Читать книгу Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection - Josephine Cox - Страница 60

JUST AS SHE had done every afternoon for the past week, Emily climbed the stairs to the first floor of the infirmary. At the top she turned left and continued down the corridor, quickening her steps as she went.

In a matter of minutes she approached the ward. Weakened by the loss of blood but, thankfully, free from the dreaded septicaemia, which would have cost him his life, Danny was well on the way to recovery. During the first few days following his brutal fight with Clem Jackson, he had drifted in and out of consciousness, but now, thanks to good care and tending, he was regaining his strength.

As she thanked the nurse who was greeting the families at visiting time, Danny saw her and his face lit up. ‘Hello, sweetheart.’ He held out his arms for a kiss. ‘Home tomorrow, God willing.’ He beamed at his wife.

‘Don’t get your hopes up too high,’ Emily warned. ‘Wait until the doctor tells you himself.’

‘He already has.’ Danny explained how the doctor had been called away for some emergency or other. ‘He dropped in to see me … said he was so pleased with my progress, he might let me go home tomorrow. Matron should be round any minute to confirm it.’

Emily was delighted. ‘Oh, love! That’s such good news.’

His face was wreathed in smiles. ‘You’d best get the fatted calf out,’ he joshed. ‘They only feed you on carrots in here.’

Holding him for a moment, Emily kissed him with real affection. ‘I’ll go and find a vase for these daffs and sticky buds,’ she said. ‘I picked them from up Potts End Lane. Your dad helped me – and he sends his love. Cathleen can’t wait to have you back, nor can the rest of us, neither. See you in a minute, love. I want to be here when the matron comes.’

Without further ado she hurried away to search for a vase, but by the time she’d found one and got back to Danny, he was smiling all over his face. ‘I’ve missed her, haven’t I?’ Emily groaned. ‘All right, so what did she say? As if I couldn’t guess.’ His jubilant face told its own story.

‘I shall need my clothes tomorrow, ’cause I’m coming home,’ he said excitedly.

Emily was relieved but, ‘Don’t go getting all worked up and putting yourself back,’ she said. ‘And what about the stitches?’ He had twenty-one stitches in his side, and twelve in his leg. Apparently the gashes had been so deep there had been damage to the muscles. ‘Will you be able to get about all right?’

‘They’ve already made me walk slowly round the ward a few times,’ he told her, ‘but when I come home, I’m to use crutches. When I come back to have the stitches out, I should be off the crutches and walking unaided – that’s what I intend.’

‘You’ll do it. I know you will,’ Emily replied fondly. ‘As long as you take things easy and don’t damage the muscles any more than they are already.’

While he chatted, asking after the family and Michael in particular, Emily told him how good it was to have her father home again. ‘At first Mam gave him the tongue-wagging he deserved, and even Grandad had a lot to say … after he refused to talk to him for a whole day! It was so much for us all to take in, what with him walking in like a ghost and nearly giving Mam a heart attack, and then the fight with Uncle Clem,’ she shuddered, ‘and meeting his granddaughter and son-in-law for the very first time …’

She took a long, long breath. ‘They’re all right together now. Oh, Danny! Everything’s so wonderful. Once you’re home, it’ll be just perfect. I feel sure everything will go like clockwork now.’

In that moment, John came into her mind and she felt a pang of regret. Her father had told her of John’s part in his rehabilitation, getting him back to work and giving him the chance to regain his mental balance and his self-respect. ‘He’s wed now – a lovely lass named Rosie – an’ he’s building a good life for her and their bairns when they come.’

When Michael had come out with this, for a time Emily could think of nothing else, even though she had known about the other woman for years – ever since his letter. Emily still believed he had left her for someone else, all those years ago. She had cried bitter tears in secret, back up in the hayloft, and wondered how it could all have gone so wrong between her and John. But then she put it to the back of her mind, for it was too painful. And now, seeing her brave Danny so well, and knowing her mam and dad were reunited, thanks be to God, her heart was uplifted.

The following morning, there were celebrations to prepare. Cathleen and Emily had already hung fancy decorations in the barn, and Aggie was rolling up her sleeves to get the food started. The meat had been cooked last night and the jelly moulds put to set in the cold larder. Now it was time to get the cakes mixed and put in the oven.

Aggie had been up since early light, and now she was resting in the rocking-chair, a cup of tea in one hand and Mrs Beeton’s famous recipe book in the other. ‘I were thinking to make some of these fluffy pastry things,’ she said to her husband.

‘If you want my opinion, I’d stick to what you know best, lass.’

That was Michael, who had got out of bed soon after her and now, tousle-haired and more content than he had been in an age, was pouring himself a brew. ‘If I were you, my love, I’d throw that Beeton book in the oven and bake it. Nobody makes cakes like you,’ he told her loyally. ‘You’re the best cook around.’

Aggie laughed. ‘You allus were an old flatterer, Michael Ramsden,’ she said. ‘But you’re right. Happen I’ll stick to what I know best.’

‘That’s my woman,’ he murmured, coming to nibble her ear. ‘Listen to them as knows.’

She looked up at him then, and she thought of how he had gone away and left her to pick up the pieces. But she had never stopped loving him, and never would. Smiling back at him now, she held out her empty cup. ‘Make yerself useful and fill that up,’ she said with a wink.

