by Georgia Rose
The music started, coming from hidden speakers in the corners of the ceiling of the marquee. It was a classical piece, which needless to say I was unfamiliar with, and we all stood. Stanton looked down the aisle, his face lighting up as he saw Lawson on the arm of her father. A lump came to my throat as I watched him escort his daughter. Being an orphan and never having known my father, I’d always found this ritual deeply poignant in a way you can only appreciate when it’s something you can never experience.
We sat and listened as the registrar guided Stanton and Lawson through the service. They’d written their own vows, which I thought brave, and they were sweet and meaningful. Trent sat with his arm along the back of my chair, his fingers still and light on my upper arm. We were at the back and I could see all the guests. It amazed me how many of the people here were family members. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins from both sides of the family. It intrigued me how large and yet how close these two families were that were being brought together into one. A stark contrast to Trent and me, neither of us having any family, isolated in the crowd.
The ceremony ended with a kiss accompanied by spontaneous applause, and we all stood as the couple walked back down the aisle, confetti thrown in celebration. Another round of drinks was to be served in the garden with canapés, and this was my cue to leave and get the horses finished off for the evening. Due to my stupid shoes, Trent said he’d run me back to the yard then take a lap round the estate to check all was in order before picking me up again.
We returned to the party later, me having changed my shoes, and I made my way to the kitchen as I was helping to get the food ready for the reception. Although I was involved in finishing off some of the preparation, mostly I was carrying it through to the ballroom. We were going to serve it buffet style for everyone to eat at tables which had been set up under the marquee, but which also spilled out on to the lawn. It had been decided that we’d operate in a similar way to how the ball had been run earlier in the year. We’d all pitch in to help, which would cut down the numbers of outsiders that would have to come on to the estate. Therefore, while we’d been gone a group had set up the tables and chairs, then the tables had been beautifully laid and decorated with floral arrangements incorporating candles which would be lit as the evening progressed. Part of the marquee floor had been left clear for dancing, and a band was setting up at the far end.
To the uninitiated among us the celebrations appeared like those of any country wedding. To those in the know it was hard to miss the comings and goings of the staff as they rotated security detail, the muttered asides when reporting back that all was quiet, and I knew all were holding their breath, hoping that tonight was not going to be the night.
The buffet table was long and fully laden, and Michael started organising everyone to come through before taking their allotted seats. We served ourselves last and took our seats, and the wine flowed for our guests, though I noticed those from the estate abstaining due to the duties they still had to fulfil.
The speeches were mercifully short, albeit entertaining, and for me, at least, very informative. I found out that Stanton was a doctor, not a gardener as I’d believed. He had served as an army medic, and it had been on active service that he’d met Lawson who was, in fact, a qualified nurse and not a farm hand. As this was revealed to me I looked over at Trent, who raised his eyebrows innocently as if he too were surprised.
The cake was cut and served as dessert as the band started to play. Trent took my hand and led me away from the crowd to a quiet corner further up the garden, and although the music being played was upbeat Trent drew me closer to him and we moved slowly to our own tune.
“Go on, then,” he said.
“Go on with what?”
“With all those questions that are bursting out of you.”
“Ah, you know me too well...” I hesitated. “So how does it work then? Stanton and Lawson are both working here in different occupations. Do their families know they’ve opted out?”
“They haven’t opted out. They’re both still what they qualified as. They’re part of our team. Stanton is our only doctor, but we have others qualified as nurses. They all work enough hours at the local hospital to keep them qualified and their skills up to date – actually, they specialise in accident and emergency medicine as that’s most useful for us.” He paused to look at me for a moment before continuing, grinning as he wound me up, “With the number of visits you’ve had to the hospital it’s surprising you haven’t bumped into any of them there.”
I ignored his little joke. “So they’re what? Living some sort of double life?”
“I guess so. People are here for a variety of reasons. Some of the older ones had retired from the forces but weren’t quite able to completely let it go. Here, they can live a gentler life but keep their skills up with the chance that they may still be needed. Others, the younger ones…at least some of them have had...some sort of bad experience, in the field usually, that has set them back. They have either been recommended to come here, or have requested the transfer themselves to give them a bit of breathing space or recovery time before deciding what to do next. Some we have actively recruited and they are here on secondment from the forces for a period of time. It all depends on the individuals’ circumstances, but basically all here are not what they seem to the outside world.”
I thought on this for a moment. There was one person who was different to the others.
“What’s Turner’s story then? If I’m allowed to know, that is?”
Turner had stood out from the other boys right from the start. He was very young, still only just twenty, and although he’d filled out a little in the year I’d known him through trying to keep up with the others at the gym, he had a way to go to catch up with their physiques.
“He is a little different. He’d shown great potential in the Navy and earned his wings in record time, but was struggling with accepting the discipline that was expected of him. He’d got himself into a few fights due to his hotheadedness, but was ill-equipped to deal with them. An old contact got in touch and asked us to take him on for a while. He pilots a small transport aircraft we use when several of us are deploying, or we need certain equipment.”
