Cwmderi Diary 2018: 13 March 2018

Hannah is not saying much the next morning

Next morning in Bryntirion, Hannah is rather quiet and Diane assumes that she is anxious about her art assessment.

"Just do your best"

“There’s no need to worry – just do your best, and I bet you’ll get an A,” Diane tells her.

She gives her grandmother a cwtch

Hannah unexpectedly hugs her Gran, then Diane leaves for work; “See you tonight, love,” she says.

Hannah removes her school uniform

As soon as she is gone, Hannah retrieves her rucksack from behind the sofa and removes her school uniform.

Britt gives Chester his lunch

Meanwhile, in the chip shop flat, Britt prepares Chester’s lunch, then complains about the state of his hair;

"Stop treating me like a child!"

“You can’t stop treating me like a child, can you?” he demands.

Greta is out for a walk with Siôn

Siôn is taking Greta for a walk when they meet Auntie Anita;

"I'm free later, if you want to come over"

he says that he is free later, if she wants to come over.

"I think you're being naughty, Mr White"

“I think you’re being naughty, Mr White,” she reproves him.

"What are you talking about, then?"

Kelly comes out of the café and asks what they are talking about. Siôn replies that it is about the Best Kept Village, and Kelly wonders if he is getting fed up with flowers and borders. “Our latest plans are for shop windows,” he continues, and goes into the café to show her more details.

Chester waits for Hannah . . .

Chester is sitting in the back street, next to a green bin, when Megan passes,

. . . and startles Megan

and is startled by him. “I’ve just come back from two months out in Australia,” she explains, “I went to visit Rhian Haf, my daughter, but things have gone awry since I’ve come back. My cat, Llewelyn’s missing – Mrs Parry next door was supposed to look after him, but she hasn’t seen him for weeks.

"You haven't seen him, have you?"

“You haven’t seen him, have you? I’ve been looking for him for hours – I’m worried sick that something has happened to him.”

Hannah quietly approaches

In the background, Hannah is approaching, and as soon as Megan has gone, she joins Chester,

"I had to go back for my passport"

apologising for her lateness, but she had to go back for her passport.

They are off on the first stage of their journey

The taxi arrives, and Chester asks if she is sure she wants to go through with this.

"Sydney, here we came!"

She takes his hand, and exclaims, “Sydney, here we come!”

"The front of the café would be a sea of colour!"

In the café, Siôn is trying to persuade Kelly, “Businesses would be completely transformed by a hanging basket outside! If you have filled them with petunias and begonias, the front of the café would be a sea of colour. Do we have the café’s support?”

"Debbie's the organ-grinder"

Kelly replies, “I’m only the monkey – you have to ask Debbie, the organ-grinder.”

She is glad to see the back of Siôn

She is glad when he leaves,

"He's obsessed with this village thing!"

and remarks to Mathew that Siôn is obsessed with this Best Kept Village thing.

As Anita comes in, Mathew is making the scathing comment, “Siôn is more like bore of the century,”

"At least he's trying to do something for the village!"

and she takes issue with this, pointing out that at least he is trying to do something for Cwmderi, which is more than either of them are doing.

"Who organised the Christmas procession, then?"

Kelly demands who organised the Christmas procession; Anita emphasises but she is not taking any interest in this project.

"It's easy to trample on other people's plans!"

“It’s easy to trample on other people’s plans, when you don’t raise a finger to help!”

"What do you mean, she's not at school?"

Diane arrives back home, speaking to Gaynor on the phone; “What do you mean, she’s not at school? She was fine this morning.”

"I'll check upstairs"

She goes to check upstairs.

"Why were you so touchy about Siôn?"

In the café, Kelly enquires why Anita was so touchy about Siôn earlier, but she denies it; “You bit my head off – didn’t she, Math?”

"You shouldn't poke fun at your customers"

Anita responds that she should not poke fun at her customers,

"He gave you a home when you were in trouble"

and admonishes Mathew for making fun of Siôn, reminding him that Siôn gave him a home when he was in trouble.

"We're both sorry, aren't we, Kel?"

Mathew apologises to them both, and says he is happy to help with the Best Kept Village.

"He's shown a lot of imagination"

“Siôn is not boring – to tell you the truth, he’s shown a lot of imagination with these plans,” Anita tells them; Mathew remarks that she is really defensive of him,

"I wonder if there is anything going on"

and wonders if anything is going on.

"Auntie Anita and Siôn?"

Kelly finds the idea rather distasteful.

"Hannah's passport is gone!"

Diane has gone straight round to Britt’s flat, where she is told that Chester is at school. “I thought Hannah was too, but her clothes and passport have gone! I want to find out if Chester knows anything, but perhaps he has gone with her!”

"And so has Chester's!"

Britt goes to his room to investigate, and reports that his things have gone too; they hurry off to the school.

Ricky had to buy his own chips today

When they come out of the door, they see Ricky, who is once more eating fish and chips,

"Do you know where Hannah and Chester are?"

and they demand if he knows anything about the whereabouts of Hannah and Chester. As Britt begins to interrogate him,

"If you know anything, Ricky . . ."

Gaynor comes round the corner, and urges Ricky that if he knows anything, he should tell them now.

"They're on their way to Sydney"

“They’re on their way to Sydney – they’re flying this afternoon,” he confesses, “I couldn’t stop them. They’re going because of you – they can’t bear to be kept apart.”

They continue to blame each other

Britt and Diane start furiously blaming each other, but Gaynor suggests they would be better employed stopping the young couple from leaving the country.

Britt and Diane head for the airport

Britt and Diane jump into the car and leave.

