The Wishing Well

by Jilly Bowling

  Pulling all her dignity around her, Bella said “Just go away, until I hear what Roman has to say I don’t believe you.”

  Louisa kicked the horse viciously in the ribs and it leapt forward. Bella jumped to the side but the horse’s shoulder hit hers, knocking her flat on her back, winded and in real danger of being trampled. Misty leapt to her defence, catching the horses nose between her sharp teeth and hanging on for dear life as the terrified animal reared and shook its head violently. Louisa slid off it’s back also in danger of being kicked or trampled and Misty lost her grip on the horse’s fleshy nose and was hurled to one side. Free of rider and dog the horse bolted, not down the road but out onto the open moor behind the cottage.

  Winded, but worried about her dog, Bella ignored Louisa’s screams of rage, and the horrible pain in her shoulder and crawled over to the unmoving pup. As she bent over her pet Bella’s tears finally overflowed and she sobbed as she put a shaking hand on Misty’s head.

  Then there was the roar of a quad bike and Roman, ignoring Louisa completely, flung himself off it and raced over to Bella.

  “Bella, sweetheart,” he began to say, then noticing the motionless dog he knelt down and felt for the dog’s pulse under its elbow. It was fast but steady so he put his arm around Bella and said “She’s alive, love, but she appears to be unconscious. We’ll give her a minute then take her to my vet. What happened?”

  Louisa had managed to get to her feet, unhurt apart from a bruised ego and bottom, and she rushed over and hit Roman’s back, hard. “I’ll tell you what happened,” she screamed, “thought you’d get away with it again, didn’t you? I came to tell your whore that you’re mine and always have been. Then that cur attacked my horse and almost killed me. God knows what Boris’ll do to himself free on the moor.”

  Roman drew in a deep breath and blew it out again. “Louisa, what I do has nothing to do with you, never has and never will. You have no claim whatsoever on me. I thought I’d made it clear on Friday that you have to get this crazy idea out of your head. I’ve never asked you to marry me, and although we went out together at school that’s nearly twenty years ago. There’s been nothing between us since.”

  “Our fathers agreed that we should marry to join our lands together.”

  Roman shook his head in exasperation. “It’s twenty eighteen, arranged marriages went out over a hundred years ago.” Misty moved her head and whined and he turned back to the dog “We’ll get her into the van and take her to my vet.”

  “What about me!” Louisa screamed, “I’m hurt.”

  Roman looked at her in disgust “Take the quad and go home, send your men out to find your horse.”

  He gently lifted Misty in his arms, pleased to discover that she didn’t yelp in pain as he picked her up. As Bella struggled to her feet he noticed that her left arm was in a funny position and said “You’re hurt.”

  “It’s nothing,” Bella said, “let’s just see to Misty.”

  Leaving Louisa shouting invectives after them they got into the van, Roman laying the pup across Bella’s knees, then he looked at Louisa and the open door of the cottage and got out again. Going inside he collected the door keys and coming out locked it firmly behind him. As he passed Louisa he said “If I find an iota of damage, you’ll be very, very sorry.”

  Then he climbed into the driver’s seat and carefully drove away. Louisa followed them for a short distance screaming abuse at both of them until they turned onto the road and left her standing swearing into the silence.

  Glancing at Bella’s tear stained shocked white face, Roman said “Louisa is not my fiance, never has been and never will be.”

  Shaking her head and holding up her right hand she said “Just leave it Roman. Let’s get Misty to the vet, we’ll talk later.”

  Understanding from her tone that she was too shaken up to take anything in, he sensibly didn’t say any more.

  Luckily the vet’s surgery wasn’t too far as Misty was awake now and struggling to move. The pain in Bella’s shoulder was making her feel hot and dizzy and the dog’s struggles didn’t help so it was a great relief when Roman stopped the van, ran round to the passenger side and lifted the panting dog off her lap. As he carried her into the surgery. Bella attempted to climb out of the van, the world span around her, and for the first time in her life, she fainted.

