When the Heather Blooms

by Gwen Kirkwood

  ‘Why! For a moment I thought I was seeing a ghost,’ he exclaimed as he peered at Peter. ‘How like Mark you are.’

  ‘Peter is Mark’s son, Mr Nelson. We didn’t know until recently.’ She gave a rueful smile. ‘It seems to be my lot to discover my closest family when they’re already half grown, but I’m so glad to have found Peter. He has been staying with us for the Easter holidays and he may come back in the summer.’

  ‘Oh I shall, there’s no doubt about it. So long as you’ll have me,’ he added with a note of uncertainty.

  ‘You can be sure of a welcome at Langmune whenever you want to come, Peter.’

  Mr Nelson asked about his education.

  ‘Just like Mark then,’ he nodded with satisfaction. ‘He always excelled at Maths and wanted to know everything about science and nature. Are you going to be a doctor too, young man? It’s a very worthy calling.’

  ‘No, sir. I want to be a farmer.’

  ‘A farmer!’ Mr Nelson looked from him to Victoria and back again. ‘But …?’

  ‘Mr Nelson thinks that will be a waste of a good brain, Peter,’ Victoria smiled, her eyes twinkling as they met the old man’s gaze.

  ‘Aye, aye, well lassie, you and Andrew were the best of scholars but you two had little choice but to find work and earn a living. It’s different for young folks since the war. You should persuade your nephew to pursue a good career, Victoria.’

  ‘At the end of the day it has to be his decision, but I shall do my best to support him whatever he decides to do.’

  They took their leave and drove out of the village and past the end of the wood towards Darlonachie Castle and the cottages. Victoria parked the car and they wandered together through the overgrown gardens and round the Castle and the outbuildings. She told Peter about the old days when Sir William was alive and her great-grandmother was the cook. She described the gardens and immaculate grounds, the various cottages, and the people who had lived there.

  ‘I’m glad to have one last look before they start demolishing the Castle,’ she said.

  ‘I heard Charlotte telling Uncle Andrew they are starting at the beginning of May. She said if he wanted some of the oak doors he should help himself.’

  ‘Oh, he would never do that! It would be like stealing.’ Victoria was aghast.

  ‘That’s what he told her but he did say he would like to buy some. He offered to store some for when Charlotte gets a house of her own.’

  ‘Yes, it would be lovely to think we had preserved a bit of the past and I’m sure Charlotte must feel sad to see the end of Darlonachie Estate, although she never had anyone to tell her about her Crainby ancestors and her mother had no respect or appreciation of their heritage. Come on, we’ll climb up the little hill through the woods and I’ll show you where your father and I used to spend our time together.’

  The path was overgrown and the sight of it saddened Victoria but the little shelter they had called their cave was just as it had always been. The old tree trunk where they used to sit was a little rotten and one end was growing orange fungi but Victoria was pleased to take a seat. This baby was taking more out of her than the others had done.

  ‘I’ve often heard people say you should never return to childhood haunts,’ she said when she regained her breath, ‘and I must admit things do seem rather sad and forlorn but …’

  ‘Oh but I’m glad you’ve come this once to show me, Aunt Victoria,’ Peter said. ‘I’ve longed to know all about my father. The few times when mother mentioned him my stepfather glowered at her. I think he wanted to pretend he had never existed.’

  ‘I expect he was jealous.’

  ‘Jealous of a dead man? How pathetic is that?’

  ‘Your mother and father loved each other very much, even though they were quite young. I don’t think your mother ever stopped loving him and I suppose Doctor Sterling knew that. To be fair, Peter, perhaps you had a better chance in life as a member of his household than you would have done with just you and your mother.’

  ‘That’s what he keeps telling me,’ Peter said. ‘But the house and the surgery belonged to Grandfather. He moved in and took over everything. I expect Grandfather grew too old to argue with him.’

  ‘Maybe. Peter …’ Victoria hesitated, her eyes gazing out over the fields and glens. She could see Langmune like a child’s farm in the distance. She remembered when Andrew had first pointed it out to her. Peter was looking at her, waiting. She frowned. ‘I want you always to remember, whatever happens, whatever you need, so long as Andrew and I are alive, you can come to us and we shall do our best to help in whatever way you need us, but …’

  ‘But? You don’t think I should be a farmer,’ Peter said, his voice bleak with disappointment.

