Elm Tree Road (25 page)

‘This is my employer, Mr Easton.’

Stan stuck out his big hand and the two men shook. ‘Pleased to meet you, sir.’

‘Sit down and I’ll put the kettle on.’ It was a universal thing, a cup of tea – softened arguments, comforted you with its warmth. She’d never met anyone who didn’t enjoy a cup.

When Hugh joined them at the table, Stan’s smile faded. ‘If you don’t mind, sir, this is private business.’

‘I’m a good friend of Nell’s and I think she’d prefer me to stay.’

Stan looked across at her and shrugged as she nodded agreement. ‘Sorry about your dad, Nell. Poor old Bart went to pieces after you lot left. He wasn’t good at looking after himself and he’d been worrying about his health for a while.’

‘He never said anything.’

‘He wouldn’t talk about something like that. Too frightened of losing his job if they found out he got pains in his chest whenever he did the heavy work.’

‘Oh, I see. I’ve only recently come back to Swindon. I went to the house to see him and the new people told me he’d died. They said you’d cleared the house out, so we came to see you.’

‘Yes. Nice young couple they are, saved me a lot of trouble by buying half his stuff.’

‘It was very kind of you to do that, Stan.’

He shrugged. ‘He was a good drinking mate of mine, old Bart was, for all he could get a bit grumpy at times. I heard your Cliff had died too, but no one knows how. You know how tight-lipped them Greenhills are. Never tell anyone what’s going on unless it pays them to. How did he die?’

‘The gas cooker blew up. He was standing right next to it.’

Stan let out a long slow whistle. ‘Nasty, that. You’re all right, though. You didn’t get hurt?’

‘No, I was out at the shop. But our little daughter was killed too.’ She had to swallow hard to contain her grief. She could control it now, but it was always there.

He patted her arm awkwardly. ‘Aw, no. Hard to lose a kid. I don’t know where I’d be without my two stepsons. The eldest has started work now. I got him into a trade.’ He leant back and smiled. ‘So that’s two of you sisters still living near Swindon now, eh?’

Nell was so surprised by what he said that she splashed herself with the boiling water she’d been pouring into the teapot and cried out in pain.

Hugh jumped up and held her reddened hand under the cold tap. Stan went across to finish dealing with the teapot.

‘Which of my sisters have you seen?’ she asked from across by the sink, trying to pull her hand away from Hugh and failing.

‘Your Mattie. She’s living out at Shallerton Bassett now.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘Over to the west. Just a small village. Me and Bart went out to see her once.’

Nell burst into tears of joy and couldn’t speak coherently for a few moments, she was so glad to hear that Mattie was all right.

Hugh wrapped her hand in a damp tea towel and guided her to a chair.

Stan shoved a cup of tea in front of her.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s just … I wasn’t sure I’d ever see either of them again.’

Stan looked at her in surprise. ‘Has your Renie gone missing too?’

‘Yes. She was working in London and she just … vanished one day. No one knows why or where she is.’

‘She’ll be all right. That girl was born to land on her feet like a cat. Cheeky little madam, she is, but you couldn’t help liking her.’ He drained his cup and went to pour himself another one without asking.

By now Nell was clutching Hugh’s hand and happiness was tingling through her. ‘Do you have Mattie’s address, Stan?’

‘Not her actual address.’

She looked at him in sudden fear.

‘But I can tell you exactly where the house is. Big house it is too. Talk about landing on her feet. Some old lady left it to her. Oh, and she’s got herself married as well. He walks with a limp, but he’s a big strong fellow all the same. Bart tried to thump him. Stupid sod. Should have wished her well and stayed in her good books, like I did. She and I parted on good terms.’

‘Why did
you
go to see her?’

‘I had my reasons. Personal. I wanted to know something.’

‘Have you heard anything from her since?’

‘I sent word to her when Bart died, but it was her husband who came and sorted things out. I said I’d clear out the house and he told me to keep the money I got for the furniture. She didn’t want anything of his. I sent them
his bank book, though. I didn’t realise how much he’d got tucked away, the old devil.’

‘And you’ve not seen them since?’

‘No reason to. I go out along the Bath road sometimes, but I don’t think she’d welcome a visit from me, even though we smoothed things over that day.’ He looked at her and added, ‘I didn’t know Bart was trying to force her to marry me, you know. I thought she wanted to.’

‘He wasn’t kind to any of us, just used us for his own purposes.’ Then she turned to beam at Hugh. ‘I can’t believe Mattie’s married! Oh, I do hope she’s happy!’

