Bonds of Earth, The

by Thompson, E. V.

  It was nothing that either could have expressed in words but the conversation between them was now of a more personal nature.

  ‘Are there many young men working at Wheal Hope?’

  ‘None. My pa brought only the most experienced miners with him from down west. I don’t think any of them are younger than he is.’

  ‘That can’t be much fun for you. What do you and your sisters do to keep yourselves amused?’

  ‘Jennifer’s quite happy playing with toys – and Nessa’s always got her nose stuck in a book.’

  ‘It sounds as though life must be very boring for you.’

  ‘It is, that’s why I spend so much time walking around the moor, but I expect you know lots of people – men and girls – and if ever you get bored you can always go off drinking with your friends.’

  ‘I don’t have any friends. At least, not hereabouts. We were living some miles away when my pa died so I don’t really know anyone around here, not of my own age, anyway. That’s why I was so pleased to meet up with you – although I suppose you must have a sweetheart somewhere, you being so pretty.’

  As he had hoped, Morwenna was flattered by his egregious compliment.

  ‘Chance would be a fine thing! Anyway, I wouldn’t want a miner for a sweetheart. I’ve spent all my life among miners and mines. I’d like to find someone who does something else, something interesting.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose it must make a man boring if he’s working down a mine all the time with nothing more than a candle or two to give him light. My work is very different. As a gamekeeper there’s always so much to see and do, dealing with animals and birds and taking care of the estate … but here we are at the cottage. What do you think of it?’

  The cottage he had brought her to had a steeply angled and heavily thatched roof which came down low enough for a man to reach up and touch it from ground level, its symmetry broken by two diamond-paned windows. They had approached the rear of the cottage, passing through a copse of trees which protected it on three sides, yet being far enough away for there to be a kitchen garden behind the cottage. It had not been tended for some time and was struggling to hold its own against the onslaught of seasonal weeds. Nevertheless, there was an air of complacent timelessness about the cottage which shrugged off the evidence of recent neglect.

  ‘It’s a lovely cottage!’

  For once Morwenna was being completely honest, expressing an opinion that was not motivated by self-interest.

  ‘It is, and such a pity there’s no one living in it. The inside is just as nice, come in and have a look around.’

  The interior of the cottage was low-ceilinged and snug and surprisingly neat and tidy. When Morwenna commented on this, Tom explained, ‘When the old gamekeeper died the housekeeper at Spurre Hall sent a couple of the maids here to give it a thorough clean, and as he had no known relatives to claim the furniture it was decided to leave it in place.’

  ‘And this is the cottage you’ll be moving into?’

  ‘I don’t know. I could if I wanted, but I’ll need to think about it. Where I am now one of the maids comes in and keeps the house tidy and we’re both fed from the kitchen of the Hall. If I came up here it would be too far for a cleaning woman to come in and I’d need to be cooking for myself.’

  Shrugging with feigned nonchalance, he added, ‘Perhaps I’ll see if I can find a wife from somewhere.’

  Disappointed when Morwenna made no reply he changed the subject abruptly. ‘The last time I was here I found traces of a rat outside in the shed and put poison down to kill it. While I go and check whether I’ve caught it why don’t you have a look around? There’s a wonderful view upstairs from the big bedroom at the front.’

  When he had gone Morwenna began her inspection, going from room to room, finding many features to admire including the stout oak beams in the downstairs rooms and a spacious inglenook fireplace complete with slate-slab seats in the kitchen. At the same time, she was disappointed Tom had not chosen to accompany her on her tour of his prospective home.

  Climbing the narrow wooden staircase, she made her way to the front, east-facing bedroom that was surprisingly large for such a small cottage. Tom had not exaggerated about the view from here. The River Lynher curved through the valley that was part of the Spurre estate. The land rose on the far side, but the cottage was above the height of this rise and it had a panoramic view of a landscape which extended to the heights of Dartmoor, far off in the neighbouring county of Devon.

