by G. R. Gemin
We came to a crossing with traffic lights. Kate pressed the button and we waited. A couple of elderly ladies stood with us – us and five cows. One of them turned to Kate and said, “These the girls for the Bryn Mawr?”
“Yeah,” said Kate.
They already knew. Word had got around – no surprise. The lady smiled. “My neighbour, Mrs Evans, she’s getting one. She’ll look after it well. Said she’d let me have some of the milk now and again.”
“Nothing like fresh cow’s milk,” said the other lady.
The crossing beeps started. “Come on, girls,” I said, and we crossed. I gave one of the waiting drivers a nod, like it was every day I crossed the High Street with five cows.
“Where you off with them then?” a man asked, crossing from the other side.
“The cows are coming home,” Kate replied.
It was great. I loved it.
We’d got past the busiest part of the route, and now we were on the Mawr estate.
The first drop-off was Megan to Mr Llewellyn.
“Welcome, Megan,” he said when we arrived. “I’ve built a pen for her – a cow sty, I suppose you could say.” He laughed.
“Plenty of hay. That’s good,” Kate said. “She won’t need milking again until this evening. Any problems, call Lilly and she’ll get hold of me.”
“Right you are.”
Kate suddenly seemed unsure. “Well … we need to deliver the rest.”
We moved off and Mr Llewellyn waved goodbye. “He’d better look after her,” I said, which is what I reckon Kate was thinking.
Soon we arrived at Mr and Mrs Evans’s. “See you, Bess,” I said, as I handed her over.
“Hello, Bess love,” said Mrs Evans cheerily, but Mr Evans looked moody.
“This is madness,” he said.
“Pay no heed,” she said to us.
“But it’s not legal, is it?” he asked.
“They’re my cows,” said Kate. “I’m giving them to you, temporary like. If there’s a problem…”
“Oh no, there’s no problem, love,” said Mrs Evans. She glared at her husband. “You agreed, Ron. I want this cow and she’s staying. I put up with your smoking, your beer and your betting. You’re going to accept this cow or you can cook and clean for yourself. Understood?”
“Yes, dear,” he mumbled. Well told off, he was.
We went on to take Connie to Maria Bracchi. She used to own a café on the High Street. Italian, she is.
“Oh, che bella,” she said.
“Her name’s Connie,” I said.
“No love, ‘bella’ means pretty in Italian. She need milking yet?”
“Not till this afters,” said Kate. “I’ll be back later and show you how.”
“Oh, I’ll manage. I worked on a farm in Italy when I was your age, and besides, I had a little practice on Lilly’s cow.”
We dropped Rachel off with Mrs Oleski. She was Polish, had a couple of kids, and baked her own bread, according to Kate.
Lastly we dropped Suzie off with Mr and Mrs Choudary. He was an accountant, and she was a dressmaker. Their son and daughter were in our school.
“We work from home, so she’ll always have company.”
They seemed nice. Then we were stood in the street, empty-handed.
“That’s it,” said Kate. “The rest are for the terrace.” She checked her watch. “And we’re still on schedule, but school will be out for lunch in half an hour so we’ll wait until they go back.”
Kate phoned Gran to tell her as we made our way back to the field. Part of me expected the rest of the cows to be gone when we got there, but Darren was watching over them like a shepherd.
Kate turned to Jamie. “Right, listen you. Thanks for your help but I want you to go back to school.”
“What?”
“Too many of us out. Go back. We can manage these six, the three of us.”
“Aww!”
“Go!” she said. Jamie picked up his bike and went without a word. Kate seemed to have power over people.
She sat down on the grass and leaned against a tree. She sighed. Something was wrong.
TWENTY SEVEN
I sat down beside Kate, even though the grass was wet. “It’s going well,” I said.
“’Cept it’s hardly a secret! Those ladies at the crossing knew all about it.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Word gets around.”
Kate stroked the head of one of the cows near to her as it chewed grass. “That Mr Evans was right,” she said. “It is a mad idea.”
