Читать книгу Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 2: The Loner, Born Bad, Three Letters - Josephine Cox - Страница 30

THAT AFTERNOON, THERE was work still to be done in the stableyard, with animals to be fed and bedded down for the night, water troughs to fill, and the yard itself to be left clean and tidy underfoot.

It was dark when Dave and Lucy started back towards the house. The air had become chilly.

‘I’m not ready to go indoors,’ Lucy said. ‘Let’s sit in the summerhouse for a while, shall we?’

‘OK, but I can’t stay too long,’ Dave warned her. ‘I need a bath and a change of clothes.’ He grimaced. ‘Your dad’s taken me through woods and wilds today, and I’ve just forked over a huge muck heap. I’m sorry, Lucy, I must smell to high heaven.’

Lucy playfully sniffed the air. ‘I can’t smell anything, only the faint smell of roses.’

Dave laughed. ‘Little liar!’

‘All right then, we both stink. But there’s time enough to sit and talk for a few minutes, isn’t there?’

‘If you like.’ He was happy with that. ‘I don’t suppose half an hour would hurt.’

‘And what then?’

‘What d’you mean?’

‘After half an hour – what then?’

‘Well …’ Like any man, he could never understand a woman’s meaning. ‘Then I’ll walk you home, and I’ll go back to my room over the stables.’

‘And is that what you want?’

‘Not in the long term, no. But just now it’s all I’ve got. And like you say, there’s no rush to get back.’

‘So you’re happy to stay here in the garden, with me?’ She looked up at him, her eyes shining. With every passing day she loved him more. But she could never tell if he loved her the same.

‘Lucy, I’m more than happy to sit here with you,’ he answered. ‘I love your company – you know that.’

‘So, would you be “more than happy” to put your arm round me?’

‘Now, why would I want to do that?’ He loved to tease her.

‘Because I want you to.’

‘That’s not a good enough reason.’

‘All right then, I’m shivering. And I need you to keep me warm.’

Without a word he slid his arm round her shoulders and drew her close. ‘Is that better?’ When she didn’t answer he gazed down on her face. ‘You’re not falling asleep on me, are you?’ he asked softly.

‘No.’

For a moment he was silenced by the dark uplifted eyes that gazed back at him. Then she whispered: ‘Dave?’

‘Yes?’

Giving no reply, she kissed him full on the mouth – a long, lingering kiss that woke too many emotions inside him, emotions that both frightened and excited him. Within them was guilt and passion. Guilt for this betrayal of Judy, and the passion of a youth wanting and needing to become a man.

They touched and fondled, and when the touching became a frantic need, they made love right there on the floor of the summerhouse.

Both virgins, they followed age-old instincts to give and receive pleasure that was in turns wild and tender. And when it was over, they lay in each other’s arms, still breathless, softly kissing, elated by what had just happened.

‘Do you love me, Dave?’ Lucy asked, and he answered that yes, he did love her.

The floor of the summerhouse was cold, and he helped Lucy to her feet. He was feeling a double guilt now, shame burning in his blood. What had he done. The rush of guilt was replaced by a deep-down need to make amends. ‘Of course I love you, Lucy,’ he repeated. There could be no other answer. Not now.

Adjusting their clothes, they strolled on, hand-in-hand. ‘Are we engaged?’ The girl asked innocently.

Affectionately, he stroked her face and smiling down on her, he asked, ‘Is that what you want, my darling?’

Lucy nodded her head. ‘More than anything else in the world,’ she whispered.

He laughed softly. ‘Then yes, we’re engaged.’

‘Can I tell Father?’

Caution set in. ‘Let’s keep it to ourselves for a while, eh?’ he suggested. ‘We need to get used to the idea, and besides, you’ll want to choose a ring and all that.’ He blew out a sigh. ‘I hope you realise, it’s a big thing … getting engaged.’ Manlike, he dreaded all the fuss.

‘You’re not regretting it already, are you?’

He squeezed her hand. ‘No.’