  She came round to the sound of sirens. Totally disorientated she couldn’t imagine what she was doing on the floor and tried to sit up. The world swam again as Roman pushed her down saying “Stay there Bella, you passed out and you’ve bashed your head on the van door.”

  Shakily she tried to lift her left hand to her head and yelped at the pain in her shoulder.

  “Oh god, I’m going to be sick,” she said, as her lunch found its way back up.

  As she vomited Roman gently pushed her face to one side and gathered her hair out of the way.

  “That’s alright sir, leave her to us now,” a man’s voice said as she vomited again.

  “Please let me sit up,” she said struggling to move. The world spun again and everything went black.

  * * *

  Bella came round again to the sound of sirens, only to discover that she couldn’t move. Panicked she cried out and a gentle hand touched hers. “Stay still Bella, we’ve immobilised your head, just as a precaution, and placed you on a backboard. Have you any pain at the moment?”

  She tried to shake her head and discovered that she couldn’t, her neck was in some kind of brace, so she said “I’ve got a headache and my left shoulder is very painful.”

  Then her stomach heaved and she vomited again: this time only yellow bile trickling out of her mouth, and the paramedic wiped it away. “Try not to talk or move,” he said kindly, “we’ll be at the hospital in ten minutes.”

  Bella closed her eyes and concentrated on not crying. She hated to be sick and it reduced her to tears every time. Luckily she’d only been sick a few times, mostly as a child, through the stress and panic brought on by her mother’s illness. Then she remembered Misty “What about my dog?”

  “Your partner was settling her at the vets then he was going to follow us.”

  “Is she badly hurt?”

  “I don’t know, my dear, but she’s in good hands. Now just try to stay calm.”

  Her mind was in turmoil, what if they had to put Misty to sleep? Maybe they were operating on her. Oh god, how was she going to pay the vet? She should have taken out pet insurance. Her worry made her heave again, but they’d arrived at the hospital and for a second she breathed in the fresh sea air, which cooled her down. However it was a very sorry looking patient who was wheeled into the A&E department and straight into a cubicle. She was covered in blood from the wound on her temple, where a large lump had formed, her mouth and the neck restraints were covered in yellow bile and tears were running copiously down her cheeks.

  Doctors and nurses fussed around her removing the pad that the paramedics had used to stem the blood, taking her blood pressure and asking questions. Trying to answer caused her to vomit again so she was given an injection to stop that. Then there was a noise outside the curtain and she heard Roman’s voice demanding to see her.

  “Please let him in,” she managed to say, swallowing hard to contain the heaves.

  The doctor in charge nodded and Roman’s worried face appeared in her line of vision “Bella sweetheart, I’m here, don’t worry about anything. Misty is going to be OK. She’s got a green fracture to her leg, low down, and she banged her head. They’re keeping her in, on a drip overnight to make sure there’s nothing else.”

  Bella started to cry for real, great heaving sobs of relief that the pup was alright, and also the worry about how she would pay for her treatment.

  “Don’t cry love, or they’ll throw me out,” Roman begged as he wiped her eyes and face with tissues.


  “I thought she’d have to be put down, poor baby, she was so brave and saved me from being badly hurt.”

  Roman’s eyes hardened as he contemplated worse damage than she’d suffered so far “The doctors don’t want you to talk much, in case you’re sick again, so you can fill me in on what happened when you feel better.”

  Just then a porter arrived to take her for a scan and she was pushed away with a nurse in attendance.

  “Do you know exactly what happened?” the doctor in charge asked.

  “Not exactly, but she was knocked over by a large, out of control horse, her dog was hurt, and then as I took the dog into the vet she passed out and hit her head on the sharp edge of the van door.”

  “So she actually hit the ground twice?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mmm” the doctor nodded, “we’ll know more after the scan. Please excuse me Mr?

  “Cowle.”

  “Mr. Cowle, I have other patients to see but I’ll be back as soon as your partner returns.”

