Coming Home

by Gwen Kirkwood

  ‘Your father wants to see the cattle he’s paid for,’ she said.

  ‘We paid for them. I’m a partner too,’ he reminded her sullenly.

  ‘You’re a partner because your father has been so generous to you. Surely you must see Steven deserves something from his father too?’ she prompted gently.

  ‘I’ve earned my share. He’s never earned anything for this place.’ Hannah’s blue eyes met his steadily, but she shook her head in despair. Does fighting for his country count for nothing with people like Fred? she wondered silently.

  Steven had received a letter from Megan on Saturday morning. She always cheered him up and helped him look on the bright side and she was right. He was still ashamed to own such scraggy animals but the two milking cows had settled in and were milking steadily, even if the yields were a bit low, and his own two cows were doing splendidly. He was proud to be sending away a morning and an evening churn on the milk lorry now, even though neither of them were full yet. He was looking forward eagerly to getting his first milk cheque at the end of the month.

  He hoped Shandy would not chew any more chair legs when his parents came to visit but he was sure they would love him. Mrs McGuire seemed to get on well with his mother and she had invited them all round for afternoon tea before they returned to Willowburn.

  ‘Well Steven I’m pleased to see you’re happier than I expected,’ Hannah greeted him with relief, thinking Annie McGuire must have exaggerated.

  ‘Mmm.’ He grinned at her. ‘I had a letter from Megan yesterday and she always cheers me up.’

  ‘How much longer has she to do at college?’

  ‘Another year come the summer, then a year’s practical teaching. I can’t imagine Megan being strict enough to be a teacher.’

  ‘I hear she’s grown into an attractive young woman. I saw Mrs Andrews yesterday when I was delivering my eggs. Her daughter Maryanne is at college with Megan. She says she’s very popular with the students who come to the dances from the agricultural college. Her own laddie, Rufus, has a fancy for her himself.’

  ‘Does he?’ Steven muttered. His mother bit back a smile. The Oliphants were a decent hard working family and she would welcome Megan as a daughter-in-law if Steven got around to seeing her in that light before it was too late but it would be a while before either of them could think of marriage by the sound of things.

  ‘Shall we go and see what you’ve been doing, Steven?’ his father asked, ‘while your mother gets on with cooking the dinner. I’d like to see the cattle Fred bought. He says he’s forgotten the name of the farmer who was selling them.’

  Steven chewed his lower lip. He was sure his father would be as disappointed as he had been but even he was unprepared for the shock which awaited them.

  ‘Good gracious! Surely these are not the animals Fred bought? The haulier must have made a mistake.’

  ‘I’m afraid there’s no mistake,’ Steven said unhappily.

  ‘How could he waste good money, any money, on such rubbish?’ Eddy’s face paled with anger as he moved along the byre to take a closer look. ‘Oh my God…’ he breathed. Steven knew his father never blasphemed.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked tensely, hurrying to his side. ‘Oh no!’ He could have wept. There, lying in the channel was the hairless foetus of a calf. ‘She’s aborted! They were all right at milking time. This is one of the things I feared when I saw them.’

  ‘You’ve reason to be afraid with a bunch like this,’ his father almost spat the words. ‘This is a dealer’s rubbish or my name’s not Eddy Caraford.’

  ‘I admit I was disappointed when I saw them,’ Steven said, ‘but I thought they might grow when they got out to grass. I-I hadna bargained for this though.’ He stared at the lifeless foetus with despair in his eyes.

  ‘Have you a spare shed, Steven? I’ll help you get these two blue grey heifers into it. Keep them away from the rest and pray they haven’t spread any disease already.’

  ‘But what good is that now?’

  ‘You can see this one aborted well before her time. The heifer has no udder yet and she’ll have no milk. Take my advice and get them out of here. Keep them away from the rest and fatten them up if you can. They’re half Galloways anyway by the look of them. They would probably kick all the way through milking. You’re better without them.’ He rubbed his forehead and shook his head. ‘I can’t believe Fred would spend all that money on animals like these.’

  Steven frowned, gnawing the inside of his cheek, his jaw clenched.

