the smile, Alice made her way towards the stairs.
A short while later Alice returned, washed and dried; her hair tied back in a ribbon, and looking fresh in a pale cream-coloured dress with floral collar and wide belt. ‘Oh, Alice! You look pretty as a picture! I remember that dress from when I was young.’ Nancy ushered her to the table. ‘Now then, I’ve made you a cup of honey and hot milk. You’re to drink it straight down and no arguments, ‘cause it’ll keep the chills away!’
Outside, Tom and Joe were deep in conversation. Settling Alice at the table, Nancy drew Alice’s gaze to where the two men were sitting under the beech tree. ‘Tom’s eager to know what our Joe’s been up to, and Joe needs to know that we’re all right.’
A look of pride lit her homely features. ‘Joe’s been a fine son to us,’ she confided. ‘Oh, it’s not to say our Frank isn’t also a good lad, because of course he is. Only they have a different way of dealing with things.’
Curious, Alice asked her, ‘How do you mean?’
Nancy had a heart full of love for both her sons, but she was careful in her reply. ‘They’re different in nature, that’s all,’ she answered cagily.
‘In what way?’ Alice asked curiously.
Nancy thought about that. ‘Well now, let me see.’ She parked herself in the chair opposite Alice. ‘They’re both hard-working, and they’ve each got their good points,’ she emphasised. ‘But y’see, Joe is more a thinker than Frank; although I’m not altogether sure his dad would agree. What I mean is that our Joe will examine a problem from all angles before he makes a decision, while Frank is more impatient and impulsive. He’ll only see what he wants to see. He’ll often dive in at the deep end without weighing up the consequences first.’
She laughed. ‘He was the same as a boy…put the fear of God in me at times, he did!’
Almost oblivious to Alice’s presence, she began to reminisce. ‘I recall when Tom had his new fork lift delivered. Joe was only a toddler, while Frank was coming up to his sixth birthday. I was in the kitchen and I’d put young Joe outside in the wooden playpen…lovely thing it was. His dad made it for him.’
She hesitated, her face drawn up in a deep frown. ‘When I wasn’t looking, Frank carried his brother to the truck and tied him on to the forks. ‘Course little Joe thought it was all a game. When I saw what had happened, I ran out. By the time I got there, Frank was already in the driving seat, trying to start the engine.’ She gave a great heavy sigh. ‘It nearly gave me a heart attack!’
Having learned a little about the mechanics on a farm, Alice was horrified. ‘If Frank had started the engine and the forks had gone up, Joe could have been badly injured!’ She knew that much.
Nancy agreed, though she had never seen it as a deliberately cruel prank, more as Frank’s little game to amuse his baby brother.
She said so now. ‘Of course, Frank didn’t realise that Joe could have been injured,’ she said. ‘But his father was horrified. He gave Frank a bit of a spanking and put him to bed.’
Nancy chuckled. ‘He went wild, kicking and yelling, and wanting to come down. But his father said he was to stay there until he realised that what he had done was dangerous. Later on Frank apologised, and nothing like that ever happened again. Like I say…Frank’s a fine man but as a boy, he did have a bit of a temper.’ She could have said more. Instead, she turned her mind to other things.
Taking hold of Alice’s hand, she wrapped her two hands around it. ‘You’ll be so good for him, Alice,’ she said quietly. ‘You have a calming nature, and I’ve never known anyone to be so kind of heart. Oh! and you have such spirit, for a little thing!’
She looked down into Alice’s remarkable dark-blue eyes and she was convinced that here was a young woman who would be a match for Frank; not in a bullish way, but with her quiet, loving nature.
‘I’m so glad he met you,’ she told Alice. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather see him spend his life with.’
Afraid she might have said too much, Nancy was quick to assure Alice. ‘Frank adores the ground you walk on, did you know that?’
‘Yes, I know that,’ Alice said. ‘And I think the world of him too.’
Relieved, Nancy went on. ‘He’ll make a fine husband, like he’s been a fine son. To tell the truth, me and his dad don’t know what we’d have done without him this past year, what with Joe having gone away so sudden.’
‘Joe’s back now though,’ Alice pointed out. ‘Maybe he won’t ever go away again.’
‘I’m glad he’s back,’ Nancy admitted. ‘But to be honest, I’m not altogether sure he’ll stay.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because Joe has the wanderlust.’ Nancy would have been overjoyed if Joe made up his mind to stay home, and she confided as much in Alice. ‘We can but hope though, eh?’
Alice nodded in heartfelt agreement. She had known Joe for only a few hours, yet she felt like she had known him all her life.
Having opened up old memories, Nancy continued to sing Frank’s praises. ‘You’ll never want for a roof over your head with Frank to look after you. He has the makings of a good husband.’
‘And will Joe make some woman a good husband?’ Alice wondered aloud.
Nancy was quick to assure her. ‘Either one of my sons would protect his woman with his life, but unlike Frank, I don’t reckon a roof over his head would be our Joe’s first consideration.’
‘Really?’ Somehow, Alice was not surprised.
‘Yes, really! Y’see, whereas Frank would need the security of four walls and a roof round him, our Joe would never see that as a priority. I reckon as long as he’s got the sky above, the land under his feet and the open road before him, he’ll be content enough.’
‘So, is that where he’s been this past year…on the open road?’
Nancy fell silent for a moment. ‘Who knows? Since he’s been back, he hasn’t had a lot to say for himself. Not to worry though, because he was always a quiet soul. I expect he’ll confide in us when he’s good and ready.’
Just then, Tom returned from the garden. ‘Our Joe’s gone to give Frank a helping hand,’ he informed them. ‘Since falling off my horse some time back, I find it difficult walking all that way across the fields. It takes an effort just going upstairs at night. But Frank will be glad of Joe’s help, I’m sure.’
Nancy nodded. ‘Me and Alice were about to get dinner on the table,’ she said. ‘So you’ve at least an hour before you’re needed. Why don’t you go and rest your gammy leg while you’ve got the chance?’
Tom didn’t need telling twice. ‘Good idea!’ Coming to the table, he collected his newspaper and went away.
Nancy groaned. ‘He spends more time with his precious four-legged nags than he does with me! I swear…if there was a fire and he had the chance to save one thing, it would be his blessed newspaper!’
Nattering
