Coming Home (26 page)

‘
Don’t tease them, John,’ Chrissie admonished, seeing Megan’s blush. ‘I guessed you’d be outside helping Steven, lassie so I brought you some clean clothes to change. We thought we could all have a wee celebration. Hannah has made a lovely chocolate cake and brought a bottle of wine and Mrs McGuire has brought us an apple pie and shortbread. I’m afraid all I could make is a ham and leek casserole at such short notice and with the meat rationing and all.’

‘
Oh Mum,’ Megan flung her arms around her mother’s neck. ‘It will all be delicious and I’m so happy I don’t need food.’

‘
A-ah, we’ll soon see about that, lass,’ Mr McGuire teased. ‘When you’ve been working outside you’ll find your appetite.’

Much
later they all gave a cheer as Steven gave Megan a lingering kiss goodnight before her parents drove her away home again.

***

A year seemed such a long time to wait but it was Megan’s final year of studying and teaching sessions and she was kept very busy. Steven was fully occupied with his additional cows to milk and the McGuire’s land to manage. The other three holdings were all about sixty acres each so he knew he had only a few more acres than they had to manage and he was determined to make a good job. Johan had moved into the spare bedroom at Schoirhead and his help was invaluable now that he no longer needed to hurry away at five o’ clock in the afternoon. The McGuires had renamed him Joe and gradually taken him into their hearts, recognising his lonely state, his shy smile and obliging manner.

As
soon as he was sure he could rely on his young helper, Steven left him to do the afternoon milking and set off on his motor bike straight after breakfast one Saturday morning. He planned to spend the day with Megan and his heart sang as the miles sped by.

‘I know you’ll soon be home for Christmas,’ he grinned at her look of astonishment, ‘but I couldn’t wait so long to see you again.’

‘
Oh Steven! How wonderful.’ She launched herself into his arms, oblivious to some of her fellow students cheering and grinning from the library windows.

‘
What news of everyone?’ Megan asked as they sat over lunch in a small tea room.

‘
Joe has settled wonderfully and he seems pleased that I trust him enough to milk the cows himself while I’m away today. Jimmy Kerr has had an upheaval in his life though. He was very worried for a while. His boss has retired and his business has been taken over by one of the agricultural suppliers in Annan. His boss started off as a country blacksmith before he set up in the town, repairing machinery so Jimmy thought he might have difficulty finding work. He must be good at his job though because Bradleys, the firm who has bought the business, have offered him a job in charge of the machinery repair side and they’re sending him to Yorkshire for two weeks training in the factory which supplies their tractors.’

‘
That’s a wonderful opportunity!’ Megan exclaimed. ‘I remember Jimmy complaining about all the smallholders being stick in the muds and not wanting to move away from horses. This will suit him well.’

‘
Yes, it’s a great opportunity. Though I must say I still like my horses, even now I’ve got the old tractor from Willowburn.’

‘
Did you ask Jimmy if he will be Best-man at our wedding, Steven?’

‘
I did and he said he would so long as he could kiss the bride.’ Steven chuckled as he watched the ready colour in Megan’s cheeks.

‘
I’m sure he never said that,’ she growled. ‘What other news. How is your mother?’

‘
She has moved most of her stuff out of Willowburn, including one sow, and all of her poultry. I have the other two sows at Schoirhead and one of them is due to farrow soon. Mother has plenty of space and I think it will be ideal once she gets settled. Mr Griffiths, the land agent, gave his approval for her to move out early. He says the new tenant will move in straight away. I went up to Willowburn and took Joe with me a few times so we have left everything clean and tidy and the sheds all cleaned out. Mother said he was pleased about that.’ Steven flushed, but he went on. ‘He said it was a pity I hadn’t been the one to take over Willowburn and if ever I’m looking for another farm I’m to let him know. He’ll see what he can do, even if it is only to give me a reference.’

‘
That’s wonderful, especially when you have so much to do at Schoirhead. I’m glad he appreciates you – almost as much as I do,’ she dimpled up at him.

‘
It’s a pity we’re in such a public place, Megan Oliphant,’ Steven growled in a low voice, ‘because I badly want to kiss those cheeky dimples.’

***

Steven went to see Megan during the Easter and summer terms whenever he could spare the time, but he longed to have her closer. Joe took pride in his work and was always pleased to be left in charge. The McGuires kept an eye on him and told Steven how hard he worked during his absence. The most welcome news came when Megan was given a placement for her year’s teaching practice at a small village school only four miles up the main road from Schoirhead.

