The Legacy of Lochandee (16 page)

‘Even if you couldn't, I know you'd do your best. Mrs Maxwell says you are both clever and kind, and totally unspoiled. Were you very lonely being an only child, Fiona? I'd have loved Lucy to have brothers and sisters.' She sighed. ‘It just never happened for Harry and me.'

A little while later, as she sipped her tea, she said, ‘Aren't there things you've got to do, to make sure you can be Lucy's guardian. Papers, I mean?'

‘You want to make it official, Beth?'

‘Yes, if you're willing. Not that I think my half-sister or brother would want anything to do with her, especially when there's no money in it for them,' she added bitterly. ‘Anyway we never see them. But I'd feel happier if it was all legal, like. Could you – would you see to it?' she asked anxiously.

‘Of course I will, if you're sure that's what you want. And you can always change your mind later. I'll ask Mr Niven about it.'

‘Will it cost much?'

‘It will not cost you anything, Beth, so don't worry, and don't even think of anything happening to you either.'

She was rewarded with a wan smile and, as Fiona lay in bed that night, she pondered on Beth's request. It was not like her to worry about her own health. She was as strong as a horse and she had worked hard all her life. Yet Fiona had an uneasy feeling that Beth had her own reasons for providing a guardian for Lucy, and really it was a wise precaution, she supposed.

Chapter Sixteen

R
ACHEL WAS OVERWHELMED BY
Fiona's pursuit of her vase, but when she heard she was to receive a cheque for £1,900, she sank onto a chair in disbelief. Fiona made sure she knew nothing of the hazards of dealing with Miss Pierce. Such an account would have alarmed her and marred her joy.

Never in her life had Rachel expected to own such a sum of money. It gave her the utmost pleasure to know Nick would be able to repay his loan to the bank, now that she could buy the Nether Rullion house from him. She had enough to finish the building of it and furnish it to her heart's content for herself, Ross and Ewan. Her only sadness had been the news of Mr Murray's death, but she was glad her trust in him had not been misplaced after all.

Ross was pleased on that score too. He knew how much Rachel's judgement of people meant to her. Now that a move from Glens of Lochandee was a real possibility, he was not so sure he wanted to leave the farm which represented so many of his dreams and had claimed so much of his youth. At 47, he still had ambitions, but was less sure he could achieve them.

‘But, Ross, you are full of plans for improving Nether Rullion,' Rachel said, when he voiced his doubts. ‘You can't be in two places, and you can't do everything. Besides, half of Lochandee already belongs to Bridie. Alice Beattie knew how much she loved the life here, how deeply she cared about the animals. Surely it makes sense for us to move to Nether Rullion instead of Nick and Bridie?'

‘I don't see why any of us need to move. Why can't we all stay as we are?'

Rachel smiled gently. He sounded like a wistful little boy.

‘Nick wants to be independent and have a home of his own. He was an only child, remember. I don't suppose he's used to being surrounded by people all the time. Anyway, I'm sure you must remember how much you longed to have me to yourself? You didn't even want Conan around,' she teased, and gave him the old dimpling smile which never failed to charm Ross.

‘I still like having you to myself,' he said softly. ‘I'm not that old yet.' The look in his eyes still brought the colour to Rachel's cheeks.

‘Och, go on with you! Anyway there's Ewan to consider too. He's set his heart on farming at Nether Rullion as soon as he's old enough to leave school. He thinks he'll marry Lucy and they'll live happily ever after.' She chuckled. ‘But seriously, Ross, surely it would be better for Ewan to learn about the vagaries of the different fields, the wet hollows, the parched knolls, the crops, and the seasons. He needs the chance to absorb all the knowledge you can give him, as young boys do. It will be good for him to watch the farm develop from the beginning, and to know we are doing it for him, and later with him.'

‘I suppose you're right,' Ross sighed. ‘It doesn't look as though the house will be ready before Christmas now, though. The builders let Nick down badly. No wonder he sacked them.'

‘Yes, Nick can use his authority and stand his own corner when necessary,' Rachel said slowly. ‘I feel Bridie will be safe in his care, but sometimes I wonder what will happen if he and Conan have a serious disagreement. I'm not at all sure they both see the garage business developing in the same direction.'

‘Well, that's their concern, my love. They're both grown men and we can't go on protecting our children for ever. Besides, I sometimes think Conan only thrives when there's a challenge. It makes him more determined.'

‘Mmm, just like his father,' Rachel murmured, her green-blue eyes sparkling.

Bridie was overjoyed at the prospect of staying at Glens of Lochandee, especially when Nick declared he didn't mind where he lived so long as he was master in his own house.

