Nobody’s Darling

by Nobody’s Darling (retail) (epub)

  Ted Miller seemed unusually thoughtful. What with the argument at the table tonight, he hadn’t really had a chance to talk to Lizzie about something that was preying on his mind. And now she was fast and hard asleep. ‘Poor bugger,’ he remarked. Standing in front of the fire and warming his backside, he gazed down on his slumbering wife. ‘I’ve allus said a woman’s lot is worse than any man’s.’

  Through her quiet dreams Lizzie heard her man’s voice, and she liked what he said. Peeping out of one eye she told him mischievously, ‘I couldn’t agree more, but it’s good to know I’m appreciated, luv.’

  Ted laughed out loud, a pleasant rough sound that told of his love for her. ‘You little sod! You weren’t asleep at all.’

  Lizzie struggled to sit up straight in the squashy depths of the chair. ‘I were,’ she protested. ‘But I’ve learned to sleep light in case the childer ever need me.’

  Turning to Ruby, Ted asked, ‘Aren’t you going along to see your friend this evening?’

  ‘I’ve already been. It’s too cold for Maureen to go out, so Johnny came up and the three of us played Snap. Then we sat and talked a while, until Maureen’s mam thought it were time she had her rest.’ Ruby didn’t mention how Johnny had walked her home and kissed her at the door. Nor had she forgotten the wonderful glow his kiss sent through her. But she was anxious about the way things were going between her and Johnny. The more she told him she didn’t want anything serious, the harder it became for her to believe herself. Lately, it seemed she was only happy when he was close. That frightened her. Johnny meant Fisher Street, or a street very much like it. And that wasn’t what she had planned at all.

  ‘Well, if you’re not going out, how about making your old dad a cheese buttie and a brew?’ Ted was anxious to talk with Lizzie, and what he had to say wasn’t for anybody else’s ears, not even Ruby’s although she was always the soul of discretion.

  Sensing that her parents might have something private to talk about, Ruby went into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a half-filled kettle which she carefully lodged on the coals. Afterwards she went back into the scullery where she took her time in preparing the sandwich. So her parents would know she couldn’t hear what was being said, she sang softly to herself. In the background she could hear their voices, low and intimate. She smiled. It was a good feeling to know that your parents were still in love after so many years.

  ‘I’m worried, Lizzie. There’s summat been on my mind, and I’m not sure what to do about it.’ Ted was perched on the edge of the chair which Ruby had just vacated. Leaning forward, he bowed his head and ran both hands over his face, as if he was washing it. ‘If I speak out, it could mean trouble for me, and if I say nowt, men could be killed.’ He was greatly agitated.

  Lizzie was upright now, bending towards him, her eyes searching his face. ‘Whatever’s the matter, Ted? Is it your work?’ She had seen him like this only once before, and that was when he was dismissed from the Arnold foundry.

  ‘Aye, lass. It is my work in a way. Not where I work now, but where I used to work.’ Taking a deep breath, he looked towards the scullery from where Ruby’s voice could be heard raised in a soft melody. Satisfied, he fell back in his chair. ‘I’ve learned summat that rankles me and that’s a fact. There’s word going about concerning the manager at the Arnold plant. The same fella as sacked me. Folks say he’s crooked, Lizzie.’

  ‘Crooked?’ She was shocked. ‘What d’yer mean… crooked?’

  ‘Look, Lizzie, you know yourself I don’t listen to gossip, but if it’s true, something should be done.’

  ‘I don’t know what yer getting at. Are yer saying the manager’s turning out bad steel, is that it?’

  Ted shook his head. ‘No, lass. What I’m saying is that he’s not turning out bad steel. According to what I’ve heard, he’s buying it in!’ In his excitement his voice became raised and he glanced anxiously towards the scullery. Ruby was still singing so he went on, ‘I’ve been told that he’s using second grade steel to build them new platforms. If that’s the case, Lizzie, they ain’t safe.’

  ‘Who told you this?’ She wasn’t one to listen to gossip. It was a sure way of landing yourself in trouble.

  ‘Jack Armitage. It were him as told me.’

  Lizzie pulled a face. ‘Drunk was he?’ She had never seen Jack Armitage when he wasn’t.

