Escape to the Country

by Patsy Collins

  "What's the point of that?"

  "It helps with identification. They all have official ear tag numbers by law, but you can't remember who's related to who so they have a name and number too. This Wanda is Wanda six-one meaning she's Wanda the sixth's first calf, or at least the first female we've kept."

  "That's boring. I'm going to give Rosepetal's calf a nice name."

  "You do that."

  She thought for a minute she'd offended him, but he grinned at her.

  "So, now you're all trained up, perhaps you'll let me take you somewhere to celebrate?"

  "Don't you have to stay with the cows until they've all calved?"

  "Not every night. Phil and Jake take regular turns too, plus there are a couple of others who do a shift when they're needed."

  Of course, Home Farm was a much bigger place than Jayne's smallholding, one person couldn't be expected to do everything. "I've never seen anyone else about on the farm."

  "No." He looked slightly embarrassed. "I've kept them out the way."

  "What's wrong with them?"

  "Nothing. Well, nothing except them both being single and younger than me and..." He shrugged. "So, will you agree to come out with me again? Say yes quick before you get a look at the competition."

  He said it as though he were joking, but Leah had the impression he really didn't want her to prefer the elusive Phil or Jake over himself. She wanted to show him he had nothing to worry about.

  "Yes, but it should be my treat, to thank you."

  "There's no need for that."

  "Yes there is. Thank you so much for today, it's been amazing." She kissed his cheek.

  "You want to thank me, you can give me a proper kiss."

  "Oh, could I?" She tried to look as though she were thinking about it rather than fighting the urge to give him the most passionate kiss he'd ever experienced.

  "Either that, or you can come with me and I'll show you what us country types get up to in hay barns."

  Regretfully she decided a kiss was all he was going to get. She took a step toward him and slid her arms around his neck. As he pulled her close and lowered his lips to hers, she felt a jolt of pleasure surge through her. If that's what it was like to have him kiss her, what would it be like if they...

  Her legs felt a little shaky as he held her hand and walked her back to the car, but that was probably just from the excitement of seeing three cows give birth. Or maybe not.

  Chapter 10

  Leah and Jayne spent a busy day giving the animals extra bedding and moving foodstuffs nearer those which weren't fed in the yard, so Leah wouldn't have too much to do as while Jayne was in hospital. She was glad of the work as it helped stop her think about two disturbing pieces of post she'd received.

  The first one she opened was from the professional organisation she belonged to. It was long and boring, explaining her rights and the action that could be taken on her behalf if she so wished. Leah couldn't get interested. She wanted her name cleared, of course, but only because no one would want to live under allegations of embezzlement, not because she really wanted to return to her old life. Maybe she'd feel differently once everything was cleared up.

  The second item was a small package addressed in Adam's handwriting. She supposed it would be legal papers concerning the flat, maybe bills he expected her to contribute towards. Instead the brown paper covered a copy of John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men.' She'd told him she'd read and enjoyed it at school and he must have seen it in a bookshop and remembered.

  There was a short note, saying just, 'As the saying goes, I saw this and thought of you. Adam.' There was a short diagonal stroke after his name as though he'd started to draw a kiss and stopped halfway through - or perhaps had just made an accidental mark on the paper.

  Leah opened the book and gasped. Inside was a stamp from her old school. Flipping through she saw pencilled notes in the margin. They weren't hers, but she had done exactly the same thing in her own copy. Sending it to her was nice, if surprising, thing for him to do. She couldn't help wondering if there was any motive behind it.

  She'd shown both the letter and the book to Jayne. "Looks like you'll be OK financially," she said after scanning the letter. "At least, I think that's what it means."

  Leah confirmed it did and they both looked at the book. Leah explained its significance.

  "Would it have been expensive?" Jayne asked.

  "Probably cost less than the postage. Do you think he was just being nice?"

  "You know him better than me, but presumably he's capable of being nice. You wouldn't have moved in with him otherwise."

  "True."

  "Talking of nice, the pigs are hungry."

