Moorcroft The Possession

by Sandra Callister

  Charles looked startled. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m discharging myself, I’ve been here long enough wallowing in self pity, it’s time I went home and looked after mother.”

  Charles took her in his arms glad to see the old spirit return to the woman he loved.

  Charles drove Sarah through the village on their way back to Moorcroft. Sarah smiled at all the familiar surroundings and was looking forward to being home again. On the gravel drive Sarah looked up at Moorcroft. “What’s happened here Charles, the house looks so bleak, half the upstairs windows have the shutters closed, and the gardens are so uncared for, just look at mothers rose garden.”

  The minute the car stopped Sarah was out and running up the steps to the front door. It was locked; she stood there banging on the door.

  Charles took her hand. “Let’s go round the back, see if we can find anyone.”

  Sarah pushed open the back door and rushed into the kitchen. No one was there. They walked through the hall towards the dining room when the drawing room door opened. Mary stood there with a tray in her hand. Her face broke into a smile.

  “Oh, Miss Sarah, it’s so good to see you again, your mother will be made up when she sees you. Would you like a cup of tea I could make a fresh brew?”

  “Thank you Mary that would be wonderful.”

  Sarah tentatively opened the door of the drawing room and looked in. Her mother was sitting in the armchair by the fire, Mrs Shaw sat opposite dozing. Sarah walked up to her mother and crouched beside her. Sarah gasped when she saw how frail her mother had become and taking her hand spoke quietly to her.

  “Mother, it’s Sarah, I’ve come home to take care of you.”

  Emily lost in thought turned her head to the person next to her. A smile crossed her face. “Sarah, is it really you?”

  With tears streaming down her face Sarah took her mother in her arms and hugged her, feeling her ribs through her clothing. Mrs Shaw hearing voices jumped up and took in the happy scene and wiped a tear from her eye. She looked up at Charles’s smiling face. “Well isn’t that just lovely?”

  There was a knock at the door and Mr Howard walked in carrying a tray with teapot, cups and saucers followed by Mary carrying another tray with sandwiches and cake.

  Mr Howard looked at Sarah. “It’s good to have you back home Miss Sarah and you too Master Charles.”

  “Thank you Howard and thank you Mary, just what we need.”

  Sarah took a sandwich from the plate and handed it to her mother. “Here you are Mother; now let’s get some meat on those bones of yours.”

  Emily looked at the sandwich and was about to protest when she looked on the smiling face of her daughter. She took a bite and then another and when it was gone asked for another. Mrs Shaw was watching from the back of the room and sighed, everything was going to be alright now Miss Sarah was back. Charles put his back to the room and looked out of the window and scanned the countryside, he was looking and waiting for Richard.

  A short while later Mary came in to collect the tea things and together, with her mother’s help, left the room for the kitchen. They placed the trays on the kitchen table and Mrs Shaw sat down with a sigh of relief. “It was so good to see Mrs Gardener eating something and I swear she had some colour in her cheeks and a smile permanently on her face.”

  Collecting the cups and placing them in the sink Mary had to agree. “Yes I know what you mean, Miss Sarah has brought some sunshine into this house today, let’s hope it lasts when he gets back.”

  Two hours later Richard crossed the yard and dismounted Dancing Lady. He opened the stable doors and shouted for Eddie. Without a word he handed the reins to him, turned and crossed the yard and entered the house. After removing his coat and riding boots he popped his head into the kitchen and was surprised to see both Mary and her mother sat at the table.

  “I’ll have coffee and cake in the study when you’re ready Mary.” He glanced at the other woman. “Is my mother okay Mrs Shaw?”

  She nodded. “She’s fine, sir, in the drawing room.”

  He walked through the hall and headed for his study, he had a mountain of paperwork to get through. As he passed the drawing room door he heard voices, perhaps Henry had called on his mother. In order to be polite he knew he must say hello and with some reluctance, he slowly opened the door. All heads turned in his direction and the room went silent.

  Richard took in the scene and stormed into the room pushing Charles to one side. Sarah stood and faced him. Emily grasped her hand.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing coming into this house, upsetting our mother?”

  Emily started to shake.

  Sarah felt the grip of her mother’s hand tighten. “The only one upsetting mother at this moment in time is you.”

  Richard laughed sarcastically. “So you think you can swan back into our lives just like that, do you?” He clicked his fingers. “The prodigal daughter returns, do you expect gratitude, do you want me to thank you?”

  “All I want is to sort things out between us and start being a family again.”

  “Family, who wants a murderer in their family?”

  Emily gasped. “Please Richard don’t start that again.”

  “I’m sorry Mother but that’s the way I feel, she doesn’t belong here anymore.”

  “I belong here just as much as you do. This is my home.”

  “Home, this is your home? Where were you when father died? Where were you when the trauma of it all put mother in hospital? Where were you when I had to sack most of the staff because our precious father made us almost bankrupt? Go on; explain that to me, where the hell have you been?”