  Suddenly she heard footsteps on the stairs and, a few moments later, Tom entered the room, coming to stand just behind her, looking over her shoulder to share the view from the window.

  Despite being very aware of his closeness, her first words were far from romantic.

  ‘Did you kill the rat?’

  ‘I can’t be absolutely sure but the poison has been taken, so no doubt it’s lying dead somewhere.’

  There was a brief silence between them before he leaned forward so that his cheek was touching hers and pointed to the far horizon. ‘That’s Dartmoor. It’s far bigger than our moor here. Have you ever been there?

  ‘No, I’ve never been out of Cornwall.’ Very aware that his other arm had passed behind her and his hand was now resting on her shoulder, she added, ‘You were right, it is beautiful.’

  ‘Not as beautiful as you.’ As he spoke the hand tightened on her shoulder and she was awkwardly pulled around to face him, her body against his.

  This was the moment when she should have made a protest, Morwenna knew it, and so did Tom. When none came he kissed her, lightly at first but when she responded it became more demanding. Pulling her even closer he made a clumsy attempt to move her backwards towards the bed.

  Now she did object. Pulling her head – but not her body – away from him, she said, ‘You’d better save anything you have in mind for when you’ve found that wife you were talking about.’

  ‘Perhaps I’ve found her….’

  He tried to kiss her again, but she twisted her head to one side, away from him, saying, ‘Don’t be foolish, this is only the second time we’ve met.’

  ‘What’s time got to do with anything?’

  He did not release his hold on her and with their bodies pressed hard against each other Morwenna was fully aware of the desire in him.

  He spoke again. ‘I believe that if you meet up with the right person you know it right away.’

  ‘You might know straightway but it doesn’t mean you get what you want there and then.’

  ‘Why not, what’s the sense in waiting? It’s just wasting time if you both feel the same way.’

  ‘You would say that because when you get what you want you can go away and forget all about it, leaving the woman to face the consequences.’

  ‘I would never do that. If I felt strongly enough about a woman to want to do it to her I’d want to marry her anyway.’

  ‘So you say. It would be a very different story if it came to having to marry because of what you’d done.’

  He shook his head. ‘No, it wouldn’t. Like I said, I wouldn’t do it to anyone unless I felt I’d like to be married to her. Mind you, I’d never get married to anyone I hadn’t done it with. I’d want to know she loved me just as much as I loved her.’

  Sensing that Tom was not quite as feverishly eager as he had been a few minutes before, Morwenna believed she might have overplayed her apparent virtuousness. Relaxing her body so it was still pressing against his, but less rigidly, she was able to excite him once more.

  ‘How do I know you mean it?’

  ‘I do mean it. What else do you want me to say?’

  ‘Do you promise that if I let you and anything happens to me, you will marry me?’

  ‘I promise! I knew when I first saw you that you’re the sort of girl I want to marry. Even though I’ve only known you for a couple of days I’d like to marry you and bring you here to live.’

  She said nothing while his body explored hers through the thin sum
mer dress and his excitement increased. Then … ‘All right, you can … but only because you’ve said you’ll marry me if you get me into trouble … You do promise?’

  ‘Of course I do, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t want to marry you.’

  Even as he was speaking he was propelling her backwards to the bed. Reaching it she fell backwards on to the hard, straw mattress.

  After fumbling with his trousers he pulled her dress clumsily up about her waist.

  ‘You’re not wearing any drawers!’

  ‘I’ve never worn any since I was a little girl. I don’t like them.’

  ‘That’s all right, it makes everything much easier….’

  He was lying on top of her now and she gave a gasp as he thrust inside her, then her body was responding to his and she abandoned herself to the love-making she had been missing so much since she had left Alan Toms behind in Cornwall’s far west.

