Cowgirl (12 page)

As soon as I got in they asked me how it went.

“Fine,” I said. “He was angry, of course.”

I didn’t want to tell them Kate’s dad had said he’d take them straight to be killed, ’specially as I saw Gran and Darren looking so hopeful. They told me everyone had agreed taking them on to the Common was a good plan, apart from Roger. I realised that this time tomorrow all the cows might be on their way to the slaughterhouse, and all because of my big mouth.

That night I sat at the top of the stairs and listened to Mam talking on the phone. “Well, she takes
after me, Robbie … says it how it is… You should’ve called earlier – she’s in bed now… Scared, are you? It’s strange, Rob, but things are different round here. Everyone says it’s because of the cows. I don’t know. All I can say is that it’s different…”

When she hung up I watched her. She took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth. She picked up her lighter, then she stopped, sighed and pulled the cigarette out. Her head dropped back against the settee.

I went quietly downstairs.

“What are you doing out of bed?” she asked.

“Thirsty, Mam – really thirsty.” I went into the kitchen. “Want some water?”

“No.”

I filled and emptied a glass a few times, then I took a sip and went to the doorway of the lounge. Mam was staring at nothing. I walked to the settee and sat beside her. My heart was pounding. I thought she might tell me to go back upstairs, but I wanted to be with her. I sipped at the water and Mam didn’t say anything. We both just sat there staring at the TV that was off. I remembered sitting on that settee snuggled up to her. It was so long ago it felt like a dream.

“That was your dad on the phone,” she said.

“Oh, yeah,” I said as cool as I could. “What did he want?”

“I think he was a bit shook up by you having a go at him.”

“Just saying how it is,” I said.

Mam looked at me. “Did him good to hear it, ’specially coming from you. I know he’s all grins when we visit and you’d think he was in a holiday camp, but he wants to be out. He ended up inside because he’s gullible, Gemma. People took advantage of him. I know that now.”

I nodded. I wanted to keep her talking.

“Do I look angry, Mam?”

“Angry?”

“Yeah, have I got an angry sort of face?”

Like Sian,
I thought.

“No. Not at all. You’ve got a pretty face.”

I felt all hot suddenly. My throat went dry so I took another sip of water.

“What d’you do, Mam? In your job, like?”

“How d’you mean?”

“I just want to know what you do, cos I don’t know.”

“Well, there’s not a lot to say. It’s an electronics factory and I’m at the most boring end – sticking the parts in boxes as they come through.”

“And what do the parts do?”

Mam thought for a moment. “D’you know what?” she said. “I haven’t a clue. I can’t believe it. I’ve been working there a couple of years now and I haven’t a clue!” She shook her head and laughed.

“Why don’t you ask to do something else?”

“Shoving things in boxes is about my level, Gem,” she said. “That’s why I nag you about school and homework, because, I tell you, you don’t want a job like mine when you leave school – rots your brain. There are days when I feel like a robot.”

“What were you doing before?”

“Dole mostly, when I first left school. Then I had a job in the canteen at a car factory where I met your dad. I enjoyed that. I liked spreading the mash over the shepherd’s pie.”

“What happened?”

“You happened.”

“Sorry,” I said.

Mam’s forehead crinkled up. “I didn’t enjoy it that much, Gemma. I was happy to be pregnant.”

“I bet you could do something else, Mam.”

“What’s all this about?”

“Nothing, Mam. Just don’t like the thought of you not liking your job.”

She looked at me funny, like she was trying to suss
me out. “Can’t be too choosy round here, Gemma.”

“D’you think it’ll help, Mam – taking the cows on to the Common, I mean?”

“I’ve no idea, love, if I’m honest.”

We sat there for a while, then she chuckled.

“What?”

“Just remembered what you said to your dad… ‘Useless as a teat on a bull’.”

She started laughing, and that got me going. We laughed together and then we listened to the silence.

“C’mon now, love. Off to bed.”

“OK.” I took the glass back to the sink. When I turned she was still sat staring at the switched-off TV, on her own. I went back, and as I passed her I bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

“Love you, Mam.”

I ran upstairs and closed the door to my room. My heart was in my mouth. I got into bed and lay there in the dark, listening. I tried to remember if anyone apart from Mam had ever called me pretty, but I couldn’t.

