Tangled Threads

by Margaret Dickinson

  Oh, Jimmy, Eveleen sighed inwardly, but now the words were not spoken aloud. Why did you have to do it? Why did you have to stir up trouble for me and then bring such tragedy on poor Rebecca?

  And still I’m left carrying all the blame.

  Andrew arrived the following day and was invited to stay the night, and on the Sunday Josh arrived, driving Mr Richard’s pony and trap.

  Eveleen was still not strong enough to leave her bedroom, but each day she sat out of bed for longer periods of time.

  Josh lowered himself into a chair near her as she sat beside a window, flung open to let in the warm day.

  ‘How can I ever thank you, Josh?’ she began but he waved her gratitude aside.

  ‘I’m just so glad to see you getting well again and that we found your mother and the babby safe.’ He was thoughtful for a moment before he remarked, ‘She’s a different woman out here, isn’t she?’

  Eveleen nodded and her gaze went to the scene outside the window. She heard all the usual farmyard noises she had known for most of her life. The clatter of buckets. The lowing of cattle. The grumbling and scratching of hens about the yard. The occasional squeal of a pig. The sound of horses’ hooves and the rattle of cartwheels.

  It was home, especially for her mother. It was the only place Mary had ever known real happiness.

  Eveleen gave a deep sigh. ‘I’ve got to get her back here. Somehow I’ve got to find a place for us to live back home.’

  Her gaze was intent upon the idyllic country scene below her, so that she did not see the gleam in Josh Carpenter’s eyes.

  The following Sunday, Josh was late arriving at the farm.

  ‘I wonder why he hasn’t come,’ Mary said, her glance going to the farmyard gate for the fiftieth time that morning.

  ‘Mary, how many more layers are you going to take off that potato. You’ve peeled the same one three times now,’ Sarah said, laughing.

  ‘Oh!’ Startled, Mary dropped the potato into the bowl, the earthy water splashing her white apron.

  ‘Come on, Mam, you go and sit outside with Bridie and watch the lane.’ Gently Eveleen took the knife from her mother’s fingers. ‘I’ll do these.’

  ‘Are you sure, love? Are you sure you’re strong enough?’

  Eveleen felt tears prickle her eyes. It was the first time in an age that her mother had voiced real concern for her. She put her arms around Mary’s slim waist and hugged her.

  To her surprise, she felt her mother’s arms creep around her and hug her in return.

  As they drew apart they smiled at each other, a little embarrassed, and Eveleen’s voice was unsteady as she said, ‘I’m fine, Mam, honest. Off you go.’

  ‘Well, I don’t think he’s going to come now,’ Mary said as they all sat down around the dinner table. Her voice was flat with disappointment. ‘He wouldn’t be late for one of Sarah’s Sunday dinners, I know.’

  ‘Maybe he’s just got delayed,’ Sarah said comfortingly as she placed a joint of beef in front of her husband for him to carve. Then she moved between the range and the table placing tureens of steaming vegetables before them. ‘Help yourselves.’

  There was silence around the table except for the clatter of cutlery and crockery. When they were all served and began to eat, Mary picked at the food on her plate. ‘I’m sure he isn’t coming.’ She put a piece of meat into her mouth and chewed it round and round, but all the time her gaze was on the yard beyond the window.

  It was as Sarah stood up to clear away the plates that they all heard the sound of wheels.

  Mary sprang up with more energy than Eveleen had seen in her for a long time. Sarah beamed, ‘There you are, you see.’

  But Mary was gone, flying out through the back door.

  Joe Elgin and his wife exchanged a glance and then Sarah winked at Eveleen. ‘I told you, didn’t I?’ But now the girl was sure that her words held more meaning than that she had been right about Josh’s late arrival.

  They squeezed in through the door, with Mary clinging to his arm. ‘Why are you late? We thought you weren’t coming.’

  ‘I’ve kept a plate warm for you, Josh. Come and sit down,’ Sarah called.

  Josh beamed all round and eased himself into a chair at the table while Joe carved slices of beef and Sarah piled his plate with vegetables. Mary pulled her chair close to him and, as he began to eat, picked up her knife and fork and finished her own meal too.

