Pengarron Pride

by Pengarron Pride (retail) (epub)

  Kerensa stayed sprawled on the doorstep, her back leaning heavily against the door. She tried to gain her breath.

  ‘I need help… Kenver… for Jack… we were attacked… by thieves up… on the edge of… the fields. He’s lying out there… barely alive. Where is everyone? Where’s Alice? …I need her, Kenver. My baby’s coming!’

  Kenver wheeled himself closer. He looked grave. ‘I’m afraid Alice and Rosie have taken the children to a wedding at Perranbarvah. Clem and Father are cutting furze and logs and won’t be back for an hour or so.’

  ‘But Jack needs urgent attention!’ Kerensa wailed. ‘Isn’t there something we can do?’

  ‘I’m afraid not, but they won’t be late, they don’t leave me alone for long. Your baby won’t be born for a while yet, will it?’ he asked anxiously, her despair making him feel all the more helpless.

  Kerensa rubbed her dirtied hands over her bulge, painless and quiet for the moment. ‘I’m afraid it’s coming quicker than I first thought but not for quite a while, I hope. It’s Jack I’m worried about.’

  ‘Well, you won’t help Jack by sitting in the doorway,’ Kenver said. ‘Let me help you inside. Then we’ll just have to sit and wait it out together and pray Jack will be all right.’ Although his legs were useless Kenver’s arms had great strength and effortlessly he put them under Kerensa’s armpits and eased her up gently to sit on his lap. She held on thankfully to him as he wheeled his strange moving chair to a window in the corner of the room then helped her into a firm comfortable chair that was piled with colourful patchwork cushions.

  ‘Would you rather lie down, Kerensa? My bed’s through the next room so you won’t have to climb the stairs.’

  ‘No… thank you, Kenver. I’d rather stay here then I can see if someone’s coming.’

  ‘I’ll, um, fetch you a dish of tea,’ he said. ‘You look really parched.’

  ‘Your mother never had an empty teapot as I remember,’ Kerensa remarked, the memory almost making her smile.

  ‘Then I’ll get you some water so you can clean up a bit.’

  ‘Thank you, Kenver. You are kind.’ She rubbed at fresh tears and sniffed and gulped. Kenver reached round to a pile of laundry airing behind him and took one of Alice’s handkerchiefs which he gave to Kerensa. She thanked him and buried her face in it.

  ‘I wish I could do more for you, Kerensa,’ Kenver said, and seeing her only as a friend of the family in distress he patted her shoulder and wound her hair back behind her ears.

  ‘I’m just so glad you’re here, Kenver. It’s a great help.’

  ‘Have you any idea who attacked you?’ he asked, as he expertly manoeuvred his chair round the furniture to reach the teapot.

  ‘No… none at all,’ she sniffed, peering out through the window and willing Clem or Morley to appear.

  She took in the contents of the kitchen, noting the new touches Alice had made since Clem’s mother had died. Some of the ornaments on the mantelshelf were ones Alice had had in her room when she lived at the manor as Kerensa’s maid. The bellows leaning against the wall of the fireplace were on the lefthand side; Florrie Trenchard had always insisted they be kept on the right. On a little shelf beside a chair at the hearth she saw with irony a tinder box that she recognised as belonging to her late grandfather. Clem must have taken it from the cottage in Trelynne Cove after she and Old Tom Trelynne had left it deserted all those years ago. This room could have been her domain, she could have been Clem’s wife and shared his life with him here. With painful regret she wished she did not love two men. Even more painful was the fact that the one she needed the most at this moment could be halfway round the world, and might not even care.

  ‘Pity Mother isn’t here now,’ Kenver said, coming back with a mug of tea. ‘She was strong enough to have carried Jack home on her back and if Gran were alive she could have seen to you.’

  ‘Like I said, thank God you’re here, Kenver. I feel a bit safer,’ Kerensa said, gazing at him with blinking eyes. ‘It’s years since I was here last. You haven’t changed a bit.’

  ‘You have, you’ve changed a lot, Kerensa,’ he said, looking at her closely.

  ‘Have I?’

  ‘Yes. Even with your clothes all torn and your face scratched and dirty I can see you’re far more beautiful. Everyone says you are, and now I can see for myself. I’ll get that water I promised you and a cloth to wash your face.’