‘She looked at the fellow fondly enough,’ Stan offered. ‘I’ve got wed, as well. Good lass, she is. Best cook I ever met, my Betsy. Got two sons. Great little chaps, they are. I never thought I’d enjoy being a father so much.’

‘Did you come all this way to tell me about Mattie? That was very kind of you.’

He shrugged. ‘I like to take my motor car out for a run now and then. Betsy usually comes with me, but she’s in the family way and she’s feeling a bit tired today.’

‘Congratulations.’

He smiled, a proud smile, without the old sharpness in it.

‘You must stay for lunch, Mr Telfor,’ Hugh said.

‘I won’t, if you don’t mind, Mr Easton, though I’d not mind another cup of tea if you can squeeze one out of that pot. I told Betsy I’d not stay out all day. I’ll just tell you first how to find your Mattie. You’d better write it down.’ He explained and Hugh made notes.

Nell didn’t need to make notes. She’d remember every word he said because she was longing to see her sister. ‘You
look as if you’re doing well for yourself, Stan,’ Nell said as she handed him a third cup of tea. ‘You must be, if you can afford a car.’

He tapped the side of his nose. ‘Ah. Not doing badly at all. Your Mattie’s not the only one to have had a bit of luck. I’ve been dealing in this and that for a while now, on the side, like, but I’m dealing for a living now. We clear houses out when someone dies, and we buy and sell old things. Not like pawnbroking. I never could fancy that. But antiques and second-hand furniture are different.’

He leant back, obviously happy to talk about his success. ‘You’d be surprised at how much some daft folk will pay for old dressers and such, even when they’re scarred and scratched. My partner knows a lot about antiques and he’s teaching me. I was no good at school, but I’ve picked this up quick, because it’s
real
stuff. My partner runs our auctions and does the valuations, but I do the house clearances and keep an eye on things at auctions to make sure no one stirs up trouble. It’s all done fair and proper, though.’

‘That’s wonderful.’

‘Never a dull moment. Beats slaving at the railway works. They don’t always treat you well when you get older and lose your strength. That’d been worrying your father for years. In my new trade I can work as long as I can stand upright, and I can get younger men to hump the heavy stuff around later on.’

When Stan had left, she went to sit down in the kitchen.

‘Happy?’ Hugh asked, with a smile of his own.

‘Very. I can’t believe how Stan’s changed. Wasn’t he talkative? I’m so glad for him. Um … can I have the day
off tomorrow, please, to go and find Mattie? It’ll take me all day, I’m afraid.’

‘No, certainly not.’

She looked at him in shock, this was so unlike him.

He chuckled as he took her hand. ‘I’m coming with you, and what’s more, we’re getting young Harry from the village to drive us in his motor car. Otherwise we’d spend half the day changing trains and we’d be stuck for transport out to the village once we got to Wootton Bassett.’

She relaxed again. ‘You’re so kind to me.’

‘It’s my pleasure.’

He was leaning forward, kissing her cheek when May came running into the kitchen from outside.

She stopped dead by the door, looking at them accusingly. ‘No!’ she cried and ran out again.

‘Nothing’s easy with May, is it?’ he said ruefully. ‘I’d better go after her, then I’ll nip into the village to see Harry.’

Nell let him go, wanting time on her own to take in the news that Mattie was well and living only twenty miles or so away.

But whatever Hugh had said to his niece didn’t reconcile her to finding the two of them kissing. May was sulky for the rest of the afternoon and hardly said a word to either of them all evening, while the looks she threw at Nell were angry and resentful.

Instead of her usual protests at any disturbance of her routine, May only shrugged when told to go to Pearl’s after school the following day and stay there until her uncle came to pick her up.

When it was time for May to go to bed, Nell stood up to go with her as usual.

‘I can get myself to bed, thank you!’

‘I’ll fill your hot-water bottle, then.’

‘I don’t want one.’ May stamped off up the stairs.

Hugh turned to Nell. ‘She’ll come round. It was just the shock of seeing us together.’ He frowned at the sounds of banging doors and things being thrown about that came from upstairs.

‘It seems to have really upset her.’

‘The world doesn’t revolve round her and she’ll have to learn that. I’m not letting anything come between us, Nell. And I’m not letting her be rude to you, either. You don’t deserve it.’

Children could be rude without saying a word, Nell thought sadly. The way May had behaved upset her, most of all because it reinforced what she’d been telling herself. There was such a big gap between Hugh and herself. Would things ever work out for them? Was that possible?