‘I do love you so,’ she assured him. ‘I’ll make you happy, I promise.’

He sensed her panic and the guilt was tenfold. But why? he asked himself. Judy was long lost to him. She was in his past, and Lucy was in his present – and his future. So why did he feel like crying – as though he should have lost his virginity to Judy, not Lucy? He was being foolish, he knew. He must pull himself together; thank his lucky stars for this girl’s love.

‘I know you will,’ he answered. ‘I’ll do my best to make you happy too.’ Lucy was a wonderful young woman who loved him without reservation, and there was more than a measure of love in his heart for her. People had been happy on less and besides, he had given his word, and he would keep it.

Dave wondered if this strange apprehension he was feeling had anything to do with his parents. They had loved each other with insane passion, yet even that was not enough to prevent the tragedy that followed. Yes, perhaps he was afraid of love. So maybe what he and Lucy had would prove to be stronger in other ways. And so much easier to control.

Shivering, he hurried bride-to-be towards home, a welcome fire, and a long, hot bath!

As good as her word, Lucy kept the news to herself; though there wasn’t a minute when she didn’t want to shout it from the rooftops.

‘When can we choose my engagement ring?’ she asked Dave on the day of the annual barn-dance.

‘Let’s get the do tonight out of the way,’ he said, ‘then on Monday morning we’ll go into Bedford and start looking for your ring. After that, you can tell the world. Does that suit you?’

Lucy was more than suited, and for the rest of the day she walked around on cloud nine.

Down in the farmhouse kitchen Maggie was hard at work.

‘I want all hands on deck!’ She was drawing together all the last-minute details. ‘In two hours folk will start arriving and there’s still balloons to be blown up, straw bales to be laid out for the seating, and where’s the banners? We always have banners!’

Summoning three of the stable lads, she set them to work. ‘I’ve things to be doing myself,’ she said. ‘There’s all the food to be seen to yet. And think on,’ she warned. ‘I’ll be back in an hour, by which time I expect it all to be done and ready.’ With that she marched off, chuckling to herself as she recalled how the three of them had been hiding in the stables. ‘Lazy little hounds,’ she told herself. ‘Did they really think I didn’t know where to look for them?’

Her kitchen at The Willows was a hive of industry; there was Lucy shifting the freshly baked bread rolls onto a cooling tray; little Peggy Henderson from the village flitting in and out of the larder like a headless chicken, and the cat waiting at the door for any stray titbits.

As always, Peggy was fussing, talking to herself in frantic clucks as she darted to and fro. ‘Where’s the ham shank? It was here just now when I got out the cream jug … Oh dearie me, dearie me!’

‘Stop panicking!’ Maggie came in the door and straight off she saw how little Peggy had already put one ham shank on the butcher’s block ready for slicing. ‘Look behind you, hinny,’ she urged. ‘In a minute, it will bite you on the backside!’

Peggy began giggling uncontrollably. ‘Silly me,’ she chirped. ‘I must have taken it out earlier. There’s so much to do … you can’t think, can you?’

Maggie had an idea. ‘We’ve all been working our fingers to the bone, and we’re tired. I say we should stop for a few minutes and have one o’ my delicious scones, with a cup of tea – then we’ll get on with the sandwiches. What d’you say, eh?’

The girls were all for it. Lucy put the kettle on, while Maggie and Peggy got out the scones and cream, with a dish of straw berry jam made last summer.

No sooner was the table set for three, than the kettle was whistling and the tea was made, and they all sat down with a sigh of relief.

‘What’s tickling you, young lady?’ Maggie had already noticed how Lucy kept smiling to herself, and when she wasn’t smiling she was singing, and when she wasn’t singing, she was looking out the window. ‘As I recall, there’s only one thing that makes a young woman as happy as you seem to be, and that’s a young man.’ And the only young man she could match with Lucy, was Dave.

Lucy’s face grew pink. ‘I’m saying nothing,’ she remarked coyly. ‘You’ll know soon enough.’ And beyond that she would not be drawn.

