The Loom (28 page)

‘
Aye, you’re right. I’d better be getting back; you never know what they might be up to.’

Annie chuckled, her fat chins wobbling, ‘ee, no Emma. Not your Leah, ee, no, she wouldn’t.’

‘
I don’t know about that, Annie. She’s only human and Captain Townsend’s summat to look at and he has a way with him, so I wouldn’t blame her. If I was twenty years younger…?’ Emma laughed. Annie gave her a push. ‘Ee, get on with you, Emma. The things you come out with.’

Emma was a funny bugger Annie thought as she waddled back into the house. She didn’t know what she would have done without Emma across the road all these years, especially when she’d lost husband and son. She was a real life saver was Emma Hammond.

Emma walked through into the back room, the laughter fading. She was anxious again, and had been ever since this blasted thing had happened between Leah and Captain Townsend (even at his insistence she couldn’t call him Stephen). It wasn’t as though she disliked the Captain. She did, and he wasn’t like the gentry she knew or knew of. He’d no side to him at all and drank thick black tea from her chipped mugs as though he was sipping from fine china. Even so the weight of the situation sat heavily on her and she couldn’t shake off her unease. As she’d thought a hundred times over she wished it were Paddy in there with Leah. How that would have taken a load off her mind! She still hadn’t got over Darkie leaving. She never would. So with what had happened there and Leah she sometimes felt as though she was going out of her mind.

Stephen turned around when she entered the room. He smiled at her, a black lank of hair falling over his forehead. Emma thought again that no wonder Leah was head over heels. He was smashing!

‘
Hello Mrs. Hammond,’ he said. ‘How are you today?’

‘
I’m doing all right, thank you, Captain.’ Emma noticed Leah had on her new white dress, which would get filthy on the bike. ‘Are you ready, Leah love?’ she said in a sharp voice, so unusual for her that Leah looked up in surprise.

‘
Yes, Mam, why, anything the matter?’ Leah picked up her cardigan off the back of the settee. She saw her mother looking at her dress and could read her mind. Why was it that you couldn’t have a will of your own in this house, or in Harwood, for that matter? There was always this invisible presence hanging over you telling you what to do, or as was usually the case, what not to do.

‘
No, it’s nothing. You’re sure I can’t pack you some sandwiches? It won’t take a minute,’ Emma said in her normal tone. She could never stay mad for more than two minutes.

‘
No, no Mrs. Hammond,’ Stephen said. ‘We have plenty. Mrs. Walters packed us enough to feed an army. ‘Are you ready Leah?’

Leah and Stephen smiled at each other. They’re always smiling like that, Emma thought, irritated, like half-baked Billy. It got on her nerves!

‘
We won’t be back until later this afternoon, so don’t worry if we’re late.’

‘
You know me, Leah, worrying wouldn’t enter me head.’ She laughed at her own joke and looked at Stephen.

‘
I hope you’ll be careful on that here contraption. I don’t know how you keep it up. Anyway, enjoy yourselves.’

‘
Don’t worry Mrs. Hammond Leah will be as safe as houses.’

‘
I hope so, I hope so,’ Emma replied doubtfully as she followed them out to the front. She’d never like them noisy things and to her they looked right dangerous. She watched in apprehension as Stephen got on first and started the bike and then Leah seated herself carefully on the back. She waved to Emma as they set off, a number of people now openly standing on their doorstep to watch.

They were soon out of the town and on their way to Mitten. Leah pressed closer to Stephen, enjoying the wind on her face, the sun, everything. When had she ever felt so happy? It didn’t seem right somehow and she was afraid that something would happen to bring it all to an end. Even Darkie’s departure, although it had made her sad for a time, had not been able to mar this feeling she had.

Before long they were on the main road north to Settle; Stephen had decided that he would turn off one of the side roads when they reached the town and make their way as far as possible up to the top of the Pennines until they could see Yorkshire on the other side. He knew of a trail, rarely used (supposedly an old Roman road from all accounts), and they could have their picnic at the top. From there they would be able to see the rolling dales and moors, which at this time of the year would be a breathtaking purple.

