Above the Harvest Moon

by Rita Bradshaw

  He attended to his own toilette each morning, Hannah bringing in a bowl of warm water, soap and a towel and then leaving him to it for half an hour before she returned to collect the items. And Jake had acquired a commode after Seamus had flatly refused to continue using the bedpan for any foreseeable amount of time. On the whole the arrangement worked well. Seamus had a large brass bell for use in case of emergency, although to date it had not been necessary.

  Jake had now taken over the running of the farm completely, and Daniel Osborne became his manager. The two men got on very well and Daniel had taken Joe under his wing which had proved invaluable for Joe’s inclusion in the life of the farm, both workwise and socially.

  The only cloud on the horizon, at least as far as Hannah was concerned, was that she knew the day was coming when she would have to speak frankly with Daniel and dash his hopes. He had gradually made it clear after hearing about Adam’s hasty wedding that he liked her, and although she had given him no encouragement he didn’t seem to take her gentle rebuffs for what they were. She didn’t want to hurt him, he was a good, nice man, and Jake and Joe, the two folk she was closest to, regarded him highly, but she knew she could never think of Daniel as anything other than a friend. Thus far she had hidden behind the constant daily workload of caring for Seamus and running the farmhouse - a workload which meant she was on her feet from six in the morning until eleven at night - to put off the moment, but she knew it would come. She just hoped it didn’t make it difficult for her to stay at the farm; she found it impossible to contemplate leaving.

  She paused in her task of running the sheets through the mangle in the wash-house.The winter had been hard and sometimes she hadn’t known what to do with herself when her chilblains had kept her awake with their itching half the night and her chapped hands had bled, however much goose fat she’d rubbed in them. But then the next day she’d visit the cowshed, warm and stickily scented with milky magic, and know she’d rather be at the farm than in the narrow confines of her uncle’s shop. Spring had brought the leggy lambs running up to their mothers for short and urgent sucking sessions and May the blossoming of plum and apple trees in the farm’s orchard. It had been then that she had decided to do something about Bess’s long neglected garden, despite the fact she was on her feet from dawn to dusk as it was.

  The garden walls were coated with lichen and everything was such a tangle of foot-high nettles, brambles, thistles and other weeds which had bitten at her for removing them that more than once she had decided the job was too big on top of everything else. But she had persevered and gradually she had uncovered a little winding path, rose arches and Bess’s little paradise for birds at the rear of the gently sloping ground.

  To step into the garden now, as she normally tried to do in the twilight of the summer evenings, was to be met with a glorious combination of colour and scent. Foxgloves leaned against the drystone walls, roses twined round the arches, their blooms heavy and drunk with perfume, honeysuckle and hollyhocks, sweet peas and lavender glowed and gleamed and exhaled a spicery of humming fragrance. Bees and butterflies vied with the birds for enjoyment of the small sanctuary. Despite all of Seamus’s shaking of his head and tut-tutting when he found out what she was doing, she knew he’d been pleased with the end result when Jake and Joe had carried him out to see it a few nights back. That evening had given her the idea that had sent Jake into town that very day in the farm cart, and now, as she heard it trundling into the farmyard, she stopped her mangling and went outside.

  She met him in the yard and as he jumped down from the cart, she said, ‘Did you get one? Did you find one?’

  He nodded, grinning as he threw back the large piece of sacking covering the object in the back of the cart.

  ‘Perfect.’ Hannah looked with satisfaction at the stout wheelchair.

  ‘And in a while Isaac and Frank will bring round that bench they’ve made,’ Jake said quietly although Seamus wouldn’t be able to hear them from the house.

  The bench had been her idea too, so that Jake or herself or any visitors could sit with the farmer in the garden when the weather was clement.

  She smiled widely at him. ‘This will be so good for him, you’ll see.’

  ‘You’re good for all of us,’ he said lightly, lifting the wheelchair onto the stone slabs. He straightened up and looked at her. ‘I called in my mother’s while I was in town.’

  Something in his voice caused her to become still. ‘Yes?’

  ‘Lily had the bairn last night. A little girl.’

  Just for a second a pang throbbed in her heart but it was gone in an instant. She was glad she was able to say with sincerity, ‘I hope mother and child are well.’

  ‘Apparently.’

  ‘How much did the baby weigh? She was three weeks overdue.’

  Male like, he said, ‘Weigh? I’ve no idea.’

  ‘What have they called her?’

  ‘Mam did say.’ His brow wrinkled. ‘Sorry, I can’t remember.’

  ‘Oh, Jake.’ It was without heat. ‘Well, I’m pleased for Lily. Naomi said she’s been very tearful, with the hot weather and all.’

  ‘Do you mean that? That you’re pleased for her?’

  ‘Of course.’ She knew what he was asking. And it was in answer to the unspoken question that she said, ‘I feel sorry for Lily, nothing more. I can see I had a lucky escape now.’

  He searched her face and what he saw there caused him to visibly relax and smile. ‘Good. I wasn’t sure if you’d be . . . But good, good.’

