Runaway (12 page)

‘Shaved?’ I gasped. ‘Must I?’ I touched my ragged hair, stared at the mirror and tried to imagine myself entirely without hair. It had been bad enough cutting it short.

‘Mr Lawrence’s orders. You’ll be more comfortable that way, quite apart from ridding yourself of the lice,’ she said, shepherding me out of the room. ‘Off you go now. Come back tomorrow!’

I felt very subdued and forlorn after Steele had shaved my head. I was now less a girl than ever. Somehow, all my femininity had been stripped from me with the last of my hair. The joy of my new clothes had drained away, leaving me feeling low.

‘Hey, that’s a haircut!’ exclaimed Ben with a grin, as I walked into the yard. I gave him a wavering smile.

‘What’s the problem?’ he asked surprised. ‘It’ll grow back soon enough.’

I tentatively touched my naked head. ‘Oh, I know.’ I replied, trying for nonchalance.

Belle put her head over her loose-box door and whickered softly at me. I walked over to her, and felt comforted as she nuzzled my new waistcoat and nudged me. She was most firmly my friend now, though I wasn’t officially in charge of her. I longed to ride her, but one of the older grooms had the task of exercising her each morning. I always watched him ride her out of the yard with a jealous eye. I pulled her dark ears gently, talking to her, and rubbed her neck. Her head dropped lower in pleasure, her eyes half-closed.

From this pleasant occupation I was startled by Bridges’ voice behind me. ‘You’re not paid to pet the horses, boy. There is plenty of work to be done.’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said obediently. Then, aware of my shaven head and the reason for it, I asked, ‘Mr Lawrence said you would be taking me out to learn to drive. When will that be?’

‘It will be when I’ve time and when I’m satisfied that you’re working hard enough,’ he replied sharply. ‘Not a moment before. Right now, I need you to polish all the bits and metal on all the harnesses in the tack room.’

I stared at him in astonishment. ‘But Ben and I already … ’

‘It needs doing again! His lordship is driving into the Bath tomorrow to fetch his granddaughter from a visit. The harness must look its very best.’

‘Very well,’ I said reluctantly. Lawrence had hired me for my skill with horses. The work I was doing, mucking out and tack cleaning, could be done by any labourer. I was wasted here.

I stomped off into the tack room, sorted out rags and cleaner and sat down to begin polishing the already-sparkling bits. I muttered to myself as I worked.

When Ben walked in some time later, I had only a scowl for him. ‘You done summat wrong?’ he asked concerned.

‘No, why?’ I snapped, hurling a dirty rag onto the floor and picking up a clean one.

‘’Cos that’s the only reason we ever has to polish clean metal all over again,’ said Ben.

‘I was stroking Belle.’ I scrubbed hard at a bit as I spoke.

Ben picked up a bridle and headed for the door. ‘It’ll sort itself out,’ he said. ‘Now careful not to rub a hole in that bit!’ He ducked out of the door before I could throw something at him.

The light was fading when I finished the last piece. I stood up and stretched my stiff, chilled body. As I bent down to begin tidying up and putting everything back, the door opened and Ben looked in. ‘Dinner time!’ he announced.

A week later, Steele told me cheerfully that I was to groom both Pitch and Velvet ready for their outing into Bath. Bridges stood just behind him with a look of deep disapproval on his face.

‘And you’ll be accompanying them to take charge of the horses while they’re there,’ Steele added. ‘Mr Lawrence’s orders. So you’ll need your livery.’

‘You make sure you behave impeccably,’ Bridges growled at me as Steele went off to supervise the chaise being brought out of the coach house. ‘Remember you have Rutherford’s reputation to guard!’

‘Yes sir,’ I replied respectfully, before rushing off to fetch brushes.

I groomed the two beautiful horses until they gleamed in the spring sunshine. I was proud that Pitch only tried to bite me once, and it was a half-hearted attempt. When their hooves had been oiled and their manes and tails combed, I left Ben and Joe to harness them and ran to scramble into my livery so that I would be ready before Lawrence and his lordship reached the yard. Mrs Simpkins, the seamstress, had adjusted my coat and gave me a nod of approval once I was dressed. I’d taken extra pains with washing myself last night. The new wig fitted me well, though it felt strange. I would need to get used to it.

