Teardrops in the Moon

by Crosse, Tania

  ‘You’re a marvel, Hal,’ Marianne praised him as they walked back towards the stable yard. ‘It never seems to work for me. I don’t know what we’d do without you.’

  ‘Perhaps you’re physically too small, or they sense you’re not dominant enough.’

  ‘You mean I’m too soft.’

  ‘Yes. But that’s no criticism. You can just love horses into obedience. It just takes longer and sadly we don’t have the luxury of time. But you’ll soon find out. How to manage without me, I mean.’

  Marianne stopped in her tracks as his words sunk in and she pulled her brother round to face her. She thought she had detected a certain flatness in his tone. Now she was proved right and a cold dread suddenly pumped through her veins.

  ‘W-what do you mean?’ she quizzed him.

  Hal’s eyes shifted about them as if to make sure no one could hear, and dropped his voice further. ‘I’ve got something to tell you, sis. Only it’s a secret. You must promise not to say a word to Mum and Dad, or anyone else for that matter.’

  Marianne blinked at him, the jubilant triumph over the horses utterly crushed. For once in her life, she could think of no words to answer the pain in his expression. ‘I don’t understand,’ was all she could muster.

  ‘When I was in London last week, Louise turned me down.’

  ‘What?’ Marianne’s shoulders sagged in relief. ‘Is that all? Well, there are plenty of other—’

  ‘No, listen to me, Marianne.’ Hal’s face was set as he took her by both arms. ‘She said she couldn’t marry a coward who wouldn’t enlist, and that no other girl would want to either.’

  ‘Oh, that’s ridiculous. There are plenty of men who haven’t joined up. And if she really loved you, she wouldn’t want you to. It’s not like it was a year ago when so many people said it’d be over by Christmas. The fighting this summer in France has been horrendous again, and look at the carnage that’s been going on at Gallipoli and the Dardenelles.’

  ‘I know. And that’s precisely why I feel I’m needed.’

  Marianne was gripped with panic as Hal’s face hardened with determination. Dear Lord, she must talk him out of this! ‘But your skills with the horses are needed here,’ she insisted.

  ‘And they’re needed where I’m going. I’ve joined Dad’s old regiment.’

  ‘What!’ Marianne’s world seemed to crash at her feet. ‘The 15th The King’s Hussars?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh, Hal.’ Her voice sank, landing with a thud. ‘Why?’ she groaned.

  ‘I’ve told you why. Only it’s not all.’ Hal lowered his eyes sheepishly. ‘I want to leave before Mum and Dad find out what a complete and utter fool I’ve been. How I’ve let them down.’ He hesitated as if summoning up his courage. ‘Louise’s father strongly recommended we sell some shares that were about to fall, so I agreed and put the money in the business account for safe keeping. But then Louise turned me down and I went out and got drunk. And . . . oh, God, sis, I can’t believe what happened. I gambled the lot away. Every last penny.’

  Marianne’s gaze locked on her brother’s face in appalled disbelief. ‘You? But you’ve never bet a farthing in your life!’

  ‘That’s not strictly true,’ Hal admitted guiltily. ‘I’ve gambled the odd pound here and there before, but . . . I don’t know what happened. I completely lost my reason. And then I suddenly realized how much I’d lost, and I had to try and win it back. But all I did was lose far more.’

  ‘Oh, Hal.’ Marianne’s stomach was churning viciously. ‘But running away isn’t going to help. And it’d be the cowardly thing to do.’

  ‘Would it? When you consider what I’m running away to? And it’s not just because of Louise and the money. It’s because I need to prove to myself, too, that I’m not a coward.’

  ‘But we all know you’re not! You go right in among these wild horses when even experienced horsemen would run a mile. And Mum and Dad will understand about the money. I mean, they might be cross at first—’

  ‘Furious, more like.’

  ‘All right, furious. But they’ll get over it, even if it means we have to pull our belts in. You’re their son, Hal. They love you and they’ll forgive you. So, there you are. You don’t need to go,’ she rounded on him in triumph.

