To Move the World (Power of the Matchmaker)

by Regina Sirois

  Still in my nose and fingertips and lips I could smell and feel and taste Jonathon. I fought against it, pushed myself closer, silently pleaded with Alan to make me forgot everything but him, as if my betrayal were his doing. For a moment I sensed something hungry in him and it made me warm with victory. I held onto his arms, certain we could kindle a fire that would consume every other thought. But then he stumbled, put his cane back on the ground, and I realised he’d been holding only to me.

  I pulled away, flushed and triumphant, a mad glee spinning in my head. Alan stared at me until he looked like he did not know me at all.

  “Whatever’s the matter?” I asked him.

  He shook his head, a ragged breath on his lips. “It’s…” he looked like he would explain everything until he said, “nowt.” He dropped his eyes and turned back to his chair. “I best sit.”

  Clasping hands, we sat under the wide sky and watched as the sunlight burst out and then hid itself away, cloud after slow cloud. He never let go of me and I returned the pressure, told myself how nice it was to sit quietly the way we did at home, only this time touching, which we never did before the engagement. When the nurse came to collect him, he tightened his grip and ignored her impatient tug on his chair.

  “Eve, when you go home tomorrow will there be a home to go to? You haven’t spared my feelings and not told me that it’s all done for, have you?” His blue eyes looked like the sky sitting heavy on top of the crumbling hills of home. The question cost him dear.

  “Of course it’s there. How silly! Dad’s there. And William. All waiting for you to come back.” I smiled much braver than I felt.

  “But for how long?” he tugged my hand, ignored the tapping foot of the nurse.

  “Rock of ages, Alan. Where would a farm go that’s been there since the Britons?”

  He wasn’t fooled by my talk and by the way he looked at me I knew he peered clear through me to the pastures and the frozen sunsets and sparkling summer skies. I wondered if any of the longing in his face belonged to me at all, or it only included me because I was a fixture of Brannon farm, something to love as he loved the weathered barns and the swelling beck. “The nurse needs you now.”

  “Bully the nurse,” he burst out. He turned an agitated face halfway to her with a mumbled apology. “Tell your dad to rent it. Lease it for five years. Sell every last sheep to survive until I’m home in a year or two and we’ll get by. Don’t let it go.”

  I should have agreed with him, made a placid promise, but I foolishly answered, “With no stock? We’ve been perfecting that line for more than forty years. Are we to eat the grass in the meantime?”

  He clenched his fist and the nurse gave me a look of fury as she spoke to him. “Enough of that,” she insisted. “You’re overworked. Perhaps you’ve had too many visitors.”

  I returned her withering expression with one of my own. “I’ll be back after tea,” I promised him without looking away from her.

  “Tell your dad we have to keep it,” he repeated as she swiveled his chair around and shoved him down the path at top speed.

  I stood with my head ducked for several minutes, tried to hide my shame from any curious passerby, though there were very few of those. I imagined the rows of hospital windows full of glowering faces. Unsure of where to go other than back to the hotel I spun without looking up and nearly collided with Marion.

  “Sorry, Eve. I saw you standing here and came to check on you. I was on my way in to talk to your fiancé.”

  I stammered over his beautiful face, wishing I could paint it just to preserve it for future generations. “Good luck with that. His jailers have him and he’s in a state.” I crossed my hands against my stomach. “I hate this place.”

  Without explanation he handed me a handkerchief from his pocket. I looked at it blankly. “But I’m not crying.”

  He stared at the white square in confusion. “That’s true. I just have very few responses to a girl in distress. But then you don’t look exactly distressed. I warn you I have even less responses to a girl who is angry.”

  I gave up and laughed as I sat down hard on the bench. “All he needs is for me to save the farm and I can’t do it.”

  “It’s not you. It’s the world. It’s just moving outside of our grasp, I’m afraid.”

  I looked into Marion’s sleep-deprived face. I don’t know what gave me the courage to say it, only that I was very tired of life at the moment and very exhausted at the thought of our troubles and that his opinion mattered less than I ever imagined.

