by Heidi Swain
‘That sounds like a good idea to me,’ I said, reaching into my bag for my phone to text Harriet, ‘and if all goes according to plan, I’ve got a little something else up my sleeve to keep me occupied as well, assuming you can spare me, that is.’
‘Well, we’ll have to see about that, won’t we?’ Jake joked. ‘Does this particular venture have the potential to swell the farm coffers?’
‘It does.’
‘And will it entail you leaving the farm and working elsewhere?’
‘It will not,’ I giggled.
‘OK,’ said Jake, rubbing his imaginary beard and thinking hard, ‘will Annie approve of what it is you have hidden up your sleeve?’
He inched a little closer and began lightly caressing the inside of my wrist with a view to peeking up aforementioned sleeve for a clue as to what I was suggesting.
‘I hope so,’ I said, trying to shrug off his caress, ‘although I have to warn you there may be the need to speculate before much accumulation can be seen.’
‘Right,’ he said, edging even closer and kissing my neck with soft and gentle butterfly kisses. ‘That’s normal procedure in business, I think. I’ll see if the bank will bear with us a bit longer. So, are you going to tell me?’
‘No,’ I said, trying to push him away, ‘I am not, and if you don’t stop, we’re going to have to find somewhere else to eat our lunch.’
‘Why?’ he said dreamily and continued to blaze a trail towards my cleavage.
‘Because there’s a woman walking her dog over there,’ I murmured, ‘and she’s beginning to look seriously shocked!’
Without a word Jake drew back, jumped out of the cab and retrieved the picnic basket and blanket from the back seat.
‘Afternoon. Lovely day for a picnic, don’t you think?’ he called to the woman, who tutted and turned tail.
I mulled over my plan as we wove our slow way home through the late afternoon sunshine. It was true that I had come up with a project that I felt was better suited to my skills than helping Jake with the piggy idea, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t going to be involved. If anything I was rather looking forward to wandering through the orchards with a bucket of pignuts, leaving a trail like the Pied Piper for the piglets to follow wherever I led them. Well, that was the theory.
No, this particular idea was a little different to the getting-down-and-dirty one I had suggested to Jake, but I also knew it probably wouldn’t be as easy to get under way. For a start I needed Annie’s blessing and, having seen her initial quick and feisty reaction to the idea of any sort of diversification at the farm, I found myself holding my breath as I decided how best to broach the idea. I decided I would ask her that evening. She was bound to be enthralled by all we had learnt from Mr Palmer and it would be far easier to convince her if she was already buoyed up by the prospect of the Skylark Farm Piggy Plan.
We pulled up at the farm, next to Harriet’s work van. I was surprised to see Jessica’s car also parked in the yard, but it wasn’t until the sound of an approaching ambulance reached our ears that we realised something was wrong. Jake tore out of his seat and raced towards the house, stopping only when he made it to the door and turning as voices reached him from the opposite direction. As if on autopilot I undid my seat belt and followed.
Slumped with her back against the henhouse door was Annie, surrounded by blood and what looked like a clump of chicken feathers.
‘It was the fox,’ she said breathlessly as Jake and I reached her, ‘he came back.’
‘Don’t try and talk,’ said Jessica, pressing what looked like a red towel on the back of Annie’s head, ‘don’t get yourself all worked up again.’
Harriet was looking decidedly queasy.
‘Harriet,’ said Jessica, her tone firm and commanding, ‘go back over to the house and see if you can find some more towels, would you?’
‘I’ll go with her,’ I said, grateful to leave the first aid administration in Jessica’s competent hands.
‘Has she banged her head?’ I asked Harriet as soon as we were out of earshot.
‘Scalped it more like,’ said Harriet with a shudder. ‘When I got here she was just lying there. I tell you, Amber, I thought she was dead.’
‘What happened?’
‘Search me,’ she said, piling towels from the dresser drawer into my arms. ‘My guess is she heard the fox in the yard, went out after him and fell.’
