Escape to the Country

by Patsy Collins

  "Get what you wanted?" Jayne asked as Leah let herself and Tarragon back into the yard.

  "I think so. I never made it to the shop though."

  "Oh? Sounds as though I'd better put the kettle on for this one."

  "And cut a slice of cake. I've had an adventure!"

  "Well, tell me," Jayne demanded as soon as she'd poured the tea.

  "I've been swept off my feet!"

  "What? By a man do you mean, or knocked over by a gust of wind?"

  "Both, well I didn't fall over, but he had to rescue me. Jayne, I'm afraid I rather flirted with the dishy tractor driver you told me about. I think it was a sort of reaction to Adam as honestly I'm not usually like that, but he really was gorgeous and he picked me up just as though I was as light as you seem to think I am and he's got such lovely big brown eyes and..."

  "Hang on a minute... Dishy tractor driver?"

  "You told me about him and I have to admit you were right."

  "Sam Cartwright is the estate's tractor driver," Jayne said slowly, in the same patient voice she'd used to explain things to ten year old Leah during school holidays.

  "Well, Sam Cartwright is a dish."

  "If you like 67 year old men with faded red beards, then I agree."

  "What?" Leah looked at the puzzled expression on Jayne's face. "Oh, Jayne! You didn't lie about the dishy tractor driver too?"

  "'Fraid so. You sounded so upset on the phone that I'd have said anything to get you down here."

  "So, any idea who my mystery hero is?"

  "Yes, but you're not going to like it. It's Oliver Gilmore-Bunce."

  "No way."

  "Describe him again."

  "Well over six foot. Gorgeous brown eyes with lashes that'd make even Rosemary jealous, lots of curly hair, strong obviously, but not in a body builder kind of way. Oooh and his voice... sounds like he should be doing voiceovers for some really rich and expensive chocolates."

  "Definitely him. Told you he was nice. Just a bit young for me, but I still wouldn't mind being rescued by him."

  "No. This guy is a tractor driver, not some pretentious landowner."

  "He's not pretentious and he can drive a tractor."

  "Sorry, Jayne, but it wasn't your Mr Gilmore-Bunce. I've seen him and he's nothing like my rescuer."

  "You sound very sure."

  "I am, he was a client of... well, he still is a client of the company I used to work for. He's the reason I had to leave. He isn't as nice as you think he is. Doesn't look as good either, he's older, fatter and shorter and balding. Adam pointed him out to me, but didn't introduce us because he knew he'd be rude, or patronising, or both. He's a sexist pig who wouldn't let a woman handle his accounts until Adam intervened on my behalf. Obviously now, I wish he hadn't but I was regretting it even before the present trouble." Leah's rant eventually ran out of steam in the face of no reaction from Jayne. She lamely added, "I'm very disappointed by your taste in men."

  "Hmm, speaking of which, has Adam phoned back about your trouble at work?"

  "No. D'you know when I saw my phone was flat I was almost pleased because I could kid myself he'd been trying to call and apologise. Or say he was doing something to help, or even just check I was OK. He's not going to do any of those things, is he?"

  "Doesn't sound like it, lovey. No wonder you want a simple tractor driver," Jayne said.

  "I don't, I just said he was kind and..."

  "Good looking, right. Hmm, but if he's not my landlord, he must be someone new. I'll see what I can find out."

  "Not on my account..." Leah started to say, but she had to admit she was curious. It was no more than that really. OK, he'd lifted her out the mud, but Adam had saved her at work. When he'd heard Gilmore-Bunce hadn't wanted Leah to handle his account, Adam had swallowed his own dislike of the man and taken him out to dinner in order to tactfully persuade him to change his mind. He'd even come up with the brilliant idea of having Leah and her client communicate exclusively by e-mail, so she was spared his boorish rudeness and he could pretend that L.J.T. was a man if that's what he wanted.

  It rained heavily that night and all the following day. Feeding the sheep, milking Rosemary and collecting the eggs were all much less fun in the wet. The bales of hay soaked up water and were heavier to carry. The mud was deeper making it harder to keep her wellies on.