I glanced at Darren, who was with one of the cows on the other side of the field. We didn’t argue so much now, and he was helping out. I felt different too, and I knew it was mainly because of Kate and the cows, but now it seemed she was regretting the whole thing.
“But we’ll be saving them from slaughter. You said yourself that they’ve got years of life left in them. And if it wasn’t for Mostyn…”
She pulled at the grass and didn’t reply.
“Which one’s this?” I asked, pointing at the cow in front of us.
“Rhiannon.”
“Who’s she going to?”
“Roger.”
Rhiannon lifted her huge head and had a sniff of me. “Bad luck, Rhiannon.” Her nose was all wet, and her warm breath came out like she was sighing and agreeing with me. I pulled a wad of grass and offered it. Her big, slimy tongue caught my hand as she took it.
“Dad’s going to be fuming,” Kate muttered.
“But he says the cows don’t earn you any money.”
“Doesn’t mean to say he won’t be fuming when he finds out they’re all gone. And it’s not going to take long for him to hear where they are.”
“We can keep a secret on the Mawr if we need to.”
Kate’s second thoughts made me feel edgy. “What about your granddad? What d’you think he would’ve done?”
She shrugged. “Maybe he would have carried on and it would have been all right. Maybe he would have made it worse. He couldn’t have stopped the foot-an’-mouth outbreak. I remember Granddad talking about it. I was a baby then. Farmers didn’t just lose the cows, they lost all the milk those cows would have given if they’d lived – thousands of litres. So when the second outbreak came, after he died, I knew what it would mean for us. It wasn’t Dad’s fault, but I was angry because I thought he didn’t care.”
“Didn’t care about the cows being killed, you mean?”
She nodded. “They sent me away, while it was sorted. I lost it big time…”
She was staring straight ahead like she was seeing it all happen again.
“I didn’t want to go to my aunt in Monmouth. It felt like I was leaving the cows when they needed me. I remember Dad had to hold me while he tried to open the truck. You can still see the dent now where I kicked the door…”
Rhiannon stopped chewing, as if she was listening.
“When they brought me back to the farm the cows were gone. There was a massive circle of black on the ground where they’d been burned. I could smell it in the air. Dad said it was my imagination, but it wasn’t. It was there, a horrible stink that didn’t go away. There’s times I can still smell it.”
We sat in silence. I didn’t know what to say. It was like I was getting bigger and more confident and Kate was shrinking. “He tries hard, my dad,” she said.
“My dad’s in prison,” I blurted out.
She nodded, like it was every day she heard people say that.
I pictured the waterfall and Dad showing us how to do a handstand. I saw his grin, full of mischief. “He used to take us out on trips.” I made it sound like we went every weekend, but I guess I wanted to sound like a normal family. “He took us to that waterfall,” I said. “D’you know it?”
I looked at her, hoping she would.
“Waterfall?”
“Yeah. It’s around here someplace, and there’s a field with a big tree.”
She wasn’t taking the bait.
“How can I find it?”
She shrugged. “Ordnance Survey?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a map.”
“But I don’t know where the place is.”
“You said there was a stream and a waterfall, not far from here.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, everything like hills and streams will all be marked on the Ordnance Survey maps – process of elimination.”
“But where can I get them?”
“We got some.”
“Will you…” I so didn’t want her to say no. “Will you help me?”
“OK.”
I couldn’t look at her, as I could feel tears well up in my eyes. “Thanks.”
“Is your dad in prison for long?”
“He’ll be out next month.”
I remembered him with his ponytail sitting opposite us. “Stupid,” I muttered. “My brother thinks he’s great. Hero in his eyes.” I glanced across at Darren, who was pretending to drive the burned-out car. “Stupid boys.”
“Yeah, bulls are nowhere near as nice as cows, or as useful,” said Kate. “Bullocks are thick and bulls are dangerous and unpredictable.”
“What’s the difference between bullocks and bulls?”
