Summer at Hope Meadows: the perfect feel-good summer read (Animal Ark Revisited Book 1)

by Lucy Daniels

  ‘That should be it now,’ she said to Graham, and he untied the rope, allowing the cow’s foot to sink back to the ground.

  ‘Good job,’ he said.

  Emily agreed. ‘It’s not easy when the horn is as tough as that,’ she said. ‘It can be difficult in the summer when they harden up.’

  All Mandy knew was that she was relieved the weight of the cow’s foot was no longer resting on her thigh. She was sweating under her jacket and her hair felt sticky around her face, but it was worth it. Both cows were already looking better. The cow she had given the glucose was pulling at the hay in the rack in front of her and the lame animal was putting her foot down, tentatively at first, but more firmly when she realised that the pain had eased.

  Graham picked up the unused trimmer and carried it to the room where the huge metal tanks cooled and stirred the milk. Mandy washed her hands, her hoof knives and the red rubber tubing of the flutter valve she had used to run the glucose into the cow’s vein. Together, the three of them walked back to the car.

  ‘Do you have some propylene glycol?’ Mandy remembered she should follow up the treatment of the cow that was low on energy. Otherwise, there was every chance that she would deteriorate again.

  ‘Yep. I’ll drench her for the next couple of days and keep an eye on her,’ Graham said. ‘I’ll make sure she’s looked after.’ He stretched out his hand to Mandy. ‘Thanks for coming over. It’s nice to have the next generation taking over at Animal Ark.’

  Mandy opened her mouth to say she was only here temporarily, then shut it again. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘It’s good to be here.’

  On the way back to the cottage, Mandy stretched out her arms and legs in the footwell of the Discovery. She was aching all over – not something she was used to even after the busiest days at Thurston’s.

  Emily reached out and patted her knee. ‘You’ll get used to it,’ she promised. ‘There are muscles you use in farm work that you never knew you had before. How do you feel it went?’

  Mandy looked through the windscreen at the green moors rolling past. They were already more than halfway home. ‘Okay, I think,’ she said. ‘I was glad I managed to find the pus in that abscess. It was a shock to see Mr Western there. He moves like a ghost!’

  Emily laughed. ‘He’s usually around somewhere,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t work directly with the animals these days, but he likes to know what’s going on.’

  ‘He always used to scare me and James,’ Mandy admitted. ‘He seemed so ruthless. I thought he hated animals, but he seemed to know what he was talking about when he was discussing the farm with Graham.’

  ‘I know,’ said Emily, slowing the car as they turned into the lane. ‘I’ll admit that Sam can be difficult. He doesn’t believe in being nice for the sake of it. I was worried when they expanded the farm quite so much because I thought the cows might just become numbers, but it was Sam who employed Graham, and he does a great job of caring for them.’

  ‘He seems to know his stuff,’ Mandy observed.

  ‘He certainly does,’ Emily said. ‘He has a degree in agriculture and a Masters in dairy science. Sometimes I wonder if he needs to call us out at all, but he’s very thorough.’

  ‘What about all the shops in the farmyard?’ Mandy asked.

  The car drew to a halt and Emily turned off the engine. ‘I haven’t been up there recently,’ she said, ‘but Ted Forrester goes a lot with his wife. Some of the cheese and crafts come from different parts of the UK, but the ice cream and several of the food products come from local farms. Your dad and I went to see the parlour when it was first installed. The whole thing is really efficient and the cows seemed to take to it very quickly.’ She thought for a moment. ‘We’ve been lucky here in Welford. A few of the farmers sold up when the milk prices fell, but most of the families made changes and hung on. Sam Western is the most extreme version, but he brings a lot of business.’

  ‘And now an Outward Bound centre,’ Mandy said. ‘I just hope they don’t disturb the wildlife too much.’

  ‘So far as I know,’ Emily said, ‘they want to preserve it. It’s part of the Outward Bound experience. I know you didn’t hit it off with Jimmy Marsh, but don’t forget that he used to be a park ranger in the Lake District. Seb Conway seems to think he knows what he’s doing.’ She looked at her daughter. ‘I’m hungry,’ she said. ‘I think it’s time for lunch.’

  As if in response, Mandy’s gut growled. ‘My stomach thinks you’re right,’ she said with a grin, and opening the car doors, the two of them made their way into the house.

