A Summer Promise (18 page)

Maddy shielded her eyes with one hand and peered ahead and up. ‘I can see them – the cliffs, I mean – and they look really close, almost as though I could reach out a hand and touch them,’ she said. ‘The sun is burning my head and I’m sure my shoulders are on fire; the sooner we can get into the shelter of the caverns the better. I do hope we’re not following the wrong beck!’

‘Would I, the leader of this expedition, get my route wrong?’ Tom said indignantly. ‘Of course we’re on the right track; another twenty minutes of hard walking and we’ll be there, and when we arrive we’ll celebrate by getting into the caves where it’s cool, and starting our picnic.’

But when they reached the cliff face, at first they could not see a single cavern or cave. The four explorers stopped short and three reproachful pairs of eyes turned to their gallant leader.

‘We
are
in the wrong place,’ and ‘We
did
follow the wrong beck,’ Alice and Marigold said in chorus. ‘Oh, Tom, whatever do we do now?’

Maddy wiped sweat from her eyes on the piece of rag she used as a handkerchief and peered at the cliff. Suddenly, as though it had only just come into focus, she saw a crack. It was narrow and camouflaged by a growth of various weeds and wild flowers, but it was there all right; an entrance, of sorts, to at least one cave. She pointed it out to Tom, who promptly saw another crack, and though it was a tight squeeze even Tom, the tallest and broadest of them, managed to get himself through the small aperture. They found within a large and airy cavern, divided in two by a bubbling beck, and realised that though it could be described as a cave there was a space at the top through which they could see a sliver of sky framed by tossing, wind-blown grasses. It was very cool. Maddy could feel the sweat drying on her; she even shivered a little. Looking round her, she saw that there were several passages, or at least openings, which led deeper into the cliff. Tom approached the nearest and was brought up short by a shriek from Alice.

‘Tom, you’re the only one with a torch; come back at once! You know Cook said there was an underground lake; one of us might run straight into it and be drowned dead before we could scream.’

Maddy gave a muffled giggle. ‘Don’t worry – I brought my torch too. But I don’t believe in that underground lake,’ she said. ‘I was at the village school, remember, and though there was always quite a lot of talk about Grumbling Gill – you have to get all roped up to enter that and be lowered through quite a small hole – I never heard anyone say anything about an underground lake. I expect that was just one of Cook’s tales.’

Tom stood up. ‘I’m going to see where the biggest passage goes,’ he said. ‘Ages ago I was talking to old Fred in the village, and he told me about a cave as big as a cathedral which was completely open. If we could find that we could eat our picnic there.’

Everyone agreed that this was a good plan and presently they entered the largest of the fissures. Tom went first, shining the torch ahead of him and commenting as he did so that the path was smoother now, though there were still a few pieces of fallen rock, best avoided. They had not gone very far, however, when Marigold, who was clutching Tom’s arm, suddenly pulled him to a halt, giving a small shriek as she did so.

Tom sighed. ‘What’s up, Marigold? There’s nothing frightening ahead, so will you please stop grabbing my arm and behave sensibly?’

But Maddy, having heard the note of panic in her friend’s voice, told him to hang on a minute. ‘Not everyone likes being underground, with hundreds of tons of rocks above them . . .’ she began, but apparently this was too much for Marigold.

‘I don’t like it; I’m going back, Tom, and I don’t care if you think I’m a coward and a sissy,’ she wailed. ‘I thought we were going to explore caves, not narrow little passages which might lead anywhere. I’ll wait for you in the first cave but I won’t, I
won’t
stay in this horrible little passage.’

Tom shone his torch into Marigold’s face and what he saw there clearly changed his mind. His tone had not been entirely sympathetic, but now, Maddy realised, he could see for himself that Marigold was not just being difficult. She was pale with terror, her eyes like dark pools and her mouth trembling.

‘I’m sorry if I’m spoiling your fun, but I just can’t go on,’ she said wildly.

Maddy, who had no fear either of the dark ahead or of what might possibly appear round the next bend, grabbed at Marigold’s flailing hands and held them in what she hoped was a consoling grip. ‘It’s all right. Lots of people don’t like confined spaces,’ she said. ‘I’m not too keen on lifts either, come to think. I’ll come back with you, Marigold.’

‘Oh, thank you, Maddy. You are a friend . . .’ Marigold began, but Tom interrupted.

‘I’ll go back with you and make sure you’re safe, Marigold, whilst the other two wait for me here. If you want to go a little further you can, you two, but if you do find another cavern don’t go wandering off into it until I get back.’

