Comet

by Andie J Fessey

  The children, turned and rushed to Comets side.

  “Is there anything we can do Mister Morris? David asked.

  “Plenty you can do and plenty, I don’t want you to do.”

  “Whatever it is,” Robert interrupted, “we’ll do it.”

  The vet stared at the children, stood around Comet.

  “Alright,” he sighed, “first and foremost, no more treats like apples. Do you understand me?”

  The children nodded their heads, listening attentively.

  “Secondly, he needs to be walked around, until he passes a fair amount of waste.”

  “What does…” Wally said.

  “Poo,” Jimmy stated.

  “That’s correct,” the vet said, “ensure he does not have a lie down, until he’s passed plenty of, poo.”

  “Next thing, is to make him some bran mash, I’ll tell you how to make it and where to get it in a moment,” the vet continued, “feed him little, but often until he makes a recovery. Limit the amount of grazing time he has. He’s a horse, not a tractor and there’s no telling how much he’ll be eating if you keep leaving him out in that field all day.”

  “Not a problem, Mister Morris,” David said.

  “And ideally, he needs to be under observation for the next several hours.”

  The vet described to David how to make bran mash, before bidding them goodbye and, after receiving thankyous and handshakes, returned to his car.

  “We can’t leave him here by himself overnight,” Robert said, turning to Iris.

  “You lot, are all going home,” Iris retorted, “the party is tomorrow, so you’re getting a good night’s sleep.”

  “But Iris!” Frank and Jack exclaimed simultaneously.

  “No ‘but Iris’,” she said, “you’re all going home, to get some sleep.”

  She caught Robert’s gaze, whose look indicated he did not intend on going anywhere.

  “And that, includes you Robert.”

  His look turned into one of incredulity, as his sister stared back with a look of her own, suggesting she was not going to be argued with.

  “But…”

  “No buts either,” Iris said, “all of you, are going home.”

  “But, we can’t leave him here alone!”

  “Please, not by himself Iris, please,” Daniel pleaded, “please, he’ll be scared.”

  “He’ll not be alone,” Iris replied, smiling at him sweetly.

  “But, who’s staying with him?” Samuel asked.

  There was a pause, whilst Iris turned and looked at the poorly horse.

  “I am,” she said, continuing to stare at Comet, his ears coming forward, understanding her words.

  The children stared at her, Robert feeling proud of his sister in her resolute determination and for her obvious affection for Comet, who captured all their hearts.

  “But Iris,” Barbara said, stepping to her, “you can’t stay here alone.”

  “She’s not staying here alone,” David said, stroking Comets mane, “I’m not leaving his side, until he’s well again.”

  Robert stared at him, catching sight of the way his gaze turned to the horse and the way he tenderly stroked him.

  “Alright,” Robert said, the other children looking at him questionably.

  “No arguments, let’s go home and get our heads down,” he continued, “we can be back here first thing in the morning, before we go to the party”

  “I agree,” Barbara said, “we’re made up you have invited us Iris, so we’d best get home and get some sleep.”

  She glanced at Iris with a look conveying more than mere words.

  A look saying in the smallest of glances, she understood.

  The children busied themselves with collecting their various items and cleaning up any discarded apples, or treats they found, lest Comet decided to try and consume any more of them.

  “Are you certain, you want to stay Iris,” David asked, “I can stay with him by myself, it’s really not a problem.”

  Iris turned to him, smiling.

  “I’m certain David,” she replied, “I’ve become really attached to him and I’ll not sleep tonight, knowing he’s here unwell.”

  “I’ve become attached myself,” he replied, staring into her eyes.

  She held his gaze, understanding fully the meaning of his words.

  “Right,” she said, turning her gaze to the children, “let me get this lot back home and make my excuses to my Mother. I’ll tell her I’m staying at my friend Mo’s house tonight.”

  Before he had a chance to say anything else, she walked away, taking hold of Daniels hand and casting a glance over her shoulder.

  He gave her a wave, before turning to Comet.

  “C’mon big fella,” he said, “let’s get you walking then eh?”

  Over two hours passed by before she returned to the allotment.

  Amid leading Comet around the allotment in circles he stopped, finding her leaning against the gate staring at him, a wrap of cloth in her grasp.

  “How is he?” She asked, walking to him.

  “Oh, the big fella’s fine Iris,” he replied, “he’s did plenty of ‘waste’, as Mister Morris put it, and it’s been nice and solid as well, not at all runny.”

  “Oh, David!” Iris exclaimed, her face a grimace.

  They stared at each other momentarily, before erupting into laughter, Comet staring at them in turn.

  “So,” Iris said, after composing herself, “what do we do now?”

  David looked to the darkening sky, starlight glistening above them, as the evening drew in to allow the sun to cast its last grasp of domination for another evening.

  “Well,” he said, “the big fella seems a fair bit better now, but I think it’s time we settled him down.”

  They led Comet into his makeshift stable.

  Immediately, he turned in circles upon the straw, before stopping, then urinating on the ground beneath him.

  “Hey, big fella!” David exclaimed, “I spent ages making that as a nice as a piece of toast for you.”