She woke in the night and it took her a while to get to sleep. And it wasn’t May or Stan she was thinking of, but Frank. He’d looked at her with such anger. Whatever Hugh said, she was sure it was no accident that he’d been passing.

Only how had he found her? She hadn’t given Mrs Greenhill her new address.

The following morning Harry picked them up early in his motor car, which he told Nell proudly was a Vauxhall A-Type. It was shining with polish, just as his face was shining with love for his vehicle.

Their washerwoman found out that morning that they were going out with Harry and would leave her to do the washing on her own. She told Nell that he’d spent nearly all of a small inheritance from an aunt on this vehicle and his family were upset about that, thinking he’d wasted it.

Mrs Compton seemed to know all the gossip in the village and no doubt that evening she’d be telling them about Nell and Mr Easton going out somewhere with Harry. She could only hope Mrs Compton hadn’t noticed her feelings for Hugh. Nell didn’t feel ready to face the world about that.

On his advice, she’d dressed up warmly today, wearing her mackintosh over her tweed suit, and using a long scarf he’d found for her to tie her hat on firmly.

‘How fast can it go?’ she asked Harry.

‘Thirty or forty miles an hour on the good roads, faster sometimes.’

She stared at him in horror. ‘Is that safe?’

‘You’ll be all right with me, Mrs Greenhill, I promise. I’m a good driver and this fine lady won’t let us down.’ He slapped one hand down proudly on the bonnet of his car. ‘The first car built like this won the RAC trial for two thousand miles in fifteen days as far back as 1908. They’re tried and tested by now, these A-Types are, though the man who owned this one didn’t understand cars and got into trouble with it a few times, which is how I got it so cheaply. Now, who wants to ride in the front?’

‘You ride in the front, Hugh. You know you want to talk to Harry about cars.’

‘Well, if you don’t mind, I would like to ask him about a few things as we go.’

She sat on the comfortably upholstered rear seat, feeling nervous at first, then getting used to travelling so fast. She held on tight to the strap though, as she listened to the two men’s conversation, smiling at Harry’s enthusiasm, wondering what some of the words he used meant. But she couldn’t be bothered to ask. She was too excited about seeing her sister again.

‘They said I’d wasted my money buying this car, Mr Easton, but I’m making a respectable living by repairing bicycles and other vehicles, and hiring my car out to people like yourself, so I don’t agree. I won’t let anyone else drive her, of course. And I’ve only just started. You’ll see. They’ll all see. I’m going to do much better before I’m
through, whatever anyone says. I’m going to sell motor cars.’

It was lovely to hear a young man with such ambition. He was only a year or two younger than Cliff had been, but what a difference there was between the two of them. This man had a happy open approach to the world.

She held on more tightly as they got to a main road and speeded up.

‘We’re going about fifty miles an hour now, Mrs Greenhill!’ Harry shouted back.

She’d rather go more slowly, thank you very much, and stay safe. Hugh clearly didn’t share her anxiety. He kept asking more questions about the car.

Nell let them talk. As long as they were heading towards the place where her sister lived, she’d put up with the speed. She’d do whatever it took to find Mattie again. Fly to the moon, if necessary.

When they stopped on the outskirts of Swindon, she was glad to get down for a moment or two, while Harry checked everything.

‘Do you want a longer break?’ Hugh asked.

‘No. I want to get to my sister’s as soon as we can.’

‘Sorry. I was so interested I forgot how impatient you’d be to see her. Come on, young Harry. Let’s be off again.’

They skirted the town centre and headed south-west to Wootton Bassett, then took the Bath road.

Harry suddenly yelled in triumph and pointed to a sign saying Shallerton Bassett. He turned off the main road, and as Stan had told them, the road sloped uphill for a couple of hundred yards. The roofs of a village came into view
downhill to their left, while to their right, further up the hill, stood a large house, three storeys high, with outbuildings at the rear. It was built of stone, which had weathered to a comfortable greyish colour, with a roof of large stone tiles. At the front there was a wall, with big double gates standing open onto the drive.

Nell stared at it in amazement. It was the sort of house you saw pictures of in magazines. It didn’t seem possible that Mattie could own one so grand. Surely they’d come to the wrong place?

They puttered more slowly up the narrow lane and into the drive, whose gates were open. Harry stopped the car outside the front of the house. ‘Here you are,’ he called unnecessarily.