  ‘I wish I’d never seen them. It will take months to get them fit for sale, even as store beasts.’

  ‘We’ll put them into one of the sheds you’ve mucked out and give them some bedding,’ his father said decisively, his own jaw clenched. ‘I’ll go to Annan market myself and see whether I can persuade the seller to take them back.’

  ‘Even if you find him he’ll never do that!’ Steven gave a hollow laugh.

  ‘I can always ask. Fred reckoned he couldn’t remember the man’s name and now I know he didn’t want to remember. This lot are the tail end of a cheap dealer’s gatherings,’ he muttered in disgust.

  They untied the two young heifers and chased them into one of the newly cleaned sheds. Steven had never seen his father so tight lipped and his face was worryingly grey and pinched.

  ‘If you’ve any Jeyes’ Fluid we’ll disinfect the byre where these two have been,’ Eddy said grimly. ‘Can you lend me a pair of wellingtons? Make sure you don’t walk through any discharge and spread it to the rest.’

  ‘You really think it’s serious then, Dad, not just due to the heifer being shunted about in lorries?’

  ‘I hope I’m wrong lad, but you can’t afford to risk it,’ his father said, shaking his head slowly. ‘Nobody could, let alone somebody just beginning in farming. If it is contagious abortion it can ruin a man if it spreads through the herd. You end up with calves born early, usually dead, and then the dam doesna milk. It’s a vicious circle.’

  ***

  Before he went to bed that evening Steven wrote to Megan, telling her about his parents’ visit.

  ‘I don’t know whether I’m more worried about the possibility of these beasts bringing disease to the place before I even get started farming, or about Dad. I’ve never seen him look so disillusioned and disgusted. When he saw the foetus lying in the channel I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He looked so drawn and pale, as though his very soul had been torn out of him. We were invited round to the McGuires but he refused to go. All he wanted was to get home as soon as they had eaten their dinner. It spoiled our day. I saw Mother giving him anxious looks. I expect he would tell her everything on the way home. It’s never easy to keep anything from Mother. She has a way of worming things out of us – well not out of Fred apparently. He’s too sly, even for Mother.’

  He told her about Shandy’s antics and his neighbours. He read the letter through but before he sealed it he added a postscript.

  ‘I know it’s a while until Easter but I wondered if you would come to a dance with me when you come home for the holidays? I could cycle up to your house but I’m afraid we’d have to walk to the village hall and back. I’ve no hope of affording any sort of vehicle for a long while at this rate so I shall understand if you choose to go with your young doctor friend, Megan.’

  When she read the letter, Megan’s spirits fluctuated between feeling desperately sorry for Steven’s struggles to get established in his wee farm and soaring with happiness that he was beginning to see her as a woman at last. It was the first time he had asked her out on a proper date. She danced around her tiny room hugging her pillow, wishing she was already in his arms. She came to a sudden halt. What did he mean about her young doctor friend? She frowned. Only one person could have told him about her having a lift home with Doctor Gray and that was Natalie Turner. They must keep in close contact. Had she been trying to stir up trouble? If that was her intention it had back fired. It had probably made Steven r
ealise she was no longer a schoolgirl, but it also meant Natalie wanted Steven herself, or why would she want to cause a rift between them?

  It would be years before Steven could seriously consider marriage, even without Fred’s dirty tricks holding him back, but if he married Natalie her father would give him all the help he needed, and probably get Steven a large farm to rent, she thought dejectedly. Marrying Natalie would be the easiest and the quickest way to becoming an established farmer. Resolutely Megan refused to think about Natalie Turner. Steven had invited her to go dancing and that’s what mattered. Lost in her youthful dreams, Megan was oblivious to the snow storms which were affecting the whole country. It didn’t enter her head they might have dire consequences for Steven and his family. People were miserable enough without the atrocious weather; the rationing was already serious but the strikes and fuel shortages had added even more restrictions.

