Читать книгу Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 2: The Loner, Born Bad, Three Letters - Josephine Cox - Страница 22

‘WHAT ON EARTH have you been up to now?’ The elderly doctor had served the Thomson family for many years, and he felt the right to chide his patient for his foolhardiness. ‘I told you that beast would get the better of you one day, and I was right.’

Raising Frank Thomson’s foot to the stool, he set about cutting his sock off. When the full extent of the injury was revealed, he announced with some satisfaction, ‘You’ve managed to break your foot, in two places if not more.’

To prove his point, he prodded a finger on the swollen arches, looking up through the edge of his spectacles when Frank cried out, ‘Steady on, man! You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, you sadist?’

The doctor gave an aside wink at Lucy. ‘Anybody would think he was in pain.’

Shaking a fist, the other man yelled and cursed, declaring, ‘You’re too old and crotchety to be a doctor! You are bad mannered and rough, and you relish other folks’ pain. I reckon you should have been struck off years ago.’

Ignoring his rantings, Doctor Montgomery took charge of organising things, and within twenty minutes of his arrival, he had Davie in the front of his big Humber car, and Lucy and her father in the back. ‘And don’t start any of that moaning and complaining,’ the doctor warned him. ‘I need to concentrate on the road.’

‘I’m not surprised!’ Frank retaliated. ‘You can barely see straight even when you’ve got your glasses on.’

‘Behave yourself, Daddy!’ Lucy had witnessed these two bantering for too many years, and now if they didn’t do it, she would be worried.

Half an hour later they arrived at Bedford Hospital. Davie and Lucy helped Frank hobble to a seat, while the doctor went in search of assistance.

Frank’s foot was now swollen to twice its normal size. To distract himself from the pain, he turned to Davie. ‘It’s as well you were there, my boy,’ he told him. ‘You did a foolish thing, though … turning Madden like that, and putting yourself in mortal danger.’

‘There wasn’t time to think about being in danger,’ Davie said honestly. ‘It was an instant reaction.’

‘All the same, if you hadn’t been there, I’m sure that mad bugger would have trampled me on the road.’ Reaching out, he shook Davie by the hand. ‘I’m very grateful to you. Thank you, young man.’

‘I’m grateful, too.’ When Lucy smiled up at him, Davie thought how lovely she was; soft-natured and with a smile warm enough to melt any man’s heart. And just for the briefest moment, he thought of Judy. But it was a different kind of thinking; protective and caring, and feeling responsible, while with Lucy there was a stirring of something else – a sensation he had not experienced before.

‘What were you doing around here in the first place?’ Frank’s voice cut through his thoughts.

‘I was looking for a place called “Greenacres Farm”.’

Frank looked surprised. ‘Were you now?’

‘Who do you know at Greenacres?’ That was Lucy.

Taking out the box, Davie removed the piece of paper given to him by Eli and passed it to Lucy. ‘I was told this man might find me work, and a place to stay.’

Lucy read the note and quickly handed it to her father, who cast his eye over it. ‘So! You were looking for Ted Baker?’

‘That’s right.’ Davie had noticed the look that passed between father and daughter. ‘Do you know him, by any chance?’

Momentarily brushing aside Davie’s question, Frank informed him, ‘I own most farms hereabouts, including Greenacres Farm.’

‘So you do know Ted Baker?’ Davie was greatly relieved. ‘Do you think he’s in need of an extra labourer?’

‘I don’t think he needs anything right now,’ Frank said respectfully. ‘Ted Baker passed away last year … I’m sorry, son. The farm is now being run by another of my tenants. I’ve amalgamated the two farms, and as far as I’m informed, he has more than enough help at the minute.’

Seeing how the news had sent Davie into a sombre mood, he suggested, ‘You obviously have a way with horses, so, if you’re interested, I might have need of a strong young man myself.’

He quickly explained. ‘I have six farms including my own. Five of them are tenanted out; of those, three of them are crop-producing and two are cattle-rearing. Mine does neither, because it’s entirely turned over to breeding horses and, though I say it myself, it’s one of the best studs in the country. My father started it in a smaller way some many years ago, and I was fortunate enough to have it handed down to me. It wasn’t the biggest or the best then.’ He smiled proudly. ‘But it is now.’

