Comet

by Andie J Fessey

  “Sorry for interrupting your version of Brief Encounter ladies, but what do you want doing with this rope?” Ron asked them, between pants of breath.

  He glanced at Arne, stood impassively with Daniel still perched upon his shoulder.

  He hasn’t broken a bloody sweat!

  “You need to tie it securely to that metal, while I fix the other end to Comets collar,” David instructed, kneeling to locate the end of the thick rope.

  Finding it, he stood, carefully working it through the holes in Comets reins.

  It took him a while to work the rope through, but the sounds of the fire and the screams of the two children, who now managed to find their way to the top floor of the building, spurred him on.

  Ron and Arne were busy with the other end of the rope, searching for a secure place to tie it to the stanchion.

  After a moment, they managed to locate a gap large enough under the huge column to slip the rope through.

  They stepped backwards as one, pulling on the rope.

  “It’s ready!” Ron called, “take up the slack!”

  David led Comet by the leather harness, as the Police Constables moved the crowd of onlookers away from their path.

  “It’s not budging, for Pity’s sake!” Peter yelled.

  “C’mon boy!” David cried, beckoning the horse forward.

  Ron and Arne pulled on the rope with all their strength to assist Comet, his head arched, straining forwards.

  “Help us!” Ron cried.

  Over a dozen men ran to the broken metal and rubble and, with their arms or backs pressed against it, pushed with all their strength.

  “C’mon boy!” David begged, as Comet strained to move forwards.

  The children now joined him.

  “C’mon Comet!”

  “Come on boy!”

  “You can do it Comet!”

  Comet strained to force his way forwards.

  He knew instinctively, what the humans wanted him to do.

  They were beckoning him on, the yells of the other humans and the children’s screams of terror he could hear from behind him.

  But, he felt his strength was drained completely, from his vast body.

  He held his head low, not in a show of strength, but in a posture of resignation.

  One of the upper windows in the fiery building behind him smashed upon from inwards, shards of glass spewing forth into the rising flames.

  “Please! Help us!” Nicola Nelson screamed, her coat wrapped around her brothers mouth to protect him from the tendril like smoke, now working its way through the floorboards beneath them.

  The small human now stood directly in front of him, hands reaching up to him.

  Comet lowered his head, feeling the touch of Daniel’s hands, on each side of his face.

  “Please Comet,” Daniel pleaded, “please.”

  Comet raised his head, the young boy’s hands remaining held upwards.

  He stared ahead.

  The noises around him grew in intensity, as much as the fiery reach of the flames.

  Taking a huge breath, he leant forward and strained against the rope, Arne and the others pulling likewise behind him.

  It felt his muscles would explode, the pressure of the harness digging into him, cracking splits appearing along the leather.

  He moved forward, a couple of inches.

  “It’s moving!” Somebody shouted from behind him.

  A loud, metallic clamour resounded over their voices.

  Arne turned, to see the stanchion edging slowly across the road.

  “Pull!” He yelled.

  In unison, they pulled at the rope, others pushing the stanchion from behind.

  “That’s it, that’s enough!” Peter yelled, indicating to the driver of the tender to move it towards the building.

  “Go! Go now!”

  The driver edged the tender quickly through the cleared gap, shouting instructions to his colleagues to get the ladder ready.

  “Well done, big feller,” David said, stroking the now panting Comet.

  “You did it!” Daniel called, throwing his arms around one of his legs, hugging him tightly.

  “You’re a hero,” Arne said, approaching Comets face, placing a large hand on his cheek and stroking it, “a real hero.”

  The children gathered around Comet, hugging and stroking him.

  David and Arne, gently unravelled the rope from his harness.

  “What’s that?” Arne asked, pointing to a cloth wrap protruding from a piece of the torn leather.

  “I’m not sure,” David replied, “maybe some stuffing or something?”

  Arne pulled gently at the cloth, it came away freely from the harness.

  He handed it to David, casting a glance towards the burning building. The ladder was now placed under the window, the two scared children descending it, led by Peter.

  The police were ushering the crowd away to a safe distance as the remaining firemen, tackled the ferocious blaze.

  “Oh my,” David exclaimed.

  Arne turned to him.

  “What is it?” He asked.

  “Is Constable Robertson still here?” David asked, passing the piece of paper he found within the tightly wrapped cloth.

  “He needs to see this.”

  Arne turned the paper in his hand.

  “I think he’s at the front of the crowd,” Arne replied, “I’ll take it to him.”

  “What is it David?” Iris asked, as Arne worked his way through the crowd.

  David turned to her, taking her hand in his.

  “Archie’s will.”

  Epilogue

  The morning sun hung low in the sky, rinsing out the colours of the preceding dusk, as the cart trundled along the cobbled street, its large wheels turning rhythmically, the horse pulling its weight effortlessly.

  The driver of the cart, steered it towards the terraced house with the freshly painted white door, the horse obeying the command instinctively, knowing already the destination they were heading.

  The door to the house opened and out stepped a young boy, within the midst of pulling on his thick white overcoat.

  He glanced at the cart, his hand finally making its way from the long sleeve, giving a wave as it approached.