  ‘Yes, I do. It’s all arranged anyway. I leave the day after tomorrow. Only please don’t tell anyone until after I’ve gone.’

  ‘You’re going to leave without saying goodbye?’ Marianne was horrified. ‘You can’t do that! You’ll break Mum and Dad’s hearts! What if . . . you don’t come back?’

  ‘I’ll have to take that chance. But if I told them I was going, I’d end up confessing about the money as well. I’d be so ashamed, and we’d probably part on bad terms which would be even worse.’

  ‘No.’ Marianne shook her head incredulously, her brain turning circles. ‘Why don’t you make some excuse and pretend to be going back to London? At least you could say some sort of goodbye.’

  Hal puffed out his cheeks, his eyes dark. ‘All right. But promise me, not a word beforehand.’

  Marianne’s mouth twisted in rebellion as she met his gaze, but what could she do? Who should she be loyal to, her brother or her parents? There was no answer, and she felt as if her heart had been torn in two.

  ‘Have a good trip, Hal,’ Rose said, hugging her son. ‘Take care in the capital, mind.’

  Hal threw a glance at Marianne over his mother’s shoulder, daring her to keep quiet. Marianne pursed her lips, her pulse rattling in her skull. Even now, she felt she should break the promise she had been coerced into.

  ‘Goodbye, son. I’m surprised you have to go back again so soon. Got the keys to the house? And are you sure you don’t want a lift to the station?’

  ‘No thanks, Dad. It’ll be good to have a lungful of fresh air before I get to London.’ Hal pumped Seth’s hand up and down, and Marianne thought she would break. It was on the tip of her tongue. . . .

  ‘I’ll come out with you,’ her mouth said instead. A minute later, she saw over her shoulder her parents give a final wave and turn back into the house while she and Hal crunched down the gravel drive.

  ‘This isn’t right.’ She wrung the words from her throat as they came to the open gates.

  ‘Yes, it is.’ Hal’s voice, nevertheless, was ragged. ‘Thank you for not letting on, sis. I really appreciate it. And for letting me confide in you. Sister in a million, you are.’

  ‘Hmm, I’m not sure about that.’ She still felt angry that he had put her through such torture, but it was nothing to the agony that ruptured her heart at the thought that she might never see her brother again. But she must be cheerful for his sake. ‘Maybe the Americans will decide to join in the war, and it’ll all be over soon,’ she said optimistically.

  ‘If they were going to, you’d think the sinking of the Lusitania would have prompted them, and that was six months ago,’ Hal scoffed.

  ‘Well, maybe they’re still thinking about it. It’d be a huge decision, after all. Or maybe everyone will come to their senses over the winter and sign a peace treaty before fighting begins again in earnest in the spring.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ The words were flat. Dead. They both knew they were fooling themselves. Trying to put on a brave face.

  ‘You won’t give me away before this evening, will you? Promise?’

  A choking lump tore through Marianne’s throat. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to break it to Mum and Dad,’ she croaked.

  ‘You won’t have to. I’ve put it all in a letter. Here, sis. Just give it to them tonight. Say you found it in my room along with the house keys. And I’ve made a decision about the Napier. It’s yours now. I’ve put that in the letter, too. Try not to crash it. I’ll want it back after the war.’

  He gave a wry smile, and the tears that had been welling in Marianne’s eyes began t
o spill down her cheeks as she clung to him. He pulled away, lifting her chin. ‘Thanks, sis. For everything.’ And then he was walking away down the muddy road towards Princetown.

  Marianne watched him, her vision blurred with tears, until he was a tiny speck in the distance. How in God’s name could she keep the brutal sorrow hidden from her parents all day? She balled her fists, and felt her heart tighten in agony.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Marianne brought the Napier to a smooth halt on the gravel in front of the house, and beside her, Seth nodded in approval.

  ‘Well done. You’re turning into a good little driver. Hal will be proud of you when he comes home, I’m sure.’

