Above the Harvest Moon

by Rita Bradshaw

  ‘Oh, Hannah.’ Naomi was immediately overawed.‘It’s bonny.’

  ‘It will be when I put everything to rights. The woman who was looking after things didn’t have time to do anything but get meals and see to the washing and ironing.’

  ‘You’re staying then?’ Adam stared at her. He and Joe were standing just inside the door but Naomi had spied the two cats on the mat and was down on her knees fussing them.

  Hannah nodded. ‘For the time being at least. Come and sit down and I’ll get some tea. Farmer Shawe and . . . and Jake’ - she always referred to their half-brother as Mr Fletcher but she felt Adam would take umbrage if she showed such respectful formality towards Jake - ‘have gone for a ride and they won’t be back for an hour or two.’ She had the feeling Jake had organised this so that if Adam accompanied Naomi, he and the farmer would be out of the way and things would be less awkward.

  Naomi rose from the mat with Buttons in her arms. ‘You’ve dropped on your feet here, lass,’ she said without a trace of envy. She sat in one of the hard-backed chairs and settled the cat on her lap. ‘I wouldn’t want to ever leave if I was you.’

  Hannah said nothing to this. She got everyone a cup of tea and a plate of blackberry tarts which vanished in moments. She fetched another plate holding a large fruit cake and while the three ate, she filled them in on the week’s happenings and then took them on a tour of the farmhouse before they went outside. Arm in arm with Naomi, the lads following, she led them round the farm and all the outbuildings, stables, pigsties and barns before they climbed a ridge some distance away and stood gazing out on the great expanse of land to the boundaries of the farmer’s property. The air was thin and clean, carrying the scents of a late summer’s day, and the soft blue smoke of a twitch fire created a haze over the distant view, mellowing the horizon.

  ‘This is grand, Hannah.’ Joe’s eyes were hungry as he took in the view. His nostrils dilated as he smelt the air, for all the world like a wild animal savouring its unfettered surroundings.

  Remembering her conversation with Adam’s brother on New Year’s Eve, Hannah said softly, ‘Aye, it’s bonny, Joe.’ They exchanged a glance of pure understanding.

  ‘Be a devil in winter.’ Adam sat down, clasping his hands round his knees, and the others followed suit. ‘Working in the open air is all very well when it’s warm and sunny but come the bad weather it’s a different story.’

  ‘The mine’s no picnic whatever it’s like up top.’

  Adam stared at his brother. ‘Aye, I know that, man,’ he said. ‘I was just saying, that’s all.’

  A silence fell on the four of them for a minute or two. Then Hannah said, ‘Do you want to come and see the orchard now? Farmer Shawe said you could pick some apples and plums to take with you if you want and there’s a sack of stuff in the kitchen from Jake.’

  As Joe and Naomi stood to their feet, Adam pulled Hannah up, keeping his arm round her waist as he said to his brother and sister, ‘You go to the orchard, we’re going for a walk. We’ll see you later, all right?’

  The twilight was stretching shadows across the path as Joe and Naomi went one way, towards the farm buildings, and Adam led Hannah down the slope and into one of the fields which had been harvested. Hannah glanced after the others nervously. ‘Farmer Shawe and Jake will be back by now, they’ll likely be wanting something to eat.’

  ‘They can wait.’ He pulled her towards a haystack at the edge of the field. ‘I want some time alone with you.’

  She wanted that too.The air was intoxicating, carrying the scent of hot dry grass, and a blackbird was singing in one of the trees bordering the field.The evening was still, the warmth of the dying sun coating everything in a golden blanket and from somewhere near a bullfinch began to compete with the blackbird in song, the metallic sweetness as piercing as a fife.

  Adam pulled her against him when they reached the stack of hay, his back against it as he kissed her hard. ‘I’ve missed you,’ he said throatily. ‘Have you missed me?’

  ‘So much.’

