The Time of the Hunter's Moon

by Victoria Holt

  She said: “I wish it wasn’t summer.”

  “Why ever not! Why, it’s the best time of the year. Think of the lovely sunshine, the walks, the picnics, the holidays…”

  I stopped. How foolish of me, how tactless.

  There was a brief silence and I went on: “Teresa, what shall you do during the summer holidays?”

  “I shall stay at school.” Her voice sounded utterly dreary. “I suppose Miss Hetherington will have to let me, but it is a nuisance for her. I’m the only one.”

  A sudden impulse came to me and I said: “Teresa, suppose…just suppose…it were possible for me to take you home with me for the holidays.”

  “Miss Grant!”

  “Well, I suppose I could. Aunt Patty would be all right…and Violet. I’d have to get Miss Hetherington’s permission.”

  “Oh, Miss Grant…I’d see Aunt Patty and Violet’s bees. Oh, Miss Grant. I want to come…so much.”

  I stared into the darkness. Perhaps I should have thought about it more carefully before mentioning it. But, poor Teresa. She was so miserable and in such a low state after the accident. I had had to make the suggestion, and the more I thought of it the better it seemed. Teresa would not go to sleep now. She wanted to talk about Aunt Patty and her home in the country.

  “I don’t know much about it myself yet. I haven’t been there when it was a home. It has always been an empty house to me. They only moved in when I came to Colby so I only know about it from Aunt Patty’s letters.”

  “Tell me about Aunt Patty. Tell me about how she came to meet you from Africa in that hat with the feather.”

  So I told her, as I had told her before, and I heard her laugh contentedly beside me, and I knew that the prospect of the summer holiday was doing more to restore her than anything else could have done.

  ***

  The next day Emmet arrived to take us back to the school. Mrs. Keel saw us off with two of the servants and as we were about to get into the carriage Sir Jason appeared.

  I said: “Thank you for your hospitality. Teresa, please thank Sir Jason.”

  “Thank you,” said Teresa obediently, her eyes still shining with anticipation of the summer holidays.

  “It was a great pleasure,” he said. “I so much enjoyed our dinner.”

  “A culinary masterpiece,” I replied. “Again thank you and everyone concerned. Come along, Teresa.”

  “I trust we shall meet again soon,” he said looking at me.

  I smiled vaguely and settled Teresa, taking my seat beside her. Emmet whipped up the horse and we moved away. Sir Jason was looking straight at me rather pleadingly, I thought, and again I felt a twinge of that pity for him which would, I am sure, have amused him, had he known of it.

  Daisy Hetherington was waiting to receive us. She greeted me and her eyes went immediately to Teresa.

  “You look none the worse for your adventure,” she said. “Come along in. What does the doctor say, Miss Grant? Is Teresa to rest for a while?”

  “Yes, for today. I will take her to her room. She should rest in bed for today and tomorrow we will see.”

  “When you have dealt with her, come to my sitting room, Miss Grant. I want to talk to you.”

  “Certainly,” I replied.

  I took Teresa to her room and helped her to bed.

  “Will you ask Miss Hetherington now?” she whispered conspiratorially.

  “Yes,” I said. “At the first opportunity.”

  “And will you let me know…at once?”

  “I promise.”

  I saw Charlotte and the Verringer girls on my way to Miss Hetherington.

  I said to them: “Teresa is back. She may be a little shocked. I want you all to be very careful. Don’t refer to the mishap unless she does. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, Miss Grant. Yes, Miss Grant. Yes, Miss Grant.”

  There was even an understanding affirmative from Charlotte. That little bit of authority had worked wonders.

  “You three ride very well,” I went on. “You happen to be especially good horsewomen.” I was looking at Charlotte, who turned pink with pleasure. “You must understand that everyone cannot be as good. Their talents might lie in other directions.”