By 7 p.m. lanterns and fairy-lights had been switched on to light the way to the barn. There was plenty of space in an adjoining field for cars. About seventy people were expected, and the trestle tables, covered in white sheets, were groaning under the weight of party food for the evening’s festivities, alongside barrels of beer, and cider, bottles of wine and pop for the teetotallers. To eat, there were platters of sliced boiled ham or roast ham shanks and fat beef sandwiches and pork pies enough to feed an army, plump chicken breasts and grilled sausages, and bowl after bowl of boiled potatoes, sprinkled with mint and herbs. One table alone held all the sweet things – trifles and tarts, and cakes to suit all tastes: chocolate, and fruit, and ginger, and plates of fancies.

‘Good God above, Maggie!’ Frank had come to inspect the barn. ‘There’s enough grub here to feed the whole of Bedfordshire.’

‘Nobody ever goes hungry at my parties, that’s for sure,’ she announced proudly.

By the time people started arriving, the balloons were up, the banners were hung, and the trio of musicians – violin, squeezebox and flute, played the partygoers in.

Lucy was kept busy meeting and greeting, helping people with their coats and settling them in, while Dave remained by the door, watching out for one particular partygoer, and hoping against hope that he would turn up.

By nine-thirty the party was well underway, with the guests redfaced and merry, performing the old traditional country dances while the caller, a local farmer named Ned Kirby, nagged, cajoled and teased them through the steps.

Amid the gales of laughter, Dave went up to Lucy and said, ‘There’s still no sign of him. I don’t suppose he got my letter. Or if he did, maybe he wasn’t able to come all this way.’

Lucy was trying to console him, when suddenly Dave caught sight of a familiar figure coming through the crowds. ‘Eli!’ Small and wick, with a smile on his wrinkled old face, the old man had not changed.

Dave ran to meet him. ‘Oh, Eli, it’s so good to see you! I really thought you weren’t able to make it.’

Eli gave him a big hug. ‘Then you don’t know me as well as you think ye do,’ he said, his face wreathed in a delighted grin. ‘It would have taken wild horses to keep me away. Mind, me car wasn’t too keen on the journey from Blackpool, but it’s having a good long rest in yon field.’

Lucy came up beside them. ‘So, this is your friend?’ If it hadn’t been for the old fella, Lucy knew that Dave would never have found his way here, to her, and the good life he now enjoyed.

Eli looked at her with wide eyes. ‘By, but she’s pretty! This must be the young woman you told me about in your letter … Lucy, isn’t it?’

He held out his hand in greeting, but Lucy threw her arms round his neck, thanking him for the help he had given to Dave. ‘If it wasn’t for you, we might never have met,’ she said thankfully. Dave had told her all about his life on the run, and she knew that Eli had been a major force for good, helping to bring that way of life to an end.

Eli nodded. ‘Brian Moult got what he deserved,’ he told Dave, accepting a glass of beer and a plate of food from a stable girl acting as a waitress for the evening. Lucy left the men and went to help her.

‘Not long after you took off, the truth got out about his wrongdoings. He was put away for some years – him and the other fella, and good shuts to the pair of ’em, is what I say!’

Dave was relieved, but curious. ‘How did they get caught out?’

Eli winked knowingly. ‘I expect somebody snitched on ’em, eh?’ He chuckled wickedly. ‘I mean, they must have made a lot of enemies, wouldn’t ye say?’

Dave understood. ‘You’re an old rascal, but you’re worth your weight in gold.’ He would never forget what Eli had done for him.

Drawing closer to the lad, Eli had some more news for him. ‘There’s something you need to know,’ he said. ‘This is going to blow your socks off. By, you’ll really be celebrating when you get a load of this.’ He took a long swallow of his beer while Dave waited patiently.

