Old Sins Long Shadows (36 page)

‘
She doesn’t like me.’

‘
She will be scared I won’t want her to visit anymore. I will speak to her. She will come around.’

‘
How can you be so sure?’

‘
She goes soft when she sees a kitten or baby chick. She will do the same when she hears you are having a baby. She will be clucking over you like a broody hen in no time at all. She never had children and I think that lays heavy in her heart. She will be glad you and your baby will be staying.’

‘
Somehow I can’t imagine that,’ said Janey as they pulled up at the farmhouse and Daniel helped her down from the trap. She felt his hand beneath her elbow and another in the small of her back.

‘
She has a hard shell but inside she’s as soft as a feather pillow.’  He halted her for a moment, ‘Despite what the vicar told you, you still consider me a better option than the workhouse?  He did not succeed in turning you against the idea?’

‘
I don’t think that was his intention. He feels fatherly towards me and wanted to enlighten me.’  His supportive hands left her. ‘Why are you helping me, Daniel?  Why are you willing to marry me and take on another man’s baby?’

‘
I don’t have a choice,’ he said. She frowned, slightly confused at his answer.

‘Because how the villagers treat you?  Am I your only chance of having a family?’  He did not answer and taking his silence as an agreement she left him to enter the house. He took the horse by the head collar and watched her walk away. It was only when she was no longer able to hear him did he answer her question.

‘
Because, Janey Carhart,’ he said quietly stroking his horse’s nose, ‘it was the only way to make you stay.’   

Chapter 15

Janey listened to
the banging and crashing of saucepans in the kitchen. Contrary to what Daniel had said Edna had not taken the news of their impending marriage quietly. She could not understand the Cornish language that spewed from her lips but the tone made it clear to her that she was not blessing their marriage. The noise only subsided after the slamming of the back door as she left. Janey watched her through the window, striding angrily back to the village and the sanctuary of her little house. Daniel came to stand beside her to watch Edna leave.

‘
That went better than I expected,’ he said, to her surprise he sounded almost cheerful.

‘
She’s furious. I’ve brought you nothing but trouble.’

‘
She’s had her nose put out of joint but she will come around. Coming here each day gives her life purpose. She will sulk for a bit but I reckon she will be here tomorrow morning, like always, and act as if nothing has happened. I’ve told her we still want her and will need her help, when she’s had a moment to remember what I said she will make her way back here. I’ll not turn my back on her.’

Her angry figure had g
one from their view and peace descended, for the first time that day they were alone in the house, their arms almost touching as they breathed and no bolt between them to slide across. Suddenly Janey felt vulnerable. Common sense told her that this man was helping her but panic has no rational side. Mr Tallock, the butler, flashed in her mind, his shaking and sweating evidence of his internal demons. To her horror she found herself starting to tremble and stepped away from him, desperate for some distance between them. Daniel watched her, unable to hide his surprise at her reaction to him. She saw the hurt flash across his face that she feared him before he masked it with a stony stare.

‘
There’s a rabbit pie on the table for want of a crust,’ he ground out, ‘I’ll expect dinner at six.’ He left, slamming the door behind him just as Edna had done not long before. Suddenly she was standing alone in the kitchen. She had hurt him by her reaction, a reaction she didn’t really understand herself. She wanted the marriage to work, she wanted it to be a success, but James Brockenshaw had left his curse on her as well as a baby inside. She wanted to make it up to Daniel and the best she could do was make him the best rabbit pie he had tasted. It was a pathetic attempt at an apology but at that moment it was the best she could do. She had never used a clome oven or cooked on a trivet but her years in service as a scullery maid and later kitchen maid, taught her how to use a range. In the town house in Truro it was a large black beast, the one before her now was much smaller but the principle was the same. She had seen some rosemary in the garden that had survived the winter snow and there was bacon fat she could use to add flavour. She rolled up her sleeves and immersed herself in her cooking. Soon the range was warming the kitchen and the fragrant aroma of rabbit pie wound its way around the farmhouse. A creamy, milky bread and butter pudding had joined the pie in the oven and Janey started to clean and tidy the kitchen. Time had flown by and Janey hadn’t enjoyed herself so much for ages. She hummed to herself as she fed the range with more logs and moved the kettle to the side to simmer and keep warm. Suddenly instinct told her that she was being watched, slowly turning around she saw the ghost of the girl. Now that she had been discovered the girl emerged from her hiding place and looked at her. She appeared about twelve years old, on the verge of puberty with the awkwardness and lack of confidence of youth, but unlike Edna this girl looked like she was going to burst with excitement. This was no ghost but a living, breathing child.

‘
I’m Molly,’ she said coming nearer, ‘I saw Granny Thom in the village. She says you and Daniel are going to be wed!’

‘
Is Granny Thom Edna?’ asked Janey. So the ghost had a voice, she thought looking at the girl. Molly picked up an apple from the kitchen table and examined it. The apple had been part of last year’s crop and stored over the winter, so it was always a good habit to check for deterioration or disease before eating it.

‘
We call her Granny Thom.’

‘
We?’ asked Janey, still not quite believing she was talking to a young girl in Daniel’s house. Her blonde hair was tied in an untidy ponytail and her dress hung loosely on her body, but she was clean, healthy and had a big smile on her face. The smile was infectious and Janey couldn’t help but smile back.

‘
My brother David and me,’ she said taking a noisy bite. With her mouth full of apple she added, ‘Is it true?’

‘
Yes we are, in three weeks.’

