Heartbreak and Happiness

by Rosie Harris

  What she did outside working hours Rebecca had no idea, but she was well aware that Cindy didn’t seem to have time to go out with her very often these days like they’d done in the past.

  Apart from her interest in the supermarket, she seemed to be preoccupied. But whatever it was on her mind, she certainly hadn’t confided in her about it like she would once have done.

  Whatever her other commitments were, though, Cindy had kept her promise to look after Moses and exercise him each day, Rebecca thought gratefully.

  Now, though, she wondered if part of the reason why Cindy had so little time to go out with her was because she was seeing someone. If that was the case, then she must resent having to come up to Woodside after work each night to attend to Moses and take him for a walk.

  ‘I promised you that I’d do it and I’m not in the habit of breaking promises,’ was all Cindy would say whenever Rebecca brought the matter up.

  Now, going over it all again in her mind after hearing what the village women were saying, Rebecca decided that Moses would definitely have to go. It wasn’t fair on Cindy to have such a burden, and deep down Rebecca knew that Moses had lost his appeal for her. Now he was no longer a cuddly pet but just a pig.

  ‘Leave it all with me until you come home at Easter,’ her father said when she brought the matter up that evening. ‘He’s no trouble really and Cindy comes up every night—’

  ‘That’s the whole point,’ Rebecca said quickly. ‘Cindy has been wonderful, but I think it is putting a strain on her to be so committed. Her own life and interests have changed since she went to work at the supermarket, and I’m sure she’s only looking after Moses because she promised me she would.’

  She waited to see if he would give any clue that he had heard the rumours about Cindy that were going round the village. But all he said was, ‘I’m quite sure she comes up to see to Moses because she wants to. I’ve told her time and time again not to bother about him if she has other things she wants to do.’

  ‘Mum still doesn’t like Moses, though, does she?’ Rebecca mused. ‘I’m sure she’d like to be rid of him.’

  ‘Well, she’s not keen on us having him around, that’s true enough. Then she’s never taken to him because she doesn’t like pigs very much. She’s certainly relieved that I don’t intend to breed them anymore.’

  ‘You’re not?’ Rebecca looked at him in surprise. ‘Why are you stopping, Dad? I thought they were a money-spinner for you.’

  ‘They were at first, but people soon got tired of paying more for their pork chops or bacon joint than they thought they needed to do. Buying from the supermarket was so much cheaper, and most of them have to be careful about what they spend.

  ‘Furthermore, because the gammon joints at the supermarket are all wrapped up in cling film they can pick them up, turn them over, and decide better what size and quality they want.’

  He sighed resignedly. ‘Gradually more and more people started to go there instead of coming to me, so that in the end I had to sell stuff for less than it cost me to rear them in order to clear my shelves. Butchering is not what it was,’ he added sadly.

  Rebecca felt sorry for him, realizing that his life’s work and dreams were slowly disappearing no matter how hard he tried to bolster them up. Because of the long chats she’d had with Cindy, she also understood why this was happening and that there was no turning the clock back. Like it or not, the sleepy village of Shelston was being dragged into modern times.

  Nine

  Before returning to Cardiff, Rebecca made one further effort to find out why there was so much bad feeling in the village about Cindy.

  ‘Mum, have you any idea how all these horrible rumours about Cindy started?’ she asked as she lifted her suitcase up on to the bed and opened it so that her mother could put the pile of freshly laundered clothes into it.

  ‘You must have heard them,’ she persisted when her mother ignored her comment and said nothing.

  ‘Gossip, nothing more,’ her mother retorted quickly as she carefully arranged the clean clothes in the suitcase so they wouldn’t become creased.

  ‘Maybe, but you always used to say there’s no smoke without fire.’

  ‘Another old wives’ adage,’ her mother sighed as she straightened up. ‘Even Cindy’s mother has asked me if I know anything.’

  ‘Well, do you?’ Rebecca stared straight at her mother, forcing Sandra to meet her eyes.