  “Have you fathered any children?”

  His hat fumbled through his fingers, nearly falling to the ground. “Certainly not!” He looked as insulted as he should have, but I only sighed.

  “I’ve heard rumors of girls in trouble and I worry about Theo.”

  “You needn’t worry about that girl. She’ll break a hundred hearts before she gets a scratch.”

  “Will she break yours?”

  He glared a bit, but then softened. “Oh, I haven’t even found where mine is. It is wholly missing in action. If it ever shows up I’m sure she could obliterate it.” He looked nearly as weary as I did. The strain of the past five days matured his face.

  I tucked my hair behind my ear to keep it out of my eyes. “She only pretends, you know. She’s a perfect lamb underneath.” He nodded but I had a feeling he had no idea what I’d said. He watched the waxy green leaves overhead grow restless in the wind.

  “There was a scare,” he said unexpectedly. “With one girl, but it shocked me straight I swear it. I thought one could play at things, but it isn’t a game.” He refused to look at me as the breeze ruffled his brown sleeves.

  “Just like war. Alan was nearly killed.” I gave him a searching look, feeling very sorry for him.

  “Oh we’ll all be lucky to be nearly killed. But don’t I know it that he shaved it close. I’ve thought of nothing else. I think I will see people die.” His eyes hollowed with private thoughts. “If we are put together I swear to you I’ll watch over him.”

  And I believed him. He had a stubborn look to him I’ve seen in a hundred Dalesmen faces.

  “How about you and Alan both bury the hatchet and watch out for each other?” We exchanged smiles full of worry and impossible promises before I found my voice again. “What about Jonathon? Will he go too?”

  Marion sighed like the effort of breathing was a bit too much. “If it’s over soon they’ll keep him in land management. He’s good at it and has degrees in finance and agriculture, so he understands both sides. And they do say the war will be so fast the Huns won’t know what hit them.”

  “And if it’s not over soon?” I didn’t move, only stared ahead and let the words out grudgingly.

  “He’ll go. He’s young and they’ll find some old-timer to take his post. It will kill my mother. My father won’t last much longer and Jonathon’s the good son. So good he’ll do his duty for King and Country and leave us all clueless what to do without him.”

  “Of course he will.” I kept my face as blank as my heart, a still coldness crawling into my palms. “You should know he calls you the good son.” That earned a mirthless laugh and I excused myself politely, telling him I’d be at the hotel for a nap and a bit of food. “Do remember that Theo is gentle underneath,” I reminded him.

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” he teased before telling me goodbye.

  My feet were too sore for the walk so I took the car, feeling ridiculous telling the driver where to take me. Surely he saw I was only a farm girl, as accustomed to fine cars as I was with Antarctica, but he never let on. I found Theo inside our room reading Gone with the Wind again. She waited for details, but I only told her I was in love with Alan and ready to marry him the moment he came home.

  “And if he doesn’t recover well and they send him home now?” she prodded.

  “Well, I’m a bit young now,” I stalled. “But perhaps if he wanted.”

  “So you’d go to the church an
d marry him and have him sweep you off to an inn for your honeymoon.”

  “Stop!” She smiled too wickedly to forgive. “I just have to get used to it all.”

  “If you say so.” She went back to her book but kept sneaking peeks at me until I crawled into bed and closed my eyes just to be free of her prying. I was sinking into a quiet rest when she said, “What if Jonathon proposed today?”

  My eyes popped open. It was too cruel. “He’d never be so stupid.”

  “But what would you say?” Her voice was all delight and intrigue.

  “That I’m engaged.” I pulled the covers over my head to keep her from saying anything else. I didn’t mean to let myself picture it but my mind wandered to how Jonathon would propose. I shuddered, a jolt kicking its way through me. I only let my head emerge when I couldn’t breathe beneath the coverlet and kept my eyes convincingly closed so Theo wouldn’t interrupt my tea-time nap.