  ‘I don’t care for Adam any more, Jake. I haven’t for a long time.’ It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him about Adam’s clandestine appearance at the farm on Christmas Day but she held her tongue. ‘I look back now and I can’t believe I was so silly.The Adam I imagined I knew didn’t exist, not really. Does that make sense?’

  ‘It does to me.’

  ‘But I am pleased everything’s all right with the bairn. Joe will be too. He thinks a lot of Adam still, you know.’

  Jake nodded. ‘And to be fair to Adam, if there’s one person in this world he’s fond of, it’s Joe.’

  Hannah looked at him, a straight look. ‘Then he ought to be grateful to you for giving Joe a job here. But for you he’d be down the pit and hating every second.’

  ‘He’d likely have found something else himself.’

  ‘No, no he wouldn’t, not Joe. He’s . . . well, he’s just not like that.’

  She smiled at him before going back to her mangling.

  ‘This is getting beyond a joke.’ Daniel Osborne stood staring into the massive run in front of the turkey shed, the long wooden structure which housed the birds at night and kept them safe from foxes. ‘There’s at least a dozen gone, I’d swear to it. Now it’s one thing some poacher taking the odd rabbit and pheasant, but this. He’ll be after more easy pickings, you mark my words.’

  Joe stared at the man who was his immediate boss but who had become his friend over the last months. ‘You think whoever it was got ’em out of the shed in the night?’

  ‘Must have done, cheeky devil. I thought we were missing a hen or two last week, that’s what alerted me. We had that trouble before Christmas, but there’s been nothing much since then besides the odd passing tinker or two fancying his chance at an easy meal.Well, there’s nowt for it, looks like I’m in for a couple of sleepless nights. Catching ’em in the act is the only way. If nothing else, it frightens the wits out of them. Even if you don’t catch them, once a poacher knows you’re on to him he’ll clear off and try elsewhere. But don’t say owt to anyone, Joe. I’ll tip Jake the wink but it’s better as few people know about this as possible.’

  ‘You surely don’t think it’s anyone on the farm?’

  ‘Course I don’t, but with Frank’s lads living in the village and drinking at the pub, something might let slip. They’re good lads, none better, but when you’ve had a jar or two, tongues have a habit of wagging out of turn.’

  ‘Me lips are
sealed.’

  ‘Good lad. I’ll likely make myself a bit of a hide in that patch of scrub at the back of the shed. A couple of bales of hay should do it. Anyway, I’ll be off and let Jake know. Likely he’ll want to be in on the act, if I know him.’

  Joe nodded, watching Daniel as he walked away.The turkeys were now happily pecking at their feed and some beech nuts and chopped stinging nettles. Joe had been at the farm long enough to understand that poachers were considered the scum of the earth.There’d be some high jinks the night if Jake and Daniel managed to catch this one. Or there might be more than one. Whatever, it would be a change from clearing and digging the ditches out which he had been doing for two weeks solid now. But he wouldn’t ask Jake if he could accompany him and Daniel, he knew what the answer would be. Sometimes he thought Jake considered him little more than a bairn.

  It was well gone midnight and nearer one o’clock when Jake and Daniel heard a rustling not far from their hidey-hole at the back of the shed. They stiffened in the darkness but then a voice whispered, ‘Jake? Daniel? Are you there?’ It brought both men turning. The next moment Joe crawled into the gap between the bales of hay.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Jake’s voice was low but full of fury. ‘Damn it, Joe, I’ve got a shotgun here. What if I’d thought you were a poacher? Are you barmy, man? Get back to bed.’

  ‘I want to help you.’

  ‘Help us? The best way you can help us is by getting your backside over to Frank’s. Does he know you’re here?’

  ‘Course not, I waited until they were asleep. I just thought it might be more than one poacher, that’s all, and three pairs of hands are better than two.’

  Jake swore softly. ‘If it is more than one it’s all the more reason for you to be out of it. These blokes don’t play by the rules, there’s no Marquess of Queensberry.’

  ‘Who’s he?’

  There was an exasperated groan. ‘Never mind. Just do what I say and we’ll have this out tomorrow, m’lad.’

  ‘Jake?’ Daniel’s voice was little more than a breath but something in it quietened the other two. ‘Over there, by the bridle path at the far end. I reckon there’s two of them. Can you see?’

  ‘Aye, I can, big so-an’-sos an’ all by the look of it. I’m not sorry I brought the shotgun, Dan. And you,’ he pushed his head close to Joe’s,‘you stay exactly where you are, no matter what happens.You hear me? I mean it, Joe.’

  Joe’s eyes were glittering with excitement in a shaft of moonlight but his voice was subdued when he said obediently, ‘Aye, all right.’

  ‘Promise me.’

  ‘I promise.’

  The three of them watched the two burly figures stealthily make their way towards them. Even if the poachers had come from another direction, Jake and the other two would have been impossible to see, hidden as they were in deep shadow, but as it was they were largely obscured by the shed for good measure. Consequently the two men were only yards away when Jake got quietly to his feet along with Daniel and stepped out of the shadows with his shotgun held pointing in the direction of the poachers.