  Marianne’s momentary pride instantly deflated. It was Boxing Day, and this year it had been the turn of Richard and Beth to host the gathering at Rosebank Hall. They had all pretended to enjoy themselves – and, of course, to a large degree, they had – but it wasn’t the same. Mary hadn’t been able to get home for Christmas either, which was disappointing for Marianne since they were corresponding regularly. But mostly, lurking at the back of everyone’s mind, was the knowledge that Mary and William’s elder half-brother, Artie, was out in Flanders somewhere with the Devonshires, while Hal was out there too, with his father’s old regiment.

  Marianne sensed that all these long-standing friends were putting on brave faces and attempting to buoy each other up. Besides, it was baby Valerie’s first Christmas, and nobody wanted to spoil the occasion for William and young Adam either. But though Kate was twinkling in the role of happy, loving mother, Marianne could tell that her sister was just as concerned – for her brother in particular, of course – as everyone else.

  Now, at the mention of Hal, Marianne caught the suppressed sigh of anguish from her mother in the back seat. When she glanced back, she could just see Rose’s grim expression in the glow from the headlights reflecting back from the front wall of the house. Her own heart contracted in that horrible sensation that took hold of her whenever her brother stung into her thoughts. She still felt destroyed by guilt at never having revealed to her parents that she had known Hal was leaving. If she had, would they have been able to stop him? Or, at very least, they would have had the chance to say a proper farewell.

  ‘Don’t switch the engine off.’ She was relieved when Seth’s voice distracted her from her thoughts as he opened the passenger door. ‘I’ll go through the house and open up the stableyard gates so you can drive in.’

  ‘All right, Dad,’ she replied, and then flushed with nerves as she realized he meant her to drive through without him by her side, the first time she would have driven alone. Her mother, of course, was in the back, but Rose had never fancied learning to drive.

  But Marianne would have to wait longer for her first solo drive. Before her father had reached the portico, Joe appeared from around the side of the house which led to the stable yard, running and waving his arms frantically. Seth at once turned back, and as the two men met in the Napier’s headlights, Marianne could see the horror on Joe’s face. Switching off the engine, both she and Rose leapt out of the vehicle.

  ‘Aw, thank God you’m all back!’ Joe was crying. ‘They’m gone, an’ I’m trying to round up what were left loose. An’ Patsy’s in the house. They’ve been in there an’ all!’

  ‘What do you mean, Joe? What’s gone?’

  ‘The horses!’

  There was a moment’s stunned silence while the news sunk in. Marianne’s insides corkscrewed into a knot that made her feel sick, and she catapulted forward in utter panic.

  ‘Pegasus?’ she squealed frantically, and began racing towards the yard.

  ‘He’m all right!’ Joe called after her. ‘Managed to get him back in his stable, I did, but he were proper frightened. Running about like a mad thing when I got here, but hadn’t gone out of the yard even though the gates was wide open. Reckon they couldn’t get him into the cattle truck.’

  ‘Cattle truck?’

  ‘Three of them, I reckon, from the tyre tracks.’

  At hearing Pegasus was safe, Marianne had stood for a moment as the terror pulsed out of her, but now she hurried back to where the other three adults were staring at each other in total shock.

  ‘So how many did they get?’ she heard her father demand.

  ‘A dozen, maybe twenty. They either forced or picked the locks to most of the stables an’ several of the fields. I reckon they got what they could into the trucks, an’ then left the rest to wander out onto the moor. I managed to drive in one or two that was near the gate, but as for the rest . . .’

  Even in the darkness, Marianne saw Seth’s eyes flash across at Rose. ‘And they’ve been in the house as well, you say? Marianne, you’d better go inside with your mother and see what’s missing. I’ll help Joe secure the horses – those we’ve got left – and then I’ll drive into Princetown and alert the constable.’

  ‘You can tell him this were a planned job!’ Joe declared in angry agitation. ‘Checked every one of they locks afore Patsy an’ me went off to my Henrietta’s, I did. The one day of the year when the place isn’t occupied, an’ that only two out of three. Must’ve been watching us an’ waiting, I reckons.’

  ‘I think you’re probably right,’ Marianne heard Seth agree. ‘But there’s nothing we can do about searching the moor for the strays until morning. Now, go on, you two,’ he instructed gently. ‘Into the house.’