  Eveleen and Sarah glanced at each other in amusement. She’s right, Eveleen thought, there is something going on between Mam and Josh. The thought pleased her. She liked Josh, and if he brought a sparkle to her mother’s eyes again, Eveleen would be the very last person to complain.

  They all waited until Josh and Mary had finished their first course and then Sarah served the pudding. When at last Josh pushed away his empty plate and leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh, he glanced around and said, ‘I’ve got some wonderful news for you. Mary – Eveleen – you’re going home.’

  Eveleen, though she was feeling stronger with each day, could not stop the stab of disappointment. But she had known the day would come and knew, too, that she and her family could no longer impose upon the Elgins’ goodness.

  ‘Sarah says I can stop the night so that I can take you in the morning.’ He went on, rubbing his hands together.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ Eveleen murmured. ‘So soon?’

  ‘Yes.’ Josh could not keep the gleeful note from his voice. ‘Yes, by tomorrow, we’ll have you all back home.’

  Fifty-Seven

  ‘Now, are you sure you’re going to be all right,’ Sarah said, wrapping warm blankets around Eveleen as she sat in the trap early the following morning.

  ‘We’ll be fine.’ Eveleen tried to reassure herself as well as Sarah, but she could not help thinking of the cold, unwelcoming house that awaited them in Foundry Yard.

  ‘Now, Mary, you sit beside me,’ Josh was saying and added to Sarah, ‘You can put the cradle on the floor, between our feet.’

  Sarah had found a wicker cradle in the loft too and had lined it and made little blankets for it. Now she was looking as if she didn’t want to part with either the cradle or the child lying in it.

  Eveleen reached out her arms. ‘Please, come and see us whenever you can. You know our address in the city. We’d love to see you.’

  Sarah looked up and smiled, but it was at Josh that she directed her glance. ‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘Oh yes, I’ll come and see you all right.’

  There was a flurry of goodbyes and then they were moving off. As they turned out of the gate, Eveleen said, ‘You’re going the wrong way, Josh.’

  ‘No, no, I’m not. I thought your mother might like a little ride in the country before we go home. All right, Mary?’

  Eveleen watched as her mother slipped her arm through the big man’s and said with a coy smile, ‘Whatever you say, Josh.’

  They were going in the wrong direction all together. They were heading towards Bernby and even further away from Nottingham.

  Eveleen bit her lip and glanced at her mother. She was anxious that if her mother saw their former home empty and deserted and falling into disrepair it would upset her.

  It had upset her, Eveleen thought, never mind her mother whose emotions were very unstable. But Mary seemed to be enjoying the drive and when they neared familiar landmarks, she cried out excitedly, ‘There’s Bernby church on top of the hill. Poor Walter’s buried there you know. We ought to take flowers there before we leave, didn’t we, Eveleen?’

  ‘Yes, Mam,’ Eveleen agreed reluctantly and glanced at her worriedly. She would love to visit her father’s resting place, but to take Mary might bring all the memories, good and bad, flooding back. But Mary was still smiling and looking about her. Then before Eveleen could protest, Mary was pleading, ‘Oh, do take us to the farmhouse where we used to live. I’d love to see it, just one more time. Please, Josh.’

  Josh’s eyes positively twinkled. ‘If you’re sure you’d like to
see it, Mary?’

  ‘I would. Oh, I would,’ she breathed and then directed him happily, not realizing that Josh already knew the way.

  Eveleen pulled the blanket closely around her and hunched her shoulders miserably. She didn’t want to cause an argument, but she was sure that seeing their old home would swiftly dispel Mary’s new-found happiness. It might even topple her over the edge into a bout of confused depression once more. At the Elgins’ farm and under Sarah’s placid care, Mary had been like her old self. Now, Eveleen was sure, all that was going to disappear in an instant.

  As they pulled into the yard, Eveleen saw at once the change in the place since their last, brief, visit.

  Hens wandered about the yard and from the pigsties came the sounds of noisy occupants. In the field close by, half a dozen cows grazed contentedly. She looked at the house. Windows were flung wide and curtains – still the ones they had left but now freshly laundered – blew in the breeze. The back door stood open to the warm, sunny day.