  I passed on. I did not think Charlotte would taunt Teresa with cowardice if she refused to ride for a while. I really did believe that I had got through to her because of her love of horses—in a small way perhaps, but it was a beginning. I fell to thinking then that many people behaved badly through a desire to assert themselves, and when their success was acknowledged there ceased to be that necessity. It was a point I should like to discuss. Certainly not with Daisy Hetherington but with Eileen Eccles, Aunt Patty…and it might be interesting to hear Sir Jason’s views.

  Daisy was waiting for me.

  “Oh, Miss Grant, sit down. What an unfortunate thing to happen! And there of all places…”

  “It was better than happening in the isolated country,” I reminded her. “At least we got Teresa attended to very quickly.”

  “I gather it is only bruises.”

  “No bones were broken. She was lucky. Of course she is shocked.”

  “Sometimes I wish I had never taken Teresa Hurst.”

  “She is a very pleasant girl.”

  “She seems to have some fixation for you, Cordelia. Be careful. These obsessions can become tiresome.”

  “The fact with Teresa is that she is lonely. She feels unwanted because of her home situation. By the way, she is very depressed about the summer holidays and I, rather rashly I’m afraid, promised to take her home with me if all were agreeable.”

  “Take her home!” cried Daisy. “My dear Cordelia!”

  “It seemed a good idea in the middle of the night when the poor child was so depressed, and after that had happened I promised…”

  Daisy smiled slowly. “It was extremely good of you and I am sure Patience would raise no objections.”

  “Then I have your permission?”

  “My dear Cordelia, nothing would please me better than to have the child somewhere else for the summer holidays. It is an added burden when they stay at school…and not worth the price they pay for it. Imagine…the child here all that time and no others of her age. And a responsibility. As far as I am concerned I would give a whole-hearted Yes. There are the parents.”

  “They are in Rhodesia.”

  “I am thinking of the guardians here. The cousins…I will write to them and ask for their permission for Teresa to stay with you. I will tell them that your aunt with whom you will be staying is an old friend of mine and I can vouch for Teresa’s being in the best possible place since she cannot be with her own parents.”

  “Oh thank you, Miss Hetherington. Would you mind if I went to tell Teresa right away? She is so anxious.”

  “Yes. And there is one other thing, Cordelia. I was uneasy about your spending a night at the Hall.”

  “I know you were and it was good of you to be concerned.”

  “I feel as responsible for my staff as I do for my girls…Did you dine with Sir Jason?”

  “Yes.”

  “He has a reputation for being rather…free with women.”

  “I can well imagine that.”

  “I hope he was in no way offensive.”

  “No. As a matter of fact after dinner Mrs. Martindale called. I left them and went to Teresa to relieve Mrs. Keel who had kindly offered to keep vigil while I ate.”

  Daisy was obviously relieved.

  I went straight to Teresa.

  “The first hurdle is over,” I said. “Miss Hetherington gives her whole-hearted consent. There now remain the cousins. She will write to them today.”

  “They will say Yes Please. We have nothing to fear from them. Oh, Miss Grant, I am going to spend my summer holidays with you and Aunt Patty!”

  A Summer Interlude

  We had heard from the cousins and they were delighted with the arrangements and expressed assurance that as Miss Grant was so h
ighly recommended by Miss Hetherington, she would take good care of Teresa.

  “As if they cared,” said Daisy. “You can read the relief oozing out of their words.”

  Aunt Patty wrote that she thought it was an admirable suggestion and Teresa could have the room next to mine. She had made curtains of sprigged muslin—delphinium blue in color—and a bedspread to match. Very pretty but Violet said they wouldn’t stand up to the wash. Trust Violet! She could not wait to meet us at the station.

  I showed the letter to Teresa, who from then on dreamed of a room with delphinium blue sprigged muslin curtains.

  She had not mounted a horse since her accident. The general opinion was that she should, but I told Miss Hetherington that she had had a great shock and that she was seized with trembling every time the subject was broached, and we did not yet know the full effects of her fall. So we decided that we would let Teresa have her way.

  Charlotte and her cronies did not taunt her as I feared they would. It might have been that my words had had some effect on them or perhaps they were too excited about the coming break.

