‘I can’t imagine who would do this, though?’ Gus said as he stroked Amanda’s back.
‘It might not have been on purpose,’ Gemma pointed out reasonably. She understood that tempers were frayed but there was no point in jumping to conclusions.
‘And the animals?’ Amanda asked.
‘All fine. The ponies are shaken, the goats cross, and Gerald has gone to the animal hospital,’ Harriet explained tearfully. She buried her face in Brian’s mane. Brian didn’t look thrilled but then ponies generally didn’t. ‘What about the open day? It’s all ruined.’ Tears snaked their way down her cheeks, and Pippa hugged her.
‘Right, there’s no point in us all being here,’ Jenni said, showing her usual efficiency. ‘Let’s come up with a roster to look after the animals tonight.’
Jenni said she and Amy would do the first few hours, give the Singers a chance to calm down, and then whoever was up to it could come in and relieve them for a few hours. Gemma volunteered, as did Freddie. Harriet said she’d stay close to the phone until Connor was back. Pippa was distraught, and although Gus and Amanda offered to stay, they were told not to worry; there were enough of them to cover.
They all went back to Harriet’s cottage, where Gwen poured brandies and they sat largely in silence until Connor phoned to say that Gerald would be all right. He might have a bit of a limp after the damage done to his leg healed, but it could have been a lot worse. Still, despite that, the air was thick with fear.
Gemma not only saw how important the sanctuary was to everyone that night, but she felt it in herself too.
‘I’m so tired,’ Freddie said at 3 a.m., when he and Gemma took their turn in the barn with the animals who all seemed to be sleeping. ‘I could sleep for a year.’
His head lolled against the wall as he sank into the hay, which had been gathered to make it comfortable – for the animals, not the humans. The animals all had blankets over them, and Gemma and Freddie were armed with more blankets, flasks of tea and brandy. Although the animals seemed fine, Connor was insisting they weren’t left in case they were in shock – how you could tell a pony, goat or sheep was in shock, Gemma had no clue, but she wasn’t going to argue. She was pretty sure Connor was being overprotective, but she understood why. It had been an ordeal for all of them – human and animal.
‘I know what you mean; the emotion is the most exhausting. I have never seen Harriet cry like that,’ Gemma replied, pouring a cup of coffee from the flask and offering it to him.
He shook his head but took a sip of brandy.
‘Showed you her human side? She doesn’t like to, but she loves those animals. And she’s got the open day coming up. I guess we’ll have to cancel it.’
‘No, Freddie.’ Gemma realised she had learnt more about passion since being at Meadowbrook than ever. All of them were passionate about the place, and she was too. It had crept up on her, but she knew how much it all meant to her now. ‘We’ll find a way; honestly, this won’t stop us. I get it now.’
‘Oh, Gemma, you surprise me sometimes.’ Freddie moved closer to her and hugged her. ‘You really care about this, about us, don’t you?’
He looked right into her eyes and she almost faltered. The intensity was terrifying, but she realised as her heart started beating faster that it was also real. She had no idea what any of this meant, but the passion being stirred in her was making her feel alive.
‘It was so frightening.’
‘My God, wasn’t it? Seeing that smoke, those flames, it wasn’t real somehow. And typical that it was the bloody goats who wouldn’t move. I really would be beyond furious with anyone who did anything to hurt our animals, if anyone did it.’
‘I’ll be right with you as well.’ Gemma shuddered.
‘You know, Harriet said it earlier, when you were organising blankets for the barns with Gwen, you’re one of us now. You really are. I might tease you, Gemma, but you mean a lot to us, to me.’ Freddie had tears in his eyes, and he took her hand and held it.
Gemma was too touched to say anything as she nestled her head into a blanket and felt as if she had found somewhere she belonged. She just hoped that nothing like this ever happened again. Without warning, she found herself crying.
‘Sorry,’ she sobbed as Freddie held her.
He was so warm and comforting, she wanted to stay in his arms forever. But she couldn’t and she disentangled herself. She rested her head on his shoulder and they stayed there for hours, but Gemma would have stayed there forever.
Chapter 26
Gemma felt a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes and bolted upright, to find herself looking at a dishevelled Pippa.
