“Will one of you kindly explain just what exactly you think you are doing on my yard?”
This time the full force of my anger carried into every corner and it was followed by an uncomfortable silence as each man hoped someone else was in charge. Finally, however, one cleared his throat;
“We’re on the hunt for Croft, Miss. They reckon he must have gone to ground after all this fresh snow.”
Another chipped in with a revoltingly ingratiating tone, “It’s all official, Miss. We’re helping the police.”
This brought a murmur of agreement from the others.
“Are you?” I said acidly. “And that gives you the right to come without permission on to my yard where there is valuable livestock, does it?”
“We’ve got to search every farm. Mr Langton said so.”
This man’s tone was considerably less deferential and I suspected that now that their alarm had abated, my abrasive attitude was making them feel significantly more self-righteous by the moment.
“Oh, he did, did he?” There was a crash behind me as Beechnut started on her door. “And where is Mister Langton?”
“In the house … Miss.” This last was hastily added as I glowered.
Sweet heaven, were there traces of his burnt dressings in the ashes?
To the men I said crisply; “Right then. I’d better go and see Mr Langton, hadn’t I? In the mean time you may search the barns, but stay clear of the stables and you are not to bring your dogs. I will not have my animals distressed. Do you understand?”
Oh Eleanor, you really are a fool.
I stood there, glaring, as the men sullenly handed their dogs over to a spotty youth and then set about poking into the various corners of my barns. I was thankful to see that they were reluctant to go into the darker niches and when they began half-heartedly probing the haystack, I finally found enough resolve to march away across the roadway and towards my house.
I hardly even knew whether I was doing the right thing in leaving them unattended, and once inside my uncertainty increased horribly when I found only Freddy making a cup of tea for a very relaxed-looking visitor. John was, in fact, looking perfectly at his ease; he was sitting in my kitchen, fiddling idly with a scuff on the well-worn tabletop and apparently totally unaware that Freddy’s hands were shaking as they set down the milk jug for his tea – although given that they always shook in John’s faintly intimidating presence, this oversight was not perhaps entirely unreasonable.
I, however, was not so oblivious and I couldn’t help the questioning look as Freddy thrust a steaming cup at the table and fled silently past me for the door. But thankfully John barely registered the tea or the boy’s hasty departure as he politely rose to his feet to welcome me.
I cut curtly across his friendly greeting. “What are all those dogs doing on my yard, John? They’re upsetting my animals!”
Settling back in his chair, John simply smiled his warm lazy smile and I had to fight very hard to resist the urge to throw something at him. He was a handsome man and with his blue eyes, dark hair and active sense of humour that sometimes strayed into the roguish he had never lacked admirers, but despite our childhood closeness, or probably because of it, there had never been a hint of anything between us. It was a great relief to me to have a friendly influence in my life who did not seem to have his own personal agenda, and I wondered if he knew how much I appreciated it. Although, of course, just at this precise moment, any particular sense of this long-standing affection was being rather coloured by the shock of finding him in my apparently empty-of-fugitives kitchen.
I noticed then, with that abstraction of thought that sometimes follows a fright, that he must first have sat in the broken chair because it was now resting at a rather jaunty angle against the table, but thankfully he had the good grace to say nothing. Instead he said, with perfect dignity in the face of my agitation:
“Ellie, surely you know we’re helping the police to hunt for Croft? That damned man has been on the run for days and it’s time we caught him – and if it means searching all the farms in the area, then nothing and no one will stop me from doing it.”
“I want to see justice done as much as anyone,” I said waspishly, silently congratulating myself on not needing to lie, “but I fail to see how you think this is helping! I’ve got horses out there going mad in their stables because of your men and their dogs. They were on my yard without permission!”
“But you weren’t here, Ellie. And we are helping the police.”
“I dare say you are,” I snapped. Then I wondered suddenly if Freddy was still nearby and could hear us, and so lowered my voice. “But you are not the police, and I suspect do not have a warrant. Therefore your men were trespassing. I’ve allowed them to search the barns this time, John, but I have to say that I am not very happy about being thrust into the thick of this…this lynch mob.”
I stopped to collect myself and realised with a painful kick to the heart that he was looking at me curiously. Then his mouth formed a sympathetic smile,
“Lynch mob? I hardly think so, Ellie, dear. If the law chooses to hang him, that’s their business; you can’t possibly think it is a wish of mine.” But then the smile faded and he added slowly. “You’re being very defensive. Are you all right? He’s not been harassing you, has he? You seem very uptight and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that you had anything to hide. People still talk about you and him, you know.”
“Well they should keep their thoughts to themselves!” I retorted shrilly and then pulled myself up as I heard the hysterical pitch to my voice. Perfectly genuinely, I started to laugh. “Oh John, don’t mind me. It was just a shock coming back to a yard full of all those men. I live a quiet life here – as you know – and I’m not used to seeing so many people at once. I’m over-reacting, that’s all.”
He grinned, instantly understanding. “I’m sorry too, it must have been a bit of a shock. I didn’t think.”
There was a pause and I thought for a brief optimistic moment that we could get back onto our usual friendly footing – it was rare for us to bicker like we had as children and I did not like to fall out with him. But this time, instead of the usual friendly giggle at our foolishness, I realised that he was gazing at me appraisingly, and when he next spoke, it was in a tone that showed his distaste at having to delve into a topic that he knew would be difficult for me.
“I’m sorry to have to ask you, but have you really seen nothing of him? No, let me finish – I’m not prying, but after all these years and still single, well, it makes people wonder if you’re waiting for something … or someone.” He was scrutinising my face for a reaction. “And therefore, with that in mind, it isn’t impossible to believe that you might feel you should help him, even after what he’s done.”
A pause, then: “You are aware of the penalties for assisting a wanted man, aren’t you?”
I concentrated on keeping my voice level, carefully disguising the lick of anger that heated my blood. “I’m aware, fully aware. And in answer to your other question, there was a war so it was hardly the time to be meeting young men, was it? It is very unfair that a brief romance I had when I was eighteen should still be haunting me now. Just because I haven’t happened to marry is not a good enough excuse for all these gossiping idiots to still go on about it: I don’t still have feelings for him. In fact, I don’t think about him at all.”
“Good,” John said flatly. “He didn’t deserve you then, and he most certainly doesn’t now. He always was a smug, sanctimonious b—…sorry … and I’m glad, yes, glad that he’s finally come unstuck. Serves him right, the jumped-up little arse.”
There must have been something in my expression because John suddenly said, “Poor Ellie, he really did hurt you, didn’t he?”
This unexpected