  I saw nothing of Sir Jason. I heard that he had gone to London and I began to realize that there had been nothing of any great significance in our encounter. He had been ready to turn it into what he would call an adventure—just a lighthearted passing affaire; and as I had not responded with enthusiasm, he, preferring easier conquests, had not thought it worthwhile to pursue the project. I was ashamed of myself for thinking so much about him. I must stop thinking of it. I must dismiss the incident in the courtyard as I had tried to in the case of my encounter with the stranger in the forest. One had to accept people’s idiosyncrasies and try not to find a reason for them when it was quite impossible to know what was going on in other people’s minds. As for allowing oneself to be disturbed—even faintly—by a man of Jason Verringer’s reputation, that was the utmost folly. I would proceed to forget all about him.

  The rest of the term slipped by and as soon as we were in July the girls talked of little else but the coming summer holidays—the longest of the year and the most looked forward to.

  The day came when we steamed into the station and there was Aunt Patty with a biscuit-colored creation covered by blue-and-yellow flowers perched on her head. I watched Teresa’s eyes shine with excitement, and I knew that Aunt Patty was going to live up to my picture of her.

  “Oh there you are.” I was held in that lavender-scented embrace which brought back memories. “And this is Teresa.”

  Teresa was swallowed in Aunt Patty’s embrace.

  “Well, here we are in Moldenbury. Violet’s in the dog cart. She wouldn’t leave the horse. Tom will take your bags. Here you are, Tom,” she said to the railway porter. I couldn’t help smiling. It was typical of Aunt Patty to be on friendly terms with everyone in record time and she seemed as at home here as she had at Grantley. “Here we are. Vi. Vi. You can leave the horse and come and greet our girls.”

  Violet looked just the same as ever, with her brown hair escaping from a brown hat which looked more somber than it actually was in comparison with Aunt Patty’s glory.

  “The girls are here, Violet. This is Teresa.”

  “Hello, Teresa,” said Violet as though she had known her all her life. “And Cordelia.” We embraced rather emotionally. I was very fond of Violet and I knew she was of me.

  Violet drove the dog cart and Teresa and I sat opposite Aunt Patty as we jolted along the lanes.

  Aunt Patty talked all the time. “You’ll love the house. Not Grantley, of course. We had a big house before we came here, Teresa. It seems such a change, but for the better. There’s something about small houses…they’re warm and cozy. Do you remember how the wind used to whistle through those windows at Grantley, Cordelia? My goodness, you felt as if you were going to be blown sky high. Nothing of that here at Moldenbury, even though the wind howls—and it can do that sometimes—we’re as warm as toast. Do you like toast, Teresa? I’m rather a one for it. There’s nothing like a round of toast with the butter well soaked in. We always stand it over a basin of water, don’t we, Cordelia? Just as my grandmother used to do. I’m a bit of a one for old customs, Teresa. Old ways are best, my grandmother used to say, and somehow I think she’s right.”

  She chattered all the way and then we tumbled out of the trap and went into the house.

  It was the beginning of the ideal holiday for Teresa and for me, because her obvious happiness made everything doubly enjoyable. I was so proud of Aunt Patty, who had the secret of spreading happiness about her; and how we used to laugh to see Violet looking over her spectacles and raising her eyes to heaven and continually asking us to look what your Aunt Patty is up to now.

  Violet was the perfect foil for Aunt Patty, always looking on the black side, constantly questioning Aunt Patty’s wisdom, always appalled by her impetuosity but loving her as fiercely and devotedly as any of us.

  Teresa had never been in such a household before. She was changing. Her timidity dropped from her. For what was there to be afraid of here? There was always so much to do and strangely enough she was with Violet more than any of us.

  Her love of flowers and plants had quickly been noticed and as Violet did the gardening, Teresa was soon helping her. They talked constantly of the kitchen garden and the flower beds, while Aunt Patty and I silently looked on, and when Violet said the wasps would get most of the plums and a plague of greenfly were making short work of the finest roses, even Teresa laughed at Violet’s pessimism with the rest of us.

