Barefoot (25 page)

He shook his head. ‘Not quite so luck. Hinton. It’s about three miles, I reckon.’

‘It’s alright, honest,’ Toni said quickly. I’ve got my bike.’

He nodded. ‘Good plan. Right. We’d better get ourselves organised.’

‘There’s just one problem though.’

He sighed. ‘What now?’

‘How are we going to get them there? She’ll never let us take the trailer.’ Toni racked her brains desperately.  ‘Jen! I bet she’ll help.’

When Jen picked up, Toni found herself hesitating. It seemed a lot to ask, especially after Arabella had accused her of setting fire to the lorries. ‘The thing is we need a trailer. And some-one to drive it.’

‘So you’re finally breaking out.’ Jen laughed. ‘About time. Definitely count me in.’

‘Are you sure?’ Toni was delighted.

‘I can easily borrow a trailer from here. I don’t know exactly when, though.’

Toni prayed it would be sooner rather than later.

‘I’m so going to enjoy getting my own back.’ Jen laughed. ‘You know what they say. Revenge is sweet.’

Toni hung up. ‘She’ll do it.’

Her father looked hugely relieved. ‘Right. It’s falling into place. Let’s put Grace over with Buster and then you can go and pack.’

*****   Fifteen  *****

Half-an-hour later Toni looked round her bedroom with conflicting feelings. She had packed a bag in a completely random way, just stuffing in the first clothes she came across. It would probably cover a few days, but she had no idea what would happen after that.

I
s this permanent or temporary?

If it was permanent, she would need to take all her school books as well. But that could wait until later in the holidays.

I’m really leaving.

She had longed to get away from her mother for so long, but this was the only home she had ever known. This bedroom had been hers for fourteen years. The place she brought her friends when she was younger, and more recently a refuge from Arabella, who rarely came up to the top storey.

Originally the walls had been pink, then she had redecorated it a couple of years ago to a more sophisticated purple. She went over to the fireplace and bent down to where there was still a pink patch she had missed, under a plug. She touched it lightly with her fingers and was overwhelmed by a flood of memories. Sitting with Lauren on the rug and playing with her model horses.

Her model horses. She had the sudden image of Arabella throwing them all out in a vindictive rage. Toni couldn’t bear that. There were over a hundred and fifty in her collection, the larger ones ranged on shelves, and all the smaller ones now living in storage boxes under the bed.

She thought of the tiny bedroom at her father’s cottage with despair. There was no way all the models were going to fit in there.

‘How’s it going?’ Her father’s voice dragged her back to the moment.

Toni didn’t try to hide the tears now streaming down her face. He squeezed through the tiny door and came over and sat next to her on the bed.

‘Hey. It’s going to be OK. I promise.’

She sobbed and sobbed and he waited patiently until she could talk.  ‘You’ll think I’m stupid.’

‘Try me,’ he urged.

‘Everything’s changing. Everything.’

‘I’ll always be here for you.’

I thought Cal would.

‘It’s my model horses.’ She wiped her face with her sleeve. ‘I don’t want to leave them.’

‘Don’t then. Bring them.’ He didn’t hesitate and she loved him for it.

‘But where will they go? The bedroom is really cute at your place… ’ She felt embarrassed. ‘But it’s just too small.’

‘The cottage has a loft.’

‘Really?’

‘Really.’ He nodded at the shelves. ‘Is it that lot?’

Toni squirmed. ‘There’s quite a few under the bed too.’ She pulled out the storage boxes one-by-one.

To his credit he didn’t flinch. ‘Good thing it’s a big loft then. Come on. Let’s get this lot down to the car.’

It was late by the time they got to the cottage and too dark to look at the field. The loft-hatch proved too small to get the storage boxes through, so they ended up piling them in the lounge until she could get different ones.

Her father lit the log-burner and they ate fish and chips by it, both emotionally drained and lost in their thoughts, until Toni’s phone rang.

It was Jen, sounding triumphant. ‘Hi. I’ve managed to get the trailer on Wednesday.’

Toni’s heart sank. Wednesday. Over three days away. ‘Can’t it be any sooner?’

‘Sorry, best I can do. Besides, Arabella is always in Cheltenham on Wednesdays,’ Jen pointed out.

‘I suppose you’re right,’ Toni sighed.

‘I’ll swing by and pick you up at ten then,’ Jen said, and rang off.

Toni stood up and leant over and kissed her father. ‘I’m going to have an early night.’

‘Sounds like a good plan. I’ll go online and get the bus timetable for you. Try and get some sleep.’

Toni couldn’t believe she would really sleep until Buster and Grace were safely away from Arabella.

