‘Oh aye, the master’s been there.’ Clara had given Jake his title from the day the will had been read.
‘I don’t know anything about it, Clara. What does this man look like?’
Clara shrugged.‘Don’t rightly know except my Frank says he seems a shifty customer, the sort who’d sell his own grandmother for the right price. Not the sort of man the master’d usually have any truck with, that’s for sure.’
Hannah was so taken aback she didn’t know what to think. ‘Has Frank asked Jake about it?’
Clara looked askance at her. ‘Frank can’t let on he knows owt. The master obviously wants it kept quiet. That’s why I wondered if you knew anything.’
Hannah shook her head.‘And he’s a dodgy customer, this man?’
‘Let’s just say, according to Frank you wouldn’t turn your back on him in a hurry.’
‘Well, I’m sorry, Clara. I know as little as you do.’
‘Ah well, it was worth a try.’ Clara bent closer as she whispered, ‘Don’t let on to Frank I’ve said owt, he said to keep it atween the two of us but I thought you ought to know.’
It was more likely that Clara’s curiosity had become overwhelming. ‘I won’t say a word.’
‘Aye, I know that, hinny. But still,’ Clara tilted her head in the birdlike way she had, ‘it’s a mite funny, aint it?’
It was a mite funny. All the way home and then during lunch, Hannah could think of little else. If her thoughts made her preoccupied, Jake didn’t appear to notice, but then he rarely sat at the table any longer than it took to eat his meal these days and the evenings when the two of them had sat in front of the sitting-room fire were a thing of the past. Now, if Jake didn’t have work to do in his study he rode his horse rather than sit with her. This day was no exception. After complimenting her on an excellent lunch he disappeared outside.
Hannah had just finished the dishes when Naomi arrived, her broken heart temporarily put to one side by the drama of the news she had to impart. ‘Lily’s gone back to her mam’s and it’s for good this time. There’s been ructions, I tell you. We’ve had Father Gilbert round and all sorts. He told Adam to go and bring her back by force if necessary and Adam said he’d rather cut his own throat. Lily’s da come round ours and you could hear him and Adam all down the street. Mam was mortified. Lily’s accused Adam of carrying on with some lass who lives down by the north dock and she says this lass isn’t the first by a long chalk, but because she’s a,’ Naomi bent close and mouthed, ‘you know, a prostitute, Lily says it was the final straw.’ She stopped for breath.
‘Is it true? Did he go with this woman?’ Hannah asked aghast.
Naomi shrugged. ‘He says no. He said where would he get the money, but Lily seems dead sure. And I suppose even them women fall in love and do it for free. Adam is very good looking.’
‘Good grief.’ Hannah sank back in her seat with such a comical expression of sheer amazement that Naomi grinned at her. ‘You seem very knowledgable about such things.’
‘Comes from working at the jam factory. The things some of them talk about would make your hair curl. I wouldn’t dare let on to Mam about half of it. Anyway,’ Naomi’s face belatedly took on a primness, ‘I don’t repeat it to anyone. I just listen.’
Naomi was her best friend and yet this was a new side to her. It was disconcerting. But then life was disconcerting, all the more so of late. Half the time she didn’t know which end was up.
Her face must have revealed what she was thinking because now Naomi giggled, flicking back her hair which she’d recently had cut in a short modern bob. It suited her, Hannah thought as she smiled back. It brought an attractive piquancy to Naomi’s face which hadn’t been obvious before. Stuart Fraser had been mad to treat Naomi the way he had, he’d never get anyone as nice as her again. Her friend was worth ten of him.
Naomi must have begun to think in the same way because now she said,‘So, that’s how things are at home. And I’m not going to mention Stuart this afternoon. Mam says I’ve wasted too much time on him as it is and she’s right. How about we go for a walk, lass? Blow the cobwebs away. I did extra time at the factory this week and I don’t feel I’ve seen the light. It’s been dark when I left for work and dark when I come home.’
‘Suits me.’ Hannah was relieved Naomi was more like her old self. Her friend had been miserable on and off the whole time she had been seeing Stuart; the break from him had probably enabled her to see Stuart in his true colours.
As they left the farm by way of the bridle path, Hannah saw Jake in the distance talking to Daniel and his brother. He saw them and waved but made no effort to come and speak as would have been natural considering he hadn’t seen his sister for a week.
Blow him then. Pride and hurt tightened Hannah’s mouth. She didn’t want him any more than he wanted her. And he needn’t drop any more of his hints for her to leave. Come the spring she’d apply for other jobs. She had three years under her belt here and plenty of good experience, she’d get something. And then she’d be off. Ignoring the whimper deep inside that this thought brought, she linked her arm through Naomi’s and said something silly to make her friend laugh. And she made sure she laughed too, long and loud enough for it to reach the three men. She saw Daniel and John look their way again but Jake didn’t turn his head, and this more than anything else caused her to talk and laugh and keep Naomi entertained and her friend’s mind off Stuart for the rest of the afternoon.
