When the Heather Blooms

by Gwen Kirkwood

  ‘It must seem like a different world to him.’

  ‘I suppose it is. I couldn’t disappoint him. Remember we bought Fraser a Kodak Brownie for Christmas? He took photographs of some of the animals and of your father and me and Lachlan outside the house.’ She grimaced. ‘Doctor Sterling will not think it’s much of a house but that can’t be helped. Peter seemed thrilled. He’s made an album for pictures of Langmune. He would like a camera of his own to add to it.’

  ‘It sounds as though he’s hoping to make regular visits.’ Libby chewed her lower lip. ‘When is the baby due?’

  ‘August.’ She was not sure herself but she didn’t want to tell Libby that.

  ‘Have you seen Doctor Ritchie?’

  ‘No. Now don’t you start. Your father is bad enough.’ Victoria summoned a smile, but it was a bit strained. Andrew was worrying enough for two of them.

  ‘I thought you were supposed to see your doctor, and – and things. I mean everything is under this National Health scheme, isn’t it? You won’t have to pay this time.’

  ‘It’s nothing to do with paying,’ Victoria said. ‘I never needed a doctor for you three. In fact, I can’t remember when I last saw a doctor.’

  ‘I-I suppose it would be a bit embarrassing going to Steve for something like that.’ She frowned. Billy wanted her to talk to the doctor on a personal matter but she had balked at the idea. ‘It’s embarrassing when we know him well.’

  ‘I agree, and to me he seems so young. So don’t worry, I shall be fine. Aren’t you going to make your coffee, and did you find the flowers you wanted?’

  ‘Yes, yes I did. I thought I could trim my straw hat.’ She turned to lift the pan of milk and make her coffee. ‘Shall I make you another cup, Mum? There’s plenty of milk left.’

  ‘Yes, please,’ Victoria nodded. She had a craving for milky Camp coffee and she couldn’t bear the tea she had always enjoyed. Libby brought the two cups and settled herself at the table.

  ‘Well this is a big surprise. I can’t get over it,’ she grinned. ‘There’s plenty of time for Billy and me at this rate.’

  ‘Don’t be so sure. I was expecting Fraser by the time I was your age and we already had you.’

  ‘Are you still helping with the milking?’

  ‘No, your father says the milk units are too heavy with all their attachments. Modern gadgets aren’t always an advantage.’ She sighed. ‘I used to enjoy milking when I was having you. It was soothing and restful to sit on my wee stool and listen to the milk strumming into the pail.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose it is different now,’ Libby nodded, ‘but you have plenty to do with so many hens. The eggs are to clean and pack, and you have the book-keeping and …’ The lamb gave a loud bleat, making them both jump, then smile. ‘At least he’s still alive,’ Libby said. ‘Shall I try him with the bottle before I go?’

  ‘I’ll see to the lamb. You get away home to Billy. He sees little enough of you.’

  ‘Oh, Mum, don’t you start. I can’t win. Aren’t I proving that I have a career that’s just as good as the teaching you wanted me to do?’ Victoria caught her breath but before she could say anything Libby carried on. ‘Dad never misses an opportunity to tell me I should be at home with Billy. Even Granny was on at me the last time I saw her. Gosh!’ Her eyes widened. ‘Granny will not know about the baby either?’

  ‘No, she does not, so don’t go broadcasting it. I’ll tell her when I’m ready.’

  ‘Do you think she might be upset, then?’

  ‘I don’t know. I shall always make time to care for her, if she needs me, even if it means employing a girl to help with the baby.’

  ‘So far she hasn’t wanted any help. She’s as independent as ever and she still speaks her mind. She’s always on at Uncle Josh for befriending Charlotte, even though they’re at the same college.’

  ‘I know,’ Victoria sighed. ‘I’m afraid your Granny Pringle will never forgive Henrietta Crainby for the spiteful way she treated me when I was a lassie working in the Castle kitchens. Nor can she forgive the way she sacked your grandfather in a fit of anger that had nothing to do with him, poor man. She took her vile temper out on him. She added insult to injury by putting him out of his cottage. Your grandparents had lived there all their married life. She didn’t need it but she was furious because the army were taking over the Castle and the grounds. She was a nasty woman.’