  Ted appeared embarrassed then. ‘Well, happen he’d sunk a pint or two but…’

  ‘No buts, Ted. You know as well as I do that Jack Armitage is a fool who lets his tongue run away with him. Besides, didn’t he have a run in with that manager some time back? Weren’t he given a warning about fighting on the premises?’

  Ted thought a minute before mumbling his agreement. ‘Aye, that’s right, lass.’

  Encouraged, she went on, ‘And have yer forgotten how he spread the rumour that Alice May had skipped off with some fella, when all the time the poor woman was lying close to death’s door in the infirmary?’ The entire episode had caused uproar and was still talked about. ‘By! It’s a wonder her old man didn’t flay him alive when he found out who it was spreading the tale.’ She leaned forward and fondly patted Ted’s hand. ‘Think on that, luv,’ she suggested kindly. ‘And think on this… how could the manager buy bad steel in without Luke Arnold knowing about it?’

  Ted hadn’t thought of that. It did put a different complexion on the matter, that was for sure. ‘You’re right, lass. Everything has to go through the boss… orders, accounts and the like. No, it couldn’t be done without him finding out, I’m certain. And the manager, for all his faults, isn’t stupid enough to risk losing his own livelihood.’ He was visibly relaxed, even smiling. ‘That bloody Jack Armitage!’ The cloud had lifted from his face and now there was only anger visible. ‘Get somebody hung one day, he will.’

  ‘So long as it ain’t you.’ Satisfied that the matter was closed, Lizzie called out, ‘Ruby! Where’s them sandwiches? You’d best fetch ’em in afore yer faither starves to death.’

  As she made her way into the parlour with a plate of chunky sandwiches, someone else made their way back upstairs unseen. Going on tiptoe into his room, Lenny stood by the window awhile, turning over in his mind what he had heard.

  ‘So it’s bad steel is it?’ he murmured. ‘And the manager couldn’t do it without the boss knowing, eh?’ He smiled deeply as a delicious thought occurred to him. ‘And who’s to say the boss ain’t in on it as well, that’s what I’d like to know? After all, Luke Arnold and the likes of him ain’t above corruption, any more than the rest of us.’

  As the disgruntled Lenny climbed to his bed he wasn’t quite certain what to do with this useful snippet of information. But it was certainly something to keep in mind for the future, he thought cunningly.

  Chapter Ten

  The March wind cut across the high ground, whistling and howling like a demented soul and bending the tree boughs almost to the ground. For two days now it had blown relentlessly, and Johnny began to wonder when it would let up. ‘No matter, my beauty,’ he told the powerful stallion as he led it out of the top field and towards the stables. ‘Nature has its own way, and we have a job to do all the same.’

  He and the great bay hunter made a striking silhouette against the grey shifting sky as they pressed on determinedly, heads bowed to the wind. ‘She’s in the paddock waiting for you,’ he teased. ‘And we wouldn’t want to disappoint her now, would we, eh?’

  From the mouth of the stables, old Thomas watched while Johnny and the hunter made their descent. Behind him in the small railed paddock, the mare caught the stallion’s scent. Excited, she began rearing and pawing at the ground, impatient for her lover.

  ‘Whoah, there!’ Thomas called, ambling towards her. ‘Behave yerself, yer little hussy. It won’t be long now.’

  ‘Throwing a tantrum, is she?’ Tony Hargreaves leaned against the rail on the far side, his curious gaze going from Thomas to the mare, and back again. ‘She’s a magnificent creature,’ he s
aid, regarding her with awe. He was a little afraid of horses. ‘Worth a bit, I’ll be bound.’ Since a boy, he had learned all there was to know about tin mines, but even though he had been wed to Teresa for almost two years now, and had visited these stables on the many occasions he and his family had stayed at her father’s house, he still knew next to nothing about horses.

  ‘Worth a bloody fortune more like,’ Thomas replied sharply. He was never one to change his ways, not for peasant nor gentry. It was this stubborn attitude that both endeared him to Oliver Arnold and alienated his spoiled daughter Teresa. ‘That there mare comes of top breeding stock. Belongs to a farmer the other side o’ Darwen. It’s cost him a pretty penny to put that mare with our stallion, but the offspring will be priceless. Especially if it’s a filly. Oh, aye, it’ll have blue blood running through its veins from both parents, make no mistake about that. That there stallion comes from a long line o’ champions.’