  ‘I didn’t say that. I want you to consider and I don’t want you to choose a path just because it’s the opposite of what your stepfather wants for you. It is your life, but Mr Nelson is right. You do have the intelligence to make a good career for yourself. Farming is a hard life. Andrew and I have been lucky. We could never have been where we are now without the generosity of Mr Rennie, and Luke Crainby. Andrew would still have been working for someone else.’

  ‘I don’t think he would,’ Peter said. ‘I think he would have found a way, even if it took all his life.’ Victoria’s eyebrows shot up and she eyed him keenly.

  ‘How like your father you are. You may be right. Andrew planned to keep a few pigs in a large garden and look after them in his spare time.’

  ‘And Uncle Willie got started on his own, even if it is worrying him having money borrowed from his bank. I shall never tell my stepfather that. He thinks it’s a sin to borrow money but he didn’t mind using mother’s inheritance to extend the surgery and buy a car. When I stand beside Mimi’s father at the very top of High Bowie I feel like a god. It’s a wonderful feeling. Anyway I don’t mind getting my hands dirty and I enjoy looking after animals. They’re more helpless than people. You have to guess what they need. Do you understand, Aunt Victoria? I think there’s something in here,’ he tapped his chest with his clenched fist, ‘something that tells me I want to work in the open air, and care for things.’

  ‘You could be a vet,’ Victoria suggested.

  ‘We’ll see.’ Peter looked at her and smiled and his brown eyes twinkled. ‘I shall tell my stepfather you did your best to discourage me from farming. That will please him and he might agree to me coming back during the summer holidays.’

  Victoria missed having Peter around when he returned to Edinburgh and what he hoped would be his last term at school. He had taken two of Billy’s and one of Libby’s college books home with him but he had done little in the way of his own studies for his final exams. He said he worked hard when he was at school and he didn’t see any point in getting brain fatigue. Fraser grinned and agreed with him but Victoria was convinced Doctor Sterling would blame her if his results were poor.

  Every day Billy or Libby called in at Ivy Cottage to see Maggie, on the pretext of taking fresh milk or eggs but they were both concerned at her increasing lack of energy and difficulty in breathing. Doctor Ritchie and Doctor Burns both kept an eye on her but they could not give her a new heart and increasing her medication made little improvement. She was always cheerful and pleased to see them and Victoria made a point of calling once or twice a week. She called one evening towards the end of May and Maggie seemed improved. They reminisced happily and Maggie smiled as she told Victoria of her first meeting with Luke Crainby and how he tried so hard to behave as a gentleman.

  ‘The attraction between us was too strong,’ she said with a happy smile. ‘It was like a magnet, a force which would not be denied. I have no regrets.’ She went on to talk of her childhood and her parents. It was later than usual by the time Victoria left that evening and afterwards she was always glad she had insisted on seeing Maggie into bed. It was Billy who called the following morning and found the door still locked and Tibbie jumping at the window, needing to get out. Billy r
eached above the door for the spare key and let himself in, his heart sinking, dreading what he might find. At first he thought his mother was still sleeping, a faint smile on her lips, as though having a pleasant dream, but he soon realised she would have no more dreams. The first thing he did was telephone Libby at work. Libby was his rock in times of trouble. It did not take Doctor Ritchie long to come to the cottage and confirm what Billy already knew but Libby was there before he left.

  ‘You must have driven like the wind,’ Steve Ritchie chided, but in fact Libby’s thoughts had been to reach Billy’s side and she had little recollection of anything except grabbing her coat and handbag and telling her two assistants what had happened.

  Billy decided the funeral should be private but Charlotte and Josh both came down from Glasgow for the day and travelled back together in the evening. Billy appreciated their support. He was more distressed than he had anticipated, considering they had known Maggie’s health was so fragile. Libby telephoned Mr Whitworth, her boss, and told him she needed to be off for the rest of the week.

