She turned to look at him. ‘We should have had word by now. The wedding’s on Saturday. It’s Monday already; less than a week to go, and we’ve heard not a whisper from him. What if he can’t get ‘ere? What if he’s had an accident on the way…oh dearie me!’
‘Hey!’ Crumpling the newspaper to his knee, Tom wagged a finger at her. ‘We’ll have none o’ that kind of talk! Why don’t yer make us a nice cup of tea, eh? Happen it’ll calm yer nerves.’
‘The only thing that’ll calm my nerves is the sight of our Joe coming through that door.’
‘Mebbe, but watching out for him every two minutes won’t bring him ‘ere any the quicker.’ With his large frame, thick, beard and piercing blue eyes, Tom Arnold was a man of fierce appearance, though like his wife, he had a soft heart.
In no time at all the kettle was whistling on the hob, and Nancy had brewed a pot of tea. She got out the tray, along with two mugs, into which she spooned a generous helping of sugar, then a drop of milk for Tom, and a good measure for herself. After that she took a small plate from the cupboard and sliding four ginger-snaps on to it, she rearranged the whole lot on the tray, before waddling over to the table. ‘There y’are then!’ She plonked the tray unceremoniously before him. ‘So, is there anything else you want?’
‘Nope, except for you to sit still. Yer making my nerves bad. First yer at the window, then yer at the door, then yer upstairs at the window again. Then yer ‘ere and now yer there, and soon yer off somewheres else. In and out, up and down, making me that dizzy I can’t settle to read my blessed paper. Why can’t you sit down, drink your tea and be patient?’
‘Don’t be like that.’ Already on her way to the window again, she looked at him in a way that usually melted his heart. But not this time. This time he was desperate to pick out his horses for today’s race. ‘I know I’m a fidget, but I can’t help it,’ she complained. ‘I’m on edge d’you see?’
She paused, feeling as though she had the weight of the world on her mind. ‘Tom?’
He groaned. ‘What now?’
‘I really am worried.’
‘Well you shouldn’t be!’ Frustrated, he rolled his eyes to heaven. ‘Like I said, our Joe will turn up. In any case, as long as he gets here before Saturday morning, it’ll be fine. Stop panicking, woman!’
‘It’s not just about Joe being late,’ she replied quietly. ‘There’s something else…’
‘Something else?’ Now, he was interested. ‘Come on then. Let’s have it!’
Nancy had not planned to say anything, but it was on her mind and she needed reassurance. ‘Has it never puzzled you why our Joe took off like he did,’ she asked. ‘I mean…one minute he was ‘ere, and then he were gone, just like that, without any explanation.’
‘I did wonder at the time, but I can’t say I’ve lost any sleep over it. Besides, young men are notoriously unpredictable, so don’t worry about it. Anyway, I’m sure he had his reasons.’
That was not good enough for Nancy. ‘The way I see it, if he could go off on a whim like that at the drop of a hat, without any explanation, who’s to say he’ll not have another whim and decide to stay away?’
‘Because his brother tracked him down a month back and asked him to be his best man, that’s why! Like I say, Joe won’t let his brother down, and well you know it.’
‘He didn’t write back straightaway though, did he? It was a whole month before Frank got a reply.’
‘Yes, but that’s only because like all other young men, Joe is not a letter writer.’
‘What if he doesn’t want to be best man at his brother’s wedding?’
‘Don’t be daft, woman!’ Tom put his newspaper aside. ‘What the devil’s got into you, Nancy?’
‘I just wondered, that’s all.’
‘About what?’
Nancy shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m not really sure. It’s just that when Joe left I got the feeling he was upset about something. You remember a couple of nights before he left, Joe was introduced to Alice? Oh, he smiled and gave her a kiss and everything seemed fine. Only, after that, he was too quiet for my liking.’
She recalled it only too well. ‘He hardly said two words over dinner, then he went to bed early.’
‘That’s because he’d been working out in the field all day, doing the work of three men. Me and the farmhand were away at the market with the calves, and as you recall, Frank had hurt his back. On top of that, it was the hottest day of summer. Joe was drenched with sweat and completely done-in when he finally got home. Frank was all excited because he’d brought Alice home and straightaway she was thrust under Joe’s nose. He was even made to welcome her with a kiss, and him being so shy an’ all!’ Tom gave a hearty chuckle, ‘I can’t say I’m surprised he had little to say for himself!’
‘But it wasn’t like Joe to be so quiet,’ Nancy insisted. ‘The following morning I got up early, determined to find out what was troubling him. When I came down, he was already packed and gone, leaving only a scrap of a letter by the kettle to say he was off to see the world.’
‘He wrote and put your mind at rest though, didn’t he?’ She shook her head. ‘He’s always put duty first before,’ Tom replied reassuringly.
‘From what I recall about his letter, Joe seemed happy enough,’ Tom reminded her. ‘He was making good money working the fairground, and he’d palled up with another lad. So, when the boss offered them the chance to go to Europe with the fair, they jumped at it!’ He chuckled. ‘I don’t mind telling yer…if I’d been offered the same chance when I were Joe’s age, I’d have been gone like a shot!’
‘So, you think the only reason he left was because he wanted to see the world?’ Nancy asked.
‘That’s exactly what I think, yes.’ Tom was not a natural liar, but he had to put Nancy’s mind to rest.
The last thing he wanted to do was alarm her with his own suspicions about why Joe left.
In fact his thoughts on the matter were so unsettling, he had never once shared them with Nancy.
Nancy was like a dog with a bone. ‘Are you sure he didn’t say anything to you?’ she persisted. ‘About why he was rushing away, or where he was headed?’
‘He said nothing to me, but like I’m telling you, it’s likely he wanted to see what the big wide world had to offer before he settled down.’
Tom thought of his own life and how his world had only ever been this farm, rented from the landowner by his grandfather and father before him. ‘I remember when I were twenty-five,’ he remarked thoughtfully. ‘I were still working the land morning ‘til night, seven days a week.’
‘Ah, yes, but that was then and this is now,’ Nancy reminded him. ‘Times change, don’t forget that.’
‘I’m not likely to, because here I am, an old man plagued with aching bones and a nagging wife. I’ve two grown sons: one of ‘em’s fled the nest, and the other’s straining at the leash to get wed. I’ve a heap o’ responsibility weighing me down, an’ after all these years hard work, I haven’t even managed to buy a house to call our own!’
Nancy was taken aback by his outburst. ‘In all the years we’ve been married, I’ve never once heard you talk like that.’ It worried her. ‘Are you saying you regret your life?’
‘Absolutely not!’ Giving her a reassuring wink, Tom reached out and kissed her on the mouth, before revealing sincerely, ‘I don’t regret a single minute of it, and as for you and my boys,