  ‘I know she must have been horrid to cheat her own daughter out of her inheritance, but Charlotte is not a bit like her mother. Henrietta Crainby was cruel to Billy too, and to his mother, but Aunt Maggie always makes Charlotte welcome at Ivy Cottage.’

  ‘I know but Granny Pringle is an old lady. It’s not easy to forgive people like Mrs Crainby. She caused so much misery and heartache to everyone around her.’

  ‘Yes, including Charlotte. She’s sold off all the farms and paid her mother’s debts. Even Granny must respect her for that, and now she’s working hard to have a career so she can earn her living and stand on her own two feet. Uncle Josh admires her courage. He says it’s not easy when she’s older than all the other students, and after spending so long away from studying while she was recovering from tuberculosis.’

  ‘Josh has always had a kindly nature. He’d help anyone in trouble,’ Victoria smiled warmly.

  ‘I think it’s more than that but when I confronted Uncle Josh he said I was talking nonsense. He says Charlotte is just another student and he’s far too old for her. Eleven years is not such a lot, is it?’

  ‘That’s Josh’s business. You shouldn’t interfere with people’s relationships, Libby.’

  ‘Mmm, well he’s driving Charlotte down here for the Easter holidays. She’ll be staying with us at Home Farm. If Granny Pringle would meet her and get to know her.’ Libby muttered in frustration. Her brown eyes widened as an idea occurred to her.

  ‘You’re planning something.’ Victoria said, watching her. ‘I can always tell, Libby.’

  ‘I’ve been wondering how I could get them together.’

  ‘They were both at your wedding.’

  ‘But they were never speaking or getting to know one another. Peter will be here for Easter. You’ll have plenty to do, so it would be a good excuse for me to cook the dinner on Easter Sunday and have the whole family at Home Farm, instead of you having all of us here.’

  ‘I’d appreciate the offer,’ Victoria sighed. ‘But Granny Pringle may refuse to join us if she knows Charlotte is staying with you. We can’t leave her at home on her own.’

  ‘We’ll see …’ Libby said, her eyes sparkling. She liked a challenge. ‘Just let me know when you’ve broken your news to everybody.’

  ‘I’ve no intention of broadcasting it.’

  ‘No, but you’ll have to tell Granny before she guesses, won’t you?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so.’ Victoria sighed again.

  ‘And Aunt Mary and Uncle Willie. Mum …?’ Libby looked at her. ‘You do seem tired and I’ve never heard you sigh so much. ‘You are happy about the baby, aren’t you?’

  ‘Yes, of course we’re very happy. It’s just that I seem to be so short of energy. I was never like this with any of you, at least not until near the end when there was extra weight to carry around.’

  ‘You will take care, won’t you?’ Libby said, ‘And tell me if there’s anything I can do to help. Maybe you should consult Doctor Ritchie.’

  ‘Ach! Get away with you.’ Victoria summoned a smile and waved her away.

  It was two evenings before Doctor Steve Ritchie’s wedding to June Appleby, a girl Libby knew well from her days in the Young Farmers’ Club. A variety of friends and neighbours had gathered for the Scottish custom of viewing the wedding presents. These had been admired and refreshments served and now most of the women had departed. Libby stayed behind to help June wash the cups and saucers while her mother packed away the remaining cakes and biscuits.

  ‘Just one more show tomorrow afternoon and then we can all prepare for the w
edding,’ Mrs Appleby said before she bustled away to tidy up, leaving the girls to chat as they worked.

  ‘Did you read about the fuss all his fans are making because Elvis has to do his National Service?’

  ‘I can just imagine,’ Libby grinned, ‘but you can’t make an exception just because he can sing, can you?’

  ‘No,’ June chuckled. ‘Some of them were crying because he’s to have his hair cut in the style of the American soldiers, a short back and sides.’

  ‘I suppose he’ll be lucky if that’s the worst he ever has to suffer,’ Libby said. ‘Did you hear the antinuclear lobby are planning an Easter march from London to Aldermaston?’

  ‘Yes. We shall be well clear of London by then though.’

  ‘Ha ha – so does that mean you’re going down there for your honeymoon?’ Libby teased. June hesitated, blushing.

  ‘I’m sure you can keep a secret, Libby. We’re going to Paris and I’m so excited. I couldn’t believe it when Steve told me what he was planning.’