  Chapter 17

  GORAN HAD BEEN surprised it was not Nessa who had brought the dictionary to him at Elworthy and disappointed that the middle Pyne daughter had not come to congratulate him on taking over the tenancy of the farm, but he was given little time to dwell upon her apparent unexpected lack of interest in him. It was time for haymaking on both farms although first it was necessary to take Elworthy Coumbe and what possessions he required to Roach Farm, to begin life there with his sister.

  There was also the move to the farmhouse with his mother and, only twenty-four hours later, the Bolithos arrived to take up residence in the vacated Elworthy farm cottage.

  Harriet Bolitho was ecstatic at the move from the hovel on Bodmin Moor. Assisted by three miners from the Wheal Hope she and her family arrived early in the afternoon, the injured Albert being conveyed in an iron-wheeled wheelbarrow with the sickly youngest Bolitho child in his arms.

  Goran was not there to greet them on their arrival, but when he returned from working at the Roach Farm, he was greeted with a warm kiss from an emotional Harriet who declared, ‘Goran, you are the best thing that’s happened to the Bolithos for more years than I care to remember! What you have done for Albert, Jenken and the whole family has given me … no, given all of us, new hope for the future. The cottage is lovely and Jenken is so happy to be working with you!’

  Goran was forced to back away from her before she kissed him again and her happiness smothered him. ‘I’m glad you’re pleased with the cottage. I hope it leads to a change for the better in the fortunes of everyone.’

  ‘How could it be otherwise? The very first thing Albert did was to limp to the back door and stand there telling me what he intends planting for us in the garden, and where it would go. All this while he was propped up on two crutches, barely able to stand! It’s lifted his spirits as nothing else could have done.’

  Embarrassed by such effusive gratitude, Goran said, ‘I hope having you here will suit all of us. I’m certainly very happy to have Jenken working for me, I’ve never known anyone try so hard to please as he does. I’ve had to tell him to slow down otherwise he’ll exhaust himself!’

  ‘He’s a good boy and I would be very happy if I knew his future was on the land and not burrowing beneath it.’ Suddenly looking beyond him, she said, ‘But where’s Morwenna Pyne? I was hoping she might take care of the boys while I sort out the rooms, ready for their bedtimes.’

  ‘Morwenna? What made you think she would be here?’

  Now it was Harriet’s turn to show surprise, ‘I thought Annie said Morwenna was spending a lot of time here, at the farm. I must have got it wrong.’

  At that moment there was a shout from one of the boys. He had just seen one of the farm cats in the back garden and Harriet hurried off to ensure he did not do anything to make the cat scratch him, leaving a puzzled Goran wondering why Annie Pyne should think that Morwenna was spending time at Elworthy.

  Within a few days all thoughts of Morwenna and most other problems had been forgotten as haymaking began in earnest on the two farms. It was hard and concentrated work, involving far more than could be achieved by Goran, even with the assistance of Elworthy Coumbe and Jenken and he needed to recruit a number of helpers from the local workhouse.

  Their daily wage, paid to the workhouse, was four pence for the men and two and a half pence for the women. The paupers enjoyed food cooked for them by Agnes Roach and Mabel and ale rationed out to them by Goran but, in spite of such incentives, they had neither the will nor stamina for the work involved and Goran ended each day thoroughly exhausted, his only thoughts being of sleep and the hope he could complete haymaking before the weather broke – a prospect that had been threatening and receding with a baffling frequency for a number of dry weeks.

  Every countryman whose everyday life was dictated by the weather agreed that although the continuing absence of rain was important for haymaking, a drought such as was being experienced had serious long-term implications.

  Older denizens of the countryside gloomily related stories of past periods of drought which had inevitably been followed by violent storms and torrential rain, as nature sought to right the imbalance it had brought about.

  Eventually, much to Goran’s relief, haymaking was completed, the hay cut, dried and built into ricks in which hay would be cured and compressed by its own weight and waterproofed from the onslaught of inclement weather by the skills of rick builders, a craft at which the simple Elworthy excelled. Lofts above the stables at both farms were piled high with hay, to be used when severe winter weather made access to outside ricks impossible.