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘Mum, they’re here!’ Mandy called up the stairs.

  James and Paul had travelled back from Italy three days ago. James had called to ask whether they could visit, and Mandy had insisted they come over as soon as they’d finished unpacking.

  Flinging open the door, Mandy hugged James, then Paul. ‘It’s great to see you,’ she said. ‘Did you have a good time?’

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Paul.

  James held out a bottle of wine. ‘For you,’ he announced with a bow.

  ‘Ca’ del Bosco.’ Mandy read aloud from the label. ‘Is this your sparkling rosé? Thank you very much,’ she said. ‘I thought we’d go straight out.’ She put the bottle on the side table in the hall. ‘I’ve got some things packed up. We’re going for a picnic.’ She peered past the men. ‘I presume you have Seamus and Lily with you?’

  ‘Of course we do.’ Paul took a sideways glance at his husband. ‘You know James can’t leave the house without them.’

  James grinned. ‘Oh yes?’ he said. ‘Who was it that was so dog-sick in Italy that he had to phone Gillian every day, just to hear them scampering around her flat?’

  Paul narrowed his eyes. ‘You?’ he suggested.

  Mandy laughed. ‘You can stop fighting,’ she said. ‘I know you’re as bad as each other. I’m amazed you went anywhere you couldn’t take them. You should fetch them,’ she told James. ‘The food’s in my car. All I need is the four of you.’

  ‘Sounds brilliant,’ said Paul.

  ‘I’ll get the dogs.’ James dashed off to the car. A moment later two lithe furry bodies raced towards Mandy and she crouched down to hug them as they squirmed their delight.

  ‘Hey, you two,’ she said, fending off their attempts to lick her face. Standing up again, she led them to her car. James went to the passenger side and helped Paul into the front seat, before encouraging Seamus and Lily into the back. Mandy could see that Paul had lost weight during the honeymoon. She hoped he would find something he could eat in the hamper.

  Setting her gaze on the road ahead, she drove through the village and pulled up on a broad grassy verge. ‘I thought we’d sit by the river,’ she said, jumping out of the car. ‘James, can you give me a hand?’

  ‘Of course,’ he said. Together they carried everything down the field to a sunny patch of grass by the river. Mandy felt as if every picnic in her life had taken place here, and the only thing that changed was herself.

  As well as a hamper of food, Mandy had brought folding chairs and a table.

  ‘This looks very civilised,’ said Paul. He had walked across the field leaning on James’s arm and was standing on the bank, shading his eyes with one hand. The river flowed slowly, its smooth surface reflecting the sky and the midsummer trees. Dragonflies flitted among the shadows. In the distance, the church clock chimed one.

  ‘Is this somewhere you used to come together?’ Paul asked. Mandy and James grinned at one another.

  ‘All the time,’ James said. Reaching out, he took a slice of bread and butter and spread it with hummus. ‘Did you make this?’ he said to Mandy. She shook her head.

  ‘Sadly not,’ she said. ‘But I did fetch it from the supermarket with my own fair hands.’ She had deliberately chosen foods that were high in calories and protein: nuts and dried fruits, cheese and eggs. She had also bought freshly made fruit salad and yogurt. It all looked as bright and appetising as
she could make it.

  ‘Remember Henry the Eighth?’ said James.

  ‘Of course I do,’ Mandy replied. Reaching out, she too spread hummus on her bread, adding some slices of tomato.

  Paul looked at each of them. ‘I presume,’ he said, ‘that as well as saving lots of animals, the two of you invented time-travel when you were younger?’

  Mandy laughed. ‘Henry the Eighth was our class hamster,’ she explained. ‘James looked after him one summer and we brought him here for a picnic. He was meant to be on a diet,’ she said, ‘but he took a dive into the hamper and before we got to him, he stuffed his little cheek pouches full of biscuits.’

  Paul grinned as he took a slice of bread, spreading it thickly with butter and honey. ‘You had your hamster on a diet?’

  ‘Yes,’ said James. ‘We made him exercise, too. He had to run in his wheel every day.’

  ‘Sounds like he preferred the high jump if he managed the leap into your hamper,’ Paul teased.

  ‘Do you remember Mrs Ponsonby’s scream when she saw him the next time he got into the picnic basket?’ Mandy prompted.