  Kerensa gulped at the bitter strong tea and watched him ladle water from a pail behind the door into a small tin bowl. Kenver was an attractive young man, his flawless skin pale from a life spent mostly indoors. His hair was lighter than Clem’s, almost white like the twins’, his eyes a deep violet blue. If he could stand, Kerensa believed he would be nearly as tall as Clem, and even with his physical disability she thought if ever he chose to leave the farm he would turn many a girl’s heart.

  Finishing the tea she put the mug on the deep windowsill. Kenver wheeled over and handed her a clean cloth, the one Alice used for washing the children. He kept the bowl of water on his lap.

  ‘When you’re ready,’ he said encouragingly.

  ‘You always were good to me, Kenver.’

  ‘I was a lovestruck boy of fifteen when I last saw you. I believed I loved you as much as Clem did.’

  Kerensa hung her head as she dabbed her sore face with the cloth. ‘It was one of the cruellest things to happen when… when I didn’t marry Clem… not being able to come to the farm and see you. You do understand… with Clem living here…’

  ‘Aye, but I knew I’d see you again one day and here you are.’

  ‘A pity it has to be with me in this sorry state and with poor Ja—’

  She clutched her stomach and lowered her head to her chest as another contraction came. Kenver took her hands and she gripped his long, cool, sensitive fingers until it must surely hurt.

  ‘Sorry,’ she said, a while later.

  ‘It’s all right, I did the same for Alice till she went upstairs with Jessica. Are you sure you won’t lie down?’

  ‘No, please, I’d rather stay here.’ A small look of fear creased her face. ‘There… there may come a time when I’ll have to.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he said soothingly. ‘I’m sure I’ll manage to do what I have to. One thing about being stuck most of my life in the house with the women is I’ve overheard a heck of a lot about childbirth and other unmentionable things. Now wash your hands and face, you’ll feel a bit better. Then we’ll sit quietly and pray for the Lord’s protection over Jack.’

  There were no clocks in Trecath-en Farm but Kenver reckoned when the sun dropped out of sight behind the barn and cast a long shadow over the yard an hour had passed. He hoped Clem or his father would appear very soon. Kerensa’s pains were becoming more frequent and knowing the layout of the farmland he knew Jack would be fully exposed under a scorching sun. He was worried about Kerensa. Her condition was weak and shocked for a woman about to face the final stages of labour and she was constantly falling into a faint. All his life Kenver had had people help and wait on him. Now, all of a sudden, here he was faced with the awesome responsibility of someone else’s welfare.

  A cheerful whistling from out in the yard brought Kerensa to consciousness, her body rigid. If she’d been able she would have jumped out of the chair. Painfully she stood up and went to the door, blinking in the light. Clem was strolling across the yard, his crib bag held loosely over his shoulder. Kerensa couldn’t move or cry out, only stand and watch the tall young man with blond hair coming towards her.

  When he saw her the crib bag was thrown aside. He ran, and in an instant she was in his arms, strong, capable, comforting arms to hold and protect her. She was safe now, held in his love. And then she drifted away into a sweet welcoming darkness.

  * * *

  ‘You’ve been asleep for nearly an hour,’ Clem told Kerensa gently.

  ‘Where am I?’ she murmured, gazing about the room where she lay in a small lumpy bed. ‘I’ve
not been here before.’

  He took her hot moist hands from the green and blue patchwork cover. ‘This is the main bedroom of the farm.’

  ‘Where you and Alice sleep?’

  ‘Aye, it was Father’s idea to move into the lean-to after Mother died and for us to come in here. I think he wanted some peace and quiet from the rest of us.’

  Kerensa smiled at the little bed in the corner where a rag doll she had made herself sat propped up against the pillow. It was Jessica’s bed and she could picture the tiny girl with the golden curls cuddling the doll in her sleep. Kerensa wanted to go back to sleep and closed her eyes again. But a terrifying vision of a young man, battered, bleeding and dying on a cart track invaded her mind and she screamed out his name. She struggled to sit up but Clem firmly held her down.

