Alice skipped along the road that led from the red windmill to the tall poplar trees that stood majestically next to the quiet river
The busy road was not very romantic but had to agree with Alice that the dreaming hot fields were quite timeless
Do you know what H E Bates said of Kent in his Pop and Ma Larkin books?
I didn’t know the exact passage but I knew that Alice would tell me
I expect it was something nice
Do keep still and tell me
Let us cross this road and walk through the shallow fields
I would not cross here otherwise we might be killed by a lorry
A lorry taking strawberries away from the farms
How poetic
How painful
You cannot die in the county of Kent
Everybody lives long lives here
I grabbed Alice’s bare shoulder
Keep still and when we have crossed this busy road safely then you can tell me what H E Bates said of the Garden of England
Soon a break in traffic allowed us to cross the road
We opened a low gate and began walking in the general direction of the river
The field was fallow and small dust devils were being created by the shallow breeze
Tell me about the H E Bates book you have
Alice pulled a pale green book from her canvas bag
Here it is
What is it called?
Look at the spine
When the Green Woods Laugh
It is one of the Pop and Ma Larkin novels that H E Bates created
I believe this was the final book of the trilogy
Yes he started off with The Darling Buds of May and followed it with A Breath of French Air this was the final book
Have you read the others?
Yes I have them both they are in the bookcase at Mummy’s
Have you read these books?
No
I suggest that you take time out and read all three books
You were saying that H E Bates considered everybody to be immortal
Not immortal but long lived
Please read the passage to me
It is on page thirty-one and there are two passages that you might find interesting
Got to remember that this county is almost an island
Two thirds of its boundaries are water
It’s an island on an island
Cornwall is the same and I would imagine that there are others
I agree here is the second passage
Nobody dies here
People live for ever
Same as tortoises
Everything grows hell for leather
Cherries strawberries hops pears corn sheep
It is not called the Garden of England for nothing
I looked around everything seemed to be in bloom and so alive
Perhaps Alice was correct
You did feel immortal on a day such as this
I looked in the general direction of the pet cemetery which was partially hidden by the trees near the small road that led towards the railway line and the River Stour
Do you remember last year when we visited the pet cemetery over there?
Yes
And you cried when you found that rabbit dead in the road outside and insisted that we bury it in the cemetery away from the graves of the dogs and cats and other domestics
You asked me a question which I did not answer at the time
I remember
I asked you whether animals had souls
I thought about it for quite a while
A year
I thought about it for a year
And what as your conclusion?
Well up to about ten minutes ago I had not concluded my thoughts
You forgot about my question
I forgot about your question until the pet cemetery prompted my memory
And now you have the answer
Maybe
I am all ears
Look at the cloud that appears to be above the windmill
Yes the one that is shaped like a peach
What do you think will happen to that cloud?
It will float out to sea and pass over either Margate or Reculver
In a few hours that cloud will not be there and we will not know what has happened to it
It may fade over the sea or mix with a larger cloud as the air cools
I suppose it we followed it we would discover the answer but is like a soul of an animal it fades as our souls do and then journeys to a place unseen
Even though the Bible and other religious books give us an indication of our journey no one really knows
It is a great mystery
Your point being
That animals do have souls
And it has taken a year for you to work that out
It is the fundamental question
And it did not take me a year just ten minutes
Although the day was humid a small afternoon breeze had developed which was blowing the dry dust of the field in every direction
I tell you what Alice let’s take the road as far as the river and then we can stroll along its banks
Why can we not continue in this direction?
Because the railway will cut us off
I do not fancy crossing its electric lines
If we are not hit by a train then I think we will be fried by the power lines
We are not as immortal as we like to think
Nothing will die on a day as glorious as this one
Things have died possibly creatures but for some of them this will be their last day
Alice and I walked towards the wide metal gate and were soon climbing over it in the shade of a massive oak tree
Look the silly farmer has locked this gate whereas it is so easy to climb over
I think that he has his reasons to do so
Everything has a reason
Bad people
Possibly
Even in the Garden of England bad people exist and they cause upset and misery for the gentlefolk of the fields
About twenty minutes later we found the road bridge that crossed the railway line to Canterbury
The line was quiet but I noticed a fine dust hanging in the air
Look at the dust
Did the train do that?