‘Everyone knows Thomson’s Stud Farm,’ Lucy added. ‘Daddy’s worked hard and sometimes he’s been knocked back, but he’s never been swayed from his goal.’

‘Lucy’s right.’ Frank had not forgotten the bad times. ‘There were moments when I thought I should give up.’ He paused, then said, ‘I lost my mother soon after Lucy was born. Some three years later, my father died too.’ His loving gaze fell on his daughter. ‘In that same year, my beloved wife Ruthie fell ill and never recovered.’

As Lucy’s hand reached out to hold his, he told Davie, ‘For a while, I could think only of what I had lost. My heart went out of my work, and things started to fall apart. But then I began to realise the wonderful things they had all left to me. My father left me his beloved farm, and the wisdom and experience he had learned through his life. My mother left me with a well of love and devotion that would carry me through every new day for as long as I live.’

He turned to smile on his daughter. ‘And Ruthie left me with the most precious thing of all – my darling Lucy, the light of my life.’

Addressing Davie, he went on, ‘Instead of thinking of what I’d lost, I suddenly realised what I had gained, and I began to count my blessings. And now I’ve done what I set out to do; I had a dream, and I stayed with it.’

He nodded, as though congratulating himself. ‘Yes, it’s taken a lot of work and courage to build my empire, and I don’t mind saying, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I breed the best horses and I have a reputation for being a fair and honest man. Once Lucy left school, she learned typing and book-keeping, and she pulls her weight in running the business.’ He squeezed her hand fondly.

Looking back for a moment, he was lost in the struggle he’d encountered in the early years. ‘It’s been a hard road,’ he murmured. ‘But I made it, and by God, I’m not finished yet!’ Pride shone from his face. ‘At the last count I had thirty-eight fine mares all in foal, and every foal already sold for a handsome profit. I have sixteen magnificent colts growing on for breeding stock; and I own twelve of the most prized and proven stallions you could find this side of Ireland or America.’

Davie was duly impressed, not only with Frank Thomson’s determination, but also with the man himself.

‘I admire you for what you’ve done with your life.’ This was the first time Davie had met anyone who had actually realised their dream. ‘Some day, I mean to build an empire myself.’ As yet, though, he was still floundering in the dark. ‘I’m not sure what direction I might take, or what it is I really want to do. All I know is, I need to make my mark on the world, and I won’t rest until I’ve created something to be proud of.’

Frank gave no answer. Instead, he discreetly observed Davie, and knew instinctively that something must have happened in his short life, to make him grow up before his time. For someone so young he had a manliness about him; the kind of strength that only comes with pain and courage. There was a loneliness too, a deep-down loneliness that sets a man apart from the crowd.

He also saw the glint in Davie’s eye and heard the passion in his voice, and he saw himself as a young man. ‘Come and work for me,’ he suggested quietly. ‘I’ve an idea you and me will get on all right.’

Lucy had been surprised at how quickly her father had taken to Davie; she was pleased, as she knew he did not suffer fools gladly. She too had been drawn to take notice of this stranger who had entered their lives. There was something about him, something special and driven. He spoke with conviction and he had that certain way with him, that instinctively made you feel you could trust him. ‘Are you very disappointed?’ she asked. ‘About Ted Baker?’

‘I am, yes.’ Davie could not deny it. ‘It seems such a pity,’ he answered thoughtfully. ‘After Eli spoke so highly of him, I was really looking forward to making his acquaintance.’ Coming all this way south, only to be told that Ted Baker was long gone, had been something of a setback. But here he was being given a chance to work, and that was some measure of compensation.

‘You will come and work at the farm, won’t you?’ Realising she didn’t even know his name, Lucy asked, ‘What do we call you?’

‘Dave.’ He surprised himself by the shorter name he gave, and yet in that moment, here in this place, it was somehow very right. ‘My name is Dave Adams,’ he told her proudly.

The child ‘Davie’ was gone for ever. He was a man now. With a man’s work ahead of him.

‘I’m Lucy Thomson.’ When she reached out to shake him by the hand, he instinctively hesitated. She was so lovely, so enticing, and he had never been more nervous than he was right now.

Gathering his courage, he shook her by the hand. He held that small soft hand in his, and his heart quickened.

