Calling him inside he told Adam, ‘The poor lass never stops! She’s rushed in from the big ’ouse, got the dinner on the table, gulped hers down, and now she’s upstairs changing the bedclothes.’
An ordinary man with ordinary needs, Charlie suffered from a nervous twitch in his left eye whenever things got too much for him. The more agitated he grew, the more his eye twitched, and it was twitching now like never before. ‘Bloody folks wi’ money … think yer can do what yer like wi’ such as us!’
Being used to his ways, Adam took no offence. ‘I haven’t got any money,’ he said loudly, ‘and you know as well as I do that the Davidsons always do their best by this village.’
Charlie snorted and turning round, he informed Adam, ‘Aye well, that’s as mebbe, but I might like to ’ave the wife to mesel’ now an’ then. You buggers up at the ’ouse want to think o’ that.’ He gave the smaller man a shrivelling glance. ‘Besides, I might be a bit deaf, but I’ve still got one good ear, so there’s no need to shout like a damned fishwife.’
To Adam’s amusement, Charlie grumbled all the way down the passage. ‘She’ll not want to come back, and I wouldn’t blame ’er neither! If it were up to me, she’d be in the chair warming her feet by the fireside, but she’ll not listen to me, so I’ll not waste me time.’
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, he raised his voice. ‘ELSIE! It’s the man from the big ’ouse to see yer!’ Giving Adam a scathing glance with the steady eye, he bawled again, ‘WANT BLOOD, THEY DO! YOU’D BEST COME AN’ SEE TO ’IM, ’CAUSE I’VE OTHER THINGS TO BE DOING.’
Within minutes there was a flurry of activity from the upper level, swiftly followed by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. ‘What’s to do?’ Round and homely, and looking flummoxed, it was Elsie. ‘Oh, Adam!’ Her first thought was for Lucy. ‘She’s not fallen over again, has she?’
‘No,’ he reassured her, ‘it’s nothing like that. She just wondered if you might be able to come back with me and help cook a meal and clear it up afterwards.’ Raising his eyebrows in intimate fashion, he explained, ‘She’s got a visitor – yon chappie from Far Crest Farm – and he seems to have taken a real shine to Mary, and—’
Before he could finish, she gave a knowing wink. ‘I see. And she wants me in the kitchen, so’s the two of them can spend some time together, is that it?’
He smiled with relief. ‘You know her almost as well as I do, Elsie, and yes, that’s the general idea.’
‘And does Mary know what her mother’s up to?’
‘Well, she doesn’t know I’ve been to fetch you, if that’s what you mean. She’s in the kitchen as we speak, preparing the evening meal. I tell you what though, Elsie, she does seem to get on very well with the fellow in question.’
Elsie was delighted. ‘In that case, how can I say no? Mary is a lovely young woman and deserves a good man to take care of her. Is this man a decent sort? Only I’ve not met him to speak to. We exchanged pleasantries as we passed in the lane once, but he didn’t linger, ’cause he was off on one of his long walks. Every morning come rain or shine, he’s away across the fields with that dog of his.’
From his chair by the fireside, Charlie had seen their lips moving but heard not a single word. ‘What’s he saying?’ he asked irritably. ‘What’s going on now?’
‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ his wife told him sharply. ‘I’m off to do an extra shift for Mrs Davidson, that’s all.’
‘Oh aye, I gathered that much. An’ how long will yer be?’
‘A couple of hours at the most, I reckon.’
He sat bolt upright in the chair. ‘Don’t forget to tell the buggers yer want double time!’
‘Lucy will give me that without asking,’ Elsie replied. ‘She’s a good woman.’
‘An’ what am I supposed to do while yer gone?’ The old smith looked like a sulky child.
Elsie chuckled at that. ‘You can do what you always do, whether I’m here or not.’
‘Oh aye, an’ what’s that?’
‘Hmh! As if you need telling. You can lie back and snore, or listen to the news on the wireless and swear at the bits you don’t care for. An’ if that fails, there’s always your precious crossword.’
He gave her a fond smile. ‘Cheeky bugger! Come ’ere an’ give us a kiss afore yer go.’
Adam thought this was all wonderful. The Langtons didn’t have much in the way of luxuries, but they were content, and obviously still in love after all their years together. It was what he wanted for him and Lucy. But it wouldn’t happen, and deep down he had always known that.
With the kiss deposited and her coat on ready to go, Elsie was almost at the front door when Charlie came after her. ‘I’ll get yer bike for yer, lass.’
‘No need, thank you, pet. I’m sure Adam will run me there, and fetch me back when I’m finished.’
‘Oh no, he won’t! I’m not ’aving that,’ her husband retorted. ‘I’m not letting every Tom Dick nor Harry run yer about. For all I know he might be a shocking driver. Like as not he’ll get yer killed. Then where would I be?’
‘Hey! I’m a good driver! I take Mrs Davidson and her daughter all over the place, as well you know.’
Charlie was having none of it. ‘I don’t give a bugger what yer get up to wi’ other folks. Yer not driving my Elsie, an’ that’s an end to it.’
Climbing down the steps, he hurried to where Elsie had leaned her bike against the wall on her return home earlier. Taking it by the handlebars, he walked it back to Elsie and thrust it at her. ‘For me, lass,’ he pleaded. ‘Do it for me, ’cause it would mek me feel content, to know yer were safe, on yer bike,’ he sneered at the black car, ‘’stead o’ being rattled about in that there ve’ickle.’
Put like that, Elsie could not refuse him. ‘The trouble with you, Charlie, is that you refuse to catch up with the times. All you know is horses and bicycles.’
‘Aye, an’ that’s all I need to know, an’ all!’ His parting words were for Adam and his shiny, new car. ‘’Orses will be ’ere long after then noisy damned things ’ave ’ad their day.’
‘All right, I’ll go on my bike,’ Elsie assured him. ‘Now you get back inside and put your feet up by the fire. I’ll not be long.’
With that she set off on her treasured steed through the chilly evening air, with Adam following in the car and feeling like a right fool; though he had to smile at what he thought was a comical situation.
THE FIRST MARY knew about the arrangement was when Elsie marched into the kitchen. ‘Right then, miss, you get off and see to your visitor while I crack on with the meal.’ She cast an experienced eye over the preparations. ‘Well now! You’ve already done the vegetables and got the meat sizzling away in the oven. There’s not all that much left for me to do, is there, bar serve it and clear it all away. I’ll make a nice drop of gravy, shall I?’
Caught unawares, Mary asked her, ‘This is Mother’s doing, isn’t