It was such a beautiful day, they walked as far as Washington, picking their way carefully at times because the snow lay deceptively deep in places and before you knew where you were, it could be up over your boots. By the time they were on the bridle path again and in sight of the farm, the sun was a flaming ball in the sky and night was drawing in. ‘You can’t walk home in the dark by yourself, perhaps Jake will take you back in the horse and trap.’ Hannah put her hand on her friend’s arm as they came to the fork in the track which led to the farmhouse in one direction and the labourers’ cottages and then the main road in the other.
‘Don’t be daft, lass. I’ll be all right.’
‘Naomi, it’s nearly dark.’
‘It’s not dark yet and anyway it’s a full moon tonight. I’ll be fine.’
Hannah opened her mouth to remonstrate further but a voice to their left brought both girls’ heads turning. ‘Hello there.’ Daniel approached them, smiling. ‘You’re usually gone long before this, aren’t you?’ he added to Naomi.
‘We walked further than we intended.’ It was Hannah who answered, Naomi appeared to have lost her tongue. Her friend had mentioned in the past that she thought Daniel was attractive, perhaps that had something to do with it.
‘Are you going home now?’ Again, Daniel spoke to Naomi.
She nodded.
‘Then perhaps you’ll let me make sure you get there safely?’
Naomi had taken on the stance of a rabbit before a fox. ‘I . . .You don’t need to do that,’ she stammered at last.
‘Is that a no?’
He likes her. Hannah stared at Daniel before her gaze moved to Naomi who was blushing profusely. And she likes him. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She knew Daniel had long ago accepted that the two of them could be nothing other than friends, and with that acceptance had come an ease between them. This enabled her to say now, ‘That would be so kind of you, Daniel. I was just saying to Naomi she shouldn’t walk home alone.’
‘Absolutely not.’ He smiled at Naomi, and Hannah all but saw her friend’s knees go weak.
‘It’s such a long way,’ said Naomi helplessly.
‘Not at all.’ Daniel paused. ‘Unless you’d rather go alone?’ he added uncertainly.
‘Oh no.’ Naomi’s blush deepened at her forwardness but she had the courage to say, ‘No, I didn’t mean that.’
‘Good.’ Again Daniel paused. ‘I would have asked before this but I understood from Stephen . . .’ His voice trailed away. He clearly didn’t know how to go on.
When
Hannah couldn’t stand it a moment more, she said, ‘Naomi is perfectly at liberty to walk home with you, Daniel. Things have changed recently.’
‘So Stephen said today.’ Looking straight into Naomi’s eyes, he added, ‘I didn’t know until then.’
Naomi smiled. It was a very sweet smile.
‘Goodbye then.’ Hannah hugged her friend, trying not to grin like a Cheshire cat. Naomi and Daniel. But why not? They’d be perfect together.
She stood at the branch of the track until they disappeared from view, raising her hand as Naomi turned and waved at the last moment. The sky was putting on a dazzling display of colour, rivers of red and gold and indigo merging to create a spectacle that took her breath away. Somewhere in the shadows a late blackbird sang, the notes pure and melodic as they quivered in the crisp cold air. Suddenly she wanted to cry. She wanted to lay her head against the trunk of the old oak tree in front of her and cry and cry and cry. Compressing her lips, she breathed in deeply. She had nothing to cry about. Jake had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go and he had never said it would be forever. She had to remember that.
Pulling her hat further down on her head, she turned and made her way to the farmhouse.
Chapter 25
‘I thought you said Naomi always left before twilight?’ Wilbur adjusted his position in the hedgerow, easing his cramped legs. ‘If she leaves it much later it’ll be dark before she gets into town.’
‘She’s never been this late before,’ Adam muttered. ‘That’s all I can say. I’m not her keeper, am I?’
The words had barely left his mouth when they heard the murmur of voices and the next moment Naomi and Daniel stepped out onto the road from the lane which led to the farm. Both men crouched down further although there was no chance of them being spotted in their hidey-hole.They watched as the young people walked towards them and then passed the spot where they were concealed, and a few yards on Daniel said something which caused Naomi to giggle, her laugh floating back to them on the cold evening air.
‘Who the dickens is that with Naomi?’Wilbur peered after his daughter, narrowing his eyes as the shadows swallowed the two up.‘Seemed very attentive, didn’t he?’
‘It’s Daniel Osborne.’
‘Daniel Osborne, Jake’s manager? Isn’t he the one who’s supposed to have his eye on Hannah, according to you?’
‘He did have his eye on her.’
‘Well, it don’t look like it’s on her any longer.’
Adam remained silent. There was little he could say.
‘Strikes me Naomi’s over Stuart Fraser,’ Wilbur observed after a moment or two, ‘the way them two were looking at each other. Is he well set up, this Daniel?’
‘How would I know?’
Sensing this was a conversation his son did not want to pursue, Wilbur settled himself down again in the small hollow they had excavated amongst the old brambles, twigs and hedgerow debris, the leafless branches of the trees forming a dense canopy overhead.
It was only another ten minutes or so before Adam nudged his father. The light was nearly gone now. ‘He’s coming.’>
Wilbur could just make out the figure of a small thin man coming along the road. He was slightly bent over and appeared shrunken, he didn’t look to be a threat to anyone. Glancing at his son, he said, ‘That’s him? Silas Fletcher?’