  ‘I only know what everybody is saying, that she’s having an affair with a married man,’ her mother replied evasively.

  ‘You don’t have any idea who this man might be?’

  ‘You know I never take any notice of village gossip. We can’t afford to, because it’s usually one of our customers that is being maligned.’

  ‘I know, but I thought you might have overheard people talking while they were waiting to be served.’

  ‘I never encourage gossip in the shop and most of our regulars know that,’ her mother told her sharply.

  ‘But you can’t stop people from talking to each other, and if I know anything about this village it’s the fact that people like to talk about their neighbours. If there’s any scandal linked to Cindy’s name, then you’re bound to hear it.’

  ‘Why don’t you ask her yourself if you’re so keen to find out? You’ve always confided in each other, so she’ll probably tell you and then you can set all our minds at rest.’

  ‘Old Lizzie Smith and Mary Roberts both told me I ought to have a word with her and tell her to mend her ways,’ Rebecca said thoughtfully.

  Sandra regarded her daughter in silence for a moment. ‘I hope you told them to mind their own business. As I said to Mavis, stop worrying about it. I’m sure it’s just gossip, and the gossip will die a natural death when they find something else to talk about.’

  ‘You really don’t even know who the man is?’ Rebecca persisted.

  Her mother was not to be drawn on the subject. ‘You’re going back to university tomorrow, haven’t we more important things to talk about? Now finish your packing, then you’d better decide which train you’re going to catch.’

  ‘I’m ready to go. All I’ve got left to do is go up to the farm and say goodbye to Jake and Cindy.’

  ‘Well, take my advice and don’t say anything about the rumours to Cindy or her mother. Give it time and it will all be forgotten.’

  ‘So you don’t think there’s any basis for these rumours, then?’ Rebecca asked quickly.

  Her mother ignored her question. ‘Run along and don’t stay there too long. I’ll have a meal waiting for you when you come home. My last chance to feed you up before you go back to university,’ she added with a smile.

  The minute Rebecca went out of the door, Sandra Peterson picked up the phone and dialled a local number.

  ‘Come on! Come on, pick up!’ she muttered as she waited impatiently for it to be answered.

  ‘Is that you, Mavis? Good! Rebecca is on her way to say goodbye to you before she goes back to university. She’s been asking questions about things she’s heard about Cindy. I’ve told her she shouldn’t listen to rumours and not to mention anything about it to Cindy.’

  ‘Thank you, Sandra,’

  Mavis’s voice sounded tired and irritable. ‘I’m not sure if Cindy knows what’s being said about her or not. She certainly hasn’t mentioned it.’

  ‘Stop worrying about it. As I keep telling you, all this gossip will settle down and it will all be over and forgotten in a matter of weeks. By the time Rebecca comes home again in the summer, everyone will be talking about something else.’

  ‘Tom’s heard the rumours and he’s very upset about them. He says that one of us should speak to Cindy and find out if there are any grounds for them before the whole thing gets out of hand and people get hurt.’

  ‘Then why doesn’t Tom do it? Why doesn’t he have a talk with her?’

  Mavis gave a short laugh. ‘He wouldn’t know where to start.’

  ‘Perhaps Jake c
ould reason with her. She’d probably listen to him because he’s her own age group.’

  ‘I don’t think so. In fact, I think the only person she would probably talk to about her problems, that’s if she has any, would be Rebecca.’

  ‘Yes, those two have been as close as birds in a nest ever since they were toddlers. It’s a crying shame your Cindy didn’t pass for university like Rebecca.’

  ‘I agree,’ Mavis sighed. ‘There were never any problems or gossip when the two of them were together.’

  ‘Except about them taking Moses and Snowy for walks. And there was certainly no harm in them doing that,’ Sandra added with a laugh.

  Suddenly Mavis rang off. Sandra stood for a moment still holding the receiver in her hand, wondering why she had cut off so abruptly, but assuming that it was because Rebecca had arrived.

