“Red, may I ask you something?” she asked, looking at him sideways.
“Fire away! Anything.”
“I know you said you’re going to help me, and I’m really grateful, but what about money? You don’t have a job, and neither do I…”
“Ah! There’s something I didn’t tell you.”
Bella raised her eyebrows in question, surprised to see Red smiling.
“You remember that box I made you for your fourteenth birthday?”
“Of course! I still have it.”
“Well, do you remember that I invented a kind of engraving tool which I used to write your initials on the lid?”
Bella nodded. Red’s eyes were dancing now.
“Well, I patented it, and a big company in Scotland bought the rights to manufacture and sell it. They pay me a percentage of the sales.”
“Wow! That’s fantastic!”
“I know! And if I invent anything else, they want first refusal on it.”
Bella was still gaping at him when they both heard the doorbell.
“That’ll be Auntie Jayne,” said Bella. “She said she might pop round. Come with me, she’ll be so surprised to see you!”
Red followed as she ran through the house to open the door.
“Morning, Auntie Jayne, I have a surprise for you! Look who’s here!” she stepped aside to reveal a grinning Red.
“Hello, Mrs Fairweather.”
“Oh my goodness! Red, is that you? I haven’t seen you since…” Jayne trailed off, her brow creasing as she attempted to calculate the years.
“Years and years,” said Red, shaking her hand. “How are you, Mrs Fairweather? Do you still have the Post Office?”
“I certainly do. Are you here on a visit, Red?”
“Yes, a long one, I hope. If Bella will have me.”
Bella’s blush told Jayne all she needed to know.
“Will you stay for a cup of tea?” asked Bella. “I’ve just made some.”
“I don’t have time for tea, but I’ll come in for a moment,” said Jayne, entering and catching sight of Red’s backyard project through the window. “I see you’ve made an enclosure for the puppies. That’s wonderful! ”
Bella nodded reluctantly.
Jayne’s mind raced. Perhaps Red would help bring Bella to her senses and succeed where she had failed.
“Bella’s place was getting rather cramped with all those pups hurtling around,” she said to Red. “Wasn’t it, Bella?”
“Well…” Bella started.
Red was a clever young man, and he knew that he and Jayne had a common goal, and that he had an ally in Jayne Fairweather.
“I promised Bella I’d help sort the animal situation,” he said brightly. “I think we’ll need to find homes for those pups. Really good homes, of course. In fact they aren’t really puppies any more, isn’t that right, Bella?”
“Well, no, but…”
“You weren’t thinking of keeping all those dogs, were you? I know you’d only consider letting them go to really good homes,” he added quickly, before Bella had time to speak.
“I…” she began.
“Mrs Fairweather, do you know of anybody looking for a dog to adopt?” he asked, before Bella had time to say anything else.
“Funnily enough, yes! I do!”
Bella closed her mouth and stared at her friends.
“PC Stan Cooper took a real shine to that pup with a patch over his eye. The scruffy-looking one with hair that sticks up in all directions,” said Jayne.
“Good! He’ll have a great life at the police house, won’t he, Bella? Mrs Fairweather, would you mind asking PC Cooper if he’s still interested?”
Bella opened her mouth again, but then snapped it shut, allowing Red to call the shots. Deep inside, she realised she was enjoying having somebody else making decisions for her for a change.
“No problem at all,” said Jayne, beaming.
“Poor Bella’s had a lot on her plate,” said Red. “I intend to help her get things running as smoothly as possible again.”
Bella glowed. The pain in her heart caused by the thought of losing Tufty and the other pups and animals was eased a little by the knowledge that Red was there to help her cope.
“Well, I’ll be off then,” said Jayne. “Welcome back, Red, it’s really good to see you again.”
Waving goodbye to the couple, she walked away up the street. A car rounded the corner, swerving briefly to avoid Henrietta who was pecking at something in the gutter.
“I think mending the front fence will be my next job,” declared Red, “or Henrietta will end up as flat as an omelette. Incidentally, how did she come to be here?”
“I was at the Drapers’ farm, and Henrietta had been attacked by a fox. She was injured and they were going to wring her neck and eat her because she stopped laying eggs. I said I’d treat her injuries then take her back to the farm when she was well.”
“Well, she looks very healthy now. Has she started to lay eggs again?”
“Yes.” Bella said, hanging her head, knowing what was coming next.
“Don’t you think she’d be happier back with her flock?” Red’s voice was gentle.
“I suppose so...”
As the weeks rolled by, Jayne was delighted to see big changes taking place. Red replaced the picket fence at the front of the house, and gave the rusty old gate a lick of paint. He varnished the peeling front door and replaced the broken window panes and repainted the frames. He cleared the front garden, removed the rabbit cages and built better ones in the backyard. Best of all, he fixed Don’s shed and erected another, so the small animals and wildlife now had new homes outside.
With Bella’s reluctant permission, Jayne pinned another notice on the Post Office noticeboard.
Free to Good Homes
Can you give a good home to any of the following animals? We have puppies, kittens, hamsters, guinea pigs, a ferret, white rabbits and rats. Apply within if you are interested.
Thank you!
