by Diane Allen
Oversby tied the two horses up outside the barn at Grouse Hall and knocked quietly on the half-open door of the kitchen. He gave a soft cough, and Kitty looked round to see who was standing in her doorway.
‘So, you two idiots are back, then. I suppose you’ll be wanting something to eat. Grown men chasing defenceless creatures – you should have more sense.’ She went to the pan of potatoes that was boiling on the fire.
‘Kitty, Kitty, I’m sorry. I’ve some bad news . . .’
‘What, Clifford’s lost his bet again. That’s only to be expected.’ She banged two plates down on the kitchen table and picked up the pan of potatoes.
Oversby walked towards her and grabbed her arm, making young Tobias, who was sitting at the table, cower with fear.
‘Listen to me, woman. I’m trying to tell you, your husband’s dead.’ Oversby realized that all his rehearsing had been in vain, as Kitty dropped the pan and screamed. ‘I told him to go easy with it – but you know what he’s like. Sit down, and gather your thoughts.’ He placed his arm around Kitty’s sobbing shoulders and guided her to the chair next to the fire.
‘How did it happen?’ she sobbed. ‘Let me out, let me go and see him.’ She stood up, her legs nearly buckling beneath her.
‘Stay here and I’ll carry his body into your parlour and lay him on the sofa. You’d better make the lad go upstairs; he’ll not want to see him like he is.’ Oversby nodded to Tobias, who hadn’t moved from the table.
‘Tobias, go upstairs! Go to your room.’ Kitty nearly screamed the words at the frightened lad. Tobias ran out of the kitchen along the dark passage and up to the front bedroom, where he peered out of the window, watching Oversby struggling to carry his father’s corpse into Grouse Hall.
‘I didn’t know he was going to be so daft on that horse of mine. It’s frisky at the best of times, but he drove it too hard. The bloody thing has a mind of its own.’
Kitty sobbed over the body of her husband. Clifford had been a bastard and a cad, but in her own way she had loved him. Now she was left on her own in the rambling, damp ruins of Grouse Hall, with his illegitimate son and no money in the bank.
Tobias crept down the stairs and stood quietly, half-hidden behind the parlour door. He peered at the body of his father lying lifeless on the sofa, and at Kitty wailing, while Oversby tried to comfort her. He didn’t know whether to cry or not, for he’d always been treated like a dog by his father. But now the day he had dreamed of was here: his father had actually died, and he was free of the tyrant who had made his life a living hell.
Tobias stood for a moment, watching the scene, and then he ran; he ran as if he had wings on his feet. He had to tell Daisy, she had to know. This was important news and he had to share it with someone he loved.
‘Tobias, what on earth’s the matter? What are you doing here, and where’s Kitty? Does she know you’re here?’ Daisy put down her darning and placed her arm around the red-faced and panting lad who had just burst into her home.
Tobias was bent double, trying to catch his breath, and coughing and sputtering as Daisy watched him. ‘He’s dead! Clifford, my father, is dead.’ Tobias tried to catch his breath as he watched Daisy’s face.
‘Don’t talk silly, Tobias; he’ll not be dead. What makes you say that? You shouldn’t say such things.’ Daisy sat the young lad down and told him to get his breath.
‘He’s in our parlour on the sofa. He fell off a horse and broke his neck this morning. Oversby and Kitty are with him now.’
‘He can’t be. You are wrong – you’ve heard wrong.’ Daisy shook her head in disbelief.
‘He is! The old sod’s dead; he’ll not hurt me again. It serves him right. He had my foxes killed.’ Tobias realized what the death of Clifford actually meant to him: no longer would he clipped around the ear every five minutes, or shouted at and left hungry, for his persecutor was dead. And Tobias felt jubilant at his death.
Daisy sat down. She didn’t know what to feel. She’d felt hatred towards Clifford for so long, and then she had to be grateful to him, for taking her in when she needed somewhere to go. But now, if Tobias was right, he was dead.
‘Have they had the doctor?’ asked Daisy.
‘What do you need a doctor for, if he’s dead?’ Tobias asked.
‘You just do, Tobias, to make sure he’s dead.’
