Even so, Natalie would have been surprised if she had realised how seriously her parents would regard Megan’s misdemeanours. They had a genuine liking for her, but they were also concerned for John and Chrissie Oliphant. They had loved their children dearly and the Turners knew how deeply the loss of their only son had affected them. They had even contemplated giving up their work and emigrating to Australia when Sam was killed. Mr Turner had a healthy respect for his herdsman. John Oliphant had grown up with dairy cows; he had a wealth of experience as a herdsman and he and his wife made a good team, moreover they were honest and conscientious and almost impossible to replace. Murdoch Turner didn’t want Megan bringing them more heart break, or causing a scandal which might make them want to leave the area. As a parent himself he decided John Oliphant should be warned about his daughter’s escapades. The following morning, just before lunch he proceeded to repeat Natalie’s account of Megan’s behaviour while she was away from home and their parental guidance.
John Oliphant stared at his boss in angry disbelief.
‘I can’t believe Megan would get herself a reputation for being one of those loose young females who stay out half the night with different men!’ he exclaimed.
‘Aah but there’s different standards since the war,’ Murdoch Turner declared. ‘Young people don’t see things the way we did. They need more guidance, more discipline, if they’re to keep on the right path through life.’ John Oliphant scowled at him. In his eyes it was Natalie who needed the discipline but in his heart he knew there was something bothering Megan, and he didn’t believe it was just sore feet, however bad they were. Was she in some kind of trouble? His heart sank at the possibility of Megan ruining her life with some man they had never even met.
‘Thanks for the warning, Mr Turner,’ he said stiffly. ‘I shall have a word with Megan.’ He strode grimly towards his house.
Megan was helping her mother prepare their midday meal.
‘What’s wrong, lassie?’ Chrissie asked gently, ‘You don’t look your usual happy self. You were back early from the dance last night. Did you and Steven have a quarrel?’
‘No. Oh Mum, I almost wish we had. At least it might have cleared the air between us.’ Her chin wobbled in an effort to hold back her tears.
‘How do you mean, Meggie?’
Megan took a deep breath. ‘He-he looked so disappointed in me, as - as though I’d let him down. Sam might have looked the same if he thought I’d been out half the night with a man when I was supposed to be in bed in a students’ hostel. B-but Steven isn’t my big brother, a-and he d-didn’t say anything, or ask questions like a brother would, so how could I explain? Anyway I haven’t done anything I’m ashamed of. It was Rufus Anderson exaggerating everything for Natalie’s benefit, but Steven was listening too.’
‘Wh-what do you mean? What happened last night?’
‘It wasn’t last night, and it was only Maryanne having a bit of fun. But I could see Steven took it seriously. Then Rufus made things worse by exaggerating and teasing even more and giving Natalie a stupidly exaggerated account. You know the way she looks – all big eyes and then pretending to be shocked.’
‘But what about? Start at the beginning, lassie. Has this something to do with the blisters?’
‘Yes.’ Megan gave a huge sigh. ‘I wanted to give Dad and you a surprise. I wanted to show you how well I was doing with driving a car. Pauline Cameron’s brother lives fairly near the college and he offered to teach both of us to drive. Pauline was too nervous and he lost patience with her, but I was really keen to learn and getting on all right. So when Derek said he would teach me I seized the chance. I-I was getting on fine…’
‘Until you crashed his car?’ Chrissie said fearfully. ‘Was he badly hurt?’
‘No! No, nothing like that. You might have a bit of faith in me, Mum!’ Megan said reproachfully. ‘It was… I–I thought Derek enjoyed teaching me to drive. I thought it gave him satisfaction. It never occurred to me he might think I was a-attractive or anything.’
‘Oh.’ Chrissie tensed, her mind leaping ahead to the blistered feet. ‘Wh-what happened then?’
‘We hadn’t arranged a lesson for the last night of term. I hadn’t expected him. When he arrived I was pleased so I grabbed my coat and went. I followed his directions but I’d never been on the back roads before and when we were on this narrow road running through some woods I got nervous. Derek said he would drive until the road widened. When I got out he – he seized me a-and…’
‘Oh Dear Lord,’ Chrissie whimpered.
