‘Mum!’
Her breath came shorter and shorter and every one with a cough. She tried to cover her face with her pyjama top again, but this time it did nothing to help. The realisation was beginning to hit her – she couldn’t do this. It didn’t make her turn back, but she was certain now that she was going to die in here and Carmel was going to die because she’d failed, and tears rolled down her face and her sobs made her breathing harder than ever.
There was a crash from somewhere in the house, but she couldn’t pinpoint the source. Her mum, trying to get out? But it sounded like something, rather than someone, and she wondered if it was sections of the building collapsing. The thought gripped her with a new terror. She picked up the pace, abandoning her cautious navigation of whatever room she was in and ignoring the sharp knocks from unseen furniture, but then her foot caught on something and sent her sprawling across the floor. It knocked what little breath she’d had from her. Now, as she tried to draw something, anything into her lungs, it felt as if her head would explode. She began to cry harder, dry, painful, gasping sobs.
It was strange but, as she closed her eyes, things began to calm. She was scared but resigned, and her biggest regret was not being here staring death in the face but being unable to reach Carmel before it came.
I’m sorry, Mum. I’m so sorry.
Chapter Thirty-One
All hope was lost. Posy’s body would simply take her no further. Every movement, every tiny breath was like trying to climb a mountain. She could only hope that somehow Carmel had made it out because she would not be the one to rescue her – she couldn’t even rescue herself.
When a pair of arms wrapped around her and lifted her up, she could barely comprehend it. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t. She tried to speak but she couldn’t do that either. In the end she allowed herself to be carried and a moment later sensed the smoke beginning to thin and the air around her getting colder. She was laid onto the ground and something soft was tucked beneath her head.
‘Posy… Posy!’
Asa… good old Asa… you’d think he’d snap in a headwind but he’s stronger than he looks.
Then there was a second voice. ‘She needs oxygen! Where the hell is that fire service?’
That wasn’t Asa. It wasn’t Giles. It was… but how did he get here?
She forced her eyes to open. Her head thumped and she could barely drag a breath to fill her lungs, but at least the fact she was trying meant she was alive.
‘Mum…?’ she croaked.
‘Don’t worry,’ Asa said. ‘Lachlan got her out.’
‘I thought she was you,’ Lachlan said, and in any other circumstances it might have sounded just a little ungracious and resentful.
Posy stared up at him. She couldn’t quite believe he was here.
‘How could you be so stupid?’ he growled. ‘What the hell were you thinking – you could have got yourself killed!’
‘Lachlan,’ Asa said quietly, ‘it’s what we all would have done in her shoes.’
Posy wasn’t listening. She was confused. If Lachlan had brought Carmel out, then who had rescued her?
‘She should have waited for help, she’s not strong—’
His voice cracked. Posy looked at his face but nothing she saw made sense. He’d looked scared, but now there was only fury there.
‘I might not have been able to save you!’ he shouted.
He got up and strode off. Posy didn’t know where and she was too weak and tired to care; she only saw Asa’s gaze follow him for a moment.
For now, there were more important things to think about than Lachlan’s mood.
‘Mum?’
Asa turned back to her. ‘She’s alright, she’s safe. Giles is with her.’
‘Sandra?’
‘She’s alright too. I mean, they’ve both taken in a lot of smoke like you but—’
His sentence was cut short by the wailing of a siren. By now, Posy could see the flames beginning to break through the roof and into the night sky.
That beautiful house – it was almost as much a part of this family as the people who lived in it. How would they survive if it burned down? She couldn’t imagine a world in which Oleander House didn’t exist. And what if the blaze spread to the orchards? It was an entirely feasible and heart-breaking thought. All those years of nurturing, all that love and care destroyed in a single night. If she had any tears left in her she’d cry again.
Her thoughts were pulled back to the present by the sounds of heavy boots on the ground and Giles’s clipped tones responding to voices she didn’t recognise. Then a firefighter came to Posy and Asa and put an oxygen mask over her face.
‘Better?’ he asked.
She gave a tiny nod.
‘Ambulance is on its way,’ the firefighter said to Asa. ‘Stay with her and try to keep her comfortable until it gets here.’
‘I’ve no intention of doing anything else,’ Asa said.
Posy closed her eyes. Her head was filled with the roaring and cracking of the fire and the footsteps echoing on the cobbles of the courtyard and voices tumbling over one another to issue and acknowledge instructions.
Everyone was safe. She hoped the firefighters would be able to save the house too.
She just wanted to sleep now.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Posy was still in Somerset. She’d spoken to her new boss on the phone and he’d advised without hesitation that she ought to take as long as she needed to recover from her ordeal and get well. Giles had wanted to drive Posy and Carmel back to London to recuperate, but there was so much to do at Oleander House and Carmel had refused his offer, telling him that she and Posy had agreed they would stay for a while because he needed all the help he could get. With the main house unusable and Asa’s barn already full with him and Posy, Giles and Sandra were moving into Philomena’s old place for now.