‘And I’m Frank – Mr Thomson to you.’ The big man had a stern look in his eye. ‘It’s best you know from the start – I insist on respect from the men in my employ.’

‘Not from the women though, eh?’ Lucy laughed.

Her father gave her a scathing glance. ‘If you’re referring to Maggie, I’ll have you know she’s been treading a fine line; that woman is far too bossy for her own good.’ He scowled at Dave. ‘One of these days she’ll get her marching orders, you’ll see if she won’t!’

Just then the doctor returned with a wheel chair in tow. ‘Right, it’s all in order.’ Hands on hips, he looked down on his patient. ‘We’re off to the X-ray room.’ And without more ado, he bundled Frank into the wheel chair and whisked him away.

‘These are busy people,’ he nagged. ‘Think yourself fortunate they’ve managed to squeeze you in.’

As they turned the corner, Dave and Lucy could hear Frank ranting on at him. ‘There’s no need for you to stay. I’ve got my daughter here and she’s more than capable of pushing me along the corridor. In fact, I’d rather hobble on my knees than have you treat me like a baby!’

‘Stop your moaning and thank your lucky stars I’m taking the time to stay with you. There are far more important things I could be doing than listen to your moaning and grumbling.’

‘Are they always like that?’ Dave wanted to know.

‘Always,’ Lucy chuckled. ‘Argue, argue, argue. If one says it’s day, the other will swear it’s night. They’re worse than a couple of kids.’

‘Known each other a long time, have they?’

‘Yes, for ages and ages.’

‘Who’s this Maggie you spoke of?’

‘She’s our housekeeper and cook. She’s worth her weight in gold. You’d have met her before, but she has gone shopping in Bedford today.’

‘So he’s not likely to send her down the road with her wages then?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘Dad would never do that – he thinks the world of her. He might pretend to threaten hell and high water, but he couldn’t do without her and neither could I. She’s the salt of the earth, is Maggie.’

‘You sound really fond of her.’

‘I am – we all are.’ She then explained, ‘The man you were looking for, Ted Baker who passed away – well, Maggie’s his widow. When Daddy amalgamated Greenacres Farm with its neighbour, she was offered a cottage here and a job in The Willows, and now she’s like part of the family.’

The girl had noticed how awkward the stranger seemed in the presence of others. ‘You don’t care much for people, do you?’ she asked.

Dave shrugged. ‘Never had much to do with folks,’ he answered. ‘I’ve always found my own company good enough.’

Now it was Lucy’s turn to fall silent. She didn’t know quite what to make of him. There was no denying she was attracted to him, and she was pleased that her father had taken to him. All the same, she got the feeling that Dave was not happy in close surroundings. ‘You prefer to be outside, don’t you?’

‘I do, yes. The open roads and the countryside is where I belong.’

‘Then you’re bound to feel comfortable at the farm,’ she assured him with a bright smile. ‘As we’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

Just then they heard the sound of the two men approaching. ‘What a fuss!’ That was the doctor chiding the patient. ‘A grown man whimpering and complaining about being put under the X-ray machine, whatever next?’

‘I was not whimpering!’ Frank was at the end of his tether. ‘Three times they had me on and off that damned contraption! It’s bloody painful, I might tell you, being dragged from pillar to post, especially when your foot feels like it’s parted company with your leg. Three times! God Almighty, you’d think they could at least get it right the first time!’

Ignoring his friend, the doctor informed Lucy, ‘I have an urgent appointment to attend, but I’ve taken the liberty of ordering a taxi to run you back to the farm. By my reckoning, it should be waiting outside.’ Considering his duty done for the time being, he then delivered Frank to his daughter, and was quickly gone.

‘Can’t get rid of me quick enough, can he?’ Frank grunted.

‘Could that possibly have anything to do with the fact that you are being so ungrateful and argumentative!’ Lucy enquired, with a saucy wink at Dave.

Frank got back to the matter in hand. ‘So, let’s get down to business, young man.’ He looked Dave straight in the eye. ‘Have you thought about my offer? Are you prepared to come and work for an old codger like me?’

Lucy laughed. ‘Not if he’s got any sense, he won’t.’ Though she had her fingers crossed behind her back, and every nerve in her young body was aching for Dave to say yes. And when he did, she could hardly believe it.