‘
Now we can fix our wedding,’ she told him jubilantly.

They
arranged it for the second week in July.

‘
We have no plans for a honeymoon,’ Megan told her mother. ‘It might be the middle of hay time and so long as we’re together that’s all we want.’

‘
I know it is, lassie. Sam would have been so happy for you both.’

‘
I think he would too,’ Megan said.

‘
And he would have been as proud as we were to see our wee Megan winning the award for the best student of the year,’ Chrissie said, her voice choked with tears. ‘I’m glad you finished your course. Even Mr Turner is proud of you.’

‘
Yes, and hasn’t he been generous with a wedding present!’

‘
He has that. He told your father he wouldn’t offer money or the pair of you might buy another cow so he ordered the electric washing machine. He suggested to the other workers they should buy you the electric iron and he organised it for them. Aren’t you lucky?’

‘
I think I’m the luckiest girl in the world. I thought Princess Elizabeth was so lovely at her wedding last November but I’m sure she will not be any happier than Steven and me.’

‘
No, I’m sure she will have her problems, even though she is a royal princess.’ Chrissie sighed. She had made a rare visit to the cinema to see the royal wedding in colour. It had been wonderful. Exactly the happy celebration the country wanted to see after all the years of bombing and destruction, and the rationing continuing with even more severity.

‘
I wish we could have had more rations to make a better wedding reception,’ she said voicing her thoughts aloud, as her mind returned their own plans.

‘
Don’t worry about it, Mum.’ Megan hugged her. ‘I shall be too excited, or too nervous, to eat and everyone will be pleased to have a free meal.’

They
had arranged to have it in the village hall and Chrissie and Hannah and Mrs McGuire had all been saving as many coupons as they could, or hoarding any offer of tinned fruit and table jellies. Hannah had managed to get enough dried fruit to make a single tier wedding cake.

Again
the Turners had surprised them with their generosity, promising Chrissie a whole ham from their own pig, and as many tomatoes as they required from their greenhouse. John had grown plenty of new potatoes and salad vegetables in his own garden so there would be no shortage there and Hannah had offered to supply chutneys and pickles and make some of the trifles. The butcher had promised to set aside a piece of pickled brisket to the value of three weeks meat ration from all three households.

‘
It will still be small but it will add a bit of variety and I have three capons to pluck and dress,’ Chrissie listed her plans anxiously.

‘
Don’t worry,’ Hannah said when they discussed the final arrangements. ‘Everybody knows the rationing is as bad as it ever was. I think you have organised everything splendidly and the Turners have been surprisingly generous. Is Natalie coming to the wedding with her parents?’

‘
No,’ Chrissie smiled knowingly. ‘She happens to be going away for a weekend and of course it has to be then. I’m sure she would have married Steven if he had looked in her direction.’

‘
I’m very glad he didn’t,’ Hannah said with feeling. ‘I think he has always had tender feelings for Megan. I know how much he values her friendship and now that it has blossomed into love I’m sure it will prove a firm foundation for a happy marriage.’

‘
I expect you know John and I regard Steven as a second son. We couldn’t be happier.’

***

‘I can’t believe what an excellent job Miss Gillies has made out of a parcel of parachute silk and curtain lace,’ Megan said as she pirouetted in front of the mirror in her wedding dress. She was to wear her mother’s veil and Chrissie pinned it on carefully. She blinked rapidly to hide her tears. It was hard to believe her little girl would soon be a married woman.

‘You look beautiful, Meggie,’ she said huskily.

‘You’re not prejudiced of course?’ Megan chuckled. ‘I think Maryanne might need help fixing her head dress if we’re to get to the Kirk on time.’

‘I’ll see to it,’ Chrissie promised with a last wee tweak at the bridal dress. ‘I’m glad you will have one night away on your own. It was a good idea of Hannah’s and generous of her to pay for it and to stay at Schoirhead overnight to look after Joe and help him with the milking.’

‘
Yes, we really appreciate it,’ Megan nodded eagerly. ‘But we feel bad about Dad lending us his car and letting us have his petrol ration.’

‘
We all want you to be very happy, lassie,’ Chrissie smiled. ‘You both deserve it.’

Twenty

The summer seemed to pass on a cloud of bliss for Steven and Megan, in spite of the work of finishing the haymaking and bringing in the harvest, and having twelve cows to milk as well as three sows all with litters of young pigs. Steven had been well pleased with the two lots of store pigs he had sold so far and he was planning to take his two young gilts to the boar.