I was up way too early the next day. I felt like electricity was running through me, I was so nervous. Darren was quiet at breakfast, and Mam seemed even more jittery than me.

“Mam, what’s up?”

“I suppose I should have said something last night, but it’s your dad…”

Darren stopped eating.

“He’s coming home next weekend.”

“You never said.”

“Yeah, well, there’s been so much going on. ‘Reintegration leave’, it’s called, and it’s just for
the weekend.”

Darren grinned, but I felt well annoyed – the timing was crap. Mam must have noticed, because she said, “I want us all to have an easy time, Gemma. We got enough on our plates as it is, so let’s just make the most of it, please.”

“OK, Mam.”

By the time we got to the terrace everyone was out of their backyards with their cows. Gran was fussing from the off. She got Darren, Ryan and Jamie to take a table over to the Common, as she wanted to offer her cheese and butter to people. Then everyone was standing and waiting in silence.

“Oh, let’s go before I burst,” Gran said.

“You sure now, girl?” Roger asked.

“We’ve phoned Defra,” said Gran. “We’ve told them what we’re doing and I’m true to my word.
Que
sera, sera,
as Doris Day said. So away we go.”

We led the cows down towards the Common. Mam walked alongside Gran with Jane. I went with Karuna, Mr Banerjee and Peggy, and Darren walked with Morris and Donna. It was so tense.

When we got to the end of the alley and I saw the Common I was shocked – there were loads and loads of people there. Some held up boards saying
“Save the Bryn Mawr Dozen”. At the far end of the Common the other cows were being led on to the grass by their carers.

“Amazing,” Karuna said.

The Bryn Mawr Dozen were out in the open, and the TV cameras were there to see it. Gran turned to me with a big grin. “It’s like the times we had fetes here, Gemma.”

As soon as the cows got on to the grass they started chomping away and the people stood in a huge circle, as if they were protecting them. For a while we just watched the cows eating. They tugged and chewed at grass like they were in competition with each other. All you could hear was their munching and snorting.

Slowly, people drifted about meeting the cows and talking to their carers. It wasn’t long before a police van arrived, lights flashing. About five or six policemen stepped out and looked around. I don’t think they knew what to make of it.

People were packed around Gran’s cheese-tasting table and stuffing themselves. “Lovely,” a woman said as she ate. I recognised her as one of the ladies at the crossing when we’d brought the cows down.

“So what’s happening with these beauties, Lilly?” she asked.

“We don’t know yet, Lorna,” said Gran. “Mr Thomas has been told they’re here. We’re expecting him any moment and we’re just hoping for the very best.”

“It’s nice having them around,” she said. “Sort of calming effect they have, don’t they?”

“It’s like I’ve always had her,” said Gran, stroking Jane. “She’s got a gentle temperament. If I could have her in the lounge of an evening I would. And look what she gives us.” She waved at the cheese and butter on the table.

Lorna nodded. “Aye. Here, take this.” She offered Gran some money.

“Oh, I’m just sharing the cheese, Lorna,” said Gran. “Not selling it.”

“And I’m not buying,” she replied. “It’s for the cows.”

She put two pounds on the table and went. The coins looked like gold, twinkling in the sunlight. I glanced at Gran just as the TV reporter came up to her.

“D’you own this cow, madam?” he asked.

“No, dear. She’s God’s own cow.”

“No. What I meant was––”

“Here, try some of this.” Gran shoved some cheese at the reporter and stopped him in his tracks.

Then I heard a loud click and a voice said, “
Can I have your attention, please
…” It was a policeman holding a megaphone. “
These cows are not allowed on this public ground
…”

Standing next to the policeman were Mr Thomas and Kate. Somehow she seemed smaller, as if she’d turned into Kate’s imaginary younger sister. She gazed at all the people, and when she spotted me I felt my insides turn. I wondered what she was thinking of us all.

“
They were moved from their farm without the correct notification. So by order of the Department of Environment they have to be inspected,”
said the policeman. “
We don’t want any fuss, just let the Defra inspector do his job and check them over.”

The man from Defra was wearing wellies and had a clipboard. He turned to Kate’s dad. “Are they yours?”

Mr Thomas nodded.