Having done that he sat down with her and they talked of events just gone; mainly the demise of Clem Jackson. ‘He brought it on himself, but it’s a terrible way to go … being mauled to death by his own beasts.’ It would take Michael many a long year to forgive himself for leaving his elderly father and his womenfolk to the mercies of that warped and evil man.

‘He deserved every inch of what he got!’ Aggie had sworn her father-in-law to secrecy about her having been molested by Clem. But the bitterness and the loathing of that man, who had deflowered both her and Emily in their tender years, and then turned his eyes on the child … would live with her for ever. She thanked God for sparing young Cathleen any trace of a physical resemblance to that devil, and her heart ached for the lonely torment and public censure her poor daughter Emily had endured.

Michael saw the dark loathing on her face but mistook the reason for it. ‘He’s gone now, lass,’ he said, holding her hand tight. ‘Thanks to you, our Emily was kept safe. What’s more, it’s only a matter of time afore we get the farm back, you see if we don’t.’

‘Why does it all have to be so legal-like?’ Aggie wanted to know. ‘Clem’s dead, so we don’t owe him owt any more, seeing as he’d got no family but us. Why can’t we just take the farm back? It’s our farm, after all.’

For the umpteenth time, Michael explained. ‘When your brother first came here he did pay off all the debts, and so he had a hold on the farm. But then, as it turns out – and none of us knew this – he got into serious gambling. The debts piled up again. He then forged papers of ownership and such, and borrowed money against this place. It all has to be rectified, and it’s such a mess, the solicitor says it will take some considerable time.’

Aggie was not given to understanding legal stuff, and right from the first, there was one thing that played on her mind. ‘Will we lose Potts End, Michael? Tell me the truth.’

At the request of his aged father, Michael had taken on the responsibility of going through it all with the solicitor. ‘I have faith,’ he answered thoughtfully, ‘but we need to go about it in the right and proper way. In the end though, when rightful ownership is proved and the money’s paid back, thanks to the generous loan John Hanley has offered us, it should all come out right.’

Aggie nodded. ‘Please, God!’ she murmured, hands in prayer. ‘This farm is all we’ve got.’

Michael continued the conversation. ‘I only wish John’s loan was enough, but that evil bastard borrowed so much against this farm, we’ve had to take Danny’s offer of money as well. I know you’ve always refused it before.’ Ever an honest man, Michael was prepared to work his fingers to the bone to repay both men and with interest. ‘Both John and Danny say we’re to see their money as a gift, but I can’t do that.’

Aggie knew what he was saying and she was proud of him. In spite of that, she harboured reservations. ‘It’ll take years to pay back.’

‘I know – but I’ll do it. First Danny, because he and Emily will need a place of their own one day. Then John. Oh, I know he insists he doesn’t want or need the money, but my pride’s at stake here. I need to pay my dues.’

Aggie saw it differently. ‘Pride comes before a fall, or so they say.’

Michael picked up on her doubt. ‘What – you want me to take their money and never give it back?’

‘No. All I’m saying is, there’s no point in breaking yourself to pay it back. If John and Danny say it’s a gift, then it’s a gift because they love you and want to help you.’

‘Yes, lass, I know that. But like I say, I have my pride to think of. God knows I haven’t had much to be proud of so far.’

‘Listen to me, husband. They each have a business and neither of ’em are short of a bob or two. All I’m saying is, you have your pride I know that, and it’s good. But to my mind, the gift of friendship is more important.’

‘In what way?’

‘Well. If someone thinks enough of you to give you a gift, what might they think, if you can’t wait to give that gift back?’

Satisfied that her words had got Michael thinking, she deliberately changed the subject. ‘Come on!’ She clambered out of her chair. ‘I’ll get on with the baking while you get washed and changed. You look like the scarecrow outta the field. Besides, you’ve Danny to fetch home soon, don’t forget that.’

‘As if I could.’ He kissed her and went away, deep in thought. She had touched something in him, with her wise words about friendship and how Danny and John would feel if he threw it all back in their faces. ‘Happen she’s right,’ he murmured. ‘Happen pride doesn’t come before friendship, after all.’

When Danny limped through the door, early that afternoon, the cry went up. ‘Welcome home!’

Standing tall and straight, albeit throwing some of his weight onto the crutches, he beamed from ear to ear, his cheeks a slight shade of pink and a look of acute embarrassment on his face. ‘It’s good to be home,’ he said.

Aggie hugged him; Grandad shook him by the hand. ‘By! Yer a sight for sore eyes, so yer are,’ he exclaimed happily.

Cathleen held his hand and walked with him as he went to the armchair, and Emily watched the two of them with a strangeness in her heart. In her mind’s eye she could see John in her husband’s place and, for a little while, her thoughts were as muddled and painful as they’d ever been.

That afternoon, while the celebration tea was being set out, Grandad fussed about, wanting to wear this shirt, now that one. Then: ‘Why do I need to wear a smart shirt anyway – strangling mesel’ when I’d much rather be comfy? It’s only a party, after all.’

Aggie insisted he look his best. ‘We have company coming, Dad,’ she reminded him, ‘and I don’t want you showing me up.’ Throwing the clean shirt and trousers on the bed, she urged him to, ‘Get yourself washed and changed and make your way down the stairs. If you need any help getting ready, just give me or Emily a shout.’