  He turned to look at the mare. ‘Oh, but she’s a grand ’un, that she is.’ He let his gaze wander over her magnificent lines, from the muscular straight neck to the strong finely curved limbs. She was darkest bay in colour, with huge saucer eyes the shade of ripe chestnuts. ‘Fiery though,’ Thomas warned now. ‘When that stallion comes to serve her, you’d best stay well clear. They get too excited, y’see. Sometimes they’ll nuzzle and mate with the stallion in a matter o’ minutes, and sometimes they’ll panic and fight just like a wild woman.’ He chuckled at his many memories. ‘What! I’ve known a mare to clear an eight-foot fence an’ run like the wind afore she’d let the big fella mount her.’

  At the gate, Johnny was having a job to hold back the great horse. Seeing the mare, it began fidgeting and fighting, eager to be let loose. ‘Get back, you bugger!’ It took all of Johnny’s strength to hold the animal while Thomas quickly slipped the mare inside the stable. With the top half of the door open the two of them could regard each other before mating. It was important not to let the stallion straight at the mare. With their senses heightened, and the mare in full season, that could often prove to be dangerous, and Thomas was never one for taking chances.

  ‘In you go then.’ As soon as Thomas had the gate wide open, Johnny brought the stallion into the paddock. ‘Easy now. Easy.’ Leaving the halter in place, he deftly slipped the rope out of the ring and let the animal have its head. ‘Get clear, Thomas,’ he instructed, and the old fella obediently crawled through the railings to watch from the other side.

  ‘Be careful, son,’ he warned. ‘They can be unpredictable. Especially when it’s the stallion’s first time, like now.’

  At first the beast seemed unsure. It was all a new experience for him. He stamped the ground and threw his head high, shaking it from side to side, wild white eyes rolling. There was a strange silence, almost eerie, as he slowly encircled the paddock, tall and proud, every muscle taut, his limbs quivering in anticipation.

  From the stable, the mare began to whinny, frantically tossing her head then sinking her teeth into the door. She was greatly agitated. ‘Go round, Thomas,’ Johnny whispered. It was on the tip of his tongue to add, ‘Be careful. Don’t send her out until I say,’ but Thomas had taught him everything he knew, and though he was a good deal slower in the body, the old fellow still had his wits about him.

  Staying close to the rails, Johnny kept his eye on the stallion. Like any man in the full anticipation of passion, that magnificent creature was eager to serve his mate; his great chest was swelled with pride, and he was immensely erect, though was still uncertain, still hesitant.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Johnny saw Thomas scurry round to the back door of the stables. From there he would turn the mare out when it was considered safe.

  ‘Is it all right for me to be here?’ Tony Hargreaves was nervous. All he wanted was an excuse to leave without seeming too much of a coward. ‘I think I’m making him wary.’ Besides, the very idea of watching these two creatures actually mating was abhorrent to him.

  Johnny didn’t like the idea of a stranger being near at a time like this. ‘It might be best if you weren’t,’ he answered. ‘Like Thomas said, they can be unpredictable, and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.’ That was all the encouragement the young man needed. In no time at all he was striding away, back to the house, thankful that his father’s fortune was made in tin mines and not through the breeding of horses.

  * * *

  From the upper window, Teresa watched her husband enter the house. It was what she had been waiting for. With the skill of long practice, she came out on to the landing and waited until she heard the study door close behind him and then came swiftly down the stairs out into the open. Once away from the house, she went speedily towards the stables. Careful not to let either Thomas or Johnny see her, she positioned herself by the aged weeping willow. From here, and camouflaged by the long drooping branches that swept the ground, she watched and waited, her small evil eyes following Johnny’s every move.

  The stallion was displaying himself, rudely exhibiting his full and glorious manhood. Still a virgin, but obviously ready for his first sexual encounter, he trembled with excitement. Reaching his thick broad neck over the stable door he nuzzled the mare, making small guttural noises in the back of his throat when she began to respond.

  ‘Now, Thomas. Send her out now. She’s accepted him.’ Johnny’s voice was controlled. Too loud, too intrusive, one wrong move, and it could all be spoiled.

  ‘There, lass… Shh, my lovely.’ Thomas edged himself nearer. The mare knew him. She trusted him. ‘Out you go.’

