The Fleethaven Trilogy (145 page)

‘Less of your cheek, Missy.’ Esther pulled the shawl
closer around her shoulders. The fire in the reprimand was
missing, and Ella was surprised how sad the realization
made her feel.

Ella dusted her hands and went towards her grandmother.
‘Come on,’ she said gently. ‘Let’s go and find you
your clothes and you can get dressed and come and sit
downstairs in the kitchen, if you’re feeling better.’

Mumbling, Esther allowed herself to be taken back into
the house and, seated in the Windsor chair beside a now
blazing fire in the range, Ella removed her boots.

‘There now. I’ll fetch your clothes and you can dress
yourself here in front of the fire.’

‘Where’s Rob?’

‘Oh, he’s out in the fields. There’s no one to see you and
I’ll turn my back if you’re bashful,’ Ella teased her gently.

‘He’s been staying here, ain’t he?’ The old eyes were
suddenly bright with suspicion.

Ella met her gaze squarely. ‘Yes,’ she said quietly.

‘Where’s he bin sleeping, then?’

Ella took a deep breath. ‘Downstairs and before you
say anything, Gran, I’ve been upstairs in the little bedroom,
so don’t start . . .’

The smile was tentative at first and then it twitched the
corners of the wrinkled mouth and spread, creasing her
thin cheeks, spreading up into her green eyes and giving
them a glimmer of life. ‘I weren’t going to, lass. I weren’t
going to,’ she said softly.

Ella went to the shelf at the far side of the kitchen and
reached down two bowls. Then she ladled a thick soup
from the pan on the fire.

‘I’m just taking some of this up to Grandpa. I’m going
to get him up to sit in a chair for a while this afternoon.
Doctor said I could. I don’t want him lying in that bed till
he takes root.’ She lifted the tray. ‘And don’t go wandering
outside again in your nightie. I’ll bring your clothes down
and when you’ve got dressed you can sit there and peel the
’taties for dinner,’ and lapsing deliberately into the dialect
so strong in her grandmother’s speech, Ella grinned mischievously
and added, ‘Time you were mekin yasen useful,
an’ all!’

‘None o’ your chelp, Missy!’

As Ella climbed the stairs, the smile was still on her lips.
She let out a sigh of thankfulness: the sparkle was back in
Esther Godfrey’s eyes.

Peggy arrived the following day.

‘I couldn’t stay away any longer, Ella. I’ve still got a bit
of a cough, but I’m much better. How are they?’

Ella hugged her aunt. ‘Much better, thank goodness.
Oh, but I’m so glad to see you.’

‘I could stay a day or two if it would help,’ Peggy
offered.

Ella glanced at Rob. ‘Rob’s staying here with me at the
moment.’ Suddenly, she was shy. ‘I couldn’t have managed
without him.’

He laughed, his eyes crinkling with good humour. He
winked cheekily at Peggy. ‘At last! She’s finally admitted
it.’

Peggy smiled too. ‘I’m glad you’re here with her, Rob,’
she said, ‘but I take it there’s no room for me.’

‘You could stay at our place, Miss Godfrey. Me mam
would love to have you.’

Peggy laughed. ‘Now, now, young Rob. Don’t go
making offers on your mother’s behalf before you’ve even
asked her.’

But Rob was right. Rosie was delighted to have Peggy
stay a couple of nights with them, though the fact that Rob
arranged this and made no mention of moving back home
himself now that Esther and Jonathan were improving
quite surprised Ella.

‘I’ve brought a letter for you from your father,’ Peggy
said that first evening, handing a long white envelope to
her. ‘He enclosed it in a letter to me saying he was sending
it care of me just in case, well, anything awful had
happened and would I pass it on to you if everything was
all right. He seems a very thoughtful man.’

Ella nodded and her voice was husky as she answered
simply, ‘He is. I have written, but our letters must have
crossed in the post.’

Inside were two letters: the one from her father, as she
might have expected, was loving, concerned and supportive
and he promised to come to see her at Fleethaven as soon
as she sent word that her grandparents were well enough
for visitors. The other was from her grandmother Trent,
who, though she asked politely after Ella’s grandparents,
went on immediately with all the plans she was making for
Ella’s return to York. Ella let the pink pages fall on to the
table and sat staring at it for a few moments.

‘Want you back, do they?’ came Rob’s voice from the
other side of the table, and she looked up to see him
watching her, a wary, almost defensive look deep in his
brown eyes.

‘Well, yes, but . . .’

