Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 2: The Loner, Born Bad, Three Letters

Maggie had an idea. ‘We’ve all been working our fingers to the bone, and we’re tired. I say we should stop for a few minutes and have one o’ my delicious scones, with a cup of tea – then we’ll get on with the sandwiches. What d’you say, eh?’

The girls were all for it. Lucy put the kettle on, while Maggie and Peggy got out the scones and cream, with a dish of straw berry jam made last summer.

No sooner was the table set for three, than the kettle was whistling and the tea was made, and they all sat down with a sigh of relief.

‘What’s tickling you, young lady?’ Maggie had already noticed how Lucy kept smiling to herself, and when she wasn’t smiling she was singing, and when she wasn’t singing, she was looking out the window. ‘As I recall, there’s only one thing that makes a young woman as happy as you seem to be, and that’s a young man.’ And the only young man she could match with Lucy, was Dave.

Lucy’s face grew pink. ‘I’m saying nothing,’ she remarked coyly. ‘You’ll know soon enough.’ And beyond that she would not be drawn.

By 7 p.m. lanterns and fairy-lights had been switched on to light the way to the barn. There was plenty of space in an adjoining field for cars. About seventy people were expected, and the trestle tables, covered in white sheets, were groaning under the weight of party food for the evening’s festivities, alongside barrels of beer, and cider, bottles of wine and pop for the teetotallers. To eat, there were platters of sliced boiled ham or roast ham shanks and fat beef sandwiches and pork pies enough to feed an army, plump chicken breasts and grilled sausages, and bowl after bowl of boiled potatoes, sprinkled with mint and herbs. One table alone held all the sweet things – trifles and tarts, and cakes to suit all tastes: chocolate, and fruit, and ginger, and plates of fancies.

‘Good God above, Maggie!’ Frank had come to inspect the barn. ‘There’s enough grub here to feed the whole of Bedfordshire.’

‘Nobody ever goes hungry at my parties, that’s for sure,’ she announced proudly.

By the time people started arriving, the balloons were up, the banners were hung, and the trio of musicians – violin, squeezebox and flute, played the partygoers in.

Lucy was kept busy meeting and greeting, helping people with their coats and settling them in, while Dave remained by the door, watching out for one particular partygoer, and hoping against hope that he would turn up.

By nine-thirty the party was well underway, with the guests redfaced and merry, performing the old traditional country dances while the caller, a local farmer named Ned Kirby, nagged, cajoled and teased them through the steps.

Amid the gales of laughter, Dave went up to Lucy and said, ‘There’s still no sign of him. I don’t suppose he got my letter. Or if he did, maybe he wasn’t able to come all this way.’

Lucy was trying to console him, when suddenly Dave caught sight of a familiar figure coming through the crowds. ‘Eli!’ Small and wick, with a smile on his wrinkled old face, the old man had not changed.

Dave ran to meet him. ‘Oh, Eli, it’s so good to see you! I really thought you weren’t able to make it.’

Eli gave him a big hug. ‘Then you don’t know me as well as you think ye do,’ he said, his face wreathed in a delighted grin. ‘It would have taken wild horses to keep me away. Mind, me car wasn’t too keen on the journey from Blackpool, but it’s having a good long rest in yon field.’

Lucy came up beside them. ‘So, this is your friend?’ If it hadn’t been for the old fella, Lucy knew that Dave would never have found his way here, to her, and the good life he now enjoyed.

Eli looked at her with wide eyes. ‘By, but she’s pretty! This must be the young woman you told me about in your letter … Lucy, isn’t it?’

He held out his hand in greeting, but Lucy threw her arms round his neck, thanking him for the help he had given to Dave. ‘If it wasn’t for you, we might never have met,’ she said thankfully. Dave had told her all about his life on the run, and she knew that Eli had been a major force for good, helping to bring that way of life to an end.

Eli nodded. ‘Brian Moult got what he deserved,’ he told Dave, accepting a glass of beer and a plate of food from a stable girl acting as a waitress for the evening. Lucy left the men and went to help her.

‘Not long after you took off, the truth got out about his wrongdoings. He was put away for some years – him and the other fella, and good shuts to the pair of ’em, is what I say!’

Dave was relieved, but curious. ‘How did they get caught out?’

Eli winked knowingly. ‘I expect somebody snitched on ’em, eh?’ He chuckled wickedly. ‘I mean, they must have made a lot of enemies, wouldn’t ye say?’

Dave understood. ‘You’re an old rascal, but you’re worth your weight in gold.’ He would never forget what Eli had done for him.

Drawing closer to the lad, Eli had some more news for him. ‘There’s something you need to know,’ he said. ‘This is going to blow your socks off. By, you’ll really be celebrating when you get a load of this.’ He took a long swallow of his beer while Dave waited patiently.

‘Your Mr Babraham …’ he said unexpectedly, and when Dave went white, he leaned forward and grasped his arm. ‘He didn’t die,’ Eli said in his ear. ‘He lived – and was able to identify his attackers. It was in the local paper last week. The police had been looking for them ever since he recovered from the incident. They found them when they committed a big burglary in Sheffield, and connected them with that other job. You’re in the clear, lad. The police aren’t looking for anyone else. I reckon he told them how you helped him, eh? Come on, now.’ He looked kindly at the stricken young man. ‘You need a drink. You can fill my glass up an’ all while you’re at it. There’s a fair bit o’ dust in me throat from the journey, so it’s medicinal, mind.’

