Lunch was a considerable success.
Rowan had insisted on helping Sella prepare it, which meant that the kitchen was full of opinions about the proper thickness of bread, the amount of salt in the soup, and whether pears should be peeled before being cooked.
“They should be peeled,” Rowan said.
“They needn't be,” Sella replied.
“They do if you want them properly cooked.”
“They cook perfectly well with the skins on.”
Eira looked at Nell.
“Do you think we should leave them to settle this?”
Nell nodded solemnly.
We ate at the kitchen table, with the windows open and the afternoon light coming through the pear tree. Lena sat beside Sella, occasionally adding something to the conversation, though she seemed content to let the others talk.
Merrick had placed the little plant on the windowsill.
Its white flower had closed again.
After lunch, he examined it carefully.
“Does it need water?”
“Not yet,” Eira said.
“How do you know?”
“I've had plants for a long time.”
Merrick nodded.
“That seems a reasonable qualification.”
When we were ready to leave, Lena brought her basket. She had put the wooden bird inside, wrapped in the blue cloth.
“I thought you might want to see where I found the plant,” she said.
Merrick looked at her.
“Beneath the tree?”
“Not quite.”
She led us through the orchard, past the little stone doorway and down towards the stream.
The sound we had heard the previous afternoon was clearer now. It came from somewhere beneath the garden, a steady rush of water that seemed to grow louder as we approached the bank.
Lena stopped beside a large willow.
“There,” she said.
At its roots was a narrow opening, partly covered by leaves and stones. Water flowed from it into the stream.
Rowan crouched to examine the stones.
“Someone has built this.”
“Perhaps,” Lena said.
“Or perhaps the water has.”
Rowan gave her a look.
“I was trying to be helpful.”
“I know.”
Merrick knelt beside the opening.
The water was cold and clear. Beneath the surface, we could see a narrow channel running between the stones. It disappeared into darkness beneath the willow.
“Does it go somewhere?” Nell asked.
“Yes,” Lena said.
“Where?”
She smiled.
“Somewhere I haven't been for a long time.”
Eira stood beside her.
“Is it the old garden?”
“I don't think so.”
Lena looked towards the stream.
“But it may be a way to reach it.”
We followed the water along the bank.
The stream narrowed between two low stone walls, then passed beneath a small arch. On the other side was a patch of ground covered with moss and pale flowers. A wooden bench stood beside the water, and a little stone basin had been set into the wall.
Lena stopped.
“I used to come here.”
“Alone?” Eira asked.
“Sometimes.”
She sat on the bench.
“There was a woman who lived nearby. She used to bring me tea. We would sit here and listen to the water.”
“Who was she?”
Lena thought for a moment.
“I called her Auntie, though I don't think she was my aunt.”
Rowan looked at the basin.
“Was this her garden?”
“No. It belonged to someone else.”
“Who?”
“I never knew.”
The water flowed into the basin and then out through a small opening at the bottom. Beside it lay a flat stone, marked with three leaves around a circle.
Merrick picked it up.
“This is the same mark.”
Lena nodded.
“It was here when I first came.”
“Did you bring the plant from here?”
“No. The plant came from somewhere beneath the old tree.”
She looked towards Eira.
“But I think the water connects them.”
Eira sat beside her.
For a while they listened.
Then Lena reached into her basket and took out the wooden bird.
She placed it on the stone beside the basin.
The bird's head turned towards the water.
Not really, of course. It was only a carving.
But Merrick noticed something.
“There's a little mark underneath.”
He lifted it carefully.
A narrow line had been carved into the wood, running from the bird's breast towards its tail. At the end was a tiny circle.
Lena looked at it.
“I don't remember that.”
Merrick turned the bird over again.
“I made it.”
“Perhaps.”
He smiled.
“I think I made it here.”
The little feathered creature flew down from the willow and perched beside the bird.
It gave a clear note.
The water in the basin trembled.
From beneath the arch came another sound, deeper and farther away.
We stood listening.
Then the stream seemed to change direction.
Not dramatically. The water still flowed beneath the arch, but a little channel appeared beside the basin, running towards a narrow opening in the wall.
Lena rose.
“I think we should follow it.”
Rowan looked at the opening.
“After we've had a rest.”
Eira laughed.
“Of course.”
We sat on the bench while the afternoon moved slowly through the garden.
The little creature settled on Merrick's shoulder.
And beneath the willow, the water continued to find its way.
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