‘I’ll do no such thing!’ he replied proudly. ‘When the day comes that I can’t swill my own face and put on a shirt, I’d sooner it was over.’ And so she left him to it.

Danny, too, was of the same mind. Having been set up a bed in the back room until his leg was easier to carry him upstairs, he graciously refused Emily’s help. ‘It’s my leg that is paining,’ he told her. ‘There’s nowt wrong with my arms.’ And she, too, was sent out of the room.

‘Let the buggers get on with it!’ Aggie laughed. ‘Michael an’ all. I’ve lost patience with him. The trouble is, none of his clothes seem to fit. He’s never put back the weight he lost when he were away, so I’ve had to nip and tuck his trousers and move a button or two on his shirts, and they still don’t seem to fit right. But I keep telling him, he’ll look right dandy, if only he’d stop his moaning and groaning!’

Emily sighed. ‘Men!’

‘But we couldn’t do without ’em, that’s for sure.’ Aggie had gone a whole ten years without her husband and she knew the loneliness in that. ‘Oh Lord. There’ll be your grandad an’ all, upstairs not washing behind his ears and wi’ a tidemark round his neck,’ she laughed. ‘He’ll have his shirt done up wrong, and his hair standing on end like he’s had some sort o’ terrible fright.’

Emily laughed at the image of Grandad, just as her mam described. ‘And there’ll be Danny hobbling about on one leg, trying to get the other leg into his trousers and falling over in the event. But he’ll not ask for help. He’ll roll in two hours late rather than do that.’

‘Never you mind.’ Aggie took a tray of cakes out of the range. ‘We’re here if they need us, so let’s get on with what we’ve got to do, and leave them to do the same.’ Turning the cakes onto a wire-rack to cool, she put the tin in the pot-sink and set about slicing the meat. ‘Where’s Cathleen?’

‘I left her upstairs getting ready. She’s been washed, had her hair brushed till it shines like new-spun silk, and now she’s trying on her dressing-up things to see which she might wear.’

‘I thought you bought her that nice pink dress with the big sash?’

‘I did.’

‘So, what’s wrong with it?’

‘Nowt. She’ll end up wearing it. When she shows her face downstairs, you see if I’m not right.’

While she was speaking, Emily was busy making the custard for the trifles. When that was done, she cooled it by placing the pan in enough cold water to cover the base. She stirred and stirred with a wooden spoon, keeping the custard free of lumps, and while it continued to cool, she thinly sliced the apples and taking the two cut-glass bowls of set jelly out of the larder, she arranged the slices all over the top.

Next came the helping of drained, bottled raspberries, and a layer of fresh-made sponge cake, and now, when the custard was cold enough, she poured it all over the two trifles, helping it to settle evenly with the back of the wooden spoon. Lastly she sprinkled grated chocolate all over the top, then popped a glacé cherry in the middle; a ring of half-cherries on the outside and they were finished.

‘There!’ Placing them on the pine-dresser, next to the other dessert of Aggie’s butterfly cakes, she stepped back to view the goodies already lined up. There were various platters of sliced cold meats and sausages, home-made savoury herb scones and bread rolls straight out of the oven, little pots of butter, wedges of cheese, and pickles of every kind, and a dish full of succulent, home-boiled beetroot.

The attractive-looking buffet was finished off with a selection of dressings made by Emily herself. The plates were neatly piled and the cutlery, all wrapped in white linen napkins, lay alongside. There were bowls of seasonal fruit and lashes of cream in large milk jugs, and now, as Aggie placed the sliced lamb next to the bread rolls, the feast was ready and fit for a king.

‘That’s a grand trifle,’ Aggie told Emily. ‘You allus were good at trifles.’

Dressed as Emily had predicted, in her flouncy dress of pink and white, Cathleen came running down from her bedroom. ‘What about my cake?’ she asked. ‘Do you think they’ll like it?’

Her cake had pride of place on a china cake-stand with a big paper doily beneath it. A misshapen thing with a sag in the middle and the ugliest marzipan-man uneasily straddling it, supposed to represent her daddy, the cake was an eyesore, and heartily amused all who looked on it.

‘It’s the best thing there,’ Emily told her lovingly. ‘You did well, sweetheart.’

‘You did wonderful!’ Aggie exclaimed. ‘They’ll be fighting over it, you mark my words, lass.’ She and Emily exchanged a smile and a wink.

‘I saw that!’ A canny child, Cathleen didn’t miss a thing, but she saw the humour of it and laughed with them. ‘I don’t think I’ll let them cut it,’ she said, ‘I think I’ll take it to school for the teachers to share.’

‘Oh, I’m sure they’d be delighted,’ Aggie told her, stifling a smirk.

‘You’ll close the school for a month if you give ’em that,’ Emily remarked tongue-in-cheek, and they all burst out laughing again.

The family were soon ready: Grandad looking smart in a new muffler, Danny seeming comfortable enough in his good brown cord trousers and green shirt, Cathleen in her party frock, and Aggie looking years younger in a slim-fitting brown skirt, wide belt and white blouse of her own making. Even Michael, who still complained that his shirt was too big and his trousers were falling down, looked ‘a real dandy!’ Aggie was pleased with her handiwork.