‘He’s dead all right. I saw him being carried into the house. Oversby had to drag him.’ Tobias grinned. ‘Oversby couldn’t get his breath, and he dropped Clifford’s head on the kitchen floor and he never yelled.’
‘Come on, we’ll have to go. My sister will need me.’ Daisy picked up her shawl, wrapping it around her, and held out her hand for Tobias.
‘I want to stop here. I don’t want to go home.’ Tobias sat and sulked.
‘We are going to Grouse Hall. I’ll be needed, and they will wonder where you are. My sister has enough on her plate without worrying about you.’
‘She’ll not know I’ve gone, and she won’t care.’ Tobias folded his arms.
Daisy grabbed him and pulled him out of the house. ‘I’m taking you home, and I need to comfort my sister. Now get yourself up that road.’ The last thing she needed was a stroppy lad who didn’t realize how the death of his father could affect him. Daisy felt a pang of sadness. She’d known Clifford all her life, and now he was gone. What would her sister do? Would Grouse Hall be safe, or had Clifford wagered it away? The world was going to change for Tobias and Kitty, but would it be for the better or for the worse?
25
Daisy fiddled with her gloves and watched as they carried Clifford’s coffin out into the damp autumn air. A fine drizzle fell, making the moorland around Lunds chapel look bleak and grey. The flagstones were slippery with the wet weather, and one of the bearers nearly slipped as he lost his footing when turning the corner to the burial ground that overlooked the wild moorland. The fine raindrops hung like jewels on the long grass in the chapel churchyard, and a lonely sheep bleated a lament as Clifford was lowered into the ground.
‘Thank you for coming, Sam.’ Daisy squeezed his hand as he stood beside her.
‘Nay, you needn’t thank me. I wouldn’t be much of a fiancé if I didn’t pay my respects on a day like today.’
‘No, but you needn’t have come. Clifford didn’t win many friends in his life, and those that he did are unsavoury.’ Daisy looked around at the small group of mourners standing around the grave.
‘And so we commit his body to the ground. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes . . .’ The vicar stood pious and tall over the grave as he gave Clifford his last blessing.
Kitty was the only one weeping, and Daisy couldn’t help but notice how supportive Oversby had become to her sister in the few days since Clifford’s death. Even now he was offering his shoulder to cry on. She shook her head – knowing Joshua, he’d think he was in with a chance of buying Grouse Hall from the grieving widow. He probably owned half of it by now anyway, in outstanding money owed to him by Clifford.
Tobias stood by Kitty. It didn’t look as if he’d grieved for one minute since his father had died. But who could blame him? For most of his life he’d been treated like nothing more than a dog by Clifford. It had been a miracle that he’d survived past his first birthday, the way he’d been treated.
‘What will she do now?’ Sam nodded towards Kitty.
‘I don’t know. She’ll probably farm Grouse Hall on her own – plenty of women do farm without a man’s help. At least she’ll be clear of Clifford squandering all the money by his drinking and gambling. My father must be turning in his grave. He thought he’d set up Kitty for life, and instead he made her life a misery and turned her into an old woman.’ Daisy couldn’t believe that she had once been jealous of her sister.
‘Talking of fathers, my father is working his hardest on my mother. He made some mince pies with your Christmas mincemeat and didn’t say where the filling had come from. You should have heard her while she was eating them. It was amusing h
ow quickly she backtracked, when she found out you supplied the mincemeat.’
‘I don’t know how to win her over. I can understand that she only wants the best for you – I would, if I had a son – but what can I do? I am what I am.’ Daisy sighed.
‘Be yourself, Daisy love – she’ll come round. Here, look, scatter some earth on Clifford and let’s put him to rest.’
The vicar offered Daisy a small box of heavy clay soil, so that she could take a handful and sprinkle it over the coffin. She thanked him, then went to the grave edge and threw her handful on the oak coffin lid. Buried in the ground with Clifford lay the secret of that terrible afternoon, and now she was free to live her life. No one else knew about her transgression, and now no one need ever know.
‘I hope he’s at peace.’ Daisy looked at Sam. ‘He never was in life.’
