The Winter Baby

by Sheila Newberry

  ‘Bob is like a grumpy old grandfather sometimes,’ Jessie said with a smile. ‘But Ollie won’t require my peg basket this time; I suspect they both sleep on the sofa at night.’

  *

  Marion put Heather down for a nap in her bedroom, looking down at the sleepy little girl. ‘Be good now. No calling out to your mumma, she’s too tired to come.’ She tucked a stray curl back from Heather’s eyes. ‘You need a haircut, Heather. I wish they hadn’t said the baby looks like Danny – I know what my mother will say about that . . .’

  She knew, of course, that such a situation was not possible, but she suspected that her husband still had fond feelings for Kathleen, hence his disappointment when he was summarily dismissed from the room when he brought the water to bathe the new baby.

  She wasn’t wrong about her mother’s reaction. Mrs Amos, who hadn’t been round to the farm since she fell out with Jessie last year, apart from sharing the wedding breakfast, appeared the next afternoon with a bunch of roses from her garden. Jessie hid her surprise.

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Amos. You heard the baby had arrived, I imagine? Are the roses for Kathleen – how kind of you to think of her, she will be pleased. Sit down and I’ll make a cup of tea.’

  ‘Enough for two vases; one for you and one for her,’ Mrs Amos returned. ‘A cup of tea is just what I was looking forward to. I hear the baby looks like our Danny,’ she added bluntly.

  ‘Oh no, everyone says she’s the image of me! Of course Danny does have my colour hair, as you know.’

  ‘That’s a relief then,’ Mrs Amos said.

  Jessie replaced the teapot on the stove. ‘I think you owe me – us – an apology.’

  Mrs Amos was flustered now. ‘Oh, I didn’t believe it, of course . . .’

  ‘Who told you, your Marion?’

  ‘Well . . .’

  ‘I hope she said no such thing. I hear rumours too – about your assistant, Bert. Someone said he’d got his feet under your table, but you’ll know if that’s true or not . . .’

  Sam came into the kitchen at that moment. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Jessie replied, not very convincingly. ‘Nurse is seeing to Kathleen and the baby at the moment, so don’t go in the bedroom yet. Marion has taken Heather down to the stables to see the horses. They’ll be back later with Danny, I suppose. Oh, and Mrs Amos brought this bouquet for Kathleen; excuse me while I put the flowers in a jug of water.’ She went through to the scullery.

  Mrs Amos was delving into her large handbag. She beckoned Sam to come nearer.

  ‘I cut this piece from the Times newspaper – I thought you would be interested. I spotted it because I always look at the column about wills and whatnot; you never know, do you?’ She passed him the slip of paper.

  Sam read it in silence.

  Any person knowing of the whereabouts of Miss Kathleen Clancy is asked to contact the solicitors named below. Should Miss Clancy choose to contact us personally, she will learn of something to her advantage.

  Sam looked up. ‘Thank you, Mrs Amos. I would prefer it if you didn’t gossip about this, but I appreciate you bringing it to me. I will show it to Kathleen when things are back to normal again. Now is not the time, I feel.’

  ‘Gossip!’ Mrs Amos cried, just as Jessie returned with the flowers. She rose from her chair. ‘I can’t stay. I’ve been insulted by you, Jessie, and now by your son. Bert may have his feet under my table when he has his dinner, but he certainly isn’t welcome in my bed!’ She swept out and slammed the front door.

  Sam looked helplessly at his mother. ‘Whatever was she implying, Mother?’

  Jessie dabbed at her eyes. ‘I think she was referring to my friendship with Doc, but I assure you—’

  ‘You don’t need to, Mother,’ Sam raged. ‘What a mother-in-law Danny has!’

  *

  Nurse Buss bustled about the room while Kathleen put the baby to her breast. Best not to comment, she thought, but what a change from last time, when the girl refused to nurse her baby herself. She was thin and undernourished then, bewildered after a terrible beating that had made her flee her previous abode. Now she has some flesh on her bones, but she will always be small and slender.

  ‘Well done,’ the nurse said. ‘I’ll change her and then she can go in the Moses basket while you both have a nice nap, eh?’ A polite knock on the door and she called out, ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Marion,’ came the answer.