To greet her husband on his return from the infirmary, Emily had chosen a dark blue, ankle-length skirt with flouncy hem and dainty belted waist. With it she wore a rich blue blouse with boat-neckline and pearl-buttons at the cuff. Her marcasite bracelet completed the ensemble.

‘By! Yer look a treat, lass.’ Thomas Isaac had always appreciated a pretty girl.

‘I’ve allus liked that blouse on you,’ Aggie told her, ‘but we’ve no time to stand here admiring each other. There’s a table to set. Come on, our Cathleen. You do that, while me and your mammy make sure we’ve not missed anything. Grandad can wind up the gramophone, and Danny can sit himself down and rest his legs.’

‘I’ll do no such thing,’ he replied. ‘I’ll pour us all a drink – elderberry wine for us and a glass o’ sarsaparilla for our Cathleen. We deserve a fortifying drink, before the others start arriving.’ And he would not take no for an answer.

An hour later everyone was there and the celebrations were under way with a burst of accordion music from Grandad, and drinks all round. ‘Here’s to Danny!’ Thomas Isaac had got his second wind and was leading the cheers, while Danny blushed and fidgeted until they were over, then he thanked them and sat down.

It was a good party, with enough people to make it a happy one. There was the Ramsden family, the neighbouring farmer with his buxom wife and entire clan, and Danny’s father Bob and his new woman-friend Elspeth. Lizzie, seemingly over her bout of illness, had promised to come later, and two of Cathleen’s schoolfriends were there with their parents.

‘By! Our little farmhouse is bursting at the seams,’ Aggie remarked when she and Emily returned to the kitchen for more dessert plates.

‘Aye – an’ there’s four more to come yet.’

Both women turned, to see Michael standing at the door looking sheepish.

‘Four more – and who might they be?’ Aggie asked, all at sea.

But Emily had already guessed. ‘It’s John, isn’t it?’ she asked, her heart beating so unevenly she thought she might faint.

‘Well, yes it is, lass. He and his wife Rosie, and their pal Archie are coming, along with Lizzie. I thought he should be here, as he’s been such a good friend to me. The lad was coming to see his Aunt Lizzie, and I couldn’t miss the chance to ask him over.’ Looking from one to the other, he couldn’t understand why their mood had suddenly changed. ‘It is all right, isn’t it? I mean, we know him well enough, don’t we?’

Aggie had seen no reason to enlighten him yet about what had taken place between John and Emily. In fact, because it served best, she had deliberately said nothing. Now, she was quick to reassure him. ‘Of course it’s all right, love. Why shouldn’t it be?’

‘Tell him, Mam.’ Emily had been worried about the truth being kept from her father.

Michael frowned. ‘Tell me what?’

So while Emily left the room, Aggie told him most of the story, finishing, ‘So now you see how it could be a bit awkward?’ Whatever happened, she would never tell the truth of Cathleen’s parentage, not even to her own husband. Danny and John would each go on believing that the other was her father.

Michael nodded. ‘I suspected there might be a woman somewhere,’ he admitted, ‘from the way John spoke sometimes. But I never dreamed it was our Emily.’

‘It’s all right, Dad.’ Emily had returned. ‘I’m married to Danny now. He’s part of our family and I love him. All that with John – it happened years ago and it’s all water under the bridge.’ So why did her heart dance at the thought of seeing him again?

Michael had seen the look on her face and was unconvinced.

‘It will be good to meet up with John again.’ Emily put on a bright but shaky smile as she passed him. ‘We owe him a lot. Right – I’d best go and make sure Danny’s not overdoing it.’

With Emily gone, Michael asked his wife, ‘So was it really serious between them? I mean, had it gone as far as them planning to be wed and all that?’

‘It were just young love,’ Aggie answered lightly.

‘I see. But it fizzled out – is that what you’re saying? After she met Danny, and had his child, John was left out in the cold?’ After his own behaviour, Michael had never felt able to ask his son-in-law why he had waited so long before making an honest woman of their Emily. They were married now, and that was all that mattered. He himself was looking forward to seeing John and young Rosie again. They had been the saving of him.

As she walked about, seeing to the guests and making sure the wine and food kept flowing, Emily was as nervous as a kitten. When John walked through that door, how was she going to feel? How could she look at him and not show her true emotion?

During the course of the afternoon, Aggie managed to take Grandad aside. ‘Sit here with me awhile,’ she invited. ‘You look like I feel – worn out.’

‘I am,’ he confessed. ‘I’m an old dog trying new tricks, and I should have known better.’ He had been dancing with the farmer’s wife and now he could hardly walk. ‘Me back hurts, me arms ache and I need the lavvy.’

‘You’d best go down the garden then.’ The Ramsdens had an outside water-closet, like everyone else in Salmesbury, and made do with chamber-pots at night. Thomas Isaac had his very own armchair commode – the subject of many jokes, but an absolute godsend.

‘Not yet,’ he answered in a whisper, his gaze going to the farmer’s buxom wife. ‘If I so much as move, she’ll be on me like a ferret after a bunny rabbit.’

Aggie hid a smile. ‘What – you mean she’s been making up to you, is that it?’

‘Aye, summat like that.’ When he saw the red-cheeked buxom wench eyeing him again, he confided from out of the corner of his mouth, ‘She med a point o’ telling me how the old man doesn’t keep her satisfied … if yer know what I mean? What’s more, she calls me “Tommy-Izzie” an’ it’s drivin’ me potty.’