‘Your Mr Babraham …’ he said unexpectedly, and when Dave went white, he leaned forward and grasped his arm. ‘He didn’t die,’ Eli said in his ear. ‘He lived – and was able to identify his attackers. It was in the local paper last week. The police had been looking for them ever since he recovered from the incident. They found them when they committed a big burglary in Sheffield, and connected them with that other job. You’re in the clear, lad. The police aren’t looking for anyone else. I reckon he told them how you helped him, eh? Come on, now.’ He looked kindly at the stricken young man. ‘You need a drink. You can fill my glass up an’ all while you’re at it. There’s a fair bit o’ dust in me throat from the journey, so it’s medicinal, mind.’

The old and young man went over to replenish their glasses, and then Dave, feeling light-headed with this wonderful piece of news, led Eli over to where Frank was chatting to Maggie. He introduced Eli as ‘the man who saved my hide, more than once’.

‘Well, Eli my man,’ Frank shook him by the hand, ‘you did us all a favour, and any time you’re passing through these parts, you’ll always be made welcome here. I hope you will be our guest tonight, and for the rest of your stay.’

Maggie reached forward and embraced the little man fondly. Her Ted and Eli had been best buddies for years, closer than any brothers, and she knew he had mourned with her when Ted had died. She herself had supported Eli, writing to him often when his missus had become ill and passed away, two years ago now. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him; he had a heart of gold.

‘Come and sit down and have your food now,’ she tutted. ‘You must be worn out with that long drive down. Where did you stay overnight?’

‘Oh, I stopped off in Coventry to take a look at the new Cathedral,’ he told them all. ‘My goodness, it’s a corker.’ Truth be told, the old chap had enjoyed his drive down, had found so much to look at and admire. He’d been too long in Blackpool, that was for sure. And Billy Joe’s Fairground had long since lost its attraction for him.

‘What are your plans, Eli?’ Frank asked, eyeing the visitor shrewdly.

‘Watch him, Eli,’ Maggie warned light-heartedly. ‘Next thing you know, he’ll be setting you to work on the stud.’

‘Not me,’ Eli announced. ‘I’m past all that. I’ve rolled up my overalls, and now I mean to see some of the world, before it’s too late. I’ve got a few bob in the Post Office, an’ me feet are itchy.’ He glanced out at the star-studded sky. ‘It’s a big old world out there, an’ I’m getting no younger. The sooner I get going, the more I’ll see of the Master’s creation, before He calls me home.’

His prophetic words moved them to silence.

But it wasn’t long before they were back in the thick of the celebrations.

The evening was a wonderful success. Frank and Maggie danced almost every dance; Eli found himself a partner and made a happy fool of himself, while Dave and Lucy swirled about the floor in each other’s arms. At times, it seemed the barn almost shook at the foundations.

Maggie was thrilled to see all the lovingly prepared food disappear in record time. The guests had brought hearty appetites along, which was just what she wanted.

Towards the end of the evening, Frank took the stage and called everyone together. ‘I have an announcement to make,’ he said, and when they were all suitably attendant, he went on in grand voice, ‘As you all know, Dave Adams came to us a few years ago, recommended by our good friend, Eli Clements. He has proved himself to be an important part of my business here. He gets on with everyone, and everyone respects him. He has taken to this work like a duck to water, and with Seamus gone, sadly under a cloud, I’ve decided to hand his job of head groom over to Dave.’

After the applause, there was more to come. ‘I reckon it’s about time that the new head groom had new quarters, so first thing on Monday morning, the builders are arriving to renovate Blueberry Cottage for him.’ Holding out his hands to a shocked and delighted Dave, he told him with a warm, proud smile, ‘Well done, son. Now, come and take your bow … you’ve earned it.’

The applause this time was deafening, because as Frank so rightly said, everyone had quickly come to like and respect this young man who had come to them years ago and joined their community.

Dave ran up onstage, knowing that, despite his shyness, he must acknowledge this announcement by Frank.