It had been a relief to make the final payment to the bank at the end of July and clear the bank loan.

‘I was determined to start our life together without any debts hanging over us,’ he told Megan. ‘If you change your mind and want to keep on teaching after this year,’ he said earnestly, ‘I shall understand Meggie and we can sell two of the sows to make less work.’

‘I’m sure I shall not change my mind,’ Megan said firmly. ‘I can’t tell you how much I’m dreading the thought of being away at school all day and leaving you here on your own.’

‘I shall not be on my own. Joe will be here,’ Steven grinned.

‘You know very well what I mean!’ Megan said, her green eyes sparkling. ‘You’ll surely not be creeping up on Joe to steel a kiss…?’

Steven
threw back his head and laughed. ‘I think he might run away if I did that. Seriously Megan, I am going to miss you but I know it’s the sensible thing to finish off your teaching qualification. At least you will get the school holidays. It’s a pity you’ll have a two mile cycle ride to catch the bus at the main road.’

‘It would have been worse if I’d been forty miles away and we’d had to wait another year to be married,’ Megan reminded him. Steven drew her to him and his arms tightened around her slender waist. He bent to kiss her ear and her neck, and then her lips. ‘I don’t think I could have waited so long,’ he said gruffly. ‘As it is we shall have to be careful not to make any mistakes and get a baby before you’re ready. You’re such a temptation, sweetheart.’

‘I know,’ Megan said breathlessly. ‘At least we shall not have to pay for a nurse and all that sort of thing now that the government have brought in free health care for everybody. Mother says some women really needed to see a doctor but if they couldn’t afford to pay they risked their own lives as well as that of the baby.’

‘Well we shall never take that risk, whether we have to pay or not,’ Steven assured her firmly. ‘I realise now how dreadful it must have been for people like my mother and my father to lose the love of their lives after so short a time.’ He kissed her passionately. ‘Let’s not even think about it.’

As the days grew shorter and colder, Steven worried about Megan cycling to the main road to wait for the bus. He knew she was a lot tougher than she looked but he loved her to distraction. It was Jimmy Kerr who came up with a solution. The firm of Bradleys had a garage as well as the agricultural engineering side and an iron mongers shop.

‘They have a decent second hand car for sale. You wouldn’t get much for your motor bike but you could trade it in.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Steven said. He hadn’t planned to buy a car for a long while.

‘They have a little van to sell as well,’ Jimmy said. ‘That would be more useful and it’s cheaper but it depends whether Megan would want to be seen driving a van to school.’

Megan was insistent that her bicycle was perfectly adequate but ten days later she was drenched after cycling home in a thunderstorm and Steven decided they must have the van.

‘What use would the money be if you got ill, Meggie? And I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.’

So Megan was often seen driving to and from work in her wee van and she frequently found herself bringing messages for one or other of the smallholders. She loved teaching her class of six and seven year olds and her head mistress was kind and understanding, a willing listener to any anxieties she might have, but she was constantly aware of all the help the other small holders’ wives gave their husbands and she longed to help Steven and work at his side. Some days when he was working late she went to work before he came in for breakfast and she only saw him when they ate their evening meal together; even then Joe was always there. They never seemed to have time alone together when they could indulge in idle chatter or gentle flirting. They were beginning to feel the strain.

One evening in May, Steven had been sowing turnips all day and he was hot and tired and they still had the cows to milk. Jimmy Kerr called in at the house as Megan was making their evening meal.

‘I know Steven and Joe are busy with the turnips but they must be nearly finished. I wondered whether they would come out with me for a drink tonight?’

‘I could ask them,’ Megan said, her heart sinking. When did Steven ever have time for an evening of leisure in her company these days, or if he did, it always seemed to be when she had lessons to prepare for the following day. They were both too conscientious about their work. She looked at Jimmy. ‘Is it some sort of celebration?’

‘Well, sort of.’ He gave her a shy smile. ‘I’ve been promoted and it just happens to be my birthday as well.’

‘Congratulations, Jimmy,’ Megan said warmly. ‘Why don’t you pop into the byre and tell Steven your news. I’m sure he’ll be delighted for you and he can tell you if he’s free tonight.’