‘Aye, and nobody else was when they were around him. Clifford was one of those that you knew shone too brightly and wouldn’t last as long as most. He either ate you up or spat you out.’ Sam winced at the thought of Clifford, as he wiped his gloves free of the soil.
‘We aren’t doing a bad job of talking ill of the dead, are we?’ Daisy took Sam’s hand. ‘Come on, let’s go home. We’ve seen him buried, and I’m not one for funeral teas.’
‘Are you sure? Shouldn’t you stay, for your sister and Tobias?’
‘My sister seems to be otherwise engaged, and Tobias thinks it’s the best day of his life. I don’t think we will be missed at all.’
‘No, happen not. Let’s be away, lass, and have a bit of time together.’
It had only been a week since Clifford had been buried, but it seemed like a lifetime. Daisy had barely been at home, as she went back and forth to Grouse Hall to make sure her sister was all right. She needn’t have worried because, without Clifford, both Tobias and Kitty had found a new spark of life. Kitty’s only worry was that the solicitor had not written to her, as he had promised, after she’d enquired about Clifford’s will, and she needed to know where she stood.
Daisy had pondered all week over whether to give her sister her full inheritance from her father, now that Clifford was dead, and she’d made up her mind that she would. With Clifford out of the way, there was no one to squander it, and Kitty would need it in the coming months. Daisy pulled her hat on and was about to start on her daily trek to Grouse Hall when there was a knock on the door.
She opened it to find a small boy standing on her doorstep.
‘Letter for you, Mrs Lambert. I’m delivering it for Mr Winterskill, the solicitor in Hawes. He says can you read it and send your reply back with me.’ The boy passed Daisy the letter and stood patiently on the doorstep, as she quickly opened it and read the few brief words instructing her to come to his offices on Tuesday next.
‘You can tell Mr Winterskill that I’ll be in his office at two o’clock on Tuesday, weather permitting.’ Daisy was puzzled. Had he got muddled up between the sisters? Surely it was Kitty he wanted to see? She watched the young lad running back along the track out of Grisedale and then pulled on her hat. She’d explain to Kitty about her father’s money, and see if she’d also received a letter from Mr Winterskill.
When Daisy reached Grouse Hall, the fire was burning brightly, and Tobias and the dog that had previously been kept outside in the shed were curled up on the rug in front of it.
‘Well, somebody looks content.’ Daisy took off her hat and stood and looked at the lad, as he tickled the dog’s stomach while it tried to nip his hand.
‘Kitty says I can bring Jip into the house now. It’s to make up for what happened to my fox cubs. I know what happened to them, you know. I heard some men talking at the funeral.’ Tobias hid his head in the dog’s fur and stifled a sob.
‘Aye, well, no good came of it. You shouldn’t tame wild creatures, and nature has her way of getting back at you.’ Daisy sat down at the table.
‘Is that why my father died? Because nature knew he’d done wrong by the foxes?’
‘Your father died because he was an idiot, who always thought he knew best and listened to nobody – that’s why he died.’ Kitty came into the room and answered, before Daisy could get a word in. ‘Isn’t that right, Daisy? I’m beginning to find out how much better off I am without him. We’ll manage, won’t we, Tobias? As long as I can keep food in our bellies and a roof over our heads.’ She sat down next to Daisy and sighed while looking across at her sister. ‘I thought you weren’t coming today. You said you were catching up with the cooking?’
‘Well, for one thing, I’ve a confession to make. Now promise you’ll not get mad at me, Kitty, because I thought it was for the best while Clifford was alive.’ Daisy put a bag up on the table and watched her sister’s eyes. ‘When our father died, the solicitor told me to give you his dresser and its contents. Well, like you and Clifford, I thought it held only his baking stuff, but when I looked inside the middle drawers, they all had a false back to them. That’s when I found all this.’ Daisy pushed the bag full of money towards Kitty. ‘He never did trust a bank. I didn’t give it to you before, because I knew Clifford would squander it.’ Daisy paused. ‘I hope you’re not mad at me?’
Kitty started to count the money.