Before she had time to say any more, he turned swiftly
and left the kitchen, banging the back door behind him so
violently that the house seemed to shake.

‘Now what on earth was that about?’ Peggy remarked.

‘I don’t know,’ Ella murmured slowly, staring towards
the door. ‘I really don’t know.’

‘There’s no need for you to sleep here any longer, Rob.’

‘Oh, I see. Served me usefulness and cast aside like an
old shoe, eh?’

‘It’s not like that and you know it,’ she began hotly and
then she saw his wide grin. ‘Oh, you,’ she said and punched
his shoulder.

‘Ouch! You don’t half pack a punch for a townie.’

‘I’ve been grateful for your help. You know I have. I
couldn’t have coped without you . . .’

‘Glad you realize it.’

She began to giggle. ‘But I reckon Gran keeps hopping
out of bed several times a night to see that I’m sleeping
upstairs and you’re safely downstairs.’

His eyes widened. ‘Has she said anything?’

Ella nodded.

He laughed. ‘Right you are, then. I must admit I’m quite
looking forward to getting back to me own bed. That thing
in her parlour isn’t as comfortable as it looks.’

Impulsively, she put out her hand and touched his bare
arm. The feel of his skin beneath her fingers sent such a
pulse of longing through her that she blushed and stuttered.
‘I – I mean it, Rob. You’ve been great.’

He stood close to her, looking into her eyes, his gaze
boring into hers as if he would read into its depths. ‘I’ve
been glad to help yar gran – and yar grandpa too, of
course. You – you must know how I feel about . . .’

Swiftly, Ella nodded. ‘Oh yes, I know,’ and there was
bitterness in her tone as she added, ‘I know exactly how
you feel.’

She turned away and hurried from the room, leaving
him to gather his things together. If only it wasn’t always
her grandmother he felt so deeply about, she mourned
inwardly, choking back tears that threatened suddenly.

When he came out of the front room, carrying his
belongings, she went with him to the hole in the hedge and
watched him walk away from her, his bundle of clothes
slung over his shoulder.

Oh, Rob, her heart was crying silently. Don’t go. Don’t
leave me. But she made no sound and, whistling, Rob
walked on.

The day Grandpa Godfrey came downstairs for the first
time was like Christmas.

‘Aah,’ he said, giving a big sigh as he sat down in the
Windsor chair at the side of the range, ‘it’s nice to be back
in the land of the living.’

Esther stood beside him, put her hand on his shoulder
and kissed the top of his head. ‘You’ll soon be out tinkering
with your tractor and doing the ploughing.’

‘Oh no, he won’t,’ Ella said. ‘A bit of tinkering, maybe.
But the ploughing – oh no!’ Then realizing she might have
sounded too harsh, added, ‘Well, not this year anyway.
You’re just going to sit and watch me out the window and
tell me off when I get the furrows crooked.’

Esther, still standing with her hand resting on Jonathan’s
shoulder, stared at her granddaughter. ‘But I
thought, now we’re better, you’d . . .’ she began, and then
fell silent.

‘What? What did you think?’

‘Oh, nothing,’ Esther murmured, stroking her husband’s
hair.

Unseen by her grandmother, Ella winked broadly at her
grandpa and was rewarded by his knowing smile. ‘Now
you’re both up and about,’ Ella went on, ‘I’ll have to tackle
the outside work and the ploughing’s first on the list.
Well?’ She glanced from one to the other. ‘It won’t do
itsen, will it?’

She heard her grandfather’s deep chuckle and saw him
reach up and pat Esther’s hand where it still lay on his
shoulder. ‘I reckon you’ve met your match at last, Esther
Godfrey.’ And still chortling, he leant his head back against
the wooden back of the chair and closed his eyes. ‘Met
your match at last!’

‘It’s Grandpa’s birthday two weeks before Christmas, isn’t
it?’ Ella remarked towards the end of November.

Esther wiped the vestiges of the sticky pastry she was
making from her hands. ‘Yes. Why?’

‘How old is he?’

Her grandmother wrinkled her forehead. ‘Seventy.’

‘I thought he might be.’ Ella nodded. ‘Do you think he’s
well enough for us to have a bit of a party for him?’

The green eyes were wary. ‘Who’re you going to invite?’

Ella hid her smile and put her head on one side and
said, deliberately casual, ‘Well, Peggy, of course. And then
there’s all our friends from round about . . .’

The suspicion deepened. ‘Friends?’ came the clipped
reply. ‘What friends?’