Aggie couldn’t hide her smile any longer, especially when at that moment she got a dark glare from the woman herself. ‘By! She’s a big ’un, isn’t she? I reckon she’d be too much of a handful for you, Dad,’ she said and, made merry from the elderberry wine, they broke into fits of laughter, which had the woman turning away in disgust and everyone else smiling, though they didn’t know the reason for it.

‘I’d best hobble down t’path now,’ the old man tee-heed. ‘It wouldn’t do to wet me pants in front of all and sundry,’ he cast a wary glance at the farmer’s wife, ‘especially not in front of her.’ Hoisting himself upright, he leaned on the wall for support. ‘She thinks I’m a virile, active fella, so she does.’

‘You’d best behave yourself,’ Aggie cautioned. ‘You’re not as young as you were.’

‘No, and I’m not so agile neither,’ he said, falling against the wall. ‘Me old pins don’t seem to carry me where I want to go.’

‘D’you want me to take you to the lavvy?’

‘What!’ Horrified at such a prospect, he straightened his shoulders and looked her in the eye. ‘I keep tellin’ yer, woman, I may be a bit wobbly on me pins, but I’m not a flippin’ babby!’

When Aggie looked at the woman and caught her winking at Grandad, she chuckled under her breath. ‘I don’t know how you’ve done it, lass,’ she muttered, ‘but you seem to have tekken years off our Dad. By! I’ve not seen him so frisky in an age.’

She told him the same the minute he ambled back. ‘Whatever you say about her, yon farmer’s wife seems to have given you a new lease o’ life,’ she joshed. ‘You’re very full of yerself, all of a sudden.’

Making much of it with his groaning and grunting, he sat himself down. ‘Aye well, yer know I have good days and bad days. Today seems to be one o’ the good ’uns.’

‘Sez you!’ Slipping off her shoes with a sigh of relief, Aggie gave him a wink. ‘I reckon there’s life in the old dog yet.’

He actually blushed. ‘Gerraway with yer, woman!’

Later, when the joshing was over, they sat talking about this and that. ‘Look at our Emily,’ he said. ‘Do yer think she’ll be happy enough with Danny?’

‘I hope so.’ Since Danny’s father had taken up his turn on the accordion, Aggie had seen Emily chatting non-stop with her husband. Worried as she was, it did her heart good to see them together like that.

‘Danny’s a good husband,’ Grandad interrupted her thoughts. ‘An’ he’s a wonderful daddy to the lass.’

‘D’you want another drink?’ Aggie asked. ‘Or will it be safe?’

‘Whatever d’yer mean?’

Aggie chuckled. ‘I mean, will it send you wild after the farmer’s wife?’

He laughed at that. ‘Yer a tormenting bugger, so you are. And yes, I’d like a drink. A cuppa tea would go down nicely, lass, thank you.’

Aggie went off to the kitchen.

On her return with two cups of freshly brewed tea, she spoke to Thomas in a serious manner. ‘You must never talk about what you overheard,’ she said solemnly. ‘About what that fiendish devil did to me all them years ago, and then to our Emily – his own niece, God bless her! If it ever got out that Clem Jackson was Cathleen’s father, I don’t dare think what it would do to the family. Cathleen herself would be so upset!’ She rubbed her hands over her eyes as if to shut it out. ‘It would be a terrible thing if it ever became common knowledge. Even our Michael doesn’t know. I just can’t bring meself to tell him. God knows what it would do to him, Dad.’ Her eyes were full of tears.

‘Don’t you worry, lass,’ he told her firmly. ‘My lips are forever sealed.’

And thankfully, Aggie knew she could trust him above all others.

It was getting late. ‘I’m feeling the weight of the day on me shoulders,’ he said. ‘I’ll not be long afore I go to my bed.’

Aggie was tired as well, but she was more than content to sit there, watching the folks dancing and enjoying the food she and Emily had put out. Now, as Emily smiled at her from beside Danny, she nodded back.

When she turned to look at her father-in-law, she realised he’d been kidnapped by one old dear, who was leading him onto the floor. ‘Ah! Look at ’em, bless their old hearts!’ she chuckled at the sight. ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.’

Beginning to feel lonely, she was delighted when Michael came in from the cold and asked her to, ‘Give us a twirl on the carpet, lass.’ In a minute she had been whisked away, and the two of them were soon dancing to the jolly music of the accordion.

Soon the party got its second breath and was in full swing, though Grandad and his new friend had fallen by the wayside to rest their sore feet and commiserate with each other about how old and feeble they’d become.

Cathleen sat at their knees, eating one cake after another. ‘You’ll be sick as a pig!’ Thomas Isaac warned her.

‘No, I won’t, Grandad.’ Jumping up, she gave him a sticky kiss. ‘I’ve only had three.’

By the dance floor, Danny stood with Emily in his arms, loath to let her go. ‘You look so lovely,’ he said, and held her even tighter.

Some movement at the door made her turn, and when she saw him there, her heart almost stopped. ‘John!’ Instinctively, Danny held on to her, as though not to let her loose.

Pausing in the doorway, John’s eyes were immediately drawn to hers. There was a poignant moment when their gazes held and there seemed no one in the room but the two of them. They drank in the sight of each other.

