The shock of Joe being in prison, had rendered Frank speechless. Joe, who would rather cut off his hand than commit a crime. Joe, who had never harmed anyone or stolen anything in his entire life. ‘I don’t believe it!’
Taking a moment to think it through, he gave a cynical laugh. ‘Oh, now I see it! You’re lying, aren’t you? You’re lying, to cover up the truth, that you didn’t give a sod about us!’
‘No, Frank.’ Joe looked him in the eye, ‘Only weeks after I left here, I got caught up in a fight down London way; a man was badly hurt. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that’s all. The three culprits ran off and I was the one who got arrested. Nothing I said made any difference. They gave me eight months’ custodial sentence. I served the time and when I came out it was next to impossible to find work. I did odd jobs anywhere I could find, then I started working the pubs; the odd day here and there, for a pittance and a bed in the cellar.’
He told Frank, ‘One night I wandered into the Oak Tree pub and got talking to the landlord. He said his regular barman had to take a fortnight off, and asked me if I’d like to give it a go…that there was a room and regular meals going as part of the wage. So naturally I jumped at the chance. I’m glad I did, because I got your letter, and that was my way back.’
‘Oak Tree?’ Frank recognised the name of the pub. ‘That’s right! That’s where I traced you to.’
‘So that’s how it was, Frank. Through no fault of mine, I spent the best part of a year in prison, and that’s God’s honest truth!’
Instead of reacting with compassion, Frank took pleasure in taunting him, ‘Locked up in prison, eh? Joe Arnold…the man who values his freedom like no one else I know…can’t even sleep unless the window’s wide open.’
He laughed. ‘How did you survive, Joe…with four small walls closing in on you; hordes of convicts crushing your space. No open windows, or fresh air, and eyes watching you everywhere you went? I’ve heard how prison can cripple a spirit or send you crazy. Is that how it was, Joe? Has it sent you crazy?’
Joe remembered every minute of it, and though prison had not altogether crippled his soul, it had scarred him deeply. With Frank’s every vicious word the memories came flooding back; awful memories he would rather forget. And now for his own evil pleasure, Frank was bringing them alive in his mind. ‘Bastard!’
Frank didn’t see it coming. When Joe’s clenched fist set him reeling backwards, he lay on the ground for a moment, tenderly nursing his jaw. ‘Oh, so you did learn something in that place, eh?’
‘Oh, yes, I learned something. I learned that you had to look after yourself or go under, and I was not about to go under, Frank, not then, and not now.’
Laughing, Frank scrambled up. ‘If you think you’re a better man than I am, then you’re a bigger fool than I took you for,’ he snarled. ‘I mean…look at you…an ex-con! Joe Arnold, ever the good son…locked up in prison and surrounded by thugs and criminals.’
Nursing his jaw, he laughed insanely. ‘You know what, Joe…that’s the most useful piece of information I’ve had in a long time.’
Realising how Frank meant to use the information, Joe already regretted having divulged his secret.
‘Just think about it, Joe. If that got out, imagine how it would shame the family. Whatever would people say? It could even finish us if the customers went elsewhere for their hay and meat. Oh, and I can’t even imagine what it would do to Mum and Dad when I tell them.’
Joe was incensed. ‘Even you wouldn’t do a cruel thing like that!’
‘I would, if you forced my hand.’
‘You really are scum, aren’t you?’ He suspected what Frank had in mind, and he was right.
‘All I’m saying, Joe, is that there’s no need for any nastiness. All you have to do is forget the silly ideas you’ve got in your head about me; and I’ll keep my mouth shut about your scummy little secret.’
Disgusted, Joe turned away. Frank called after him, ‘I mean it! I won’t even have to shout it out loud. I’ll just whisper the word round the village…Joe Arnold’s just out of prison!’ That’s all I need to do, Joe! A little whisper in the right ear, and the gossips will do the rest.’
Ignoring his rantings and with a need to think, Joe made for the tractor, where he feverishly set to work. Behind him, Frank sat leisurely on a fallen tree trunk and smoked a cigarette. ‘You think it over,’ he told Joe confidently. ‘In the end though, you’ll see I’m right. If you want to save Mum and Dad a lot of grief, it’s the only way.’
Working like a man possessed, Joe had fitted the chain in no time. When the engine started, Frank shouted excitedly, ‘Oh, well done, Joe! I may be a better farmer than you, but you always were the better mechanic, I’ll give you that!’
Paying him no heed, Joe wiped his hands on the oil rag and began his way up the field. ‘Dammit! I should never have told him,’ he muttered angrily. ‘I should have known!’
‘It’s a deal then is it?’ Frank called after him. ‘Keep your mouth shut, and your secret will be safe enough with me!’
Joe gave no answer.
The truth was, he would never have risked hurting his parents by revealing what he knew about Frank’s evil doings. But Frank could not know that. Instead, Frank had judged Joe by his own standards by resorting to blackmail.
‘I was a fool for trusting you,’ Joe cursed himself. ‘You’ve got me where you want me, Frank, and it’s no more than I deserve.’
It was another harsh lesson he had learned.
‘What’s keeping them now?’ Nancy and Alice had the dinner almost ready, ‘Just the gravy to make and we can serve it up,’ she told Alice.
Alice placed the condiments in the centre of the table. ‘Do you want me to go and see where the boys are?’
‘You’ll do no such thing, my girl!’ Tom chided. ‘Another five minutes an’ it’ll be dark as nookers-knockers out there. You and Nancy take it easy, while I go and see if they’re on their way.’
He was gone no longer than five minutes before he was back. ‘Brrr!’ He kept his jacket on. ‘It’s blowing a bit chilly out there now.’
‘Well…’ Nancy wanted to know. ‘Did you see them?’
‘Nope. Though I’m certain they’ll be here soon.’
Sniffing the aroma of freshly cooked beef, he sighed. ‘Can’t we make a start? It’d be a shame to let the meat spoil.’
Nancy gave him one of her frosty looks. ‘A few more minutes, then we’ll see,’ she told him sternly.
He ambled back to his chair. ‘Yer always were a bossy woman,’ he muttered.
‘What was that?’ Nancy put her hands on her hips. ‘Are you calling me bossy?’
‘I am, and you are. So there!’
Smiling to herself, Nancy got back to her gravy. ‘You have to keep these men in their place,’ she told Alice, who was enjoying their harmless banter, ‘otherwise they’ll begin to think they’re in charge and that will never do.’
Tom continued to moan, ‘No consideration! There’s me famished, and them two messing about doing goodness knows what. No consideration at all…keeping us all waiting for our dinner like this.’
‘I’ll just pop out and see if they’re about,’ Alice suggested, and before anyone could stop her, she had her coat on and was out the kitchen door.