12 November 2024

Siôn walks from the deli to the shop

Siôn comes out of the deli and walks across towards the shop;  Rhys is just coming out with a pint of milk and ask if he is all right.   

"Struggling on, you know"

“Struggling on, you know,” is the reply.

"Something to take your mind off Eileen"

“If you need something to take your mind off Eileen, Ceffyl Du’s got a special offer on – £3 a pint,” says Rhys, 

That was not appreciated

but Siôn clearly does not appreciate that.   Rhys then notices Howard is about to go into the shop and warns him not to do so;  

"The man who put his 'girl crush' in prison"

“Siôn’s just gone in there – and he’s bound to want to say something to the man who put his ‘girl crush’ in prison!”

"Eileen shot me!"

Howard makes it crystal clear, “Eileen shot me – I’ve done nothing wrong!   And the judge obviously agreed with me.”   

"Sioned won't see it that way"

Rhys doubts that Sioned will see it that way, now she is on her own looking after a farm, and trying to bring up three children.

Howard is unsympathetic;  “Perhaps Eileen should have thought of that before using the gun!”

Sioned is busy with Jac . . .

At that moment Sioned is just placing Jac in his cot and she is very pleased to have settled him;  the next job is to prepare the babies’ bottles, 

. . . and is exhausted

but she is exhausted.   

Before she can eat her sandwich, he starts again

As soon as she sits down to eat a sandwich, he starts crying again;  she looks devastated.

"You should go for the carrot cake"

In the deli, where Cheryl has just arrived, Tom walks in and advises that she should go for the carrot cake.   

"Two eclairs, please"

She replies that it is a choice between an eclair and a custard slice, actually, then asks the new assistant, who we have not seen before, for two eclairs.

"Gaynor's in a bad mood"

He asks how Gaynor is today and Cheryl groans, “In a bad mood, hence the eclair.   I think being stuck in the house is starting to get her down – and Mark’s not in the best mood either – he’s got a letter about some meeting about the dam this morning.”

"Nothing to do with me – I just work there"

Once again, Tom gloats, “Nothing to do with me – I just work there.”   

"Goat's cheese and red pepper panini, please?"

Then he asks the girl behind the counter, “Can I have a goat’s cheese and red pepper panini, please?”

“Since when do you eat things like that?” Cheryl demands and he replies that Gaynor got him to try it;  he found it quite nice.   

"It smells like feet!"

She scathingly comments, “It might be nice, but it smells like feet!”

He will be coming over tonight, as Gaynor mentioned something about moving a bed.   Cheryl insists that she is perfectly able to do it, 

"It would be easier with two"

but he insists that it would be easier with two.

Gwern has been summoned to the brewery

Rhys is clearing up in the brewery when Gwern comes in;  “Thanks for coming over,” Rhys tells him, “Are you all right?   How’s Dani?”

"It would have been easier to sack me by text"

Gwern says that it would have been easier to sack him by text.   

"Yeah, that was a stupid idea"

Rhys informs him that drinking their profits until he was hammered was a stupid idea.   

"So I am getting sacked"

“So I am getting sacked – nice one – thanks, Rhys.”

"I haven't said anything yet . . ."

“Whoa – I haven’t said anything yet – 

". . . we can talk about it"

“sit down and we can talk about it,” he is instructed.

Mark goes to Y Felin and asks Siôn what exactly is a task force.   

"It will involve a selection of councillors"

“Well, I’d say that a selection of councillors will be on the dam’s task force.”   

Siôn reads the details

Mark points out that the letter says they are going to meet to discuss the dam scheme before voting and then take the decision to the council.

"We can voice our opinion"

“But look, it’s a public meeting so we can voice our opinion – next Wednesday night in Yr Antur,” Mark continues, as there is a knock at the door and Ffion comes in.

"I came as quickly as I could"

“I came as quickly as I could,” she says, “I’ve been thinking . . .”   

"I've been to several protests"

There she is interrupted by Siôn, who points out that he has a lot of experience and has been to several protests.   

"This is not a protest"

She reminds him that this is not a protest, but he regards the principal as the same.

"The community against the big enemy!"

“The community against the big enemy!” he exclaims.   Ffion insists that is why it is important to talk to the whole community – to summarise all the opposition.   In particular, the people of Maes-y-Deri have a lot to say, so she suggests that everyone should be given a chance to speak.

