Daughter of Dark River Farm

by Terri Nixon

  But the house was all dark; it was predawn and there would have been no sense in Jessie and Belinda worrying Frances and the others into a sleepless night. Belinda was probably asleep by now too, and even if Jessie were awake I could be quiet enough that she wouldn’t hear me.

  The lantern Belinda had brought out was still on the ground in front of the barn, and I picked it up and turned to Nathan. ‘Matches?’

  He fumbled a silver box from his pocket, and gave it to me before pulling open the barn door as quietly as the broken latch would allow. I stepped inside before I lit the lantern, and in its light I saw his face had taken on a pinched look; things had grown taut between us again, the pleasant interlude of the drive home was no more.

  ‘You must understand, if anyone but you comes out of that house, I will run.’

  It was on the tip of my tongue to say, ‘Do it, and be damned; it’s your life,’ but I didn’t. I could see the fear in the set of his brow, and in the tremble of his lips. Besides, it was Lily’s life too.

  ‘I’ll keep Amy with me,’ he said, and held up a hand as I started to protest. ‘No, listen. She’s in no danger. But you’ll be quicker and quieter on your own.’

  I eyed him closely, then realised the only real hostage was the Kalteng Star. The lantern swung, illuminating the blood-soaked strip of sacking on the floor, and my stomach clenched at the sight of it. One minute it had bound my arm to Archie’s, our heartbeats finding each other through the thin skin of our wrists, the next it had been pressed tight against Archie’s chest, glistening with blood, and held there by that same hand.

  I saw Nathan’s gaze follow my own, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. He took a long, deep breath and I could hear it shaking when he let it out again. ‘Don’t go to him,’ he said, and I’m sure he meant it as a warning but we both heard the desperation and pleading in his voice. He turned to me. ‘I mean it, Kitty, no-one can know I’m here.’

  I nodded, and left him the lantern, then bent and kissed Amy’s soft, rounded cheek. ‘Soon be time to go to bed, sweetheart,’ I said. ‘I just need you to stay here and look after Nathan for a minute while I go and find something. All right?’

  She nodded and sat down on her favourite hay bale, the same one Archie had leaned against earlier. I saw my folded pullover on the floor… How could I go into that house now, knowing he lay in Frances’s bedroom, and not go to him?

  ‘Mister Arsh?’ she said, as if she’d read my mind.

  I choked back a little sound of distress, and smoothed her hair. ‘He’s sleeping, but you’ll see him at breakfast.’

  As I crossed the yard to the kitchen I couldn’t help wondering, with a low feeling of dread, if I’d just told yet another lie. The biggest one of all.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  In our room, Belinda lay face down, with one arm hanging off the edge of her bed, snoring lightly. I found myself glad for once, that she slept like the dead; if it made for a ridiculously difficult job waking her for work, at least it meant that the harsh squeak of the top drawer, where I’d put the money, did no more than make her snuffle and twitch her fingers.

  I let out a relieved sigh, tucked the packet into my pocket and crept from the room, pulling the door closed carefully. As the metal arm of the latch clicked into its notch, I held my breath and peered down the landing, waiting for the telltale flicker of someone lighting a lamp. Nothing happened, and I cast a longing glance at Frances’s bedroom door. Behind it, Archie would be lying, either sleeping or trying to sleep, no doubt worrying about me, and about Amy. And also, I realised with a flicker of exasperated affection, worried about Nathan. It would be the quickest, easiest thing in the world for me to go in, tell him we were all right, and then go down to the barn.

  My fingers hovered by the latch, my thumb extended ready to press down on the flattened metal, but I couldn’t do it. Archie would want to know everything, and when I told him about the money the girls had given Amy, and that I was giving it away, he would try and stop me. He’d believe it was possible to keep the money and still persuade Nathan to stay, but he’d be wrong. And he’d hurt himself even more proving it.

  My hand drew back slowly, reluctantly, and I curled the fingers into my palms so they wouldn’t be tempted to return to the cool metal that would simply clunk gently, and then let the barrier between Archie and me swing away. It was painfully difficult, but I stepped back from his door, and turned to go downstairs, Amy’s future bumping against my thigh.