  Slowly, he swung the door open. At first she was reluctant to leave the safety of her enclosure. But then, suddenly, she was out, free in the paddock, head high, nostrils flared, her every limb ready for flight. ‘Easy now. Easy girl.’ Thomas pushed the stable door to, but he didn’t throw the bolt. If she took panic, it was best for her to retreat into the stable rather than jump the fence and injure herself.

  There was a deal of snorting and nuzzling, breathing into each other’s nostrils and putting eyeball to eyeball. Now the stallion was stalking her, his huge black eyes wide and staring. He was big and hard, ready to take her. She pushed him with her nose, a winsome smile on her handsome face, but still he wasn’t quite sure. He stalked her again and brushed against her lightly, then stepped proudly round the paddock, pretending not to notice her. She called out to him. He went to her, nuzzling nose to nose at first then gently sniffing her rear end. Shivering with delight, she raised her tail high, inviting him, persistently calling. Suddenly he was up in the air, throwing himself over her, thrusting his huge body forwards. He fell and thrashed about, climbing on and falling off, growing more and more frustrated, his hooves clawing at her back, making long jagged marks.

  ‘He’s a clumsy bugger!’ Thomas called out. ‘Yer can tell he ain’t done it afore.’ He watched as the stallion tried and tried again. The confused animal had no trouble mounting but couldn’t penetrate, and while he fumbled the mare was being cut and torn. ‘You’ll have to help him, Johnny,’ he cried. ‘Afore she’s cut to buggery.’ In his younger days Thomas had been called on more than once to help a young stallion in distress, but it was a dangerous job and a man needed to be strong and quick. These days he was no match for the brute if it should turn nasty. Johnny could do it, though. He knew how.

  Johnny didn’t need telling twice. He had seen with his own eyes that the mare was not only being cut, but that she was growing impatient. Any minute now she would turn on the stallion and that could lead to all hell being let loose. ‘Stay back,’ he warned, and Thomas instinctively stepped away a pace.

  Slowly and carefully, Johnny made his way to the centre of the paddock where the two animals were wildly thrashing about. Exhausted, the mare would tear away, then the stallion would follow to try again. He was confused now, and growing angry. From behind Johnny could hear Thomas warning him to ‘Be careful, lad. For God’s sake, be careful.’

  He had to let it be known that he was advancin
g. Horses in particular do not like being taken by surprise. ‘It’s all right,’ he murmured. ‘Shh, easy does it now.’ The mare turned her big soulful eyes on him, but the stallion clung to her back, thrusting his powerful bulk against her haunches and growing more and more frantic. The sweat was teeming down his body, glistening like dew against the darkness of his coat.

  ‘It’s all right, my beauty. Easy now.’ Johnny waited until the stallion had seen him before coming in from the side, all the while murmuring soothing words, coaxing and encouraging the great handsome beast.

  He was so close now he could feel the animal’s warm breath fanning the back of his neck. His skin crept with fear. If the stallion was to fall on him, he would be crushed like an eggshell.

  ‘Easy, boy. It’s all right.’ His voice was like a caress, soothing the irate creature who looked sideways at Johnny as though he knew the man was there to help. ‘All right, fella. It’s all right. The stallion snorted, flicking his tail angrily. Skillfully, Johnny guided him into position. The next thrust struck home and the mare cried out. But she stood her ground, throwing her head high and pushing against her mate.

  Quickly now Johnny sprang out of the way. Even before he got back to the rails, where he washed his hands at the trough, it was all over. ‘He’ll know how to do it next time,’ Thomas chuckled.

  ‘I hope so,’ Johnny replied, relieved. ‘I wouldn’t want to do that again.’

  ‘Sometimes we have to do the unpleasant,’ Thomas said. ‘He’s young yet, but he’ll learn. All we can hope is that there’ll be a lovely foal for all our troubles.’

  Soon the mare was safely stabled, settled with a bucket of beet until her owner came to collect her. The stallion was released into the field where he could run off any excess energy, and Thomas and Johnny set about their other many duties before retiring for a well-earned break.

  From her vantage point beneath the willow tree Teresa watched until the two men were out of sight. Afterwards, she strolled back to the house, a devious smile on her handsome face. What she had seen was still vivid on her mind, and she ached for a man. She ached for Johnny. He was still in her blood. He always would be.