‘Well, there’s the Maines and the Harris boys from the
Point,’ Ella ticked them off on her fingers. ‘The Souters . . .’

Esther pulled a face.

‘. . . and, of course, the Elands.’

Her grandmother’s head shot up. ‘Oh no!’

‘Now, Gran. It’s time to bury the hatchet. Surely? While
you and Grandpa were ill, I couldn’t have managed
without their help.’

‘Well, Rob was good, I’ll grant you that, but . . .’

‘And who do you think’s looked after your two cows
and brought the milk across every day?’

‘Well . . .’

‘And where did all those lovely soups and jellies and
blancmanges to try and tempt Grandpa’s appetite come
from, do you think? ’Cos I didn’t have time to make them.’

Esther stared at Ella and then blinked. ‘Oh,’ she said,
and stirred the knife in her pastry thoughtfully. ‘I hadn’t
realized . . .’

‘No, Gran. I don’t think you had. But it’s time you did
and high time you thought about it. I nipped across there
one day to phone Peggy and there was Grandma Eland
and Rosie with their heads together trying to think what
they could bake that you’d both enjoy and that would
“perk you up a bit”, as Grandma Eland said herself.’

‘Did she? Did she really?’

Ella nodded and added quietly, ‘She came before, too,
didn’t she? Before I came home, to try and help you?’

Esther’s eyes were downcast. ‘I dun’t remember.’

Ella wasn’t sure whether or not she believed her, but
she let it go.

Now there was silence in the kitchen, whilst Ella waited,
leaning against the door frame with her arms folded,
watching her grandmother rolling the pastry over and
over.

‘So,’ Esther said at last, without looking up. ‘What do
you want me to bake for this ’ere party, then?’

On the day of the party, the first Saturday in December,
the weather was unusually kind. A bright winter sun and a
light breeze seemed determined to smile benignly on all
Ella’s efforts. She had worked tirelessly the previous week,
scrubbing and cleaning until the whole house shone,
baking and cooking, and early on the Saturday morning,
she was outside feeding the hens and sweeping the yard.

‘’Tain’t Royalty coming, is it?’

Ella looked up to see her gran standing in the doorway,
hands on hips surveying her farmyard. Ella stared at
her for a moment and sent up a silent prayer of thanks:
her gran was almost her old self again, just as the doctor
had promised, although she got tired a little quicker than
Ella remembered. Her hair, pure white now, was neatly
cut and shaped and washed to shining health. Her face
had filled out and the awful gaunt, haggard look had
gone. There were a few more lines on her face, but the
green eyes flashed fire once more when something didn’t
suit her.

But this morning, she was smiling.

‘Not quite Gran . . .’

‘Grannie . . .’ she corrected automatically, but absently.

‘But just as important – to me, anyway.’

Esther moved closer. ‘Young Rob, y’mean?’ She spoke
so quietly that Ella almost missed the words. She looked
up sharply, staring at her grandmother.

‘How . . .?’ she began and felt her face colouring.

Esther smiled gently. ‘Aw, lass. I’m not blind, even if he
is.’ Then her smile took on a sadness. ‘I’m sorry – if he
doesn’t – well – feel the same about you.’

Ella leant on her broom and sighed. ‘I’ve lived with it a
long time now. It didn’t hurt quite so much when I was
away. But back here, well, it’s more difficult seeing him so
much. I have to remember not to let it show.’

‘Maybe you shouldn’t try so hard to hide it.’

Ella laughed. ‘Oh, Gran, he doesn’t know I exist. He’s
after the girls all right, but all the pretty ones.’

‘He’s like his grandad,’ Esther murmured and her eyes
misted over, looking back down the years.

‘Matthew Hilton, you mean?’

She nodded. ‘He looks like him, spittin’ image of him,
he is. When I was ill there – I – I got confused. I thought
he was Matthew.’ She drew her hand across her forehead
and shook her head as if to clear it, to banish such
memories for ever. ‘Matthew was a flirt an’ all. After
anything in skirts!’

Ella sighed. ‘I don’t think Rob means any harm. He just
– well – likes a bit of fun.’

Esther nodded. ‘He’s not got a dark side like Matthew
had. Ah well, it’s all a long time ago now, and Beth’s
coming today – thanks to you.’ She cast a comical look at
Ella. ‘So I’ll have to be on me best behaviour, won’t I, else
I’ll have your grandpa after me, an’ all.’

‘And I’d better get a move on, or I’ll never be ready.’