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. ‘Don’t go no further than the gate!’ Nancy declared. ‘If there’s no sign of them we’ll sit down and start before the meal’s spoiled.’
Tom thanked her with a chuckle. ‘Good idea!’
Addressing Tom haughtily she assured him, ‘It’s not for your sake, matey. It’s for me and Alice.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means…I know how you get the wind on an empty stomach.’ She frowned, ‘…and that’s not a pleasant thing to witness!’
Having sat by the brook for an age, Joe was already on his way back. He had to check the falcon, so he made straight for the barn.
Once inside he lit the tilly lamp and carried it to the stable. ‘So, how are you, fella?’ Closing the stable door behind him, he then set about untying the straps that held the cage in position.
Outside, Alice was halfway along the path when she saw the light go on in the barn. ‘I expect that’s Joe!’ she realised. ‘He’ll be checking the falcon.’ Setting off at a run, she headed for the barn.
First she peeped through the window but when the strawstack hampered her view, she went softly to the door, where she slipped quietly inside.
Alice stayed in the shadows, quietly observing him as he lifted the bird out of the cage, all the while speaking tenderly to it, ‘Well now, you seem to have bucked up a bit. And look at this…you’re even trying to move your wing. Oh, yes! I reckon we’ll have you up and away in no time at all.’
Coming out of the shadows, Alice stepped forward. ‘Hello, Joe.’
‘Alice! I didn’t see you come in.’ Though he was very glad to see her.
‘Is he getting stronger?’ Alice peered at the bird, now fluttering in the palm of Joe’s hand. ‘He looks like he wants to get away.’ She thought the falcon was a magnificent thing, with his deep, bright eyes and feathers smooth as silk.
‘He knows his wing is healing,’ Joe said, ‘…so now he’s growing anxious to leave. Look.’ He gently worked the wing back and forth. ‘I don’t think it’s broken after all,’ he said, ‘…but he’s lost a feather or two, and the muscle is weakened. Seems to me he might have flown into a telegraph pole, or got caught up somewhere. Either way, he seems to have rallied a bit with having the rest, and by the look of it, he’s had a good drink from the container.’
Alice saw how tenderly Joe examined the bird, lifting and moving the wing and all the while talking softly to him.
‘Can I hold him?’
‘Keep the wing out straight,’ he reminded her. ‘The splint is not as tight as it was, what with him moving about.’
Carefully, he placed the falcon in her cupped hands. ‘Watch he doesn’t peck,’ he warned, ‘he’s getting a bit full of himself now he’s feeling better.’
He was amazed when straightaway the bird settled neatly into her hands, and calmly lay there. ‘You’ve worn him out,’ she smiled up at Joe, then concentrated on stroking the bird’s head with the tip of her finger. ‘Lovely thing, aren’t you?’ she murmured. ‘You want to be out there, don’t you…riding on the breeze and when it’s time to stop, you’ll be up there in the tall trees, observing everything from your lofty perch.’
After a moment or two, she returned him to Joe. ‘Best let him rest now, eh?’
When she placed the falcon into Joe’s grasp, her hands brushed his and Joe’s heart turned over. She was so close to him; he could smell the fragrance in her hair, and her skin was soft as silk. Alice was so lovely, all he wanted to do was take her into his arms and fold her to him.
With the longing came the guilt, ‘Did Mum send you to look for me?’ He thought it amazing, how he could sound so casual, when his head was spinning with excitement.
Alice nodded. ‘Dinner’s all ready. Your mother wondered where you and Frank had got to.’
‘We had to finish off,’ he told her. ‘I should think Frank will be along any minute.’
‘And what about you, Joe?’ she asked. ‘How long will you be?’
‘Not long. I’ll make sure the falcon’s settled first. It’ll only take a few minutes. You’d best go now though, or they’ll be wondering where you are.’
Alice stepped back. ‘See you in a few minutes then?’
She went out of the barn and along the path, where the only light to show her the way was the light from the farmhouse kitchen.
When she almost there, she heard footsteps behind her. A quick glance told her it was Frank. For some reason, she felt she couldn’t face him just yet. She needed time to herself…just a minute or two, and then she’d be all right.
Leaning into the shadows she let him pass without him suspecting that she was even there.
After he’d gone into the farmhouse, she held her hands out before her. They were trembling. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ she thought. Just now when she placed the falcon into Joe’s palms, the touch of his bare skin against hers had quickened her heart.
‘It was the bird,’ she told herself, ‘He’s so wild and beautiful. Yes! That’s what it was. Holding the falcon was exciting! How many people ever get to do that?’
Being there in the barn with Joe, and sharing the excitement of the falcon, had somehow unsettled her.
Suddenly the door was flung open and there was Frank. ‘Oh!’ Laughing, she fell into his arms. ‘Frank! Oh, I’m so glad you’re back,’ she said breathlessly. ‘We wondered where you were.’ She clung fast to him, almost as though she were fleeing from something.
‘Woa!’ Taken aback by the way she threw herself into his arms, Frank held her at arm’s length. ‘I was about to come looking for you. Mum said you’d gone to stand at the gate, so you must have been invisible when I came by just now.’
‘I was in the barn.’
‘In the barn? What were you doing in the barn?’ He smiled proudly. ‘Looking for me, were you?’
‘No, well yes…I mean, I was looking for you, but then I saw Joe go into the barn, and I asked him where you were and he said you should be back soon, and then I saw the falcon.’ When she realised she was gabbling, she took a breath. ‘Oh, Frank, the falcon is so beautiful!’
Frank noticed how excited she was, and he began to wonder. ‘Oh, yes, the falcon. I was told about that. So, is it doing all right, or what?’
‘Joe thinks he’s doing just fine,’ Alice informed him eagerly. ‘At first Joe thought his wing might be broken, but it’s only damaged. Anyway, Joe says he might be able to fly away soon.’
‘That’s good news. So! You were in the barn, were you? I’m surprised you didn’t see me go by.’ All he could think was that she had mentioned Joe’s name three times in less than a minute.
‘I expect I didn’t see you because I was holding the falcon, but then I gave it back to Joe and came to the house to see if you’d got here yet.’
Tickling her under the chin, Frank smiled broadly. ‘Well, I’m here, and you’re here, and it’s good that the bird is repairing.’ Deliberately holding his smile, he teased. ‘Though