So it was that Steven and Joe joined some of Jimmy’s friends from work for a night of revelry. Megan was in bed and half asleep by the time they came home, singing merrily and rather drunk. It was the first time she had seen Steven intoxicated. He didn’t seem the least bit tired as he sat on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her face while singing a popular love song to her. Eventually he stripped off his clothes, tossing them around the room in gay abandon, totally unlike his usual self. He rolled into bed beside her and proceeded to make wild and passionate love. His happiness and carefree state were infectious and neither of them remembered the hateful little packages which Steven kept in the bedside cupboard.

Steven was worse for wear the following morning and both he and Joe slept through their alarms. Megan had a struggle to waken them. She brewed a large pot of strong tea and persuaded them to drink it. Eventually they crawled to the byre to get on with the milking. She knew they were both feeling wretched and they were running late if the milk was to be cooled and into the churns in time for the milk lorry to collect it. She decided to milk some of the cows herself. They couldn’t afford to miss the lorry. Consequently she was late for work herself. She knew that would be a black mark against her in whatever reports her headmistress had to write about her at the end of her year.

She
needed to discuss her situation with Steven. He had insisted she should save the money she earned and put it in a separate bank account to be kept for a rainy day, or to buy herself something she needed, but they couldn’t go on like this indefinitely. Although she enjoyed teaching she also wanted to be at home so they could work side by side, she wanted to help Steven build up his little farm. She knew it was his ambition to move to a larger farm some day when they had enough stock and more machinery and enough income to afford a bigger rent.

As
things turned out the decision was made for her. By the end of June, she knew she was expecting a child. She also knew it was not what Steven had planned or intended and she was nervous about telling him.

She
waited until she knew Joe would be out at the pictures for the evening but before she had chance to say anything Steven had a suggestion of his own. ‘It’s a lovely evening,’ he said as she cleared away the dishes after their meal. ‘It’s Friday too. Do you feel like a walk, Meggie? It seems ages since we had time to go for a stroll and a chat.’

‘
I’d love to come.’ She responded eagerly, pleased to see the old Steven she knew and loved. As they walked beside the river they both remembered the night of the flood.

‘
Shall we sit for a while beneath the willow tree?’ Steven suggested. ‘It’s hard to believe the water ever came over the banks when you see it now.’ Megan shuddered at the memory and he drew her close. She leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘I love you so much, Megan. I never seem to get the time, or the opportunity, to tell you these days. Perhaps I shouldn’t have invited Joe to lodge in the house with us. It makes extra work for you and I know how busy you are.’

‘
He’s no trouble really, and you couldn’t have managed everything without help, especially when I’ve been working.’

‘
I suppose you’re right.’ He ran his fingers up and down her bare arm. ‘But it’s good to be on our own for once.’

‘
Yes, it’s lovely.’ She sighed happily. ‘It will soon be the summer holidays and the end of my year’s teaching practice.’

‘
I know. You enjoy teaching your young pupils, don’t you, Meggie?’

‘
I do, but Steven, I’d enjoy working beside you every day even more.’

‘
Would you? Do you mean that, Meggie? Teaching must be so much easier. I didn’t think you would want to give it up now you’ve started and when I see how much you enjoy it.’

‘
I’d give it up any day so long as I know you want me here beside you.’

‘
Oh Meggie, you must know how much I miss you when you’re away all day, but I know that’s selfish of me, especially when you’re so good at your work and so interested in what you do.’

‘
It would be even better being beside you and having children of our own.’ She sat up and looked into his face. ‘What would you say to us having a baby, Steven?’

‘
It would be wonderful, our very own child and you at home all day looking after her instead of being at school.’

‘
It might be a “him”, a wee boy, just like you,’ Megan said softly.

‘
Maybe we could have one of each then?’

‘
Starting now?’

‘
You mean right here and now? Underneath the willow tree?’

‘
Of course.’ She laughed up at him, her green eyes sparkling.

‘
Oh you wanton woman, Megan Caraford, I love you more than I can say.’

It
was quite a while before they sat up and Megan confessed.

‘
We’re already expecting our first child, Steven,’ she said softly.

‘
We are?’ He looked startled. ‘However could that happen?’ Megan began to laugh. ‘How do you suppose such things happen?’

‘
B-but you know what I mean… I- I thought… Are you sure, Megan? Do you feel all right?’

‘
Yes, and yes, so don’t start fussing. My mother carried on helping with the milking almost until Sam and I were born. Are you pleased?’

‘
Am I pleased indeed! I’m the luckiest man on earth.’ He drew her into his arms and kissed her tenderly.