‘I thought you would like to take Nana back with you tomorrow,’ Ryan said. ‘I have to search for accommodation. A friend has given me a few addresses. I’ll come in the morning to take you to the station then I’ll phone you at the farm later.’
Their parting was sorrow mixed with excitement. Her eyes were dark with love as she kissed him goodbye. ‘Thank you for finding her for me.’
‘She’s a wonderful lady,’ he said. ‘Almost as wonderful as you.’
*
Tommy was prowling around the house and Rachel knew he was worried about Owen. ‘When will he be coming home?’ she asked.
‘Never. He hates us for keeping the secret he was entitled to know, and for setting the police on him when he stole from us.’
‘But we can hardly be blamed for that – he stole a lot of money. How does that make him angry at us?’
‘We shouldn’t have involved the police. I owed him something. Whatever his true status, he’s been a part of the family since before he was five years old. If I’d been kinder to him, offered him a share of the farm, treated him like a son, he’d never have done it. So yes, he can blame me.’
They had both written and promised him a home, talked about the land on which he could build a house, but there were no replies. Rachel gave him news about Sarah, who, now he had been charged and the facts were known, was surprisingly sympathetic. Even Bertie made a drawing and asked that it be sent to him. Nothing produced a response.
Money had been deposited for a lawyer to defend him and they offered to give evidence of extenuating circumstances, but the solicitor wasn’t hopeful. A crime had been committed and Owen would have to take the consequences.
Sarah was the only person Owen wrote to. It was very brief, just a thank you for her letter and Bertie’s picture. He said he appreciated them both, as he felt very much alone. Sarah took it to show Rachel and Tommy. It added to their growing sense of shame.
‘We took the boy in and gave him a home, but we shouldn’t have done it. Doing something half hearted is not much better than not doing it at all,’ Tommy said.
‘I didn’t look upon it like that. He wanted a home and a family and we gave them to him. We couldn’t be expected to love him like our own.’
‘He deserved better than we gave him.’
‘We’ll make it up to him. Come on, Tommy, stop beating yourself. When this is all over we’ll make a new beginning.’
‘If he’ll let us.’
*
Victoria loved Badgers Brook. ‘I hoped that you’d be living in a place you’d be happy to leave,’ she said. ‘I thought you’d come back with me, at least for a while, but how can you leave a beautiful home like this?’
‘I have a job, too, Nana. I work in the local school.’
‘Can I stay here for a while then? I hate the thought of going back to my flat so many miles away from you.’
‘Please stay. Then I’ll visit you at half term. We won’t wait long between visits.’
‘Ryan will be in London more or less permanently for a year, won’t he?’
‘I’ll want to see him, too,’ she admitted.
After introducing her grandmother to Kitty and Bob, then Stella, Colin and Betty, they booked a taxi and went to the farm.
Her leg was still painful, otherwise she would have walked her through the wood and shown her where the badgers lived. ‘But next time we’ll walk through the paths and animal tracks and you’ll see why I love it here so much.’
As Sophie had phoned the farm earlier, Rachel was ready with the table filled with home-made food. Daphne was there helping Tommy and Gareth sort out items for the farm sale, and she greeted Nana with delight.
Sophie rested her aching ankle while her friends showed their visitor around.
‘I’m so grateful to Ryan for finding her for me. I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been by not going back.’
‘Oh, we all do stupid things sometimes, dear. Like the way we were with poor Owen.’
‘Ryan wishes he and Gareth had handled things differently. They were outraged at the way he was stealing from you and did what their anger told them was right. But Owen will be back. You’re still his only family.’
School kept Sophie away from Badgers Brook most of each day, but Victoria filled her days happily by wandering around the area, getting to know Sophie’s friends, most of whom were amazed at the unlikely reunion.
One day she was sitting outside the Ship and Compass, sheltered from the wind and enjoying some late sun, when Betty came out and invited her inside.
‘Your granddaughter hasn’t been here long, but we love her,’ Betty said. ‘I hope you aren’t going to take her away from us?’