‘Oh God, sorry.’ As she yawned she could see daylight through the window but had no idea of the time.
‘It’s OK, it’s eleven and I thought it best to let you sleep after the night we had. Connor’s back now. Gerald will be all right and will come back as soon as he’s able to use his leg; it wasn’t as bad as Connor first feared. But poor Harry is having kittens, well not literally, about the open day.’
‘You must be shattered.’ Gemma yawned again. Her body felt as if it were a lead weight and she needed hours more sleep to feel normal again.
‘We all are, but I wanted to ask you a favour. I’m going to bed now; I can barely keep my eyes open. Freddie’s up and at the sanctuary. Gerry is with him – Gwen’s Gerry, not the donkey. They’re meeting the fire officers. Connor will be there as well, but he’s been rushing around making sure all the animals are OK, so I wondered if you’d go down there. Harry really does need support as well – I doubt she’s going to sleep.’
She put on her wellies and a jacket. It wasn’t cold but the was weather still unpredictable. She made her way down to the field. There, clustered around the half-destroyed stables and barn, were Freddie, Gerry and Joe, the fire officer from the night before. He had a couple more men with him. They were in uniform, and Gemma couldn’t help but think how much more attractive a uniform made a man, which she knew was totally inappropriate but she put it down to the fact she was still tired and emotional.
‘I’ll bloody kill them,’ Freddie was shouting as she got closer.
Gerry put an arm on his shoulder but was shaking his head.
‘Who?’ Gemma asked, her heart sinking into her boots. Was this deliberate, after all? She wasn’t sure she could bear it.
‘We don’t exactly know,’ Joe said, his voice even. ‘We’ve established the cause of the fire – it was cigarettes.’
‘Oh God,’ Gemma said. ‘But who would smoke out here?’ She shook her head.
‘I am going to see Connor. If it’s one of the workers or the volunteers then heads will roll.’ Freddie stormed off.
So much for her being there to calm everyone down.
‘It was probably teenagers.’ Joe turned to Gemma. ‘They wouldn’t have thought that dropping a few cigarette butts would cause a fire,’ he explained.
‘It wasn’t arson, then?’
‘No, no arsonist would just drop some cigarettes. After all, if the wind had been the wrong way or if it had rained then they would have gone out. You were unlucky that it was a dry night and of course hay and fire. And I can’t be sure yet, but I think there was some alcohol spilt – not enough for it to be deliberate but it still acts as an accelerant.’
‘Didn’t they say that Harriet put in CCTV? You know, after what happened last year, Gerry?’ Gemma said, remembering Harriet telling her about it.
‘She did, and there might be a camera directed here. God, with all the fuss they must have forgotten. Come on, Gemma, let’s find her.’ Gerry seemed to cheer up. ‘And we’d better get Freddie too.’
‘We’ll finish up here, and then we’ll pop into the sanctuary office before we leave,’ Joe said, shaking Gerry’s hand.
They stood around the desk in the sanctuary office with Martin, who was working the office that day. Connor wasn’t there; he’d gone back to see Gerald. Pippa was still sleeping, but she,
Freddie and Harriet, along with Gwen and Gerry, crowded round the desk. The dog walking, all the feeding, it all had to carry on regardless and so the sanctuary was business as usual. Gemma even had to go and see her cats after this.
‘There we go,’ Martin said after what seemed like ages, sitting back in his chair and clicking the screen to enlarge it.
They all peered as close as they could get to the screen.
‘Oh hell,’ Gemma said.
‘I bloody well don’t believe it,’ Freddie stormed.
‘I’ll kill her,’ Harriet said, her lips clasped together tightly.
On the screen were four people; two looked like boys, two girls, some of their faces lit by cigarettes right next to the barn. There was no sound, but one of the girls was waving her arms and it looked as if she were shouting. She was the only one not smoking and when she turned to the camera, it was unmistakably Fleur. Poor Gus, Gemma thought, this would just about finish him off.
‘It doesn’t look like she’s smoking,’ Gwen said, but even her voice was shaking. ‘And it does look as if she is trying to get the others to stop,’ she added, which in fairness it did.