  With hay safely gathered in and the celebrations funded by Agnes over, Goran should have been able to relax a little, but it was now time to advance the plans he had for Elworthy Farm.

  Jenken was by now sufficiently acquainted with the routine running of the farm to be left to carry out the work without supervision, so Goran felt able to go ahead with preparing two of his fields for crops, beginning with potatoes which would help clean the ground, but first the fields would need to be ploughed and prepared for growing crops. For this he would have to buy a second-hand plough with one, or perhaps two, good plough-horses to carry out the work, and learn how to use a plough. It was something he had never been required to do while Agnes dictated how the two farms should be worked.

  In a few days’ time a fair was being held in the town of Liskeard, some nine miles away and Goran thought he might be able to purchase a second-hand plough there and possibly find someone to teach him how to use it.

  The night before the fair was due to begin, when Goran returned from an afternoon and evening spent working at Roach Farm, he called in at the Bolithos’ cottage to find Jenken. The family was in a jubilant mood. All except Albert and the two youngest boys had been able to earn a few pence during haymaking and this, together with a variety of foodstuff donated by Mabel and Agnes, had enabled Harriet to cook more substantial meals than they had known for a very long time. They were even able to offer Goran a mug of ale.

  Aware of the pleasure it gave to the head of the family to be able to offer something to a guest instead of being forced to accept their charity, he accepted, even though he would rather not have had a drink this late in the evening.

  Sipping the drink, Goran said to Albert, ‘I must go sparingly with this … and so must you, Jenken. I want you up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to get the farmyard chores done as quickly as possible.’

  ‘That’s all right,’ Jenken replied. ‘I don’t like ale very much anyway, but are we doing something special tomorrow?’

  ‘We certainly are! We’re going to take the horse and a light wagon to Liskeard. It’s Fair Day and Agnes has loaned me money to buy a plough and harrow – if I’m able to find them at the right price. If they’re too expensive I’ll need to pay someone to do the work for me, but I’d rather not do that. I’ll also need a plough horse … probably two, but I should be able to get them cheaper at a market a bit closer to home.’

  ‘Do you have any experience of ploughing?’ The unexpected question came
from Harriet.

  ‘No,’ Goran confessed, ‘but I expect I’ll be able to pick it up as I go along.’

  ‘It would be much easier if you were able to learn straightway from someone with experience of the work. I know from when I used to work on a farm that ploughing’s a skilled job. A man who can plough is paid more than the other men on a farm. You’ll have to be sure the horse you buy knows what it’s doing. You can’t set any old horse to a plough and expect him to get on with the job. You’ll need to know when to rest him too, ploughing’s hard work, even for the strongest horse, especially if you’re working land that’s never been ploughed before.’

  ‘Perhaps I ought to take you along to the fair with us.’ Goran suggested, only half-joking. ‘You obviously know more about ploughing than I do!’

  Harriet gave him a wry smile and shook her head. ‘All I know comes from listening to farm talk when I was working down west, I’d be no good to you even if I was able to come to the fair. Anyway, I couldn’t leave Albert to look after the boys by himself all day. But I’m serious about you finding someone to help you choose the things you’re going to need. You can’t afford to buy any old rubbish.’

  Goran knew she was talking sense. He did not have the necessary knowledge himself, but hoped there might be farmers at the fair willing to express an opinion on the worth of farming implements being offered for sale.

  Chapter 18

  ‘HAVE YOU EVER been to Liskeard Fair before?’

  The question came from Jenken as he and Goran were driving the horse and wagon to the fair the next morning. Despite the clouds overhead and an ominous dark mass gathering in the sky to the west, the young boy was thrilled at the prospect of attending something as exciting as a ‘fair’.

  ‘A couple of times, but never to buy anything, I was only looking around.’