I hadn’t realised they had anything other than the Apache.
“I suppose you were sympathetic because he reminded you of you.” I remembered Trent surprising me when he’d revealed how he’d struggled in a similar fashion when he was younger.
“I suppose so. Anyway, here he can develop at his own speed, and once he feels ready he can go back to his unit.” I could feel Trent’s attention wandering as he looked across the garden towards the marquee, and I knew I’d got all the information from him that I was likely to get for a while. I knew he was thinking about the security issues of the evening, so I nodded as he said, “We’d better be rejoining the party.”
The band was in full swing and the dance floor heaving as we wandered back across the grass, walking up to Cavendish and Grace who were watching from the sidelines. My head was full of everything I’d recently learnt about the estate and those on it. I had lived here over a year believing all these people around me were gardeners, farm hands, cleaners and the like. They lived this quiet life, worked on a beautiful estate doing these steady jobs when in fact they were all militarily trained and, it seemed, just waiting for that training to be put to good use.
It appeared their time had come.
The band had come to the end of a song, changing the tempo into something slower, much to the relief of some of those on the dance floor. Some left while others joined. I took Trent’s hand in an attempt to coax him on to the floor. Instantly I could feel him tense.
“I can’t...I’m sorry...I’ve got to go and check on...a few things.” As excuses went, he didn’t carry this one off well. His words stilted and false. His hand tightened on mine as Carlton joined our little group, he and Greene fresh from the dance floor, though Greene was di
sappearing in the opposite direction.
Trent cleared his throat. “Why don’t you have a dance with Carlton? He’s unoccupied at the moment...” His discomfort was almost palpable, and made worse by the group’s reaction. Cavendish swiftly asked Grace to dance, not waiting for an answer as she was only too happy to be given a way out of the awkwardness. Trent, Carlton and I were left, and I’d been so completely taken by surprise I had no chance to hide my look of astonishment as my eyes flicked across Carlton’s face. His eyebrows lifted in a similar response to mine. I looked at Trent, bewildered by his out-of-character behaviour.
While I took longer to get my reaction under control. Carlton didn’t waste a second, holding his hand out to me as Trent gave an imperceptible nod in my direction, keen for me to accept the offer. Confused, I took Carlton’s hand, accepting the situation as his mouth formed an “only too happy to oblige” smile.
As we walked the few paces to the dance floor, I glanced back over my shoulder to see Trent’s eyes darkening as they fixed on mine. My initial surprise over, I now knew what he was doing and I knew what it would be costing him. Carlton pulled me closer, and taking the opportunity I looked over his shoulder, only to find Trent had gone.
“Relax, Em.” I heard Carlton’s quiet words close to my ear before he pulled back to look at me. I smiled unsteadily, trying to prove to him that I could smile, willing my body to do as he suggested. But a memory was stirred by being this close to Carlton, and as our eyes met I was instantly transported back to the night in the stable yard, before Trent had intervened in what might have been. This memory immediately intensified my discomfort. Carlton’s expression was serious, his eyes fixed on mine. I didn’t think his thoughts were that far from my own.
Then, leaving me in no doubt, he murmured, “Ancient history now, Em...we’ve both moved on and we need to get more...we need to be more comfortable with each other, and with the way things are now.”
I’ve never felt more grateful, more relieved, or more instantly relaxed as at that moment when we both grinned, broadly and ridiculously, at each other.
“Thank God we got that over with,” I replied.
“Awkward, wasn’t it?” He grinned as I nodded in agreement, laughing lightly as we continued to move slowly round the floor, smoothly now, comfortably. Cocking his head to one side, he continued, “So...what’s he up to?”
“He did take me by surprise, but I know what it’s all about now. It’s because of our row. There was a situation...I won’t elaborate, but he’s trying to show me he’s not possessive.”
“Ah, I wondered what it had been about.” He looked thoughtful. “I’m still surprised he invited me to dance with you, particularly after our ‘moment’.” And he grinned as I grimaced at the reminder.
“He tends to be all or nothing,” I said. “You happened to be there, and by choosing you it shows he’s trying particularly hard to prove something to me.”
“I hope you appreciate the gesture.”
The song had come to an end. We wandered out of the marquee and back towards the entrance to the kitchen. I thought I’d offer my services, and Carlton indicated he was going to the office to check in on the surveillance team. I was in time to help take platters of cheese and baskets of biscuits out to the guests in an attempt to help soak up some of the alcohol they’d imbibed.
It seemed no time at all before we were all standing in front of the Manor sending the newlyweds off on their honeymoon, and as I stood out of the way behind all the family, Trent appeared silently beside me. Goodbyes were said, the bride and groom left and their guests returned to the partying – we didn’t move.
Heeding Carlton’s words, I wondered how to let Trent know I appreciated the effort he’d made, and thinking how to go about this made me feel awkward with him. I could sense his eyes on me, watching me, and before I could find something appropriate to say, he spoke, “Good dance?”