  ‘That’s lovely, June. I’m sure you’ll both enjoy it, and you deserve it. Who will cover for Steve while he’s away?’

  ‘He’s made arrangements with the practices on either side of Darlonachie to take it in turns. The new surgery is finished now so it will be easier for them and Jessie Ross is reliable and efficient on reception, so I hope everything goes well. Steve worries so much about his patients. He has so many more since the free health service started. Did I tell you he’s getting an assistant when we return?’

  ‘Another doctor?’

  ‘Yes. One of the applicants is a lady doctor. She’s well qualified, Steve says, but he’s not sure how his patients would react to a woman. You know how country folks are set in their ways, especially the farmers,’ she grinned.

  ‘Don’t I just!’ Libby said, ‘but you tell him we need a lady doctor as much as they need a man. I mean it’s the women who have babies and now that family planning is becoming an accepted thing for the women …’ she broke off blushing.

  ‘Ye-es,’ June said, noting her flushed cheeks. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. Why do we always consider the male point of view first, I wonder. I’ll mention it to Steve.’

  ‘Er … er yes, but do you need to tell him it was my idea?’

  ‘I suppose not. But he values your opinions, Libby. After all it was you who got the two of us together and he still talks about the way you’ve helped Mimi cope after the polio.’

  ‘Och, but that’s different …’

  ‘Is it?’ June looked at her. ‘Are you expecting a baby, Libby? Is that what’s worrying you?’

  ‘No! I-I mean no, it’s not that.’

  ‘I can keep a secret you know, even from Steve, if I have to. There is something bothering you, isn’t there?’

  ‘Y-yes, I believe you can keep a secret. It’s Mum. I think she ought to see a doctor but I can understand it would be embarrassing for her to see Steve when we all know him so well.’

  ‘Is your mother ill? Is it women’s troubles?’

  ‘She – she’s expecting another baby,’ Libby said, and watched as June’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Please don’t tell anyone, anyone except Steve that is. I’m the only one who knows yet.’

  ‘I won’t, I promise. That’s wonderful. I mean I thought for a moment if it was women’s trouble it might be the dreaded cancer or something like that, but a baby …’

  ‘I hadn’t thought about it like that,’ Libby shuddered. ‘As you say, a baby is relatively harmless, compared with some things. I mean you know you’ll be back to normal in nine months. Even so Mum does seem tired and Dad wants her to see Steve.’

  ‘I’ll mention it to him. I think his instinct is to choose the lady doctor and it may help him decide. He says she’s in her forties and she’s a widow with two daughters aged twelve and fifteen so she wants to move back to Scotland to be nearer her parents.’

  The wedding of Darlonachie’s young doctor went off splendidly, with a large crowd from the surrounding area waiting outside the little Kirk to see the bride and groom.

  During the dance which followed the reception Doctor Ritchie claimed Libby for a waltz. He looked happy and relaxed so she was surprised he still thought about work on his wedding day.

  ‘June told me about your mother, Libby.’ He had bent close to her ear so that she could hear him over the music. ‘Things have changed since Lachlan was born. We have the national health schemes with health visitors in most districts. Many of them are trained midwives. Shall I ask the local nurse to call on her?’

  ‘Oh! I-I don’t know.’ Libby stumbled and trod on his toe in her confusion. ‘I don’t think so. If I get a chance I’ll mention it, but Mum would be angry if she thought I’d discussed her, even with you.’

  ‘That’s all right, I understand. June told me you think we should have a lady doctor.’ He grinned. ‘So I’m taking your advice. Whatever we do there will be some patients who are not pleased. It was the same when I joined Doctor Grantly. Perhaps your mother will feel easier with Doctor Burns, that’s her name.’

  ‘I think Mum considers birth, and death too I suppose, as events which should happen naturally.’

  ‘They are but there’s a lot we can do to maintain better health for both mothers and babies. Do persuade her to have a medical check if you can. She’s not as young as she was ten years ago.’

  Libby nodded but she knew she wouldn’t make suggestions to her mother. Perhaps she could ask Billy’s mother to talk to her, though. Aunt Maggie and her mother had been good friends for years and she had implicit faith in Doctor Ritchie.

