‘I don’t want him riled,’ Davie added. ‘If he thought I was making trouble for him, he’d have me put away and no mistake.’
‘So, go on then,’ Eli urged. ‘What happened, exactly?’
‘Well, I heard them plotting and planning, and I had half a mind to sneak away and look elsewhere for work. Then the door was suddenly flung open and Brian had me by the collar. He dragged me inside and asked me what I’d heard. I told him I hadn’t heard anything, and that I just wanted work. But he knew I’d heard it all. I think he could tell I was on the run, from the way I looked. He told me the police had just been there, and that they were looking for me. They were turning the country upside down, and all he had to do was pick up the phone and they’d be straight back to take me away. I just panicked – didn’t try to find out if it was true.’
‘Bastard!’ Eli was determined to teach the foreman and his partner-in-crime a lesson. ‘So, he’s been blackmailing you ever since, is that it? Making you do twice the hours and more than your fair share of work?’
Davie nodded. ‘He said he’d keep quiet about me, if I kept quiet about what I’d overheard. But he wanted me here, where he could keep an eye on me. If I ever said a word to anyone, or tried to make a run for it, he swore that he’d track me down … said there’d be no escape. That he’d find me and keep me, until the police came and took me away.’
Eli was beside himself. ‘Well, he won’t get away with it, don’t you worry. I’ll see to that!’
‘No, Eli!’ Davie turned on him. ‘Let it be. I don’t mind the work, not really. Besides, you gave your word not to say anything.’
Eli assured him, ‘Your secret is safe with me, although I’m convinced that at some stage you ought to turn yourself in and tell the police about that night. You can’t live on the run for the rest of your life.’
‘I will.’ Davie had been giving it some thought, too. ‘But not yet. I’m biding my time until I can go in search of the other two. I need them to come with me and tell the truth of what happened.’
The old man gave a wry little laugh. ‘Sorry, son, but from what you’ve told me about that pair, they’re not about to turn themselves in. If that man died, they could be hanged for it.’
Davie turned deathly pale. ‘So, what can I do?’ He was frantic. ‘I’m trapped, but I can’t stay here like this for ever.’
‘There’ll be no need.’
‘How come?’
‘Well, now you’ve confided in me, it’s given me a chance to turn the tables on that bully Moult.’
‘But that would mean putting yourself in danger.’
Eli gave a knowing wink. ‘That’s where you’re wrong, son. You see, there’s nothing he can blackmail me with. But, given what I now know, I can make his life very uncomfortable … if I’ve a mind to.’
Davie was still concerned. ‘If he knew I’d told you, he could cause all kinds of trouble for me.’ He hoped the foreman hadn’t seen Eli come to his caravan.
Eli understood Davie’s fears. ‘Tell me something, lad; if all this hadn’t happened, would you still be scouring the country, searching for your father?’
The youth sighed. ‘No, Eli, I wouldn’t. I’ve given up. I’ve spent nearly two long years searching for him, and now, I think if I spent another two years searching I still wouldn’t find him.’
His voice fell to a whisper. ‘He gave me a piece of paper with the name of a man on it; he said if ever I wanted to contact him, I should get in touch with this man, because he would always know where to find my dad.’
‘And did you?’
Davie shook his head. ‘I never even read it. I were in that much of a state, I lost it. One minute I had it, folded up tight in my pocket, the next, it was gone.’
‘And you’ve no other clue as to where he might be?’
‘None. Unless he went back to Ireland.’ He had long ago given up the idea that one day he would walk around a corner and there would be his father. ‘It’s been so long, Eli. He might have a whole new life – children and such. I can’t help but wonder if he even wants to be found. You see, I didn’t.’
It was the first time that the youth had voiced this truth. He hadn’t even written to Judy, his best pal. Somehow, it got harder, the longer he left it. He’d been in shock, he knew now – a much deeper shock than anyone could understand – and it had lasted a long, lonely time. He hoped she would forgive him.
‘Mebbe he does and mebbe he doesn’t. And mebbe he hasn’t got a regular woman nor children, and doesn’t want them. Mebbe he’s still in love with your mammy.’ Old Eli felt for Davie. ‘Look, son. You must never give up searching for him. In case he doesn’t know, he has every right to find out what happened to his wife, because until then I don’t suppose he can even begin to think about a new life.’
‘You’re right,’ Davie said. ‘That’s why I need to find him. To tell him what happened after he’d gone, and to let him know that I don’t blame him.’
‘Good lad!’ Eli was encouraging. ‘It could be, now that some time has passed, your dad longs to see you as much as you do him. You just have to keep hoping and searching. I also think you should get in touch with your grandad. He may have heard something. Your dad may have contacted him. But first, and most importantly, you need to get right away from here.’
Davie was surprised that Eli could even put such a thing to him. ‘It’s impossible! How can I ever get away from here?’ he asked. ‘You know what Brian Moult is like. He meant every word he said.’
‘You leave Moult to me.’ Reaching into his waistcoat pocket, Eli took out a small pad and a pencil. He began scribbling, advising Davie at the same time. ‘You must get a good night’s sleep, then in the early hours while everyone’s still abed, you’re to quietly make your way to this place.’
Tearing off the top sheet of paper, he handed it to Davie. ‘My old pal’s name is Ted Baker. He farms some hundred acres outside of Bedford, in the area called Goldington. Greenacres Farm is the name of his place.’ He smiled at the memories now flooding his mind. ‘Years back, a fore the war, me and Ted went from farm to farm, working the land and having the time of our lives; until the years caught up with us. When Ted was offered management of Greenacres, he jumped at the chance. Then he got married, and so did I, and in the end, we went our separate ways … though we never lost touch.’
He scratched his head. ‘Mind you, come to think of it, I haven’t heard hide nor hair of him this past year. But then I’m not concerned, because that’s how it’s been. We write every month or so for a time, and then it’ll be a whole year before we contact each other again. Farmers are busy people, and they don’t get too much time for letter writin’.’
‘So, how do you know he’s still there?’ the boy asked.
Eli laughed at that. ‘Because he’s too deeply rooted in the land to do anything else. Farming is all he knows, and all he ever wanted. Old Ted has found his bit of Paradise. Believe me, son, he’ll be there, you mark my words.’
He wrote a second note, and in it he told his old friend that Davie was the hardest-working young man he’d ever come across, and that he needed work and a place to stay. He explained how Moult had got his claws into him, and how, once Davie was safely out of the way, he intended giving the bullying foreman a taste of his own medicine.
He finished the letter by promising that he would make an effort to visit, sooner rather than later, and that he hoped all was well with his old friend. We’ll drink the drink and revisit the old days, he wrote, and when the letter was