The photograph showed her mother standing on the slipway outside of the boathouse wearing only a pair of rowing shorts
In the background holding a pair of large wooden oars was her father who was smiling broadly at the camera
Peter was next to her mother
Toasting her with a glass of red wine
Oh why did they not use white wine
Gate thought as she walked swiftly towards the ornamental bridge
She had decided to keep the photograph under lock and key
In her lacquered Japanese box
(this poem was lost in 2013 and recovered in 2023)
It is no longer a lost poem
Gate left the house silently and waked across the dew damp lawn towards the blue summerhouse. Its door had not locked for years and she let herself into the main room
It smelt vaguely of her mother’s perfume
Two glasses of whiskey has been left carelessly on the low table and it was then that Gate noticed that Peter had also left his jacket which was hanging from a hook
Both of the jacket pockets were stuffed fill of paper and Gate curious as to their content pulled the sheets free
On examination she could see that they were written in Italian and German
She did not speak or read Italian but spoke and read German well having spent six months in the country the previous year
She began to read what she soon found out to be an account of the murder of two gypsies in a town not far from the city of Frankfurt
Although shocked and sickened at the description of the atrocity she read the account fully
She found a number of letters from a man known only as Franz in which he described the measure being taken to intimidate the Jews in the main city
She imagined that the Italian documents followed the same pattern
Gate felt for Peter’s wallet and found it in his inside pocket
It contained fifteen pounds and list of meetings that were scheduled to be held at various locations in the country in the months ahead
Peter had ticked six all to be held in the Home Counties
It was as she was putting the wallet and its contents back that a small photograph dropped out
Tuppence and Gate and Little Kate lay in the blue summerhouse watching the waves of wheat in the distant fields break against the idle trees
Their languid occupation of the summerhouse was interrupted by a shout from the main house
Dinner was ready
I wonder how many of you care to dream about my sweet sweet Celandine sang Little Kate
Oh shut up Kate that is such a sad song you know that poor Celandine drowned in this very lake
And for an instant everything was orange
The trees opposite her bedroom were orange
A passing bird was orange as were the hills in the distance
Everything was orange
It was a magical moment on an otherwise dull day
Wrote Tuppence in her diary that evening
She hid it under her pillow so that her sisters would not discover it
Do you know that the word kiosk comes from the Turkish and means a summer house?
How did you know that
I found it in my book of Byron’s poems
A moth that has been resting on one of the beams looked down at the sisters
It had learnt its first word of Turkish
Gate was wearing her mother’s rowing shorts and the singlet she had worn when she won an Olympic Silver medal
Her mother never spoke of her triumph as if she was ashamed of it
Both Tuppance and Gate rowed
But they knew that they would never achieve the standard required to represent their country
She could see Peter walking along the shoes of the lake towards her
She knew that as she was dressed in her mothers rowing kit that he would question her intention
Why are you wearing your mother’s rowing kit?
Often do
Peter looked at the lake at the thinning Celandine mists
Did you remove some papers from my jacket that I left in the summer house?
Yes
Did you read them?
Only the German ones I do not read Italian
Are you aware of their sensibility
Yes
Where are they now
In the lake
You threw them in the lake
Yes
Did you find the photograph also
I did
Your mother and I have been lovers for a number of years now
What about father
He is aware of the situation and approves
I do not believe you
He has his lovers also
Gate did not reply at once she knew that her parents tended to be away for periods of time but they never seemed to be away together
She had caught her father talking to Kitty in the bath which all seemed quite innocent at the time but now seemed a little more suspicious
Was Kitty my father’s lover
Amongst others
Does my mother have any more lovers apart from you I mean
Not that I am aware of
What did you do my wallet and the money
I buried you wallet over there by the summer house
And the money
I gave the money to the Polar Bears who were passing at the time
At that exact moment many miles away off of the northern shores of Canada a Polar Bear and his family were sailing towards to the arctic wastes on the iceberg they had just purchased
Are you angry with me
No not at all
I thought you would be
Were the papers important
You have a sharp brain Agatha you know they were
I am sorry but I was so angry after seeing mummy’s photograph
Do you know what is happening in the world today
Sort of
It is only because of brave people such as your mother and father that the world will be saved from the Bolsheviks and the filthy Jews
Is that why father visits Germany so often
Yes there are wonderful things happening in Germany and Italy right now
But what about the gypsies that were murdered
They are sub-human mongrel a sub species created by centuries of inbreeding just like the niggers
But they were murdered
To have a new world order they there will need to be deaths
Do you ever watch the creatures around this lake not all of them survive only the strong will survive and that is why year after year this lake and the grounds around Chatterick will remain the same
If this was altered then the balance would be upset there would be chaos
So you are saying it is the order of things
In as way yes nature has had the answer for centuries but intelligent man no
His drive has always been halted by the sub species
The Bolsheviks the niggers the filthy Jews and many others
You would like it if our monarchy was overthrown