Hugh helped Nell out of the vehicle, and as she turned round to look at the house again, the door opened and there was a loud shriek.

‘
Nell!
’

She ran towards her sister, sobbing and holding out her arms. ‘Mattie, Mattie, Mattie!’

The two of them met and twirled round, hugging and hugging again, then leaning back to study and pat each other’s faces. After that they held each other tightly, both sobbing uncontrollably.

A man came running round the side of the house, limping slightly. He stopped to stare in shock at the two women. He turned to Hugh. ‘What’s happening? Who’s the other woman with my wife?’

‘Nell. Mattie’s sister.’

‘Oh, thank goodness! I told her she’d find her sisters again one day, but she gets very sad about it sometimes.’
He stuck out his hand. ‘I’m Jacob Kemble, by the way, Mattie’s husband.’

‘Hugh Easton. Nell works for me but we’re also … um … getting to be good friends. This is Harry, who drove us here.’ But his eyes were on Nell, who looked radiantly happy, even through her tears.

Jacob studied him, head on one side, then smiled. ‘You mean, you love her. That’s obvious from the way you look at her.’ Then he frowned. ‘But wasn’t she married? To some fellow called Cliff Greenhill, if I remember correctly?’

‘She was, but he was killed. And her child with him.’

By this time, the two women had calmed down a little and turned to the men.

‘Jacob, come and meet my sister.’ Mattie fumbled in her pocket, not finding a handkerchief.

With a laugh, her husband handed her his. ‘Lost yours again, have you, love?’

Only then did Nell notice that Mattie was expecting. She couldn’t be far along, but there was no mistaking the reason for the curve of her belly against her slender body. ‘When is the baby due?’

Mattie beamed. ‘End of March, as far as we can tell. Look at us two, standing out here weeping like fools. Let’s go inside.’

‘I think we should leave you two to talk,’ Hugh said. ‘You’ve got a lot to catch up on.’

Nell hesitated. ‘Would you mind?’

‘Of course not. I’ll tell Mr Kemble what’s been happening to you.’

‘We can do that over a cup of tea and some of Cook’s
fruit cake, Mr Easton. And call me Jacob. I’m not one for mistering.’

‘I have to pour another can of petrol into the car,’ Harry said. ‘Though if anyone was to offer me a cup of tea and a piece of cake afterwards, I’d not say no.’

‘Cook loves feeding people. You’re very welcome.’ Mattie was already turning away with her sister.

Jacob watched her go with a fond smile on his face. ‘I like to see her happy.’

Harry agreed to drive the car round to the back of the house and Hugh followed Jacob and the two sisters inside, crossing the big hall and going through a door at the back to the kitchen.

Nell lingered to stare round the spacious hallway in awe. ‘I can’t believe you own a house like this.’

‘I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I’m not dreaming. Miss Newington, who used to own it, was such a lovely old lady. We were both sad when she died suddenly. Jacob had been working for her for a while, so why she left things to me instead of him, I’ve never understood. Still, it doesn’t really matter now we’re married, does it? What’s mine is his.’

‘How did you meet him?’

‘I got lost in a storm the night I ran away, and Jacob’s son Luke found me lying unconscious in the lane. He thought I was dead and ran for his dad. If he hadn’t found me, I’d have died, I’m sure.’

‘Your husband obviously loves you.’

Mattie’s face glowed with happiness. ‘Jacob’s a wonderful man, and so hard-working. He’s made a big difference to this house already. He has two children from
his first marriage, Luke and Sarah. They’re at school at the moment.’

‘Do you get on with them all right?’

‘I do now, though it wasn’t always easy at first. But they’re nearly as excited about the baby as I am.’ She hesitated, then asked, ‘What about Renie? You haven’t said a word about her.’

So Nell shared her news, crying again. ‘My daughter was called Sarah too, like your stepdaughter. She was such a lovely child.’

Mattie pulled her into another hug. ‘How dreadful for you! You’ve been very brave. Fancy setting off to walk across England all on your own. I’d never have dared do that.’

‘I had to get away until I could come to terms with it. I didn’t look after myself very well. I sprained my ankle and I was completely lost when Hugh found me.’ She shrugged. ‘But I’m here now.’

‘You’re still young, only twenty-three. You’ll meet someone else, have other children. Time is a great healer.’ She stopped to stare at her sister. ‘Nell, you’re blushing. Have you met someone already?’

‘Hugh.’

‘Ah. You’re fond of him.’