  The man sat astride the seat of the cart, gave him a wave in return, slowly approaching him.

  “Are you ready for your first day at work then Wally?” He asked.

  “I am!” Wally cried, a large smile lighting up his face.

  The horse turned its head to him, at his exclamation.

  “Oh, sorry Comet,” Wally said smiling and stroking Comet’s long neck, “sorry to startle you.”

  “I think it’d take more than that, to startle this old hero Wally son,” the man said, leaning forward grinning and giving Comet an affectionate stroke of his own with his large hands.

  “Is your Mother up and about yet?” he asked, stepping from the cart in one stride onto the pavement, his broad physique straining against his white overalls.

  “Aye Arne, she’s just making you a cuppa,” Wally replied, continuing to stroke Comet.

  “Oh, she knows she doesn’t have to bother going to the trouble of doing that for me.”

  “I don’t do it for the bother or the trouble, which it

  is not at all, I do it for you love, because I want to,” Sheila said smiling and appearing from the doorway.

  She held a large steaming mug of tea in her hand, taking the couple of steps across the pavement to him.

  “It looks lovely love, thank you so much,” Arne said, smiling and taking the mug from her hand.

  Standing on her tiptoes, she gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

  Feeling his cheeks redden, he turned to look at Wally, who smiled at him as he climbed onto the seat of the cart, shuffling along on his backside to the other side.

  Arne returned the smile.

  It worried him senseless how the young boy would react, when he found out he and hi
s Mother were now an item, but his fears and concerns proved groundless.

  It was commonly said, divorcing your husband was frowned upon, regardless how badly he treated you, with the wife having to put up with the mistreatment.

  But, there was nobody in the community, who would say anything against Sheila’s decision, after the truth finally emerged.

  Arne himself accompanied her to the court, even though she found the strength and resolve to face her, now, ex-husband.

  They were joined by David, with own reason and agenda for being there.

  Henry, sung like a canary when arrested, so at least possessed company of his own in the dock.

  Brendan Reilly, sat in an ill-fitting suit, sobbed like a baby.

  Tony sat adjacent to him, attempting, but failing miserably, to appear he could not care less whether he went down for assault or not.

  Which he did.

  His sentence was harsher than Brendan’s, who admitted though he was an accomplice to the crime, he had not physically assaulted the young blacksmith.

  In his mind, Henry thought his sentence would be lessened and more lenient, due to his confession and the information he gave the authorities regarding O’Leary’s ‘other’ business activities.

  But, to his abject dismay, it was not to be.

  To kill two birds with one stone, the court deemed it best to try him on the same day, for the charges of assaulting his wife and child.

  This was in addition, to calling a special hearing to hear his wife’s plea and grounds for divorce.

  Henry did not have a good day, by any stretch of the imagination.

  O’Leary was not in attendance upon that day, nor the day after, nor the day afterwards.

  According to the police, they were still attempting to establish the whereabouts of Mr O’Leary.

  Arriving at his plush house in Childwall, they discovered the house emptied of most of its contents.

  His prized Daimler was nowhere to be seen, but it was later discovered in the carpark of his premises in Bootle.

  It took them a while to place the pieces together, until they interviewed the elderly watchman who worked there and discovered one of the large heavy good vehicles was missing.

  The watchman explained, there were only two sets of keys to each of the vehicles making up O’Leary’s fleet. One set, was kept in the office upstairs were the different drivers signed them in and out and all the spares, were kept by O’Leary himself.

  Enquires, into the whereabouts of both the van and Mr and Mrs O’Leary, were ongoing even now, months later, as Arne took a sip of tea from the mug in his large hand.

  “Plenty of milk, if you need any more in yer cuppa!” Wally called to him, laughing.

  Arne and Sheila reciprocated, watching the youngster settle into the seat of the dairy float.

  The door to the house opposite opened and Patty stepped out onto the pavement, greeting them with a hearty wave.

  “Hiya Patty!” Sheila waved back.

  Patty knew her eyesight had seen far better days, but there was no denying the way Sheila looked, even from across the road.

  Radiant, settled, content, happy.

  Walking across to them, she stopped for a moment to present Comet with a lump of sugar.

  “No more apples?” Wally asked, with a knowing smile.

  “I think we all learned our lesson last time, didn’t we?” Patty replied, patting Comet on his neck and making her way to Sheila.

  “How’s the job going, Arne?” Patty asked.

  “It’s going great Mrs Bennett, thank you for asking,” he replied.

  Joey Wilson was true to his word and kept horses on for delivering some of the rounds.

  Motorised transportation was becoming more and more in use and essential in his business, but he was still true to the tradition, his Father held dear to his heart.

  The discovery of the will, indeed revealed Archie bequeathed Comet, to the hands of his dear friend Albert.

  Albert, having no idea of what to do with a horse, immediately sought the advice of the regulars at the Volley.

  After a substantial amount of debate between the clientele, and an even more substantial amount of drink, it was Ron who suggested contacting Wilsons, to see if they had a place for Comet.

  Joey Wilson, embraced the idea wholeheartedly.

  “It’s what my Father would have wanted,” he informed Ron and Albert, after Ron delivered Comet to the dairy, inside the back of his wagon.