  I believe I actually did doze off because I didn’t stir at all until the telephone next to the bed jumped to life in a piercing shriek. Theo and I both bolted upright, but I reached it first.

  “Hello?”

  “Eve, this is Eve?” Jonathon’s voice was urgent, but too bright to be panicked.

  I nodded because I hadn’t found my voice yet but he continued, “It’s batteries. The lead. Can I meet you at once?” He almost shouted in excitement.

  “What do you mean? What batteries? We haven’t any batteries.” I stammered into the mouthpiece.

  “I know it! Isn’t it marvelous? We must meet now.”

  “Wait,” I called out before he could hang up. “I’m supposed return to hospital.”

  “I’m there now. I’ll send the car round for you.” The line went dead and I lowered the receiver, staring at it in my trembling hand.

  “What on earth was that?” Theo demanded.

  “Batteries apparently,” I answered in a shaking voice. “What could he possibly mean?”

  “Well, things do stay interesting lately, don’t they? Saturday I was cleaning out my wardrobe and two days later I’m staying in an inn, have slept in Jonathon Doran’s bed, took a midnight turn with Marion, and now there is a battery mystery to boot. I apologise for ever thinking you too dull.”

  “When did you think me dull?” I shot back.

  She only grinned at me and snatched up her handbag. “No matter now when you’re proving me wrong.”

  “I’ve never been dull,” I told her as we took the staircase down to the lobby. I think I embarrassed Theo because I thanked the driver profusely for picking us up when he’d only just dropped me off an hour before, but I don’t see how kindness can embarrass anyone.

  He left us off at the front doors where Jonathon leaned anxiously forward on his toes in his black, polished shoes. When I stepped out he rushed forward like he would hug me, but held himself back, only offering his hand and shaking mine warmly. “It is the best of news. I didn’t think we could trace it, but, by Zeus, we did!”

  “I don’t understand a word,” I complained, trying not to be blinded by the sharp happiness in his almost black eyes.

  He looked down at our clasped hands, his face at last grew quieter in its joy. “Mr. Canavan should tell you.” His fingers loosened, but I tightened mine in response.

  “Silly. You obviously did something marvelous, so let’s hear it. I can’t wait another minute.”

  An unseen trembling took hold of me and I told myself it would be fine to keep his hand for a minute longer. Despite my fingers being so pleasantly warm in his and his wonderful smile, I couldn’t help but sense a barren goodbye. He looked so satisfied, I realised that for the first time only my troubles had tethered our different worlds together.

  “The sheep’s food was poisoned with battery acid. Bags and bags of it. Every mouthful they took made them worse.”

  My mind bucked like a confused horse. “How could you know that?” I accused more than asked. I tried to recall any moment when I’d smelled or felt anything different in the feed.

  “Remember how they got worse after lambing, when they were inside on feed?”

  “But then we turned them out and they were on pasture,” I fought back.

  “Boggy pasture with worms, which they were more susceptible to because of the lead poisoning.” His eyes were steady and patient, waiting for me to understand. I heard Theo groan as she pieced it all together.

  “And so we brought them in again and gave them more lead when they were sick with worms?” I asked reluctantly, hardly able to bear the thought of their suffering.

  “Precisely. A hellish cycle for everyone.” Even though it was full of sympathy, he was still smiling like he held a grand secret.

  “I remember Holton saying he checked their food for lead.”

  “He must have pulled a sample from a clean bag. He knew what he was on about.” He gave my fingers a small squeeze.

  “But I told you we hadn’t any batteries about. How could it be?” My fingers moved inside his. I felt every piece of my skin as if it had never belonged to me until that moment.

  “The lorry,” he said with a small smile, holding back the mystery a moment longer.

  “What a Sherlock you are being. Please tell me!”

  Theo hung breathlessly over my shoulder.

  “There were too many deliveries with the spring orders. The feed company hired extra lorry drivers. Yours had just picked up an entire truckload of damaged batteries to take to a parts plant for dismantling. He grabbed your order on the way never thinking a thing of it. The acid must have seeped into all the lower bags, which when unloaded, would be all the first bags you opened.”