The bike slowly bumped along the dirt road, which was suddenly obliterated by a cloud of dust. Leah’s startled eyes took in a column of soldiers walking towards them. She could see their breastplates and helmets and they wore a kind of short pleated skirt. They had long boots laced tightly and were holding spears. Their boots thudded on the road, and she heard the plod of hooves, jangle of harness. A cart suddenly appeared behind them drawn by two horses. She shook her head and the scene faded. Dreaming again!

They were soon at the top, below them the rolling beauty of the Yorkshire dales stretched for miles in all shades of purples, grays, greens. They got off the bike and Stephen parked it against a boulder. They stood staring at the view in silence for a few moments.

‘Look,’ Stephen pointed. ‘Way over there is the sea.’

Leah looked hard and yes miles away was a faint blue grey band looking as though an artist had painted it in. She leant against Stephen and he put his arm around her shoulders. ‘We couldn’t have picked a better spot,’ she said.

‘I thought you’d like it. Come on, let’s get what we need off the bike then we can relax.’

They fell silent. Leah felt a tension in her stomach. She’d never really been alone like this with Stephen. He’d taken her to the pictures a few times, dancing ‘Up Jazz’, the latest Harwood dance venue, run by an American couple, but there had always been other people with them. He had never tried to get her alone at the Hall. She’d been glad of that. Did he realize just how little she knew of the ways of the world, especially men? She’d not even had a father in the house since she was four!

Stephen had kissed her that last time in the pictures. They sat at the back and Kathryn and her boyfriend sat in front of them. When the lights went out and the picture was under way she felt his arm creep around her shoulder. He kissed her cheek. She turned to him and their lips met and she’d kissed back, hard. She had hardly known what she was doing, just that white hot heat of mouth touching mouth, tongue probing, limbs seeming to dissolve, beginning to sweat. If that were the prologue what would the main part be like? She trembled at the thought.

Leah saw him take out the bottle of champagne.

‘
During the day?’ she asked dubiously.

‘Why not,’ he said and poured her a drink; they sat down on the rug he’d spread on the grass. They sipped in silence for a few moments, alert to each other, hardly noticing the view. He turned to her, ‘something to eat?’

‘No, I couldn’t, not yet, thank you.’ How formal that sounded. Suddenly she felt uneasy. Was she doing the right thing? What
were
his ‘intentions’ as her mother was always asking her? She had laughed but really, if the truth were known, she was only going on her instincts that Stephen’s intentions were ‘honourable’ as all the romantic fiction described them. But were they? He hadn’t said anything to her about his ‘intentions’ at all. She began to feel a little angry. Did he think she was a mind reader?

Stephen felt the change in Leah. He looked at her profile, that firm chin, the straight, narrow nose with the delicate nostrils. He noticed they were now flared a little. She’s angry, he thought in surprise.

‘What’s the matter?’ He put his glass down on the grass.

‘Nothing,’ she wouldn’t look at him, couldn’t if she’d tried. The day seemed to be spoiling before her eyes. Even the view didn’t look
that
good; only the Yorkshire dales after all, which she’d seen before.

‘There is something, Leah. Come on, out with it.’ He sidled over to her and tried to turn her face to him. She shook his hand off.

‘It’s nothing; just feeling a little queasy. It must be the champagne.’

‘No it’s not.’

‘And how would you know? You really know nothing about me, Stephen.’

‘I know enough to know I love you.’ He caught her to him and took the glass out of her hand. ‘You know I do.’

‘Do I?’ Leah looked into his eyes. She could see her reflection in them. She felt mesmerized and her body as though there were no bones in it, a rag doll, which he now lowered onto the rug and began to kiss her thoroughly until she was breathless. She had no will of her own. He undressed her slowly, bending to kiss, to nuzzle and she moaned under him. So this was what it was like!