  Comet cast a glance at him, before circling one more time, then laying upon the straw.

  “Well,” David said, “looks like he’s got the right idea. What do we do now?”

  Iris retrieved the bundle of cloth she placed upon the ground.

  “I’ve got a couple of blankets from the house,” she remarked, “I thought they’d keep us warm, in case it gets cold.”

  “I’ll keep you warm,” David said, grimacing inside, as the words fell forth from his mouth.

  “Oh, will you now?” Iris asked, surprised.

  David looked ashamed and embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry Iris, I didn’t mean anything by that believe me.”

  Gazing into the eyes of the man she knew for only weeks, yet to her a lifetime, she found honesty and humility.

  “David,” she said, “it’s alright. I know you will.”

  They set to laying the blankets in the far end of Comets stable, lest he decide to kick out in his sleep.

  David lay on his back, shuffling to make himself comfortable.

  Iris lay beside him.

  They lay together, yet apart, for minutes before Iris spoke.

  “David.”

  “Yes Iris.”

  “Do you think horses dream?”

  He pondered the question for a few moments, before answering.

  “Yes Iris, yes, I believe all animals dream.”

  She felt waves of tiredness engulfing her.

  “Do you think, he may be dreaming about Archie?”

  A moments silence passed between them.

  “Yes Iris, I think he may well be.”

  As the tiredness engulfed her, her words becoming softer, she spoke.

  “That’s beautiful, I hope they’re nice dreams.”

  She rolled to him, placing her hand upon his chest.

  For a moment, he lay stationary, unsure of what to do or say.

  His hand
moved to lay atop of hers and closed his eyes.

  “So, do I Iris, so do I.”

  Yards from them, Comet stirred in his sleep restlessly.

  Somewhere in the mist and fog swirling throughout his mind, he heard his human call to him, from a place in the distant reaches of his dreams.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Give us a hand with this bunting will you Iris love?” Patty asked, standing on a set of wooden ladders.

  “Of course, Mother,” Iris replied, making her way to her.

  “You sound absolutely shattered love,” Patty said, “didn’t you sleep much last night?”

  “Err, yes Mother, just the excitement about today I suppose.”

  She dreaded her Mothers reaction, if she found out she spent the night in David’s arms. Luckily, she managed to return home, before the household fully awoke.

  “How are we going to stop any cars from coming up the road,whilst it is going on?” Iris asked, picking up a stream of handmade bunting, from a basket on the floor and passing it to her.

  “There’s not many cars about these days,” Connie said, from behind her.

  “Oh, you made me jump almost out of my skin,” Iris exclaimed, smiling at the other woman.

  “Sorry about that Iris love.”

  “That’s okay Connie. What do think about this whole street party thing?”

  “Normally I’d say it’s a waste of money and the money would best be spent elsewhere,” Connie replied, “but I’ve to agree with your Mam, we all need a bit of cheering up, so let’s make the most of it eh?”

  Smiling at her, she continued to pass up the bunting to her Mother.

  “Hey Patty love, don’t be getting on those ladders, I’ll do that,” Ralph Ratchet, one of their neighbours said, running across to them, “our Stumpy’s helping Micky and Victor bring my big set of ladders around, we’ll hang them from house to house across the street.”

  “Now you tell me Ralph,” Patty replied, descending the steps.

  “Our Iris was just asking, how we’re going to stop any cars coming down the street, whilst the party is going on,” she said, turning to face Ralph.

  “Oh, that’s easy enough,” Ralph replied, “there’re only a couple of cars in the street as it is anyway, so we’re parking them across the top end.”

  He stared to the end of the street.

  “And Ronnie’s parking his wagon across the bottom end,” he continued, “nobody will get through, to mess up the party.”

  “Talk of the devil and he’ll appear.” Connie said, as a large wagon turned the corner into the street.

  It drove slowly to them, children standing on the pavements either side of the road, waving at the driver who waved his hand from the window in return.

  “Alright folks, who ordered trestles?” Ron called from the cab.

  “Trestles?” Connie said, looking up at him.

  “Aye Connie love,” Ron replied, “once the vicar at the church we had old Archie’s service at, heard what we’re doing, he said we can borrow as many as we want.”

  “That’s lovely,” Patty said.

  A clatter of noise erupted from behind them, as a few of the other neighbours brought out various chairs into the street.

  “Will you be inviting your Welsh friend our Iris?” Patty asked, as the others busied themselves removing the trestles from the back of the wagon.

  “If you are referring to David Mother,” Iris replied, “I’ve already mentioned the party to him and yes, he will be coming.”

  Iris looking around the street, their neighbours busy with setting up the long row of tables in the middle of the street.

  “He seems like a lovely lad.”

  “He is,” Iris replied.

  They were interrupted by Connie, who shook Patty’s arm gently.

  “Are you coming to give us a hand with the food, Patty?”

  “I’ll be right there,” she replied, accompanying the other woman across the street, carefully working their way through the tables in the process of being aligned.

  “Mother!” Iris called.

  Patty turned to face her.

  “I’m just going off to fetch the boys and bring them back,” Iris said.