  On the train travelling back to Cardiff, Rebecca found herself pondering over the mysterious rumours about Cindy. She had certainly changed. She was no longer the tomboy she had once been and no longer so flamboyant. She’d restyled her hair, wore discreet make-up, even dressed differently, in the sort of styles and colours she would once have shunned. What really worried Rebecca, though, was that Cindy seemed to be in a world of her own most of the time.

  Was she lovesick, Rebecca wondered? It must be that, she decided. She was sure it wasn’t the day-to-day activities at the supermarket that were keeping her so preoccupied. Even Jake became impatient with her, because she didn’t seem to be listening to what they said.

  As Jake walked back to Woodside with her, Rebecca had been tempted to ask him what he knew, or what he thought about the rumours circulating in the village, but she kept remembering her mother’s insistence that she should say nothing.

  It was so unlike her mother to even listen to gossip that she had been surprised she knew so much about what was being said.

  As the train left Temple Meads station and headed through the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff, she suddenly had a rather disturbing thought.

  Had the gossip started because Cindy was visiting their place every night to help with the pigs and take Moses for a walk? Could the ‘upright family man’ that Cindy was supposed to be seeing be her own father?

  No, it couldn’t be! She must not let herself think like that. And yet … Her thoughts went back to her father saying he was getting rid of the pigs and wouldn’t be breeding any more. He had said it was because the village preferred to shop for their joints of pork at the supermarket, but was that the truth? Or was it to stop Cindy coming up there every night and to help scotch all the distasteful rumours?

  Initially, when her mother had tried to get him to give up his plans to breed pigs he had firmly stood his ground. So why was he giving in now?

  Rebecca still hadn’t clarified things in her mind when the train pulled in at Cardiff Central and she had to change to the local line to Cathays.

  None of it made sense, she told herself as she unloaded her cases from the train and struggled to carry them to another platform.

  Perhaps, she decided, if she telephoned her mother she might find out more. Sometimes it was easier to talk on the phone than face to face. It would be difficult to broach the subject, though, so perhaps it was better to say nothing. If she blurted out her suspicions about her father’s decision to get rid of the pigs, her mother would be shocked. Unless they were true, and her mother had come to the same conclusion too.

  Arriving back at the hall of residence, being greeted by her friends and catching up with their stories of what they’d done over the holidays put the scandal about Cindy into perspective. By the time she was on her own, she had decided that probably it was simply malicious gossip.

  There wasn’t usually that much going on in a small village like Shelston and they had to have something to talk about. As her father had once said when he overheard someone’s lifestyle being discussed, ‘While they’re talking about her, they’re not talking about anyone else.’ And he hadn’t seemed to consider it a serious matter.

  Rebecca finished unpacking and decided to forget the whole thing. It was Cindy’s life and really nothing at all to do with her.

  Having studied the agenda for the coming term and noted down all the classes she would have to attend and the activities she wanted to take part in, she knew she was going to be exceptionally busy.

  Life at university was going to be very demanding over the next three months and she was determined not to let herself be distracted.

  If the gossip about Cindy was still rife when she went home in the summer, then she would definitely get rid of Moses, just in case he was the source of the problem.

  Ten

  Rebecca found returning to Cardiff rather like entering a new world. After the quiet of Shelston, the hustle and bustle not only of the university campus but of the city itself excited her.

  People with whom she had shared classes or meals were eager to tell her about their wonderful holidays and various achievements.

  Edna Wise had visited the Rockies and her description of how she had ridden on a mule right down into the Grand Canyon, a gruelling five-hour ride, was so full of drama that Rebecca felt quite envious.

  Alan Jarvis had gone barracuda fishing with his father and regaled them with arm-stretching details of his catch. Peter Johnson, who had taken gliding lessons and almost managed to go solo, couldn’t wait for the next vacation so he would have a chance to do so.

  Most of the others had enjoyed exotic holidays in the Caribbean or the Canaries, and several of them had gone skiing.

  All their holidays sounded so glamorous that Rebecca didn’t bother to tell anyone how she had spent her vacation. Somehow, taking Moses for a walk didn’t measure up to Edna’s exploits or those of most of the others. Nor did a description of Shelston compare with anything as exotic as a trip to the Bahamas.

