Promise Made (12 page)

‘I think he is pretty set in his mind what he wants to do,' Daniel said. ‘He would like to work with me. I've told him I might put those fields down to arable instead of letting them for grazing next year – and I might get some more pigs. He could find some odd jobs elsewhere. There's always someone wanting extra labour for the potato harvest, riddling and threshing. I daresay we shall manage.'

‘My offer of money is still there. Ask Connor if he will come for a holiday next week, Dan. I should like to have him here for a while. I've already spoken to Vane about it, and he's quite happy for Connor to visit. He is always telling me to ask my family to visit. You and Alice are welcome if you ever want to come and stay.'

‘I'll tell Connor that you've asked,' Daniel agreed. ‘I'm not sure what he will say, but I'll ask. As for coming down myself – I'd like that one day, but at the moment I don't have the time.'

‘I'll send Connor some money for his fares and things,' Emily said. ‘Give my love to Alice – and don't work yourself to death, Dan.'

‘I'll try not to.'

Daniel was frowning as he replaced the receiver. He was committed to taking his brother on now, and he wouldn't go back on it. Buying the extra land and some livestock would take most of the money he had been saving towards his garage, but that would just have to go on hold for a couple of years. Connor needed a steady hand and he was the one to set him right, but it might be a good thing if he went on a visit to Emily.

She wasn't like Frances. She wouldn't nag him to do something he didn't want to do, and it might make him think about what he really intended to do with his life.

Daniel was whistling as he went outside to the back yard. It was only early September but though the sun was shining, the breeze was cool. He was working on a car he hoped to sell when it was finished, and he had taken on a couple of repair jobs for other people. One of them was a tractor, but that didn't matter – engines were all the same to Daniel. He'd worked on lorries for the army and he'd been pretty good at his job. One of these days he was going to buy that garage he wanted, but for the moment he couldn't complain.

He had a beautiful wife he loved and his son. Stuck in that damned camp he had wondered if he would ever see Alice again. He was home now and even if money was sometimes difficult, he would get through somehow. The nightmares didn't come so often now and he was beginning to feel stronger. Come the end of the year he should be back to normal again – and then he would be after Cley for the money he still owed him.

‘Go and stay with Emily?' Connor pulled a face as Daniel suggested the idea. ‘Would I be staying at the big house?'

‘Yes, I expect so,' Daniel told him. ‘Apparently, Lord Vane says you will be very welcome.'

‘Yeah, likely,' Connor said and grinned. He looked thoughtful. ‘Emily is all right. I wouldn't mind seeing her. She doesn't come here much now, does she?'

‘I think she is too busy with that home of hers. She says she wants to see you. I expect it is just for a couple of weeks – but you don't have to go if you don't want to, Connor. Your home is here now.'

‘Yeah, Alice told me,' Connor said. ‘She says she's pleased I'm going to live here, because it is a big house and seems empty when you're out sometimes.'

‘I expect it does,' Daniel agreed. He had thought the house was a bit large and rather isolated from the start, but Alice had wanted it and it had been going cheap, perhaps because most people would rather live in the village than out in the fen these days. ‘You'll be company for her sometimes.'

‘Yeah,' Connor said. ‘I reckon I'd like to go for that holiday, Dan. Just for a couple of weeks.'

‘Right, that's it then. Emily is sending you some money for your fares, and I'll take you to the station,' Daniel said. ‘I'll be teaching you to drive when you get back – and you can learn a bit about how to look after the engine as well. It is always best to know at least the basics, because you'll be wanting your own vehicle when you're seventeen.'

‘Yeah?' Connor looked at him in surprise and dawning pleasure. ‘Do you mean that, Dan?'

‘I wouldn't say if I didn't,' Daniel told him. ‘But I want no more of that nonsense . . . no more taking what doesn't belong to you, Connor.'

‘I don't steal,' Connor said. ‘I know Frances thinks I do, but I don't – it was just a lark borrowing the punt. We used to get into the pictures for nothing if we could – all the kids do it at the Majestic in Ely – but stealing is different.'

