‘I felt so helpless here, not being able to get out and get help. Thank God your Granda told you what to do. He saved your life! If it had been me up there, I wouldn’t have known what to do.’
‘I would never have let you go up there in the first place. I love you too much to let you risk your life for a few sheep.’
There, he had said it. He loved her.
Mary looked into his eyes and she could see that he meant it, ‘Oh Tom, I love you so much.’
***
Those were the words that Tom had longed to hear. She loved him. At last he had heard the words from her lips, he could feel it in her touch and he could see it in her eyes. He held her close and kissed her passionately.
Epilogue
High House Farm, Westgate
July 1875
‘Come on Josie, run faster, you’re supposed to catch me!’ called John, as he ran through the newly cut hayfield.
In a sulky voice, Josie replied, ‘Can’t catch you, you run too fast.’ She tried to copy her young uncle who was jumping over the cut grass, pretending he was riding a horse, but she tripped and fell. ‘Ow, my knee hurts!’
Tom said, ‘Come here, lass.’ Without getting up from the blanket that he shared with Mary, he held out his arms to her.
Josie ran over to him with a slight limp, ‘Dada, Dada, make it better.’
The grass stubble had grazed her knee slightly, but she wasn’t badly hurt. He bent down and kissed it, ‘All better now.’ Josie immediately got up and started running again, trying to catch John.
‘It’s nice having an afternoon off and being able to spend a bit of time with you,’ Tom said to Mary, as he lay down next to her. ‘The grass will be to turn tomorrow and if it stays dry like this,’ he said, shielding his eyes to look up into the sky, ‘it should be dry enough to build pikes the day after. It looks like we’ll have plenty of hay to see us through the winter, even if it’s another bad one.’
‘Let’s hope it not as bad as last year,’ replied Mary.
‘Last year wasn’t all bad. I remember it did have its good points — and there are some advantages to the long winter nights,’ said Tom, with a seductive smile.
Mary nudged him with her elbow and laughed. The children were playing nearby so she changed the subject.
‘William knows all of the cows by name and he recognises most of the sheep now as well.’
‘He likes farming and he’s good at it an’ all.’ Tom looked across the field to where William was training a new dog to herd the geese. ‘He’s a good help around the place.’
Mary said, ‘John loves playing with Josie. Watching them, you’d think they were brother and sister.’
They heard the sound of horses’ hooves and raised voices in the distance. Joe and Connie came into view, riding along the road at the bottom of the field. Even though they were over 300 yards away, it was obvious they were arguing.
‘Joe and Connie at it again,’ said Tom. He felt sorry for his brother stuck in a loveless marriage, but it had been Joe’s choice to marry Connie. Tom was pleased that his brother had married Connie because that meant Mary was available to marry him. She was the only woman he had ever wanted and Tom still couldn’t believe that she was his. Things had worked out very well for him. They hadn’t had an easy start to their marriage — Mary’s relationship with Joe, him being suspected of murder, his accident at the mine and the storm last year. The storm hadn’t worried him too much, but Mary had gone through hell thinking that he’d perished in the snow and that she’d lost him. He had waited such a long time for her to love him and had been so glad when she finally said that she did.
‘I’m so pleased we took on the farm last year. How much better is this than working underground? Just look around us — the blue sky over our heads, the sun on our faces, fresh air to breathe, being able to watch the bairns playing in the field and best of all is being able to lie next to you, my beautiful wife. I love you so much.’ He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. ‘I’m a lucky man — a hell of a lucky man. What more could I possibly want?’
He added, ‘And you, what about you, lass? I hope you’re as happy as I am. You should be now that you’ve got the house full of bairns you always wanted!’
***
Mary thought about her life since she had married Tom. She had married him because he had offered a solution to her problems. When she thought she had lost him in the snow storm, she realised that she truly loved him and now she had no doubt whatsoever about her feelings for him. She loved him more than anything.
‘Aye, I’m happy - and I love you too,’ she said sincerely. Then she added with a cheeky smile, ‘And I hope there’s room for one more in this full house of ours...’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because another baby will be joining us in the New Year.’
Tom rolled over and, holding her close, whispered in her ear, ‘That’s perfect, just perfect.’
The Lead Miner's Daughter Page 25