They set off back in the late afternoon. Leah had not been prepared for what had happened. Had not even known such feelings existed. Her mother had told her nothing of what went on between men and women. That topic was taboo. To Emma people existed from the neck up and ‘that was that’, she often said to Annie. To her daughters there was always silence on any topic associated with love or anything of that nature. Leah was inclined to think that her mother didn’t know the word ‘sex’ even existed.

The day had elevated Leah into another dimension – the only importance emotions, desires, caresses, the breathing, sighing, moaning of lovers. The feel of silken skin, the roughness of Stephen’s chin against her cheek, the rippling sensation as he fondled her, the sinking, sighing, twisting, groaning, moaning, panting, sweating; as she got on the bike she wondered how on earth she’d be able to confront her mother after all that had gone on, because she knew without a doubt that Emma would ‘know’. Emma would not like it at all. It was wrong, according to Emma to step over that boundary into that place of which she would never speak. Leah felt suddenly angry. Why should she feel ashamed of what they’d done? It somehow spoilt the perfection of the day.

Stephen must have sensed her thoughts. He turned around before they set off. ‘Don’t worry about a thing, he said. We’ll be married soon and then we can do what we want when we want.’ He turned back and kicked the bike over.

Leah stared at the back of his head, stunned. ‘Married?’

‘Of course, didn’t I tell you?’ He revved the accelerator.

‘I thought you were supposed to ask me,’ Leah shouted over the sound of the engine.

‘What?’

‘Ask me?’

‘Will you?’

‘Yes.’

Stephen laughed as they set off and Leah clung to him. ‘You’re daft,’ she yelled. He laughed again.

They moved off slowly, bumping down the rough dirt road. A few moments later Leah realized they were taking the bends too fast. She clung tighter. ‘Slow down,’ she called. She suddenly felt nervous. She hated speeding and normally Stephen stuck to a nice slow pace.

‘Slow down,’ she called again. There was no reply as he took a particularly sharp bend at top speed. He leant and she tried to sway with him but she was so nervous that she stayed rigidly upright.

‘Lean with me,’ Stephen yelled.

She tried as the bike tilted around each corner, faster and faster. Why was he going so fast?

‘Don’t go so fast!’

‘No brakes,’ he shouted.

Leah clung to his waist, her face a terrified mask as they swerved wildly round the never-ending bends. The bracken along the sides became merely a blur. Her heart seemed to have stopped with fear. On the next curve the bike skidded and did an almost complete circle on the loose stones. Leah flew through the air as though she’d been catapulted. She landed with a sickening thud. Her head struck something hard, almost knocking her out. She lay there for a while, dazed, then slowly sat up. She looked around, her mind still not clear. All she remembered was that they’d been going very fast. She shook her head. Where was Stephen? She raised herself and immediately felt sick. She could hardly focus but she lifted her head to find what she was looking for.

The bike lay some way off on its side, one wheel slowly spinning. Beyond the bike she saw a figure lying on the ground. She managed to stand, and stumbled over. When she reached him she dropped to her knees.

‘
Stephen, Stephen.’ There was no response. He lay on his back with his face turned to one side. He looks all right, she thought with relief. She touched his shoulder.

‘
Stephen.’ She turned his face towards her and cried out. A deep gash on his forehead oozed thick dark blood. It ran onto the ground and she watched in fascination as a pool slowly formed. She moaned then, a deep sound like a growl. She put his head carefully back on the ground and staggered back to the bike. She pulled the contents out of the bags frantically until she found the napkins and then rushed back, wound them carefully around his head, sat down next to him and lifted his head onto her lap.

She looked around at the deserted countryside. What could she do? She’d have to go and get help, but she was feeling so tired and dizzy she could sleep for a week. She stroked Stephen’s cheek. She’d just sit here for a moment until her head cleared. It would be all right. They were going to get married and they’d live happily ever after like it said in all the fairy stories. She gazed into Stephen’s face, unaware of the blood which dripped incessantly from her head onto her dress, the vivid red a startling contrast against the white!