“Bullocks have had their bits cut off.”
“Ugh! Why?”
“So that they’re easier to manage. Then they’re just fed for meat – slaughtered after a couple of years.”
I grinned to myself. “Wait till I tell Darren.”
“I think we should take ’em back,” Kate said.
I checked my watch. “Bit early.”
“No. I mean back up to the farm.”
“What?”
Before Kate said any more, I heard, “GEMMA!”
TWENTY EIGHT
Darren was pointing towards the gate. Jamie was standing in the road with a bunch of kids from school. There must have been twenty-odd, all looking at the cows. Me and Kate got up and went over.
“What d’you bring them for?” Darren asked Jamie as he ran up.
“They wanna help,” he replied.
“The whole thing’ll be ruined,” I said.
“They all knew anyway,” said Jamie. He pointed to a boy. “That’s Johnny Bracchi – his gran’s got one of the cows…” Then he pointed to another. “And that’s Chloe Llewellyn.”
I recognised the girl that had come to Gran’s to see Jane.
“I took one down this morning,” said Jamie to the kids. “On a lead like a massive dog.” He grinned.
Kate’s eyes were narrowed, like she was going to shout.
“D’you still want to take ’em back up to the farm?” I asked.
One of the cows mooed, as if she was saying, “NOOOO!”
Kate looked at the kids. “OK,” she said. “We haven’t got much time. We’ll take ’em out on to the road and you can help take ’em down…” There was a rustle of excitement. “But don’t make any sudden moves, and as soon as we get ’em to their owners you all go back to school like nothing happened.” They nodded. “If anyone asks, you don’t know anything.”
Kate, Darren and me guided the cows on to the road and some kids took our bikes. When they saw the cows up close some of them backed away, like they were seeing dinosaurs in the flesh.
We got to the High Street and across the pelican crossing all right, but as we got into the Mawr estate a police car came round the corner and pulled up. The car window slid down. “Where you lot off to with them?” the policeman asked.
“Taking them on to the Mawr Common for a school project,” said Kate, cool as you like. “Questions and answers.”
“Lot of work for a school project, isn’t it? And six cows?”
“Two classes. See, one cow might get nervous with loads of kids around it.”
The policeman glanced over to the other policeman. “When I was at school we had to make do with a guinea pig.” He looked back at us, but his smile dropped. “Aren’t you supposed to inform Defra if you move cows?”
“Only if it’s permanent,” said Kate. “We’ll be taking them back up directly.”
“Four stomachs, a cow has,” Darren shouted. “Put grass in one end and you get milk out the other – milk for your cornflakes.”
“That’s put me off my breakfast,” said the policeman with a grin. “Get along then. I don’t want to hear about any cows on the rampage later. OK?”
“Yes, sir.”
The car pulled away. “That was a tight one,” Kate said.
I phoned Gran to say we were on the way, and as we turned into the terrace they were all waiting for us.
“What d’you bring all them for?” said Roger, pointing at the kids.
“They just showed up, Roger. They’re here now.”
Kate stopped at Morris’s first. She gave him the tether. “Morris,” she said. “This is Donna.”
“She’s nervous,” he said. “Like me.”
“They all are, Morris – new surroundings an’ all that.”
“Got grass and wild flowers for her.”
I noticed his hair blowing in the breeze. He’d washed and he had on clean clothes. “C’mon, girl,” he said gently as he led Donna into his backyard.
“C’mon with mine now!” said Roger.
“Rhiannon, this is Roger,” Kate said to the cow. “He’s a bit loud but he’s all right really.”
“Cheek.” He looked Rhiannon over. “Not as big as Jane, is she?”
“Not all about size,” said Gran, watching with her arms crossed. The others came forward to meet their cows.
Peggy was given to Mr Banerjee. He joined his hands and raised them to the sky. “I am blessed.”
Maisy was given to Mave Rubens; she was the one who’d been robbed.