‘Don’t be like that, Mum! Nothing happened. Honestly. B-but he wouldn’t stop k-kissing me and I- I suppose I panicked. I screwed his nose really hard to make him let go and th-then I ran into the woods. I was scared to go back to the car. When he couldn’t find me he drove off. I made my way out of the woods but it was dark and I’d no idea where I was and it was coming on wet and – and it seemed to take me for ever to find my way back and it was so wet and c-cold and my feet were sore.’ Megan burst into tears and Chrissie took her in her arms, offering silent prayers that nothing more serious had happened to her precious bairn.
‘Hush, hush lassie. There’s no harm done and your feet will get better soon. At least you don’t seem to have suffered from getting wet.’
‘No. Derek phoned Pauline. He said he was sorry he’d frightened me. He – he told Pauline he hadn’t believed I was s-such an in-innocent. She was waiting up to let me in at the back door. She was so anxious and she’s so kind and motherly. She’ll make a lovely teacher if only she can pass her exams.’
‘She’s better than her brother then by the sound of him.’
‘Yes, b-but I suppose it was a bit my fault. I was just so eager to learn to drive and to give you and dad a surprise. It never entered my head that he wanted to go out with me or anything.’
‘No, lassie, I don’t suppose it did,’ Chrissie said wryly, ‘but you are a very attractive girl you know.’
‘Oh Mum,’ Megan gave a watery smile, ‘you’re not prejudiced of course.’
‘Of course not.’
‘Pauline said he was really worried and he wanted to apologise. She put her hot water bottle in my bed as well as my own.’
‘She does sound a nice lassie then…’
‘Who is a nice lassie?’ John demanded grimly, coming into the kitchen for his dinner. Over Megan’s head his wife gave him a speaking glance.
‘We were talking about one of Megan’s college friends. Now lassie go and wash your face and then we’ll have our dinner.’ Megan was glad to escape and Chrissie whispered, ‘I’ll tell you the whole story later but I know now how she got the blisters.’
‘The dinner can wait. What I want to know is why she was out half the night?’ her husband said sternly. Chrissie raised her eyebrows.
‘I wonder where you heard that, but I’ll explain that too,’ she added hurriedly, ‘and there’s nothing to worry about so take that look off your face, John Oliphant. We have a good and precious daughter and we should be proud and thankful. Her only concern is what Steven might think after Rufus Anderson told tall stories to Natalie Turner, just as a tease.’ John looked doubtful but he held his peace until the meal was over.
Two days later, John Oliphant suggested he and Megan should drive down to Steven’s and help him sow some of his early potatoes and some of his vegetables in the garden. He regretted his lack of faith in Megan. He ought to have guessed Natalie had made the most of spreading rumours around. She had always been jealous of Megan. He wanted to make up to her.
‘I’ll send a pan of soup and some sandwiches for all three of you then,’ Chrissie offered, ‘then you don’t need to hurry back.’
‘We’ll go as soon as I’ve finished the morning milking and cleaned up the byre,’ her husband nodded.
They had almost reached Schoirhead when he gave his verdict.
‘Well Megan, you’re a lot better driver than your mother is so far. I’m impressed.’
‘To come down to see Steven I suppose you mean?’ he asked, suppressing a knowing smile.
‘Sometimes, and other places too,’ she said defensively.
‘And are you going to be helping your mother and me in the dairy during the summer holidays? Ian will be leaving us by the first week in July. He’s going to help his folks with the harvest before he goes to agricultural college. He’s been a good lad but we shall need to look for another helper so I need to know what your plans are.’
‘I’ll certainly be there to help all summer until I return to college in September.’ She sighed. ‘I wish I didn’t have another whole year to do.’
‘It’ll be worth it, lassie. Look at the money you’ll earn and the long holidays you’ll get. Your mother will be real proud to be able to say “my daughter is a teacher”. I can just hear her now,’ he grinned.
‘I suppose so,’ Megan sighed.
