Simon lounged in a chair and chatted to her about the latest hospital gossip until she'd finished, then he rose languidly and yawned. 'Think I'll go on up. Which room have you put me in?'
‘I’ll show you.' She dried her hands and preceded him up the stairs, taking him into the bedroom that she had been using and switching on the light. 'We haven't got round to decorating this room, I'm afraid. Have you got everything you need?'
She moved towards the window to dose the curtains, but Simon caught hold of her before she reached it. He put his hands low on her waist and pulled her to him. 'Everything except you,' he said thickly, and sought her lips to kiss her ardently.
Kirsty let him do so because she still couldn't quite believe that there was nothing there any more; she had thought herself in love with him for months. But his kiss had lost all its power to turn her on and somehow it seemed wrong to even let him touch her. Abruptly she drew away and put her hands against his chest, holding him off.
'Hey! 'His voice was indignant and he tried to pull her close again.
'Did—did Mrs Grantham talk to you?' she asked, hoping to distract him.
'What? Oh, yes, she told me a little, but it would be impossible to tell whether an operation or the new electrical treatment for bone setting would be of any use to her until she'd been examined 'by an expert and had up-to-date X-rays.’
'But you think there could be a chance for her?' Kirsty persisted.
Simon shrugged. 'As I said, I'm no expert, but any-thing's worth a try.'
'I remember there's quite a lot of literature on the new methods in the hospital library. Will you send me copies so that I can show them to her?’
'Sure. Now can we get back to us?' His arms tightened and he kissed her again, then withdrew one arm to seek the fastening of her dress. 'Darling,.! want you so much. Stay with me tonight.'
Immediately Kirsty pushed him away. 'No. No, I can't.' She turned her back to him and stood at the window while she tried to collect her thoughts. She must tell him now, once and for all, it would be cruel to let him go on thinking that she cared for him. And foolish too—because tonight Simon seemed set on taking things further than they had ever gone before.
He came up behind her and put his arms round her, murmuring something into her neck. Kirsty squared her shoulders to tell him, but as she went to turn round she noticed a pinpoint of light in the Jane below the house and realised that someone was standing there, smoking a cigarette. As she watched the moon came out for a minute and she was able to see more dearly. It was Gyles. He was standing looking up at the window, and she knew with the utmost certainty that he must have seen everything, silhouetted as they were with the light behind them. And the conclusions he would reach were sickeningly obvious. As Kirsty started down at him, transfixed with shock, he threw down his cigarette and turned abruptly away to stride back up the lane.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next day was a hard one to get through. Kirsty had told Simon as gently as she knew how, that she was very sorry but her feelings had changed towards him. At first he had been incredulous and then blazingly angry. He tried to use sex as a weapon and to kiss and caress her into saying she hadn't meant it, but she had stubbornly refused to respond and had pushed him away.
He stared at her, his eyes furious. 'What the hell did you get me down here for, then? You said you needed me.'
'I needed to see you!' Kirsty told him in some distress. 'I wasn't sure in my own mind whether or not I still felt anything—anything serious for you. And as soon as I saw you I—I knew that I didn't. I'm sorry.'
Simon looked at her grimly. 'There's someone else, isn't there?'
She nodded, unable to speak.
He turned away, 'It's my own fault. I should never have let you come down here, I should have insisted you stay in London."
'You could hardly have stopped me! she pointed out rather defiantly.
'Oh, yes, I could. Because you were in love with me then. I should have taken you to bed when I had the chance, so that you'd have been committed to me,' he said harshly.
Kirsty flushed but said firmly, 'I thought I was in love with you, but it wasn't the real thing—an infatutuation, if you like. And only a pale comparison to what I feel now.'
His mouth twisted. 'Who's the lucky man?'
'Does it matter?'
His jaw tightened. 'No, I don't suppose it does. You'd better get out of here before I get angry again and forget myself. I'll leave first thing in the morning.'
Kirsty looked at him miserably, deeply aware of his hurt. 'Simon, I'm sorry, I——'
'For God's sake stop saying that and get out of here!'
