A Time for Courage (58 page)

Frances was at the gate. Her hands were white where she gripped the bar, she pulled the children to her, her eyes red.

‘Joe’s home, Hannah. He’s come home,’ Frances said. ‘Sam’s just picked him up in the jingle.’

Hannah looked at the house, at the garden, at Frances. ‘Where, where?’ she cried, starting to run up the drive.

‘The stable, my dear, but…’

Hannah did not wait to hear but ran up the rutted drive, her ankles turning; she did not notice or care and there was no breath left to spare to call his name and so she ran across the stable yard past the thyme to the open door.

He was there, dressed in an old tweed suit, rubbing the pony down, round and round with straw which fell from the hook where his left hand had been. She watched as he stooped and picked up the straw again with his right hand and pushed it between the two curved metal prongs and rubbed at the pony’s damp flanks again but still it fell and now she watched as he leant his head on his arm and cried.

She held on to the door, feeling the solid wood beneath her hand, seeing the pony that shifted from foot to foot; the bale of straw, the oats in the sack and knew she must not cry, not yet, not now. She gripped the door again and drew a breath.

‘Do it again, Joe,’ she said, because she must do for him what he had done for her so long ago.

He turned and she moved towards him, holding him as he wept, smelling the violets which were crushed between them, feeling the gentle hardness of his hand on her face, hearing his voice speaking of his love, his fear, his despair. The flames, the prison, and now the search for peace.

‘Do it again, my love,’ she said at last, breaking free of him and placing straw in the cold metal, forcing herself not to help as he wound it round the hook and rubbed at the damp flank until some of his memories were wiped away and Hannah watched, knowing that life could go on now, for them at least.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781448183098

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Arrow Books 2014

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright © Margaret Graham 1989

Margaret Graham has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This novel is a work of fiction. Apart from references to actual figures and places, all other names and characters are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

First published in Great Britain in 1989 by
William Heinemann Ltd as
A Measure of Peace

Arrow Books
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780099585831