  "Sorry about this," Jayne said as they took a fresh dry bale of straw from the barn and carrying an end each dashed to the pigs with it before the animals' bedding could get wet. The mud splashed up Leah's legs.

  "Don't be - these are your trousers, not mine," Leah laughed.

  "I didn't really mean the mud. I was thinking of the work you're doing. Your talents are rather wasted on manual labour."

  "Talents?"

  "You always were a genius at maths and you've got all those finance qualifications. I don't even understand the names of them."

  It was true, she did have excellent qualifications. They were what got her into trouble at work. Because of them she'd been involved with the biggest accounts and had access to information that probably would have allowed her to commit the fraud she was accused of. Unfortunately she didn't have the experience she'd have gained if she'd had to work her way up more slowly to such a position of trust so hadn't spotted when somebody else had tampered with the accounts. Adam had let her down there, by pushing her to accept promotion when she hadn't felt ready. Perhaps because he too had been so impressed with her abilities he'd not foreseen any potential trouble. That proved he wasn't quite so clever himself as he liked to suggest. On the other hand, Jayne was much more astute than she gave herself credit for.

  "You know all sorts of things I don't though, Jayne. You're clever too."

  "OK, we're both geniuses! Maybe we'd better put our massive brains to the task of eliminating mud from our lives."

  "We can try," Leah agreed. The answer for her was easy. She could simply return to London. As she looked at the pigs romping around in their fresh dry straw she wasn't entirely convinced her answer was perfect.

  The house smelt of wet dog and drying clothes, both strategically positioned in front of the Aga.

  At least, coats, hats and gloves were drying. Some of Jayne's other clothes were getting nearly as wet inside as the ones she wore outside thanks to a leak in the thatched roof. Calmly, Jayne emptied and moved the wardrobe, stuck another load in the washing machine and telephoned her landlord. Leah would have demanded instant action, whereas Jayne made rather light of the situation. Apparently Oliver Gilmore-Bunce promised to deal with the problem at the earliest opportunity.

  The following day, Valentine's day, the rain still poured down, inside and out. Jayne received a card, on the front of which was a very fat cartoon Santa.

  "Is the post a bit slow round here?" Leah asked.

  "No, why? It's Valentine's Day today, isn't it?"

  "Yes, but that's a Christmas card."

  "Kind of. My friend Jim sends me a Christmas or Easter or birthday card every year. At least, I suppose it must be him."

  "Explain."

  "He sent me a Valentine's one when we were at school and I got teased so much I told him not to do it again. Ever since then, I've received a Christmas or other type of card on Valentine's Day, so I'm pretty sure he sends them."

  "You country people are weird!"

  At lunchtime, the women came in to find a single long stemmed red rose lying on the mat in the porch. It was beautifully wrapped in cellophane and lace and tied with a ribbon, but there was no note.

  Leah picked it up and carried it in. "You didn't tell Jim he couldn't send flowers, then?"

  "No, but I'm pretty sure this isn't from him. The cards are just a joke now and in any case, this isn't his style. Jim doesn't do subtle and mysterious, if he wanted to give me flowers he'd turn up with a big bunch of daisies or something. How about Adam, could he have sent this?" As she spoke, Jayne started to get lunch ready.

  Leah knew he hadn't. Worse, she knew he n
ever would. "I really don't think so. If he did, it's the most romantic thing he's ever done."

  "He didn't give you flowers?"

  "Yes, of course, but there was always a reason. I got a huge bouquet on Valentine's, my birthday, our anniversary, as an apology. This looks a bit more..."

  "Romantic, not to mention subtle and mysterious?" Jayne asked.

  "Yeah, well one of us has an admirer - unless it's for Tarragon?"

  "Could be. There's a collie in town who's always very pleased to see him. Come on then, let's eat."

  They enjoyed hot tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches.

  "No one has been round to check up on the roof," Leah complained after they'd eaten.

  "What's to check? He knows what the problem is because I told him."