“Oh, I’m all jittery,” she said. “What if she doesn’t take to me?”
“You care for her,” said Gran, “and she’ll take to you.”
“She’ll be your guard cow,” said Kate.
Mave chuckled.
Cathy was given to Polly.
“Two cats and a cow, I’ve got now,” she said. “Hope they all get on.”
The last one, Sophia, went to Tony and Tracey Hughes at the end of the terrace. They were on the dole and they had a little baby.
“Don’t expect me to clean up after her, Tone,” said Tracey. “I’ve got enough going on with Candice.” The baby was howling, but when she saw the cow she stopped crying and grinned.
That was it. All the cows were delivered to their carers.
“Right, you lot,” said Gran to the kids. “I want you to go back to school immediately.”
“But, Gran!” said Darren.
“No arguments. We don’t want to draw attention to the estate. You can come back after school.”
Kate hardly spoke as we went. It’s funny, but back in that field she was going to change her mind about the whole thing, and then all the kids turned up. I realised that even Kate needed back-up. She needed us. Now the cows were on the Bryn Mawr and safe in their new homes. It was mad, really – mad but brilliant.
TWENTY NINE
Mam was quiet that evening as we sat at the table. She didn’t fuss about me not wanting a chicken Kiev, and gave me an extra dollop of mashed potatoes. Darren was quiet. I was quiet. Mam was quiet.
“Good day at school?” There was something about the way she asked that made me sit up. “Not bad,” I said. Darren nodded along with me.
“Funny. Cos the school phoned me asking where you both were. ‘Should be there,’ I said. ‘Well, they’re not,’ they said…”
I shuddered.
“I remembered how quiet you both were this morning. Should I call the police? I thought. But then Billy Jones came in for the late shift at work and says, ‘Just saw your Gemma taking some cows across the High Street.’ Not one cow, but cows plural. So I headed to the Mawr in my break and I spotted you with that Kate girl, and three cows. Little Jamie Thorpe was with you too, so I figu
red Darren was on duty elsewhere.”
I glanced at Darren who was open-mouthed.
“That’s right, your mam’s a reg’lar Miss Marple. Now tell me, did you really think you could take a load of cows through town without me knowing about it? Because if you did you must be as stupid as you think I am!”
She stood up. Furious, she was.
“I said I didn’t want your gran getting another pet, you remember? Then the cow turns up and I tell her that I’m not happy, what with the strain and the extra costs and suchlike. But everyone tells me it’s fine cos it’s a cow and they’re useful. Then the next thing you help take another eleven down here. ELEVEN!”
“But they’re not all at Gran’s, Mam,” I said.
“That’s beside the point. And you!” she said to Darren. “Gone all cosy with your sister now, haven’t you?”
“How d’you mean, cosy?”
I knew exactly what she meant – she was annoyed that Darren was involved.
“Mam, it’s not like we brought one here, is it? They’re with other people.”
“But you didn’t tell me, did you? ‘Oh Mam, d’you mind if I help take some cows down on to the Mawr estate tomorrow?’ No. You did it behind my back. How d’you think that makes me feel? My mam and my own daughter in cahoots!”
“What’s cahoots?” asked Darren.
“And the sheer stupidity of it. How long d’you think you can keep eleven cows hushed up?”
“Twelve not eleven,” said Darren.
Mam glared at him.
“But they’ll be slaughtered.”
“Oh, really? And how many cows, d’you reckon, have been killed since you two were born?”
“Loads.”
“Loads. Right, and so what makes these ones so special?”
“Mam, they’re great,” said Darren. “Don’t diss ’em. They’re massive, useful and good, they are.”
“I don’t care about cows, Darren. I care about making ends meet, paying bills, getting the food in to feed us, making sure you’ve got clothes and … and Robbie’s back soon … the useless…” She started crying. “Fed up, I am!”
Darren grinned. I glared at him. “Sorry, Mam,” I said. “We didn’t do it behind your back on purpose. Just didn’t think.”