"It would be better if one person spoke"

However Siôn does not agree with that;  “Not in the public meeting, I don’t think so.   I think it would be better for everyone if one person spoke – someone who is familiar with this sort of thing.”

"You, I suppose"

“You, I suppose,” sighs Ffion and he points out that he is used to speaking up for the weak and those without a voice.   

"It's like listening to Martin Luther King!"

Ffion comments to Mark, “It’s like listening to Martin Luther King!”

Siôn has already written a speech

Siôn thought that might be the next step, so he has already prepared a speech, which is just what Ffion and Mark had been expecting.   “Do you want to hear it?”   They do not look particularly eager, but he goes on, nevertheless.

“I strongly oppose these plans . . .” he begins, 

"We, not I!"

but is reminded that it should be ‘we’, not ‘I’.   “We strongly opposed the plans for this dam.”   Ffion and Mark look at each other.

"I think I owe you an apology"

In the brewery, Rhys says, “I think I owe you an apology – I was under a lot of pressure, I was panicking – and I’m sorry,” as he brings each of them a glass – of water.   

"I'm sorry, too"

Gwern is also sorry, 

"I have a history of doing really stupid things"

but Rhys confesses that he has a history of doing really stupid things when times get hard.

“Drinking can feel like a way out, but it’s not, trust me,” he adds, “So how were you when you got home?”   

"I was only sick four times"

Gwern report that he was only sick four times;  

"I'm surprised you had anything left"

Rhys is surprised he had anything left to throw up.

“Talking helps, you know – and if you don’t want to talk to Dani or Jinx, you can talk to me.”   

"So I'm not getting sacked?"

Gwern realises that he is not getting sacked;  “No, you know the beer recipé now – 

"I'm worried you'd sell it to someone"

“I’m worried that you’d sell it to someone,” Rhys tells him, “I’m not going to turn my back on you after one stupid mistake – but you have to promise that you’ll only be making the beer from now on and not drinking it.   

Gwern says that he understands . . .

“Understand?”   

. . . and the matter is settled

It appears that now the matter is settled.

Sioned makes the babies' bottle . . .

At Penrhewl, Sioned measures out the formula into a bottle and is about to add water when the phone rings;  

. . . but knocks it to the floor 

she turns abruptly and knocks the bottle on to the floor.   

"Mam?"

She rushes to answer the phone to find that her mother is ringing.

"Sioned, are you all right, love?"

“Sioned, are you all right, love?” asks Eileen from the corridor in the prison, “You sound tired.”   

"I managed to get a couple of hours"

Sioned says that she managed to get a couple of hours sleep during the night.   Eileen has slept better than she thought she would;  

"She's all right – but quiet"

she says that she is sharing a cell with someone who is ‘all right’ but quiet.

“Are Huwi and the twins all right?”   

"Huwi-John is a big help"

Sioned answers that they are slowly getting used to things and that Huwi-John is a big help, but she misses her mother.   “Don’t forget that Huwi goes to club after school tonight – 

"You'll have to pick him up from the top of the road"

“you’ll have to pick him up from the bus at the top of the road.”   

Huwi reminded Sioned of that this morning, then one of the babies starts crying loudly.   

"Jac wants more food"

Sioned reports that Jac wants more food and Eileen will phone her again.   

"Look after yourself, OK?"

“Look after yourself, OK?” says Sioned, then goes to pick up Jac and comfort him.   

Sioned is shattered

She does not know how she is going to cope.

Siôn is still droning on

Siôn is still droning on with his speech, “And so, friends, I urge you to reconsider these immoral plans to keep the heart of Cwmderi’s community beating.   

He seems very pleased with his masterpiece

“Well?   It offers everything – passion, emotion, credibility – and a great alliteration at the end!”

"Yeah, but it's boring!"

“Yeah, but it’s boring, Siôn,” is Mark’s evaluation.   

"Cwmderi's future is in the balance here!"

Siôn insists that Cwmderi’s future is in the balance here;  

"Even I almost fell asleep"

“Yes, exactly – listen, I’m on your side but even I almost fell asleep.   “I think I should say something.”

"Remember what happened last time?"

“You?   No!” gasps Siôn and Mark stresses that he is not afraid to say what he thinks.   “Do you remember what happened last time?   It turned into a riot!” Siôn exclaims.

"That's enough now!"