  "If someone came round you'd know it was being taken seriously."

  "It is being taken seriously. G-B will arrange for someone to fix it as soon as possible."

  "You were too soft with him, saying it wasn't a big problem. You should insist something is done right away. People like him get rich by riding roughshod over ordinary people."

  "Not him, besides these things take time. He's a good landlord, he'll see it's done right."

  Leah wasn't convinced, but clearly Jayne, whilst perfectly capable of running the small farm, wasn't able to deal with the likes of her negligent landlord. Fortunately Leah was; thanks to the way Adam had toughened her up. She could take on the high and mighty Gilmore-Bunce and win this battle - and the one for her own reputation.

  The following day the rain eased. Maybe that's what caused the improvement to Leah's mood. Equally it could have been learning the tractor driver was called Duncan. "Actually, he's not just a tractor driver, he's a kind of foreman. And he's not married," Jayne added as though that information might be of interest to Leah.

  "Where do you get your information from?" Leah asked.

  Jayne held up the morning's post.

  "You wrote and asked someone?"

  "No silly. Round here we actually talk to each other instead of doing everything at second hand via e-mails and the like."

  "So you asked the postman? That's a good idea, he'd know who'd moved in and what their names were. I'm not sure it was ethical to tell you though."

  "Not ethical to know your neighbour's name? How can you welcome them or offer help when it's needed or direct visiting friends who're looking for their new home?"

  "Well,..." Leah was at a loss. Jayne knew the life history of everyone in Winkleigh Marsh. Leah didn't know the names of all the neighbours in her London flat. When she'd visited as a child she'd never questioned the fact that everyone they met knew not just Jayne's name, but her own and their relationship and what minor mischief they were about to cause. It had been Adam who'd discouraged her habit of making friends at every turn. It was a habit she intended to re-acquire. Quite possibly she'd practice on Dishy Duncan the tractor driver.

  Although they still had to wade through mud in the yard, to reach some of the animals, the farm work didn't seem so hard in the sunshine. Leah fed the chickens and cleaned out and refilled their water containers before gathering the eggs. She carried buckets of feed for the pigs and declared herself brave enough to attempt cleaning them out. To her surprise the pens weren't particularly dirty and all Leah had to do was sweep up the mess they'd carefully deposited in a corner away from their bedding. They didn't even smell too bad. Her next task was to fetch a bale of straw to top up their bedding.

  Occasionally Leah almost lost one of her boots in the mud, but each time just managed to avoid getting a wet and dirty foot.

  "I think I'll get myself a pair of wellies that fit," she said.

  "Good idea. I've got to go into town and some some feed soon, so we could go this afternoon and get you a pair."

  Leah decided to buy herself some suitable clothes too. Jayne's were OK as a temporary measure, but she'd prefer her own. She wasn't sure how long she'd stay this time, but planned to visit far more regularly in future. There was now nothing to stop her coming down whenever she wanted. If she wasn't reinstated at work there'd be nothing to stop her staying permanently. Of course she would be and then she'd be back to her normal busy work schedule and long hours. With a sigh Leah realised that when she wanted to visit Jayne before, it hadn't just been a shortage of time which prevented her, she hadn't liked to risk upsetting Adam by being more insistent that he accompany her and somehow he'd made her feel it wouldn't be a good idea to go alone.

  Leah spotted Tarragon on the opposite side of the yard. He seemed to want to cross over to her, but was glaring at the mud which prevented him from doing so and reaching his destination with clean dry paws. After her own experience with a muddy foot she didn't blame him, but couldn't help laughing at the way he'd got himself trapped by picking his way round the edge. Strange that he'd coped better when it was actually raining. With a bark, the dog leapt forward through the mud and bounded towards Leah. She braced herself, but he didn't jump up, just sat calmly by her side and sniffed at her pocket.

  "And I thought you'd come to see me, boy, and all you're interested in is what I've got to give you."