Hastily she went, to pass a night as sleepless as Simon's. She knew she had done the right thing, but could imagine how she would have felt if their positions had been reversed. Added to which was her worry about Gyles' possible reaction to what he had seen. He was bound to put the very worst interpretation On it—and just as they seemed to be establishing some sort of contact, too. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. '
Simon was as good as his word and left immediately after breakfast. He seemed resigned, but Kirsty noticed that he deliberately avoided touching her or getting too close to her, and the look he gave her when he left spoke volumes, so that she felt guilty and miserable for hours afterwards. Dave .called round to take Penny out and Kirsty walked up" to the little wood on top of the hill, half hoping that. Gyles might see her and join her, but although she stayed there for quite a long time he didn't appear and she walked disconsolately home again.
That night she again lay awake, wondering how she could possibly let Gyles know that he had been mistaken, that there had never been anything more than a few kisses between her and Simon. But how could you go up to a man and tell him a thing like that? And
anyway he was probably so disgusted that he would take care never to see her again, Kirsty turned restlessly on the pillow. Should she go and call on his mother in the hope of seeing him? Or would that be too obvious? She felt suddenly very young and defenceless and wished she had someone to turn to for advice. She was so afraid of making a fool of herself; with Simon she had known how to behave, their relationship had been easy and natural and she hadn't been afraid to show that she liked him, but now… Whenever she thought of Gyles she was filled with a sense of exhilarating excitement, but mixed with it was fear, fear that he was only being neighbourly and condescending. He had said himself how young she was and this made her afraid of what his reaction might be if she ever dared to show him that she cared.
And she did care so much. She supposed it must have been there all along, all the time she was quarrelling with him, but she had only realised just what it was when she had seen Gyles and Simon together. And now all the confidence she had been beginning to gain as a woman was gone, she was unsure of herself and so vulnerable that even a harsh look from Gyles could keep her awake all night like this.
But she fell into a troubled sleep at last and dreamt that; the cows that had died had come back to haunt her, their pitiful ululation seeming to be all around her bed. -
'Kirsty, Kirsty, wake up!' She came to her senses with a start to realise that Penny, still in her night-clothes, was shaking her vigorously.
'What? What is it, what's wrong?' Kirsty stared at her stupidly, still half asleep.
'Look out of the window. Oh, come on, quickly!' Penny said impatiently while she groped for her mules.
Obediently Kirsty stumbled to the window as Penny pushed it open. It was still very early, the sun hadn't yet completely climbed over the horizon. She looked out and was instantly fully aware, 'Oh no!'
There were about a dozen cows in the garden placidly eating away at their young plants and trampling the others into the ground. Behind them the gate into the field stood wide open.
'Oh no I' Kirsty groaned again, then ran to scramble into her clothes. 'Come on, we'll have to chase them out.'
They armed themselves with long sticks and waved their
arms at the. creatures, shouting at them and trying to drive them towards the gate, but as soon as they got one out and went for-another, the first one would comeback.
'You'll just have to stand by the gate, Penny, and open it whenever I manage to drive one towards you,’ Kirsty yelled. But the wretched animals would determinedly go off in the opposite direction whenever she thought she had one cornered, and it took over an hour before they got them all out, by which time Kirsty was heartily cursing them.’
Together they stood and surveyed the shambles that had once been their neat garden. The plants were almost totally eaten, the "young seedlings completely ruined, and even the brick paths that Kirsty had so carefully laid had been broken or pushed out of place by the heavy feet of the cattle. Kirsty looked down at the bottom of the gate, and it came as no surprise to see that the earth and plants that had built up round the bottom because it hadn't been used for years, had been dug away so that it could be opened.
Penny followed her gaze and burst into tears, then whirled on the elder girl. 'I thought you said he wanted to be friendly? We even asked him to our party and still, he does this to us! The two-faced hypocrite!'
Kirsty stared at her aghast. 'But surely you don't think that Gyles did this?'
'Of course he did. Who else wants us out? You told me yourself that he sent someone along to try to buy this place for him. If you ask me, he was just using the commune idea as an excuse, and now that's out he's willing to resort to any underhand trick to get rid of us, she added vehemently.