‘Doesn’t matter, she says she loves these animals, and she didn’t manage to stop them. If you think what the fire could have done,’ Harriet gasped and sobs came out. ‘Sorry, but I’m tired and angry. Connor will be devastated, not to mention Gus. I’m calling the little madam now; she won’t know what hit her.’
‘Look,’ Gwen said. ‘Someone needs to tell Gus first. He’ll be upset and I bet Fleur will be too – you know she loves the animals, but being a teenager isn’t easy.’
‘But the stupidity,’ Harriet stormed.
‘I remember someone drinking whisky and thinking it was a good idea to go swimming in the lake. Connor thankfully dragged you out,’ Gwen said.
‘Well yes, but the only one in danger was me.’
‘I think we need to be calm about this. It wasn’t intentional, and yes, it was stupid and foolhardy and thoughtless, but I think that Gus should be the one to decide how to handle it; after all, she’s his daughter,’ Gwen continued.
‘What about Connor? He loves Fleur, he loves her helping him around here, but I’m not sure …’ Harriet ran her hands through her hair.
‘You need to handle him, don’t let him fly off the handle. Gus is going to be angry enough for all of us and Fleur, well, she was stupid but she’s not really a bad kid.’ Gwen gave Harriet a hug.
‘As Gwen said, she looks angry. I can’t lip-read but my guess is she’s telling them to put the cigarettes out,’ Martin said as they all studied the footage again.
‘Just a shame the bloody idiot walked off first and let them drop their fags right onto the hay,’ Freddie said.
‘And they dropped matches,’ Martin said; he had clearly watched the footage carefully. ‘And there was a bottle of vodka as well.’ Very carefully, indeed.
Gemma didn’t know what to say but she almost felt sorry for poor Fleur. She was pretty sure the fact that the animals were nearly harmed would be punishment enough, not that she wanted to voice that. Not at the moment.
Gus was understandably beside himself. They decided well, Harriet decided – that they would talk to Gus en masse and for some reason this included Gemma again. It was uncomfortable; she didn’t feel confident enough to say much. She was flattered to be included, but she also felt useless. Gwen had to go, because she’d arranged to take Rose to a hospital appointment, which she couldn’t really change, so she delegated Gemma to keep everyone as calm as she could. This was not in her job description.
‘Gus,’ Connor said in his customary light-filled voice, ‘I was furious, mate, believe me, and to think it was Fleur who has helped me with the animals almost since the sanctuary opened. But it wasn’t deliberate, it was stupid, but then she is fourteen.’
It turned out that after Harriet had calmed Connor down, he was so relieved no one was seriously hurt, and satisfied that Fleur had tried to stop the smoking, that he was far less angry than anyone expected.
‘Exactly, she’s fourteen and she’s hanging out with kids clearly older than her, and they were smoking and drinking,’ he fumed.
‘How did Fleur react when you told her about the fire, you know last night, or this morning?’ Gemma asked.
She felt somewhat responsible. It seemed that Fleur’s new friend, the one that Gemma had encouraged her to make, wasn’t so great after all.
‘We told the girls at breakfast and Fleur burst into tears, refused to eat and wouldn’t stop sobbing. I thought it was because she loves the animals, but now I know better. She didn’t own up, though.’
‘Gus, she must be feeling wretched,’ Gemma reasoned, putting her hand on his shoulder. ‘She’ll know she’s done wrong, she’s a good girl beneath it, but you know, she’s at a difficult age.’ Gemma felt as if she were channelling Gwen. ‘And it’s not my place to say, but I think sometimes when she’s here she misses having a social life. She loves being here, that’s obvious, but I’m guessing she thought having friends in the village would make it better. Unfortunately, they weren’t great choices.’
‘I know, I know, and she’s been through a lot in the past couple of years. She lost her grandfather, whom she adored, then I met and moved in with Amanda, but that’s no excuse.’ He scratched his head, but Gemma could see some of his anger ebbing away.
‘No fourteen-year-old girl is happy, Gus,’ Harriet said. ‘I almost remember it.’ She tried to laugh.