  There wasn't much time for thinking after that.

  As they came in for their supper, Leah's mobile rang.

  "Hi, Duncan," she said.

  Jayne grinned and disappeared into the kitchen.

  "I was hoping I could tempt you to come out with me again?"

  "Yes, I'd like to... sometime," she said wondering when she could say she'd be free.

  "No pressure. I thought we could go to the pub tomorrow night. There's a quiz on and me and my mates usually make up a team, but if you don't fancy it..."

  Obviously she hadn't sounded very enthusiastic.

  "It's just that Jayne's going into hospital the day after tomorrow."

  "Oh yes, of course. I'm sorry, it hadn't occurred to me that you wouldn't want to leave the farm. I understand though."

  "That's OK. Shall I ring you when I'm free?"

  Or you could come round here, she could have said if she'd had the nerve.

  "Yeah, sure. Give Jayne my best."

  "I will. Speak to you soon."

  Jayne put her head round the door frame and asked for an explanation.

  "He suggested the pub tomorrow night, but..."

  "That doesn't sound like you said yes."

  "No. I didn't think I should."

  "Why on earth not?"

  Leah didn't like to explain. Jayne had spent most of the last week apologising for being a nuisance and burdening Leah with the work of the farm. She couldn't let Jayne think she was also spoiling a beautiful romance.

  "Oh, you know. I don't want to rush into anything."

  "Leah, is this because of me going in for those stupid tests?"

  Luckily for Leah, Jayne's house phone rang, saving her from having to respond.

  "Jim, nice to hear from you," Jayne said.

  There was a pause.

  "Jim Applemore, I'm having a test, not dying!"

  Another pause.

  "But you haven't asked me out in years."

  Too late, because it had become too interesting to leave, Leah realised she hadn't been as tactful as Jayne and left the room during the phone call.

  After quite a long pause, Jayne said, "Silly girl said no."

  Guessing she was the silly girl, Leah gestured frantically at Jayne, trying to signal that she wanted to say something and Jayne should say she'd call Jim back.

  "Hang on, Jim. She's having some kind of fit, can I call you back?"

  "The silly girl said no?" Leah demanded as soon as Jayne hung up.

  "Yes."

  "Why didn't you say yes?"

  Jayne raised her eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion. "Me?"

  "Yes, Jim asked you out, didn't he?"

  "Yes."

  "And you said no. Why?"

  "Well..."

  "Don't want to rush into anything?"

  "Exactly. Oh." Jayne's face showed she remembered Leah using that excuses just minutes before and that she'd not accepted it.

  "You like him, he likes you. Where did he want to take you?"

  "To dinner at the Frog and Bucket tomorrow night," Jayne admitted.

  "It's nice there. Say yes. Unless... he's not still married, is he?"

  "No."

  "So, say yes. Honestly, I can't see why you two didn't get together years ago."

  Jayne frowne
d then her face brightened as though she'd had a brilliant idea. "I can't say yes. You turned down Duncan to stay in with me, so it would be very rude of me to go out."

  Leah held up her phone. "I'll say yes if you will."

  Jayne picked up the receiver.

  Leah flipped open her mobile.

  Jayne punched a button on her phone.

  Leah followed suit. It felt like they were lining up for a duel.

  Jayne stabbed her finger at another button.

  Leah selected Duncan's number.

  By the time they'd both contacted their prospective dates, the women were giggling at each other. Fortunately neither man took offence at that, nor minded the sudden changes of heart.

  Jayne was so nervous the day before her hospital visit, both about her examination and leaving Leah in charge of the farm, that Leah was relieved not to be spending the evening with her. She felt sure she'd say the wrong thing and upset her. Jim, she was sure, would distract Jayne from her worries.

  Leah was excited about the idea of meeting some of Duncan's friends. That suggested he perhaps wanted her included in his world, rather than to just pass briefly through it and soon be forgotten. She decided to make herself memorable and wore her new pink, low cut top, and figure hugging jeans. Jayne clearly approved of her choice and when Jim arrived, he made it clear he did too.