The response was excellent. PC Stan Cooper had already claimed Tufty and the other pups soon found good homes. Bella shed a tear each time a puppy left with its new owner, but Red’s reassuring arm round her shoulders told her she was doing the right thing.
“I’m so proud of you, Bella,” he said, and her heart melted.
“And I’m so proud of you, Red. I’ve lost count of how many days you’ve gone without a drink.”
“It’ll be five months soon. It gets a little easier every day.”
“I know what you mean. What happened to Mum and Dad hurts a tiny bit less each day. I guess we are all starting new lives. You, me and the animals.”
They smiled at each other.
The kittens gradually found new homes, too. One was adopted by the landlord of the Dew Drop Inn, Angus McDonald. He named it Scout, and the kitten fast became a favourite with the regulars.
Another two kittens, with their mother, went to live on the Drapers’ farm where they spent their days chasing rats and mice in the barns, or snoozing on the hay bales. The Drapers welcomed the ferret, too, and Henrietta rejoined her flock.
The rabbits and small animals were claimed by village children, each of whom faithfully promised their parents that they’d look after their new pet forever. They probably didn’t keep their promises, but Jayne and Bella knew the families well enough to be confident that no pet would ever be neglected.
Even without much formal training, Bella had worked wonders nursing the sick, injured and abandoned wildlife, bringing them back to health. Together, she and Red decided which animals and birds were strong enough to be released.
One evening, they stood together in the field behind the cottage.
“Open the box,” said Bella at last, and Red did so.
The barn owl peered around the edge of the box, then waddled a few steps forward.
“Come on, Barney, we’re setting you free.”
Barney stood tall, lifted his shoulders, the
n launched himself, flapping on silent wings across the twilit sky to settle on a tree branch, silhouetted black against the pink backdrop.
“You’ve done a wonderful job with these animals,” said Red.
Bella smiled. She was enjoying watching her former patients being set free, knowing they had a natural life ahead of them, and that she’d probably saved their lives.
Mission accomplished, they strolled back to the cottage leaving two trails of down-trodden grass, very close together.
If anybody had asked Christine, she probably wouldn’t have been able to explain exactly what kept drawing her back to Sixpenny Cross. Time had blurred Bella’s memories of Christine and she rarely thought about her, but Christine’s obsession with Bella never waned. Regular clandestine visits to Sixpenny Cross and spying on Bella was like a fix to an addict for her. She craved them, and the overwhelming need to find an opportunity to harm Bella had to be satisfied.
Christine was unaware that she had developed an involuntary spasm. It was subconscious and only occurred when powerful emotions enveloped her. Now, as she sat on the train bound for Yewbridge, the thought of Bella Tait set her eyelid twitching.
Without the cages and hutches squatting in every space, Red could address himself to the task of restoring the house back to how it had looked when Donald and June were alive. He tackled each room in turn, mending furniture or buying new. Bella helped by painting walls and sewing new curtains. She hummed as her needle flew along the hems.
Bella had never looked more lovely. Her olive skin was clear and as soft as thistledown. Her hair gleamed in the lamplight, and her dark eyes were bright and fringed with charcoal lashes unaided by cosmetics.
“Bella?”
Bella looked up.
“Bella… There’s something I want to ask you.”
16
Bella waited, the sewing still on her lap. Red walked over to her and looked into her face, his eyes serious.
“I promised myself I’d wait, not rush things, but… Well, I just don’t have the patience.”
“Red?”
“You don’t have to answer yet, just listen.”
“Red, you’re scaring me…”
Red knelt in front of her whilst slipping something small out of his pocket.
Bella stopped breathing.
“Bella, I think I loved you from the first day we sat together at school. I can’t imagine life without you and I think we are good for each other. I want to look after you forever, have children together, grow old together. I love you, Bella.”
Bella gasped.
“Bella, will you marry me? Will you wear this ring on your finger?” Red took her limp hand and straightened the fingers. “It’s a sapphire, like your mother’s engagement ring, and I used my engraving tool to write something inside. Look!”
Bella read the tiny delicate script. Tears coursed down her cheek.
La mia bella Bella.
“Bella? Do you like it?”
“I love it, Red,” she whispered. “And I love you. Of course I’ll marry you.”
The sewing fell to the floor in a crumpled heap as Red leant down and kissed her passionately for the first time.
Neither of them saw the pale face pressed to the window, flinty eyes boring into the room, one eyelid twitching.
Christine waited her turn in the queue at the ticket kiosk. She’d walked from Sixpenny Cross back to Yewbridge station, and now she’d catch a train home.
Home? Where was home?
London. Nobody would miss her if she didn’t go back, but London was where she earned a living dipping into the pockets of unsuspecting commuters. It was where she broke into people’s houses to steal their valuables. It was where she squatted in empty houses or slept beneath the arches when she was homeless.
Her mother and father had long since disappeared from her life. For all she knew, they and her sister were still in Yewbridge but it had been years since she had seen them. As for looking for them, that was the last thing on her mind.
She still couldn’t believe what she’d seen with her own eyes. Fat Belly Bella kissing? Fat Belly with a ring on her finger? And where was the fat belly? Gone! Bella looked slender and beautiful, with her almost black, glossy hair cascading down her back.
