If Grim was ever given the opportunity to join The Jet Set, he would politely refuse the invitation.
Perhaps he had gone into the flight with unrealistic expectations. He’d always viewed air travel as something vaguely glamorous. But Grim had not, in fact, “loved” flying any more than he would have enjoyed riding in the back of a hog trailer for 20 hours.
He had never really liked airports. On the occasions that he’d been to Idaho Falls to drop off or pick someone up, it had felt as if everything about the airport was temporary and unconnected. Like nobody really belonged there, not even the employees. He found the same thing to be true of airplanes. As passengers, they were just a bunch of solitary transients packed into a cramped, dark, noisy, ill-smelling, metal tube.
The flight from New York to London had been particularly unpleasant. Grim’s seat was unbelievably narrow and when the gentleman in front of him reclined fully he felt like a kid in “time out” who was required to sit for 12 hours with his nose against the wall. Grim had never been able to sleep in automoblies and it turned out he wasn’t able to sleep on planes either. He was seated in the middle of the center section, which meant that whenever he needed to get up he had to climb over the two sleeping travelers on either side, trying not to wake them in the process. Since he didn’t want to climb over his seatmates too often, he spent much of the flight pacing the aisles.
The flight attendants were brusque and uninterested, the food tasted like the plastic it came in, and the air wasn’t recirculated as much as exhumed. By the time he staggered off the plane at Heathrow, his ears were numb, his eyes were bloodshot, he had a raging headache, and he hadn’t slept in far too long.
As he made his way down to the baggage claim area, he saw his Uncle Richard hanging back near the edge of the crowd greeting the new arrivals. He came forward and gave Grim a big hug.
Uncle Richard was the epitome of the phrase “a bear of a man.” He had always reminded Grim of Baloo the Bear from Disney’s The Jungle Book, but with a British accent. He was Grim’s great uncle on his mother’s side. Grim’s Great Aunt Barbara had met Uncle Richard when she was stationed in England during the 1960s as a nurse with the United States Air Force. It was, by all accounts, love at first sight, and shortly after they married, Uncle Richard became the estate manager of Wickham.
Since they hadn’t been able to have children of their own, they had “adopted” Grim’s mother, their only niece, long-distance and they had always treated Grim and his brothers as if they were their own grandchildren. For years, Uncle Richard and Aunt Barbara had come to The States at Christmas time, when the estate in England was essentially dormant, and spent the holidays with Grim’s family. The holiday season was never complete until Aunt Barbara made her famous trifle.
Grim had always looked up to his Uncle Richard. He was a strong, smart, kind man with one of the deepest and most soothing voices you’ve ever heard. He made you feel instantly at ease. He and Grim had always had a special relationship. It’s hard to put your finger on what it was exactly, but they had always gotten along famously.
The previous winter, Uncle Richard had asked Grim if he could see the work he’d been doing at The Fortress. So, one overcast, snowy December day, Grim drove Uncle Richard out for a tour. As they strolled through the grounds, Grim described the state things had been in when he had taken over three years before. He described the process he’d gone through to resurrect the gardens and pointed out the changes he’d made to the gardens’ design. For about an hour they traded thoughts on landscape architecture, talked about native plants, and discussed the challenges of gardening at high altitude and with little water.
Grim had been a little nervous. Showing off your landscape during the winter is a little like showing off your girlfriend after removing her hair, skin, muscles, and internal organs. OK, that’s a bad (and morbid) simile, but you get the idea. With all of the leaves gone, the lawn brown, and snow covering most of it, the only thing most people can see is the skeleton. It’s hard for people to imagine what it looks like in its natural state. But Uncle Richard could see it. The structure and the flow of the gardens were still there and his imagination could fill in the rest.
“I think you’ve done a brilliant job here, Grim,” his uncle told him when the tour was complete. “Whenever we’ve talked about your work in the past you’ve always dismissed it as mere ‘lawn mowing,’ but you’ve done yourself a disservice. This is marvelous work, really.”
Grim blushed and didn’t know quite what to say. He thought his uncle was just being polite. But just before he returned to England, his uncle pulled Grim aside.