I hurried back to the yard where Bridges was inspecting my work critically and running a brush over some imaginary dust on Velvet’s hide. There was barely time for a bite of breakfast and a gulp of ale before Ben whispered a warning that I needed to be out in the yard. I emerged, twitching my coat straight, to stand ready as Lawrence and his lordship arrived. His lordship was dressed in a puce coat over a salmon waistcoat, silk clocked stockings, quantities of lace at his throat and wrists, and a powdered full-bottom wig. It was very fine, but I didn’t admire his choice of colours.

To my mind, Lawrence was the smarter of the two though he was dressed far more modestly. His coat was brown with a beige waistcoat and breeches to match. He had only a very modest cravat, no embroidery and no jewellery. His wig was a neat tie-wig. Altogether his apparel was unostentatious and proclaimed the gentleman of business rather than leisure. He wore his well-fitting clothes with a quiet dignity and I found I admired him very much. Lawrence gave me a brief nod and a smile as he approached the carriage, signalling his approval of my new attire. His lordship didn’t spare me a glance at all. I might as well have been a mounting block or a broom.

‘Are we ready to go?’ he asked Lawrence, glancing up at the stable clock. ‘Let’s waste no time.’

Bridges came forward and assisted him into the chaise. The light chaise with the hood let down had been ordered today, as the weather was so fine. I stood at the horses’ heads, holding them steady, speaking soothingly to Pitch. I sincerely hoped he would not disgrace us with any bad behaviour today. Lawrence had driven the pair often since our return, but they were fresh today. He climbed into the driving seat, gathered the reins, and made contact with the horses’ mouths. Pitch’s ears went back flat and he flung his head up, fighting the bit. I talked to him softly, one hand on his nose, until his head dropped once more and his ears came forward.

When he was calm, I looked up and found Lawrence’s eyes were on me. ‘Ready to go?’ he asked. ‘He won’t stand still.’

‘I know,’ I said. With a last word to Pitch, I released him, stepped smartly out of his way and ran for my perch at the back of the chaise. The horses plunged and started off with a rush, jerking the carriage forward. I managed to catch hold of the rail and swing myself up, clinging on for dear life as the carriage swept under the archway and out of the yard. By the time the horses slowed for the sharp corner through the gate and headed up the steep carriageway through the park, I was safely on my perch behind his lordship as he surveyed his new half-wild team with remarkable calm.

‘Jolly good choice of horseflesh, John!’ he said as the horses pulled well together up the long hillside. ‘Nice steppers. Good, strong beasts! Fine-looking nags too. What I wouldn’t give to train them myself! It’s a deuced bore getting old. But thank God I’ve still got you to pick out my horses. I couldn’t abide travelling behind the kind of dull, safe slugs my groom would pick out for me.’

‘These two certainly aren’t slugs, my lord,’ Lawrence replied. ‘I told you how Pitch kicked the dashboard of the chaise to pieces at Hungerford. There’s a way to go before they’re entirely safe.’

‘Safety be damned! What’s life without the spice of danger?’ The old man chuckled and wheezed.

The two men fell to discussing business as we passed through the lodge gates and reached the downs, heading for Bath. I could follow little of it, though I understood what I’d already been told. Lawrence managed his lordship’s considerable estate and fortune for him, taking on all the day-to-day work and going out and about on errands. It was also clear that the old aristocrat still took a keen interest in all the details. I listened to Lawrence’s respectful tone as he responded to searching questions and strongly-worded advice. He was both tactful and patient.

My attention wandered from the irrelevant discussion in front of me to the beautiful views. The huge trees that graced the skyline in clumps were bursting into brilliant leaf. The new green of the hedgerows was almost luminous in the bright sunlight. The air was both fresh and mild, smelling of damp earth, growing things, and the promise of summer. I stood tall, feeling proud of my smart livery and the fine carriage. I was glad to be alive and to have fallen into such good circumstances. The days of destitution, the loss of my father, and the fear for my own life seemed to have receded into the distance. Though still deeply uncomfortable to think about, the memories no longer seemed so frighteningly all-pervasive and threatening from the safe haven of Deerhurst Park.