  A voice shouted from the back of the room. “She’s been in hospital.”

  Richard spun round and faced Charles.

  “She’s been in hospital unaware of what has been happening here. She was only discharged yesterday.”

  Richard sniggered. “Hospital you say. She should have been in jail, that’s where she belongs.”

  Emily started to cry.

  Charles moved closer to Richard. “Let’s take this to the study, your upsetting your mother.”

  “Don’t you tell me what to do in my own home, get out both of you; I want you out of my house.”

  He opened the door and grabbed Charles’s arm.

  He shrugged him off. “Don’t do this Richard or you’ll be sorry.”

  Richard faced up to Charles. “Is that a threat?”

  Mr Howard stood in the doorway. “What’s going on in here, you can be heard all over the house.”

  Mrs Shaw pushed past and went to Emily’s side and took the woman in her arms and shook her head as she stared at the two men arguing. “I think it might be better if you go Miss Sarah.” She nodded her head towards Richard. “This is doing your mother no good at all.”

  Sarah crouched in front of her mother and took her in her arms. “I love you Mother and no matter what he says I will be back.”

  She looked at Mrs Shaw. “Please look after her for me until I return.”

  Charles put his arm around Sarah’s shoulders and with tears streaming down her face they left the house. Richard followed them to the back door cursing all the way. The minute they were through he shut the door with a bang.

  In the drawing room Emily was sobbing uncontrollably. Mrs Shaw helped the frail woman to her feet and together they climbed the stairs. In her room Mrs Shaw removed her clothing and put her to bed.

  “It’ll be alright, Mrs Gardener, you just wait and see, they’ll soon come to their senses and be friends again, you mark my words. Now you just lie down here and have a nice rest, I’ll make us both a cup of tea when you’re settled, how does that sound?”

  Emily slid beneath the cool sheets. She didn’t care what happened anymore. She had spent most of her adult life worrying over someone in the family, now she was tired, she just wanted to rest.

  “Now you just lie there and relax and I’ll go down to the
kitchen and be back in a jiffy.” There was no response and Mrs Shaw looked down on the quiet still figure, her eyes open but not seeing. She patted Emily’s hand and sighed. “I won’t be long.”

  Emily heard the door close and looked in its direction. She looked up at the ceiling and went over the afternoons events. Would she ever see her darling daughter again? Victoria’s death had crippled Richard emotionally and then his father’s heart attack and finding that the estate was practically ruined had put an awful burden on his young shoulders. She had tried to calm him down, tried to help whenever she could, but the stress had become too much for her. She had let them both down, her son and her daughter. She felt the bed move and looked at Charlotte. This young woman had been such a good listener, always there with a kind word, she had just sat there at her bedside listening to her ravings and her woes, without a word of reproach, she must tell Henry what a good nurse she was.

  “What am I to do about Richard, Charlotte, he is so angry all the time, he won’t listen to reason, and blaming Sarah for Victoria’s death and now banishing her from the house, this family is falling apart and there’s nothing I can do.”

  Charlotte held her hand. “Don’t you worry about Richard; I’ll have a quiet word with him if you like?”

  “Would you do that for me, I’d be so grateful, he might listen to you.”

  “No more worrying, just settle down and get some sleep. I’ll stay here and watch over you.”

  Emily sighed and closed her eyes.

  Charlotte moved to the window and looked out onto the darkening evening, a smile crossed her face, she would have a quiet word with Richard alright, she couldn’t disappoint his mother now could she.

  ####

  CHAPTER 13

  When Richard was not exercising Dancing Lady he was in his study thinking. Everything was in such a mess and he couldn’t see a way out of it without selling the remaining tenanted farms or the horses. Reg Phillips from the adjacent farm, knowing his circumstances had offered a ludicrously low price for the farms and Richard was reluctant to sell. He had tried talking with his mother but she seemed to live in a world of her own, constantly talking of the past. Henry Davenport was as worried about his mother as he was. It seemed that the shock of Victoria’s death and then the loss of her husband were too much for her to bear and Sarah’s departure was the last straw. Despite Henry’s opinion, Richard refused to ask Sarah back, somehow he would cope without her.

  Emily would sit in the armchair staring into space and only spoke when spoken to. Mrs Shaw had tried to encourage her to take walks or to tend to her garden but Emily didn’t seem interested. She ate like a sparrow and had lost a lot of weight, her clothes hung on her. Mary tried making her favourite food but when she collected the tray most of it was left uneaten. Emily would sometimes stand by the window looking down the drive hoping for the sight of Sarah and Charles but they never came. Sarah had written a couple of letters telling her of her forthcoming wedding and how wonderful it would be if she could be there. When she had mentioned it to Richard he had gone into a rage so she never mentioned it again and the then letters stopped coming. Now all she had were her memories and the view from this room, she didn’t have the energy to venture further. Charlotte still sat with her at night which was a comfort, such a sweet young woman and obviously infatuated with Richard.