‘Yes, but things went so wrong with Cliff. And Hugh’s an educated man. What can he see in someone like me? I—’

‘Just a minute. I thought Cliff loved you.’

‘So did I. He didn’t, though. All he wanted was a woman’s body and someone to do the housekeeping.’ Nell couldn’t help shuddering.

Mattie’s voice grew softer. ‘Was your marriage very bad?’

‘Yes. I’d rather not talk about it. It’s over and done with.’

Her sister gave her shoulder a quick squeeze in sympathy. ‘All right, love. We’ll talk about some good news instead. You remember how your father always used to talk about saving for his old age? After he’d died, Jacob and I found his bank book in that box he kept on top of the wardrobe. You wouldn’t believe how much money the old miser had saved – over five hundred pounds.’

‘No wonder. He took all our wages from the first day we went to work. Even he wasn’t as mean as Cliff, though. At least we ate adequately when I lived at home.’

‘Well, you won’t ever go hungry again, not as long as I’m around. I’m well provided for, so I thought you and Renie could share your father’s money and—’

‘Actually, I don’t need it. I’ve got quite a lot of my own because Cliff was even more mean with money than Dad. I found out after he died that he’d been saving for years to open his own business. And he’d taken out life insurance as well. I think that was in case I died, but it was one of those husband-and-wife policies, and as it turned out, I was the one to benefit. A thousand pounds I got. He’d have hated that. So if you need any money for the upkeep of this house, you should take some of Dad’s.’

‘I don’t need it, either. We’re not money-rich, Jacob and me, but we have the house and land, and he’s a good manager. We’ve started to put a little aside, even with the repairs we’ve had to do. I’m glad you’re not short of money,
though. We’ll keep Dad’s money for Renie, shall we?’

‘If she ever comes back.’

‘We have to believe she’ll turn up again one day, cheeky as ever,’ Mattie said quietly. ‘She will, love, I know she will.’

‘I hope so.’

‘Well –
you
did. I’m sure she must have had a good reason for leaving so suddenly, though I can’t imagine what it was.’

‘Renie’s idea of a good reason isn’t always the same as mine,’ Nell said. ‘She was a madcap sometimes, wasn’t she? Do you remember that time when she was seven and she and John Gibbins were playing near the reservoir, which was forbidden. When he fell in, she had to rescue him herself because there was no one else around and he kept sinking? I never saw such a bedraggled pair!’

They both laughed at the memories of their little sister and the atmosphere lightened.

‘Have you seen Cliff’s family?’

Nell sighed, and told her about Mrs Greenhill screeching at her, then about Frank turning up in the village the day before. ‘I can’t believe it was a coincidence, as Hugh thinks.’

‘Nor can I. People like the Greenhills don’t go out simply for pleasure,’ Mattie said. ‘Anyway, forget about him. Let’s go and join the men now or they’ll be wondering whether we’re all right. Just a minute. Let me tidy your hair … There … that’s better.’

It felt like old times to have Mattie fussing over her, made Nell feel warm inside.

When the two women rejoined the men, who were sitting in the kitchen with the remains of a fruit cake in front of them, Harry took one look at their tear-stained faces and stood up. ‘I’ll go and have a stroll round your garden, if that’s all right, Mr Kemble. I don’t want to intrude on your family discussions. I had two big pieces of cake, so I could do to walk it off a bit.’

‘That young man is a pleasure to feed,’ Cook said after he’d left. ‘Will your sister be staying to luncheon, Mrs Kemble?’

‘I hope so.’ Mattie looked at Nell and Hugh, who both nodded. ‘Thank you, Cook. We’ll go and sit in the breakfast room, shall we? There’s a fire in there and the front parlour takes ages to warm up.’

‘Have you set the world to rights now?’ Jacob asked as they all sat down.

‘Partly,’ Mattie said. ‘It’ll not be fully right till we find Renie again, though.’

‘Knowing her, she’ll probably find us,’ Nell said.

Jacob smiled at Nell. ‘I just want you to know that you’ll always have a home with us.’

‘Thank you, but I’m all right for the moment. I’ve got a job and I’m needed at the farm.’

‘And I very much want you to stay on with me,’ Hugh said warmly.

She blushed hotly, and no one spoke for a minute or two, though Mattie gave her sister a knowing smile.

Over luncheon they talked about other things, thank goodness: what Nell had seen on her travels, Hugh’s job, Jacob’s plans for the land which formed part of his wife’s inheritance, and which seemed to matter to him much more than the house did.