  I couldn’t tell how long I’d been in the house; it felt like hours and I fumbled my way back across the dark kitchen, hitting the edge of the table with my hip in my frantic hurry to return to the barn, in case Nathan had grown impatient. I was almost there, when the door to the hallway opened and I saw Jessie, fully clothed and with a paraffin lamp in her hand.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  I wanted to just tell her to go to bed, but my heart overtook my impatience. ‘How is Archie?’

  ‘Sleeping. No thanks to you and your noise.’ She relaxed slightly, and put the lamp on the table. ‘He’s well, Kitty. He’s tired, and sore, and horribly worried about you, but he was too exhausted to stay awake, particularly after Belinda force-fed him the last of Frances’s best whisky. The others don’t know anything yet. What happened? Where’s Amy?’

  ‘With Nathan, in the barn. I’m…I’m taking him Amy’s money so he’ll go.’

  ‘Her money? For goodness’ sake, Kitty, that’s—’

  ‘I have no choice!’ I moved towards the door again but she grabbed my arm. I wrenched it free. ‘He won’t give back the diamond unless he has something to pay his creditors with.’

  ‘So you’re using Amy’s money to buy back a rich woman’s trinket? Why? Call the constable!’

  ‘If he sees anyone but me he’s going to run. And he still has Amy.’

  ‘He won’t hurt her, will he?’

  ‘I’d like to think not, but look what he did to Archie when he was scared. Jessie, if the police come, Nathan knows he will be put back in prison and it’ll make him—’

  ‘Back in prison?’

  I almost howled in frustration, but tried, unsuccessfully, to keep my voice lowered. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll tell you later! Just let me go, will you? For goodness’ sake, I know you’ve had a terrible time but you have to learn to trust someone, sometime!’ I stopped, breathing hard and wondering how loudly I’d shouted.

  There was a pause, then she gestured at my bulging pocket. ‘How much is there?’

  I took out the packet. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Then neither does he.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Well then, if he’s promised to go away with whatever you give him, take most of it out.’

  I blinked. Why hadn’t I thought of that? ‘I…I’m…right!’

  ‘Honestly, Kitty, you are a bit thick.’

  ‘I’ve been a bit distracted,’ I pointed out acidly, as I had to Nathan. ‘Why are you back, anyway? Our wages have run out already, have they?’

  ‘Wages?’

  ‘The ones you took from the jar, before you stormed off leaving Frances in pieces.’

  ‘I do wish you wouldn’t keep accusing me of things I haven’t done! I didn’t take any wages, you little idiot. If money has gone missing, don’t you think it more likely to have been Nathan when he was fetching the key to the barn?’ I groaned; of course it was. I felt dreadful, and wanted to say so, but she was still talking. ‘Now take out most of that and put it somewhere safe.’ She separated the money into two vastly uneven piles, and gave me the smallest one.

  I looked at the thin pile of notes doubtfully. ‘I don’t think this will be enough to make him leave.’

  ‘It’s going to have to be.’

  ‘No, give me some of that back.’ I glared at her in the jumping light of the lamp, and she sighed and gave me half of the remaining pile. ‘Thank you.’

  She finally stepped to one side and let me pull open the door. I looked back to ensure s
he stayed put, and she folded her arms and fixed me with a cool look. I wondered why she was back; was it just to collect some of her belongings? I hoped not, but at the moment I had more important things to think about, and I shook my head to clear it of everything but Amy.

  I welcomed the faint light from the kitchen as I crossed quickly to the barn, and pulled open the door so I could see in the light from the paraffin lamp that stood on the worktable. I looked at that table for a moment. Could it really have been such a short time ago that Archie and I had stood there and pledged our lives to each other? Since he had shown me just how badly he danced? Since Amy had been playing happily with the hay, the day’s work had been almost done, and Archie and I had been thinking no deeper thoughts than the anticipation of an evening together. Tenderness and conversation, and the bliss of two bodies made for each other. It seemed impossible to imagine now.

  ‘Have you got it?’

  I jumped and turned. Nathan’s hands rested at his sides, his fingers curling and uncurling, as if he didn’t know what to do with them. At least he had no weapon this time. ‘Yes,’ I said. I proffered the packet and he stepped forward and took it, and I could feel his hands shaking. He pulled out the pile of notes, and I held my breath; it was a long way from being enough to pay off his debt, but perhaps he would take it and offer it to his creditors, to show his intention to repay when he could.