  ‘Josh, we mustn’t stay,’ Eveleen said at once. ‘Someone’s moved in. Someone’s living here now.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Josh said as he looped the reins and stood up to alight, his weight wobbling the trap dangerously. He stepped down and held out his hand to Mary.

  ‘Come on, Mary. I’m sure they won’t mind us taking a look. You too, Eveleen.’

  ‘I’ll stay with Bridie,’ Eveleen said at once, not wanting to see some other woman in her mother’s kitchen, another man sitting in her father’s chair. She was surprised and worried too that her mother could even contemplate the idea.

  ‘No, no, you must come,’ Josh insisted. ‘Here, push the cradle to me. I’ll carry her.’

  So the three of them, with Josh carrying the wicker cradle, walked towards the back door. As they neared it a figure appeared in the doorway.

  ‘Dorothy!’ Mary cried in delight and rushed forward with her arms outstretched to embrace her friend. ‘This is wonderful. Oh I’m so glad it’s you and Bill living here.’

  Dorothy returned the hug, but above Mary’s head, her glance went to Josh. Eveleen saw him wink. Then he put his finger to his lips and gave a little shake of his head.

  ‘Come in, come in,’ Dorothy said. ‘Bill’s here too.’

  ‘Shouldn’t he be at work?’ Mary teased. ‘He’ll be getting the sack.’

  ‘No, he’s got the morning off to be here to see you.’

  Mary glanced at her and frowned slightly. ‘You knew we were coming?’

  Again, Eveleen saw Dorothy glance helplessly at Josh, almost as if she realized she had said too much.

  They’ve planned it, Eveleen thought. They planned it that we should call round this way. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or angry.

  ‘In you go, Mary,’ Josh said blandly, ushering her into her former home.

  Mary stood in the kitchen and slowly turned round, drinking in the sight. ‘Oh, Dorothy, you’ve got everything just the way we left it. I could almost think . . .’ Her voice broke a little and there were tears in her eyes, yet she was still smiling as she went towards the man sitting in Walter’s chair by the bright fire in the range. ‘Bill. How lovely to see you again.’

  ‘Mary, love.’ He rose from the chair and kissed her cheek. ‘It’s good to have you back.’

  Mary sank down into the chair that had once been hers and looked about her again. Dorothy bustled between the kitchen and the scullery carrying a tray with cups from Mary’s best china tea service on it.

  Seeing it, Mary pointed. ‘Do you know, that’s the only thing I really minded leaving behind. It was a wedding present.’ She laughed wryly. ‘The only one we got.’

  ‘Well, here it is, all ready for you,’ Dorothy said and began to pour the tea. As she handed round the cups, Dorothy asked, ‘Is the little one all right, Eveleen? Does she need a feed?’

  Eveleen nodded. ‘She will soon. If you wouldn’t mind, I should like to give her a bottle before we leave.’

  Dorothy smiled and nodded, but dropped her gaze.

  Bill had not sat down again in the chair by the fire and now he gestured towards it with a broad grin on his face. ‘Here, Josh, you’d better get used to sitting in it.’

  Josh laughed and went towards the chair. With great ceremony he lowered himself into it. ‘Bit of a tight squeeze,’ he said.

  Bill chuckled again and said, ‘We’ll soon work that off you.’

  Eveleen exchanged a mystified glance with her mother and then they both looked at Josh. He cleared his throat and looked embarrassed. ‘I suppose I had better explain.’

  Quietly Bill and Dorothy stood to one side, though they did not leave the room.

  ‘You see,’ Josh began, ‘I’ve bought this place and a little bit of the land around it too. I’ve always wanted to live in the country.’

  Mary stared at him. ‘You’re going to come and live here?’

  Josh nodded. ‘And I was rather hoping you might come and live here too. As my – my housekeeper.’ He reached across and took her hands in his. ‘Mary, please say you will?’

  Tears were running down her face, but now they were tears of happiness. ‘Oh, Josh, of course I will, but what about . . .’ She glanced at Eveleen and then at the cradle.

  ‘I mean, all of you. Eveleen and the baby too, of course. You’re a family.’