  ***

  Fred had never seen his father look so grim and silent as he did when he returned from Steven’s. He knew the reason but he felt no remorse. It didn’t occur to him that it was not only the condition of the cattle which dismayed Eddy Caraford. He was an honest and trustworthy man himself and he was sickened by the knowledge that his elder son would play such a mean and shabby trick. He could no longer turn a blind eye to such faults. In his heart he had known for a long time that Fred resembled his late father-in-law rather than himself, and he bore no resemblance at all to the gentle woman who had been his mother. He knew Hannah blamed herself because she was responsible for Fred’s upbringing, but he knew she had always been fair and kind to both his sons. He could not have managed without Hannah. He could no longer hide from the truth. He had done his best to set a good example. He had done everything he could to compensate for the loss of Fred’s mother, and to show him he was loved, but Fred had become increasingly selfish and demanding as the years passed. Enough was enough. He had to accept the true character of his elder son and do something about it before it was too late.

  ‘On Friday I’m going to the market myself,’ he said to Fred. ‘You bought those ill thriven beasts from a dealer. I shall find him, even if I have to ask everybody I meet. I shall ask him to take them back,’

  ‘You must be mad!’ Fred said, staring at his father as though he had grown horns. He gave a harsh laugh. ‘Even if you find him, he’ll never take them back. You’re crazy.’

  ‘I’m not expecting he will, but I intend to try. You paid a ridiculous amount for them anyway. I thought you were a better judge of cattle than that. If he won’t take them back I’ve told Steven to send the two blue greys as store cattle and I shall buy him two decent animals in their place.’

  ‘You can’t do that!’ Fred blustered. ‘Remember I’m a partner. I have a say in what happens.’

  ‘I haven’t forgotten I was fool enough to make you a partner. I thought I could trust you. Now I know I can’t. There’ll be little profit for any of us this year unless the dealer will repay me for Steven’s animals.’

  ‘Suit yourself,’ Fred smirked. He had all the profit he needed for a while with the fifty odd pounds cash he had hidden away. That had been a nice little deal he’d done at the ringside. Even his clever little stepmother hadn’t suspected he had tricked them all.

  ***

  Steven smiled and his spirits lifted when he received Megan’s reply to his letter.

  ‘I shall look forward to going to a dance with you Steven but if you intend doing the American jitterbug you will have to teach me first, though I’m not sure if our local bands will be able to play the music. I hope you will not find us all too tame after army life.

  I have another bit of news. Dad has bought a second hand car and he has promised to teach me to drive during the summer holidays. He knows you can drive so he may offer us the car – not that I mind walking, as you should know, but I hope the weather is not as bitterly cold as it is here tonight. We are all wrapped in our eiderdowns as we try to study for our exams.’

  Steven always felt better for Megan’s cheerful letters. She wrote as she talked and he could almost imagine she was at his side. He would never admit it to his mother, or anyone else, but he did find the silent house rather lonely during the winter evenings. He had grown used to the company of his fellow soldiers during his years in the army. He had yearned to be free then but it seemed there was a price to pay for freedom too. He found himself longing for Megan’s companionship – and more. The blood stirred in him as he remembered the feel of her pliable young body against his own. She was so small and neat, and yet she was remarkably strong and tireless.

  Looking back he thought he had always felt a tenderness for Megan, but recently he recognised it was more than tenderness for a childhood friend he felt. When he thought of the hard work and small rewards which lay ahead he wondered whether he had made the right decision. During these first few weeks all he seemed to do was spend his precious savings. They were already into March and he had hoped the spring grass would soon be showing signs of growing but the heavy snow and the bitter March winds had blighted his hopes for an early spring. He was glad to buy all the turnips the McGuire’s could spare to feed his few cows.

  ‘How long has Mr McGuire been lame with the arthritis?’ he asked his wife one morning as he shovelled turnips into his cart.

  ‘Och it’s bothered him for years but it got really bad about harvest time last year. That’s why we sold half the cows and the reason we have turnips to sell. He would hate to leave here but I don’t know how he’ll manage to carry on. He keeps saying he’ll be better once the warm weather comes again, but I can’t see him being fit to trudge behind the horses to plough our field for the corn and it’s still a government regulation even though the war is over. Things are scarcer than ever.’ She sighed heavily.

