Chapter Fifteen

A well placed headline catches Emily's eye and sparks off an idea.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

'HAVE FUN N THE SUN!'

As publicity secretary of YCCS Ellen Pace had done a magnificent job. The entire front and back pages of the Yewell Valley Herald were devoted to the charity's upcoming fund raising month.

'Enjoy the summer sun and raise money for Yewell Community Cancer Support.'

I don't usually read newspapers; somehow my head isn't wired for non-fiction, in any shape or form. I start to read an article but my attention begins to wander before I am more than a few column inches in. I fare much better with stuff that is broken up into sections by headings or is Q and A. TV documentaries are okay, but I really prefer a good detective drama, and once I get my hands on a who-done-it I might be gone for hours.

I was putting out the latest periodicals in the Reading Room when the Herald caught my eye. This was just the idea I needed. I had forgotten all about the fun run. Dolly read the piece over my shoulder.

“You should enter” he encouraged. “everyone here could sponsor you, and in the Mayor's chambers and the museum.”

“And Daniel could ask his colleagues, and Aunt Jen could ask her friends too.” I liked this idea more and more.

Entry was easy, the article informed it's readers, just fill in the on-line form and pay the fee, then await your competitors pack to arrive by snail-mail. Included in the info pack would be sponsorship form, race number and tips for getting race ready.

'Sign up today! If I can do it what's stopping you?'

I read and re-read the by-line and found myself totally gob-smacked.

“Well slap me hexagonal!” Dolly exclaimed in an exaggerated stage whisper. “Mrs Roth in running shorts! That I have to see.”

'Me to' I thought, reading the entry information once more. I wanted to do something positive, to do my bit for the community. YCCS was supporting Aunt Jen and I wanted to say thank you. But how would I find the time to get 'race ready' while working and looking after Jen?

I told Daniel about my idea that evening and he got right behind it.

“I'll join you” he declared. “We could be Team Jennifer.”

So we filled in the on-line form together, and I even badgered Dolly into joining us too.

With a month to go before the Fun Run, Dolly worked out a training schedule and kept us hard at it. He proved to be a hard taskmaster. If the three of us weren't visiting Aunt Jen or at work we were hitting the streets of Yewell, or the gym. Some nights Daniel never made it home at all.

'It will be worth it, all the aching muscles and the patch of sunburn on the back of my neck' I kept telling myself.

Between the three of us we collected over a thousand pounds from sponsors. My brother-in-law, Christopher, promised to match anything we raised and made a donation straight to the charity.

“Anything for Aunt Jen” he told me over the phone.

Fun Run Sunday dawned hot and humid. Everyone assembled on the Meadow at Yewell Country Park; a couple of hundred runners and a huge crowd of spectators and supporters. Daniel wandered over to speak to some of the volunteers who were circulating with peacock blue collection buckets bearing the YCCS logo. The letters were linked in a chain; banners of the same shade fluttered overhead. The charities mission statement says

'We are all links in the chain of life, everyone has a part to play, sometimes more, sometimes less. As a whole we will stand strong and see it through together.'

I was about to join Daniel when someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to see Aunt Jen's friends, Peter and Phyllis Scott.

“We came to wish you luck” Peter explained their sudden appearance.

“We're going to call on Jennifer and maybe take her to church if she feels up to it” his wife added.

A volunteer came past us at that moment, rattling one of the numerous peacock blue buckets. Phyllis dropped in a small bag of change before they bade me farewell and went to find their car.

They were quickly replaced by Dolly, and what a sight he was. Dolly was garbed in a canary yellow T-shirt and the skimpiest pair of running shorts ever seen on the planet, maybe even the universe. Fluorescent cerise and his trainers were lime green! He was carrying three sun hats, peacock blue in colour with the words ' Team Jen' embroidered across the front. They reminded me of the ones worn by the French Foreign Legion; you know, peaked in front, flat topped, with a flap at the back to keep the sun off.

“Got to protect that pretty face, Bella” he purred as he unceremoniously settled one on top of my head.

Daniel found us just as a voice hailed all competitors through a megaphone. Warm up time! He and Dolly acknowledged each other over my head and Dolly handed over the hat.

My best friend and my fella had reached a truce over me during our weeks of training, though Dolly still bristled when ever Daniel used his given name. “Seriously Damien?” Daniel commented, taking in his team-mate's outfit.

“Just turning heads” Dolly replied breezily, turning his own as he scanned the crowd until he spotted a face he recognised and gave a little wave. It was the boy from the chippy.

“Turning my stomach” Daniel growled back.

“Some of us have it” Dolly declared, repositioning his hat just so, giving Daniel elevator eyes as he surveyed his ensemble of silver Lycra cycling shorts and matching vest, before adding “and some of us....”

“Don't want it” my hunky boyfriend affirmed. As we joined the line up he caught my eye and signed 'DIVA'

“I saw that!” Dolly called from the rear.

The warm up was more like a gym-class in primary school; better make that nursery school! The 'teacher' had us doing stretches, okay with that; then star jumps, still okay.

“Let's have a bit of a laugh” he boomed through his loud-speaker, which squeaked in protest.

“Too loud mate!” some smart Alec yelled back.

“Come on! You all know this one! Heads, shoulders, knees and toes!” he sang., badly.

Everyone tried to keep up, even the spectators joined in. That was fine until the idiot mixed things up a little and sang all sorts of nonsense.

“Heads, knees, shoulders, nose”.

He went faster and faster until we couldn't tell nose from toes or top from tip, and laughed our selves silly. We did a few more stretches while we calmed down, before the countdown began.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven........three, two, one....”

As the Memorial clock struck eleven sharp the starter fired his gun and the race was on. You could tell the serious runners straight off; they were soon out in front leading the pack, leaving the rest of us far behind in their dust. The sun blazed down from a cloudless sky as I thought 'Good job with the hat, Dolly,now where did I leave my parasol?'