Seeing it and fearing that everyone else might sense that same magnetism, Aggie got out of her chair and bade the accordionist to keep on playing. ‘Something bright and cheerful, Bob!’ she urged, and going to John, she warmly shook his hand. ‘Come on in! It’s so good to see you, lad,’ she said, ‘after all these long years. Michael told me he’d invited you. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. I reckon my Michael owes you his life, and for that we’ll never stop being grateful. Come away in, all of you, and welcome to Potts End!’

Drawing his gaze from Emily, who he thought to be even more lovely than he remembered, John thanked her in return. Then, bringing Rosie forward, he introduced her. ‘This is Rosie, my wife.’

Rosie gave her a kiss. ‘Thank you so much for inviting us, Mrs Ramsden.’

‘Nay!’ Aggie protested. ‘The name is Aggie. You call me that and I’ll call you Rosie, if I may.’ And so it was settled, and the two women liked each other straight off.

‘And this rogue here is Archie!’ Propelling the old chap forward, John explained, ‘He was my mate at sea, and he’s been my good mate ever since. In fact, I don’t know what I’d do without the old rascal.’

‘Well now, my dear, I never expected to see such a fine-looking woman, no I never!’

Charming as ever, Archie bent to give her a kiss, and was jokingly chided by Michael, who had just approached. ‘Steady on, Archie! Mind how you handle my wife,’ he mocked, and the friendship between them all was sealed for ever. Archie gallantly escorted Lizzie to a chair and set about fetching her some of the buffet.

Considering it to be his duty, Danny limped over with Emily to greet the Hanleys. ‘Of course I know of you,’ he said, ‘but I don’t recall ever having made the acquaintance.’ He shook hands with John and Rosie. ‘I’m pleased to meet you.’

‘Likewise,’ answered John.

Rosie and Emily also shook hands politely, both thinking that the other was attractive, and had a certain aura. When Emily briefly shook hands with John, she was dazzled by his good looks and his confidence as a self-made businessman. He and Rosie made a lovely couple, she realised, and the knowledge stabbed at her.

In spite of their outward politeness, there was a certain wariness between the two men, that had not gone unnoticed by Lizzie, who was quietly watching from her seat by the fireplace, where Archie was plying her with a glass of elderberry wine.

‘Come and have some food.’ Aggie broke the mood. ‘You must be famished.’

‘Thank you, Aggie, yes, I am.’ That was Rosie.

‘Me too!’ Archie chipped in as he rejoined them. ‘Me stomach’s playing a tune to set all our feet a-tapping,’ he joked – with a hearty laugh that had them all smiling.

As they walked away, Rosie saw the possessive way in which Danny was holding Emily, with his arm round her waist and one foot before hers. She knew well enough what had happened here, because John had told Archie everything, and Archie, being the good friend he was, had told her – though John had already let her know enough for her to realise that there was still a measure of love in his heart for Emily.

‘Danny!’ Rosie called him away. ‘I wonder if you wouldn’t mind helping me to choose something to eat, and afterwards we might even dance?’ She was bold because she knew he was on the verge of breaking up the talk that John and Emily so desperately needed.

Being the gentleman he was, Danny could hardly refuse. ‘Will you be all right?’ he asked Emily. ‘I’ll be back soon as I can.’

‘You go and keep Rosie company,’ she said warmly. ‘I need to talk with John … if that’s all right with you?’

He looked into her face and he saw the love there; love for him – yes, but love for John also, and it was that love which bothered him. Yet he was sensible enough to know that if he took her away now, he might live to regret it for the rest of his life.

‘Danny!’ Rosie called him again. He looked round and in her eyes he saw a warning. She knows, he thought. She knows how it is between these two, and she’s telling me to give them the time they need.

‘All right.’ He gave Emily a kiss on the lips. ‘Talk with John if you must.’ He had no choice – he knew that. ‘It’s all right by me.’ Addressing John now, he told him kindly, ‘I’m sure there are things to be ironed out.’ His meaning was clear enough: Say your piece and be gone … leave Emily to me. That was what he had in mind, but he didn’t say it. How could he?

As he walked away he glanced back to see the couple walking out of the door, and his heart was broken.

‘Right then!’ Aggie was off in search of her own wandering husband. ‘Danny will take care of you,’ she said. ‘If you need me, I’ll be around.’ Her first stop was the barn. It was where Michael always went whenever he felt nostalgic, and lately, he was deeply regretting every minute he had spent away from his beloved family.

Aggie understood. There were times when even she needed to get away on her own, where she might peaceably contemplate past and future.

When John led Emily out to the garden, it was all Danny could do not to hobble after them. ‘Leave it be,’ Rosie warned him kindly. ‘I know how you feel, but they knew and loved each other long before we came on the scene. If we interfere now, we’ll only drive them away. Anyway, I hear you’ve only just come out of hospital. Let’s have a bite together, and I’ll tell you all about me barges.’

For the next half-hour, Danny stayed with Rosie. They ate and drank, and all the while their glances kept going to the door. Though she wouldn’t say as much, Rosie felt every bit as apprehensive as Danny. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if he left me,’ she confided when they were seated away from the others. ‘John didn’t really marry me for love. We were both lonely and working long hours together. We just drifted together.’

Her smile said it all. ‘I love him, though. We’d only been married a few weeks when I realised I could never imagine being without him.’