Ffion steps in to stop this argument;  “That’s enough now – we all feel passionate about this, Siôn, and everyone has their reasons, 

"All three of us should speak"

“so I think the three of us should have the opportunity to speak.”   Mark agrees with this, but Siôn grumbles that he was only trying to help.

They are ready todo some leg-work

“And if we are talking on behalf of the community, we need to go round lobbying and gathering opinions,” adds Ffion.   Mark suggests that they can start tonight for an hour or two.

"No, I can't"

Siôn simply says that he cannot;  “Typical,” comments Mark, 

"He hasn't got time to do the hard work"

“He wants to do the big speech, but he hasn’t got time to do the hard work.”   They decide to start with Hywel, 

"I think he's more in favour than against"

but Siôn has the feeling that he is more in favour than against the scheme.   Ffion is determined that they have to go and knock some sense into him in that case.

"Children!"

As they leave the house, Siôn disparagingly mutters, “Children!”

"I'm sitting here morning, noon and night"

Hywel is visiting Gaynor, who complains about sitting there morning, noon and night.   

"I've read it"

He has brought her a couple of books, but when he takes out the first one, she grumbles that she has read it.

"Where have you been?"

Cheryl comes in and Gaynor complains, “Where have you been?   I thought you were just popping to the village.”   Cheryl points out that she was given quite a long list of things to get.

“Sorry, you should have said if it was too much trouble,” but Cheryl gets the impression that it is she who is too much trouble.   

"We could go out for dinner"

Hywel proposes that they could go out for dinner tonight, 

"I can't go like this, can I?"

but she moans, “I can’t go like this, can I?”

His next suggestion is that they could go out in the car and get some chips, 

"It could provide a change of scene"

with Cheryl agreeing that it could provide a change of scene.   However this is swiftly demolished;  

"I don't want chips!"

“I don’t want chips and I don’t want people to see me like this!”

"Right, I'd better go"

Hywel think that he had better leave and Cheryl produces the eclairs for pudding, as they are Gaynor’s favourite;  

"I can't eat those now, can I?"

“Yeah, when I’m moving about and exercising – I can’t eat those now, can I?”

There is a knock at the door and Cheryl finds that it is Tom;  

"I can't believe I'm saying this"

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually glad you’re here!” she sighs.

Sioned catches up on some sleep

When Howard walks into the farmhouse with Huwi, he finds Sioned asleep and looks around at the disorder.   

"We could walk down to the river"

He suggests to Huwi that they could go for a walk to the river, leaving her to sleep, 

"Sorry, Huwi, I forgot"

but she wakes up and realises that she has forgotten to collect Huwi from the club.

“What are you doing here?” she demands of Howard 

"I saw Huwi at the bottom of the road"

and he says that he was passing and saw Huwi on his own at the bottom of the road.   “Oh, I’m so sorry, love – I was supposed to pick you up, but I fell asleep,” she says.

Howard comments that these things happen, 

"When you have to do everything on your own"

and she snarls, “Yes, when you have to do everything on your own.”   

"I'll help you on the farm"

He is sorry that things are so difficult for her and offers to help on the farm.   “You want a job on the farm, after everything you’ve done?” she sneers and when he points out that all he did was to tell the truth, she orders him out of the house.

"Howard said we can go down to the river"

“Howard said we could go down to the river,” pleads Huwi and Howard adds that they would not be gone long.   “Please?” Huwi begs, and Sioned agrees that he can for ten minutes.

"I didn't want any of this"

Howard looks around at the state of the place and assures her, “I didn’t want any of this.”

"Huwi hasn't got a mother or a father"

“Tell that to Huwi,” she replies, “Because, thanks to you, he hasn’t got a mother or a father at the moment!”   He leaves without another word.

"I think it would benefit the valley" — and my bank balance

“I’ve considered this very carefully – and in my opinion, I think this scheme would benefit the valley more than anything,” says Hywel.

"We're going to lose our homes"

Ffion and Mark cannot believe what they are hearing;  “We’re going to lose our homes,” Mark points out, but Hywel tell him he will not be homeless, as they will get a good price for the house.

"You've heard my opinion"

“You’ve come here to get my opinion and you’ve heard it, so you might as well go.”

"What has happened to you, Hywel?"

Ffion has something further to say before she leaves;  “What has happened to you, Hywel?”   He maintains that he is trying to see the bigger picture and not just what affects him, like they are doing.   

"They want to get rid of a complete housing estate!"

“They want to get rid of a complete housing estate!” she continues, “Home to dozens of families!”

