

Chapter Four

It was a chilly but sunny morning at Highhill House, a grand building that spanned many centuries and sat just outside the small village of Moningsbury. Creamy stone pillars rose majestically above the main entrances and large windows gazed out, past the cluster of trees gathered at the side of the gravel drive, to the surrounding countryside that fell gently away into the distance. A gaggle of people were following a curly, black haired tour guide through some wide open oak doors out into the garden. Before the guide could speak, one of the gaggle raised a tentative hand to ask "Can we take photographs?"

"Of course you can" the tour guide replied, his usual cheery face beaming across the crowd, "Are there any other questions before we continue?" He looked expectantly round the group.

A voice from the back called "Does the family still live at the house?"

"The Du Shadows still own the property. Although they mostly live in London now, they do still visit throughout the year, which is why some rooms are closed to all you lovely people." The guide looked around, saw no one else about to ask a question and so continued with his tour. "Now, the garden is actually split into four different sections: the main lawn which you can see here, the vegetable garden, the wonderful rose garden and the rockery. And overlooking the main lawn here is Mr Augustus Du Shadow." The guide led the group to a detailed carving of a sour looking marble bust. The round, wrinkled face sat on a pillar, staring haughtily across the lawn. Around the bottom of the pillar were some dahlias currently undergoing the process of dead heading by a tired looking gardener.

"And also here is one of my favourite gardeners, Basil." The gardener glared up at the guide, who beamed a smile down at him. "Perhaps you'd like to tell them about Augustus?" The guide asked.

After a moment Basil put down his secateurs and stood up, stiff from being on his knees, next to the guide. He looked at the small crowd, stifled a yawn, and then said "He was a pompous git who spent all his money making the place look nice."

A few people gave a small smile but the rest carried bitter expressions, unamused by his blunt response.

The guide leaned over and whispered to him "Really? Is that all you're going to say?"

"You know I'm not good at speaking to people Ezra." He replied, glancing wearily at the visiting gaggle.

Ezra gave an annoyed look at Basil before turning back to the crowd. "Essentially, that is what he did. Augustus was a great spender of money and used all of his fortune trying to modernise the house and creating the gardens. This did, however, leave the family with nothing to spend. His son, Hector, managed to save the family by acquiring substantial amounts of money. No one knows where he got the mysterious fortune from and soon after he disappeared, never to be seen again."

Suddenly, someone from the crowd spoke up "Was that when that lady, Gabrielle, inherited the house?"

"That's right" Ezra said, "That was Hector's sister. Are there any other questions before I leave to you to go off and explore?" A few heads shook and the rest stayed silent. "Then I hope you enjoyed the tour, and have a good afternoon around the gardens."

The crowd dispersed, the majority following the path over the neatly trimmed lawn. Ezra turned towards Basil. "You could at least try to work on your people skills. You made no attempt there whatsoever."

Basil scowled, tugging a lock of his brunette hair out of his eyes. "I appreciate your help Ezra, but it's not a skill that I'm keen to improve."

"Why not? Socialising is the key to a good life."

"I've managed just fine. And besides, I have you to socialise with. I don't need to talk to the posh elderly people or the annoying children."

"Basil" Ezra frowned in disapproval, "You shouldn't say that. They're lovely people who come here for a nice day out."

The gardener looked at his friend's hurt expression, "I can't help what I think Ezra."

"Yes, you can." The guide's face suddenly lit up as an idea struck him. "I could get you to help me on a tour?" he said excitedly.

"Oh please, no." Basil looked horrified, "I'll buy you a triple chocolate muffin instead."

At that moment, two people approached them. One was the head gardener, Crystal. A tall, plump woman who strode along, always with a warm and welcoming demeanor. Next to her stumbled a slim, rosy young lady with a shock of long, blonde hair.

"Ah, there you are Basil" Crystal said, approaching, "Hello Ezra. You two, this is our new gardener, Suzan." She indicated to the young lady next to her. "Suzan is going to be with you for the rest of the day Basil, so you can teach her how we do things here." Crystal then turned towards Suzan and whispered loudly "He can be a bit grumpy at times, but I promise he's not that bad."

Ezra laughed, "You'll soon get used to him. Nice to meet you Suzan."

Suzan blushed and smiled shyly, "You too."

Basil looked sullenly at them all.

"Right, I've got to be off now. See you guys later." And with that, Crystal left them.

Suzan glanced briefly down at her feet, her fingers entwining each other. "So..." she started, "Does Basil tend to the basil?" she laughed nervously.

"Oh, very funny." He said.

Ezra gave him a hard nudge with his elbow and beamed a big smile at the newcomer, "It's lovely to meet you Suzan. I'm Ezra, one of the tour guides."

"It's lovely to meet you too. And who's this?" She looked to the right of Ezra.

"Who?" Basil and Ezra looked around, but could see no one else stood close by.

Suzan hesitantly pointed towards the open space, then quickly put down her hand. "Never mind." She blushed in embarrassment.

"Well come on. I'll show you round." Basil said, abruptly starting to walk off. "See you later Ezra."

The guide smiled at Suzan, "You'd better go."

She smiled back before trotting off after her new fellow gardener.