‘There’s hundreds here – there’s more money than I’ve ever seen in my life! How can I be mad with you? You did right, for Clifford would have gone through it like a knife through butter. I don’t know how to thank you.’ Kitty’s hands were shaking and her eyes filled up with tears. ‘I was trying to put a brave face on it, but I was beginning to wonder how we’d survive winter. The back-end lambs didn’t make much money, and I had to pay for the funeral . . . And then we’ve got to eat.’
‘Shh! You’re all right, Kitty. You are a little short, because that’s how I’ve been paying you to look after Tobias. I couldn’t have done it otherwise. But I’m just glad our father made us equal. You got the money, I got the house, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.’ Daisy got up, walked round to her sister and hugged her.
‘I’m sorry, too, that my words were sharp. We were always close when we were growing up. It was Clifford who drew us apart, and the fact that you left and went away. Talking of which, I nearly forgot to tell you that I found a letter. It’s addressed to you. Clifford had hidden it in his bill box. He’d never have given it to you – he liked to keep us all under his control.’ Kitty went to the kitchen drawer and came back with the letter, handing it to Daisy.
She looked at the handwriting. It was Jim’s from Leeds, and she smiled and sighed. She’d thought she’d been forgotten, but she should have known better.
‘I still can’t believe I have all this money! I’m rich, and I don’t have to worry. I’d better put it away. Are you not going to open your letter? It’s been waiting for you long enough?’ Kitty chuckled and took the bag of money off the table and placed it into the oak corner cupboard, locking it carefully.
‘No, I’ll read it at home – it’ll pass a minute or two this evening.’ Daisy smiled. She wanted to read it at her leisure, not when her sister was sneaking a look over her shoulder. ‘Did the solicitor get in touch with you today? His office lad gave me a letter saying that I should meet him on Tuesday at two. I thought he might have delivered a letter to you, too?’
‘No, I’ve not heard anything. Tobias and I have been at home all day. Why would he want you?’
‘That’s the strange thing – I don’t know. I wonder if the lad got the houses muddled up, but then again it was my name on the letter. I was certain the solicitor would have been in touch with you.’ Daisy was puzzled; she’d no need of the solicitor when it came to Clifford. Anyway, she’d go to his office on Tuesday and tell him so.
‘He perhaps wants you to be an executor, because Clifford probably didn’t have a will. I can’t remember him ever going to Winterskill’s. In fact I’m sure that he hated the man.’ Kitty poked the fire and added a peat log, while walking around the sleeping dog and Tobias.
‘That must b
e it then. I never thought of that.’ Daisy’s mind was settled.
‘Well, let’s face it, our Daisy, I’m not expecting another windfall. I’ll just be happy if I can stay here, and I should be all right. I remember Old Mr Winterskill coming round just after you’d gone wandering. He came to see Clifford’s father – old Tobias – to amend his will, because he’d decided to change it. In fact our father was with him – he was a signatory – and I remember they were all in the parlour one afternoon when Clifford was away. When Winterskill and our father had gone, I spoke to old Tobias. You’ll remember how difficult that was, with him unable to speak and having to write everything down. And he just wrote on his slate ‘house left to Bastard’, so I know it’s Clifford’s. It’s all old Tobias ever called him. He was ashamed of his son. I used to feel so sorry for him.’
‘You’ll be fine then, Kitty. Mr Winterskill must just want to check everything with a family member, to make sure it’s done right. Anyway you seem very friendly with Joshua Oversby, I noticed. Be careful with that one. He’s either got his eye on you and Grouse Hall or, God help me, Tobias. I don’t like him one bit.’ Daisy spoke her mind while she knew she could get away with it.
‘He’s decided he’s played the bachelor too long. Clifford’s death shook him up and made him realize that life’s too short. He’s been the greatest help to me since the funeral, so you be careful what you say. Besides, you can’t talk – that Sam Allen’s only after what he can get. Besides, Joshua owns Yore House and all the acres around it. He’s worth a bob or two, and he’s got servants.’ Kitty folded her arms and waited for the response.
‘Kitty, Clifford’s hardly cold in his coffin and you have already weighed up your next man. Well, you just be careful. Keep Tobias out of his way, and don’t be fooled; Joshua only uses women for one thing.’
Daisy was cross. Kitty was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire – had she no sense?
