‘No, I’m not. Do you want to see it?’
Vicky’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Do I want to see it? You must be bonkers. Of course I do. If it’s what you’re saying, this is an enormous discovery, Kate. When can I come over?’
‘Hold on a sec, there’s more.’ She took a quick sip of water. ‘First, you can’t tell a soul about this. I mean it, Vicky. Strange things have been happening. Strange enough, in fact, that Alex and I have decided that we must get the rose out of our garden – and soon. Move it into hiding where nobody can find it – or steal it, for that matter. We were wondering if you would help?’
‘You don’t need to ask, Kate. You know I will.’
‘You’re a sweetheart. Alex and I would be rather nervous trying to transplant a rose the size of this one. I was wondering if you’d mind taking some cuttings for us too. I’m such a klutz at that sort of thing.’
‘No problem, Kate. Who else knows about this, then?’
‘Well, we thought it was just the four of us. The four being Alex, me, a chap named Kingston – he’s a retired botany professor, interesting sort, I’ll tell you all about him later – and our solicitor, Christopher Adell. But yesterday we had a letter from a Japanese man representing an international corporation who wants to buy the rose and just before that a phone call from a mysterious American who seems to know all about it, too. I know it sounds crazy but I’ll give you the all the details when you come over. Can you make it tomorrow? The later in the day the better.’
‘How about right after I leave here? Say six fifteen – thereabouts.’
‘Perfect. I’ll make an early supper?’
‘Super. I’ll bring a bottle of plonk.’
‘As long as it’s not Blue Nun,’ Kate said, laughing.
At first Vicky was speechless. Like Kingston, she all but crawled around on her hands and knees to examine every inch of the rose. It was all Kate could do to drag her back to the house.
Alex opened the bottle of burgundy that Vicky had brought and poured three glasses. ‘Well,’ said Vicky, raising her glass, ‘here’s to Sapphire.’ She took a modest sip and put her glass down. ‘I still can’t believe it,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘We’ve had time to become accustomed to it but it still gives me the creeps every time I look at it,’ said Kate, with a mock shiver.
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Vicky. ‘So tell me a bit more about this Kingston bloke. He sounds like quite a card.’
‘He is,’ said Alex. ‘He’s a Joker.’
‘Oh, come on, Alex,’ Kate said reprovingly, ‘he’s very nice – and very intelligent.’
Alex gave a little sigh. ‘I suppose he has given us sound advice so far and spent quite a lot of his time trying to be helpful, but you’ve got to admit, Kate, he is a bit of a know-all. On more than one occasion you’ve even said so yourself.’
‘Soonest opportunity we’ll make a point of introducing you, Vicky. Then you can decide for yourself. Matter of fact, you two would have a lot in common.’
‘I’d like that,’ said Vicky. ‘By the way, that letter and the phone call you mentioned in the garden. I hope they’re talking big money. Really big money.’
‘Yes, they are,’ said Kate.
‘How would you like to have your own cottage, Vicky?’ Alex said with a wide smile.
‘That big, eh?’
‘Exactly,’ said Kate. ‘That’s why, as I told you this afternoon, we want to move the rose out of here. Alex and I are becoming increasingly concerned that what’s happened so far is only the beginning. There’s a staggering amount of money involved. We’re beginning to face up to the fact that things could even get a bit nasty. We have to be prepared, that’s all.’
‘It’s not that we’re paranoid,’ said Alex, ‘but frankly we’d both feel much safer if we get the rose out of our lives physically.’
Vicky had been toying with her wineglass as she listened. She had a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘You know, I think I may have the perfect place for you.’ She put the glass down and snapped her fingers. ‘Yes, it would be ideal.’
‘Where’s that?’ Alex asked.
‘At my Aunt Nell’s. Up in Shropshire. She lives just outside Market Drayton.’
‘Certainly far enough away,’ said Kate.
‘Yes, and her house is quite secluded. Even better, the last time I was there, a couple of months ago, the garden was hopelessly overgrown. In places it’s like a jungle. It’s practically reverted to the wild. You could hide the crown jewels in there and nobody would ever find them.’
‘Like they say,’ said Alex, ‘if you want to hide a tree – hide it in a forest. It sounds like we couldn’t do better.’
‘Do you think she’ll mind?’ Kate inquired.
‘Not for one minute. She couldn’t care less. Told me she rarely goes out into the garden any more. She gave up gardening years ago.’
‘Threw in the trowel, eh?’ Alex quipped.
Vicky chuckled. ‘Nell’s a treat. She’s starting to get a bit frail now but you’ll just love her.’
‘If you think it would be all right, Vicky, could we move the rose fairly soon?’
‘Whenever you say so, Kate. All I have to do is let Nell know we’re coming up. It’s going to take two of us, though, to transplant a rose that size. It’ll require some muscle. Do you think you could come up with me, Alex?’
‘Absolutely. We can go this Saturday, if that’s okay with you.’
‘Actually, Saturday would be perfect, I’ve got the day off.’
‘I wish I could go with you,’ Kate said, ‘but I have to be at the shop on Saturday. They’re delivering the things I bought at the auction last week.’
Vicky took a sip of wine and twiddled the stem of the glass on the table. ‘By the way, Alex, it might be a good idea if we plan to stay overnight. Do you mind?’
‘Not at all, as long as Kate doesn’t mind me running off for the weekend with another woman,’ he said grinning at Kate. ‘But you’re right, it is a pretty good hike up there.’
Vicky smiled. ‘It makes sense, considering the time it’ll take to plant the rose properly. Besides, I know Aunt Nell will insist on it and I wouldn’t want to disappoint her. She’ll really enjoy the company. She gets so few visitors these days.’
On Saturday morning, Vicky woke just before dawn. She had spent the night at The Parsonage so they could get an early start. Pulling aside the bedroom curtain, she peeked outside. There was enough light, she decided.
Before they got the blue rose out of the ground she wanted to take the cuttings. Now was as good a time as any. She put on her sweater and jeans and crept quietly downstairs, careful not to step on Asp, who was curled up at the foot of the stairs.
With sharp pruning shears, she removed a few of the blooms. Kate was going to attempt drying them. Next, she carefully snipped off twelve slender canes just below a leaflet, removing all the leaves save a couple at the top. She then dipped the lower end of each eight-inch cutting in a hormone rooting compound, after which she planted each of them in its own plastic pot filled with a specially prepared potting medium. After watering them, she enclosed each pot in a clear plastic bag to simulate a minigreenhouse. The whole procedure took less than fifteen minutes.
She carefully placed the pots in an old wooden crate and carried it up to the garden shed where Kate had made a space for them. On the way back from Nell’s tomorrow she planned to pick them up and take them to the nursery for safekeeping. Eventually she would transplant them into larger containers.
Carrying the rose blooms for Kate in a basket, she went back up to the house to make a pot of tea.
Getting Sapphire out of the ground proved more difficult than they had imagined. Vicky stressed the importance of keeping the largest possible ball of soil around the roots, to avoid root damage. The less disturbance the better, she had insisted. To minimize shock to the rose when it was uprooted, and make digging easier, Alex had thoroughly soaked the surrounding ground the night before.