Guessing what his father was thinking, Adam murmured, ‘Don’t let outward appearances fool you. I told you, he’s dangerous and he’s a nasty bit of work.’
They watched as Silas paused on the road just a couple of yards beyond where they were hiding. A minute or two later the tall, broad figure of Jake emerged into the moonlit evening.
‘All right, son?’ Silas said perkily.
‘I told you, don’t call me that.’ Jake ground the words out as he approached his father.
‘You don’t want to be so touchy.’There was a different note to Silas’s voice.‘You’ve got far more to lose than me, or leastways your mam has. How is she anyway, me wife?’
Wilbur’s involuntary movement brought Adam’s hand hard on his father’s arm in warning.
‘She’s not your wife any more than I’m your son. You relinquished the right to call her that when you took off thirty years ago and let her believe you were dead. And I tell you something else, this lot is the last you’re having. I want you gone, back to the stone you crawled out from under down south.’
‘I’ll go when I’m good an’ ready, lad, an’ not a day before.’ Silas pocketed the bundle of notes Jake held out. ‘And if we’re name-calling, I’m sure the good folk round your mam’s way could come up with a few when they find out she’s been living in sin for donkey’s years with a brood of bastards to prove it.’
‘You make yourself known to her and I’ll swing for you.’
‘Is that so? Then it seems sensible to me for our little arrangement to go on for a bit longer. Everyone’s happy then.’
‘Not another penny.’ Jake was speaking slowly, quietly, but the menace carried to the two men hidden in the hedgerow. ‘She’s told me the sort of life you led her. You’re not fit to draw breath. So don’t push me.You’ve had a good innings and I’ve no doubt you will do all right down south but the gravy boat’s dried up here. And I’m warning you, you say a word to anyone, anyone, and I’ll hunt you down and shut your mouth for good.’
‘Huh.You’re all wind and water, you, like your Granda Hedley.’ Nevertheless, Silas had taken a step backwards away from the towering figure of his son.
‘Try me,’ said Jake grimly. ‘Now get going and keep going.’>
There was a long moment when it looked as though Silas was going to say something more but then he turned, putting a few yards between himself and his son, before he said over his shoulder, ‘You’ll regret this.’
‘Not as much as you will if you say one word out of turn.’ Jake, too, turned on his heel and disappeared into the lane leading to the farm without a backward glance.
Adam waited a few moments before nudging his father.‘Come on, we don’t want to lose him.’ He reached forward and picked up a heavy chunk of wood which was a couple of feet long, the remains of a substantial branch of the tree they were beneath.
The frosty twigs and dead grasses crackled under their feet as they emerged onto the road but Silas was far enough away not to hear.Walking rapidly, Adam and Wilbur closed the distance between themselves and the man in front of them. They were some twenty yards away before Silas either heard or sensed them and then he turned his head for a moment before continuing to walk on.
‘Hey, don’t I know you?’ Adam’s voice was loud but Silas did not turn his head again or acknowledge he had heard him.
Adam sprinted forward, Wilbur a few steps behind, and when he drew level with Silas, he said again, ‘I know you, don’t I?’
‘I doubt it.’ Silas turned his bloodshot gaze on them.
‘Oh aye, I think I do. Silas Fletcher, isn’t it?’ Adam glanced at his father for confirmation and when Wilbur nodded, continued, ‘Your son schemed and wheedled his way into the farm up yonder. Isn’t that right?’
Silas stopped walking. Warily, he said, ‘What’s your game?’
‘I think it ought to be us asking you that. Let me introduce us. I’m Adam Wood and this,’ he thumbed at Wilbur, ‘is me da, Wilbur Wood. Name ring a bell?’
Silas said nothing. He waited, peering at them through his rheumy eyes.
‘You could do our good name a lot of damage, you know that? But what am I saying? Course you know. That’s why you’ve been bleeding Jake through the eye of a needle, because of my mam. Only now it appears you’ve got too expensive, right? He’s a Fletcher, your son. Sell his own grandmother, or in this case his mother, for a few bob. How much did you manage to get out of him before he decided to tell you to sling your hook and be damned? Only it wasn’t you who’d be damned. Just me mam an’ da and the rest of the family. How much did he stump up before Jake decided his money was more important than
his own mam, eh?’
Silas glanced up and down the deserted road. He licked his thin lips. ‘You’ve got it all wrong.’ His gaze flicked over the lump of wood in Adam’s hands.
‘I don’t think so.’ Adam smiled. ‘But it’s good to see you’re realising you’re dealing with someone who’s got a bit more about him than Jake Fletcher. And you do realise that, don’t you? You’re scared, aren’t you? You’re wondering what I’m going to do next.’
‘Go easy, lad.’ Wilbur’s voice was a mutter.
‘Go easy? This lump of filth is threatening to drag our name through the mud and you tell me to go easy, Da? It makes me flesh creep to know that Mam was ever wedded to him. Don’t it do the same to you?’
‘Look, I don’t know what Jake’s told you but I wouldn’t say nowt, I swear it.’ Silas gulped in his throat and wet his lips again. ‘I swear it.’
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