‘I don’t want to part with her for a moment more than I have to, but neither do I want to intrude on her life. I did think that, as Ryan will be in London for a year, she might like to stay with me. Then when they come back, perhaps I’ll come back with them. D’you think I could make a life for myself here?’
‘Cwm Derw is a friendly place. And we love newcomers bringing in a breath of fresh air. Yes. I’m sure you’d settle perfectly well.’
‘As long as Sophie is happy about it. I won’t come if there’s a chance of spoiling anything.’
‘What did you do before you retired?’ Betty asked.
‘I ran a small grocery shop. Victory Stores,’ she added with a smile. ‘I made a lot of jams and pickles.’
‘So does your Sophie! Wouldn’t it be perfect if she reopened the business. Any chance?’
‘I think I’ve a few years of work left in me, but I can’t see her wanting to. Her life is here.’
Ed came in and went straight to the biscuit barrel. ‘This all you’ve got?’ he asked with a grin after he was introduced to Victoria. ‘My sister used to look after me, but now I’ve got Elsie she doesn’t bother.’
‘Ed’s wife runs the bed and breakfast near the post office,’ Betty explained. ‘In fact, they run it together.’
‘That must be interesting.’
‘Hard work,’ Ed replied, helping himself to a cup of tea.
Betty stood up and apologized. ‘I have to get the bar ready to open up. The regulars will soon be banging the door down,’ she explained.
‘And I must get to the school. I’m taking Sophie and a young man called Bertie for lunch in the café.’
*
After Victoria had returned to London, Sophie felt a change in the house she had called home. It was when she returned from school on Monday. The fire refused to draw, the usual warmth gone from her favourite room overlooking the garden. Nowhere in the house could she feel its welcome. She was puzzled but said nothing to anyone; they would think her crazy to imagine that a house could have moods.
Geoff came to bring her a kitchen mat she had ordered and he stayed for a cup of tea. He looked around the living room, its view of the garden now hidden by the dark evening. It was comfortable as always but there was something missing and he couldn’t define the difference.
‘Is everything all right?’ he asked. ‘No problems with the house?’
She stared at him. ‘Everything’s fine, I think. But I don’t feel—’ she stopped. How could she say what she felt without appearing stupid?
‘The house changes towards people sometimes,’ Geoff said. ‘It welcomes a new tenant, then, when it’s time for that person to move on, it seems to change its mood, to be telling them to go. As though it knows now is the right time to move on.’
‘Perhaps that’s what it’s telling me.’
‘Ryan and your Nana both being in London, perhaps?’
‘I want to be there with them but I’ve just started working in the school.’
‘And you can give them notice. You could leave at Christmas, perhaps?’
‘It’s what I’ve been thinking, Geoff.’
‘Everything seems to be coming to an end,’ she told Daphne that evening. ‘Ryan leaving, Nana back in London, Owen beginning to talk to Sarah and sof
tening towards Bertie. The Treweathers are leaving the farm and Gareth is settling down in France.’
‘And you?’
‘I want to go back to London, just while Ryan is there. Then I want to come back and persuade Nana to come here too.’
‘You’re going to London on Friday, discuss it with them both.’
‘Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – four more days,’ she sighed as she counted on her slender fingers. ‘I can’t bear it, it seems for ever.’
Daphne was helping Betty that evening and while she was there the phone rang. She was smiling as she replaced the receiver.
‘Can you spare me for a moment to fetch Sophie?’ she asked, and Betty willingly agreed.
‘Why do I have to come to the Ship?’ Sophie asked. ‘I have to cut some cards for school tomorrow.’
‘Stop asking questions and complaining,’ Daphne said. She pushed her friend impatiently into Betty’s back room and into the arms of Ryan. Behind him stood Nana, wearing a wide and happy smile.
‘Please, come back with us, we can’t cope on our own,’ he said as she ran into waiting arms.
First published in United Kingdom in 2005 by Severn House Publishers Ltd
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2016 by
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2005 by Grace Thompson
The moral right of Grace Thompson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781910859292
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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