'That's ridiculous,' Kirsty retorted. 'You've forgotten that the farmer and his men were just as angry with us. Anyone could have come and opened the gate, even one of the young boys in the village could have done it as a prank. You can't go around accusing Gyles without evidence. I won't have it,' she insisted.
Penny regarded her angrily. 'You're very quick to stand up for him. You haven't got a crush on him, have you?'
Kirsty flushed and hastily disclaimed, 'No, of course not. I just don't believe that he'd do this to us, that's all. What possible reason could he have to…'She stopped abruptly, remembering how he'd seen her with Simon. But no, he might be angry but surely he wouldn't stoop to something as petty as this ?
Penny seized on her hesitation. 'You see? You've got to admit that everything points to Gyles Grantham.' She added furiously, 'I've a good mind to go and tell him what I think of him-'
'Well, you won't,' Kirsty said forcibly. 'Do you understand me, Penny? You'll say nothing about this to anyone, not even Dave. And I don't want to hear another word against the Squire or anyone else, because that would only create further trouble. We're just going to nail up that gate so that it can't possibly hap pen again and then we'll straighten up the garden and buy new plants and seeds. And then we're going to forget about the whole thing, put it completely out of our minds. Now come and help me get started,' she commanded.
For a moment the younger girl stared at her defiantly, her mouth mulish, but then she shrugged. 'Oh, all right, if that's the way. you want it. But it doesn't mean that I've changed my mind. I still believe the Squire is responsible for everything that's happened to us.'
They worked hard on the garden all morning, saving what plants they could and relaying the paths, and in the early afternoon Kirsty phoned the herb suppliers and arranged to collect more plants. They set off at once, but had only got about ten miles along the road when the engine of the van started to make weird noises. Pulling into the side, Kirsty checked to see that the fan belt was still in place and could find nothing wrong. She looked, at the engine rather helplessly, wishing she knew more about what made the thing go.
'Perhaps it needs some oil?' Penny suggested.
'It looks all right! Kirsty told her, examining the dip-stick. 'But I think we'd better pull into the next garage and let a mechanic look at it.’
The road they were on, however, was long and empty and after only a couple of miles the engine gave out completely and they coasted into the curb.
'Oh, no, this is all we need I' Kirsty looked around but could see no houses in sight. 'You'd better stay with the van while I walk to the nearest phone. Cheer up she added, seeing Penny's woebegone face. 'It's probably something quite simple.’
But when she finally reached a house with a phone and contacted a garage with a repair service the
mechanic shook his head. 'Sorry, miss, but she's seized up solid. You won't get another mile out of her.’
'But what caused it?' Kirsty asked in dismay.
He grimaced non-committally. 'Can't say until you take the engine down and examine it. What are you going td do?'
'Why don't we phone Dave?' Penny suggested. "He's got a breakdown truck.'
So the mechanic gave them a lift to the nearest phone to where they waited for Dave to come and collect them and take the van in tow back to his garage, promising to look at it straight away. But they were both tired and dispirited by the tune they got home.
The next morning they went round to the garage, hopefully expecting Dave to have worked miracles so that they "could go and pick up the plants, but they 'knew at once from his serious face that they weren't going to get that lucky.
'Sorry, but I'm afraid it's quite a big job. The engine will have to be taken out, stripped down and cleaned.'
'But what on earth's wrong with it?' Kirsty demanded. tA new engine was put in just before I bought it.'
Dave looked uncomfortable. 'I'm afraid someone put sugar in the gas tank. It's fatal once it gets through to the engine. It seizes up all the moving parts completely.'
They stared at him appalled, then Penny turned to Kirsty, her face pinched with fury. 'Now see what's happened! I told-you he'd do anything to get rid of us, but you wouldn't listen to me. We've got to.
But Kirsty stopped her before she could finish. 'Penny, be quiet! We'll talk about this later.'
Looking from one to the other of them, Dave said, 'Look, if you girls have any idea who did this you should go to the police.'
