Taunton Barr

by Brian Cain

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

  A chopper landed in the middle of the meadow next to the Blake training facility, it was precisely where Roger Palmer had fallen and passed away, it was where his ashes had become the grass. A lone person in a crisp white shirt and tweed slacks disembarked, he had said nothing all the way to his destination. He waved the chopper away and sat down on the ground, he looked into the blue sky, was a fine afternoon with a cool but pleasant breeze. He could smell some fresh cut grass some distance away carried on the gentle wind, it made him smile. He then burst into tears, he didn't know how long for but it was a long time. A chopper landed behind him, he didn't look round, after a few seconds it lifted off, he could hear the door slam, he gathered himself. The chopper faded into the deep blue as quick as it had come. His daughters Kalika and Cecelia came and sat down either side of him. His red eyes just kept looking ahead. 'How did you know I was here.'

  Kalika looked across at her sister and chuckled. 'Mechanic called another chopper to pick us up, your pilot transmitted your location, we aren't surprised, we were all worried about you especially mechanic he was freaking out.'

  'Lindy.'

  'She won't leave Flaxmead.'

  'Lee.'

  'She is handling a few problems created by her father. Accessing prohibited areas in helicopters, you told the clerk of the course to fuck off.'

  'I'm sorry was all I could think of, I planned it this morning, I really didn't know what to do, I've found I'm just a father and at times not a very good one.'

  Cecelia smiled at him although she knew he wasn't looking. 'It's okay to cry dad, we all cried, would have been nice to cry together.'

  Winston looked down and drew a big breath, he plucked up enough courage to look at them. 'I have deceived you all, and myself, I'm wondering where to now.'

  'Lee is going to talk to our brother, Beaker is helping Lee with fall out, will he be surprised.'

  'I have no idea.'

  'Do we have any more surprises.'

  'Yes.'

  Kalika butted in. 'I think Roger would be laughing his head off, we did the impossible.'

  'If it was impossible we wouldn't have been able to do it, some think the sky is the limit but there are footprints on the moon.'

  'Where to now dad.'

  'I don't know, I just wanted to get through today.'

  'Here's you struggling through the day and Lindy is on top of the world because she did what you asked of her. She thinks it meant everything to you.'

  He put his hands on top of his knees and looked across at Rogers humble home, he shook his head slowly. 'I dragged her through this, I just wanted Rose back, how selfish of me to put her in harms way so many times.'

  'She never let Flaxmead put a foot wrong, when she first got on him she knew, her life is just how she wanted it. She wanted to be a champion jockey, she was crying because her brother didn't live to see it.'

  'I coveted your mother Kalika, I'm just thankful Roger didn't know.'

  'I remember things when I really think about it, you loved my mum, I am the result of the deepest love, not the deepest dishonesty. That's one of the problems you have fought with for so long, you love everyone. You see no boundaries in commercialism, socialism or love, we have the same genes.'

  'I'm not sure those genes are worthy of respect or success, especially on a day like today.'

  'You really stuffed them up dad, doesn't matter, Lindy has been approached to be patron for the BHA, she will end up on the board.'

  Winston chuckled. 'God help them.'

  Kalika lent on his shoulder with the side of her head. 'I would like to know who else is part of the family. Are you going to tell us.'

  'Well. It's a very long story.'

  'We can listen for as long as it takes, can we not Cecelia.'

  Cecelia looked at Winston, she smiled at his profile, he turned to her face. 'My mum told me many times you were a wonderful man, I never realised how wonderful she thought you were. I too, am a result of the deepest love, not just an accident. My mum wanted me to be like you.'

  The dark chestnut foal with white markings from Taunton had been galloping around the meadow, he jumped the fences whenever he pleased, he stopped in front of them and lifted his head in keen defiance with a fixed gaze on Winston. Winston smiled at him with a barely audible chuckle. The foal reared up and thundered off toward the barn complex. Kalika looked down at the grass, she wore a solemn face. 'The little girl in the lane when we found the foal, she wore a blue dress, it was Kristy, when Lindy brought her here you said nothing.'

  Winston sighed. 'Nor did you, you held her, you knew her face, her voice, you knew there was some kind of connection. Perhaps it was just too much to think of at the time. Stuck in the back of your mind and was probably the thing that pushed you to later look into things a little deeper, and here we are.'

  'You risked everything for us, the red haired lady the police were looking for, was Kristy's nanny, am I right.'

  Winston capitulated. 'Yes.'

  'You found out what Lindy and Roger didn't know, they'll never find them will they, none of them.'

  'No, I'd say the odds are one hundred percent against success in linking my daughters or Lindy to any of that, should be the last we mention of it.'

  'Will they come for you one day.'

  'They come at me every day'

  'Is Graham still alive.'

  'I have no idea, some things I need not know.'

  'I get scared sometimes dad.'

  'I'll fight them from the outside, I'll fight them from the inside, should it mean they perish to protect my daughters so be it.'

  'How come we feel so sad on such a wonderful day.'

  'The sacrifice made to achieve things is sometimes overbearing, only the dead are free of guilt. I can only imagine that eternal sleep is free of all things and wish all that have passed eternal rest, I hope Roger feels none of these things as we sit here. We all have to face tomorrow with scars that cannot be seen, I can bathe those scars in as much love as I can for you, I as yet have not been able to do no more to hide those scars, it seems to create more scars that need more love. That's what fathers do, or as far as I can currently work out.'

  'What's Rose like.'

  'I have no idea, she has never let me find out.'

  'I think it's time I told you she called me after the race and will be here tomorrow.'

  'That will be a hard day.'

  'She told me a few things, she is so frightened of you.'

  'Yes I know.'

  'She knew you wouldn't approve of her friends, she was a drug addict, the police still have warrants for her here.'

  'No they don't, and she has been clean for nearly ten years.'

  'That's why she's scared of you, you can do things like that, you weren't there but you just kept coming at her, she knew it was you. You were around every corner she turned, yet you openly claimed to know nothing of her. I know what that's like, I lived through it as well.'

  'All I did was make the authorities aware of things they didn't know, as she wants to come home, could have been done any time, took only a few minutes, was only her mind that needed to change. Attacking her past would have been their biggest blunder and helped no one. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.'

  Winston stood up. He put his hands down to his daughters and helped them to their feet. 'We should head for home and Mavis will be waiting, she'll be worried. I want to drop in on Saracen see how his leg is coming on held up in the barn he'll be really pissed off.'

  'Walk slowly we want to know, now, who else has such a story as ours.'

  They shuffled off holding hands toward the barn complex a mile away. 'Well, a long time ago, I was a bit of an idiot really, when you come to think of it, fortunately I was good looking idiot.'

  His daughters cracked up laughing, he put his arms around each of them as they strolled along. 'Dad tell us something we don't know, are they brothers or sisters, where do they li
ve and when do we meet them.'

  They strolled off into the warm clean afternoon air, among familiar sights, sounds and smells Winston began. 'Well, perhaps I should start at the beginning, for this end you already know and I could never see. I was just fifteen.'

  'Dad really, fifteen that's disgusting.'

  'I haven't said anything yet just mentioned a point in time.'

  The girls laughed out loud. 'Go on, once upon a time dad.'