  * * *

  Three hours later Bella was sitting up sipping water through a straw. Her head was bandaged, she’d been cleaned up and was dressed in a very unbecoming hospital gown. Roman was sitting on a chair next to her listening to her account of the accident.

  “Misty was so brave, she saved me from serious injury. I just hope she recovers Ok.”

  “Jess, the vet, texted me a short time ago to tell me she’s fine, comfortable and has actually eaten all the food they gave her.”

  Bella smiled “It appears that nothing would stop her from eating.”

  At that moment the curtains parted and two strange doctors came in. “I’m Dr. Kyle and this is Dr. Sherlock, we’ve come to put your shoulder back in.”

  Suddenly dry mouthed she said “Oh!”

  “I’ve looked at your X rays and it’s quite a simple dislocation, should slip back in with no trouble.”

  As two nurses came through the curtain he asked Roman to leave. Giving her a kiss he squeezed her right arm and said “It’ll be over quick.”

  Then he hurried through the curtains but lingered outside, his guts churning at the thought of Bella in pain. If Louisa had been near him then he could have wrung her neck quite happily. Hearing Bella give a loud yelp he stopped pacing and clenched his fists, longing to run in and protect her. A few minutes after that a nurse popped her head out and told him he could come in.

  The other nurse was just finishing strapping Bella’s left arm to her side and Dr. Kyle was telling her that they’d have another X ray but he was certain that it was back in the correct position. Doctors and nurses took their leave and Roman, devastated by the greyness and pain on her face, gently rubbed her hand.

  “They’re going to keep me in,” she said, biting her lip. “I’ve got concussion, they’ve had to stitch my forehead, and they say I’m suffering from shock, that’s why they’ve got me on a drip.”

  “Don’t worry about a thing love, I’ll collect some things for you, make sure the cottage is secure and look in on Misty. Then I’ll be back.”

  “They’re trying to find me a bed on a ward, but I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Look, it’s ever so late, why don’t you go home, I’ll be OK. They’ve pumped me full of painkiller and I feel as if I could sleep for a week.”

  “If you’re sure, I’ll check on Misty, and the cottage, on my way home and I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

  “Good,” Bella bit her lip. “Tell me just one thing, honestly, has there ever been any reason for Louisa to think that you’re engaged?”

  Roman shook his head “We went out together at school, but that’s nearly twenty years ago. Our families used to joke about us getting married, join our lands in the old fashioned way, but it was never a real commitment. I promise you, I’ve never asked her to marry me.”

  “Have you slept together?”

  “Apart from a few fumbles when we were at school, no.”

  “I want to believe you,” she said, “but she was so furious and upset she had me believing her.”

  “Bella, I love you, I’ve never loved her; there was one time I thought I was `in love` with someone, but not her.”

  She stared into his eyes and saw honesty and love, and the tightness around her heart eased slightly. When he leant over to kiss her she lifted her lips to his closing her eyes at the sweetness of it.

  Then a nurse came to take her to a ward and he kissed her fingers and made his goodbyes.

  Chapter 9

  When a nurse came to wake her, the following morning, she sat up shakily. Her head was thumping, her shoulder was aching and she still felt slightly sick.

  “You’ve got quite a bruise,” the nurse commented as she put up the backrest and laid the pillows against it. “The swelling hasn’t got any worse but the bruising has spread to your eye and cheek. Did you hit your face on the ground when you fell?”

  “I honestly don’t know what I did. I was told I’d hit my forehead on the door of the van, but other than that you know as much as me.”

  “Your consultant will be round to see you later, so let’s get you comfortable and I’ll get you a nice cup of tea.”

  “That would be lovely, my mouth is so dry and tastes foul.”

  “Would you like some water so you can clean your teeth?”

  “I haven’t got a toothbrush or anything. Roman is bringing some things in this morning,” Bella told her.

  “I’m sure we’ve got some mouthwash somewhere. I’ll find it after I’ve done the drinks.”