  ‘Oh, I see!’ The voice from behind me made my heart stutter, and I whirled to see Jessie, standing in the doorway. ‘You’ll give it to him, but you won’t give it to me!’

  ‘What? I told you—’

  ‘You know how badly I needed it!’ she went on, coming farther into the barn. I could see her face alight with betrayed anger, and belatedly realised what had lain behind her insistence on removing most of the money from the packet. I felt half faint with fury at myself—how foolish could I have been? Decision after decision tonight had been rushed, panicked and lethally wrong.

  I saw a chance, with the doorway unobstructed. ‘Amy!’ I said. ‘Go into the house, quickly. Run and find Miss Belinda. She’s in the dorm.’

  I half expected Jessie to grab at the little girl as she passed her, and was ready to lunge if she did, but she stood aside, too interested in the real prize in Nathan’s trembling hand. ‘I always knew you were a little sneak,’ she told me, though still not looking at me, ‘but I thought you’d have been glad to see me go.’

  ‘I was,’ I said tightly. The relief that Amy was safe was making me reckless, and I stepped forwards. ‘Nathan, give me Evie’s diamond. You two can fight over the money all you like.’

  He put his free hand into his pocket, and withdrew a tobacco tin. ‘It’s in there,’ he said, tossing it to me. Somehow I caught it, and fumbled it open. Fragrant tobacco spilled out, curls of dark brown that drifted to the floor in the light of the lantern, and then my fingers withdrew the hard, perfectly circular gold band in which the famed Kalteng Star was set. I was struck breathless by its beauty; simple and stunning, in daylight it would look even more so, but even in this flickering light it was like holding the night sky in my hand.

  I was momentarily transfixed by the sight, and only vaguely aware of the sound of the kitchen door slamming closed behind Amy, and a movement from the corner of my eye, but a second later a viciously hard hand was in my hair, hooked fingers pulling my head back. I saw a blur, then felt the sharpness of metal pressed beneath my jaw, and my heart stopped beating as I closed my eyes and waited…

  ‘Give me the money, Nathan,’ Jessie said. Her voice was tight with malice, and if I could have moved I’d have torn the skin from her face. ‘Don’t think I won’t do this. You know there’s no love lost between us. They’ll blame you anyway; everyone knows what you did to Archie. And no-one else knows I’m back.’

  I opened my mouth to refute this obvious lie, but felt the spike of what I now realised was the dibble press into the skin of my neck and I could feel tears of terror prickling at my eyes—what if it all ended here? After everything, all the danger in Flanders, the midnight dash to rescue Amy, my terror for Archie… What if it all ended right here in a smelly barn, with that cursed diamond still in my hand?

  I raised the hand that somehow still clutched the Kalteng Star. ‘Take it,’ I managed, my eyes still closed. I was glad I hadn’t told her about the danger of trying to sell it, although I probably would if she let me go; I didn’t want to see her dead any more than I wished it on Nathan.

  ‘I don’t want that,’ she said, and pulled my head back harder. I couldn’t prevent a tiny cry from escaping, and was relieved when her grip slackened, just a little bit. But the dibble never wavered and I could feel a drop of blood rolling down the side of my neck. ‘The money, Nathan, or you’ll be arrested for murder before you get to the end of the lane.’

  I heard a small thud at my feet, and then I was free, stumbling to the side, away from her reach, my fingers going to my neck and coming away bloody. I heard Nathan’s feet pounding as he broke and ran for the door. Jessie bent to pick up the packet and looked briefly at the contents, and I wondered if I’d be able to rush her and knock her off balance. She came over to me, and I was horrified and ashamed to feel myself shrinking back, despite my brave intentions, my heart hammering in terror. She still held the dibble in one hand, and looked down at it, frowning. Then she turned to the door, flipped the twice-bloodied tool over in her hand so she held it by the spike, and threw it out into the yard, watching it spin end over end until it left the circle of light from the paraffin lamp. I heard it hit the side of the water trough with a ringing scrape of metal on stone, and then fall to the ground.