  ‘What were you and the new bridegroom whispering about?’ Billy asked as soon as the dance finished. Libby looked at him, recognising the brooding tone, the spark in his blue eyes. She had seen a lot of Doctor Steve Ritchie when she was helping Mimi with her exercises after the polio. She knew Billy had been jealous and resentful of their camaraderie then, but Billy was the man she had married. He must know she loved him; yet beneath the confident exterior there still lurked the uncertainties of the boy who had never known his father, the teenager who had been filled with insecurities when his family’s skeletons had become public knowledge with vile interpretations published in many of the newspapers. They had shaken the self-esteem of a young man setting out into the world. Libby understood the demons which had haunted Billy but he had earned respect and made good friends during his time in Yorkshire and she had believed their marriage would sweep away the lingering uncertainties.

  Billy had been impatient to make her his wife. He wanted the reassurance of marriage, of knowing she belonged to him, but her boss had been furious when he heard their plans. She frowned, remembering Mr Whittaker’s grim expression. There had been no congratulations or good wishes.

  ‘You haven’t been here five minutes,’ he growled. ‘There were several applicants I could have chosen for your job. You never wore a ring or mentioned you were engaged, let alone planning to marry so soon. You’ve just left college. I don’t know why you bothered going, wasting your parents’ money and taking a place from some other poor bugger.’ Confronted with her boss’s disapproval she had been assailed by guilt and doubts and he had gone on and on. ‘You knew it was a whole new laboratory set up that you were to organise and two assistants to train. It was part of our agreement. You promised …’

  ‘And I shall train them …’ she began but he had banged out of the door in anger. That evening Billy had sensed that her joy had diminished. She told him about Mr Whittaker’s outburst.

  ‘I did promise him. Perhaps we have been too hasty and wrapped up in ourselves,’ she said, ‘and I wanted to prove to Mother I could have a career and be independent even if I was not a teacher as she had planned.’

  ‘Would she have expected you to put a teaching career before marriage?’

  ‘Mother and Father want all of us to be happy, but I wanted to prove I could have a worthwhile career. Do you think we should wait a while, Billy?’
/>
  ‘No! No, no, a thousand times no!’ Even now Libby’s cheeks felt hot, but she had to smile as she recalled his reaction, the way he had picked her up and kissed her with mounting desire. ‘I can’t wait a year to make you my wife.’ She returned his kisses with equal fervour and she had known she wanted Billy more than anything in the world.

  ‘I don’t want to wait,’ she whispered, ‘but in my heart I know Mr Whittaker was justified in being angry. I was so pleased and proud when he offered me the job, and it is a challenge I enjoy.’

  ‘You could promise to stay on for a year after we’re married. Lots of married women keep on working since the war. That would give you time to train the other girls and keep the right side of old Whittaker. We don’t want to offend the old boy. The milk from Home Farm and Langmune goes to his creamery. We don’t want him rejecting it.’

  ‘I don’t think he’d be spiteful. Wouldn’t you mind me being away all day? How would you manage?’

  ‘Of course I would miss you.’ Billy hugged her, ‘but it would be better than waiting a year to make you my wife. So long as I have you beside me at night I’m willing to compromise through the day, for a year anyway. Julie Dunlop will be glad to carry on helping in the house, if you don’t mind having someone else in your kitchen?’

  Mr Whittaker had been placated and their wedding had gone ahead. Libby had no regrets. She loved Billy but life had not been as smooth as they had expected. Recently Libby felt it was impossible to please everybody.

  ‘Shall we dance?’ Billy said, bringing her attention back to their surroundings.

  ‘What’s troubling you?’ she asked.

  ‘I want to go home and take you to bed and make passionate love all night.’ His answer was swift and full of desire; Libby knew it was the truth but she heard the underlying anger and frustration which had been part of their loving recently. It was vital she should not become pregnant and Billy bitterly resented being responsible.

  ‘June and Steve will be leaving soon and then we can go home. It would look bad if we left before the bride and groom.’

  ‘I suppose so,’ he agreed grudgingly. ‘We may as well make the best of it.’ Billy was a good dancer and he drew her close, his breath stirring the tendrils of hair on her forehead. ‘I do love you Libby. I know it’s crazy but I hate to see you close to any other man, even your good Doctor Ritchie.’