At first appraisal, it looked as though the fire had been caused by faulty wiring. Giles hadn’t seemed surprised, but ashamed and sad. He’d known, he admitted, that the electrics of Oleander House had needed fixing for some time – some of it had been installed in the sixties. As well as the structural repairs, they now had to rewire the place from top to bottom to make sure nothing like this ever happened again before they could move back in. The insurance wouldn’t cover that aspect of the repairs either, so that was a whole heap of extra money they would have to find, though Giles seemed fairly confident they’d manage somehow.
On top of all that, harvest was still fast approaching, though by now half the village had heard of their plight and had promised help.
Carmel, understandably, hadn’t wanted to stay in Philomena’s old place with Giles and Sandra, but she did want to stay close by with Posy, to offer any support she could. So Karen had provided a room free of charge – her own way of lending a hand. Posy’s dad had raced back from his latest installation and was staying there with her for as long as she needed him. Carmel seemed to be struggling more with her recovery than Posy, and when Posy voiced concerns about this, her mum reminded her of the age difference and that her taking longer was no reason to worry. She was on the mend, and it would take as long as it took.
Even Posy was struggling. She’d forced herself to walk to Sunnyfields this grey morning in a bid to make her lungs strong again, but it had taken twice the time it normally would. It had been only three days since the fire, though, and perhaps she was expecting too much so soon – after all, she’d spent two of those in hospital.
As she passed Lachlan’s vineyard she looked up to the hill. She hadn’t seen him since the night he’d saved her and her mum, though she’d wanted to, if only to thank him for that, but Karen had been to see her in hospital and warned her to wait. As usual, she seemed to know things nobody else did. He needed time, she’d said, and then no more, as was also usual, and so Posy was left with a cryptic half story and had had to try to guess the rest.
What she had learned was that Lachlan had gone
to tend his vines just before dawn and as a result had seen the fire from his hillside. He’d jumped onto his quad bike and sped over to make sure everyone was safe. He’d been horrified to arrive just in time to see Posy run into the burning building. He’d gone in after her, as he’d stated himself, and it was pure blind luck that he’d come across Carmel first, in the confusion mistaking her for Posy and bringing her out, because nobody had had time to tell him there was anyone else in there.
‘He was like a man possessed,’ Asa had told Posy afterwards. ‘As soon as he realised he hadn’t got you but your mum he went straight back in and we couldn’t stop him.’
Posy had wanted to believe that it meant something special, but, really, any decent person would have done what they could to help. It wouldn’t always be running into a burning house, but still…
There was no sign of Lachlan on the hill now. She didn’t know how he’d managed to get the rest of his crop in but the vegetation definitely looked sparser – from this distance at least – and she guessed from that fact a good deal of it had been saved. She was glad of that, at least, because she was in no state to go and help but she still would have worried about it. In light of recent events she would have felt honour-bound to somehow repay him for saving her and her mother too.
* * *
By the time she arrived at Sunnyfields to find Karen manning a quiet reception, she felt as if she’d run a marathon.
‘You never walked here!’ Karen rushed over to lead Posy to a seat. ‘Honestly, what does it take to slow you down?’
‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’ Posy let her head rest against the wall behind her chair and closed her eyes as she caught her breath. ‘Don’t worry… won’t catch me doing it again…’
‘Your mum and dad are out on the guest terrace,’ Karen said briskly. ‘At least Carmel has the good sense to be resting.’
Posy nodded. Maybe her mum was resting but it was nothing to do with common sense. She was as eager to get back on her feet as Posy, and it was only because Anthony was around, able to keep a closer eye on her, that she wasn’t. He’d wanted them both home; he’d said that was the place where he could look after them both best. But Carmel had refused; she wanted to stay a while to help at Oleander House and Posy had backed her up. They were, Anthony said, both cut from the same frustrating cloth, unable to see when they ought to step away from a situation for their own good. Posy had eventually won him round with the argument that the air in Astercombe was so much cleaner and better than in London that they’d recover much more quickly here. He didn’t like it, but he could hardly dispute it.
‘I’ll go out to her in a minute.’
‘And no walking back either,’ Karen said.
‘I expect Dad will give me a lift.’
‘Do you want anything to drink?’
‘Some water would be good please.’
Karen headed off and left Posy alone, listening to the sound of her own chest heave and struggle. Despite this, the lobby was now quiet and peaceful, with the tourist season winding down and fewer visitors, and she savoured the moment. There had been too much noise for her over the last few days, a constant flow of people treating her, fussing over her, worrying and checking on her. While it was appreciated and she understood it was only because they cared, she was glad of the break from it.
‘I thought it was you…’
Posy opened her eyes. Lachlan was framed by the light of the doorway.
‘I saw you from up the hill – I’d know that stride anywhere.’
‘I’m not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. Are you saying I’ve got a funny walk?’
‘How are you?’
‘I’m OK. I should say thank you, because that’s down to you. And my mum…’
Posy squeezed her eyes tight again to shut out the memory, the ghost of fear that still plagued her. If he hadn’t been there, if he hadn’t found Carmel first…
‘There are no words,’ she continued. ‘You’ll never know what it means to me that you saved her.’
