The Magic Cottage Read Online Free Page A

was an endearing earnestness in her voice. ‘It’s what you need, away from all those distractions, those . . .’
    She had paused and I said the word for her. ‘Friends.’
    ‘So-called “friends”. And Gramarye will be so right for me, too. I just know I can work here.’
    ‘You don’t figure we’ll get lonely?’
    She shook her head emphatically. ‘No chance. Not together, Mike, you know that. And have you already forgotten all those times we’ve talked of being away from everybody, somewhere out of reach, with no agents or musicians dropping in or sacking down for the night? Being lonely would be bliss. Anyway, I bet there’s a lively community hereabouts. We’ll soon make new friends, friends of a different kind though, and ones we can keep at a safe distance.’
    ‘They might be too different for our liking.’
    ‘We’re in Hampshire, not Outer Mongolia. A couple of hours away from the city. They speak the same language here.’
    ‘Maybe not quite the same.’
    Midge rolled her eyes heavenwards. ‘You city slickers are full of it. You’ll learn soon enough.’
    ‘All right, but don’t forget that today the sun is shining, the sky is blue—’
    ‘There’s not a cloud to spoil the view,’ she rhymed.
    ‘But when it is raining, when winter comes and it’s freezing, or when we’re cut off completely because of snow—’
    ‘Mmm,’ she murmured, snuggling up, ‘that’ll be lovely. We probably won’t be able to leave the cottage for weeks and we’ll have to have a roaring fire going to keep ourselves warm, or cuddle under bedclothes for days on end. Just imagine the things we can get up to to keep ourselves amused.’
    Midge had a knack of hitting below the belt, my weakest point. ‘Be sensible,’ I complained.
    ‘I am. I’ll make things so cosy you’ll become a hermit.’
    ‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’
    ‘And I’ll have to force you out into the harsh cold wind to bring back bread for the table.’
    ‘You’re not helping.’
    She became serious again, but still smiled when she said, ‘Feel this place, Mike. Close your eyes and really feel it. Gramarye is so good and so perfect for us.’
    I didn’t actually close my eyes, but a peculiar sense of well-being definitely rose inside, an intoxication that was very mild yet filling. No, not the kind that comes from a good toke, but something else, something more real, somehow more permanent. Say it was the warmth of the sun’s rays, the very pleasantness of the day itself and my surroundings. Call it, even, the strength of Midge’s own conviction flowing into me, a sensing natural enough to true lovers. At one time I’d have concluded it was only those influences. Not now, though. Oh no, not now that I know so much more.
    ‘Let’s look inside,’ I said to avoid the final commitment, and Midge’s smile only became more knowing. She stood and drew out the three labelled keys from her jeans’ pocket. Dutifully she handed them to me, a gesture that seemed to say, ‘Okay, fate is in your own hands and inside is where you’ll find it.’
    I took them and moved towards the back door with Midge close to my heels. Stopping before the marked and tired-looking old door, I held up the long keys and pondered on which one to try first. Two were cut the same, so I decided they would probably be for the front door. I pushed the odd one home and it fitted easily. But it wouldn’t turn.
    Neither would the next key. Nor the next, the second’s twin.
    I groaned. ‘Looks like Bickleshift gave us the wrong set.’
    ‘Let’s try the front,’ Midge suggested.
    ‘Okay, but one of these has to be for this door if they’re the right keys.’
    We descended the curving steps carefully because of the moss and were soon under the open porch. I chose number one and inserted it into the lock to find it still wouldn’t turn. Growing more frustrated I tried two and three again with no luck. The door wouldn’t budge, even when I twisted the