And who was the man she was kissing? He looked familiar somehow...
Having torn herself away from Bella Tait’s window, Christine paid the Post Office a visit. Jayne Fairweather recognised her immediately.
“Christine Dayton, is that you? Long time no see.”
“I’ve been livin’ in London,” said Christine. “Just came back to see a few old friends.”
Jayne raised her eyebrows a fraction. As far as she knew, Christine had never had any friends in Sixpenny Cross.
“Seen Bella Tait lately?” Christine asked lightly. “I ain’t seen ’er for years, ’ow is she?”
“Ah, you probably didn’t hear about Bella’s parents…”
“What about ’em?”
“It was very sad. They died in a tragic accident abroad.”
“Really?”
Christine was surprised. She tried hard not to smirk, then remembered. So who was that man in Bella’s house?
“So Bella’s all alone now?” she said casually.
“Well, not quite. Red Jenkins came back…”
Jayne checked herself but Christine had heard enough. Of course! That’s who it was! She remembered Red Jenkins from school, Bella’s dorky little pal. His hair was more orange then, and he had been skinnier, but she was certain it was the same Red.
Instead of sympathy, rage consumed Christine. Any good fortune that Bella might enjoy was fuel for the powerful envy that Christine nursed within herself.
How come Bella has a man and is in love, when nobody cares a fig for me? It ain’t fair, she thought. No, it ain’t fair at all.
“Where you goin’, miss?” asked the ticket vendor.
“Waterloo station,” she replied, jerking herself out of her thoughts.
“Single or return?”
Christine was silent.
“Miss, are you coming back?”
“Nope, I ain’t coming back. Well, not yet, anyway.”
1978 was an interesting year. Pope Paul VI died, and was replaced by Pope John Paul I, who also died after just 34 days in office. At Wimbledon, Martina Navratilova defeated Chris Evert, and Bjorn Borg was declared the men’s champion for the third successive year. Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable stereo, and the Yorkshire Ripper was being hunted in England.
In June, no church bells rang at Bella and Red’s wedding. They’d elected to marry at Yewbridge Registry Office, a quiet affair attended only by the happy couple, Jayne Fairweather and Bella’s old teacher from the village school. But it was a joyous day. After the ceremony, Red and Bella posed for photographs in the grounds outside. The air was heavy with the scent of freshly mown grass and roses and Bella’s white shoes sank into a fragrant carpet of daisies and clover.
No newlywed couple could have been happier, and nobody could have been more delighted for them than Jayne Fairweather.
Months passed, and the cottage was almost completely restored. Donald and June’s old bedroom sported a new carpet, new furniture and Bella had sewn curtains with a matching bedcover. It looked fresh and clean, and she loved it.
Apart from Sadie and Hattie, no animals were housed inside. The remaining birds and animals that still needed Bella’s attention were now cared for outside in the shed.
Yes, married life suited both Red and Bella, and as Red began to tinker with more inventions, the future looked rosy.
Christine watched the fields, hedges and farms flash past without really seeing them. She inhaled deeply and blew smoke out of the window.
It’s high time I paid Fat Belly another visit.
She crushed her cigarette stub underfoot and sank into her favourite daydream, the one where she poisoned Fat Belly’s pasta.
She’d caught the tra
in on a whim, a spur of the moment decision. Train stations and undergrounds were her place of work, where she helped herself to distracted travellers’ possessions. She was so skilled and light-fingered, she hardly ever went on burglary jaunts any more, unless she was bored and needed to pump up the adrenalin. When she’d heard the station announcer mention Yewbridge, she’d nipped back to her gloomy little bedsit and stuffed a few clothes in a bag. Then she hopped on board the next train to Yewbridge.
What’s Fat Belly doing now? she wondered. Did she marry that dork, Red? I ’ope they make each other miserable. What’s she ever done to deserve ’appiness?
Christine’s eyelid twitched. The mere thought of Bella made jealousy, hatred and revenge course through her veins. She dismissed the fact that Bella had lost her parents in tragic circumstances, and that Bella, in the past, had actually prevented Christine from getting into serious trouble by not telling tales. In fact, it only made matters worse because she resented being in Bella’s debt. Christine was deaf and blind to reason.
She had no plan, but she knew Yewbridge was not her final destination. She was drawn to Sixpenny Cross like a fox to a rabbit hole. And Sixpenny Cross was just a short bus ride away from Yewbridge.
From the Post Office, Jayne Fairweather saw Christine alight from the bus and watched her walk up the street to the Dew Drop Inn. She didn’t see her come out again.
Christine sat on the bed and smirked to herself. Here she was staying at the Dew Drop, the very place whose kitchen she had robbed continually as a child. Would the landlord have welcomed her so warmly had he known?
She’d eat in the pub lounge later, then maybe, when night fell, she’d go for a little walk…
She was prepared to wait. She lit another cigarette, and amused herself by singeing loose threads along the edge of the blanket.
17
Bella pushed her bare feet into her slippers and tiptoed towards the bedroom door, careful not to wake Red.
“Bella?”
The Sixpenny Cross Collection Page 14