‘But I locked the gate,’ I insisted, a cold dread settling over me at the thought that I was the one responsible for what had happened. ‘I locked the henhouse as well. There was no need for her to go out. I even double checked before we left because she said she was worried.’
‘Well, he must have got in somehow,’ shrugged Harriet. ‘Come on. Jess is going to need these.’
The ambulance had arrived and we rushed back over. Jessica, after explaining what had happened, handed Annie over to the paramedics. I noticed her hands were shaking as she stepped back, covered in blood.
‘Come over to the house,’ said Harriet to her friend, ‘and we’ll wash your hands. These guys know what they’re doing.’
Within minutes the paramedics had assessed the situation, applied a dressing, put a very ashen faced Annie on to a chair and moved her to the ambulance.
‘I’ll follow on behind,’ said Jake as he jumped back into the truck.
‘I’ll come with you,’ I said and pulled open the passenger side door.
‘No,’ said Jake, turning the engine over, ‘you stay here and sort things out. You’ll need to check the others and see where the damn fox got in. I’m sure Annie would feel better knowing you were here looking after things. Is that all right, Amber?’
‘Of course,’ I croaked, my eyes filling with tears. ‘I did lock that door, Jake,’ I sobbed, horrified to think that he blamed me for what had happened. ‘I know I did.’
‘I know,’ he said, kindly. ‘I’ll ring you in a while. Jessica and Harriet will stay with you. I’ll call you later.’
The three of us searched and searched, we went around and around the perimeter of the hen run looking for signs of forced entry, but there was nothing. With every step I took I knew it was looking more and more likely that the only way in and out was through the door and therefore I had to be the one to blame, but I also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I had locked that damn gate.
‘At least he only got one,’ said Harriet, rubbing my arm sympathetically.
‘But why did it have to be Patricia?’ I sobbed, noisily blowing my nose on the kitchen roll Jessica passed me. ‘Out of all of them, why her? You know how Annie feels about her.’
‘I guess she was trying to defend the chicks,’ said Jessica, which did nothing to make me feel better.
‘I just can’t understand how this happened,’ I said, shaking my head and pulling on the latch, ‘it just doesn’t make any sense.’
Chapter 30
Even though I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong I was still riddled with guilt and misplaced remorse and dreaded the thought of Jake coming home that night, especially if he brought Annie back with him. How could I possibly face her knowing that, even though she wouldn’t say it, she must be blaming me for what had happened? There was no logical explanation for the unthinkable chain of events other than that I hadn’t locked the hens up properly.
I waved Jessica and Harriet off having promised to let them know the second I heard anything, grabbed the house keys and called for the dogs to come with me for a walk. I needed to do something, and sitting at the kitchen table, waiting for the phone to ring, wasn’t going to help settle my sanity.
It was a perfect summer evening. A gentle breeze lifted the slender branches of the willows on the riverbank and the young rabbits ran wild and unchecked around the periphery of the empty fields. I had set off towards the furthest reaches of the farm with the intention of considering how we could tie the land in with the orchards when the pigs arrived, but my eyes kept being drawn back to those gam
bolling rabbits. No wonder the fox had come back to the yard for the hens. They must have been far easier pickings than the ballistic bunnies I could see tearing about.
I called to the dogs and walked through the orchard, passed Pip and Blaze who were at the far end of the paddock, and back up to the yard still feeling no calmer.
‘Come on then,’ I said to Lily, who hadn’t left my side, ‘let’s go and see if Jake’s left a message, shall we?’
I looked around, but Bella was nowhere to be seen.
‘Bella!’ I shouted sharply, my heart picking up the pace.
I’d already lost Annie her prize hen. If anything happened to Bella I might as well go and pack my bags and head straight to Peterborough train station because I couldn’t cope with the thought of disappointing her again.
‘Bella!’ I called, even louder this time.
A distant bark met my eager ears and together Lily and I set off to see what the silly dog was up to. Bella had recently developed a fascination for hedgehogs. She would stand guard over them, barking furiously and prancing about on all fours like a lamb, but I didn’t think this was such a prickly scenario because she was too quiet and, when I finally spotted her, too still.