  James looked at Paul. ‘She thought he was a rat,’ he explained. ‘It was really funny. Her face went this terrible mottled pink colour.’

  ‘So would I, if I thought you’d let a rat loose in my food,’ Paul pointed out, his eyes twinkling. ‘Poor Mrs Ponsonby. And you two, you call yourselves animal lovers, but you starve the school hamster until it’s so desperate it has to risk life and limb hamper-diving. Not just once but twice?’ He looked down at where Lily and Seamus were sitting at his feet. ‘Don’t worry, you two,’ he said. ‘I won’t let you go hungry.’

  ‘Blackie used to carry the basket when we went on picnics, didn’t he?’ James said. Blackie, a Labrador, had been James’s pet until he died peacefully at the age of sixteen. ‘He was so helpful.’

  Mandy smiled. Blackie had done more drooling than carrying. Animal lover though Mandy had always been, she’d never been too keen on slobbery sandwiches. She helped herself to fruit and yogurt and was glad to see Paul doing the same.

  ‘Great picnic,’ said James, dumping a spoonful of honey into his fruit salad.

  Mandy looked around the field again. There were so many memories. On the other side of the water, a little further downstream, Bert Burnley had set up his caravan park. School children from Birmingham had been bussed in for a stay in the countryside, often for the first time in their lives. Sam Western had been against the idea, but now he was the one appealing to city dwellers with the Outward Bound centre, his dairy teashop, and his artisan boutiques.

  After lunch, they moved closer to the water and rested for a while in the afternoon warmth. Lily and Seamus explored the shallows of the river and James closed his eyes. Mandy, too, felt herself drifting. She was roused when a cloud passed over the sun and she looked up. Although it was a warm day, she knew Paul felt the cold. They had better not sit still too long, she thought.

  ‘Would you like to go to Upper Welford Hall?’ she suggested.

  Sitting up, James looked at her, a puzzled crease between his eyes. ‘Why on earth would we want to go there?’

  ‘Sam Western’s got a new rotary milking parlour,’ Mandy explained. ‘I’d like to see it working, if you two wouldn’t mind?’

  ‘But would he want all of us there?’ James glanced from Mandy to Paul and back again. ‘Wouldn’t it be messy?’

  It dawned on Mandy that he thought they would be on a private visit, probably down at udder level. ‘It’s not messy at all,’ she said. ‘There’s a viewing window.’

  Paul looked fascinated. ‘That sounds interesting,’ he said. ‘I’ve never seen a cow being milked.’

  ‘I suppose Sam Western won’t mind?’ said James. ‘He was never our biggest fan.’

  ‘True,’ said Mandy, ‘and we weren’t his either. I don’t have much choice but to get on with him now. He’s an Animal Ark client.’

  James raised his eyebrows. ‘That doesn’t sound fun,’ he said.

  Mandy shrugged. ‘It might not be so bad. He’s got a dairyman called Graham, who knows more than I do about dairy husbandry. And Sam wasn’t as awful as I expected when I saw him yesterday. He seemed … almost human.’

  ‘Seems like it could be a lot worse,’ said James. ‘I’d love to go and see the milking parlour in action.’

  In a few minutes, they were all back in the car. Mandy offered Paul the picnic blanket for his knees but he shook his head, colour rising in his gaunt cheeks. Mandy blushed, too, hoping she hadn’t offended him.

  ‘We’ll go and look at the farm,’ she said as she buckled her seat belt, ‘but we can’t stay long. Gran and Grandad have invited us round for tea at four.’

  James’s face lit up. ‘That’ll be lovely,’ he said. ‘Mandy’s grandmother is the best baker in Welford,’ he told Paul.

  Paul and James seemed delighted with the changes at Upper Welford Hall. They sat in the café and watched as the cows walked one-by-one into the milking bays, circled around on the gigantic rotating floor as they gave their milk, and were decanted at the other side.

  ‘They seem very calm,’ Paul commented. ‘They don’t seem to mind the movement.’

  ‘It’s very steady,’ said Mandy. She had been impressed by the smoothness and admired the efficient way Graham set the machines on the udders. The feed was delivered promptly to each bay and the cows stood patiently as they waited.

  James disappeared to explore the shops and came back with two kinds of cheese and a woolly sweater for Paul.

