[00:00.14] Chapter 10.
[00:02.52] Ben Weatherstaff.
[00:05.32] Ben Weatherstaff was never one for orders, and the latest one was plain daft.
[00:10.85] Not do any gardening mid afternoon with all the work he had to do?
[00:15.25] Nonsense.
[00:17.90] He was seeing to his gardens and Mr. Roach could like it or lump it.
[00:23.86] So, it was a surprise to him when he heard whispering and giggles coming from inside the locked garden.
[00:31.20] A surprise and a shock.
[00:35.42] Putting his ladder against the wall, he climbed and peered over.
[00:40.77] What he saw made him angrier than he'd ever been in his life.
[00:45.94] That lass.
[00:47.62] Laughing and messing about with a lad.
[00:51.97] What are you doing?" he yelled at her.
[00:55.40] You bad little wench.
[00:57.87] How dare you go in there?
[01:00.13] How dare you?
[01:03.42] Mary almost dropped her trowel when she saw the old man glowering down at her.
[01:09.52] How do you get in?
[01:12.23] How do you get in?" the gardener ranted.
[01:16.63] I I found the key.
[01:20.60] The Robin showed me where it was," Mary stammerd.
[01:24.60] That made Ben almost fall off his ladder with rage.
[01:28.55] Don't you make fun of me.
[01:31.82] Robin indeed.
[01:34.38] A vandal.
[01:36.26] That's what you are, going where you've no business.
[01:42.06] He began to shake his fist at her.
[01:44.95] Mary became quite scared.
[01:49.09] Colin, who had been hidden from view, called across to Dicken.
[01:53.89] Wheel me over there, Dicken, hurry.
[01:59.92] Ben Weatherstaff's eyes nearly popped out of his head when Colin came into view.
[02:05.68] Do you know who I am?" Colin demanded, his face as furious as the gardener's.
[02:12.71] Well, I I reckon thou must be Master Colin," Ben replied, feeling a lump rise in his throat.
[02:21.68] He shook his head slowly.
[02:23.84] You look just like her," he whispered.
[02:29.11] Colin glanced across at Mary and frowned.
[02:32.03] Do I?
[02:33.92] Well, I suppose we are cousins.
[02:39.22] Not her," Ben replied, you're mother, Mrs. Craven.
[02:47.14] You have her eyes.
[02:50.59] Do I?" said Colin, taken aback.
[02:54.76] You knew her.
[02:57.05] You knew my mother.
[03:00.27] Ben nodded.
[03:01.79] I, I helped her in there.
[03:05.85] She loved to grow things.
[03:09.94] This was her garden?" Colin asked.
[03:13.12] I.
[03:15.88] For once, Colin was lost for words.
[03:22.60] I tried to keep it going," Ben continued.
[03:26.85] I used to climb over and do it.
[03:29.91] Can't get to it now.
[03:32.91] Now I'm not as fit as I was.
[03:36.50] My legs are going gammy like yours.
[03:43.23] The old man hadn't meant to be rude, but the comment made Colin angry all over again.
[03:49.74] He knew he had a weak, feeble body.
[03:53.72] He only had to look at Dicken to see that.
[03:57.42] But here in the garden he felt different, stronger.
[04:04.86] My legs aren't gammy," he yelled.
[04:09.05] I'll show you.
[04:12.72] Placing his hands on either side of the chair arms, he slowly began to rise.
[04:19.61] The blanket covering his lap fell onto the ground.
[04:24.94] I can use my legs," Colin repeated, staring up at the gardener.
[04:31.20] I can.
[04:33.90] Ben blinked.
[04:36.90] Mary and Dicken daredn't even breathe as they watched Colin put one foot on the ground, then the other, until he was standing upright.
[04:49.17] Upright for the first time in his life.
[04:56.31] See," said Colin.
[04:58.82] I can use my legs.
[05:01.39] I can.
[05:04.78] I," Ben nodded.
[05:08.57] He felt tears in his eyes.
[05:12.87] Colin flopped back down in his chair with a proud grin on his face.
[05:20.93] That night, Colin slept long and deep.
[05:26.20] When he woke refreshed and full of energy, he had a plan.
[05:31.85] I am going to learn to walk," he told Mary and Dicken, as soon as they reached the garden.
[05:39.87] It will be like a scientific experiment.
[05:43.77] I shall record my progress and write a paper on it for a scientific journal.
[05:51.04] I shall probably end up rather famous.
[05:56.14] Big head," Mary snorted.
[06:00.38] But underneath, she was really pleased.
[06:04.83] It was the first time Colin had talked of what he would do in the future.
[06:11.85] What she didn't know was that Colin wasn't doing it just for science.
[06:18.07] He was doing it so his father would be proud of him.
[06:23.92] He'll want to see me when I'm awake as well as asleep," he thought to himself.
[06:30.80] The first few times he tried to walk, Colin could only shuffle forward a few steps with Dicken on one arm and Mary or Ben on the other.
[06:43.09] Slowly, over the days and weeks, the garden worked its magic.
[06:50.12] As the trees blossomd and the shoots turned into the most beautiful flowers, Colin too changed.
[07:00.33] His arms grew stronger.
[07:04.90] His legs grew stronger.
[07:08.99] He took three, then four, then five, then six steps by himself.
[07:17.83] Then, on a day when even the Robin flew down to watch, Colin Craven walked all the way round the garden.
[07:29.33] By the time summer turned to autumn, he was not just walking, but running too.
[07:36.89] It's a miracle," Ben Weatherstaff said.
[07:41.71] But the garden hadn't finished working its magic just yet.
[07:50.44] In a land far, far from Yorkshire, Archibald Craven woke from his dream with a start.
[07:59.64] It had been so clear, so vivid.
[08:04.32] In it, he had heard his wife's voice calling to him.
[08:09.60] Archie, Archie.
[08:16.19] He had smelled something in his dream, too.
[08:19.43] The scent of roses.
[08:23.95] Oh, Lilius," he whispered.
[08:28.66] Lilius, where are you?
[08:33.41] In the garden," came the voice.
[08:38.63] In the garden.
[08:43.92] All day, the dream stayed with him.
[08:47.98] It followed him on his long, lonely walk up the Italian mountainside.
[08:55.59] It followed him as he paused by the dazzling lake beneath.
[09:02.73] What didn't follow him, for once, was the dark shadow he had carried around for 10 years.
[09:12.06] The shadow that clung to him like an ice cold fog, no matter how far from Mithweight Manor he roamed.
[09:22.59] It was such a strange dream," he thought to himself, so real.
[09:32.55] She is calling me back," Archibald thought.
[09:37.75] She is calling me home.