  As the nurse bustled off Bella looked round the six bed bay. All the beds were occupied with women looking in various stages of discomfort; a few smiled at her and she smiled back and said “ Good morning.” Some replied but then lay back against their pillows feeling too rotten to talk.

  After two cups of tea and a slice of toast she started to feel a bit better and was allowed to walk to the toilet on a nurse’s arm.

  At ten thirty the doctor in charge of her case did his ward rounds and after having the bandage on her head removed, to reveal four stitches, he arranged for another scan saying that, if that was ok, she could go home later that afternoon, as long as she had someone to look after her.

  Lunch was served at noon and although it was pretty unappetizing she forced herself to eat it, the ice cream for pudding being the best part. She was beginning to wonder why Roman hadn’t come in, when there he was, carrying her small suitcase.

  As he leaned over to kiss her cheek he said “I telephoned this morning and they were waiting for the doctor to check you. Then when I phoned later they told me you had to have a scan and if it was ok you could come home. I left a message, did you get it?”

  “No, but they’re extremely busy,” Bella said, “I’m still waiting for the scan.”

  “Oh well, I might as well wait until we know what’s happening. I brought in some clothes for you and a pair of trainers.”

  Embarrassed at the thought of him going through her drawer where her old knickers and bras lived she bit her lip and said “Thank you.”

  As he looked at her he realised that she was embarrassed and changed the subject. “I picked Misty up this morning, she’s fine apart from a light cast on her leg. I took her to my place, as there’s always someone around, and that’s where you’ll be going once they release you.

  Bella frowned, “I’d rather go home.”

  “Well I’m afraid they won’t let you out if you’re going to be alone. It’ll only be for a couple of nights.”

  “They don’t need to know that I’ll be alone.”

  “No, but I will and as much as I’d love to stay with you until you’re feeling better I’ve got a busy few days ahead. Unfortunately I’m tied up with a show from tomorrow for two days. Mrs B’s got your room ready a
nd is looking forward to looking after you, I daren’t disappoint her.”

  Bella gave in gracefully “Oh well, in that case I couldn’t possibly upset Mrs. B. By the way what is her full name?”

  “Mrs. Bainbridge.”

  Further discussion was halted by a porter turning up to take her for a scan. Then they waited another two hours for the doctor to come and tell them it was ok, and release her into Roman’s care. With a sigh of relief she was wheeled out of the hospital to his car.

  As he drove slowly, because of the holiday traffic, out of Torbay, Roman asked her to tell him exactly how she’d come to be knocked over. When she reached the point at which he’d arrived on the scene, she stopped as tears threatened to spill over.

  “Please don’t cry sweetheart. It will make your headache worse. I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault.”

  “I’ve tried to think that the horse jumped forward unexpectedly, but it didn’t. She kicked him in the ribs, and I’m sure she really meant to hurt me. If it hadn’t been for Misty, she would have.” Bella blinked to stop the tears overflowing.

  Roman shook his head “I should have warned you. Ever since you came to live here, she’s been getting worse. On Friday night I went to meet with her trustees, supposedly to sort out the purchase of a piece of land on her estate. It juts out into one of my fields, has been allowed to go wild and the overgrown vegetation threatens to encroach onto my land. When I arrived at her house it turned out to be a plot to get me there and seduce me, with the crazy idea that I’d have to marry her. No trustees were present and she was dressed in a very skimpy dress wearing no underwear. She seems to be living more and more in the past. When I told her, in no uncertain tones that I had no interest in her, and that hell would freeze over before I’d marry her she actually attacked me. I fended her off and left, but I just didn’t suspect she was crazy enough to attack you. I’m so sorry that you and your dog have been hurt.”

  “That poor horse of hers was in a terrible state. Covered in pink froth, sweating and I could see the streaks along his body where she’d hit him. There was blood around his mouth as well. It’s a wonder he hadn’t thrown her off on the way here.”