It was not easy turning round, for the passage had narrowed as they came further in, but they managed it. A hand at her waist, Tom shepherded Marigold in the direction of daylight. Alice tugged at Maddy’s arm. ‘I bet she just pretended she didn’t like enclosed spaces so that she could get Tom to herself,’ she whispered. ‘It would be typical of Marigold, scheming little cat.’

‘Don’t be so nasty,’ Maddy said automatically, though she thought it was quite possible that the other girl was right.

Alice started wandering aimlessly up and down. ‘What on earth are they doing?’ she asked fretfully when five minutes or so had passed. ‘I hope they’re not tucking into the picnic. I hadn’t thought of it before, but now I realise I’m quite hungry.’ She gave a sharp exclamation. ‘Ouch! There’s a pebble or something in my shoe . . . no, not a pebble, something sharp! Oh, if I’m crippled for life it’ll be Marigold’s fault, making Tom take her back to the outside world and leaving us in the dark with only your little torch.’ She took it from Maddy as she spoke, then flopped down on the nearest rock and took off her shoe to examine the sole of her foot. ‘Look at that . . . blood! Well, that will put a stop to any talk of exploring further.’

Maddy sighed, but when commanded to do so lifted Alice’s foot cautiously and looked at the sole. There was a little blood, to be sure, but it really was only a small amount. However, she knew Alice always made a huge fuss over the tiniest hurt, so she said bracingly: ‘Oh, poor Alice! But you’ll be all right. I’ll go and see what’s holding Tom up.’

‘Wait for me – oh, it hurts to put my foot on the ground,’ Alice whimpered. ‘You go ahead then, Maddy, and make sure they aren’t eating up all the sandwiches and things. I’ll come as fast as I can.’

‘Right,’ Maddy said brusquely. When she reached the original cave there was no sign of Marigold or Tom, and she was almost at the entrance before she saw them. When she did she stopped short, for Tom and Marigold were in one another’s arms outside, and they were kissing.

Maddy turned so quickly that she collided with Alice, who had come up behind her, and trod on her injured foot. Alice fell to the floor with a shriek like a train whistle.

‘My foot, my foot,’ she wailed. ‘Oh, I think my back’s broken! How shall I get home? Oh, my poor foot.’

Tom, looking worried, came panting back into the cave. ‘What happened?’ he asked anxiously. ‘Did someone attack you, Alice? Or did you slip on the wet rock? Do stop yelling, though. You’ll burst my eardrums and then I shan’t be able to hear a thing.’

Maddy gave an artificial laugh; her one thought was that Alice must never know what she, Maddy, had seen. She must behave normally, or as normally as was possible in the circumstances, for Alice was still lying on the ground having refused, when asked, to get to her feet and let Tom examine the damage. Maddy gathered her wits and spoke sternly. ‘Alice Thwaite, just you pull yourself together and behave! I’m very sorry I trod on your foot – your injured foot, I should say – but it was only a stone getting into your shoe, after all. As for your back, if you’d really broken it I don’t believe you would be able to shout. So shut up and get up before we decide to go home and leave you here.’

She kept her gaze averted from Tom, reminding herself, fiercely, that he had planned this to be an expedition they would all enjoy. There was, after all, no law which said a boy could not kiss a girl. It was only that Alice would be furious, and Maddy had no desire for the ‘truce’ Tom had insisted on to come to a premature end. She must forget what she had seen and make sure that Tom and Marigold never knew they had been spotted. Above all, Alice must never discover that Tom felt anything but friendship for Marigold Stein.

As they prepared to eat their picnic and fill their mugs with cold water from the beck, she told herself that you cannot lose what you never had, in this case Tom Browning. He had never shown the least sign that he was aware of her feelings. Well, how could he be? She had not been aware of them herself until she had felt that sharp stab of almost unbearable jealousy as her astounded gaze took in the sight of her friends’ embrace.

The conflicting emotions that had occupied Maddy’s thoughts as she walked home that night must still have shown on her face as she entered the kitchen, for Gran said inquisitively: ‘What’s got you all in a lather you silly girl? Been kissed by the boyfriend, eh? Ah, well, boys will be boys, and though that Tom is a nice young feller they’re all out for what they can get, even him, so just you remember that and don’t go comin’ back here wailin’ you’re in the family way.’