‘If my memory is right,' he grinned, ‘I don't think we shall have the place to ourselves for much longer anyway. Am I right, Bridie?'

‘A-ah, you've guessed?' Bridie blushed. ‘I think you may be right, but I don't want to tell anyone until I'm certain. It will be lovely having a baby of our very own. You are pleased, Nick?'

‘Of course it's pleased I am, my darling girl.' He hugged Bridie tightly. ‘It's three little girls I would like, all just like you.'

‘And I would like three little boys, just like their daddy.'

‘I hope that's me then!'

‘Of course it's you! Who else could it be?'

‘Lamp him on the spot, I would, if it was anybody else!'

‘Lamp him?'

‘Knock him flat …'

‘Oh, Nick, you're crazy!' Bridie chuckled and hugged him back. ‘And I do enjoy when you go back to your Welsh twang. Much as I love Mum and Dad, I must say it will be wonderful being on our own. Besides, I've all sorts of plans for the cows as well. Dad seems to forget I'm not a little girl any more. I have ideas of my own.'

‘What sort of plans?' Nick asked idly.

‘There's artificial insemination for one thing. Dad thinks it's unnatural and a waste of money, but it's becoming quite reliable I hear, and it was started near here, you know. If we must keep Friesians as well as Ayrshire cattle, at least we could buy semen from really well-bred bulls for some of our best animals – bulls we could never afford to buy in the flesh. Some of the semen is imported from good Dutch bulls to improve the conformation of our own British Friesians.'

‘And you think your father will agree to that, once he's at Nether Rullion?' Nick asked doubtfully.

‘Well, I'm hoping he'll get so engrossed in his plans there that he'll let me get on with things in my own way.'

Nick said nothing, but raised his brows sceptically. He did not envisage his father-in-law leaving many decisions to his only daughter, capable though she was. Secretly he hoped Bridie would be content once she had a baby to care for. She loved children, as he did himself, and she was a born mother. He loved her with all his heart and his own happiness would be complete when they had a family of their own.

Christmas came and went and still Bridie and Nick kept their secret to themselves, although Bridie was now almost three months pregnant. She was blooming with good health and happiness, and she did not want her parents to postpone their move on her account.

Rachel was excited about the move to Nether Rullion and the new house. Although she had been truly happy at Glens of Lochandee, she had inherited much of the furniture from Alice Beattie. She had been grateful, but this house would be her very own to furnish and decorate as she pleased. Ross found her enthusiasm infectious. There would be little spare money for immediate changes to the farmstead, but the markets were holding up better than he had dared to hope, mainly because the politicians were still desperate for home-grown food. This state seemed likely to continue as long as there was rationing. Everything that would help the balance of payments was exported, so there was little money to spare to bring in vast quantities of imported food as had happened before the war. The prices were still controlled by the government so that people could afford to eat without striking for increased wages. In an effort to compensate for this, and for the continuing regulatory controls, subsidies for ploughing and liming the land were being continued. Ross longed to improve, and go on improving, all the land he owned. Lime was one of the essential elements and he intended to make good use of the government aid to make Nether Rullion as productive as Glens of Lochandee.

‘The better crops I grow, the more straw we have to make manure and there's nothing like it for improving the texture of the soil and increasing the yields, whether it be grass, cereals or turnips,' he lectured Nick. ‘It all goes round in a cycle. If only I had a good big bullock shed at Nether Rullion. Bullocks make plenty of good manure.' He sighed heavily.

Bridie glanced anxiously at Nick, but he was always tolerant with her father's farming conversations. Now he looked at her and smiled, knowing how much she wanted Ross to turn his attention to Nether Rullion.

‘How about building a big shed with sheets of corrugated tin?' he suggested. ‘We've been asked to transport several loads of the stuff from one of the camps that's being demolished. I should think you could buy them fairly cheaply. You would need some good strong poles though.'

‘My word, Nick, that's a splendid idea. I'm glad you're part of the family. Can you find out the price for me? I suppose you wouldn't like to go over to Nether Rullion tomorrow and help me measure up to see how many sheets we should need?'

‘Oh, Dad! Sunday is Nick's only free day,' Bridie protested. ‘Anyway you've always told us we shouldn't work on the Sabbath.'

‘Och, a bit of measuring isna work. Besides, I expect your mother would come too and do some measuring for the house.' He grinned at Rachel. ‘Her measuring is endless. If it's not curtains, it's carpet squares, and then it's linoleum, and …'

‘Well, you wouldn't like to live in a barn,' Rachel said firmly. ‘So yes, I'll come with you tomorrow. We should be moved in by next week, I think.'