  ‘I could have killed your uncle when I heard what he’d tried to do.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter.’ She didn’t want to talk or think about her uncle, it would spoil this wonderful moment.

  ‘I love you, you know that, don’t you?’

  Her reply was smothered as he kissed her again and they swayed together, their mouths joined, for long minutes. Eventually, when he raised his head, she whispered, ‘I won’t be here for ever, I promise.’

  ‘I know that.’ The darkness was dropping fast now the sun had set. ‘And I can wait for you. Promise me you won’t look at another man. Promise.’

  ‘I promise. And you won’t see anyone else?’

  ‘How could I when I’ve got you?’

  ‘Promise me, Adam.’

  ‘I promise.’ He moved her slightly from him, looking down into her flushed face. ‘I can’t pretend I like you being so far away and with him, of all people, but I can see you couldn’t very well stay where you were. That Daniel Osborne,’ his eyes were very intent, ‘does he know about me? That we’re walking out?’

  ‘Daniel? Aye, he does. Everyone does.’

  He smiled. ‘Good.’ He pulled her roughly against him again and pressed his mouth on hers and when they sank down onto a bale of hay she made no protest, not until his hand slid up under her dress. Then with a wriggle she drew away and stood up.

  ‘I want you, Hannah.’ His voice was thick and his face looked red and hot. ‘Now, today, I want you.’

  ‘I want you too, but not until . . . You know. I’d be frightened.’

  ‘There’s nothing to be frightened of.’ He stood up, holding her as he whispered, ‘There’s not, I promise. You’re my lass, I don’t want anyone else and one day when I’m working again we can start saving up.You can start putting away your bottom drawer now, can’t you?’

  ‘Oh, Adam.’ She stared at him, her eyes shining, but when the hands holding her moved down to her buttocks and she felt his body stir as he pressed her to him, she said, ‘I can’t, Adam. I daren’t. Even the first time things can happen.’

  ‘You mean a bairn? I wouldn’t let it.’

  ‘You say that but it might. I love you, I do, but I don’t want a bairn out of wedlock. I want everything done proper in the church.’

  ‘You’re holding me to ransom?’

  ‘No.’ Her indignant voice had the ring of truth. ‘I don’t mean it like that, I’m just trying to explain. It’s not right if you aren’t married, you know that as well as I do.’

  ‘Nothing would happen, not once.’

  ‘There’s plenty of girls who’ve ended up in the workhouse who were told that.’

  ‘You think I’d do that to you? Let you down?’

  ‘No, but things happen.You could have an accident, anything, like when Beattie Irvin’s lad fell under the tram.’

  ‘If you loved me you’d want to do it as much as I do.’

  ‘That’s not fair. I do love you, you know I do.’

  ‘All right, all right, don’t start crying.’

  ‘I do love you.’

  ‘Aye, I know.’ He took off his cap and ran his hand through his hair before stuffing it on his head again, saying, ‘Come on, we’d better get back to the others. Wipe your eyes or else they’ll wonder what’s been going on.’ He passed her a handkerchief from his pocket.When she handed it back to him he touched her cheek with his fingers, his voice gentler when he said, ‘Once I’m back at work things’ll be easier.’

  She couldn’t see how Adam being in work would make this particular thing easier but she didn’t say so. She didn’t want to start them quarrelling again. Her voice deepened by the catch of tears, she said,‘I couldn’t bear it if we weren’t together.’

  He put his hand under her soft chin and lifted up her mouth, kissing her full on her half-open lips. ‘Aye, all right, don’t fret. We’ll work this out.’

  ‘And you’ll come again next Sunday?’

&nb
sp; ‘Aye, if you want me to.’

  ‘I do, I do.’ For a moment she was tempted to give in and do what he wanted but the fear of what the priests preached, and not least the terrible stigma of falling for a bairn, proved stronger than her desire to please him.A woman could rise above anything except having a bairn when she wasn’t married. It was the only thing you were really looked down on for, and no decent man would look the side you were on once it had happened. Beattie Irvin had been a bonny lass with lovely golden hair but after her mam and da had thrown her out, she’d been forced to go into the workhouse and now she was stuck in there until the bairn was fourteen years old. ‘I love you,’ she said again.