  ‘You want all of us to come and live with you?’ Eveleen asked.

  Josh nodded. ‘I’d like nothing better.’

  Eveleen wasn’t sure about all this. It had been thrown upon them so suddenly. She needed time to digest the idea. She glanced at her mother, but there was no mistaking the joy and happiness on Mary’s face.

  She was back home where she had always wanted to be. Mary Hardcastle was back where she really belonged.

  Tears sprang into Eveleen’s eyes and she turned away and walked from the room and out into the yard. She went as far as the gate and leant on it, looking out across the well-known view.

  She couldn’t tear her mother away from this, not again. Couldn’t take her back to the terraced house in Nottingham. She had to agree to Josh’s proposal for Mary’s sake.

  But Eveleen was troubled. There was something about this whole thing that didn’t quite ring true. She felt as if she had been manipulated, as if the decision had been made for her and that she had been put in the position of not being able to refuse.

  Fifty-Eight

  ‘I don’t know how you managed it all and so quickly,’ Mary marvelled for the umpteenth time during their first week. ‘And however did you get the Dunsmores to sell it to you?’

  Josh smiled. ‘They were persuaded. Everyone has their price,’ he added with an unusual smugness.

  Eveleen glanced at him across the dinner table. That was exactly what was troubling her. At first she had not been able to understand what it was about the whole story that mystified her. Josh wanting to live in the countryside, seeing the place where Mary and Eveleen used to live, falling in love with it and buying the house and a parcel of land from the Dunsmores all in under a fortnight just did not seem plausible.

  ‘There are still some legal documents to be drawn up and signed and all that’ – Josh waved his hand – ‘but because the place was still empty, they could hardly refuse to let us move in.’

  Eveleen looked down at her plate. It was not quite what she would have believed of the Dunsmores, especially not of Stephen. She could sooner believe that he would have tried to block the sale completely, if he had known who was moving back into the cottage.

  She licked her lips. ‘Did – did the Dunsmores know exactly who was going to be living here? I mean, did they know we were moving back?’

  Josh appeared to be trying to remember. Vaguely, he said, ‘I’m not really sure if it was ever mentioned. But that’s none of their business.’ He smiled broadly. ‘They don’t own it any more, do they? Or at least, they soon won’t, once the papers have been signed and sealed.’

  ‘You mean, the sale’s n
ot yet complete? They could still change their minds?’

  ‘Of course they won’t.’ Josh winked at her. ‘Like I said, everyone’s got his price. It seems as if that young feller we met has been spending money a bit too freely. Gambling, I shouldn’t wonder. Anyway, it was lucky for us – for me – that he was only too pleased to sell off a bit of the estate to get some quick cash.’

  So, Eveleen thought, yet another flaw in the character of the man she had once thought she loved. But the knowledge brought her no satisfaction, only a feeling of foolishness, remembering how besotted and blind to his faults she had been.

  Eveleen glanced at her mother, who was serenely ladling out the hot vegetable soup she had made that morning. The smile never seemed to leave her face now. Mary was happy and contented. She was back home and she had a kind man to fuss over once more and to care for her. With a start of surprise, Eveleen realized that her mother had not mentioned Jimmy once during the past few days. Perhaps even Mary had now accepted the fact that he was doing what he wanted to do and would not come back to them.

  It was still thoughtless of him to leave them without even a word, however, to disappear so completely. But that was her brother, Eveleen thought. Selfish to the last. But even she wished that they could just know that he was all right. She believed he owed them that much.

  Eveleen sighed and tried to dispel her anxieties. But there was one thought that would not leave her.

  Just how had a man like Josh Carpenter managed to find the money to buy a smallholding?

  A week later, after he had disappeared for a day back to Nottingham, Josh returned to tell them both gleefully, ‘It’s all signed, sealed and delivered. This place is really ours now.’

  Eveleen glanced at him and said quietly, ‘Yours, Josh.’

  ‘No, no,’ he insisted. ‘I’ve had your names put on the deeds as well. It belongs to all of us.’

  Eveleen’s eyes narrowed as she regarded him shrewdly. ‘In that case, isn’t there something that we have to sign?’