  ‘I reckon we shall all feel better when we get some spring sunshine,’ Steven comforted her.

  ‘Aye, I hope so. I’ve been baking scones. Come in and try one before you go back round to your own place, laddie.’ She scurried back into the house, leaving Steven wondering whether he could manage to plough his own fields and help the McGuires as well. He guessed Mrs McGuire was hoping he would but the year was getting on. He didn’t know then that the ploughing would prove a simple problem compared with the other worries which awaited.

  Eleven

  Hannah was tense and worried as she drove Eddy to market the following Friday. It was already snowing heavily and she hated driving on icy roads but he was insistent he must go today, and in person. All week he had looked drawn and tired. Her heart ached for him. She knew how disillusioned he must feel now that he had seen Fred’s treachery for himself. She had known it must happen one day but neither of them had yet discovered the lengths Fred would go to cheat his own father.

  ‘Are you sure we shouldn’t turn back, Eddy?’ she asked for the third time. ‘The weather could be worse before we get home again.’

  ‘They’ve had most of the snow in the south this year. We had the driest February I can remember in this area,’ Eddy said. ‘We’re into March now so even if the snow does get heavier it’ll probably have gone by the time we return home. I can’t delay another week or that dealer will have forgotten he ever sold those beasts to Fred. I expect he handles thousands. That’s his business.’

  Eddy found the dealer without much difficulty. He knew most of the farmers in the market, as well as the auctioneer and the market helpers and several of them had been surprised to see Fred doing business with the man. He had less success trying to persuade him to take back the cattle. In the end he offered to buy back the two cross bred heifers for fifteen pounds each.

  ‘Fifteen pounds!’ Eddy echoed incredulously. ‘Fred paid over forty. That’s daylight robbery.’

  ‘Forty?’ The dealer stared at him as though he had lost his senses. ‘He paid twenty eight a piece and the two milk cows were fairly decent animals, for that price. I buy for another dealer. I don’t usually sell to local farmers but he was such a cocky fello
w I thought he needed taking down a bit. Is he your son?’ Eddy didn’t answer. He frowned and rubbed his temple.

  ‘Twenty eight pounds,’ he said hoarsely. ‘For all four? Then what did he buy with the rest o’ the money?’ he muttered, more to himself than the dealer.

  ‘As to that, he was doing some sort o’ deal at the ringside. I couldn’t reckon up what kind o’ game he was playing, but if ye dinna mind me saying so, I wadna trust him wi’ my money. I saw him buy a damned good cow through the auction but he sold her again straight away. Privately. To the runner up. He must have got less than he’d paid for her. It didn’t make sense to me.’

  ‘You didn’t notice who the runner up was, I suppose?’ Eddy asked carefully. His face was white now and he gripped the metal bar of the pens tightly, feeling another dizzy spell. They were coming too often recently. The doctor had said it was tension and he ought to relax more. Relax! How could he do that?

  ‘It was a farmer. I think his name is McDougall, but I could be wrong. I see hundreds of cattle sold every week, but I often buy through the ring.’

  ‘McDougall?’ Eddy repeated vaguely and blinked, trying to clear his head.

  ‘So what d’ye want to do about the two blue-greys?’

  ‘They’re at my other son’s. Collect them soon as you can. I’ll give you his address. Pay him the thirty pounds. He can put the money towards a decent dairy cow.’ The dealer nodded.

  ‘I’ll pay him in cash when I lift them.’ He jotted Steven’s address in his note book then moved on to attend to other business, leaving Eddy Caraford still holding onto the rails as he struggled to make sense of Fred’s actions. A little while later he saw a neighbour of the McDougalls’ and without any prompting, the man remarked on Fred’s peculiar behaviour at the market a fortnight ago.

  ‘Billy McDougall was delighted when your lad changed his mind about taking yon cow home to Willowburn. He’d bid it up as far as he could afford to go because she was a pedigree beast and he fancied the breeding. What was wrong with her? Your lad must have lost a guinea or two for Billy to buy her off him.’