Barefoot (14 page)

‘Why’s he so dead set against you working with horses?’

‘When Grandad died, both Dad and Uncle Joe inherited the farm. Dad wanted to stay in cattle. Joe wanted to breed horses. They couldn’t agree how to run it, so in the end Dad bought Uncle Joe out.’

‘And he went to Canada?’

‘Yes. He bought a ranch there. Dad never forgave him for leaving.’ He picked up his glass and stood up. ‘I’m going to get another. Then you can tell me about the fire.’

Toni nodded and picked her glass up again.

Cal began to walk away, in the direction of the bar, then turned. ‘Do you even like Coke?’

She shook her head and laughed. ‘Hate it.’

‘I guess we’ve got a lot to learn about each other, haven’t we?’

She
nodded, happy he seemed to be saying he wanted to find out more.

‘So – what
do
you drink?’

Toni wanted to say lemonade, but worried it would sound childish.  ‘Lime and soda, please.’

‘OK.’

Her phone beeped as soon as he left. Her father.

‘Farewell dinner at 8.30 for Nola and Gramps.’

No! It was already seven-fifteen. Just when they were beginning to relax with each other. Cal returned with the drinks and two packets of crisps

Ton
i felt wretched. ‘I’m so sorry. I have to be home by eight-thirty to eat. My grandparents are visiting.’

He glanced at his watch. ‘That still gives us an hour. I’ll drop you back. Don’t worry. Safely down the road out of sight,’ he grinned. ‘But right now I want to hear about the fire. And then you can tell me how you’ve been getting on with Grace.’

*****  
Nine
   *****

Dinner was tense. Her father had gone to a huge effort and cooked a goose with all the trimmings, determined to give her grandparents a good send off. But their trip could hardly be called a success.

Badminton had been a disaster, followed by the fire. And the growing distance between her mother and father seemed glaring and obvious. Arabella let Lily sit under the table and fed her bits of the goose, infuriating her father, Toni could tell.

‘Are the horses staying out again?’ her grandfather asked.

Arabella nodded. ‘Until we know who the arsonist is, yes.’

‘Did they arrest that woman Jen?’ Nola asked.

Arabella shook her head in disgust. ‘Apparently she has a cast-iron alibi. She was in Wales visiting her parents.’

‘I knew it wasn’t her.’ Toni was thrilled. ‘I told you she couldn’t have done it.’

Arabella sat back and watched her steadily, until Toni began to feel quite uncomfortable. Her mother had a particularly unpleasant look on her face.

‘Sticky toffee pudding.’ Her father put the dish on the table along with a jug of custard. ‘Or I think we’ve got some ice cream if anyone prefers.’

‘Ice cream for me, please.’ Nola smiled, determined to be cheerful.

He went into the utility room to get it from the chest freezer, so was out of earshot when Arabella dropped her bombshell.

‘I’ve decided Buster has to be sold.’

Toni was so shocked she half-missed her bowl, and poured custard onto the table instead. ‘Sell Buster? No. You can’t mean it.’

‘I certainly do.’ Her mother’s mouth was set in that determined way her daughter knew and feared. Nola gave Gramps a worried look, but he stared at the table fixedly. Toni suddenly knew they had discussed this with her mother already.

‘No. You can’t!’ She jumped up, sending her chair crashing down hard on the wooden floor behind her. ‘Dad! Tell her she can’t!’ she pleaded with her father as he walked back into the room with a tub of ice cream.

He looked wary. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Antonia, pick that chair up and act your age,’ her mother continued, as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘And fetch a cloth, for Heaven’s sake.’

Toni picked up the chair slowly, and set it upright again, her mind racing. Her mother hated displays of emotion. It was guaranteed to put her back up, especially in front of her grandparents.

‘Why doesn’t someone please tell me what’s going on?’ her father asked.

‘She wants to sell Buster,’ Toni whispered. She tried with all her will to stop the tears she knew would infuriate Arabella.

‘For God’s sake, why?’ he demanded to know.

‘She’s outgrown him,’ her mother replied. ‘It’s obvious.’

‘But I love him.’ Toni felt the wave of feelings engulf her. ‘Can’t you understand?’

Arabella sighed and picked up a cloth and began to mop up the custard herself. ‘It’s time to move on, Antonia. Grace is your pony now.’

‘But that doesn’t mean Buster has to be sold, surely. After all,
you
have more than one horse,’ her father pointed out, with more than a hint of irony in his voice. At the last count Arabella had seven in her team.

‘And they all earn their keep.’

‘Arabella, darling...’ Nola tried to intervene.

‘Don’t get involved,’ Arabella warned.

‘Bella!’ There was a note in her father’s voice Toni had never heard before. ‘She’s just had a nasty accident. And Buster is her best friend.’

Her mother shook her head. ‘There’s no room here for a pony not in work.’ She threw the cloth into the sink and dried her hands. ‘And Antonia is not a child anymore,’ she added, with frightening finality.