  “I was the one home when he unloaded the truck. I never noticed a thing.” I tried with all my mind to see the bags of feed covered in poison, but I recalled nothing. “I did it. Forty years of my father’s life breeding that line…” I tried to sit down on the bench beside us, but Jonathon’s tug on my hand kept me upright.

  “Eve, the feed company is going to pay for the damaged sheep. I’ve already called Holton so he can give your dad the news.”

  He finally released me, letting me stumble my way into the seat, my eyes wet and my mouth breathless. “But how in the world?”

  “It was just a bit of research. When my vet swore it was lead I couldn’t sleep at night, wondering where it came from.”

  “You mean Holton?” It was odd he called him my vet and not our vet.

  “I consulted with vets from every corner of the kingdom. I rang up the veterinary college. Then I visited the feed plant on a hunch, saw their loading docks, and had my secretary check the orders.”

  One tear splashed down on my hand as I understood. “The Royal College? So that was you? The article sent to Holton.”

  Jonathon stopped speaking and cleared his throat. “I suppose none of those details matter, and truthfully, I have to be going. I’ve been away too long and I’m needed in London so I can work a bit tonight. I just wanted you to know so you could rest easy.”

  “What? Leaving now?” I asked.

  “I’m afraid so. But Alan is anxious to see you. I told him you’d be right in. I hope you don’t mind I gave him the good news. I was too bursting not to.”

  He stood and straightened his waistcoat. It reminded me of the night of the Valentine’s dance and seeing Alan all dressed up. What ages ago it seemed. “So.” I tried to shape my sentence, but there were questions on top of questions and none came out.

  Jonathon reached out to Theo and shook her hand. “Thank you so much for coming with Eve at the last second,” he told her as if all business were concluded. He turned back to me. “I’ll ring you and let you know more when you’re home. They’ll need to know market values and numbers. All technicalities. But really it’s mostly settled. I best be off.” His voice slowed and softened and he took the tips of my fingers in his once more. “If ever you are in need I hope you will be a friend and ring up. I left train fare at the front desk for you and your hotel bill is
being sent directly to me. Unfortunately I must take the car back.”

  I opened my mouth, knowing he wouldn’t leave if I kept talking. “It’s all too kind and I’m too indebted to bear it.” My fingertips rested exactly on his, the minute grooves of our prints fitting into each other. “But how did the feed company agree to pay it all? I don’t understand.” Any question kept him a moment longer and I thankfully had so many.

  His eyes sparked with a mischievous light I’d never seen before. “I had the smallest talk with them and they did not seem anxious to lose my business when I work for the Ministry of Food and the Ministry of War now.”

  Theo gasped for me.

  “You did all this for my father?” I pictured Dad at home, bent and nearly broken. He would spring back to life like a lamb romping on the spring meadows.

  Jonathon’s face grew still, the happiness quiet and almost sad. “He would have done the same for me,” he answered gracefully, but we both knew it made no sense. We had no way or means to help him at all. My mind was numb with shock, but I managed to nod.

  “She’s so grateful,” Theo told him when my voice failed.

  “Certainly.” He smiled once more and at the last moment lunged forward and landed a chaste kiss on my cheek where my tears clung. He pressed his lips together as if tasting my salty happiness and climbed into the low car, waving briefly before he was gone.

  I put one hand over my chest, testing that my lungs still rose and filled with air.

  “What a shock,” Theo exclaimed. “It sounds as though you are saved.”

  Again my head moved mechanically up and down but in my mind a voice asked, Am I? Am I?

  “Come, let’s see what Alan says.” It was the first time she seemed eager to see Alan since the engagement. She always was drawn to excitement and this was the most we’d ever had.

  I should have shouted for joy for the farm and William and Dad, but all I could think of were Jonathon’s lips on my wet cheek and his wave goodbye. He’d said everything was mostly settled, but I’d never felt less settled in all my life.