‘What I want,’ Connor said, ‘is for her to come to me, apologise, and then she can perhaps do more work here, keep her out of trouble.’
‘And, about the open day …?’ Gemma said.
‘We’ll have to cancel,’ Harriet said.
‘No.’ Gemma felt confidence inflating her. ‘No, Roger will start work on the barns straight away, and I know it won’t be ready in time, but maybe …’ She felt her brain whirring. ‘Maybe if we cordon off that bit of the field we can use the rest, the untouched part of the paddock.
‘How do we hide three burnt-out barns?’ Harriet asked.
‘A fence. Like simple garden fencing, and you can use it to partition the field – that won’t be hard, and we can all do it,’ Gemma suggested.
‘Actually, with Gus and Freddie’s help, I could get it put up in no time,’ Gerry added.
As their faces all stared at her, Gemma thought she had got it wrong. She had overstepped the mark, but then Harriet grabbed her and hugged her.
‘You’re a bloody genius,’ she said.
‘Gus, find out who the other kids were,’ Gemma suggested when they were alone in the field measuring up for the fencing, with Gerry taking the lead. ‘I bet you’ll find they put pressure on her.’ She felt if she could help Gus build bridges with his daughter, she would feel better about encouraging her to make friends in the first place.
‘Do you think?’
‘To be honest, I think they looked older than her, didn’t you think that?’
‘Yes, actually they probably are, and you know what peer pressure’s like,’ he replied.
‘God, I remember, and it didn’t end well for me. Although I didn’t set anything on fire, thankfully.’ She laughed.
Gus actually laughed along with her.
Chapter 27
Gemma had been out early for a run, as was becoming a habit now spring was firmly here, and the mornings were light, chilly but bright. She wanted to make the most of it. She couldn’t help but think that her time here was finite, and she couldn’t begin to think how much she would miss it. It was already May, time was flying, and she was fully blanketed in the Meadowbrook effect.
She knew for sure that they wouldn’t be ready to open the hotel by August when her contract was supposed to be up, and she was trying to gain the courage to have that conversation with the family. The legalities were taking time, as they always did. The builders had been delayed as they were rebuilding the stables and the barn. And as far as marketin
g was concerned, the actual plan for attracting guests still eluded them all. Thankfully the open day had been a success. The sun had greeted them as they set up, all the volunteers looked smart in their new Meadowbrook Sanctuary T-shirts, rattling their collections boxes like pros. The animals had all been on their best behaviour, apart from the alpacas who were rude to all visitors, and Fleur was instrumental in getting a number of families signed up to adopt dogs and cats. Harriet was proud of everyone for their part, and Gemma had lots of praise heaped on her, but now it was over, it was back to hotel business.
Running through the fields of Meadowbrook, seeing the flowers sprouting, passing the green trees, the lush grass, hearing various animals, stopping to look at the calm water of the lake, it was all so refreshing. Her and her thoughts alone. The smells were changing; she could almost feel summer approaching. It was bittersweet. Summer meant that the six-month contract was nearly at an end, but she longed for summer at Meadowbrook at the same time.
She was just about to head back, when she saw Fleur cleaning out the chicken coop. Fleur had been, as predicted, devastated by the fire, sorrier than she could ever have been, and it had taken her a few days before she could face Connor. She had been grounded as well, had her allowance taken away and also her iPhone. But she had sucked it up, and she was now working at the sanctuary every weekend and in school holidays to try to make amends. She had thrown herself into making sure the open day could go ahead with a work ethic that impressed them all, and Gemma felt that the family were once again back on track.
She explained how the kids were older, the girl was from a new-build housing estate on the edge of Parker’s Hollow, and she had persuaded Fleur to take them to Meadowbrook. But Fleur had genuinely tried to stop them smoking around the barn; it just didn’t occur to her that the cigarettes weren’t put out properly.
Gemma jogged over to her.
‘Hello, are you all right?’ Gemma smiled.
She and Fleur were pretty close now. For all her confidence and privilege, she knew Fleur suffered from the usual teenage insecurities like everyone else. Gemma, after all, hadn’t grown out of hers.
Secrets at Meadowbrook Manor Page 21