‘Well, some folk wouldn't agree with you,' Daniel said. ‘I'm not going to lecture you, Connor, but I expect you to do a decent job and I expect you to be honest with me. That's the deal . . .' He held out his hand and Connor took it. Daniel grinned and cuffed him across the head. ‘You go and enjoy yourself with Emily.'

‘Yeah, I will,' Connor said. ‘You fetched most of my stuff from Frances's house, but I shall get my bike this afternoon – and I've promised to go to the youth club in Ely with Peter. I promise I won't do anything daft – and I shan't drink alcohol either.'

‘I should hope not! You're not eighteen yet, you young devil.'

‘Well, I've done it a few times,' Connor said and hesitated. ‘But I think it's daft to drink too much the way Marcus does . . .'

‘Marcus drinks?' It was the first Daniel had heard of it. He raised his eyebrows. ‘Are you sure?'

‘Yeah. I've heard them rowing about it a lot. He came home drunk a few times, and it made Frances angry. She worries about him – and about what people will say.'

‘Yes, I expect she does. Poor old Fran,' Daniel said. ‘I had no idea things were as bad as that. I shall have to pop in and see her another day.'

‘Don't tell her I told you,' Connor said. ‘She thinks I'm trouble as it is – but I couldn't stand living there after she got married. It was my home but she changed it all, and I felt like a lodger.'

‘Yes, I understand,' Daniel agreed. He wouldn't have wanted to live in Frances's house either. It was too immaculate, too cold. He preferred the warmth and muddle of his own home. Alice wasn't above rearing a box of chicks in the kitchen when he brought them home from market. He could just imagine the look on Frances's face if he had suggested it to her. ‘Well, I hope you will think of this house as your home in future.'

‘Yeah . . .' Connor grinned at him. ‘Alice told me – that means chopping wood and doing some dishes now and then.'

Daniel laughed, because he could see that his brother was happy with the idea that he was going to have some chores about the house.

‘Women,' he said and winked at his brother. ‘We're all under petticoat rule from the cradle to the grave – and don't you forget it!'

Connor laughed and went off to find some work to do at the back of the house. Daniel didn't need to tell him that the shed needed painting with creosote, because he had seen it for himself, and he wanted to make himself useful about the place. He thought it was going to be much better living with Daniel and Alice, but he was looking forward to his visit with Emily. She had always been his favourite sister and he missed her when she didn't visit.

Emily met her brother at the station. He had brought one small suitcase with him, which made her smile. Connor had never been away from home for more than a day or two before, and that had been with his father. He would need more clothes than he'd brought with him, but that didn't matter, because she intended to buy him a few things anyway. He looked quite grown up now and it was time he had a decent suit for Sundays and some good tweeds.

‘Did you have a nice journey?' she asked and kissed his cheek. Connor went bright red and rubbed at the mark her lipstick had made with his hand. ‘Too grown up for that now?' she asked, a twinkle in her eye. ‘You'll change your tune soon enough, Connor.'

‘Kissing is for softies,' he replied, though he didn't believe it. Alice was always kissing Dan and Connor wondered what it would be like to sleep with a woman. He hadn't had a proper girlfriend yet, though he'd slipped his hand up a girl's knickers at the fair in Ely once. She hadn't minded, though she had pretended to at the time. She might have let him do more if he'd had the courage to ask her.

‘Well, I beg your pardon, sir she said!' Emily's teasing laughter made him grin, because he was pleased to see her. ‘I hadn't realized that you were Mr Tough Guy!'

‘Well, you'd better get used to it,' Connor said and flexed his muscles. Emily realized that he was almost a man now, with a man's strength – and rather good looking. ‘Are you sure Lord Vane doesn't mind me coming to stay?'

‘I think he is pleased,' Emily replied with a smile. ‘It is the first time I've ever had a member of my family to stay. Vane says this is my home and I must ask whoever I like – but you're the one I wanted to see, Connor.'