  ‘An’ I love you so everything’s all right, isn’t it?’

  Was it? She hoped so.

  They walked back to the farmhouse arm in arm and as they neared it, Hannah saw Jake talking to Joe and Naomi at the juncture where the lane split. Joe had a large sack at his feet and Naomi was holding a basket of fruit and they were all laughing. Hannah felt Adam stiffen at the side of her and it caused her voice to tighten when she called, ‘All ready to go?’

  ‘Aye, it’ll be dark soon.’ Joe answered her but he was looking at Adam, and it was to his brother he said, ‘Jake’s sorted Mam a few things.’

  Adam said nothing to this. His gaze went from Joe to Jake who was standing silently surveying them.‘You’ve been riding then?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘With the boss, I understand.’

  Jake said, ‘Aye,’ once more in the same flat tone but his dark eyes had narrowed at the note in Adam’s voice.

  ‘Don’t the others mind?’

  ‘The others?’

  ‘The rest of ’em who live and work here, the ones who were around long before you turned up on the scene. Don’t they mind you being the blue-eyed boy?’

  Jake stared at his half-brother a few moments more before turning to Joe at the side of him. ‘Tell Mam I’ll call by on market day once I’ve finished the farm business. And mind you take all of that medicine I gave you, all right? That cough’s hung about too long.’

  ‘I’ll do that, Jake.’

  ‘Thanks for all the stuff, Jake.’ Naomi grinned at him, then said, ‘Come on, Adam, else it’ll be too dark to see where we’re going. ’Bye, Hannah. I’ll see you next week.’

  ‘’Bye,’ said Hannah a little lamely as Adam left her side without a word and joined the others, whereupon they all turned and began to walk off. ‘See you next week,’ she called after them but it was Joe and Naomi who turned and waved. Adam marched ahead, his back stiff.

  As the three disappeared from view Hannah said quietly, ‘I’ll see to the tea now.’

  ‘Aye, all right.’

  ‘I’m - I’m sorry about Adam.’

  He looked at her, the eyebrow on the good side of his face quirking. ‘Why are you apologising for him? He’s my brother.’

  ‘But he wouldn’t have come today but for me being here.’

  ‘And you think that makes you responsible for his attitude? Adam’s a big boy now, Hannah, and so am I. You know as well as I do that there’s no love lost between us and nothing he does or says affects me so don’t worry your head on that score.’

  ‘He’s all worked up with the strike having gone on so long.’

  ‘Possibly.’

  ‘I’m not making excuses for him—’ She stopped abruptly.That was exactly what she was doing and they both knew it.

  They stared at each other for a moment and what she read in Jake’s eyes humbled her. He had extended the olive branch in allowing Adam to come here and had virtually been slapped round the face with it but there was only kindness and a kind of grim humour in his expression. She found herself wondering how she could ever have been frightened of this man.

  ‘You said something about tea,’ he reminded her.‘My stomach’s thinking my throat’s been cut.’

  She smiled as he had meant her to, and together they walked to the farmhouse.

  ‘What’s all this, “I’ll do that, Jake” and, “Thanks for all the stuff, Jake”?’ Once they were out of sight of the farm, Adam stopped dead and confronted his brother and sister, his face red with anger. ‘Lick his boots while you’re about it, why don’t you?’

  ‘Aw, give over, man.’ Joe’s voice was conciliatory. ‘We were only being civil, weren’t we, Naomi?’

  Naomi nodded, her small full mouth set in a straight line. She was sick and tired of Adam acting up every time Jake was around and considering they were at the farm, Jake’s territory, she thought her brother had got a real cheek. And all the food Jake had given them too. Adam could at least have shown some gratitude.

  ‘He acts as though he’s God Almighty and you two were encouraging it.’