  ‘It’s all right, my love. Jack is in the lean-to. Father fetched him in the cart. It’s too risky to take either of you back to the manor so Adam Renfree, who arrived here a little while ago, has ridden off to Marazion to fetch Dr Crebo. Adam was worried out of his mind about you, he’s been out looking for you, he and many others, but they went to places like Trelynne Cove first.’

  ‘Jack’s alive? He’s still alive?’

  ‘Yes, my love, he’s still alive. Kenver’s with him, he’s cleaning up some of his wounds with Rosie’s concoctions, the stuff Beatrice taught her to make, so they won’t go septic.’

  ‘And Jack will be all right, Clem?’

  Clem stroked her cheek very tenderly. ‘We don’t know that for sure yet, my love, but we mustn’t give up hope.’

  Kerensa became calmer, she raised her arms and put her hands on Clem’s shoulders. ‘It’s so good to see you. I think I rode out this way in the first place with some vague idea of seeing you.’

  ‘You know I’m here whenever you want me.’ He softly kissed her flushed cheeks.

  ‘It was such a relief to find Kenver here in that strange contraption of his. It gave me quite a shock but I’m glad it helps him to get about.’

  ‘It was his idea, he made it himself.’

  ‘I must have given him a fright myself, turning up like this. Oh, what have I done, Clem,’ she said wretchedly. ‘It’s all my fault Jack got beaten the way he did. If I hadn’t insisted on—’

  ‘None of that.’ Clem pressed a finger to her lips. ‘Jack was hurt trying to protect you. It’s all that would have mattered to him.’

  ‘But he’s just a boy.’

  ‘No, my little sweet, Jack’s a grown man now.’

  ‘He’ll always be a boy to me, like one of my own children.’

  ‘And you’ll soon be adding another to your family,’ Clem said, pressing a hand to her forehead to feel her temperature.

  ‘What?’ Memory of her labour rushed back to her. ‘But the pains have stopped.’

  ‘No they haven’t, you’re so worn out you’ve been sleeping through them. I’ve felt your middle, it’s still contracting and they’re getting stronger.’

  As if to prove the truth of his words she felt the next pain. Caught unaware, it was sheer agony and she doubled over, fighting to control her breathing and letting out a loud squeal.

  ‘This one is different… to my other labours…’ she panted. ‘I wish Alice was here… and that… I had some of Beatrice’s… raspberry leaf tea to ease the discomfort…’

  Clem held her hands as Kenver had done. ‘I’ll go and have a look in Rosie’s box of remedies and see if she’s got some in there. Father’s gone to get Alice so she’ll be here quite soon.’

  ‘No!’ Kerensa said fearfully. ‘Please don’t leave me, it won’t be much longer now.’

  ‘If Father can get Dr Crebo to come straightaway he might feel he’ll have to treat Jack first. If Alice is not here in time, well, I’ve delivered many a calf and lamb.’

  * * *

  Kerensa had sunk back into the same welcome, comfortable darkness. When she opened her eyes her head was turned towards the window and she stared out at the cloudless pale blue sky and waited for the next contraction. None came.

  ‘Kerensa.’

  She turned to face Clem.

  ‘That’s the second time you’ve fainted on me today.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said wanly, ‘you always used to say you had no patience with silly fainting females.’

  ‘In your case you’re excused,’ he smiled. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to reveal suntanned arms about a bundle of cloth.

  ‘What have you got there?’ she asked sleepily.

  ‘This tiny little thing in my arms?’

  ‘Is it – my baby?’ Her face broke into a shining smile. ‘You have my baby?’

  ‘Aye, and she’s as beautiful as her mother.’

  ‘She?’

  ‘A tiny wisp of a thing but I reckon she’s fine. Do you want to hold her?’

  Kerensa held out her arms, she had no strength left to try to sit up. Clem sat on the bed, handed her the baby, then lifted her and encircled them both in his arms.

  ‘I’ve never held a newborn baby before. I’ve always been afraid of them, even my own, but it’s different when you help bring one into the world,’ he said proudly.

  ‘Just look at her,’ Kerensa whispered. ‘She was nearly full term but she’s smaller than your twins were.’

  ‘And with none of her mother’s red hair or… his black hair. It’s fair like mine. People could talk, you know,’ he teased.