Standing square on with her tail swaying from side to side and her ears pricked forward, she stared pointedly at something under the hedge that she obviously wanted me to investigate. I hoped it wasn’t the fox. Rural novice as I still was I had no idea how one would react when cornered and had no intention of finding out first hand.
‘What have you found?’ I said, gingerly bending down next to Bella, her tail thumping all the harder because I was showing some proper interest in her quarry.
I looked a little closer and spotted what had got her so excited. It was Patricia. Annie’s beautiful, clever dog had found her precious, darling hen.
Patricia looked at me and I looked at Patricia. Her ever present suspicious beady stare reminded me of our former battles and it was a tentative hand that reached under the hedge to gently draw her out. I held my breath and waited for the inevitable stabbing peck, but it didn’t come. As carefully as I could I manoeuvred her out from her hiding place and drew her close, trying not to look at the blood soaked feathers on her back or think about the possibility of losing her now she had, thanks to Bella, been found more or less in one piece. My heart was brimming with relief and I could have quite easily plonked myself under the hedge and sobbed, but I put my emotions on hold and dealt with the situation, quite literally, in hand.
Lily rushed ahead, leading the way back to the house and Bella trotted along by my side, keen to claim the credit for the treasure she had recovered. In the porch I grabbed the empty cardboard box we kept for parcel deliveries and, having quickly lined it with one of the towels Harriet had found earlier, I gently laid Patricia inside and carried her into the house.
‘Kate!’ I shouted into the phone, then, remembering the delicate state Patricia was in, I lowered my voice. ‘It’s Amber, from Skylark Farm. Oh thank goodness you’ve answered!’
‘Whatever’s wrong?’ asked Kate, sounding worried. ‘It isn’t Pip, is it, or Blaze?’
‘No,’ I said shakily, ‘it’s Patricia, Annie’s favourite hen.’
I explained that the fox had almost made a meal of her and about the wound on her back.
‘Well,’ sighed Kate, ‘I don’t reckon much for her chances. It’ll be the shock that has the potential to do for her rather than the injury from what you’ve described. You’ve done the right thing isolating her and putting her in the box. Just keep her somewhere warm and quiet for now, like the pantry, and try not to disturb her if you can help it.’
‘OK,’ I said, taking a big breath. ‘Is there really nothing I can do beyond that?’
‘Afraid not,’ said Kate, ‘but she’s a tough old bird. She might pull through yet, although I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Give me a call tomorrow if she’s still with us and I’ll come and have a look at her then.’
She’d hung up before I had a chance to thank her and I was grateful she’d offered to come out. Kate was brisk and a consummate professional and I knew that she was probably thinking it really was a lot of fuss over an old ex-battery hen, but she was also kind hearted and knew how much Patricia meant to Annie. Carefully and as gently as I could I lifted the box, with Patricia nestled calm and sedate inside it, into the pantry and quietly closed the door.
Annie was a tough old bird as well and I was certain that she was going to pull through, but I had no intention of telling her that her pet had been found until I was absolutely sure her feathered friend was going to make it. In my experience false hope was about as helpful as no hope.
Jake came home alone that night. It was almost eight by the time I heard him pull into the yard. I took his dinner out of the warming drawer, assuming he had enough of an appetite to eat it. I know I certainly didn’t. My mind alternated between worrying about Annie ensconced in the hospital and Patricia paralysed in the pantry. I couldn’t even swallow away the lump in my throat, so there was no hope for cottage pie.
‘Well,’ I pounced the second Jake opened the back door, ‘is she going to be all right?’
‘She’ll be fine,’ he said, wrapping his arms tight around me and kissing the top of my head. ‘Or at least she will be, if she stops moaning and lets her consultant and the nurses do their job.’
‘As bad as that?’
‘As bad as that,’ Jake sighed.
