‘What if I decided not to punish you, after all?’ he asked cunningly. ‘What if I decided it were the girl that’s bad – and not you at all? By! A young harlot like that would need some discipline, wouldn’t yer say?’
As he watched the horror unfold on John’s face, he chewed the fleshy part of his bottom lip, like an animal devouring its prey. And all the while observing John, with a sense of delight that he could hardly conceal. ‘Yer wouldn’t like that, I’ll be bound, but there’d be nowt yer could do about it.’
‘I could rip your heart out … that’s what I could do!’ Stumbling forward, John realised he was in no fit state to do anything at that minute, but he wouldn’t let this bully beat him. He couldn’t let Emily be hurt. ‘You touch one hair on her head, and I swear to God, I’ll kill you.’
The dog bared its teeth at him and growled.
Clem merely took a step back. ‘You’re not going to kill anybody!’ he snapped. ‘But if yer think anything of the girl, you’ll get as far away from this place as you can, and as quick as yer can! Because if yer don’t, it’ll be Emily that suffers, I can promise yer that.’
With a flick of his wrist he had John by the throat and the gun pushed into his belly. ‘I could do for yer right now,’ he whispered, ‘but there’s no need. I can see now how I might have got it all wrong, and that it really were the girl that led you on.’ He gave a little sideways turn and spat on the ground. ‘Yon Emily’s no more than a little slut – I can see that now. She needs teaching a lesson, that’s what!’
He gave a sly wink. ‘If you were to sling yer hook and clear off from round these parts, I dare say she would realise her mistake and be the good girl she allus was.’ His face darkened. ‘But if yer insist on staying, I reckon she’ll just go on being bad. An’ then – well, I’d have no option but to give her a good hiding.’
Struggling to free himself, John was frantic.
‘The thing is,’ Clem took pleasure from seeing the boy cornered, ‘I can do whatever I want. Like the old man said, it’s me that’s got the upper hand round this place, and it’s me that will ’ave to keep order, if yer know what I mean?’
‘You hurt her, and it’ll be the last thing you do.’
‘Oh, I will hurt her! I’ll have to, won’t I – unless you do as I ask. Look now, if you really are fond of the girl, you’ll sling yer hook an’ never come back. Do that, an’ the girl will be safe. But if yer defy me, then like I say, it won’t be you as suffers. It’ll be her. An’ even if by some unlikely chance you get to me afterwards – well, by then it’ll be too late, won’t it?’ Grinning wickedly, he let his next words sink in. ‘Because I’ll ’ave got to our Emily first.’
‘You bastard!’
‘Oh, I’ll not deny it.’ Clem paused, before going on in a low, trembling whisper. ‘You’re right – I am a bastard. Of the worst kind.’ His eyes hardened until they shone like marbles. ‘It might pay yer to remember that.’
With that he turned away and strode into the distance, Badger trotting at his side, leaving John to reflect on his words. And the more John thought on them, the more afraid he was – for Emily.
Because now he knew without a shadow of doubt that Clem Jackson was capable of anything, even murder.
Down at the brook, Emily had no idea of the horrible scenes happening up at the farm. All she knew was that John had arranged to meet her here at their usual place, and now here she was, patiently waiting for him, her heart leaping at every sound and her face flushed with anticipation.
Time and again she had wandered along the water’s edge, her eyes trained on the top field. She knew from their meetings in the past, it was the track he would take. Never once had he been late, not even when he had to put in extra work. He always got through it in time to be there when he promised.
Today, though, he was already late, she thought anxiously. And what did he have to tell her that was so urgent?
When they spoke last night, and he told her he would have some good news for her today, there had been a sparkle in his eye, making her think that he was going to see her mammy, and maybe ask if it was all right for him and Emily to start courting. She smiled at that. ‘A surprise’ – that’s all he would say, so now she would have to wait and see what it was.
Waiting wasn’t so hard though, she told herself. Not if she knew for certain he would be there.
Sitting cross-legged on the bank, with the sound of the brook playing over the boulders, she felt so content. This was a beautiful place, where the two of them had sat many a time over the past six months or so, talking and laughing, putting the world to rights. Making plans, dreaming dreams, and every passing minute, learning to love each other. John had been at Potts End Farm for just on eight months now, living with his Aunt Lizzie in a cottage over the rise in Salmesbury. Nearly twenty years old, the lad had been just a good friend to Thomas’s granddaughter for a few weeks, chatting to her while he worked on the wagons, and occasionally helping her with the animals when his own chores were done. From being good mates, the two of them had discovered love, and by now, each knew they were made for the other.
While she waited for John, Emily watched the late spring lambs at play and smiled. God’s world was a wonderful place, she thought.
Just then, a fat little lamb came to her side, curious as to what she was doing there. She ran her hands along its woolly shoulders. ‘My! You get bigger every time I see you.’ She laughed when it skipped off to find its mother. ‘Look at you … tapping your mammy for milk, and you’re almost as big as she is, poor thing.’ She watched with pleasure as the lamb nuzzled under the ewe’s belly, its tail wagging and its mouth locked onto its mammy’s long red teat, while the noise of its sucking echoed in that quiet morning air.
Emily loved it here. The bottom field was the furthest from the house and the prettiest of all. With the ragged hedges of dog roses and other wild flowers spilling their colour across the skyline, and the soft ripple of water as it meandered along, she thought this must be as close to Paradise as anybody could get.
Here in this idyllic place, alone or with John, she could sit and think, and wonder, and hope that one day her Uncle Clem would leave and their world would be happy again.
For now though, as the lambs skipped about her, she held out her arms and embracing the smallest of the flock, she gazed into its big dark eyes. The love in her heart spilled over. ‘His name is John,’ she whispered into its woolly ear. ‘We like each other a lot, and one day, maybe we’ll get married.’ Her face flushed a bashful pink. ‘Oh, I don’t mean he’s told me that’s what he wants, but I can feel it,’ she said to the wriggling creature. ‘At least, I hope he wants to marry me, because I don’t think I’ll ever want to marry anybody else.’
A sudden awareness filled her young heart. ‘I really do love him,’ she confided. ‘I must do, because when we’re together I’m so happy, I don’t even let Clem upset me. Then, when we’re apart, I feel so lonely.’ She looked to the top field. ‘He’ll be here any minute. Isn’t that wonderful!’
Giving the lamb a final hug, she took a leisurely stroll along the water’s edge. Her thoughts lingered with John, and the possibility of spending the rest of her life with him. It was a daring, wonderful thought, and it brought a smile to her face. I wonder what he’s got to tell me? she asked herself for the twentieth time.
Once again, she trained her gaze on the top field. Still no sign of him, but it didn’t matter. There was time enough before she had to be back. Besides, if she had to, she would wait for him for ever.
Filled with the energy of youth, she began to run, gently at first, her bare feet feeling every bump and curve of the land. Soon though, urged on by a rush of exhilaration, she was running like the wind, her hair loose and lifted by the breeze, and her strong legs