Yes it upset the equilibrium of the day
But you have said that trains are part of the countryside
They are but their passing does cause a disturbance
Let’s wait for the next one
It may be hours
No I think we will see one within twenty minutes
I could hear them as we crossed the fallow field
Alice was correct and soon a white and yellow train passed at speed as it travelled towards Canterbury
A spider whose web was attached to a nearby branch appeared to look at the train and then retreated knowing no damage had been done to its web
I wonder how many trains this bridge has witnessed?
That can be worked out
I will tell you the formula later
You have always said that you were the mathematician
And I do not want to wait a year for an answer
After the railway bridge the road widened out a little and Alice began walking in front of me with her bag carelessly slung over her shoulder
She was wearing a floral dress with large red roses printed on the white fabric
For some reason I did not think the dress was really suitable for the dusty fields of Kent as it seemed rather urban
Still it was a cool dress and as normal Alice was very practical in her choice
The River Stour was not far from the railway and we took a break at a public house which adjoined a mobile home site
For a day as hot as it was there were surprisingly few people around and we drank almost alone
When we were finished we made our way back to the river and started to walk in the general direction of Canterbury
The river was home to few boats but these soon faded as we walked further away from the bridge
In all this time we had passed no one
Listen to the silence of the summer
It almost shouts at us
The windmill was now slightly behind us and in the distance we knew that Canterbury Cathedral was hiding herself
She was there but was playing games as it often did on hot days
We walked for another mile but still could not see the cathedral
Let’s rest
Here?
No I was thinking of those meadows across the river
There is not a boat for us to cross the river
We will not need a boat to cross the river
Why do we not need a boat?
The river is narrow we can swim across and rest and dry in the meadow
I do not think this is a good idea Alice
Let us swim quite naked across the river and rest over there
And pray where will we leave our clothes and your H E Bates book
They will come with us
Or rather we will meet them on the opposite bank
I do not like the sound of this
Its easy just leave your clothes in my canvas bag and then we will zip it up and throw it on to the opposite bank
And then we will swim across
And if somebody comes along
How many people have we seen today?
And our soft shoes they will not fit into the bag
Alice removed her plimsolls and threw each in turn on to the opposite bank
See I have started our journey
I will swim across first it will take seconds and then once you have placed your clothes in the bag then you will throw it to me
Like Adam and Eve
I do not like the sound of this Alice
Very soon Alice stood naked in front of me and began to climb down the narrow bank into the river
Gosh it’s cold
Rivers are always cold no matter the weather
Save me if I begin to drown
Soon Alice was on the opposite bank
Come on get undressed and throw the bag to me and do not forget to zip it up
After looking both ways along the tow path I undressed and placed my clothes into Alice’s canvas bag
Now throw it
It’s your funeral Alice I do not think that the H E Bates book is going to appreciate this madness
I wrapped it securely in my frock
I cannot see that Pop and Ma Larkin would have done this
They would have borrowed a boat
Stop moaning and throw the bag across and do not forget your shoes afterwards
I threw the bag with a my power and it landed some yards behind Alice
She laughed and ran into the meadow to retrieve it
I then threw my shoes which landed erratically in the same area
When I said throw them across the river I did not mean throw them on to the sands of Margate
For some reason I thought that if I jumped as far as I could into the river that I would not be immersed in the cold water for that long and would be able to emerge on the other side less chilled
That was a mistake for I was soon in the murky depths of the river and although I found myself near to the bank I felt that I had been swimming in Artic waters
See what I have made
Alice had flattened a patch of grass near the reeds which afforded us a little privacy from the tow path on the opposite side of the river
It was not perfect but it would do
Let us lie here while the sun dries our bodies
And that is what we did
Nobody disturbed us and we slept lightly for a short while
I opened my eyes and saw the day moon almost hidden in the deep blue summer sky
What are you looking at?
The day moon
Where is it?
Over there at about two o’clock
It looks so rested
Like us
Do you remember last night?