  ‘We were just talking, that’s all,’ Joe said quietly.

  ‘Talking, huh!’

  ‘Aye, talking. People do talk, you know.’

  ‘And what’s this medicine he’s given you? Why can’t you get something in town?’

  ‘He’s had medicine from the apothecary, you know he has,’ Naomi said, ‘and it’s done no good. Neither has that mixture that old Ma Tollett rustled up, apart from make him gag every time he swallowed it.’ Naomi glared at her brother. ‘And medicine costs money, don’t forget that.’

  ‘So what’s so special about this Jake’s given him?’

  ‘Don’t talk about me as though I’m not here.’ It was rare Joe got angry and now Naomi and Adam both turned and stared at him as he said tersely, ‘It’s a brew the old woman Hannah stayed with when she first came to the farm makes up. She bakes something called a wurzel, a vegetable the animals have, with honey and special herbs and sloes and a whole host of bits and then you drink the juice of it. It cures the worse coughs, so Jake says. It’s a recipe handed down through generations. She gave me a couple of spoonfuls when Jake took us in to see her and collect a bottle while we were waiting for you and Hannah and it’s helped already.’

  ‘All getting very friendly then.’

  ‘Don’t be daft, man.’ Joe’s voice was low and harsh and again Adam and Naomi were taken aback. For as long as they could remember, Joe had followed where Adam led; with only twenty months separating their births, the two brothers had always been very close and Joe had somewhat hero-worshipped Adam.

  ‘I don’t think I’m being daft.’

  ‘He heard me cough and he was trying to help, that’s all.And there’s enough food in this sack to keep us going a couple of days and more, and don’t tell me we don’t need it. The least you could have done was thank him.’

  ‘Me thank him? Why should I thank him when you two were slobbering all over him?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that.’

  ‘Oh aye, an’ pigs fly.’

  ‘There’s no reasoning with you when you’re like this.’ Joe began walking again, the sack slung over his shoulder, and after a moment Naomi and Adam followed.

  After a silence which lasted until they reached the Sunderland Road, Adam said, ‘You still coming on the march tomorrow?’

  ‘Course I’m coming on the march.’ Joe looked at his brother. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’

  Adam shrugged. ‘Didn’t know if you wanted to be in my company with the poor opinion you’ve got of me.’

  Joe hesitated. There had been real hurt in Adam’s voice. ‘Look, man, you’re my brother and I think a bit of you, you know that, but fair’s fair, that’s all I was saying. But it’s not worth falling out about, nowt is.’ He held out his hand and after a moment Adam took it and the two of them shook hands.

  ‘Thank goodness for that.’ Naomi was red in the face from carrying the big basket of fruit.‘Mam’s got enough on her plate without you two acting up. Here,’ she held out the basket to Adam, ‘my arms are six inches longer. You carry it the rest of the way.’

  ‘I can’t, I’m not going straight home, I’m meeting someone.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘None of your business, madam.’ His good temper re
stored by Joe’s capitulation, Adam took one of the apples out of the basket and bit into it with strong white teeth. ‘I’ll see you both later, all right?’

  As they watched Adam walk away, Naomi turned to Joe. ‘Who’s he meeting, do you know?’

  Joe shrugged. He had a good idea and he felt bad about it but with Naomi being Hannah’s best friend, she was the last person he could tell. ‘You know Adam, it could be anyone.’

  Chapter 13

  The weather changed drastically over the next few weeks, northerners paying dearly for the hot Indian summer they had enjoyed. October came in with hail and icy sleet and after days of incessant rain, Hannah felt she was drowning in a sea of mud. She had thought the back lanes in the town were bad enough, but they were nothing compared to the oozing sludge that seemed to cover every square yard outside the farmhouse. When, after repeated requests for Jake and Seamus to scrape their boots on the massive cork mat inside the kitchen door Jake forgot for the umpteenth time and left a trail of mud on the newly scrubbed floor, she erupted.