  ‘Sam Western is going to have an Outward Bound centre here,’ Mandy told them. ‘They’re setting up climbing nets and high wires in the wood.’

  ‘Goodness,’ said James. ‘That doesn’t sound like the Sam Western I remember.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Remember Bert Burnley and his caravans. All the fuss that he and Mrs Ponsonby made about city children running riot in Welford?’ James’s eyes twinkled.

  ‘Yes,’ said Mandy. ‘Dad said the same thing about Sam’s change of heart. I can only imagine there’s money involved,’ she added dryly.

  Paul raised his eyebrows. ‘I never thought there would be so much going on in such a small place.’ He reached out and took James’s hand. ‘Thank you for sharing it with me,’ he glanced at Mandy, ‘both of you.’

  As she had at their wedding, Mandy felt a swell of unwelcome emotion. She was aware of James’s eyes on her and she took a deep breath and held onto it until the threat of tears retreated.

  ‘It’s almost four,’ she said as soon as she was sure her voice would be steady. ‘We’d better not keep Gran and Grandad waiting.’

  Despite being in their eighties, her grandparents remained remarkably fit and active, much to Mandy’s delight. They had obviously been preparing for James and Paul’s visit all day, and Mandy found her mouth watering as she looked at the spread they had set out.

  ‘Cherry tomatoes,’ she said, reaching over, and taking a handful. ‘Your own, I presume?’

  ‘First batch of the year,’ her grandad replied.

  ‘The sandwiches look delicious,’ said Paul, watching James tuck into egg and cress in home-made crusty bread, ‘but would it be okay for me to try some of your cake, please?’ He pointed to the three-layer coffee cake, smothered in icing and topped with walnuts.

  ‘Of course you can.’ Gran beamed at him as he handed her his plate. She carved off a slice and handed it over.

  James finished his sandwich and started on a teacake with cheese. He took a bite and chewed before looking up at Mandy’s grandmother. ‘This is wonderful,’ he said. ‘As good as I remember! Do you think I could have the recipe, please? For the café.’

  Gran looked delighted. ‘Of course you can,’ she said.

  Paul looked up at James. ‘You should get the recipe for the coffee walnut cake, too. It’s divine.’

  Gran bustled off to get her baking book and Grandad ushered them through into the s
itting room. ‘I’ll just help your gran tidy up,’ he told Mandy. ‘It’ll only take a minute.’

  ‘You seem very much at home back in Welford,’ James commented, lowering himself into a chair.

  Mandy looked around the room. The old wooden clock ticked on the mantelpiece, marking time between a pair of brown and white china dogs, just as it had always done. ‘I am,’ she admitted. ‘But I know it’s not forever,’ she added. ‘Once Mum and Dad have found a permanent member of staff, Simon and I are thinking of starting up a clinic in Leeds. Simon wants to specialise in advanced orthopaedics.’

  James frowned. ‘I thought you wanted to start a rescue centre. You told me when you were doing your Masters in animal behaviour that you wanted to focus on rehabilitation.’

  Mandy shifted in her chair. ‘I still want that,’ she said. ‘I’m just not sure how possible it’s going to be to do it straight away. Simon wants to get started with the most profitable part of the business as soon as I get back from Welford.’ When she said it that way, it didn’t sound so bad. ‘Commercial property in Leeds costs a fortune. I’m lucky that Granny Thorpe, Mum’s mum, left me a small lump sum to invest in whatever I want, but it’s going to be difficult, balancing a rescue centre with what Simon wants to do. We’re both going to have to compromise at the start.’

  ‘Does it have to be in Leeds?’ Paul put in. ‘It’ll be expensive setting up in any city.’

  ‘Yes.’ James’s eyes were serious behind his glasses. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to set up your centre here? The field behind Animal Ark, doesn’t that belong to your parents? There’d be room for buildings and space to spare for exercising the animals. You might be able to make use of the old stone shed where your dad keeps his gardening stuff. I know you’d need to extend, but still. You’ll never get anywhere in Leeds with so much potential.’

  ‘You could call it Hope Meadows!’ Paul exclaimed.

  Mandy turned to look at him. His face was flushed and he looked more animated than she had seen for a while. ‘I can see it now,’ he went on, spreading his hands as if he were unfurling a banner. ‘Hope Meadows: where we never give up.’