  Kerensa laughed. ‘My father and grandfather were fair.’

  ‘Ah, but who will remember that?’

  Clem cupped the tiny warm head in his hand. The baby was quiet, putting her pink tongue in and out of her puckered red mouth as if she was tasting this new thing called air. Her eyes were open but not for long and she nestled into her mother’s breast and slept. She was wrapped in a floral patterned petticoat snatched from Alice’s drawer and tenderly Clem positioned the fabric to cover the top of her head to keep her warm.

  ‘I did a good job helping this little one into the world but I suppose I should have found something more suitable than this to put her in,’ he confessed. ‘I just didn’t think.’ Kerensa kissed her daughter’s forehead and said, ‘Now isn’t that just like a man! This will do for now.’

  Clem gently tilted Kerensa’s face to look into her eyes. ‘There is a part of you, Kerensa, that belongs to me. A part of you Oliver Pengarron can never have. I helped to bring this child into the world. I was the first person to set eyes on her, the first to hold her and I feel a part of her belongs to me too… Have you got a name for her?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t given much thought to what the baby I was carrying would be called.’

  ‘Kelynen is nice, Cornish for holly, and right now she’s as red as a holly berry.’

  ‘It’s a beautiful name,’ Kerensa said thoughtfully.

  ‘A beautiful child deserves a beautiful name.’

  ‘Yes,’ Kerensa said, sadly. ‘I was hoping I wouldn’t have to choose alone and she must be called something.’

  Chapter 26

  Two days later Alice Trenchard, holding the new baby snuggled in close to her body, sat beside Kerensa in the Trenchard farm cart for the journey to take mother and child home. Morley drove the team of two oxen with Nathan O’Flynn and Adam Renfree riding as escort. All three men kept a wary eye open in case of any more trouble. Morley had wanted Kerensa to send for a Pengarron carriage, worried that any other means of conveyance would be uncomfortable for her and the baby. But Kerensa had insisted the farm cart with plenty of straw and a couple of pillows was more than suitable. She nursed a secret fear that a rich man’s coach might attract the attention of more highwaymen.

  Kerensa cast Alice many a sly look, turning quickly away whenever Alice looked back at her.

  ‘What?’ Alice asked eventually.

  ‘Oh, nothing.’

  ‘Must be something. Have I got a dirty mark on my face or something?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What then?’

  ‘You
look different, that’s all.’

  ‘Different? In what way different?’

  Kerensa pouted her lips, picked up a long straw and bent it over and over while she considered. ‘Well, you’re sort of bubbly. More like you were when you lived at the manor.’

  ‘Oh, that sort of different. I suppose I had become rather matronly over the years,’ Alice said breezily, ‘and I suppose I do feel sort of… bubbly today.’

  ‘You’ve been the same way since the baby was born. If it’s going to make such a difference to you perhaps I should come over to the farm next time I want to deliver a baby.’ Alice looked at her friend to see if the remark reminded her that the father of the baby she was holding and any future babies was not around any more, but Kerensa was in a lighthearted mood today.

  Alice smiled contentedly, more to herself than to Kerensa.

  They reached the part of the rutted track where the attack had occurred and Kerensa looked anxiously about. She shuddered at the pale stains on the ground where she’d been forced to leave Jack lying hurt.

  ‘Don’t you worry, m’dear,’ Morley called back to her. ‘They swine be long gone from hereabouts by now.’

  ‘Aye,’ Nathan added from his horse, patting the firearm resting across his saddle, ‘and this’ll see to any troublemakers, m’lady.’

  ‘We’re ready for anything, m’lady,’ Adam said, in a tough voice, ‘and Nathan’s dogs are running about sniffing everything in sight. You have nothing to worry about.’

  ‘You all right?’ Alice asked, squeezing her arm.

  Kerensa assured them all that she was and the company fell silent. She didn’t regain her earlier light mood until they were travelling over the manor’s parklands.

  Kerensa watched the way Alice was cooing to her baby even though she was peacefully sleeping.

  ‘I know,’ she said triumphantly, clapping a hand down on Alice’s arm, ‘you’re having another baby yourself. I should have guessed at once. You always gaze wistfully at every new baby in the parish when you’re expecting.’