Mrs O’Halloran, sitting in a fireside chair and placidly knitting, raised her brows, but her husband, who was whittling at a piece of wood with his penknife, said chidingly: ‘That’s no way to talk, Mrs Hebditch. Maddy’s a respectable young lady, and don’t you forget it.’

Maddy glared at Gran. ‘Just you apologise, Gran,’ she said wrathfully. ‘You’ve got a nasty, dirty mind. Why, I’m not even fifteen yet and I don’t have a boyfriend.’

Gran sniffed, but Maddy saw a spot of colour appear in her cheeks. ‘All right, all right, a girl can fall for a feller’s charms at any age,’ she said gruffly. ‘But you’re not a bad girl, Maddy, so maybe I shouldn’t have said what I did.’ She got creakingly to her feet and then cursed as her knitting rolled off her lap. ‘Did you reach the caves? I’d forgotten all about them.’

‘Yes, but Marigold got frightened so we didn’t do much exploring,’ Maddy said. ‘And Alice hurt her foot and made an awful fuss – you know how she is – so it wasn’t what you’d call a total success.’

Gran opened her mouth to make a scathing comment and then changed her mind. ‘Ah, well; I dare say you enjoyed the company,’ she commented. ‘And now you can help me up to bed because I’ve had a busy day as well.’

‘I can’t think what you have done to tire yourself out since you hardly ever move from that chair,’ Maddy said indignantly. ‘And you’re right about one thing: Tom
is
a nice boy and he doesn’t want to take advantage of anyone. I’m going to bed.’

And with that she crossed the kitchen, seized Gran’s arm and led her to the hallway. For the best part of a year now Gran had needed someone to help her up the stairs, but it seemed to Maddy that she walked more easily tonight. She said as much, and Gran looked round as though suspecting that walls had ears before replying. ‘Eileen’s been making me walk ten times round the kitchen table whenever she says,’ she confided. ‘It’s that damned Dr Carlton’s fault. He told her that unless I kept my joints mobile I’d be bedfast by Christmas, so now she chivvies me round the table and won’t give me my elevenses until me poor legs is near to falling off! But I reckon Eileen has my best interests at heart, which is more than I can say for you, you selfish little madam!’

Maddy, whose spurts of temper with her grandmother never lasted long, giggled; it was typical of Gran to turn an ordinary remark into a cause for complaint! But on the whole she was pleased, because she was sure that Eileen’s previous habit of leaving the old woman in the same position for hours at a time had been increasing Gran’s reluctance to leave her chair, and indeed reducing her ability to do so. A couple of visits to the privy in the yard and one ascent of the stairs had been the sum total of her movement over the course of a full day. But now, it seemed, Eileen realised it was in her best interests to keep Gran mobile. After all, even though the wage Gran paid the O’Hallorans was small, Maddy was seeing more and more how much the couple valued the advantages that went with it. Oh, yes, Mrs O’Halloran had obviously realised that what they must regard as a cushy option would come to an abrupt end with Gran’s demise.

Maddy awoke late the day after the expedition to the caves. Realising it was mid-morning by the position of the sun, she lurched out of bed, swished back the curtains and began to dress; washing would have to wait. If she went down at once she could have her elevenses instead of breakfast and then cope with her chores.

It was the work of a moment to splash her face with water, drag a brush through her tangled hair and make for the stairs. She was about to descend when she remembered that Gran rose late on a Sunday, and popped her head round the old woman’s door. But no Gran met her eyes, only a rumpled bed and a tin mug which had shed its water on to the old black-stained floorboards. Maddy shrugged. She knew Gran well enough to realise that if she had not got someone else to help her dress she would have woken Maddy herself without compunction. So she hurried downstairs and exploded into the kitchen, apologies for her tardiness already on her lips.

They were all there, as she expected, Mr O’Halloran drumming his fingers on the table, Mrs O’Halloran with her long, grey-streaked hair released from its bedtime plait but not yet twisted into the bun she usually favoured, and Gran, looking oddly alert, positively trim compared with Mrs O’Halloran, who appeared to have dressed by guess since her blouse was buttoned up wrongly and was rucked up at one side.

Maddy got no further than the first couple of words. Mr O’Halloran got up from his chair and indicated that she should sit down. ‘You missed the announcement, alanna,’ he said, and his voice was almost gentle. ‘That there Chamberlain has just told us the bad news. He give them Huns an ultimatum: agree to get out of Poland by eleven o’clock or we’ll drive you out. He ain’t had no reply, so it seems we’re at war with the perishin’ Huns all over agin.’