  ‘Come in,’ Nurse said.

  ‘Heather went to sleep in the pram so I wheeled her into the kitchen,’ Marion said. She sat down on the bedside chair. ‘Daisy is keeping an eye on her; Jessie has gone along to the strawberry field to decide if it’s time to start picking.’

  ‘I wish I could be out there with you all,’ Kathleen said. ‘I had such fun last year.’

  ‘You’ve another week to lie in,’ Nurse told her firmly. ‘I’m off now, but I’ll look in on you this evening.’

  ‘It’s fortunate Daisy is so competent,’ Marion observed. ‘It means Jessie can be in charge as usual in the strawberry field next week.’

  ‘I’m glad. I am very grateful to you, Marion, for helping out as you do with Heather.’

  ‘Good practice for when we have a family of our own.’ Marion sounded wistful. ‘Mother keeps on and on about it all the time. I want to wait until next spring so as not to miss any horse events this year.’

  *

  Mrs Amos determined to confide in her daughter next time she came round. ‘I’m sorry, Marion, if you are fed up with me asking if you have any news about you-know-what, but I feel lonely here without you. We always did everything together, didn’t we? I can’t help feeling it was rather unfair of Jessie to expect you and Danny to live with her at the farm after you married. It’s hard for me to be without you. I wish you would think about coming back, with Danny of course, and make an old woman happy!’

  ‘Mother, you aren’t old; you’re not fifty yet! Do you really want children running all over the house in a few years’ time?’

  ‘I suppose I do. I’d keep Bert on; I wouldn’t expect you to work here again. I know you work alongside your husband. I just hope you’ll keep me company . . .’

  ‘I’ll talk to Danny about it, but I can’t promise anything,’ Marion said firmly.

  *

  It was almost time for Kathleen, Sam and their two little girls to return to the Barn House. When they heard that Marion and Danny were moving shortly to the Amos smallholding, Sam wondered if Kathleen would ask him if they could stay at the farm until their new house was built. He brought the subject up one night when they were in bed.

  ‘Kathleen, has this news made you change your mind about going home? I know how much you love it here, but I feel, well, we need to bring our family up in our own way in our own place.’

  She whispered instantly, ‘As long as we are together, Sam, then I’m happy. Yes, the farm will always be special to me, but I know the barn is just a stepping stone to the Brickyard House. Also, Jessie could do with some peace and quiet, couldn’t she? We will visit her and she can come to see us.’

  He gave her a hug. ‘Mother will find it strange at first, with none of us around at supper time, but Doc will still be in the attic, eh? So she won’t be too lonely.’

  Danny and Marion moved out the following weekend. Sam and Doc helped to stack their possessions into the cart and later put them in place at the Amos homestead. ‘You will still see us every day of course, Jessie,’ Marion told her as she gave her mother-in-law a farewell embrace.

  Then it was Sam’s turn to take his family home. More kisses, and Jessie’s farewell gift was a large basket of strawberries and a pot of cream. ‘See you soon,’ she called as they drove away.

  That evening she sat in the living room, sharing the couch with Bob. He was already missing Ollie and whimpered now and then. A polite knock on the door, before Doc came in.

  ‘I’m glad to see you,’ Jessie told him. ‘
I’ve something I want to say to you. Sit down, Doc—’

  ‘Abraham, please,’ he said with a smile. ‘You are not about to give me notice, I hope?’

  ‘Of course not! But I think you would be more comfortable here, especially in the winter, if you moved down to the two rooms that are now vacant. I wouldn’t be nervous then, all on my own on that floor.’

  ‘I accept your kind offer, Jessie. It makes good sense. But I will need Danny to help me move my things.’

  ‘I will ask him tomorrow when he brings the milk,’ Jessie said, yawning. ‘Excuse me, but the goings-on these past days have been exhausting. I must get to bed.’

  ‘I understand. May I bring you up a cup of cocoa later?’ he asked. ‘I will take the dog for a short walk meanwhile.’

  ‘Thank you. Bob will be missing Danny, too. I would be grateful for a hot drink. I always read for a while, so don’t hurry.’ She was weary, she thought, because she had stripped and changed her bed earlier, and put things back in place in her bedroom.