‘Thank you, Mr Thomson, yes – I’d like to come and work for you. But first, I’ll need to find lodgings.’

Lucy was quick with an answer. ‘I’m sure we can help.’ She turned to her father, asking hopefully, ‘We can, can’t we, Daddy?’

Frank hesitated for the briefest moment while he discreetly scrutinised Dave; he had wanted a son, but it was not meant to be. He had wanted his wife to grow old with him, and now she was not here. But Lucy was here – and she was everything he imagined a daughter would be, honest and loyal, and born with the same fierce love of the land as himself. Whatever she wanted, he would give her, if he could.

‘Daddy?’ Lucy’s anxious voice shattered his thoughts. ‘We can find lodgings for Dave, can’t we?’

‘Well, yes, I imagine so.’ He addressed the lad. ‘First we need to get back, so’s you can have a look around. I’ll ask Seamus Macintyre to show you the ropes. He’s my head groom, and what he doesn’t know about horses isn’t worth knowing.’ He turned to Lucy. ‘Isn’t that so, love?’

The girl gave a small smile, and though her father missed the way she dropped her gaze to the floor, Dave was quick to notice the change in her manner. He couldn’t help but wonder whether she had any liking for this man called Seamus.

‘For all we know, you may not want to stay,’ Frank was saying. ‘The job may not be what you’re looking for. And if it turns out that way, I won’t hold you to anything. So – is that a deal?’

Dave was grateful. ‘Fine by me, Mr Thomson.’ And they promptly shook hands on it.

Lucy had a favour to ask. ‘Will you let me show Dave round, Daddy? I know the stables and yards as well as Seamus.’

‘All right, but don’t make an issue of it with Seamus. You know how protective he is of his little empire.’

‘I won’t say anything,’ she promised. ‘But Seamus has a way with him, and I don’t want him to make trouble for Dave.’

‘I’m not sure what you mean by Seamus making trouble. If he seems worried by Dave being about the stables, tell him you’ve agreed it with me. As long as Dave gets shown the lie of the land, I don’t mind who does the showing.’

‘Good. That’s settled then!’ Hardly able to hide her excitement, the girl stood up, ready to leave. Right from the first, she had felt drawn to Dave.

And the longer she spent in his company, the closer she felt to him.

A short time later, with Frank seated in his office, his foot bandaged and propped on a chair, and going through the business of the day, Lucy set about showing Dave the ropes. ‘We’ll start with the kitchen, then the stables, and after that if you want, I can take you to the fields where we keep the stallions.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ Dave was surprised at how easy he felt in her company.

As they went through the house and on to the kitchen, where he was to meet Ted Baker’s widow, Dave was amazed at the sheer size and beauty of this great house. Every room was flooded with sunshine, and he could imagine the laughter and joy that must have echoed from those walls. ‘We used to have lots of parties, when I was little,’ Lucy informed him as they travelled through, ‘but not for a long time now.’

Dave assumed the parties must have stopped when Frank’s wife was lost to them.

‘This is Mummy.’ As though reading his thoughts, she drew him to a beautiful painting hanging above the fire place in the drawing room. For what seemed an age, she fell silent, looking up at the woman she had known for such a cruelly short time, and whom she still missed terribly. ‘She was lovely, don’t you think? Dad told me that in Hebrew, Ruth means “friend”, like the Ruth in the Bible, and that’s how I think of her, as my friend.’

When she now turned to him, and he saw the tears bright in her pretty eyes, Dave’s he art swelled with sympathy. He knew how sad she was feeling, for didn’t he feel the same way about his own mother?

In that peculiar, intimate moment he felt a great affinity with her; a need to hold and protect her and takeaway the pain.

‘Lucy Thomson, you little devil!’ Ted Baker’s widow Maggie had never lost her strong Scottish accent. ‘Whatever d’ye think you’re doing! I’ve only just finished vacuuming that sheepskin rug. It took me ages to get the hairs standing on end again, and now you’re crushing it all underfoot! Have ye no soul? Don’t ye think I slave hard enough in this house, without you following on and undoing all my hard work? And who, might I ask, is your friend?’ Her quick eyes pinned Dave in a shrivelling glance. ‘I don’t suppose for one minute, he wiped his feet at the door!’