  “That’s a good idea Love,” Patty replied, “Heaven knows, what they find to do all day at the allotments.”

  Iris, hastily ran along the length of the street, knowing David would be awaiting her with the boys.

  The boys hardly touching their breakfasts earlier, rushed to the allotments to be with Comet and David.

  It took a few hours, before the trestles were placed in a long line, running along the centre of the cobbled street.

  Walking around the corner, Henry McCluskie paused for a moment to watch the proceedings, before shaking his head and heading to his home.

  Inside, Sheila was busy in the kitchen, pulling a tray of hot biscuits from the oven.

  “You’d best have something to eat for me girl.”

  Turning, she stared into the face of the man she once thought she loved, but now knew for certain, she hated with every essence of her being.

  “There’s plenty of food going out onto the tables outside,” she replied, feigning a smile, “it ‘ll be like a feast.”

  “I take it, that means bloody no then,” he said, leaning to her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling her onto the ground.

  “Henry, no!” She cried, the tray landing with a clatter onto the floor, biscuits spilling out across the worn linoleum.

  As he pulled her back, she stumbled, raising her hands to grab at his fist, pulling hard on her tresses.

  “Please Henry, not today!”

  He threw her against the old wooden cupboard nearby, the impact causing one of the bowls to fall over, the mixture spilling onto the worktop and onto her hair and face.

  “Nooo”, she said in a whimper, her hand wiping at the liquid.

  “No,” her voice repeated, feeling her chest pounding, determined she would shed no more tears because of this man.

  Though the thought, he was humiliating her again, felt unbearable.

  Glaring at the scattered biscuits on the floor, he slowly raised one hob-nailed boot.

  “Let’s see what they make of your crumbs then, eh girl?”

  Looking up from her crouched position, the sight of him sickened her to the core, feeling the anger rise throughout her body, whilst he teasingly kept his foot in the air.

  Her eyes, fell upon the large knife she used to cut the biscuits into shape with.

  It sat at the edge of the table, glinting in the morning light invading the narrow kitchen window, enticingly beckoning her to take it.

  There came a loud knocking sound, as somebody hammered loudly upon their front door.

  “You wait here, you pitiful bitch,” he spat the words at her, before striding along the hallway.

  She remained crouched on the kitchen floor, her eyes not once, leaving the sight of the knife.

  I’ll kill him if he touches me again, I swear it, I’ll put that knife through his black heart.

  She heard her husband talking to another man in the doorway, catching snippets of their conversation.

  “…pay you well for it.”

  “…not too certain.”

  “…tooled up I suppose.”

  “…aggro?”

  For a moment, she thought about moving closer to the door, to see if she could hear what was being said, before hearing her husband’s steps approaching.

  “Be a second!” He called back to the other man, looking at his wife with disgust.

  “Clean this mess up,” he ordered her, walking passed her, his heavy boots crunching several of the biscuits underneath them.

  Unlocking the door leading to the backyard, he strode to their outhouse, returning after a couple of minutes.

  In his hands, she caught sight of an old motorcycle chain.

  He rummaged through the kitchen drawers.

  “Where the hell do you keep t
he cloths? Ah, that’ll do.” He said, taking the large cloth, she used to take the hot trays from the oven.

  Wrapping the chain up within the cloth, he stared at her.

  “I’m going back out to make a few bob,” he said, “if I’m not back tonight, I’m not back.”

  He looked at her, cowering on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.

  “Learn your lesson girl, good and proper.”

  He strode along the hallway, then into the street, slamming the door hard behind him.

  It took her several minutes before finding the strength to move, crawling across the the floor to where the tray lay, placing any unbroken biscuits back onto it.

  Standing up, she placed the tray onto the kitchen table, next to several others there.

  A shiver radiated throughout her body, her eyes falling upon the large kitchen knife, momentarily appearing to glisten with life.

  Shaking herself, she walked to the kitchen sink, turning on the faucet and throwing cold water over her face, before placing her hair back up with a short band.

  It’s over. No matter what. It’s over.

  Carefully stacking the trays together on top of one and other, she made her way outside.

  In the street, her neighbours placed their own contributions to the party, along the long length of trestle tables.

  I don’t care, if I’m to run away with our Wally, it’s over.

  Various snacks and sandwiches were arranged upon the tables, mainly for the children, in addition to large plates with slices of various meats Samuel and Barbara’s Father provided.

  A car pulled up at the end of the street alongside Ron’s wagon, now parked to block the entrance.

  Noticing the car, Ron ran to greet the driver.

  “No entrance today Jackie,” he said with a hearty laugh, approaching the side of the car, “off-limits to all vehicles.”

  “Then, you’ll have to carry what’s in the back yourself,” Jackie replied, indicating with her head to the rear of the car.

  Looking through the window, Ron’s face lit up with a huge smile.

  “There’s more in the boot.” She said smiling.

  “But, you can’t just give us, all of this?” He exclaimed.

  “Can’t I? I know it’s not just for the Royal engagement we’re having this party for,” she said, “Old Archie blessed the Volley with his presence, for as long as I can remember.”