  A little later, another knock, this time on her bedroom door. ‘Come in,’ she called. She closed her book and took the cup from Doc. Sipping at it, she said, ‘Sit down, Abraham, let’s have a chat. I see you are ready for bed too.’ She smiled as a sudden thought struck her.

  ‘What is funny?’ he enquired.

  ‘Mrs Amos seems to think we share a bed,’ she said.

  To her surprise, he replied, ‘Would it be so terrible if we did?’

  ‘Do you mean that?’

  ‘I do. I imagine you think I am past such things, but—’

  ‘You are not that old! My husband, if he had lived, would have been older than you.’ She patted the other side of the big bed. ‘I’ll be glad of the company, and the chance to talk,’ she said softly. ‘I miss putting the world to rights every night.’

  ‘You understand I have never . . . since my wife died all those years ago . . .’

  ‘There’s no hurry. Will you snuff the candle out when I have finished drinking my cocoa, please?’ We are both clad in flannel, she thought, despite it being midsummer . . .

  ‘Good companions,’ he said. ‘That’s all, isn’t it?’

  They were still talking when he saw her eyes close and realised she was asleep. It was just on midnight. He tiptoed out of the room and upstairs to the attic. Maybe it was just as well, he thought sadly.

  *

  Jessie didn’t get a chance to talk to Doc until after the evening meal because Danny and Marion were with them at breakfast, after the early morning chores, and Daisy, the maid, was dealing with washing-up after supper.

  ‘I’m sorry about last night,’ she said when they moved into the living room.

  ‘Please – there is nothing to be sorry for, Jessie. We are friends, good companions, as I said. It was good to talk, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I went to sleep,’ she said ruefully.

  ‘You were tired, you work so hard.’

  ‘So do you, Abraham.’

  ‘I think I will stay on in the attic, if you don’t mind. May I make a suggestion? Why not ask Daisy to live in? I happen to know that her grandmother, who brought her up, has to move from her tied cottage; she is off to Bromley to live with her daughter. Daisy doesn’t wish to go, as she says she loves working here and you are so kind to her.’

  ‘Well, I must admit I enjoy female company, especially Kathleen, but dear Sam is set on providing a home of their own. Daisy was well brought up by her grandmother and I appreciate all her hard work – but where would I put her?’

  He smiled. ‘You have three spare rooms to choose from, Jessie!’

  ‘I’ll ask her today!’ she decided. Daisy wasn’t a waif like Kathleen, who, she thought, was still unpredictable at times. The maid was a homemaker, who’d learned Jessie’s ways quickly, and a good plain cook.

  Doc gave her an unexpected hug and kissed the top of her head. ‘I care for you very much, you know. I hope you weren’t too disappointed in me last night.’

  ‘You were right. Good companions, Abraham; neither of us is ready for more.’

  FOURTEEN

  Jessie raised the subject the next morning, when she and Daisy were sitting at the kitchen table peeling potatoes for a fish pie. ‘Doc tells me your grandmother is moving away, and he wondered if I might be glad to have your company living in here; what do you think of that idea? You already seem part of the family,’ she added.

  Daisy didn’t hesitate; she sliced the potato she had just peeled and popped it into the pot. ‘I’d really like that, Mrs Mason.’ A smile lit up her rather plain face. She had sandy hair braided round her head; hence the freckles, Jessie thought.

  ‘You’d have your time off as usual, of course,’ she said.

  ‘But what if Mr Danny and his wife decide to come back?’

  ‘There are three spare bedrooms, don’t worry about that. I think Mrs Amos needs them more than I do at the moment. Marion is her only daughter, after all.’

  Daisy hesitated, her round face flushed, and then said slowly, ‘You know how I was brought up, do you, Mrs Mason?’

  ‘Your grandmother took you on, I presume when your mother passed away when you were just a little girl?’

  ‘I must tell you this so you can make your mind up about me . . . My grandmother never married, and nor did my mother, but they were decent folk. Grandma had another daughter, my aunt Maggie, who has asked her to live with her family. I am welcome to go there too, but I was born and bred here and don’t want to move away.’