Like a rabbit caught in the headlights, Dave couldn’t take his eyes off her. With a voice like a Sergeant Major, he expected to see a burly woman with arms resembling tank-turrets and feet like shovels. Instead, this woman whom he assumed to be the dreaded Maggie, was remarkably handsome, with twinkling light-brown eyes, a shapely, ample figure and only the occasional grey streak in her brown hair. ‘I did wipe my feet,’ he said lamely. ‘Twice.’

‘This is Dave Adams.’ Lucy quickly stepped off the sheepskin rug, while behind her Dave bent to brush the flattened areas where he and Lucy had been standing. ‘He was the one who saved Daddy from Madden, and now he might be coming to work here.’

‘Hmh! It’s a pity he didn’t let that lunatic horse carry your father over the hills and faraway. It might have taught the silly old fool a lesson.’ With that she ushered them out of the room and falling to her knees, began a thorough inspection of her precious sheepskin rug.

‘Crikey!’ Dave felt as if he’d been through the wars. ‘For a minute there, I thought she was about to horse-whip the pair of us.’

Lucy laughed. ‘When you get to know her, you’ll find Maggie is more bark than bite.’

His first encounter with Seamus was quieter, and infinitely more sinister.

Lucy was taking him round the stables when they fell foul of Frank’s head groom. ‘This is Molly’ Reaching over the stable door, the girl gently stroked the mane of the big chestnut horse. ‘She’s Daddy’s favourite, and about to foal any day now.’

Dave watched as the mare paced the stable. ‘She’s magnificent!’ he exclaimed. ‘Can I get in with her?’

‘I don’t know if you should,’ Lucy answered guardedly. ‘She can be a bit temperamental, especially now she’s in foal and near her time.’

‘Best not disturb her then.’ Through his travels, Dave had learned a great deal about horses, and she was the finest he had ever seen. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her.

On reflection, and considering how he had safely stopped the stallion in his tracks, Lucy told him to go in. ‘She’ll be fine, I’m sure.’

Slowly, and with great care, Dave went in with the mare. For a time he kept his distance, talking softly to her and holding out his hand. ‘You’re a real beauty, Molly,’ he murmured. ‘No wonder you’re the boss’s favourite.’

Slowly, slowly, the horse came to him, at first snorting and hesitant, but then trusting Dave implicitly, she stood before him, allowing him to stroke her neck and seeming to enjoy it.

‘BACK UP, YOU DEVIL!’ The sharp crack of a horse-whip startled them both, and when the whip was flicked over the horse’s rear end, the pregnant mare went up on her back legs, lashing out at anything in her way.

Taken by surprise, Dave had neither time nor space in which to calm the animal, and with her being in foal, his best option was to scramble out of there.

‘What the hell d’you think you’re doing?’ The man who spoke was in his mid-twenties, thickset and strong-featured, with piercing dark eyes and a surly manner. ‘Who in blazes gave you the right to go in there?’

‘You crazy fool, Seamus!’ Shaken, Lucy turned on him. ‘It was me who told him to go in. You could have killed him, doing what you did.’

‘How was I to know he was a friend of yours? I didn’t see you in the shadows,’ he lied. ‘All I saw was this stranger in the stable with your father’s favourite mare. What was I to do? If anything happens to Molly, your father will have my hide.’

‘And he’ll have your hide if I tell him how you flicked that whip against her rump! It’s a wonder she hasn’t harmed herself. She could even have lost her foal.’

‘And will you tell your father?’

‘I can’t think of any reason not to!’

Lowering his voice, he told her to go ahead. ‘And while you’re at it, you’d best tell him how you let a stranger into the stable with her, unsettling her and making her jumpy. She was terrified – you must have seen how she was trembling?’ Seamus was very clever with words when it suited him.

Taking an instant dislike to the man, Dave duly apologised. ‘It was my fault, not Lucy’s.’ He sought to protect her. ‘But you’re not altogether blameless. It was you who sent the horse into a panic with that damned whip! Were you never told “whip a horse and you’ll whip up the temper in him”?’

The groom laughed in his face. ‘Wherever did you hear such rubbish?’

‘From an old gypsy, who knew more about horses than you or I will ever know.’