  It was a journey Ron took slowly and carefully, escorted by Constable Anderson, driving his patrol car slowly in front of the lorry.

  The local press covered both the story and the journey of the hero horse ‘Comet’, emblazoned across the front pages.

  The streets were thronged with crowds of well-wishers, shouting cheers of encouragement and waving at Ron and a slightly embarrassed Albert, sat in the cab alongside him.

  The press also awaited them at Wilsons dairy when they arrived, cameras at the ready when the large door at the back of the lorry, was lowered to the ground.

  Stood in the back of the van, facing the awaiting press were all the children, Iris and David standing closely behind them.

  They waved at the large crowd formed in the yard of the Dairy, smiling as flash after flash of Cameras greeted them.

  The children walked down the ramp towards the ground, closely followed by David and Iris.

  They lined up either side of the ramp, the crowd erupted in loud cheers as Arne appeared, holding onto Comets reins and leading him gently down the ramp.

  Joey Wilson rushed across the yard, to greet them.

  “Glad you made it in one piece,” he said loudly, over the din of the crowd, holding out his hand.

  “Glad to get him here,” Arne said, shaking it.

  Joey shook their hands in turn, before walking to Comet, currently being stroked by many hands and having his picture taken by the press.

  He stroked Comets mane and stared into his dark, soulful eyes.

  “Welcome home son,” he said, “welcome home.”

  ****

  “I’m so glad to hear that love,” Patty said, smiling.

  “How’s your Iris? I haven’t seen much of her lately,” Sheila asked.

  “Oh, that’s because she spends most of her days over in Woolton Village,” Patty replied.

  “Woolton Village? That’s a bit of a distance, isn’t it? How come she’s spending her time there? Is it a new job or something, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Of course, I don’t mind you asking,” Patty replied, “you’ll find out soon enough, when you get the invitation.”

  Sheila stared at her puzzled, whilst Arne smiled knowingly.

  He already knew what invitation Patty was referring to, ensuring there was only person who would be allowed to shoe Comet and that particular person, confided in him his intentions.

  It was not easy keeping the information from Sheila, the woman he loved with each essence of his being, but he managed it.

  “Her and David are engaged to be married,” Patty answered, smiling proudly.

  “Oh, Patty that’s wonderful news!” She said, embracing her.

  “Thank you so much,” Patty replied, returning the gesture of affection.

  “They’re moving into a cottage in the grounds of the Blacksmiths David works for,” Patty said, “I’ve been up to see him and his wife, they’re a lovely couple. The cottage needs a fair bit of cleaning up and a splash or two of paint, but David and our Iris love every minute of it.”

  “I guess, this is as good a time as any,” Arne said from behind them.

  They both turned to face him.

  He towered over them for a moment, before slowly kneeling on one knee, taking one of Sheila’s hands in his, completely engulfing it in a gentle grip.

  “What?” She managed to utter.

  “Sheila, I know this may seem too soon,” he said, “but, would you do me the honour of taking my hand in marriage and be
ing my wife?”

  Turning, he looked over his shoulders at Wally, sat open-mouthed on the cart.

  “With Wally’s permission of course,” he said, winking and smiling at the young boy.

  “Say yes Mam, say yes!” Wally yelled.

  “I, I don’t know what to say, I, I…Of course I will! Yes! Yes! Oh Arne!”

  Pulling her hand from his embrace, she flung it around his broad shoulders, pulling him closely to her, tears streaming down her cheeks, holding him tightly.

  Placing his large arms around her gently, he looked up as a loud motorbike came into view from around the corner.

  Its engine screeched loudly, the girl sat in the side-car attached to it, screeching nearly as loud.

  Slowing immediately, when he saw the horse, the rider pulled the bike to a stop opposite from them.

  The girl clambered from the side-car, shaking her finger at the rider, before rushing to where they stood.

  “Hiya Mrs B, hiya Shee,” she said, pausing to give Comet a stroke.

  “Hello Maureen love,” Patty replied, “is that your new fella?”

  “Oh, that’s Mickey. We’ve been going steady now for months. I think this is the real thing,” she said excitedly.

  Groaning, Wally stared into the blue skies above.

  Not another one!

  “Love, must certainly be in the air today,” Patty said.

  “Oh, why’s that then Mrs B, you haven’t gone and got yourself a feller ‘ave you?”

  “Behave yourself Maureen!” Patty exclaimed.

  They turned, seeing the figure of Pam approaching them, holding a bag at her side.

  “Hiya love,” Patty said, as she reached them.

  “Hello Patty love,” Pam replied, “how are you today?”

  “As well as I ever could be Pam, it seems things are looking up for once, all’s good at our end. How about you?”

  “Oh, we’re great Patty thanks,” Pam replied, “just taking some sandwiches, to Ron and the boys.”

  “Oh, Pam love, you didn’t have to make the boys any, I can do that,” Patty said.

  “Don’t worry about it Patty, it’s my pleasure.”

  “I wonder how they are getting on?”

  “Knowing my Ron and his handyman skills, it’ll be a wonder if the thing hasn’t fell apart by now,” Pam replied smiling.