The nearest cow to the inspector was Donna. She seemed nervous, and I can’t blame her. “Looking after her, I am,” Morris said to the Defra man. “She’s fine.”

“I need to inspect this cow,” he said, but Morris stood in his way.

“Don’t take her off me,” he pleaded.

Gran called to him and Morris reluctantly shuffled
aside. The Defra man checked the tag on the cow’s ear and ticked his clipboard.

“What have you been feeding her?” he asked Morris.

“Hay and grass. Took her here the other day to stretch her legs and have a feed.”

The Defra man touched Donna’s udders. She mooed. “Seems fine,” he said.

“That’s what I told you,” said Morris.

We watched in silence as the Defra man inspected the rest of the cows. The carers glared at him as he went from one to the next. Finally, he went up to Mr Thomas and had a word with him.

“Here we go,” said Gran. “The moment of truth.”

Mr Thomas went over to the policeman and was given the megaphone.

“
These cows were taken from my farm without permission
…” His voice echoed around the Common. “
You all knew that when you took them in. The police say I could press charges
…”

Murmurs came from the crowd.

“
No harm seems to have come to them, but you took them, you can bring them back. So here’s the deal. If they’re all up at my farm by the end of today, I won’t take matters any further.”

He handed the megaphone back to the policeman.
As he walked away, the crowd parted. The shrunken version of Kate was left standing by herself, and all you could hear were the cows pulling and chewing at the grass.

People spoke in whispers as I walked towards Kate. I didn’t know what she was going to say – maybe she’d be angry and blame me. She gazed around as if she was wondering why there were so many people on the Common.

“Sorry, Kate,” I said. “This was all my idea, and it was me who told the papers.”

“Was it?” she said sadly. “Glad it’s over and finished with, to be honest.”

“Did he mean it last night about the cows going to slaughter?” I asked her.

“I don’t know. He has to find a new buyer, or take
them to market, and that means more time and money.”

Gran came over to us, with Mam, who had her arm around Darren. “I’m so sorry, Kate,” she said. “It just goes to show you can make bad decisions even at my time of life.”

“It’s OK, Lilly,” said Kate. “I started it all off.”

The cow-carers gathered around us. They were all so sad.

“C’mon,” said Gran. “No point delaying the inevitable. Enough damage has been done. Let’s get these cows back up Craig-y-Nos.”

“I don’t want to give her back,” Morris said as he stroked Donna.

“Nor do any of us,” said Gran. “We got carried away, taking those cows, but what we did was plain wrong and now we have to face the consequences. It was lovely having them all on the Common, and me giving out the cheese reminded me of the fetes we used to have here.” She turned to Kate. “You going to take them all up in one go?”

“No. Six at a time, like we took them down.”

“Take Jane up in the first lot, would you?” said Gran.

Jane looked up from her chewing as if she’d heard. Gran walked up to her. “I’ve got to say goodbye to
you, Jane, my beauty. Thanks for your milk, and thanks for keeping me company too.”

Gran kissed her on the head. I had to hold my breath to stop myself bursting into tears.

“Stay with her, Lilly,” said Kate. “We’ll take her second time around. She was first down, let her be the last up.”

Gran smiled.

We herded six cows together, and then me, Kate and Darren started on our way. The people that had cared for the cows began to follow us.

Kate turned to them. “S’all right, we can manage.”

“We want to come, love,” said Maria Bracchi. “We’ve got nothing else to do.”

People watched us taking the six cows across the High Street and on towards Craig-y-Nos hill. It was sad, like a funeral procession. Cars stopped and waited for us to pass. As we got near to the motorway bridge Gran called on my mobile.

“What’s up, Gran?”

“
It’s Donna – something’s wrong
.”

“How d’you mean?”

“
I don’t rightly know.
”

I could hear Donna mooing in the background, but she didn’t usually make much noise. I passed the phone to Kate. She listened to Gran, then said, “OK.
I’ll be there soon.” She turned to us. “I need to go back.”

“What about the cows?”

“Take them into the field by the bridge, for now. Darren, you know where.”

He nodded.

“I won’t be long,” said Kate. “Probably something and nothing.”

I went with her, but her usual slow, plodding walk soon turned into fast strides.