‘It’s the same with me and Emily,’ Danny replied softly. ‘She was honest enough with me. She told me she still loved John and was only waiting for him to come back. I’ve loved her for ever,’ he imparted shyly. ‘It were me as persuaded her that John wasn’t ever coming back. I talked her into marrying me, and o’ course there was little Cathleen to be considered. I love that darling little lass.’

‘But she’s yours, isn’t she?’

He smiled. ‘She is now!’

At his remark Rosie was made curious, but sensing there was more to it than met the eye, she wisely said nothing.

Walking in the twilit orchard, strangely shy and awkward in his company, Emily listened to what John had to say.

‘I came back for you that day,’ he told her softly. ‘I had the money in my pocket and the dream in my heart, and then I saw you with the child, and Danny, and I knew I’d lost you.’ He bowed his head. ‘It was the worst day of my life.’

Close to tears, Emily slid her hand into his, warmed and content when he curled his strong fingers about hers. ‘If only you hadn’t gone away,’ she told him. ‘Things may have been so very different.’

A yearning came into his expression. Suddenly she was in his arms and he was holding her so close she could hardly breathe. ‘She should have been my child … not Danny’s!’

For a while, Emily made no reply. She was relieved for him to believe the child was Danny’s. Now though, she felt his fleeting rage and it was a frightening thing. As she felt his grip loosen she looked up to see him gazing down on her, his eyes dark with emotion. ‘I never stopped loving you,’ he told her fiercely. ‘There were times when I thought I’d go crazy without you.’

Bending his head he cupped her face and for a long, wonderful moment he just looked on her; seeing those familiar features and gazing into those wonderful eyes, feeling that he was home at long last.

Emily saw he wanted to kiss her and she raised herself to him. Locking her arms round his neck, she softly pressed her lips to his, thrilled when he drew her closer.

It was a passionate, hungry kiss – the kind of kiss that neither of them would ever forget, and yet there was something else. Some other emotion that neither of them had ever experienced before.

Peering out of the window with trepidation, Danny and Rosie saw it happen and they were afraid. When Danny stepped forward to end it, Rosie pulled him back. ‘No!’ she whispered, and held onto him.

He stayed, gaining strength and comfort from her, some deep instinct telling him she was right and he was wrong. ‘Let’s leave them, Danny.’ Older and wiser than her years, Rosie ushered him back to the kitchen, where she got him a hot drink and sat chatting quietly with him.

Taking her by the hand, John led Emily to the bench, where they sat for a long time, she curled into him, and he with his arm round her, holding her close, as he had yearned to do all these years. ‘Are you happy, sweetheart, with Danny?’

Emily took a moment to think about it. ‘I believe so.’ She didn’t look up, nor did she move. There was that special closeness between them that allowed her to stay in his arms the way they were. ‘And what about you, John?’ she murmured. ‘Are you happy with Rosie?’

He smiled. ‘She’s kind of grown on me, I suppose.’

Emily smiled at that. ‘They’ve been watching us from inside.’

‘I know.’

‘They’re both good people.’

‘I know that, too.’

She drew away. In the quietness of evening with the skies above and the stars twinkling down on them, it was as though they were the only two souls in the whole world. ‘John?’

He looked at her then, his eyes roving her face and thinking how deeply he loved her. ‘Yes, sweetheart?’

‘I’ll always love you.’ A single tear ran down her cheek.

‘I know that.’ He wiped it away. ‘And I’ll always love you.’

They kissed again, only this time it was more gentle, more of a binding, lasting thing. ‘Are you ready to go back now?’ he asked gently.

She nodded, but didn’t speak. Her heart was too full.

They walked back arm-in-arm, easy and content in each other’s company. This was the night they would carry with them for all time. This night, this love, and the knowledge that the love would always be there, drawing them together, yet keeping them apart. It was how it should be.

As they approached the farmhouse door, Danny was there, with Rosie by his side. They saw Emily and John, and for a moment were afraid again. But then they saw the easy smiles, and realised how it was; and the joy in their hearts was almost too much to bear.

When Emily came towards him, Danny clasped her close. ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ he said brokenly. ‘Oh Emily, I wouldn’t want to live without you.’

Rosie said nothing. She just walked to John and, looking at him with tears glittering in her eyes, she smiled knowingly.

‘It’s all right,’ he murmured. Then he slid his arm round her shoulders, and took her inside.

As Emily and Danny came up the path, Aggie was rushing out of the door. ‘Have you seen Lizzie?’ She seemed frantic. ‘She’s not been seen for a while, and we can’t find her anywhere!’

A search got under way. The entire party went out into the farm, hunting in every nook and cranny; even Grandad hobbled about, pausing every now and then to hold on to something or to sit down while he got his breath back. ‘Lizzie!’ His voice sailed on the night air. ‘Where the devil are you, woman?’

It was Bob who found her, sprawled out in the orchard. She seemed lifeless. ‘She’s ’ere! For God’s sake, hurry!’

Once they got her inside, it was Aggie who discovered what the problem was. ‘She’s drunk!’

‘Never.’ Leaning down, Archie took a sniff of her breath. ‘Well, the old bugger,’ he laughed. ‘She smells like a brewery!’ Everyone laughed at that, until Emily reminded them, ‘She’s been lying out there half-unconscious and she feels cold. We’d best get a doctor all the same.’