Limp with relief I buried my head in his chest and clung to his warm embrace as my tears fell unchecked.
‘I did lock that gate,’ I said eventually, sniffing inelegantly.
‘I know you did,’ he said, ‘and I know you checked it again when I was packing the truck. I saw you and I told Annie that.’
‘And did she believe you?’
‘Of course she did.’
Well, that was something but it didn’t alter the fact that the crisis had happened.
‘So how did the fox get in then?’ I said, looking up at him. ‘It just doesn’t make any sense. Jessica, Harriet and I have checked every inch of that hen run and we’ve found nothing. Not so much as a nick in the fence anywhere.’
‘And the gate was still bolted shut, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, yes, it was.’
In all the panic I don’t think I’d really taken that fact on board.
‘Do you know what?’ said Jake, looking down at me and shaking his head. ‘If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone deliberately let that hen out.’
‘But that’s absurd,’ I frowned, untangling myself from his arms. ‘There was no one here, and besides, who would do that?’
Jake shrugged and went to wash his hands at the sink before sitting down to eat.
‘Anyway,’ I said, ‘talking of that hen, you’ll never guess who Bella found.’
Chapter 31
Despite my worst nightmares, and believe me, there were a few that night, Patricia was still with us the following morning and if anything I thought she was looking decidedly brighter. She even took a few pecks at the handful of corn I offered her, although whether she was feeling hungry for food or my fingers, I couldn’t be sure. Either way I was encouraged by her apparent improvement.
‘If it’s all right with you,’ I told Jake as I quietly closed the pantry door and went to wash my hands, ‘I won’t come with you to the hospital today, but I’ve packed a few bits and pieces ready for you to take.’
‘But Annie will be expecting you,’ Jake frowned. He sounded bemused as he helped himself to more toast. ‘She doesn’t blame you, Amber. You do know that?’ he added, eyeing me astutely.
‘I do,’ I said, still feeling a little unsure, ‘but there’s so much to get on with here and remember you’ve got to go to the bank afterwards so there’s no telling how long you might be. I would hate to be away from Patricia for too long, especially now it’s beginning to look like there might actually be some hope for her.’
‘That,’ said Ja
ke, glancing at his watch, ‘is actually a very good point. OK,’ he finally relented, ‘you keep things ticking over here and I’ll check up on Annie and go straight on to the bank. But Amber,’ he said sternly, ‘you are going to have to face her at some point. The nurses won’t tolerate her nonsense for long.’
‘I know,’ I said again, ‘and I do want to see her. I just think it’s more important to focus on making sure Patricia is really on the mend for when Annie comes home.’
Jake had only been gone a few minutes when the house phone rang.
‘So,’ said Jessica, ‘how’s the patient, any more news?’
‘Not since last night,’ I told her with a sigh, ‘so I’m guessing she must be behaving herself.’
Jessica laughed.
‘The day Annie starts behaving herself will be the day that we really need to start worrying!’
The line went quiet for a second and I geared myself up to say what I should have done yesterday.
‘Jess,’ I began, ‘I didn’t get a chance to say anything yesterday, what with the ambulance and everything.’
‘What did you want to say?’
‘Thank you, for starters,’ I told her. ‘Thank you for everything you did for Annie. I dread to think what would have happened if you hadn’t turned up when you did.’
I remembered how calm she had been the first time we met, when I had burnt my hand on the kettle handle, but Annie’s scalping incident was in a totally different league. I wasn’t sure how I would have reacted if I’d arrived at the farm and found her crashed out in the yard.
‘It was nothing,’ said Jessica dismissively, but I could tell she was smiling. ‘You’d have done exactly the same if you’d got there before me.’
I wasn’t sure I could have.
‘Well, thank you anyway,’ I said again. ‘It was good to see you, even under such horrid circumstances. I haven’t seen anywhere near enough of you lately,’ I told her. ‘I miss you.’
‘Do you?’ she asked, sounding surprised. ‘I thought you and Harriet had a new best friend to play with now.’