  ‘Can I help you, gentlemen?’ Jake said coolly.

  The two men froze. One was carrying an empty sack but there was something moving in the one the other man held, and Jake surmised - rightly - that the two had already paid a visit to the hen coops.After a stunned moment or two, the smaller of the two men spoke. ‘Here, there ain’t no need for you to use that. We don’t want no trouble.’

  ‘Whether you want it or not, it seems to me you’re in for a considerable amount.’ Jake didn’t take his eyes off the two figures. ‘Now I suggest you put those sacks down and then we’ll see about putting you somewhere nice and secure for the night until the police take over.’

  What happened next occurred so swiftly that when Jake thought about it afterwards he realised this was not the first time the two poachers had been in a tight spot. Ignoring Daniel and acting as one, they launched themselves at him, taking him completely by surprise.

  The shotgun went spinning away into the shadows as he landed flat on his back. One of the men who had fallen on top of him thumped him for all he was worth while the other turned on Daniel. Momentarily stunned, Jake was at a disadvantage. The man astride him continued to use his fists but Jake managed to jab two fingers into the poacher’s eyes with enough force for the man to fall aside with a howl of pain.

  Jake struggled groggily to his feet before the man came at him again, then Daniel went down and didn’t move and he found himself fighting the pair of them. He did his best but both men were built like brick outhouses, their squashed ugly faces suggesting they were no strangers to violence. He was knocked down once more before being dragged to his feet.The slightly larger of the men held his arms behind his back and laughed. ‘Not quite such the big man without a gun in your hands, are you?’ he said, before the other man drove his fist into his stomach with sickening force.

  Jake doubled up, vaguely aware of Daniel still out for the count on the ground. As the big fellow hauled him straight for his companion to take another punch at him, he tried to prepare himself for the impact.

  ‘Let go of him or I’ll shoot, I swear it.’

  The young frightened voice stopped the men in their tracks. At some point Joe must have got the shotgun. Jake shook his head, desperately trying to clear his mind. Joe didn’t know how to use a gun, he’d never even held one before as far as he knew. He wanted to say, ‘Get away, Joe, now, while you can. Go and get help, they won’t come after you with you having the gun.’ But he couldn’t. He still couldn’t get air into his lungs after the punch to his stomach.

  ‘He’s nowt but a lad.’ The man who was holding Jake spoke disparagingly. ‘He won’t do anything. Get him, Art.’

  Joe raised the gun higher. ‘Stay where you are.’

  The man called Art was clearly hesitating. Seizing the opportunity, Jake attempted to wrench himself free from the second poacher, causing them both to stagger forward. Whether it was this that made the first man lunge at Joe or whether he would have done so anyway was not clear. Nor could Jake determine whether the gun went off by accident or because Joe had pulled the trigger.

  By now Isaac Mallard’s whippets were raising hell in the end cottage, along with the three farm dogs Jake had shut in one of the barns earlier in case they got in the way of things. As he grappled with the bigger man, Jake saw the other poacher struggling with Joe. He couldn’t tell whether the poacher was injured or not but the man still had the strength to tear the gun off Joe and smash him over the head with the butt. As the slight figure crumpled to the ground, there were shouts from the direction of the cottages and lights waving. This seemed to panic the man holding the gun. He went berserk, swinging the weapon at Jake and screaming at the top of his voice. The blow to Jake’s shoulder wasn’t enough for him to loosen his hold on his attacker who was now attempting to get away, but it knocked him off balance and he fell over Daniel who was still lying unconscious. By the time Jake got to his feet, the two poachers were running back the way they had come but they had dropped the gun, he could see it lying against the wall of the shed.

  His main concern being for Joe and Daniel; Jake let them go. Daniel was beginning to groan but Joe was ominously silent. He knelt down, bending over the inert figure. ‘Joe, Joe, man. Wake up. Joe.’

  Jake could see a dark stain of blood covering Joe’s collar and shirt. He shook Joe’s arm, saying his name over and over until Daniel crawled over to them.

  ‘What happened?’ Daniel asked groggily. ‘I thought you told him to stay put.’

  ‘One of them hit him over the head with the shotgun. Joe got hold of it, he was trying to save me. Damn it, Joe.’ He shook his arm again. ‘Wake up.’

  Frank was the first to reach them, closely followed by Daniel’s father and then Isaac. ‘I need to get him into the house.’ Jake lifted Joe into his arms but when he tried to stand up, he nearly dropped him, slight though his brother’s body was.
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  ‘Here.’ Frank took Joe off him. ‘The lad’s not the only one who’s had a bang on the head by the look of you. Jack, you and Isaac get Daniel home. John, you help Jake.’

  Daniel’s brother had now joined them but when he went to support Jake with his arm, Jake shook him off. ‘I’m all right,’ he said thickly, swaying where he stood. ‘See to Daniel. And you others,’ he spoke to Daniel’s mother and Neville and Sybil Kirby who had come running up, ‘get yourselves home. And can someone let those blasted dogs out so we can hear ourselves think.’