  After greeting her special friends and hearing in great detail how they had spent their time since she’d last seen them, Rebecca went off into the city. She found it every bit as absorbing as she remembered.

  The noise of cars and the bustle of the streets were so different from the quiet of the Dorset countryside that it filled her with an inner excitement she couldn’t really understand.

  As she walked down St Mary Street towards The Hayes, she revelled in studying the huge shop windows and felt as if she was in a completely different world.

  The colourful, tasteful fashion displays filled her with longing, though she knew she could never afford such clothes no matter how much she would have liked to buy them.

  Before walking back towards the Civic Centre and the university buildings, she spent a long time in The Hayes, which though lined with Edwardian and Victorian buildings was home to designer shops and boutique stores filled with well-known brand names.

  She dawdled in Howells and the shopping arcades. Howells, Cardiff’s oldest department store but now part of the House of Fraser group, dated back to 1865. Rebecca was intrigued by the way that, although it had been modernized, it still managed to retain some of its Victorian charm.

  From there, Rebecca made her way to Cardiff’s newest shopping centre, in Queen Street, and the nearby arcade that ran parallel to it.

  As she moved from window to window soaking up the atmosphere, she couldn’t help thinking how Cindy would enjoy being there and being able to view all the latest styles and fashions.

  On impulse, she decided to email her and invite her to come for a weekend, so that she could show her how exciting living in Cardiff was.

  It would help to take Cindy’s mind off the gossip in Shelston. And once she was away from the village, she might open up and tell her how the rumours had started.

  Back in Shelston, there was widespread commotion because the latest litter of piglets had broken out of their pen. Now nearly three months old, they had not only ravaged the garden at Woodside but also managed to get into neighbouring gardens and do considerable damage.

  Two of them had run out into the High Street,
causing cars and other traffic to sound their horns as drivers were forced to swerve or brake suddenly.

  Bill Peterson tried his best to sort out the situation, but as fast as he chased them one way they turned, squealing, and dodged off in another direction. In desperation, he had to leave Sandra to take care of the customers in his shop.

  As he tore off his striped apron before dashing out of the shop, he paused and asked her to phone the Masons’ farm and see if Jake or Tom, or better still both of them, could come and help.

  ‘I’m sure they have much better things to do than chase pigs up and down the road,’ Sandra sniffed as she turned and smiled at Mrs Beech, a middle-aged woman sombrely dressed in a dark-grey skirt and grey-tweed jacket over a silver-grey jumper, who was standing by the counter waiting to be served.

  ‘Please, Sandra, see if they can come and help,’ Bill begged as he pulled open the door to leave.

  ‘Now, what can I get for you, Mrs Beech?’ Sandra enquired, completely ignoring Bill’s request.

  ‘I think as how you should call them two from the farm before you serves me,’ Mrs Beech told her. ‘I’m not in no hurry and by the sound of things the sooner your husband has someone to give him a hand the better. I’m surprised you didn’t want to shut the shop and go and see if you could help.’

  ‘Me!’ Sandra patted her perfectly set blonde hair. ‘I hate pigs.’

  ‘They’re good for food, though, and I bet you enjoy a pork chop or two like the rest of us. Myself, I love roast pork and I always make sure I get some of the crackling.’

  Sandra didn’t answer but smiled enquiringly, waiting for the woman to place her order.

  ‘Go on, Mrs Peterson, phone the Masons. I don’t mind waiting, I’m not in any hurry,’ Mrs Beech insisted.

  Reluctantly Sandra reached for the phone, and when Mavis answered explained what had happened and asked if either Jake or Tom or someone could come and give Bill a hand.

  ‘I’d give him a hand myself if I was a year or two younger,’ Mrs Beech assured her after she had finished the call. ‘It’s my rheumatics. I can’t run these days, not to save my life, and from what I’ve seen of those little devils they’re like quicksilver. You dash one way and they dash the other.’