eggs.’ Tom had to put her right. ‘I were collecting keeper-apples when you were still in nappies.’
‘Oh, dear me I forgot!’ She gave him a derisory glance. ‘There’s nothing you can teach me about farming is there, eh?’
‘Nope.’
‘So, what about the potatoes last season? I suggested we get the potato crop in before the rains came, and you argued that the weather would be absolutely fine for at least another week. Two days later the skies burst open and it poured for days. So thanks to you we lost half the crop.’
He suffered her teasing for the next few minutes, while intermittently nodding and grunting, as though he was paying attention. If she paused he’d look up and say, ‘Really…well fancy that!’
‘I feel awful now.’ Nancy returned to the wedding. ‘I promised Alice I’d give her a hand with bringing the apples in, but there’s been so much on my mind I completely forgot.’
‘She won’t mind.’
In spite of his concerns with regard to Joe, he truly believed that in Alice, Frank had found himself the makings of a fine wife.
Alice had just placed the last of the keepers into the basket when she saw Joe going into the barn. She called out after him. Collecting the basket, she ran out of the orchard and along the shingle path to the big barn.
At the doorway she peered inside, and there was Joe, tenderly stroking the injured bird. ‘We’ll get you right,’ he told it softly. ‘You’ll soon be able to spread your wings and soar through the skies where you belong.’
Suddenly aware of someone watching him, he turned quickly. ‘Hello, Joe,’ she said softly. Putting the basket to the ground, Alice came forward, her face bright with a smile. ‘I wasn’t sure it was you at first. I only ever saw you the once, and then you were gone. That was a year ago now, wasn’t it?’ She remembered their first meeting, how quiet and shy he seemed, and how each time she glanced up, he was looking at her. There was something about Frank’s younger brother that made her nervous. For a long time after he left, she found herself missing him.
For a moment, Joe didn’t say anything. Instead he thought of that fateful day when Frank brought her home, and how he couldn’t take his eyes off her. And yes, it may have been a year ago, but to him it was like only yesterday.
So many times of late he had hoped that when he saw her again things might be different, but they weren’t. The feelings he had then were still there, haunting him. The very sight of her made his heart beat faster, and his throat was so dry he could hardly breathe.
‘Alice!’ He felt foolish, not really knowing what to say. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.’
Closing the distance between them, she smiled up at him. ‘That’s because you were so intent on comforting the bird.’
Reaching out, she stroked the bird along its velvet, feathery neck. ‘He’s a falcon, isn’t he?’
‘That’s right,’ Joe confirmed. ‘I don’t think he’s long out of the nest. Maybe he hasn’t yet learned the art of diving for his prey.’
‘What’s wrong with him?’ Whenever a creature was hurt, Alice felt it deeply. Sometimes, when she was worried or feeling lonely, the creatures gave her a great sense of peace and timelessness.
Even as a child, she had always felt far safer with animals than with any human – including her parents.
She thought of her mother, always arguing and fighting, thinking only of herself. She was a cold person, cold and selfish. Yet she could not hate her, nor could she love her. That was her deepest regret.
‘Is he badly hurt?’ She turned her attention to the falcon.
‘His wing is damaged, but I think he’ll be okay,’ Joe assured her.
Alice glanced along the run of stables where the two work-horses had their heads over the doors and were looking out. ‘You could put him in the empty stable.’
Joe had already seen that possibility. ‘I’ll need to protect him from the cats and foxes.’ He looked about him. ‘There should be an old cage in here. It used to belong to my pet rabbit when I was a boy.’
‘I know it!’ Excited, she ran the full length of the barn and there, behind some old corn barrels, she located it: a small, wooden box with a door at the side. ‘Here it is!’ Pulling it out, she stood it on the barrel. ‘It doesn’t look broken or anything.’ She continued to examine it as Joe made his way down.
‘It’s perfect!’ Placing the fluttering bird in Alice’s safe hands, Joe quickly filled the cage with a bed of hay, then he rummaged about until he found a suitable piece of cane, which he used for a splint. Skilfully shaving off the sharp edges, he then snapped off a length of bale twine and while Alice held the bird close, he secured the splint along the falcon’s damaged wing. ‘That should hold.’
Collecting the bird from Alice, he placed it in the cage and secured the door. He then searched for something to fill with water. ‘This’ll do!’ After unscrewing the deep lid from the top of an old storage jar, he went to the side of the barn where he washed it out under the tap, then he filled the container with water and placed it inside the cage near to the falcon.
‘Oh look!’ Alice was thrilled when the injured bird shuffled slowly along and, stretching out to reach the water, took a drink.
‘That’s good!’ Joe was relieved. ‘He’ll be fine now. I’m just wondering…maybe he’d be safer inside the house until his wing is mended?’
‘No!’ Alice rejected the idea. ‘I know he might be safer,’ she agreed, ‘but he would be so unhappy. He should never be put inside. Make him safe out here, where he won’t be too afraid. Please, Joe?’
When Joe looked down into those strong, blue eyes, he was deeply moved. ‘You’re absolutely right,’ he told her. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’
Quickly, he created a large harness out of a length of steel strapping. That done, he then secured it round the cage, and strung the cage from the rafters. ‘That way, it’ll be even more difficult for the foxes and cats to get at him.’
Together they went out of the barn and into the bright sunlight. There was something unique between them: a friendship born from shared experience.
Or something else, which was destined to have far-reaching and tragic consequences.
Inside the farmhouse, Tom was at the end of his tether. ‘Will you come away from that damned window. You’re making me nervous, to-ing and fro-ing, grumbling and muttering!’
He gave her an ultimatum. ‘Either you find something else to do, other than stand at the window fretting, or I’m off out down the pub to find a bit o’ peace…’
Nancy was past listening, because now she was hopping up and down on the spot, shouting at the top of her voice. ‘He’s here!’ With a screech of delight, she was out the door, leaving Tom with a parting rebuke, ‘I said he’d be here and I was right!’
Ambling to the door he watched as she ran headlong into Joe’s open arms. ‘That’s put