“Grim,” he said. “I was wondering if you would be willing to come to England this summer and help me on the estate.”
“Are you kidding?”
“Not at all. I could use someone with your skills…and muscle, quite honestly. I’ve had a few lads retire this year and the rest of our staff are getting along in years. We could use some new blood, a strong back, and some fresh ideas.”
Grim was at a loss. “I’d have to ask my Dad,” he said hesitantly.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve already taken the liberty of speaking with your father and he thinks it is a brilliant idea.”
Until that moment, it had never really occurred to Grim that he and his Uncle Richard were in the same line of work. It was like being a coal miner and having an uncle in the diamond business. They both work with hunks of carbon, but they’re worlds apart. Grim almost didn’t feel worthy of the offer.
“I’m not sure I could afford the airfare,” Grim said, as if he was trying to talk himself or his uncle out of it.
“That would be taken care of,” his uncle said with a wave of the hand. “Honestly, Grim. I’m not just asking you out of kindness. I could really use your help. What do you say?”
“Yes?” Grim said, as if it was a question. Then, “Yes!” he reiterated, a little more enthusiastically this time.
So, there he was, in England, jet-lagged, bleary-eyed, and barely able to breath in his uncle’s bear hug.
“How was your flight?” Uncle Richard asked.
“Fine,” Grim lied.
“Your eyes say otherwise,” his uncle said, smiling.
Grim smiled back. “I’m exhausted.”
“Well, let’s get you home and you can sleep it off.”
After retrieving Grim’s duffle bag, they made their way to the car park. Grim’s uncle stopped at a large green Land Rover with a white top and canvas covering what would have been the bed if it were an American pickup. His uncle put Grim’s duffle bag in the back and Grim made his way to the right-side passenger door.
His uncle smiled. “Grim, you’re on the other side.”
Grim was so jet-lagged that it took him a second to realize what he was talking about. He looked in the window and saw the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the truck. Grim laughed, made his way to the left side, and got in. It felt so strange to be sitting in the left-hand seat without having a steering wheel in front of him.
“I’m probably going to do that a lot before it finally sinks in.”
“Wait until you start driving. Every time I visit The States it takes a few days for my brain to transpose everything right to left.”
His uncle started the truck and they made their way out of the car park.
“Grim, there’s been a slight change in plans since I talked to you last,” his uncle said in a rather serious tone. “There’s going to be someone staying at the estate this summer, after all.”
“Who?”
“Princess Victoria.”
“But I thought the Royal Family never visited the place anymore.”
“Well, normally, they don’t. The princess was supposed to spend the summer on the French Riviera, but there were some security concerns. I don’t know the specifics, but they wanted her someplace where they could keep an eye on her. And, since the castle was originally a fortress, it’s easy to keep an eye on.”
“And I’m hoping you can do me a favor,” he continued.
“Sure, anything…” Grim said.
“I had to sack the stable lad. Because of the heightened security, they did a background check on everyone and it seems that Terrence had a bit of a green thumb. He was growing cannabis in his flat. A lot of cannabis. So, I’m going to need someone to fill in for him. You’ve worked with horses, haven’t you?”
“Sure,” Grim replied. “My friend, Brent, owns a few horses and I’ve helped him out quite a bit.”
“I just need someone to take care of the daily chores. It shouldn’t require much work since Victoria’s horse will be the only tenant in the stables, but this would be in addition to your regular responsibilities. Could you do that for me?”
“Sure, no problem,” Grim replied.
“Thank you,” his uncle said, sounding relieved.
Grim thought for a little while and then asked, “So, did they do a background check on me?”
“Yes, they did.”
“And?”
“You are, apparently, a model of virtue and propriety,” his uncle said with a grin.
“It pays to be boring,” Grim laughed.
Grim looked out the window at the passing landscape. He was surprised at how green it was. They were out of the city now and it had started to rain. He leaned his head against the glass and watched the wind push the raindrops across the windows. And, for the first time since he was a baby, he fell asleep in a moving car.
Posted: Sunday, March 28, 2004 at 7:51 PM