‘And look at it this way, since the war even married women can go back and teach they tell me, not that I’d want my wife going away and leaving me every morning,’ he added with a frown. ‘Look on it as an insurance. We never know what lies ahead. If Steven’s mother had been a teacher, she could have gone back to work instead of bringing up that idle scoundrel.’
***
Steven seemed pleased to see them but Megan was conscious of a slight constraint. He was quieter than usual and the spark of humour was missing. Several times as they worked side by side she sensed his eyes on her. She helped him make the measuring lines with string and the two big pegs he had made, then they marked out the plots. They left her to plant the onions while Steven and her father rowed up and planted early potatoes.
While Megan was clearing up after their dinner Steven and her father went out to inspect the two fields which he had sown with oats. Afterwards, she planted some carrots and beetroot and a row of peas and one of beans while they finished earthing up the potato rows.
‘Well that looks neat and tidy now,’ Steven said with satisfaction.
‘We’ll come back in a couple of weeks, or before Megan goes back to college anyway,’ John Oliphant suggested. ‘We’ll bring some cabbage plants and put in more carrots and peas and some later onions.’
‘That’s only if you want us to,’ Megan said diffidently and her father looked at her in surprise.
‘Of course,’ he said quietly.
Mrs McGuire shouted over the wall to tell Steven she had baked some fresh scones and would he like some for his visitors. He winked at Mr Oliphant.
‘She’s curious to see who is here,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Will you go round and collect them, Megan? I suspect she wants to see you.’
‘Of course,’ she nodded. For the first time since she had arrived she saw a twinkle in his eyes and he seemed more like the old Steven.
Her father went to look at the dairy and through the byre while she washed their tea things but Steven stayed behind.
‘It’s not much of a house from a woman’s point of view, is it?’
‘It’s much better than you lead us to believe, Steven. In fact there’s nothing wrong with the house, it just needs the homely bits added.’
‘The woman’s touch,’ he said with a grimace. ‘Well it will be a long time before it gets that.’
‘So long as you’re warm and comfortable…’ Megan broke off when her father returned.
They didn’t see Steven again until the day Megan and her father went back to finish the garden.
‘I thought Steven might have been up to see us while you were at home, Megan, especially now he’s got a motorbike,’ Chrissie said.
‘I suppose he visits his father when he has any spare time. He was ploughing another field ready to sow some turnips for next winter and his young chicks were being delivered the day after we were there last time.’
‘Yes, I expect he keeps busy with only one pair of hands. Your father says he’s thinking of getting a few feeding sheep to eat off his spare grass during the summer, until he gets his cow numbers built up and some young heifers to rear.’
Megan knew this was all true but in her heart she had hoped he would visit too. She was sure he thought of her in a different light since the night of the dance. She went with her father to finish off the garden and Steven was as welcoming as ever to both of them but there was no doubt he had plenty to keep him busy.
‘Come and see my sow, Megan,’ he said just before they were ready to leave. ‘I call her Ella. She’s due to farrow in three weeks.’ Shandy went with them and Megan bent to pat his silky head.
‘This wee dog worships you, Steven. He never lets you out of his sight.’
‘I know, I have a job getting away on the motor bike without him. I have to shut him in the house and sometimes he’s a bit naughty. He chewed my slipper and a towel and takes bits out of the chair legs.’
‘I expect he’s lonely without you.’
‘I’d certainly be lonely without you, wouldn’t I Shandy, old boy.’ He bent down and hugged the little dog and Shandy responded with eager licking at his hands and face. ‘Now you lie down and wait there while we see Ella.’ Shandy did exactly as he was bid and Megan laughed with delight.
They went into the sty together and Ella allowed Steven to scratch her back. She grunted approvingly and he began to scratch her belly. She lay down and stretched out contentedly. Megan bent down beside him giving the sow a gentle scratch. ‘She loves this.’
‘Yes, I want her to be tame and quiet. Hopefully she’ll make a better mother when the piglets are born. Are your feet quite better now?’ he asked unexpectedly and Megan cursed herself for blushing so readily.
‘Yes, of course. They didn’t take long to heal.’
‘I suppose I should stop writing letters to you now you have a boyfriend up there.’ It was not a question and Megan frowned and didn’t answer immediately.