‘I really don’t know what to say,’ he told all assembled, and turned to Frank and shook his hand. ‘All I can tell you is, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’

Suddenly, Lucy was by his side. A bit flushed and merry from the cider, she kissed them both, before addressing the gathering, ‘Like you, I’m thrilled for Dave, but I too have an announcement to make. You see, Dave and I are engaged to be married …’

Both Frank and Dave were taken aback by this development, but the crowd loved it. Shouts of congratulations went up, and the clapping and stamping made a right old din.

‘I thought we weren’t going to say anything yet?’ Dave said in her ear.

‘I couldn’t wait,’ she laughed. ‘And anyway, I couldn’t let Daddy steal all the thunder.’

Dave went along with it all, and when the crowd demanded that he kiss his fiancée, he gladly obliged; with Frank joking to the delighted folk, ‘Looks like my daughter and I have both acquired a groom – the same one!’

The excitement was infectious, and everyone took their turn in congratulating Dave and Lucy.

‘I suspected all your smiling and singing was because of a certain young man,’ Maggie told Lucy smugly. ‘You’ve been bursting to tell us the news, and now all I can say is … be happy, the pair of you.’

Lurking outside at the rear of the barn was one dark-minded creature who had only bad wishes for the couple. Although his ticket back to Ireland was already bought, and he was due to sail to Dublin from Liverpool in two days’ time, Seamus Macintyre had no intention of leaving this farm with his tail between his legs. Oh, there were no shortages of jobs in Ireland, where the cream of the stud farms were situated, but it was the principle of the thing. He ground his teeth at the thought of the wasted years, spent waiting for a certain fruit to fall into his lap, only to see that gypsy brat run away with it.

He had taken his job, his girl – and the family fortune too, by the looks of it!

His evil mind alive with thoughts of revenge, Seamus crept silently away.

Inside the barn, people were beginning to leave. Everyone had an early start, the next day. The land never let you sleep for long; she was a hard taskmistress.

‘Good night, and thanks for coming.’ One by one, Frank shook the guests’ hands as they came up to him, while Maggie and her team of helpers bustled about, collecting bits and bobs of discarded rubbish from the tables.

When everyone was gone, and the sound of car engines and merry voices had died away, Frank had a quiet word or two with Dave and Lucy, telling them how thrilled he was with their engagement, and promising to put on a wedding for them, that would be ‘the talk of Bedfordshire’.

That said, he took Maggie by the arm, and announced that he was looking for a woman himself. ‘What d’you say, Maggie?’ he asked cheekily. ‘Are you ready to make an honest man of me?’

‘Ask me again in the morning,’ she laughed. ‘When you’re sober enough to know what you’re saying.’

Slightly inebriated from the cider she had downed, and contemplating the exciting future ahead of herself and Dave, Lucy took to the stage, where she twirled and danced, and sang aloud. The musicians had gone home, leaving their empty pint glasses perched on the bales. Wisps of straw littered the floor.

From the far side of the barn, Maggie and Dave looked on. ‘Bless her heart, she’s over the moon with it all,’ Maggie told him. ‘I’ve never known her so happy.’

Dave smiled. ‘She’s a lovely girl,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I only hope I can do right by her.’

The Scotswoman was intrigued. ‘And why wouldn’t you do right by her?’ she demanded.

‘Love doesn’t always mean happiness.’ Dave said soberly. He paused, then added in a low voice, almost to himself, ‘You can’t know how it was – at home, with Mam and Dad.’

Like Frank, Maggie had always wondered about the boy’s past, and once or twice she had almost raised the issue. But somehow Dave put up barriers and she never found the courage. Now, though, she spoke out.

‘Why don’t you tell me how it was?’ she suggested kindly.

Seeing that Frank and Lucy were busy, Dave took a moment to consider and suddenly it was all tumbling out … how his father had been devoted to his mother, but she caused them so much unhappiness. ‘I know she loved him, but she seemed hellbent on hurting him,’ he recalled sadly. ‘She was out all hours with the men … she even bedded my father’s workmates. Money was nothing to her, even though she didn’t earn much at the hairdresser’s where she was a part-time stylist. Dad worked hard, and she spent his wages like water from a tap. Twice, we lost everything, and Grandad had to come to the rescue.’