In that room that we rented from Mr Polly Dolly
Do you remember the room?
With its high windows
Yes
And the moon
Last night was a hot sticky night so typical of this summer
We pulled the sheet down to our waists
Nothing stirred in that room save for the slight chill hidden in the light night breeze
It alerted our skin to the hidden beauties of the moon
The summer breeze still lightly chills our bodies even though we are no longer wet from the river
We did not sleep and watched the moon as it crossed the sky
Our room was flooded with light
Do you remember that Venus seemed trapped in the high branches of the trees?
Indeed she was setting a course for the moon
Alice turned over and rubbed her back
Grass grass everywhere
up my bum and in my hair
You chose the spot
Why is it that when grass looks so stable that you seem to become covered in it?
This part of the meadow has never seen a mower yet I am covered in grass
Do brush me down
Alice stood up and I brushed down what little grass there was from her body
I think the day moon is looking at me
I hope she likes what she sees
Last night when we were lying in our bed
I felt that I was a pilgrim in a Samuel Palmer painting
Do you think that he watched the same moon all those years ago in Shoreham?
He would have seen the same moon as we did as he lay next to his beloved
And like us he would have drifted into a gentle sleep in the moonlight
Sometimes things are so beautiful that one should experience them and not consider them further
I agree
She is up there waiting
Until the evening draws in and the night covers the sky
And then she will begin her nocturnal journey once more
Her night journey seems so distant in this the raw heat of the day
What always surprises me is how long the night is even during these dog days of summer
And how quickly she disappears when the dawn makes her entrance
We watch the moon quite often and then she vanishes like the assistant of a conjurer
In the distance we heard music and excited voices
I think the scouts might be getting nearer
I think that we should get dressed
Better they be educated later in life
With a little difficulty I started to dress but Alice walked towards the river
She was still naked
In the distance I could see the first of the scouts rounding the bend in the river
I threw Alice’s dress towards her and to my surprise she caught it
Now get dressed and quickly
By the time the scouts passed by we were sitting quietly and reading
They ignored us
What time is it?
About four
Do you want to walk to Canterbury?
Yes and no I would love to walk to Canterbury but I feel a little tired
The heat has taken its toll
Then we will return to the bridge as there is a bus stop there and when it arrives we will travel to Canterbury
And that was the way the our day ended we made our way back to the road and after about forty minutes the bus to Canterbury arrived and within the hour we were back in our hotel room
Shall we watch the moon tonight?
She will be well hidden and we will only catch glances of her through the rooftops
We do not have the advantages of Mr Polly Dolly’s house
Then we will sleep well as the room is air-conditioned
What shall we do tomorrow?
It is not for us to decide that now
The new day will suggest its meaning to us
Alice picked up the Gideon’s Bible from the bedside table
She opened it and pulled out a small piece of paper
What does it say?
One Moon – Discussion at an Inn
What an odd thing to write
Does it mean much to you?
No not really
It might mean that a group retired to a pub to discuss the moon as we discussed the moon earlier in the day
It might be about H E Bates thoughts on immortality in this the Garden of England
Pardon
I thought that would get your attention
We did not really discuss the immortality mentioned in his book
We can discuss it anytime
Whilst I understand what H E Bates meant I do not necessary agree with his meaning
Would he have written the same thing during the dark depths of winter?
We have both seen this county covered in snow
It is a difficult question
Do you want to know something?
I think I guess what you are going to say
That being?
That you wrote the mysterious note and placed it in to the Gideon’s Bible when I was in the shower
I was thinking that we were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden today
But I thought you would be too tired to discuss the subject so I did something both rational and irrational and wrote the note
It was the first thing that entered my head and was quite random
Have a shower Alice and I will wait for you in this lovely bed
We will keep the drapes open and if we are lucky we will see the progress of the moon before we retire to our dreams
I lay back and was only vaguely aware of Alice climbing in beside me even though her skin was cool after her shower
The moon travelled over the county of Kent that night
Some witnessed its progress
But Alice and I were not amongst these lucky souls
Although in our dreams we were in those immortal fields watching the progress of the day moon in the summer sky during its slow but idyllic journey
Towards the Holy City