"They'll build another one"

“And they’ll build another one to replace it,” he insists.   

"And divorced her!"

Mark emphasises that Maes-y-Deri is important to them all and Ffion points out that Hywel  married a girl from the estate.

Mark mutters, “And divorced her!”   

"I haven't got time for this!"

Hywel is adamant that he has not got time to listen to that now and wants them to leave.   Mark assures him that this is not going to happen – there are a lot of people out there who agree with that.

“We’ll see next week, won’t we?” Is Hywel’s reply and Ffion agrees that they will, 

"We'll do what we have to do"

because they will do what they have to do to make sure that this is not built.

"Cheryl's food is not that bad"

Tom confides to Gaynor that Cheryl’s food is not that bad, but she just does not feel like eating it.   

"I said I'm fine!"

Cheryl offers to make something else, mentioning that there is some soup in the fridge, so she snaps, “I said I’m fine!” but then apologises, very aware that she is being difficult today.

"You are being rather a 'diva'"

Tom agrees that she is being rather a ‘diva’ 

"Remember that you're getting better"

and Cheryl insists that she must remember she is getting better.   Gaynor thinks that she will go up to bed.  “I’m not good company,” she acknowledges and Tom hurries to help her.   

"I hate being a burden"

“I hate being a burden,” she continues;  he thinks that he sees a trace of a smile on her face and stresses that these things take time.

"When you're better, you can carry me up to bed"

“When you’re better, you can carry me up to bed!” he jokes.

Howard and Huwi are back

Sioned is still frantically working in the kitchen when Howard and Huwi return;  “Come and wash your hands – the food will be ready soon,” she tells Huwi and, to Howard, “You can go.”

"A feed delivery has arrived"

He informs her that a feed delivery has arrived, which will have to be put in the shed.   She snarls, “Our feed is nothing to do with you,” so he leaves.

Sioned finds the pizza is a little well-done

Sioned opens the oven only to find that the pizza is an unappetisingly black colour, so she promises to make something else.   

"I'll have crisps again"

He volunteers to have crisps again, 

"I'll cook something tidy tomorrow"

so she assures him she will cook something tidy tomorrow night.   

"Go and play on your iPad"

“Why don’t you go up and play on your iPad?   I won’t be long – then it will be time for a bath, OK?”

This is all too much for her

She is at the end of her tether and does not know how to cope, but as she stands in tears, 

"I forgot my phone"

Howard returns, having left his phone behind;  he looks at her state 

"I'll be back in the morning to sort out the farm'

and informs her, “I’ll be back in the morning to sort out the farm.”

"Everything's done"

Gwern thinks that he has done everything to clear up in the brewery and is told that he is free to go, “Straight home,” Rhys stipulates.

“Are you going to tell Dani about last week?” Gwern is anxious to know.   

"It won't happen again, will it?"

Rhys will not say a word, because it is not going to happen again.   Gwern confirms that and thanks Rhys for the chat;  

"Everyone else treats me like a child"

“Everyone else treats me like a child.”

As soon as Rhys is out of the way . . .

But as soon as Rhys turns his back, 

. . . Gwern 'half-inches' some beer bottles

Gwern picks up his bag and begins to fill it with bottles of Ceffyl Du from the fridge.

"She seems a bit more positive"

Tom comes downstairs at Llwyncelyn after settling Gaynor;  Cheryl is watching a film and he reports that Gaynor seems a bit more positive now.   “Thank goodness!” exclaims Cheryl.

He notices that she has still not eaten her eclair;  

"That's Gaynor's"

“I have – that’s Gaynor’s,” she tells him and he asks if he can have it.   

"There's not one here"

She thought that carrot cake was his thing, but he says there is not one of them there.

She maintains that it is not as nice as those from the bakery, which he recalls was round the corner from their old house.   

"We've seen this film before"

“We’ve seen this film before, haven’t we?”   Cheryl reminds him that in the cinema he fell asleep and missed the end.

"Gaynor wants fish tomorrow"

He thanks her for dinner and will bring over the stuff for tomorrow night;  “Gaynor said she wanted fish.”   

He is invited to stay for the end . . . 

As he is leaving, she tells him he is welcome to stay to see the end if he wants – as there is not long left.

. . . so he settles down with his eclair . . .

He needs no second bidding but sits down alongside her on the sofa 

. . . and they watch together

and they watch it together, as he demolishes the eclair.