A Mother’s Gift: Two Classic Novels

By the time they reached the gate, the men had covered every possibility. ‘Maybe he saved a life by forfeiting his own?’ Ben speculated.

‘Mmm.’ The vicar nodded. ‘Or he may have shown true bravery during the Great War. Certainly his age suggests he could well have been called up to serve his country.’

Ben considered that. ‘Could be.’

Pausing in his stride, Mike Gray glanced back towards the headstone, now dim in the failing light. ‘Whatever that inscription means,’ he declared soundly, ‘we can assume that our Barney Davidson was a remarkable man.’

Hearing a scuffle behind a great yew that stood near the vestry, Chuck suddenly slipped his lead and raced off. While Ben called him back, the vicar had spotted a dark object lying on the ground. He stooped to pick it up. ‘Well, I never!’ He wiped off the smears of dirt and dampness with the cuff of his sleeve.

A knowing smile creased his face. ‘This must belong to one of our ladies,’ he said. ‘Maybe, if you were to return this, you might be privileged to discover the true nature of that inscription?’

‘Mary’s mother must have dropped it when she fell over earlier. I would gladly deliver the handbag.’ Ben recalled the young woman and those pretty lavender-blue eyes. It would be good to see her again, he thought. ‘Only I don’t know where they live.’

‘Couldn’t be easier. They live at Knudsden House – you must know the place,’ the Reverend Gray prompted. ‘I recall admiring it when I came into the village for the first time. It’s that big Edwardian house, with the large, beautifully kept gardens. You can’t miss it.’

Ben had seen the place. An architect by training, he took a keen interest in the buildings around him. ‘Of course!’ he cried. ‘It’s the one set back from the lane, behind tall iron gates.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘I would never have guessed they lived there.’ Somehow, despite the elegant walking stick, and the chauffeur-driven car, he had pictured the women living in a large rambling cottage, with thatched roof and roses growing at the door.

The vicar remarked thoughtfully, ‘According to my housekeeper, Knudsden house used to belong to the village squire; he passed on some twenty years ago, and the house was put up for sale.’

Taking a moment to recall his housekeeper’s exact words, he went on, ‘It was then bought by Mr Davidson and his wife. Their daughter Mary was just an infant at the time. They were a family who preferred to keep themselves very much to themselves.’

There was a silence as Ben digested all of this information.

The vicar added thoughtfully, ‘For a long time they rarely ventured out. In recent years though, they have concerned themselves more with the community, and have given generously to any good cause; the daughter with her time and labour, and the mother with cash donations.’

‘Hmh! For someone who knows very little about the family, you seem to have gathered a fair amount of information.’

‘So I have.’ The vicar had surprised himself. ‘Don’t forget, I have my spies,’ he said wryly. ‘My housekeeper comes from a long line of gossips who’ve lived in this village since time began, so it goes without saying that what she doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing. Mind, the dead are good at keeping secrets – and even she doesn’t know the answer to the mystery of that inscription.’

When the Labrador bounded up, Ben grabbed his lead and wound it around his wrist. He shivered. The temperature had dropped, almost while they were talking.

‘And what about the daughter?’ Ben asked. ‘Did she attend the village school?’

‘No. Mary was educated at home. A tutor arrived each morning and departed every afternoon.’ The vicar’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘It must have been a very lonely life for a little girl.’

Ben was thinking the very same, and his heart went out to her. ‘So, as far as you know, she never made friends?’

‘From what I’m given to understand, the daughter has no close friends, but she does get on very well with the two women who help them out. Elsie Langton does a bit of housekeeping. Her married daughter Rona works in the flower-shop. Mary is closer to Rona, which is understandable when they’re at the shop together most days.’

Ben had heard the name. ‘Is that the same Langton who keeps the smithy on the farm adjoining mine?’

‘That’s the father. He doesn’t own the farm, I know that much, but he makes a reasonable living, what with his smithy and the market-gardening. The Langton family are closer to the Davidsons than anyone else in the village.’

‘What about the man who drives for them?’

Again, the vicar was able to satisfy his curiosity. ‘Adam Chives is an old friend of Mrs Davidson’s who comes from Liverpool. He’s a quiet, well-liked man who lives in the cottage next to the big house.’ He passed the handbag to Ben. ‘I really must stop chatting and be on my way. I’ll leave this with you, shall I?’

‘I won’t be able to return it straight away.’ Ben took the handbag from him. ‘I’ve got hungry animals to be fed.’

‘Of course. I understand.’ Having worked all his adult life in rural parishes, the vicar was familiar with the way of things. ‘The animals don’t know or care what day it is, they still need tending.’ He gave a knowing nod. ‘Much like my own flock, eh?’

Ben examined the handbag; it was an expensive-looking leather one. ‘I wonder we didn’t notice this on the ground before,’ he remarked. ‘I mean, you could hardly miss it, could you?’