Connor tipped his head to one side. He looked so much like Dan at a younger age that Emily's heart caught. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he was older, and all the girls would be after him. She was thankful that there was no war to claim him, praying that it would never happen again in her lifetime.

‘Why? Are you mad at me for what I did? Frances was as mad as fire because the police went to her house. She said I had humiliated her.'

‘Frances says things she doesn't mean,' Emily said. ‘You haven't humiliated anyone from what I hear – but it was a bit silly, Connor. You don't want to be known as a troublemaker, love. The police might get their hooks into you, and you could go down for some silly thing you didn't really mean to do.'

‘Yeah, I know. Dan says it's time I grew up. I'm going to be working for him – and doing odd jobs for other people. Peter's father says I can help them with the harvesting and the potatoes.'

‘You are sure that farming is what you want to do? You wouldn't rather drive a delivery van or something of the sort?'

‘I wouldn't mind doing that,' Connor said. ‘Frances was talking daft – she said I could be a bank clerk or a doctor or something like that if I tried, but I couldn't, Emily. I should hate being inside all the time. I need to be out in the open.'

‘What about when it's freezing cold?' Emily teased as she drove them away from the railway station. ‘You might change your mind then.'

‘I want to be like Dad,' Connor said, and something in his face made Emily's heart contract with pain. Connor had never quite got over his father's unexpected death from an infection. ‘One day I'm going to own lots of land. I'll buy back all the fields Henry lost and I'll have a herd of prize cattle. I shall employ a lot of men to work for me and drive about in a Daimler like Sam Danby.'

‘Yes, perhaps you will,' Emily smiled and glanced at him, seeing the pride in his face. Dan had spoken of his own humiliation when the farm was sold, but no one had asked Connor what he thought about it. He must have felt it as much as any of them. It was hardly surprising that his unhappiness had spilled over into youthful pranks. ‘Well, I'm not going to try and change your mind, love. There's nothing wrong with being a farmer. Henry was a wonderful farmer, don't let anyone ever tell you anything different. He had a lot of debt to cope with and times were bad. You will do things differently.'

‘I can count and write as well as anybody,' Connor told her, a hint of defiance in his voice. ‘I know how to keep books and how to write letters – and I can read books if I want. I like working with my hands, Emily. I don't need to go to college for that, do I?'

‘No, you don't,' his sister agreed. She looked at him affectionately. She was going to spend some money on him this holiday, and she would send him home with a few pounds in his pocket – but one day she might be able to give him the money he needed to start a farm of his own. ‘You must do whatever makes you happy, Connor. The only thing you have to remember is to play fair with others – do what you would like to have done to you, love. If you can look yourself in the eye when you shave, you won't go far wrong.'

Emily wished that she had followed her own advice. She had not wanted to lie to Vane about her child, but she had hesitated and then it was too late. Sometimes she felt like telling Vane the truth, but so far she hadn't found the courage.

Connor kicked at a stone as he walked through the grounds of Vanbrough House. He was wearing a pair of wide-legged grey flannels that Emily had insisted on buying for him, and he knew that they were fashionable but he felt a bit of an idiot. He was on his way down to the home, because Emily was at work this morning and he didn't like hanging around the house when she was out. Vane was all right, but he didn't much like Amelia. She smiled at him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Emily had spent a lot of time taking him out in her car. They had gone into Winchester and he'd enjoyed that, also the various football and rugby matches that she had taken him to see. He hadn't cared for the shopping much, but Emily had insisted he must have some clothes now he had left school and he supposed she was right, though he felt like a softie.

He could see some of the men moving about in the gardens of the convalescent home. They were walking slowly or being pushed in wheelchairs, and Connor felt slightly awkward. He wasn't sure how to talk to these men, because he was aware that they had done and seen terrible things – and he was a little in awe of them. Dan had never talked much of his experiences in the army, and Connor didn't like to ask – but he was curious about what it felt like to go to war.

As he approached the small group, one of the men in a wheelchair called out to him, beckoning him forward. Connor approached hesitantly, wondering what to say to a stranger who had lost his legs and would never walk again.