  Marianne turned to her mother. Strangely, Rose hadn’t uttered a word, but then she had been subdued ever since the shock of discovering Hal’s secret enlistment. Marianne’s conscience still smarted and probably would continue to do so until he returned. If he returned. No, when he returned, she reprimanded herself.

  ‘Come on, Mum,’ she smiled encouragingly, and realized as she took Rose’s trembling hand that her own was shaking just as much.

  The beautiful house that had been Marianne’s lifelong home felt oddly hostile as they went inside. She supposed it was knowing that some stranger – or more likely strangers – had been there uninvited, searching through all their possessions. And it was evident as they came in through the entrance hall that the place had been ransacked.

  ‘Aw, Mistress Rose!’ Patsy sidled nervously from the drawing room, her face streaked with tears. ‘Look what they devils have done! Take me weeks, it will, to put it all back together.’ And she bent to retrieve the drawer from the elegant side table that had obviously been pulled out, the contents tipped onto the floor to be rifled through more easily, and then flung aside.

  ‘No, Patsy, dear.’ Rose had clearly been brought to her senses by the other woman’s distress and laid a comforting hand on her arm. ‘Better not touch anything until the police have been.’

  ‘C-can’t I even make a pot of tea?’

  ‘Well, yes, I should think that would be all right,’ Rose answered kindly. ‘You do that, and Marianne and I will see what’s missing.’

  As Patsy shuffled off to the kitchen, lamenting miserably, mother and daughter exchanged a silent glance. Heaven knew what they were going to find, but they might as well get the shock of it over with. And so, with thudding hearts, they went into the drawing room together.

  It had been turned upside down. For a moment, they just stood in appalled silence. Nothing had been left untouched. Even the upholstery of the armchairs and sofas had been slashed and the stuffing partly pulled out.

  Marianne could see instantly that everything of value had been taken: the French mantle clock, the two Chinese vases and a pair of solid silver candlesticks. Thank goodness her mother wasn’t a great collector of precious items. And then a wave of nausea swept through her as she turned to the mesmerizing portrait of Rose in her younger years. It was still there, but a deep slash, almost deliberate it seemed, had been gouged out across the beautiful face.

  Ned Cornish put down his tumbler of whisky and leant back in the easy chair, stretchin
g with languid satisfaction. He might be celebrating New Year alone, but he was oh, so happy. The year’s planning had paid off perfectly. It had taken that time for him to find a lock and safe breaker he could trust, and three unscrupulous horse-dealers from well outside the jurisdiction of the Devonshire Constabulary, with false number plates on their trucks just in case anyone might see them and become suspicious. But Fencott Place was so isolated and people in Princetown would mostly have been indoors enjoying the Bank Holiday. The joy of it was that, as in the previous year, the house had been unoccupied for several hours. Otherwise his meticulous plans would have come to nothing, and he would have been obliged to pay his accomplices for their troubles without any gain for himself.

  As it was, they would all do very nicely. Each of the horse-dealers had squeezed six valuable animals into his truck, some mares in foal – typically of Rose unbranded, since she would never put them through such an ordeal – and some ready-trained army horses whose brands would be cruelly altered and allowed to heal before they were sold back to the military. It was just a pity they hadn’t been able to coax that magnificent dapple grey into one of the vehicles. It was almost as spirited as the great black nag Rose used to ride in her youth. Ned remembered only too well the agony of its teeth sinking into various parts of his anatomy. He wasn’t anxious to repeat the experience with the grey. Pity. It would have fetched a tidy sum.

  Oh, he was having such fun! It more than made up for the loneliness of the past nine years since he had returned from America. There was his old fence of course, who would sell on the jewellery he had stolen from the safe – shame there had been so little of it – and a few gambling cronies, but he couldn’t call any of them friends. But at least, having paid off the safe-breaker with half the cash in the safe, spending the rest himself would give him huge pleasure. But the greatest joy had been breathing in the perfume on Rose’s underwear – and then drawing the blade of his pocket-knife across her face in the painting.

  ‘So, how much do you think we’ve lost, Dad?’ Marianne dared to ask a few days later.