  Teresa would go with Violet to cut the vegetables we would have that day and she and Violet would talk of planting and pruning as though Teresa were going to be with us forever.

  Aunt Patty had very quickly become well known throughout the village and was deeply involved in all its activities. It was what she had always wanted and had never had time for at Grantley. Her new role became her. She was a born organizer and was to have a big part in the summer fete which would take place during these holidays. Everyone was drawn in. Violet and Teresa were to have the flower stall. I had the white elephant with Aunt Patty and the preparations for that event went on for days.

  I was amazed to see Teresa’s enthusiasm.

  There was in the village a retired Major who ran a riding stables and I think that because she wanted to show her gratitude to me, I was able to prevail on Teresa to mount a horse again. I had explained to the Major what had happened and he produced a mare whom he called Snowdrop, explaining that she was rather long in the tooth and had a mouth like leather on account of being pulled on so hard. “I get all my beginners started on Snowdrop,” he said. “She can be as stubborn as a mule but she is safe as houses.”

  So I took Teresa out on Snowdrop and after the first morning she was ready to ride again. I looked on that as a great achievement.

  The weeks flew past—long days of sunshine for it was a good summer and when it rained there was always something to do in the house. I had wondered how we were going to entertain Teresa at such times but I need have had no qualms about that. She was off with Violet to the potting shed and in the evenings they would pore over seed catalogues together.

  “I always wanted a piece of garden of my own,” said Teresa.

  “That’s easily arranged,” said Aunt Patty. “Surely there’s somewhere in this big garden.”

  Violet considered seriously and said: “What about that bit by the rockery? We’ve never got round to doing much with that. Yes, that’s it. What could you plant there?”

  She and Teresa went into a deep discussion before Teresa cried out in dismay: “But I’m only here for the holiday.”

  Violet looked disconsolate but Aunt Patty was ready for the occasion. “Why bless you, my dear, that’ll be your bit of land for as long as you want it. I hope you’re not going to tell us you don’t want to come again.”

  Teresa was so moved she almost sobbed: “Oh, but I do. I do. I can’t bear it if I don’t.”

  “Well, that�
��s settled,” said Aunt Patty. “What do we call this garden? Teresa’s Treat. Teresa’s Treasure.”

  “Teresa’s Tribulation by the look of that soil,” said Violet. “There’s a lot of alkaline in it.”

  And we all laughed and started to plan Teresa’s garden. I knew Teresa well and I guessed she was not so much thinking of her garden but that she was coming again.

  Aunt Patty had naturally been interested in the school and during the first days of the holiday she talked a good deal about it. This was while Teresa was with Violet in the garden because there must be some things which I could not talk of before one of the pupils.

  Aunt Patty listened avidly. She wanted to know just how Daisy Hetherington ran her school. She had a great admiration for her and was in no way envious because Daisy had succeeded where she herself had failed. In fact Aunt Patty did not think she had failed.

  “I like it here, Cordelia,” she said. “This is what I always wanted. I sold out at the right time. I’ve enough to be comfortable on…without great luxury of course…but what is luxury compared with comfort? We’re very happy here, happier even than we were at Grantley. There were silly niggling worries there. Parents can be difficult, some of them, and my goodness, pupils can be too.”

  I told her about the rebellious Hon. Charlotte and her henchmaid Eugenia Verringer: “The niece of the man who owns the Hall and the school too and much of the neighborhood. He has two nieces, Fiona and Eugenie, and they are both at the school. Eugenie is the difficult one.”

  She wanted to hear about Teresa’s accident and I told her without mentioning the tête-à-tête dinner with Sir Jason. I did not want to talk about that any more than I did about that other adventure.

  Aunt Patty said: “Did you ever hear from those girls who were with you at Schaffenbrucken? You used to talk about them so much at one time. The ones who were your particular cronies, I mean.”

  “No. We said we’d write but we didn’t. You mean to…and then something happens and you forget. The days pass and all that seems so remote now.”

  She had aroused memories. I was thinking of us all lying there on the grass of the forest, lying back supporting our heads on our arms…when he had appeared.