At which point Lizzie opened her eyes. ‘Don’t want no doctor! Why does everybody allus want me to see a ruddy doctor? I’d be better off wi’ another measure o’ that elderberry wine.’

When the laughter was over and everyone had drifted away, Grandad leaned down to give her a telling-off. ‘How much ’ave yer drunk, you devious little bugger? And what the devil were you doing out there?’

Reaching up, she took hold of his coat collar and drew him down. ‘It’s all right,’ she hissed. ‘I saw them together, and it’s all right.’

He realised what she was saying, and his old heart was thrilled. ‘Oh Lizzie,’ he kept his voice low, ‘is that what you were doing – so worried that you were knocking back the good stuff? An’ then yer follered ’em outside to see how it might all turn out?’

She nodded, but then groaned suddenly. ‘I don’t feel well now.’

Thomas Isaac laughed. ‘What am I gonna do with yer, eh?’ he said out loud, and people’s heads turned to listen. They were highly entertained when he answered his own question. ‘I shall ’ave to marry yer, I can see that.’

Smiling, Lizzie nodded again, and everyone cheered. ‘Go to it, Grandad!’ somebody called out.

When he gave Lizzie a kiss, they clapped until the little farmhouse shook.

Two weeks later, Grandad and Lizzie were wed. ‘We’re too old and decrepit to have a long courtship,’ Grandad joshed, and hugging him tight, Lizzie agreed. She had always got on well with Tom and his wife, Clare, and she knew he was a good man.

At their own request, there was just the family present: Michael and Aggie, Emily and Danny, and little Cathleen – the intelligent and loving child who had sprung like a miracle from a brutal and incestuous rape. The name of Clem Jackson was never spoken. His remains had been interred in a churchyard on the far side of Blackburn, and the very air in Potts End Farm seemed the purer for his absence.

Lizzie’s beloved nephew John was there too, of course, back down from Liverpool with his wife.

Rosie had been feeling proper peaky ever since the night of Danny’s welcome-home party. It was worse in the early mornings, and she’d gone right off the taste of tea … She hadn’t told John yet, but in her heart she knew their first bairn was growing inside her and in her wisdom, she also knew that it was the completion he needed.

Archie and Harriet were there too, both considered members of the extended family. Many unsubtle jokes were made about marriage, and when John saw Harriet looking coy, he slapped Archie on the back and sprinkled bridal rice on his old shipmate’s shrivelled pate.

The ceremony took place in the same church where Danny had married Emily. It was a quick service, given with a blessing, and afterwards a little tea in the local inn, at Grandad’s expense. ‘It’s not every day I tek a bride,’ he announced. ‘Besides, I’ve allus ’ad a bit put by for a rainy day.’

‘You’d best save a bit more if you’re coming to live at my cottage,’ Lizzie quipped. ‘I need new curtains, and the sofa’s started sagging in the middle, and –’

‘Stop right there!’ Grandad told her, and when she went quiet, he put his arm round her. ‘You can ’ave yer curtains,’ he said, ‘but the sofa can wait, ’cause I mean to tek you away.’ Brandishing two tickets, he told her proudly, ‘We’re off to Blackpool for a couple o’ nights. I’ve booked us into a little guest-house on the front. The journey’ll probably kill me, with me arthritis an’ all, but what a lovely way to go.’ He laughed naughtily and ducked when Lizzie turned to swipe him.

Several months after the wedding, Michael and Aggie received news that ownership of the farm had been rightfully restored to them. Once the paperwork was safely completed, Michael told Danny and Emily that he and Aggie had drawn up plans to build a cottage for them in the orchard. ‘We know how much you love this place, and we want you to have your own home, near us,’ Aggie said.

‘Oh, Dad! That’s wonderful!’ Emily cried with joy. She and Danny and Cathleen immediately went outside to look at ‘their spot’. While the child danced on ahead, Emily went more slowly, leaning on her husband who was now her support, as she was seven months pregnant.

The orchard had always held some special magic for her.

When a year later the cottage was ready, Emily and Danny moved in with Cathleen and their ten-month-old son, George Isaac – ‘Georgie’. ‘A little brother for you,’ Emily had told Cathleen after the baby’s birth upstairs at Potts End. Her daughter held the child in her arms. ‘He’s lovely, Mammy,’ she said.

And so are you, Emily thought.

Now, as she looked out of the window of Orchard Cottage, Georgie on her shoulder having his back gently rubbed, in her mind’s eye she could see herself and John, young and carefree, running across the fields and swimming in the brook. She could see the place where they had shared their very first kiss, and the place in the orchard where, on the night of their reunion, they had shared their very last one.

At that moment, down in the meadow, where the lambs chased each other, watched by a curious hare, the sun caught on a gold locket that had lain hidden in a path of flowering clover through many seasons, and for a second, the glow was dazzling. And then the sun’s rays encompassed the whole field, and the farm – and the entire vale. And up in the cottage bedroom, a baby cried, and the woman dreaming at the window turned to comfort him.

She would never forget her first love. They had been two young people setting out on life’s journey. Two lovers who had shared a dream and lost it, but in the losing had found something else. The love that had grown between them was still there, but it was a different love now. It was a strong, binding love that would go on for as long as they lived.

The love of friendship.

A precious thing, after all.