  "Oh stop it! You're chatting up the wrong woman," she told him.

  "Just trying to make her jealous," he stage whispered, before taking Jayne away.

  Duncan arrived almost immediately afterwards.

  He kissed her cheek, the said, "Nice top, very... pink." That gave him the excuse for a long, lingering look.

  "In a good way?"

  "Definitely." He kissed her again to make his point. Thankfully he seemed to have forgotten his suggestion of them being friends. She didn't need a friend - she had Jayne for that.

  The pub was full, or more accurately, over full. Quiz nights were obviously as popular here as in London.

  "No team have won for weeks, so we've had lots of rollovers and there's a big prize at stake," Duncan explained as he led her to a table which already had three men sat around it.

  He introduced Leah to his friends. "This sorry looking bunch are Phil, Smudge and Jake." He pointed to each in turn. All three were in their mid twenties, attractive and looked fit and strong. With Duncan, Phil and Jake at Home Farm, it was a wonder there wasn't a constant stream of single women wandering about getting stuck in mud or otherwise needing attention. Actually, for all she knew, there might be.

  "Lads, this is Leah," Duncan said.

  The three men nodded and grinned at her as though they'd worked that out already and had heard something amusing about her. Who'd been saying what?

  "Hi, Leah. Where's Duncan been keeping you then?" Smudge asked.

  "He hasn't been keeping me anywhere." She'd snapped out her reply before realising Smudge hadn't meant to imply anything and was just wondering where she was from. "I live in London, but I'm staying with my aunt, Jayne Tilbury, for a while," she explained, guessing some of them might know Jayne.

  "Oh!" Phil said as though he answer had solved a problem that had been worrying him.

  "Couldn't anything persuade you to stick around?" Jake asked.

  "Maybe, I..." If it was what his gorgeous team-mate wanted, he could persuade her, but that was hardly the time to say so. She felt herself blush.

  Duncan seemed amused by the conversation, but came to her rescue, sort of. "Mud should do it. Leah's good at getting stuck in the stuff."

  Fortunately the quiz started at that point. Everyone was quiet during each round of the quiz. Teams conferred in whispers. Leah was able to impress them with her knowledge of geography, PG Wodehouse novels and ability to solve anagrams. Duncan answered as many questions as she could and the others all had something useful to contribute. Their final score was just two points short of a full house and one point behind the teams tied on first place.

  The draw bizarrely, seemed to make everyone extremely happy.

  "It's another rollover," Duncan explained. "That's the ninth in a row and means the prize fund is now impressively high and the team who eventually win will be almost legendary."

  "Why don't you just have a tie-breaker?" Leah asked as they walked out to Duncan's car.

  "It's a local tradition, going back to when licensing laws first came in apparently. The story goes that the local police officer was in a team who tied and then got the correct answer in the tie-breaker, but not till after time had been called. The opposing team said as the pub was officially closed, he couldn't claim his prize. Another version says he gave the wrong answer, again just after time. Either way, there was some heated discussion about whether the prize should be awarded and the landlord declared the contest invalid and banned tie-break questions. So now we never have them."

  Leah smiled as she remembered a phrase she'd used with Jayne on several occasions.

  "What's that expression for?" Duncan asked.

  "I was just thinking that you country people are weird," she admitted.

  "Unlike townies who drive themselves to the gym for exercise, buy coats and shoes that can't be worn in the rain and get raised blood pressure if the internet runs slowly for ten minutes?"

  "Have you been practising that retort?"

  "Yes. I guess it needs more practice with special attention to spontaneity?"

  "No. It works just fine as it is."

  He hugged her and bent his head for a kiss but drew back when the rest of their team, who'd followed them out of the pub, cheered and clapped.

  "Let's go," Duncan said and opened the car door for her.

