Jessica was still at school when she had the idea, and she carried it forward through technical college courses in embroidery. She had been a little disappointed that the course insisted that most of the work was done by machine, but still information was available on hand stitching. She travelled to Bayeux to look at the tapestry there and carefully planned her embroidery showing the whole of British history. At that time the internet wasn’t available so she did her research the hard way – many days off were spent travelling the country to look at illustrations of the various elements. Shy and retiring, she was happy to spend time on her own and enjoyed planning the work. Jessica spent a lot of time tracing the designs she wanted, adjusting the sizes as necessary until they fitted into her master plan. By her fortieth birthday she had finished planning and was ready to start work. Taking a deep breath she placed the first stitch, which was part of the border around King Egbert. After much thought she had decided that he was the first true king of England, she was going to work on Scottish and Welsh kings later.‘Hello, Jessie. Still stitching?’‘Not far to go now, Tania. I’ve decided to end it with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, it seems fitting. I’m just finishing the border now. History isn’t going to stop. Now I’m ninety I’ve decided I’ve got to.’Jessica’s carer put a fish pie in front of her.‘Stop now, and eat this. You know I don’t have long.’686Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmNEvM9eQt
‘Yes, Tania’
Rebelling, Jessica made herself sound like a grumpy teenager, but Tania had no sense of humour.
When Tania left Jessica did the last few stitches. Then she struggled to get up and lay the finished work on the floor so that she could see all of it. It was good.
Seeing Jessica slumped in her chair, Tania rushed her muddy shoes over the embroidery to call the emergency services, but she was several hours too late.
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