That is what happened in Russia they shot the family in cold blood
If we do not act then people like you and your sisters will be next you will be raped and murdered
Chatterick will cease to exist and important families such as yours will cease
Gate began to feel frightened and wished that she was swimming with Celandine in the lake
Why is happening now
Why was Herr Hitler not born in Russia at the same time as Lenin
They are open questions
Are you going to tell my father
No
This is why I destroyed your important papers and gave your money to the Polar Bears
You know the answer Agatha
Because of my mother
Yes you are so like your mother
Are you going to tell my father
Yes
You know that I have inform your father as the papers you destroyed were very important
The money can be replaced but the papers cannot
Then go ahead
They will be very disappointed in you
They already are
The sisters lazed on the cushions in the summer house gramophone was playing in the background
Little Kate suddenly walked over to the pile of records in their brown paper covers and began sorting them out looking at each composer in turn
Byrd, Beethoven, Monteverdi and there is one called Victoria just like our cook
His name was Tomas Luis De Victoria and he was a Spanish composer
How did you know that
I just knew it
You know everything Gate
Tuppence often says that is true
The legend of Celandine had existed since the 1870s when a visitor to the great house drowned in a tragic boating accident on the lake
She had asked her cousin to take her out even though her parents forbade such an adventure
The rowboat which had not been fit for its use overturned and both cousins were cast into the deep cold waters
Tragically possibly due to weight of her clothing
Celandine disappeared under the surface and drowned
The lake was drained but no trace of her body was initially found
She was later buried by the gamekeeper who found her some three weeks later
For reasons best known to himself he buried dear Celandine near the large oak tree at the southern end of the lake
He took this secret to the grave
In 1964 when the drainage system was being replaced a skeleton was found near the lake but it was not Celandine but a Royalist who was murdered at the house during the Civil War
The following year the sisters gave the house to the National Trust only retaining the lodge and a few outbuildings and it was during the building of a new visitors centre in 2010 that Celandine’s remains were uncovered
She was given a Christian burial at the chapel on the estate and buried there
Each of the sisters attended her rest
It was noticed from that day forward that the Celandine mists never appeared low over the lake even on the most acceptable of days
The Turkish speaking moths are a great attraction at Chatterick House
Nobody know why they speak the language
This a mystery even to the sisters
Gate had never been religious especially after her mother died in an air raid in 1941
It was only when her father died in 1955 that she learned the truth about her mother’s death which had been reported in The Times as being the result of a direct hit on a hotel in London
His papers revealed that she had died with Peter whose death had not been reported
The lovers had been together in the hotel when the German bomb landed
She saw the irony
Her mother had been buried on the estate but her father also revealed the whereabouts of Peter’s last resting place
It was theJewish Cemetery in Mile End
He was now with the dirty Jews that he so hated
She thought God must have a sense of humour and therefore must exist
Her sisters were not aware of why God had entered Gate’s life and believed that as their mother had died in an early air raid during the war that she had turned towards God for comfort
On the 1st of July 2013 the United Kingdom experienced very high temperatures as hot air had been drawn up from Africa
Gate was standing on the slipway in front of the boathouse looking at the photograph that she had stolen nearly eighty years previously
A young man approached her
Do you know the way to the Jazz Stage
I am afraid I do not
I was due to meet my friends there but have become hopelessly lost
It is a very large estate
Do you know if well
I used to live here in the great house
Really
Yes my father owned the house and the surrounding area
I spent a majority of my childhood here
It must have been wonderful
For the most part yes but all good things end
Gate handed the young man the photograph
The woman was my mother she won an Olympic gold before the last war
I can see the resemblance
You are too kind young man I am ninety three whereas my mother was in her mid thirties when that was taken
What was her name
Eleanor
She looked quite bronzed
The summers then always seemed to be hot just like today
Were you named after your mother
No my name is Agatha although everyone calls me Gate
My name is Michael Fallon
It has been very nice to meet you Mr Fallon
Do enjoy the Picnic in the Park
My house deserves you young people
The young man smiled and handed the photograph back to Gate
As he took the path leading away from the boathouse he was greeted by a rather tall girl in a lime dress
They hugged and eventually vanished into the trees
The lake was calm as it has been for many years on such a hot days
Gate did not expect to see a mist although they had occurred before
She looked towards the site of the blue summer house which had been demolished by the National Trust as it had become unsafe
She thought she heard music playing from its site
But it was the music from the festival in the grounds nearer to the house
Gate walked past the summerhouse towards the gatekeepers lodge where she met both her sisters who had been waiting in the shade as the heat had been so fierce
The house has changed but not by much
I think the trust is doing a wonderful job
It is a pity that the blue summer house had to go
We had such happy times there
Everything dies
Even we will at some stage
Not too soon I hope
As days like this are so precious
(this poem was lost in 2013 and recovered in 2023)
It is no longer a poem but a fiction
Time changes everything