  ‘Well as far as I’m concerned you don’t need to,’ Jessie said. She put down her paring knife. ‘Onions to chop next, eh? And parsley. I picked a big bunch of it this morning.’

  ‘Just one thing, Mrs Mason. I hope you don’t think I’m silly, but I’ve never slept in a room of my own before – I’m not sure about it.’

  ‘Well when Kathleen joined us,’ Jessie sounded wistful, ‘she had a bed at the other end of my big room. You could do the same; I have an old screen I could put up for you, so you and I both have our privacy. What d’you think?’

  ‘When can I come?’ Daisy dabbed her eyes with the hem of her apron.

  ‘As soon as you like, my dear! Oh, don’t cry . . .’

  ‘I always gets tearful when I’m happy!’ Daisy said.

  *

  The good weather continued into autumn. The men were busier than ever in the brickyard; the red-hot kiln and the fumes from the brick baking were becoming intolerable. The garden was Kathleen’s only refuge, but the air was tainted there too. Nursing little Kitty while Heather sat in her swing, she felt trapped. The Brick House seemed to look down on them reproachfully from the ridge. Would it ever be finished?

  After the baby was napped up, as Jessie referred to it, Kathleen put her in the pram for her sleep and wheeled it into the shade. Heather was grizzling; she had been like that all morning following a restless night. Kathleen lifted her from the swing to give her a cuddle and discovered that the little girl was wheezing and breathless. She felt Heather’s head; it was hot and clammy. Spotting Sam about to go into the Barn House for a cooling drink, she called out, ‘Sam, quick, can you come? Heather is unwell.’

  ‘I must wash my hands before I touch her,’ he said instantly. ‘I’ll take off my overalls then get the horse and cart. Doc will come over to the farm to examine her, I’m sure. Pack a few things quickly, as she may have to stay with Mother again.’

  ‘If Heather needs nursing, I must stay there too, with Kitty,’ she told him.

  ‘I realise that, my dear girl,’ he replied, sounding weary and sad.

  In case Heather was brewing something infectious, she was isolated in her own bedroom, and Jessie and Daisy took turns keeping a vigilant eye on her at night. ‘It might be measles,’ Doc said. ‘We must watch out for a rash.’

  As Kathleen was a nursing mother, she was isolated too, in the bedroom next door to her elder daughter. Sam came over after work the first day and found her tearful and
depressed. He rocked her in his arms as if she were a baby too, and comforted her. ‘Oh Sam,’ she said. ‘I can’t take the children back to the barn. It’s not the place to bring up a family.’

  ‘You want to stay here where you feel safe, I know,’ he said gently.

  ‘It’s always seemed like home, ever since I came here.’

  ‘I know that too.’ He came to a decision. ‘If Mother agrees, we’ll take over the rooms Danny and Marion had – we’ll pay rent for them, of course. I’ll be here with you at night, but I’ll go to work at the brickyard as usual. Our future depends on it, Kathleen.’

  ‘Oh Sam, how good you are – how understanding! But what about the barn – all our things there?’

  ‘My foreman was hinting that when we moved to the Brick House, he and his wife would like to live on the job. We only need to move our personal possessions over here; we can leave the rest. I’ll speak to Mother now.’

  Kathleen caught at his arm. ‘Sam, when the Brick House is ready and the children are bigger, I promise you we’ll live there!’

  ‘Best to take each day as it comes . . . What does Doc say about Heather?’

  ‘He says she is much better today. He thinks she may have developed asthma; he suggests we ask the local doctor to confirm it.’

  ‘Is that because of the fumes? That decides it: you can’t go back there.’

  *

  After supper, Doc retired tactfully to his attic and Daisy tackled the washing-up while Sam and Jessie went to the living room. The evenings were drawing in, and were cooler. The fire was lit and Bob moved from the sofa to the hearthrug, followed by Ollie.

  Sam cleared his throat. Jessie looked at him closely; he seemed tired, and the black stubble on his face indicated that he was growing his beard again. She knew instinctively what he was about to ask her. ‘Mother, thank you for looking after Kathleen and the children. It sounds as if Heather has turned the corner, doesn’t it? Would it be too much to ask—’