‘I don’t have a boyfriend,’ she said carefully, ‘but you can stop writing the letters if you’re too busy, or if you’re fed up with writing,’ she added stiffly.
‘The way Maryanne and her brother talked it sounded to me as though you have a serious relationship with someone.’
‘He was giving me driving lessons. I’ve helped his sister a lot with her course work. I thought he was sort of repaying me I suppose b-but he- he wanted to be more than friends. We quarrelled. I walked back. It was a long way.’
‘Hence the blisters, eh?’ he raised one eyebrow the way he used to do when he only half believed her if she had been playing tricks. ‘You always did have a bit of a temper when you were angry, I remember. He should have expected that with the colour of your hair.’
‘My hair had nothing to do with it,’ she said angrily and stood up. He stood up too. They were very close. He looked down at her and shook his head slowly and she saw that oddly wistful look in his eyes again, or was it regret? Or disappointment? She didn’t know but she did know things were not the same between them.
‘I expect you’ll make it up when you get back to college and see him again.’
Megan turned away and didn’t answer. She didn’t want him to see the tears which had sprung to her eyes. Surely if he cared for her he would have trusted her.
Fifteen
At Willowburn, Eddy Caraford’s health continued to improve slowly and the weather grew warmer. On sunny days he was content to sit on the bench outside the kitchen door; when it was cooler he sat by the fire and watched Hannah as she cooked or did her housework or cleaned and packed her eggs ready for marketing. He could move around a little with his stick or with the furniture for support, but his right arm was almost useless and he had little strength in his affected leg. It was clear he would never be fit to work again as he used to do before the stroke, but he se
emed to have developed a new serenity. Hannah was uncertain whether this was a good or a bad sign.
Steven visited every Sunday and sometimes during the week as well now the evenings were longer and light. He sensed the bond between his parents had strengthened rather that weakened since his father’s illness. He watched his father’s eyes following his wife with tender affection, and when she caught his eye they would exchange a smile. Steven almost envied them their rapport. This was not the grand passion of youth, the yearning desire Megan aroused in him now she had grown from mischievous child to desirable woman. The relationship between his parents was one of companionship and understanding. He knew it had grown over the years into deep and lasting friendship and it was a rare and valuable thing which he and Megan already shared. He realised now it was an acceptance of each other, their strengths and their weaknesses, a confiding of secret dreams and fears, the sharing of treasured memories. Whatever physical passion he might experience with another woman he knew he would never feel the closeness of spirit he shared with Megan. It saddened and depressed him because he knew he must keep silent and allow Megan her freedom to form other relationships when he could not promise her any sort of future.
He felt a flare of resentment that he had sacrificed six good years of his life fighting a war neither he nor his fellow countrymen had wanted, while Fred had stayed at home. He could have built up the family’s farm, made it more productive, knowing there was a market and decent prices for everything he could produce. The demand for food had never been greater. Demand still exceeded supply and the prices were guaranteed but lack of capital held him back from expanding. The government had been compelled to ration staple foods as soon as war was declared. What greater incentive could any man want? Yet Fred had not only ignored a golden opportunity for himself, he had failed his family and his country, and he was still continuing in his idle ways. Willowburn still had only eight milking cows, no more than they had kept before the war. Steven knew his mother and Edna were still doing the milking. The land girl had unintentionally mentioned that Fred only got out of bed in time to take the milk churns to the road end for the collecting lorry. Apparently as soon as he returned he expected his breakfast to be ready even though he knew Edna had the pigs to feed and his mother had her poultry to attend, as well as assisting his father to dress and shave and other daily routines, but she never complained. It made his blood boil to think of Fred being so arrogant and idle. He was glad he was no longer at Willowburn or he might have committed murder. It sickened him to see the increasing signs of neglect and untidiness about the neat little farm where he had grown up. Fortunately his father did not see how rapidly things were deteriorating since his stroke because he rarely managed to walk further than the garden or across the small yard at the back of the house. Unknown to any of them, other people were noticing and taking a serious view of Fred’s haphazard management.
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