  ‘I understand you need to be with your husband at a time like this, Libby, but we shall have to have a serious talk when you come back to work.’

  ‘Oh?’ Libby was already tense and she felt she couldn’t cope with any more trouble. One of her assistants was Mr Whitworth’s niece. She was a cheery girl but she was a complete scatterbrain. Libby knew she would never make a laboratory technician. If her uncle had not been the creamery manager Libby would have told him so but it was Mr Whitworth who had given her the job. ‘What sort of meeting?’ she asked when he didn’t continue.

  ‘Things have got a bit out of hand while you’ve been off,’ he said. ‘In fact they’re in a hell of mix up in the lab. I don’t think we’ll be able to manage without you at the end of the summer.’

  ‘B-but I promised Billy I’d give up work then …’ Libby began in consternation.

  ‘I know, I know. As I said we’ll have a talk when you come back. I see now I shall need to make changes. Why didn’t you tell me Dolly is such a bird-brained madcap?’

  ‘A-a what …?’ Libby gasped, then she gave a sigh of relief. ‘She’s a lovely nature, Mr Whitworth but I didn’t know how to tell you she’s no use at lab work.’

  ‘Aye, well I know now, and so do a lot of the farmers who are spitting nails down the phone at me. She’s sent out some queer results. She must think half the cows give double cream, while the other half gives nothing but water.’

  ‘Oh dear.’

  ‘You can say that again. I’ve told them all you’ll sort them out when you come back to work.’ Libby set the phone down with a sigh. She longed to stay at home with Billy. He was taking his mother’s death badly. But at least Mr Whitworth now knew the difficulties she was having with Dolly and with any luck he would find her a replacement.

  Chapter Six

  Libby still kept in touch with two of her college friends but she owed both of them a letter so she decided it was time to catch up with her correspondence while she was at home. They had met Billy’s mother at the wedding and she told them of her death. They also knew about her problems with her scatter-brained trainee so she told them of her relief now a solution was in sight. She was astonished when Alma wrote back by return. She expressed her sympathy to Billy but from the rest of her letter it was clear she was increasingly unhappy about her own work. She asked whether Mr Whitworth might consider her as a replacement and if Libby would put in a word for her with Mr Whitworth when she resigned at the end of the summer.

  Victoria missed Maggie’s company and the chats they had shared but she had Peter’s letters to look forward to. He wrote humorous descriptions which even Fraser enjoyed now they had met. He said he was working hard at his higher grade exams but he hoped to return to Langmune as soon as they were over at the end of June. When a second letter arrived in the same week however Victoria was concerned.

  ‘Peter and his stepfather have had a serious quarrel,’ she told Andrew when he came in for lunch. ‘Doctor Sterling has delivered an ultimatum. He says Peter can come here for the summer but he must return for sixth year and to continue his studies to become a doctor. If he refuses he will not get a penny of the insurance money.’

  ‘It’s not his money.’

  ‘Catriona didn’t see her solicitor before she died so Doctor Sterling has control. Peter was relying on the money to help pay his college fees. I feel so sorry for him. He wants to know if he can still come to Langmune.’

  Victoria passed the letter to Andrew, her lips compressed.

  ‘I have to get away from here. I have to think and make my own decisions, even if it means I never go to agricultural college.’

  ‘Telephone the laddie tonight,’ Andrew said. ‘Tell him he is welcome to come and stay for as long as he likes, but we must make him see that Doctor Sterling may be right over this. It’s getting more difficult than ever to get a start in farming. Of course he may get a degree in agriculture and go round farms inspecting or advising. There’s a lot of that creeping in with all the rules and regulations and grants for projects the government want us to carry out. They still want more production.’

  ‘I did try to tell him that at Easter but he said he felt a yearning in his heart for the countryside. I suspect he’s a bit of a romantic. He said it was wonderful to stand on the highest point of High Bowie and survey the world, yet any farmer would tell him what a hard farm High Bowie is, and what hard work it is to make a living.’