  Leah didn't have any treats left. "Sorry," she said, pulling out the pocket to prove it was empty. He wagged his tail and slobbered on her hand as though to show he wasn't too disappointed. Maybe she'd misjudged him and he wasn't as shallow as she'd supposed.

  "Oh and I promised you a whole box full as a reward for rescuing me, didn't I? I'll get them for you this afternoon."

  He wagged his tail again and seemed to grin. Soon it was Leah grinning. A tractor passed the entrance to Jayne's yard and the driver waved to her. She waved back at Duncan and wondered how obvious it would be if she rushed straight into the yard and got herself stuck again. She'd like another opportunity to feel those strong arms around her, but that probably wasn't the best way of achieving it.

  Chapter 4

  After breakfast, Jayne and Leah cut sprigs of herbs which Jayne tied into neat bunches and packed, with a few drops of water, in plastic boxes. There was rosemary, sage, savory, bay, thyme and mixed bunches.

  "The butcher sells these too," Jayne explained. "I wasn't convinced there'd be a demand for them, but when I made the deal for pork and eggs, he asked me to think of anything else he could sell for me. Now I make more profit from these than the meat, especially in the summer when I have a much wider range available."

  They loaded the herbs and an unfeasibly large quantity of eggs into the pick-up and took these into the butcher before they started their shopping.

  "Thanks, Jayne. Just in time, I've sold out."

  "The hens are laying as fast as they can for the time of year, Mike. They should pick up a bit over the next few weeks though."

  "Good, good. And the herbs?"

  "Them too. I'll probably have chives and marjoram next week and the mint won't be far behind."

  "Good, good. I've been asked for lemon verbena. Do you grow that?"

  "No, but probably I could. I'll look into it."

  There were several shops selling clothes in town. One supplied outfits for babies and toddlers, another specialised in work wear (steel toe-capped boots, overalls and quilted shirts rather than power suits) There were two charity shops and one that looked as though its customers must only ever go to hunt balls and travelled fifty years back in time to get there.

  It was to this last one that Jayne headed. "Don't worry, it's not nearly so bad in the back."

  She was right. Once inside, Leah saw a good selection of perfectly normal clothes.

  "What's that window display all about?" Leah asked.

  "We get a few tourists in the summer and the owners don't like to disappoint them."

  "Did I mention that you country people are weird?"

  Leah enjoyed trying on comfortable clothes in colours she liked without having to worry what Adam might say.

  Jayne said, "Those jeans look a bit baggy. You'd better try a size smaller."

/>   She had a point. The clothes did seem to be more generously cut than the brands she normally wore. Perhaps she could get away with smaller ones.

  "They show off my bum!" she giggled and wiggled as she emerged from the changing room.

  "Good, get this too," Jayne said holding up a clingy looking jersey top in bright pink.

  "That'll get me noticed," Leah said.

  "Good. Dressing like a mouse has encouraged you to act like one."

  "I don't," Leah said without conviction. It wasn't entirely true though. Most of her wardrobe had been selected with the aim of avoiding criticism from Adam rather than with any hope of attracting compliments. Most of her actions had, until she drove down to Winkleigh Marsh, been motivated in the same way.

  Leah tried on the top. She was right about it getting her noticed. The colour was hard to miss and so she suspected was the amount of cleavage on display. As she looked at herself in the mirror she did rather wish Duncan had seen her in that, with her curves shown off to perfection, rather than covered by one of Jayne's thick anoraks.

  She came out and gave a twirl for Jayne.

  "Very nice, buy it."

  "Oh, I couldn't. It's too low cut."

  "'Course it isn't, silly. Covers your underwear doesn't it?"

  Leah decided to buy it. She doubted she'd have the nerve to wear it without something over the top, but in this weather she'd need that anyway.

  "What about you, Jayne are you getting anything new?"

  "Not right now. I prefer to buy things for a particular purpose."

  "Me too," she didn't mention she had a purpose in mind and that he drove a big red tractor.

  "You'll probably need to replace some of the stuff that got wet when the roof leaked. Will your insurance cover it, because if not your landlord..."