Lawrence was quiet as he negotiated the steep hill down from Lansdown into the city. Even the old lord fell silent, merely barking a word or two of advice here and there. It was a difficult hill to tackle with such a highly strung, half-wild pair and I had plenty of chance to appreciate Lawrence’s skill with the reins. I wondered how I would fare when it was my turn to learn. I could only hope I would start with more sedate horses.

The old gentleman interrupted my daydreams by breaking into speech suddenly as the hill levelled out and we approached the town. ‘This will be a deuced uncomfortable meeting, John.’

‘I’m sure you will overawe them with your high-handed manner, my lord.’

‘Ha! You think so, do you? Well, there are few brave enough to shout me down, it’s true, but all the same. Have I spoiled her, John? Is that it? I’ve been asking myself.’

The fierce old man in front of me seemed suddenly frail. I looked at the back of his head, at the powdered wig topping the lined face that was upturned almost pleadingly to the younger man’s.

Lawrence cast a swift glance towards him, cleared his throat and nodded slightly towards me.

‘Oh, ay, but ’tis only a boy, John. You’re deaf, aren’t you, boy?’ the old man said, struggling to turn and glance at me.

‘Yes, my lord,’ I replied, attempting to cultivate the wooden look that the other servants seemed to excel at.

‘Nonetheless, I think this discussion will keep until the port is on the table tonight. With respect, sir.’ Lawrence’s voice was firm.

‘Damned correct, aren’t you?’ demanded his lordship. ‘In my day, servants were so much furniture. Take my word for it, they know everything there is to know about us, whether we speak in front of them or not. Isn’t that so boy?’ he rapped out, turning to me again.

I was flustered by the sudden attack and blushed fiery red. ‘No, my lord!’ I blurted out, before I’d thought through the consequences of disagreeing with him.

Lawrence stepped in to protect me. ‘The boy is new, sir. Don’t terrify him! Besides, we’re in the city now, and I must concentrate if I’m to reach the house without mishap.’

He negotiated the narrow, cluttered streets, handling the difficult team with skill, checking Pitch from shying away from a sedan chair with scarcely a pause and frustrating his attempt to bolt over the bridge as we left the city by the South Gate. I looked around me at the other horses on the roads and thought there wasn’t another pair half as fine as ours. Pitch and Velvet were magnificent and drew admiring eyes as we drove. I stood tall, aware that they would be looking at me too and not wanting them to find fault.

We drew up outside a beautiful old manor house tucked away in a wood on the far side of the city, across the river. It was a quiet, verdant oasis, just a few minutes’ drive from the bustling city. When we pulled up outside, a butler threw open the front door, a footman emerged to let down the steps and to assist his lordship to descend, and a groom appeared to take charge of the carriage.

‘I’ll drive the carriage round to the stables myself and walk up from there,’ Lawrence told the groom. ‘This is a difficult team.’

He waited until his lordship had descended and then moved off at a smart walk, wheels crunching on the gravel, towards the stables. As soon as Lawrence reined in the horses in the yard, I jumped down and hurried to the horses’ heads. He smiled ruefully down at me as he hitched the reins. ‘We are likely to be an hour or so, so stall the horses and go and take some refreshment. But bear in mind his lordship won’t want to be kept waiting when he’s ready to leave.’

‘Very well, sir.’

Mr Lawrence jumped down from the carriage, and then came towards me unexpectedly. I looked up at him nervously, wondering if I’d done something wrong. He leaned towards me and added, ‘Don’t let Pitch disgrace us. And don’t you get into any fights, either! The reputation of our house is tarnished enough here as it is!’

‘I wouldn’t … !’ I began indignantly, then I realized he might be laughing at me, and bit my lip. ‘I’ll be a model of discretion,’ I promised soberly.