Seamus gave a sly little smile. ‘So, you’re a gypsy, are you?’ The smile gave way to a sneer. ‘Why am I not surprised?’

‘I’m no gypsy. Neither am I an expert. But I’m always ready to learn from the masters. So, if I do come here to work, I won’t be looking to you for advice on how to treat a horse.’

Seamus was taken aback. ‘You, working here, in my stables? Huh! Not if I have my way, you won’t.’

‘That’s not for you to say,’ Lucy angrily intervened. ‘Don’t pride yourself on being anything but a hired hand.’

‘I’ll not forget this,’ came the reply. ‘In fact, I reckon it’s my duty to tell your father what’s been going on here.’

‘Feel free!’ With that, Lucy led the way out of the stables, leaving him quietly fuming.

Once outside, Dave muttered, ‘I’m sorry. I seem to have caused trouble for you.’

‘You haven’t. Seamus was the one who caused trouble – he can’t help himself.’ Though he could be charming one day and moody the next, she had never seen him so incensed. ‘Strange, that,’ she murmured. ‘He’s not usually so aggressive to strangers.’

Dave had known immediately why Seamus had gone for him like that. ‘He’s obviously fond of you. Maybe he saw me as a threat.’

‘That’s silly!’ Lucy was shocked. ‘He has no reason or right to be jealous. Oh, he may have partnered me to our annual barn dance last year, but that’s all. I’ve never given him any encouragement, and I never would.’

Dave wisely changed the subject. ‘What if he tells your father about me going into the stable?’

‘He won’t. And even if he did, he would tell a different tale from the truth.’

‘But would your father believe him?’

Lucy thought for a moment. ‘He might. Dad has a great deal of respect for Seamus. He took him on about nine years ago, when Seamus was seventeen, and so far he’s never put a foot wrong with the horses.’

‘What would he say if he knew how Seamus had laid the whip on the mare?’

‘He’d raise the roof – probably sack him on the spot.’ She gave a worried little smile. ‘But it won’t happen. Seamus is far too clever to get caught out. He would spin such a tale, even I wouldn’t be able to persuade Father of the truth.’

Dave was concerned, not for himself, but for Lucy. ‘I can explain, if you like? I’ll tell him how I went in with the mare, and that I did it without you knowing.’

Lucy was adamant. ‘But that would be a lie. Look – it might be best if we just forget it happened. Thank goodness that Molly is all right. And besides, whatever we say, Seamus would still twist it his way. He’s a nasty, cunning sort. Father doesn’t know what he’s really like.’ She sighed deflatedly. ‘I don’t expect you’ll want to work here now.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Well, because of Seamus and what’s happened. If you do agree to work here, he could make your life a misery.’

‘Oh, Macintyre doesn’t bother me.’ In fact, for the horses’ sake if nothing else, Dave was ready to take him on. ‘I’ve worked with nastier men than him.’ Thoughts of Brian Moult crossed his mind.

‘So, does that mean you’ll be staying, after all?’

His smile confirmed it. ‘Looks that way, don’t you think?’

‘Oh, Dave, that’s wonderful!’ Flinging herself into his arms, she hugged him long and hard. ‘You won’t regret it.’ And neither will I, she thought, dreamily. Neither will I.

Seething with jealousy, Seamus skulked in the stable doorway. He saw how Lucy flung herself at Dave, and the way they held onto each other for longer than necessary … and his devious mind was frantically searching for a way to be rid of this intruder.

Since the first day he was taken on at Thomson’s Stud Farm, there had been only one thing on his mind – to get his hands on Frank Thomson’s millions; and in order to do this, he needed to win and wed the man’s daughter.

He prided himself on having already bluffed his way into her father’s good books. Frank Thomson openly liked him; after nine years, not only did his employer now trust him implicitly, but Frank was filled with admiration at Seamus’s expertise with the horses.

With Lucy, though, he seemed to have got off on the wrong foot, Seamus thought irritably. He was too impatient and anxious to get his hands on the Thomson fortune. So from now on, if his well-laid plans were to amount to anything, he would have to play it crafty, watch his temper and create opportunities that would shine him in a new light.

He had worked hard and schemed to win a place here. And now that he felt the time was ripening for him to make his move, one thing was certain. One way or another, he could not allow some gyppo to snatch it all from under his nose.