Upstairs in her new room, she pulled off her jeans, then realised she hadn’t brought any pyjamas, so pulled them back on again. It was chilly and she jumped quickly into the bed under the crisp new duvet cover her father had picked up at the supermarket, the crease marks still in it from the packet.

She had forgotten to close the curtains and lay there feeling reluctant to get out of the warm bed again. Then she realised the room was so small she was able to lean over and draw them from where she was.

Her phone pinged and the screen lit up in the dark. Lauren, wanting an update.

‘Settling in,’
Toni lied.

There was so much to get used to.
She lay back down again, listening to the unfamiliar noises. Back at home it was the sounds of the horses in the yard. Here it was her father clattering in the tiny kitchen below. She could hear a TV, too, in the cottage next door.

She closed her eyes and hoped desperately that Buster and Grace would be safe from Arabella. She imagined them both in a field of her own, with two stables and a round pen.

And, although she knew it was impossible, she put Cal in there, too.

Leaning on the fence and smiling at her.

*******************

‘Hey, wake up.’ Her father shook her gently and Toni opened her eyes, wondering for a moment where she was. He was standing with his head and shoulders hunched against the sloping roof of the small bedroom, already dressed in his suit.

‘What time is it?’ She half sat up, amazed she had slept at all.

‘Six-thirty. I’ve got a train to catch.’

‘OK.’ She yawned and snuggled back down again.

‘The bus picks up on the main road at ten past eight.’

School.

She’d almost forgotten.

‘I’ll try to be back around seven tonight. Can’t promise, though.’

‘Can we go and look at the field then?’ Toni asked.

‘Alright.’ He reached over and put a key on the bedside table with some money. ‘Spare front door key. There’s no food in the house, I’m afraid. I didn’t expect to be here during the week.’

It suddenly occurred to Toni what having her there meant to her father. He would have to come home every night.

‘But there’s a village shop,’ he went on. ‘You can pick some bits and pieces up after school. It’s expensive, though, so watch it.’

‘Thanks. Have a good day.’

She heard the front door bang shut as he left and stretched the full-length of the bed, feeling the most relaxed she had in ages. She was going to miss the bus and she didn’t care. She felt herself drifting back to sleep.

After everything that had happened lately, she deserved a day off. A day without anyone on her case.

*************

It was just past seven that evening when her father got home again. Toni jumped up as soon as she heard his key in the lock, and gave him a huge hug. The last few hours alone had dragged, and she was glad to see him.

‘Hey. That’s a nice welcome.’ He put his laptop case down on the table. ‘Did you get the bus alright?’

She nodded, turning away so he didn’t see her blush. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’

‘I’m good, thanks. I had a coffee on the train. Any word from your mother?’

Toni shook her head. She was itching to get going and didn’t want to think about Arabella.  But he collapsed onto the sofa.

‘Aren’t we going to look at the field?’

Her father rubbed his face wearily. ‘Oh. Yes. Of course.’

He’d forgotten.

He heaved himself back up again and headed for the stairs. ‘I’ll just change and we’ll get going.’

Three miles seemed a long way, even in the car, and Toni began to feel daunted about the prospect of cycling it every day. Six miles there and back. She put the thought to the back of her mind. The first thing she noticed when they arrived was an old five-bar gate propped shut with a catch that didn’t work properly.

‘Hang on a minute.’ Her father returned to the car and came back clutching a carrier bag. ‘I got this earlier.’

Toni found a chain and a new padlock inside. He hadn’t forgotten at all. ‘Thanks, Dad.’ She hugged him hard, grateful for so much.

He was touched, she could tell. ‘Well, we don’t want anyone stealing them.’

The second thing she clocked was a pile of rusty farm machinery in one corner. Buster had the experience to stay well clear. But Grace might injure herself if she was in a panic. Toni made a mental note to bring extra tape from the yard to fence it off.

In the opposite corner there was a dilapidated field shelter, with a corrugated-iron roof. She saw immediately it wasn’t big enough for two ponies. But it was shelter of sorts. And they could take turns. If Buster let Grace get in at all.

The water trough was thick with green slime from disuse, but when she pressed the ballcock fresh water flowed in and it seemed to work fine. If they had a hard winter and it froze, she had no idea what she was going to do, though.

Toni sighed deeply. There was so much to think about.

‘I can drop by and check on them on my way to the station in the morning,’ her father said. ‘Then you can cycle over after school.’

She nodded.

‘So. What do you think?’ he prompted, trying to read her face, she could tell.

All in all it was a long way from her romantic image. But she knew she had to be positive. The first step was to get the ponies here, and then later maybe they could find a livery closer to the cottage instead.

‘It’s going to be fine.’ Toni rolled up her sleeves and began to scoop handfuls of slime out of the water trough.

I’m going to make this work.