‘
Daniel told us to make ourselves scarce when he brought you here. He said you were too ill to put up with my chatter, but when Granny Thom said that you two were to be wed, I thought it would be alright to say hello.’  She felt the heat from the range and crossed the kitchen to warm her hands and enjoy the heat. ‘Daniel put this in last year when he built this room. He said it would make Granny Thom’s life easier but she wont use it,’ she added in a whisper, ‘I think she don’t know how. She’s afraid.’  She waved the remaining half eaten core at Janey, ‘not that she would let on. She’s some mazed about you and Daniel.’

‘
I know. I didn’t mean for our marriage to make her so angry.’

Molly shrugged,
‘She’ll get over it. She weren’t happy when me and David came to live here.’

H
iding her surprise, Janey asked, ‘You live here?’

‘
In the cow shed. Daniel said it was best we live there.’ Janey was horrified. Molly began to laugh. ‘Follow me, I’ll show you!’ she said, grabbing Janey’s hand. ‘You can be our big sister, just like Daniel is our big brother.’ She pulled Janey around the corner, opened a cupboard door, pausing briefly to turn to her, ‘Daniel didn’t need the cow shed. He said it was too small, so he cleared it out, plastered it, laid a slate floor and even put in a chimney!  Can you believe it?  We have our very own fire place. He said it was important we had our own place to sleep, our own place we could call our home. Come on, I’ll show you.’  The cupboard turned out to be an entrance to a passage which in turn opened up into a small building. Inside were two bedrooms and a table and chairs. Molly stood proudly in the middle. ‘Welcome to my home!  It’s nice isn’t it?’  Janey had to agree. Molly and her brother had made the simple building into their own personal space.

‘
Daniel didn’t tell me you both lived here,’ said Janey looking around at the cosy surroundings. According to the pictures strewn around one of them enjoyed drawing.

‘
Those are mine,’ smiled Molly, but the smile quickly faded, ‘You aren’t going to throw us out are you?’

‘
Of course not,’ reassured Janey. Molly clutched her heart in a sign of dramatic relief and gave a big sigh.

‘
Oh good, we have nowhere to go if you did.’  As Janey looked about the little annex, Molly explained to Janey how she and her brother had come to live at Boscarne Farm. Two years ago Daniel had visited Camelford Orphanage looking for a boy to help him on the farm. He had chosen David, and on the way home he had asked David why he looked so miserable. The boy had told him he had left his younger sister in the orphanage and probably would never see her again. ‘And do you know what he did?’ Janey could guess but let Molly continue telling her the story which she obviously enjoyed doing, ‘He turned the cart around,’ she said, waving the remainder of her apple at Janey, ‘in the middle of the road and went back for me!  Mind you, he had to convince the orphanage but they had too many children so was probably glad to be rid of me.’  They made their way back to the kitchen, ‘Daniel said to me that I must earn my keep and finish my schooling or he would send me back. So every morning I milk the cows, feed the chickens, collect the eggs, go to school and shut the chickens in at night. David helps Daniel on the farm. Look. There’s David now.’

Janey almost missed seeing the boy striding up the path
. He was tall and lanky, probably no more than sixteen years old but she had the distinct feeling that he looked familiar. The door opened.

‘
David, have you heard?  Daniel’s getting married - to her.’  Molly pointed at Janey with the lack of manners only an excited child could get away with. Molly missed the look of shock on the boy’s face as he recognised Janey. Molly suddenly remembered something and added, ‘I’ve got to see to the hens. Exciting isn’t it, having Janey live with us?’  Molly disappeared like a whirlwind into the distance and Janey knew without doubt that she did recognise the boy. He was older than when she had last seen him, a good foot taller with a leaner face verging onto manhood but it was still him.

‘
We’ve met before,’ she said with certainty, ‘you gave me flowers.’

The boy looked nervously out the window to see if Daniel was coming and Janey saw his unease
. He obviously didn’t want Daniel to know and Janey didn’t either. It was bad enough that he was to bring up Brockenshaw’s child without having it rubbed in his face that James had given her flowers and his own farm hand had been part of it.

‘
I won’t tell Daniel, if you don’t, David. It’s in the past.’  The boy seemed relieved.

‘
The flowers were picked for you. He planned to give them to you. He just couldn’t so I did.’

‘
You were doing what you were told. They were lovely but I don’t want to upset Daniel.’

‘
Nor I. It did no good.’

‘
So we will not speak about them again.’

‘
No,’ said the boy smiling.

‘
I should like to be friends.’

The boy’s smile grew bigger.

‘Me too,’ he said. Molly ran into the room, her noisy chatter filling the kitchen.

‘
Did I miss anything?’ she said breathlessly, ‘This is
so
exciting.’

Daniel sat watching the woman who would soon be his wife. As always she looked beautiful but tonight she glowed with a sense of achievement. Her pie and pudding had been a success and, he had to admit, the best he had ever tasted. It was an added bonus that she could cook like a professional but it seemed that her years in service had taught her many skills. As he sat with the empty plates littering the table, he watched another talent of hers that up till now he did not know she processed. She was entertaining the children with anecdotes of her servant days with a sense of humour that had them in stitches of laughter. Molly continually interrupted her with questions, which did not surprise him, but David, the quieter of the two who rarely wasted words, was as chatty and interested as his sister. The noise and ease of conversation allowed him to sit quietly and observe this woman that seemed to be blooming before his eyes. He wondered if it was just his wishful thinking that she appeared to belong in his house. Already the kitchen had become her domain and it gave him great pleasure to discover that the range he had installed and the kitchen he had built were finally being brought to life. He remembered the words of the vicar when he had said how a woman can make a house a home by the little touches she makes and he had to agree. The house seemed to have a heart beat and it was down to her.