  Leah had enjoyed herself so much, she'd forgotten about Jayne's medical worries and scheduled hospital visit. On the drive home, she felt guilty about that and lapsed into silence. That didn't help as she remembered how everyone who'd spoken to Duncan had used his name without a trace of hesitation and proved how wrong she'd been to suspect him of using it to hide his real identity. Even someone like Gilmore-Bunce wasn't likely to have the power to make an entire pub full of people pretend he was really a charming farm worker.

  There were more lights on at Primrose Cottage when they got back than when they'd left, but no sign of Jim's car. A pity because that meant Jayne was home but hadn't invited him in for coffee.

  Duncan walked Leah to the door before kissing her cheek.

  She reached for his hand. "Duncan?"

  He turned back.

  "Sorry if I've been quiet. Got a lot on my mind."

  He gave her a hug. "I know, but Jayne will be fine, you'll cope brilliantly and I'm here if you need me." He kissed her again, not passionately, but it was a proper kiss. "If you need anything while Jayne's in hospital, don't hesitate to call."

  "Thanks, I'll hold you to that."

  Tarragon got slowly to his feet when Leah came in, as though pointing out he'd have been fast asleep if it hadn't been his duty to get up and greet those people who insisted on staying out late. His mistress had sensibly gone to bed already. Leah hoped she was sleeping soundly, not lying awake worrying about her medical tests scheduled for the following day. Outside Jayne's bedroom door, Leah whispered 'goodnight' but got no reply.

  The following morning Jayne was in a much more optimistic mood than she had been for days. Leah felt better too. She was reasonably confident she could cope with looking after the smallholding for the day and things were going well between her and Duncan.

  Leah had expected to be calming Jayne's nerves. Instead she was listening to her sing very badly as she fried eggs and bacon.

  "Good night was it?" Leah asked, teasingly.

  "Yes, actually. Jim was good fun and the food was very nice."

  "Good. And?"

  "And I'm going into hospital today. It's too late to back out, isn't it?"

  Leah nodded. "Absolutely."

  "In a few hours, they'll have done the tests and I'll know the worst. How stupid will I
feel if I get myself hysterical and it turns out I've just got a boil on my bum?"

  "Pretty silly, although I think your own doctor would have diagnosed a boil."

  "True, that's just the example Jim gave me. He searched the internet for pains in the bum."

  "I bet he got thousands of very odd results!"

  Jayne grinned. "Yes, apparently he did. But even when he looked at proper medical conditions he found dozens of different things. He admitted none of them actually seemed fun, but he also said he didn't find any there weren't any treatment options for."

  Leah nodded in agreement. She was a little hurt that Jayne hadn't seemed so convinced when she'd said much the same thing, but didn't show it. "I'm sure he's right."

  "He said to assure you that you can phone him anytime if you have a problem or want advice or anything, he'll have his phone with him even when he's at work. Said he'd much rather chat to you than do his job, so not to worry about bothering him."

  "That's nice of him."

  "Anyone else I've listed will be the same, they know you're not used to all this and won't mind if you call anytime about anything."

  "Good, but hopefully I won't need to."

  Jayne placed a huge cooked breakfast in front of Leah.

  "Are you expecting me to eat all of this?"

  "Yes. I put enough bacon in for both of us without thinking. Still as you'll be working for both of us, you'll need plenty of energy."

  A huge bouquet arrived just a few minutes before they'd planned to leave for the hospital. The flowers were for Jayne.

  "Gosh, what did happen last night?" Leah asked.

  "I don't think these are from Jim." Jayne opened the card.

  "Well?"

  "G-B."

  "Why's he sent flowers?" She couldn't help the suspicious tone in her voice.

  "To be nice? He says he hopes everything goes well for me and that if there's anything he can do to help, I'm to let him know."

  "Oh and he'll rush over and feed the chickens will he?"

  "I expect he'd send Duncan. Do you disapprove of that?"

  She didn't, of course. She really had to get out of her stupid habit of thinking the worst of the man for no good reason.

  "He's just being nice, Leah." Jayne spoke as though trying to reason with a three-year old.