  Then, to my stunned disbelief, she turned back to me, hefted the packet of money, and shoved it into my pocket. ‘For goodness’ sake, Kitty. You’ve got to learn to trust someone, sometime.’

  ‘You—’

  ‘Sorry about the scratch,’ she added, and tilted my head to the side. ‘It really is just tiny, though.’

  ‘Why didn’t you warn me?’ I managed.

  ‘Because you’d have been waiting for me, and it wouldn’t have worked.’ Jessie gently wiped away a fresh bead of blood from my neck with her thumb. ‘I’m sorry I frightened you.’ Her voice had softened now. ‘And Amy too.’

  I looked at the door, through which Amy had disappeared, and a cold hand clutched at my heart, for a second. What if Nathan had caught her again?

  ‘I waited ’til she had gone into the house,’ Jessie said, reading my thoughts with uncanny accuracy. ‘Anyway, he wouldn’t. He’s a bad one, but he’s not that bad. Besides, he’ll just run now. He has no choice.’

  I looked down at the Kalteng Star, still clutched in my hand. Relief was setting in now the shock had worn off, and I had time to appreciate the value of what I held, and its short history here in England. The Creswell family, Evie and Lizzy’s friendship…and Oaklands Manor. Although the house would no longer have the benefit of the diamond’s ownership, it had Lawrence’s own legacy of care for the wounded. And it would have life, and even children running through its rooms again, if Evie and Will chose to live there after the war.

  I turned to Jessie, who had folded her arms and looked awkward now, and even shy. ‘Why are you back?’ I asked her again quietly, hoping she would stay, for Frances’s sake. I would find a way to live with her for a few more days, until I left for Belgium again.

  Jessie blew her fringe away from her eyes. ‘As much as I hate to admit it, it’s because of what you said. About what I was doing to the people who love me. You were right, that’s all.’ She looked at me almost defiantly, waiting for me to play the superior no doubt, but I was absurdly touched by her honesty.

  ‘And you’ll stay?’

  ‘If Frances will let me.’

  ‘Of course she will.’

  ‘What about you?’ she wanted to know, and now she sounded timid again.

  ‘What about me?’

  ‘How would you feel if I stayed?’

  It was on the ti
p of my tongue to ask why she cared, but her expression was one of genuine, anxious hope, and I bit back the words. Instead I reached for her hand. ‘I’d like it.’

  ‘Truly?’

  ‘Truly. I like you, Jessie. I never understood you, but I like you. You frighten me, but I like you. You annoy me no end…’ she grinned at that, and I grinned back ‘…but I like you.’

  ‘Good,’ she said, ‘because I like you too. Even though you are a pompous know-it-all.’

  ‘Then we’re agreed.’

  ‘It seems so.’

  ‘You’re the prickly, annoying daughter, and I’m the pompous know-it-all one.’

  ‘Frances is very lucky to have us,’ Jessie said solemnly, as we left the barn behind and walked towards the house, where lights were coming on in various rooms.

  Crossing the yard, past the henhouses, I remembered the noises I’d heard when I’d been locked in the barn. ‘What were you doing, scrabbling around the henhouses?’

  I heard her laugh softly in the darkness. ‘The house was locked. I was going to sleep in one of them.’

  I raised an eyebrow, although she couldn’t see. ‘Lots of rats around there, you know.’

  ‘Not really. Just small brown hens. With long tails.’

  Epilogue

  Harvest Festival Celebration, Sunday 30 September 1917

  Evie and I had left Archie and Will reminiscing over their strange and difficult first meeting, and everything that had happened since. They were the only men not dancing, apart from two soldiers in hospital blue, and Amy was sitting on Archie’s lap, playing with the lapel of his coat and pushing the handle of her spoon through his buttonhole. I’d watched for a while, fascinated, and the concentration on Amy’s face was only broken once, when someone danced too close and knocked her arm. The spoon tumbled from her grasp, but I felt a glow of warmth and quiet pleasure as I noticed that her face didn’t melt into the familiar look of dismay, followed by relief when she found it still attached by the ribbon; this time she found her interest taken by the dancer, instead, and her eyes followed as the woman was once again swallowed up by the crowd. Only after she’d gone did Amy pick up her spoon again and return her attention to Archie’s buttonhole.