“Yes...thank you.” I turned to him, putting my hand on his chest, then, wanting to encourage him, I met his eyes. “But it wasn’t you.” A flicker of suppressed satisfaction passed across his face. “I appreciate it, Trent...it means a lot.”
He shrugged as if it was nothing, when I knew that for him it was everything. “I’m aiming to turn my possessiveness into protectiveness which I hope you will be able to accept.”
I didn’t like to dampen his enthusiasm by mentioning that I didn’t need protecting either. Graciously accept the small steps, I told myself. So I smiled at him as, stepping closer, his arms closed around me, and we stood for a while enjoying the peace of what was now a late summer’s night.
The party wound down a short while later when the more than merry wedding guests were rounded up and shepherded back on to the coach, where they enjoyed a raucous farewell. As the coach disappeared from view up the lane, a relieved silence fell over the estate workers left behind. With an almost grim determination we turned to the task of dismantling the marquee and clearing away all signs of the celebrations. It was clear the party was over.
Chapter 6
The mood on the estate changed after the wedding. Even though I was distanced by being at the stables, the more serious air pervading the atmosphere reached me, probably transmitted via Trent, and I felt edgy. I went to a couple of briefings at the Manor where we found out a little more about the members of the organisation we were being threatened by, and had the opportunity to view the few, mostly grainy, photographs on record of them. Out of the Polzin brothers, it seemed as though only the youngest, Anatoly, involved himself in any direct action, the others taking more organisational roles. Cavendish and Trent had come up against him before, along with one of the gang’s particularly brutal henchmen, Orlov. We were kept updated on any available intel (I was also learning the lingo) but it wasn’t much. Despite my sightings of the blue car we still had no idea how, when or even if they were coming.
As a distraction I was pleased to have the children over on a couple of days to ride, and we stayed in the arena which made it easier for Carlton and Turner to be able to keep an eye on them. Towards the end of the week, however, they were getting itchy feet, and as Grace was also coming over to ride we thought we’d hack out.
I mapped out the route I would take with Carlton and Turner and planned it so they’d be able to follow us via the lanes, and although they wouldn’t quite be able to keep us in sight all the time, they’d be near enough to get to us if needed.
Trent had come back for lunch, and met Grace, Sophia and Reuben in the yard as he was leaving. Reuben’s face grimaced with distaste as Trent kissed me goodbye. Sophia had obviously spread the news to him as he didn’t seem surprised at our display of affection, only disgusted.
The horses had been particularly bothered by flies over the last week and I’d changed their routine to keep them in during the day and out overnight, so they were already in when we went to get them ready. We set off half an hour later. Carlton and Turner followed us out of the yard in the pickup and trailed along behind us until we turned into the trees, and we lost sight of them as the lane drew them away from us. It felt good to be out; the weather was fine and warm, and it was difficult to believe the threat hanging over the estate was real. Grace appeared pent-up and tense, which was perhaps not surprising, and as we walked our horses side by side, the children following along behind giggling about something, I quietly asked how she was coping.
She shrugged, sighing deeply before she replied, keeping her voice low so the children wouldn’t hear. “You were quite right, I do feel better having the children with us, but other than that I feel a bit useless. I’m worried for Cavendish, but he seems confident that all the plans they’ve put in place will be enough...” She hesitated. “But what if they’re not? What if he gets taken from us? I feel so scared...and, frankly, completely out of my depth surrounded by all these people who know what they’re doing.”
I could understand her misgivings and sympathised with her. I’d done my own share of feeling inadequate ov
er the predicament we’d found ourselves in. I also got the feeling she’d not said this out loud before, and hoped that perhaps she saw I was in a similar position, which was why she’d taken the chance to offload.
“I know what you mean with feeling out of your depth, Grace, but you bring your own skills to this situation. I’m somewhat separated from what’s going on, but Trent has told me about all the organisation you’ve been involved with, sorting the staff and supplies, organising rotas – even manning the surveillance, I’ve heard.”
She laughed at this and smiled across at me. “Did you hear what happened as I was being briefed by Sharpe in the office?” Although I had heard, I shook my head, wanting her to tell me; to make me laugh; to make her relax. She went on eagerly, “Sharpe was showing me how the screens worked where you could swap from one camera angle to another and so on, when up popped the view of the back courtyard, and there were Hayes and Young in a compromising position behind one of the pickups. Sharpe was horrified that I was there to witness it, and though I tried to take it seriously I couldn’t help laughing. I laughed even more as she tried to call both of them, but they were so caught up in the moment they ignored their phones. I think that was what she found most annoying.” Grace was having to wipe her tears of laughter away as she told me this, and as I laughed along with her I could imagine how mortified Sharpe would have been. Trent had told me the story as it had been regaled to him by Sharpe, and her indignation at having her calls ignored when the estate was meant to be in a state of high alert was clear. You had to admit she had a point.
As our laughter eased we became aware of the giggling growing louder behind us, and whisperings between the children as they appeared to be goading each other into song. I heard “Grayson and Trent, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g” followed by more giggles. Grace and I looked at each other before joining in their laughter.