  Richard decided he would take the horses to the next horse fair, he had a good eye and knew they would bring a good price, enough he hoped to settle the outstanding debts. With only Dancing Lady and her colt left behind, he knew that he would have to give notice to Eddie; there just wouldn’t be enough work for him. The local traders, knowing his financial state would only supply goods cash on delivery. Richard found this embarrassing and depressing. He became more and more angry over his father’s business failures and often voiced them to his mother, she would try to defend her late husband but in the end this would only bring her to tears. Richard visited her most evenings and when she was settled he would go down to his study and drink himself to sleep.

  Charlotte kept her word to Emily and would talk to Richard as he slumbered in the chair. He would sometimes look up and through a drunken haze he would see her sat before him and he would reach out and touch her face so lovingly. A smile would cross his face and he would whisper loving words to her, but Charlotte knew that the face he saw before him was the face of Victoria. She didn’t mind, at least he was now speaking to her and in time he would realise that it was not his dead girlfriend but a woman who would show him real love and passion.

  A few weeks later he found himself in the office of Aubrey Metcalfe, a pompous little man with beady eyes and a pointed nose, who constantly sniffed and cleaned his glasses. Richard looked across the desk at the thinning hair as the bank manager looked through a thick file on his desk. At last he looked up and faced Richard with a smirk on his face.

  “At last Mr Gardener we seem to be seeing the light at the end of a very long tunnel. Your cheque this morning will cover all your arrears and leave your account in the black. Your only problem now is to keep up your mortgage payments; do you have the necessary funds to do that?”

  Richard wanted to punch him but inhaled deeply and smiled. “I still have two tenant farms; I think the income from them should just about cover the monthly payments,”

  Another little grin crossed his face as he looked at Richard. “Just about, you say. How do you expect to pay your day to day bills, wages for your staff, the running costs and maintenance of Moorcroft, I really cannot be expected to give you another overdraft. Perhaps the sale of your farms and lands would pay off your mortgage? I have heard rumours that an adjacent land owner may be interested in them, that may be the best way to go. What do you think Mr Gardener?”

  Metcalfe looked over the top of his glasses and could see the rage mounting on Richard’s face.

  Richard stood up and began to pace the room. “No, I will not sell to him, his offer is daylight robbery.”

  “You may not have any choice, you do realise that should you fall behind in your mortgage payments the bank can still repossess Moorcroft and leave you with nothing? It could be your only option, I am sure should you sell, you would be able to acquire a position on another estate and earn a comfortable salary, enough for the upkeep of Moorcroft your home.”

  Richard stood leaning over the desk and was inches from Metcalf’s face. “Reginald Phillips wouldn’t be a friend of yours and a customer of this bank now would he?”

  Metcalfe drew back in his chair. “What are you implying?”

  Richard walked to the door and opened it and looked back. ”If I sell the farms, it will be my choice of purchaser, not yours.”

  He slammed the door behind him. Aubrey Metcalfe took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face, he picked up the phone. “Hello Reg, that acquisition we talked about the other day may take a little longer to acquire, but I’m still working on it. Should there be any progress I’ll let you know.”

  In the car park, Richard kicked the door of his Land Rover. Once inside he hit the steering wheel and cursed. He buried his head in his hands. What was he going to do; he couldn’t risk losing Moorcroft that would finish his mother. The way he looked at it he had two options, he could sell the farms for a pittance or he could auction off Dancing Lady and her colt.

  From an upstairs window, Metcalfe watched the tormented man. Sooner or later the farms would have to be sold on, if he secured them for Phillips it would be a nice little earner for him and a cruise for his nagging wife.

  Richard stopped at the post office to pick up his mail. In the Land Rover he shuffled through the envelopes. Another letter from Sarah to their mother, he ripped it in half just has he had done the others, there was no use in upsetting his mother further and he had nothing more to say to his sister. He made his way to the pub and sat in a corner drinking whiskies. The barmaid came over to collect the glasses and Richard put his arm round her waist.

  “You�
�re drinking a bit heavy today aren’t you Mr Gardener?”

  “I have a lot going on at the moment and this helps to ease the mind.” He lifted the glass and smiled at the young woman. “Why don’t you come back to my place and I’ll show you a good time, what do you say?” He tightened his hold of her and pulled her nearer.

  She tried to release his grip. “I think you’ve had too much to drink; now why don’t you go home and sleep it off?”

  Richard laughed causing the landlord to look over.

  “So, you think I’m not up to it, do you?”

  With that he tried to pull the girl down onto his knee. The landlord was quick to cross the pub and was soon pulling the girl away.

  “I think it’s time you were on your way Mr Gardener. Now are you going of your own free will or do I have to kick you out?”

  Richard laughed again and stood up and waivered and almost knocked over the table. He staggered to the door and turned round and looked at all the sour faces looking his way. “I’ll show you all, I’m not dead yet.”