The old emotions, of love, worry, and frustration flooded back and when he couldn’t go on, she gently urged him, ‘It’s always best to talk about things, Dave. And you know whatever you tell me, I will never repeat it to a living soul.’

So, he went on and told her about the night when it all came to a head. He related how his father had walked out, and the subsequent events of that night. Not since he had unburdened himself to Eli, had Dave spoken of these matters. Finally, he explained how it all went wrong, and of how his mother’s life slipped away while she was in his arms.

‘D’you see what I mean?’ he asked Maggie brokenly. ‘She loved my father so much, and yet she still ruined his life … all our lives.’

Maggie was deeply shocked and saddened by the story. Dabbing at her eyes, she could now understand what the lad had meant when he spoke of hoping to do right by Lucy.

‘You can’t measure yourself against your mother,’ she assured him. ‘Because she spoiled your life and the lives of your father and grandfather, it doesn’t mean to say that you might ruin Lucy’s life. You are made differently, my lad.’ She felt instinctively that there was something else, something he wasn’t saying. ‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Anything.’

‘Tell me honestly … do you love Lucy?’

Dave took a moment to answer. ‘Yes, I do love her,’ he said, ‘it’s just that …’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m sorry, Maggie, I shouldn’t burden you with all this.’

The woman persisted. ‘Before you came here, when you were a boy, was there someone you felt strongly about?’

Judy came immediately, to mind. ‘I had a friend,’ he said. ‘A girl by the name of Judy. We told each other everything.’

‘A friend – is that all she was?’

Surprised by her question, Dave looked up. ‘We were just children,’ he said. ‘Judy’s father delivered the milk, and we played together. She was a lot like Lucy, kind and thoughful, and I loved her very much … like a sister, or a friend. Maybe more than a friend, Maggie – but we were too young to know about such things.’

His heart ached. ‘Sometimes, when I think of home, I think of her and I miss talking with her. She knew what was going on in our house, and she understood. When there was trouble and I was worried, I could confide in her, and she would always listen.’ He smiled fondly at the memory of her. ‘Judy was my best and only friend.’

Maggie sensed his heartache. ‘Of course you miss her,’ she acknowledged. ‘What happened to you, Dave, was a terrible thing. To have everything you cherished torn away from you, must have been unbearably hard.’

All the same, she needed him to be sure. ‘I know you love Lucy,’ she acknowledged. ‘It’s in your face when you look at her, and in the way you treat her. But it needs to be the kind of love that builds a marriage. To have that depth that binds you together for the rest of your lives. Don’t compare what you and Lucy have with what your parents had. You mustn’t be afraid, Dave. You are your own man, and you must draw strength from knowing that Lucy has promised herself to you.’

‘I know all that,’ he said. ‘And I do love her. I want to protect her … to give her all the things she wants out of life.’

‘It’s you she wants.’ Maggie wouldn’t let it go. ‘And that’s wonderful – as long as you love her in the same way. Do you, Dave? Do you love her with every fibre of your being, the way a man loves his woman?’

‘How can I know that?’ he asked helplessly. ‘All I know is that I do love her. Isn’t that enough to build a life on?’

Maggie thought it probably wasn’t. When he had spoken of the girl Judy just now, there had been something extraordinary in his voice – a certain magical essence that was lacking when he spoke of Lucy. But then again, she reminded herself, Dave had referred to this Judy as a sister, an only friend when his whole world was falling apart. Of course he would have special feelings for her – and besides, if it was anything deeper, he would have gone back for her … wouldn’t he?

Lucy’s voice cut through her thoughts. ‘Dave! Come and dance with me!’

Excusing himself, Dave went to Lucy and, taking her in his arms, he moved her round the stage. Giggling quietly, they both sang the Elvis song, ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, and with her head resting on his shoulder, they were in a world of their own.

And from where Maggie stood, they looked as much in love as any other engaged couple she had ever known.