"Let's go and have a smoothie!"

At the airport, Hannah reports that their flight is on time, but they have ages, so they can go and have a smoothie. Chester’s mobile sounds, and he finds a text from Ricky,

"Oh no – they're on their way here!"

informing them that Britt and Diane have found out; “They are on their way here!” he tells Hannah.

“Come on – we are checking in now!” she instructs him, and they rush up the stairs.

"Look – Pinky and Perky!"

Kelly shows Gaynor two toy mice she has bought for Catatonia; “Look how gorgeous he is!” she says,

The photo on Kelly's phone

showing the photo on her phone.

"Can you put up a flyer?"

Inevitably, this is the moment when Megan comes in, asking to put up a flyer about her missing cat,

"That's Llewelyn!"

and when she sees the photo on Kelly’s phone, she immediately recognises Llewelyn.

There does appear to be a resemblance

She is overjoyed that her cat is safe, which comes as somewhat of a shock to Kelly.

"First thing is luggage check-in"

Britt and Diane have arrived at the airport and do not know where to start; “We have to be practical here,” decides Diane, “The first thing they have to do is check in their luggage,”

Britt hurries . . .

and Britt leads the way up the stairs, with Diane trailing behind,

. . . but Diane should have worn her trainers

and complaining about the heels on her shoes.

Anita is impressed with her welcome

Anita arrives at Y Felin, where Siôn has prepared food for them; “You’re the only person who would think of something like this – you have such imagination!”

Siôn hands her a glass of wine

He pours her a glass of wine, and she kisses him.

Chester moans about the check-in queue . . .

“Can you believe how long the check-in queue was?” moans Chester, but Hannah replies that at least their bags are on the way to the plane, and they are nearly there.

. . . then Kelly cannot find her boarding pass

She cannot find her boarding pass in the depths of her handbag. As she rummages through it,

They are still shouting at each other

their two pursuers come puffing along the corridor, hoping that they are not too late. They are still bickering, and attracting the attention of other travellers.

"Hannah, Chester, stop!"

Suddenly they catch up with Hannah and Chester and order them to stop.

"This was not how it was supposed to be!"

The young couple are aghast.

"That's definitely Llewelyn!"

At number 10, Megan insists that she has not made a mistake; “That’s Llewelyn – I’d recognise him anywhere.” Kelly points out that he is ignoring her. “He’s always been independent – aren’t you a little scoundrel?

Megan is so glad to see him again

“I am so glad to see you,” says Megan, “I started imagining all kinds of things – I can only thank you from the bottom of my heart for looking after him.”

Megan is about to take him home . . .

Megan picks up the cat, but Kelly stops her; “What do you think you’re doing?

"You went away and neglected him!"

“You went away for two months and neglected him – if you think I’m just going to let you take him, think again!” She retrieves Catatonia, and Megan that does not know what to say.

"Whatever you say, we're going!"

At the airport, Chester informs them that whatever they say, he and Hannah intend to go. Britt wails, “Things cannot be that bad!” and he tells her they are fed up with being treated like kids. Diane is amazed that they had planned this in advance,

"Please, Chester, don't do this!"

and Britt is in tears, pleading with Chester not to do this.

"We just want to be together!"

“We just want to be together, Mam – what’s so awful about that?” he demands, and his mother says they should sit down and talk about this. “There’s no point, if you won’t let us see each other,” he replies,

"We've already booked the tickets"

and Hannah adds that they have already booked the tickets; they have a new, stress-free life waiting for them.

They are getting desperate

By this time Britt is becoming desperate; “If we lift the ban, will you change your minds? If you want me to beg, I will, but please, don’t go for my sake!”

“You don’t understand, do you?” answers Hannah, “You and Gran are the problem – you control us – don’t trust us – and we’ve had enough!

Chester looks about to burst into tears

“You’re suffocating us, and unless you change, we’re catching that plane!” They begin to walk away.

"I did not neglect him!"

“I didn’t neglect him,” protests Megan, “Mrs Parry next-door went in to feed him every day!” Kelly points out that cats need more than food and drink – they also need love and fuss.

"No wonder he legged it!"

“You left Catatonia rattling around in the house on his own – no wonder he legged it! The poor thing was desperate for fuss! I am sorry, Megan, I can’t let him go – my conscience won’t allow it.

"I havd to do what's right for him!"

“I’ve got a duty to do what’s right for him.”

"You haven't heard the last of this!"

Then she asks Megan to leave, which she does, but assures Kelly she has not heard the last of this.

"I'm never going to let you go"

Kelly promises the cat she will never let him go.

Diane suggests that they could see each other each evening after school work,

"We want to be together all the time!"

but Hannah insists they are not going to bargain over an odd evening here or there. “If we are staying, we want to be together all the time.”

"What if we did live together?"

Chester adds that they do not live together; “But what if we did? That is what we were going to do in Australia.”

"You're not engaged, or married, or anything!"

Diane objects, saying that her granddaughter is not going to live with her boyfriend, not while she is still at school. It is not right, as they are not engaged or married or anything.

"Hannah Francis, will you marry me?"

Chester has an immediate answer to this; much to Hannah’s surprise, he gets down on one knee and says, “Hannah Francis, will you marry me?”

"Are you serious, Chest?"

She first checks that he is serious, and with other passengers looking on, he adds, “You know how I feel about you – so will you be Mrs Monk?”

"Yes, of course!"

She is very pleased to accept this proposal,

The onlookers all cheer

and they kiss, to the accompaniment of shouts and cheers from the other passengers. “Does that mean we can live together now that we’re engaged?” Chester demands,