  ‘We would say that,’ Andrew agreed, ‘but I don’t think Willie would change it for anything else. He always said he’d never milk cows seven days a week to earn his living. It’s always Mary who milks the house cows, if you notice.’

  ‘Mmm, I suppose you’re right. Willie enjoyed Peter’s company at Easter. He said he’d never had a young fellow who asked so many questions. He reckons he’s like a sponge the way he absorbs things and he has a keen eye.’

  ‘Perhaps we should treat him as we did Libby and set him to work like the rest of the men. If he finds it too hard he’ll know farming is not for him.’ Victoria chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘It may seem hard,’ Andrew conceded, seeing her doubtful expression, ‘but Peter has to learn what the life is really like. If he does decide it’s what he wants he could work for a couple of years and pay his own college fees. The practical experience will be as much benefit to him as college. He’s starting from scratch. Libby and Fraser grew up knowing what’s involved. They sense when an animal is sick. It’s amazing how much Mimi and Lachlan know already but Peter has everything to learn.’

  ‘I agree the experience will be good for him, and saving the money. There’s the cottage too. We must look for another tenant. Three pounds a week for rent will add up.’

  ‘I’m sure things will work out, Vicky, one way or another,’ Andrew said gently. He knew she felt great affection for her only nephew already.

  ‘I suppose so but I’d like to give Doctor Sterling a piece of my mind,’ she said angrily. ‘Catriona specifically said Peter should do what he wanted with his life and the money was there to help him.’

  ‘You mustn’t get upset,’ Andrew cautioned. ‘It’s not good for you. Doctor Burns said you were to take life calmly. Has she booked you in at Cresswell yet?’

  ‘Don’t change the subject, Andrew. I don’t want to think about going to the maternity hospital. Going to the clinic was bad enough, waiting in line like the cows waiting to be milked. I hated it. You know the names of all the cows and they’re all individuals. I felt like a number rather than a person and two of the younger nurses were giggling like school girls until a senior nurse glared at them. I detest it and I’m not going back and I wish I hadn’t let Doctor Burns persuade me I should go to the hospital to have this baby.’

  ‘Hush, Victoria, don’t get upset,’ Andrew urged, drawing her into his arms and stroking her hair. He’d intended to take her mind off Doctor Sterling and he’d ended up upsetting her. She was easily upset these days
but the baby was due in about eight weeks. Having Peter to stay would make extra work and it worried him a bit but he knew Victoria would never hear of postponing his visit.

  When Andrew met Peter off the train at Lockerbie station he was glad he had not suggested the boy should stay in Edinburgh. He was thinner and his young face looked haggard. There were dark rings under his eyes too which should not be there in a young man like Peter.

  ‘I’m glad to see you, laddie,’ he greeted him warmly and saw the dark eyes light up for a moment. ‘You look as though you’ve been working hard at your exams. You’re thinner than you were at Easter.’

  ‘I did work hard for my exams, and I think I shall have done reasonably well in most of them.’ He sighed heavily. ‘But if I have it will only make my stepfather more determined to rule my life. Dinah wants to be a doctor and Cathy thinks she want to nurse. Why can’t he be satisfied with that?’

  For a moment Andrew thought he might burst into tears.

  ‘I expect he wants what’s best for you, laddie,’ Andrew said gently. ‘Come on, here’s the car. Victoria will have the tea ready.’

  Victoria was shocked by Peter’s appearance. She couldn’t resist giving him a welcoming hug. She was surprised when he hugged her back, almost as though he needed reassurance of some kind.

  ‘Take your case to your room, Peter, and then we’ll have tea. You’ll need to eat plenty because supper will be a bit later tonight. Libby and Billy are coming up to see you. Mimi wanted to come too but Mary said she had to wait until tomorrow. I expect she’ll be here first thing if Willie will see her over the burn.’

  ‘Th-thank you,’ Peter said huskily. ‘Y-you don’t know what it means to be made so welcome.’ He disappeared quickly up the stairs unwilling to let them see the tears which had sprung to his eyes. Victoria and Andrew looked at each.

  ‘He looks exhausted, ‘Victoria said in a low voice.

  ‘He’s very tense. I suspect there have been more arguments.’