The vicar agreed, but just then he spotted a small, round person calling his attention from the lane. ‘That’s Betty … my housekeeper,’ he groaned. ‘No doubt she’s landed herself in another crisis. Last week she broke the new vacuum cleaner; the week before that she let the bathroom sink overflow and nearly flooded the Vicarage.’

He rolled his eyes heavenward. ‘The Lord only knows what kind of chaos she’s been up to now!’

He waved a hand to let her know he was on his way. ‘I’d best go,’ he grumbled, ‘before the house comes tumbling down round our ears!’ His good-natured laugh told Ben he would probably forgive the housekeeper her latest mishap.

‘What about the handbag?’ Ben called after Mike Gray. ‘What if it doesn’t belong to them?’

‘Then it will belong to someone else, I suppose,’ the man turned and answered. ‘But we won’t know until you ask, will we? Just take the handbag with you. You can return it to Knudsden House, after you’ve seen to your animals.’

His wink was meaningful. ‘Besides, I saw you and young Mary chatting, and if you don’t mind me saying, I thought you made a right handsome pair. I’m sure she would be very pleased if you turned up on her front doorstep.’

Then he was away, rushing down the lane with a sense of urgency, following the small round person tripping on in front, shouting over her shoulder and seeming frantic about something or another.

Smiling to himself, Ben went on his way. A vicar’s life wasn’t as dull as he’d imagined. Then he thought about Mary, and his mood softened. The vicar was right: he and the girl had got on very well, though whether she really would be pleased to see him turn up on her doorstep was another matter altogether.

Away from the church-grounds and into open countryside, he set the dog loose. ‘And don’t go splashing through the brook!’ he called after the big animal. ‘I haven’t got time to give you a bath today.’ He had more important things to do. Uppermost in his mind was the proposed visit to Knudsden House.

Striding across the field, he kept a wary eye on the dog; when the Labrador took off after a rabbit, he called him back. ‘Here, Chuck! Good boy.’

On his master’s call, Chuck came bounding back, but was soon off again at the sight of another dog being set loose across the field. Seeing the reason for his pet’s excitement, Ben let him have his head, smiling at the sight of Chuck canoodling with the smaller, prettier animal. ‘Casanova! Chase anything in a skirt, so you would,’ he said aloud.

Covering the ground at a fast pace, he drew his coat tighter about him; the wind was getting up, the skies were darkening and the smell of storm was strong in the air. He called the dog to heel, but by now he was nowhere in sight. ‘Chuck! Here, boy!’ He scoured the landscape, and called again, but the dog was gone.

Ben was nearly home now. Quickening his steps, he made for the top of the rise. From there he had the world at his feet, and the dog in his sights. ‘C’mon, fella!’ But Chuck was too engrossed in dancing after his fancy piece. With a sterner voice Ben caught his attention. ‘Here, boy!’ he bellowed.

With ears pricked and head bent to the wind, the dog raced up the hill and was soon close to heel. A few minutes later the two of them were hurrying down the path to the farmhouse.

‘I’m off now, Mr Morris.’ The old man came through the field gate and clicked it shut. ‘I shan’t be sorry to get home,’ he told Ben. ‘It’s turned real chilly all of a sudden.’ Taking off his flat cap, he scratched his head and looked up to the skies. ‘I reckon it’s blowing up a real nasty storm.’

Ben agreed. ‘You’re right,’ he observed. ‘Mind how you go and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

When Ben bought the farm, old Les had been part and parcel of the place. Ben had never regretted agreeing to keep him on because he was hardworking and reliable, a real treasure; besides which he had a cheery wife to keep, and a lazy good-for-nothing grandson, who showed up from time to time looking for a handout, and though he was more trouble than he was worth, poor old Les never turned him away.

‘I’ve stripped the tree-branches and brought them down,’ Les informed him now. ‘You’ll find them all stood up at the back of the barn, ready for chopping. By the time you’ve finished, there’ll be enough to keep the whole of Salford in firewood. Oh, and I’ve levelled that back field just as you asked – though you’ll need a new axle for the tractor. If you ask me it won’t last above another month at best.’

Quick to agree, Ben put a proposition to the old fella. ‘I think it’s time we had a new tractor altogether. What would you say to that, eh?’

The old man’s face lit up. ‘I’d say that were a blooming good idea!’

‘Right then. We’ll make arrangements to go and look at a few. Now get off home, Les, and take a well-earned rest.’

‘I could stay and help you with the animals if you like?’ From the moment he had shaken Ben’s hand, Les had recognised the good in him. His first impressions had proved right, for Ben was fair-minded, caring and generous, and though he had never worked on the land before he bought Far Crest Farm, he had taken to it like a duck to water.

‘The missus won’t mind,’ Les persisted. ‘Just say the word and I’ll be right behind you. We’ll have that lot fed in no time at all.’