‘I’m glad you’re both alright,’ he said, and he didn’t repeat what Asa had told her about only finding Carmel by mistake. It didn’t make any difference – Posy was certain that if he’d known Carmel was in there he’d have gone after her too. The intention was what really mattered, not the deed. He’d intended to save lives and he had.
‘How are you?’ she asked.
He raised his eyebrows slightly. ‘I’m fine. Shouldn’t I be?’
‘I mean, did you get your grapes in?’
‘We’re almost there.’
‘We?’
‘Karen has given Pavla a few days to help. She says the hotel is quiet right now.’
‘She’s a good friend, isn’t she?’
‘They both are,’ he said. ‘And I realise I don’t always deserve friends.’
Posy blinked. Was he being humble? Was he actually recognising what a pain in the arse he could be? Was this really happening or was she hallucinating from sheer exhaustion?
At this moment Karen came back. She stopped at the scene with a look that Posy could have sworn was a little too knowing.
‘Lachlan…’ she said. ‘Come to talk?’
‘Yes, I… Could I borrow Posy? It would only take a few minutes.’
Karen handed Posy the glass of water. ‘Alright with you? I need to see Ray in the kitchen about something anyway.’ She turned to Lachlan. ‘If you want some privacy the bar’s free.’
She left them and went back to the kitchen. Lachlan, like some Regency dandy, offered Posy his arm. Feeling vaguely bewildered, she stood and took it.
‘I still tire easily,’ she said apologetically.
‘I’m hardly surprised at that. How’s your mother doing?’
‘She’s much the same but she’s alright. She’s in the garden with my dad right now – you could go and see her; they’d both like to thank you in person.’
Lachlan looked desperately uncomfortable at this, but then, he’d hardly looked at ease since he’d arrived. As they walked slowly to the bar, Posy wondered whether being so nice was actually a huge effort for him. If it was, why bother? It wasn’t like anyone ever expected it from him.
In the bar she took a seat, and before he joined her he went to the optics to pour himself a neat whisky. Aside from the blatant familiarity with Karen’s alcohol supply, Posy resisted the urge to express any kind of surprise that he needed it, especially at this time of the morning. He downed it in one and slammed the glass onto the counter before coming to join her.
‘I’ve been inexcusably rude to you over the weeks you’ve been in Astercombe and yet you’ve still been kind to me.’
‘You haven’t been that rude,’ Posy said. She was feeling generous towards him right now, but he had been rude by anyone’s standards.
‘I owe you an explanation,’ he said.
‘You don’t have to—’
‘I do. If only because Karen will skin me alive if I don’t.’ He paused, seeming to steel himself. ‘It all became clear the day you kissed me. I’d been denying it; I thought that if I kept you at arm’s length…’
Posy frowned but she didn’t interrupt.
‘When I first saw you I couldn’t believe my eyes,’ he continued. ‘You were so like her and it was a shock…’ He glanced towards the bar. ‘Do you mind if I…?’
‘Be my guest.’
‘Would you like one?’
‘No… thanks.’
She was getting more and more confused by the minute. She watched him pour another drink and this time he brought it back to the table.
‘I was like who?’ she asked.
‘My wife,’ he said, and the words seemed to sting him as they came out. ‘She died. About three years ago now.’
‘Oh, Lachlan… I’m so sorry—’
He held up a hand. ‘I don’t want to dwell on that now; it’s not why I’m here.’
Posy understood. It wasn’t that his wife’s dea
th meant nothing, but that it still meant everything to him. He was still hurting, and she could only imagine how that felt. He looked at her now and she wondered if he was seeing his wife, whether simply seeing Posy caused him pain. The thought of it made her want to cry. She didn’t want to be the cause of that even if she wasn’t doing it deliberately.
‘I’m not here for sympathy,’ he said. ‘I just want to tell you why…’ He took a sip of his whisky. ‘Why…’
Posy gave a slight smile. ‘Why you were the rudest man alive?’
‘I was that bad?’
‘That’s why you’re here – didn’t you just say that?’
‘That day by the pool when we first met I was shocked, but I thought you were a passing tourist and I’d never see you again. I was shaken but I could have coped with that. But then we kept running into each other and it got harder and harder. I couldn’t understand why you were so patient, why you kept trying with me, but you were so kind and it only made things worse. The day you got stung I forgot myself.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘I had feelings for you. But what if it wasn’t you really? What if my feelings for you were just a way of bringing back Diana?’
It sounded a bit morbid and Posy tried hard to understand. ‘But I’m not her.’
‘I know that. When I look now you’re not so much like her at all, but perhaps that’s because I’m beginning to know you better and to see in you all the things that make you different from her. At first I thought I was falling for Diana all over again, that I only thought of you at night because I wanted you to be her. It was all too weird, even for me, and it was very unfair to get into a relationship based on that. I wanted to stay away from you, get you out of my head because it wasn’t right. But now I know that’s not it. I think about you because you’re you. It’s you I have these feelings for. And I understand, after the way I’ve treated you, if your feelings for me have changed.’
The Little Orchard on the Lane: An absolutely perfect and uplifting romantic comedy Page 31