Nick gave Bridie a wicked wink, but Rachel saw it. ‘And I can see you two will be glad about that,' she quipped.

As it happened, no one went to Nether Rullion the following day. Frank Kidd came up to say his mother had died during the night. Although Dolly's death was expected and a welcome release from the pain she had suffered in the past weeks, it was clear that Frank was having a struggle to control his grief.

‘Well, Frank, you and Emmie did the best thing when you moved into the cottage with your parents in November,' Rachel said. ‘She has told me several times what a comfort it is to her, knowing your father will not be alone.'

‘Aye, Mistress Maxwell, and I know it's for the best. I couldna bear to see her suffer and I dinna think Emmie could've gone on much longer staying up at nights to care for her. She's been a real angel.'

‘Yes, you've both looked after her well and it will bring you great consolation later.'

They had all known Dolly Kidd for many years and her funeral was a sad occasion, but Rachel was dismayed that Beth seemed so inconsolable. She supposed it was because the funeral had brought back memories of Harry's death. She knew nothing of Beth's secret fears, or that Dolly's death had increased them.

‘Don't be sad for Dolly, Beth,' she said gently the following day, when Beth could not stop talking about her, and kept bursting into tears. ‘She was glad to go in the end, you know, no more pain. She told me she was thankful she had lived to see her boys grow up and come home safely …' Beth's sobbing increased, interspersed with apologies, but she could tell no one what was really troubling her.

Rachel decided it might be good for Beth to have a change from the routine of milking. She could certainly use her help to get the new house ready and everything moved into place.

‘How about coming to stay at Nether Rullion until we get everything into order, Beth? I'm sure Lucy could stay with Carol for a few days, or Bridie would keep her …'

‘No! No, no I don't ever want to leave Lucy,' Beth sobbed. ‘And she doesn't want to leave me.' This was true. Rachel had noticed how the little girl accompanied her mother everywhere since Harry's death – almost as though Lucy was afraid her mother might suddenly disappear too.

‘Well, bring Lucy with you then. She could sleep with you and I'm sure it wouldn't harm her to stay away from school for a couple of days. I really think the change would do you good, Beth, even if it is only a different kind of work. And I'd appreciate your help.'

So at last Rachel and Ross moved, with Ewan, to the new house. Sandy and Frank, with Emmie's help, were to shepherd the sheep over to Nether Rullion. It would take them most of the day, so Bridie welcomed the peace and quiet. Nick was at work but she planned to make him a lovely meal when he returned for their first evening alone together. As usual, she went to check up on the cows before going in for her own midday meal. She was surprised see Lochandee Star had started to calve. She wondered why Sandy hadn't mentioned it before he left.

The Star family was one of their best. As a small girl, Bridie could still remember the devastating effects of a foot-and-mouth epidemic. All the Lochandee cattle and sheep had been slaughtered, including her own pet calf, Silky Socks. In an effort to compensate and console her, her father had given her the very first black and white calf to be born at Glens of Lochandee. She had called the little calf “Star”, which had matured and borne several calves herself. The elderly cow which Bridie was now observing with concern had been Star's first heifer calf. The whole family were sweet-tempered, placid animals and had proven themselves invaluable for their breeding and production.

Swiftly Bridie unfastened the chain around Star II's neck and guided the cow from the byre into a nearby pen, kept specially for sick or calving animals. The two tiny ivory-coloured feet were already showing and Bridie wondered how long the cow had been struggling to give birth.

‘There, old girl.' She patted the cow. ‘I'll give you a few minutes to settle into your pen and lie down, then I'll come back and see whether you need a little help.' Most of the older cows gave birth without assistance, as long as there were no complications, like a twisted foot or hind feet first, so Bridie did not anticipate any trouble. In any case, she had been helping with births of cows and sheep since she left school.

When Bridie went back some time later the birth was no further forward and Star II was lying flat out, groaning, panting, pressing, and groaning again, but without the slightest effect. Bridie grimaced. There was nothing for it but to take off her jacket and roll her sleeves as high as they would go, to check what was keeping the calf from being born. Everything seemed straightforward, except that the calf seemed big and Star II was already getting tired. She collected two clean ropes and slipped one over each small hoof, struggling to tighten them on the slippery legs. Then she fastened a short bar to the ends of the rope, as she had helped her father do scores of times. There had usually been two people to pull on the bar each time the cow pushed. Today, for the first time Bridie could remember, there wasn't a single soul at Glens of Lochandee except her.