The old and young man went over to replenish their glasses, and then Dave, feeling light-headed with this wonderful piece of news, led Eli over to where Frank was chatting to Maggie. He introduced Eli as ‘the man who saved my hide, more than once’.

‘Well, Eli my man,’ Frank shook him by the hand, ‘you did us all a favour, and any time you’re passing through these parts, you’ll always be made welcome here. I hope you will be our guest tonight, and for the rest of your stay.’

Maggie reached forward and embraced the little man fondly. Her Ted and Eli had been best buddies for years, closer than any brothers, and she knew he had mourned with her when Ted had died. She herself had supported Eli, writing to him often when his missus had become ill and passed away, two years ago now. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him; he had a heart of gold.

‘Come and sit down and have your food now,’ she tutted. ‘You must be worn out with that long drive down. Where did you stay overnight?’

‘Oh, I stopped off in Coventry to take a look at the new Cathedral,’ he told them all. ‘My goodness, it’s a corker.’ Truth be told, the old chap had enjoyed his drive down, had found so much to look at and admire. He’d been too long in Blackpool, that was for sure. And Billy Joe’s Fairground had long since lost its attraction for him.

‘What are your plans, Eli?’ Frank asked, eyeing the visitor shrewdly.

‘Watch him, Eli,’ Maggie warned light-heartedly. ‘Next thing you know, he’ll be setting you to work on the stud.’

‘Not me,’ Eli announced. ‘I’m past all that. I’ve rolled up my overalls, and now I mean to see some of the world, before it’s too late. I’ve got a few bob in the Post Office, an’ me feet are itchy.’ He glanced out at the star-studded sky. ‘It’s a big old world out there, an’ I’m getting no younger. The sooner I get going, the more I’ll see of the Master’s creation, before He calls me home.’

His prophetic words moved them to silence.

But it wasn’t long before they were back in the thick of the celebrations.

The evening was a wonderful success. Frank and Maggie danced almost every dance; Eli found himself a partner and made a happy fool of himself, while Dave and Lucy swirled about the floor in each other’s arms. At times, it seemed the barn almost shook at the foundations.

Maggie was thrilled to see all the lovingly prepared food disappear in record time. The guests had brought hearty appetites along, which was just what she wanted.

Towards the end of the evening, Frank took the stage and called everyone together. ‘I have an announcement to make,’ he said, and when they were all suitably attendant, he went on in grand voice, ‘As you all know, Dave Adams came to us a few years ago, recommended by our good friend, Eli Clements. He has proved himself to be an important part of my business here. He gets on with everyone, and everyone respects him. He has taken to this work like a duck to water, and with Seamus gone, sadly under a cloud, I’ve decided to hand his job of head groom over to Dave.’

After the applause, there was more to come. ‘I reckon it’s about time that the new head groom had new quarters, so first thing on Monday morning, the builders are arriving to renovate Blueberry Cottage for him.’ Holding out his hands to a shocked and delighted Dave, he told him with a warm, proud smile, ‘Well done, son. Now, come and take your bow … you’ve earned it.’

The applause this time was deafening, because as Frank so rightly said, everyone had quickly come to like and respect this young man who had come to them years ago and joined their community.

Dave ran up onstage, knowing that, despite his shyness, he must acknowledge this announcement by Frank.

‘I really don’t know what to say,’ he told all assembled, and turned to Frank and shook his hand. ‘All I can tell you is, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’

Suddenly, Lucy was by his side. A bit flushed and merry from the cider, she kissed them both, before addressing the gathering, ‘Like you, I’m thrilled for Dave, but I too have an announcement to make. You see, Dave and I are engaged to be married …’

Both Frank and Dave were taken aback by this development, but the crowd loved it. Shouts of congratulations went up, and the clapping and stamping made a right old din.

‘I thought we weren’t going to say anything yet?’ Dave said in her ear.

‘I couldn’t wait,’ she laughed. ‘And anyway, I couldn’t let Daddy steal all the thunder.’

Dave went along with it all, and when the crowd demanded that he kiss his fiancée, he gladly obliged; with Frank joking to the delighted folk, ‘Looks like my daughter and I have both acquired a groom – the same one!’

The excitement was infectious, and everyone took their turn in congratulating Dave and Lucy.

‘I suspected all your smiling and singing was because of a certain young man,’ Maggie told Lucy smugly. ‘You’ve been bursting to tell us the news, and now all I can say is … be happy, the pair of you.’

Lurking outside at the rear of the barn was one dark-minded creature who had only bad wishes for the couple. Although his ticket back to Ireland was already bought, and he was due to sail to Dublin from Liverpool in two days’ time, Seamus Macintyre had no intention of leaving this farm with his tail between his legs. Oh, there were no shortages of jobs in Ireland, where the cream of the stud farms were situated, but it was the principle of the thing. He ground his teeth at the thought of the wasted years, spent waiting for a certain fruit to fall into his lap, only to see that gypsy brat run away with it.