'No, we haven't,' Kirsty said hastily. 'Penny was just jumping to conclusions.' She tried to speak more calmly. 'Can you fix the engine for us? How long do you think it will take?'
'At least two weeks. The parts will all have to be soaked in an acid solution and cleaned individually before they can be put back again.'
'As long as that? But we have to go and collect some plants.'
"Well, I can lend you my van this afternoon, if you like, but I can't let you have it indefinitely because I . shall need it myself.'
'Oh, that's marvellous. Thanks a lot, Dave,' Kirsty said warmly. She hesitated. 'How much will the engine cost?'
Dave shrugged. 'Well over a hundred pounds, I'm afraid, and that's cutting it to a minimum.'
'That does it, then,' Kirsty said tiredly. "We can't possibly afford such a big bill. We'll just have to sell the van as it stands and manage without one. Can we leave it here until we find a buyer?'
'Sure, but you'll be lucky if you find anyone to take it as it is.' He looked at them frowningly. 'Look, I've got an idea. Come into the office, both of you.'
He led them into a cubbyhole at the back of the garage with a desk that was piled high with files and bits of paper, a lot of which had spread on to the floor and windowsill. Dave shut the door and turned to them. 'Can either of you do office work? Filing and simple book-keeping, that kind of thing?’
The girls glanced at one another. 'I suppose we both can,' Penny answered.
'Good. Then how about making a bargain? I'll repair your van if one of you will come here for two or three days a week and sort this lot out. I used to have a retired bank clerk to do it, but he became ill. Now I try to keep it down myself, but I just don't have £he time. And when you've worked off the cost of the repairs we can review the situation. Well,' what do you think?'
'We think it's a terrific idea, don't we, Penny?' Kirsty said promptly. 'And Penny must be the one to take it on because she's more experienced with office work than I am, a
nd not only that, she's still not really well enough to work in the garden, but this will be ideal for her. Thanks, Dave, we're really very grateful,' she added sincerely.
But Dave was looking at Penny, who had a bright flush to her cheeks at the thought of spending far more time in his company. Kirsty grinned; she knew darn well that she could have done the job just as easily, but the idea wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular, and she wondered what the outcome of the arrangement would be.
They started to discuss the details of the scheme, but Kirsty left them to it and .wandered into the workshop to stand and gaze gloomily at their van, which looked somehow forlorn with its hood up and various bits of its engine removed. Letting the cows into their garden she could think of as a childish prank, even though it would cost them a lot of money and set back all the work they had done almost to the beginning, but to put sugar in their gas tank was nothing short of criminal. And she couldn't believe that a child would have the sort of knowledge to do such a thing. Also they parked the van at the front of the house all the time, so it was more than likely that it had be6n done under cover of darkness, which again ruled out young children. Which left only one conclusion and one that she had been vainly trying not to reach; that Penny was right and that someone was using every dirty trick they could think of to try and get rid of them. The very thought that anyone could hate them so much made her cringe inside. Miserably she wandered out to the front of the garage and sat on a low wall while she looked round her at the old church and the village green with its silver birch trees full of bright green new leaves. They could have been so happy here. Why, oh, why was it happening to them ?
Slowly she got up and walked across the green, past "the drinking fountain that didn't work any more, past the patch of bare earth between two young trees that had been planted inadvertently, but very conveniently, at just the right distance apart for the village boys to use them as goalposts. The door of the church stood ajar and she pushed it open and went in. Inside it was simple but beautiful. Its main adornment was a stained-glass window over the altar, the rich colours of the glass still glowing strong and bright after five hundred years. There were memorial tablets set into the walls, many of them bearing the names of long-dead Grantham’s and set into the floor of the nave she found an engraved brass with the figures of a knight and his lady dated 1347 and, although the lettering was worn, when she knelt and ran her fingers over it she could make out the name Gyles Grantham. So there had been Grantham’s at Notley-even then? Lifting her head, she looked up at the altar and silently begged: Don't let it be him. Please, please, don't let it "be him, with such an intensity of feeling that she almost spoke aloud.
Sally Wentworth - Garden of Thorns Page 12