At that moment the landline rang. They all listened to it for a few moments before her father stood up again and went to answer it.

‘I’m going to check on the horses.’ Arabella picked up a torch and signalled the discussion was well and truly over.

Gramps stood up also. ‘I’ll accompany you, if you don’t mind.’

Leaving Nola and Toni alone in the kitchen.

Her grandmother began to scrub the goose fat from the baking tray.

‘Arabella is my daughter and I’ll always support her,’ she said carefully, head down over the Belfast sink and never actually looking at Toni. ‘But in this instance I do think she is wrong.

‘Talk to her then,’ Toni pleaded.

Nola shook her head sadly. ‘I don’t believe it will make any difference.’

Toni slid down to the floor and sat with her back against the kitchen cupboard, pulling her knees up to her chest. ‘So what? I just give in. Let her sell him?’

‘I’ve no idea.’ Her grandmother looked troubled. ‘We really do have to leave tomorrow, you know. Your grandfather can never be away from his own horses for too long. But promise me you’ll stay in touch.’ She hesitated. ‘If things get worse, you’ll let me know?’

Toni nodded mechanically.

She’s going to sell Buster. How much worse can things get?

That night was only the second time she remembered hearing her parents really argue. The first time had been about sending her away to boarding school. It had been part and parcel of growing up in South Africa, and Arabella thought it would toughen Toni up, but her father was dead set against it. Unusually, he won.

But this time Arabella wouldn’t give an inch. Toni sat on the landing, listening to the raised voices, until she couldn’t bear it anymore. She pulled on her jeans and fleece and crept down the stairs. The living room door was shut but their voices were clearly audible.

‘You can’t make her into somebody she’s not!’ her father raged.  ‘You said yourself she’s not a child anymore.’

‘I know what’s best for her,’ Arabella flung back. ‘What she needs is pushing. Otherwise she’ll never be a winner.’

‘And what if she doesn’t want to be?’ Her father dared to ask. ‘What if… shock horror… what if she isn’t like you?’

There was a resounding silence. Toni couldn’t bear to listen anymore. She padded quickly into the kitchen, her socks skidding on the cold stone floor, pulled on her yard boots and let herself out of the back door.

There was still a night frost and she had forgotten her gloves. She shoved her good hand into her pocket to warm up, and looked up at the clear night sky.

Arabella would not give up.

However hard Toni’s father fought for her, he wouldn’t win.  Buster would be sold and that was that. Unless she ran away with him.

She’d heard of teenagers who ran away, of course. They usually headed in the direction of the city and ended up living on the streets. She needed to be smarter than that.

Running away was one thing.

Running away with a pony was a different thing entirely.

‘I’ll come up with something,’ she whispered out loud, making a pledge to Buster. ‘I promise you I will.’

*************

Toni lay awake for the rest of the night, wrapped up in both her duvet and her misery. In the morning she heard the sounds of the shower below as her grandparents prepared to leave.

She was tempted to stay in bed and not see them off. But she knew it would be dangerous to give Arabella any more ammunition. She was beginning to see Nola as a potential ally as well, so she dragged herself downstairs to say goodbye. Her father was nowhere to be seen.

Gramps kissed her on her cheek as usual, but Nola gave her a warm hug instead. ‘Remember. Stay in touch,’ she whispered.

Toni nodded tightly and headed straight back upstairs. Her phone beeped as she neared the top of the second flight.

‘
How was dinner last nite?’

Cal.

‘
Nightmare.’
She texted back, wishing she could see him face-to-face.

‘
Tell me all about it?
’

Toni wanted – no, she
needed
to have him in front of her and see him understand. Suddenly, running into Debs or Matt didn’t seem such a big deal after all, and five miles didn’t seem such a long way. Her wrist was almost healed.

I could cycle to Poplar Farm.

Of course! She ran back downstairs and on out to the old shed in the garden which was piled high with discarded crap, and began to fling things out of the way in a frenzy. An old badminton set, a sledge, a garden sprinkler. And there, at the back, was her bike.

It hadn’t been used for at least a year and, predictably, both tyres were flat. Toni was infuriated by the delay, but even more determined not to be defeated, and set to work pumping them up.

Twenty minutes later she was on the road and quickly realised two things. It was harder riding with a cast than she had imagined, and in the weeks off riding the muscles in her legs seemed to have disappeared completely. She stayed on the back lanes most of the way and crawled up the hills, panting. The last stretch, she had to cycle along the main road, with lorries and buses passing dangerously close.

It
was with a huge sense of relief she saw the sign for Poplar Farm and turned into the entrance. She dismounted in the car park with her legs shaking, then wheeled the bike past the café and along the gravel pathways, to the farmyard beyond.

She was overwhelmed with relief when she saw Cal, bent over and filling feed troughs for some calves. She called out his name, but he couldn’t hear her over the cacophony created by the hungry animals. He was wearing a faded green T-shirt and his back was soaked with sweat. He emptied the bag he was holding and straightened up to push the hair out of his eyes, then turned round and saw her, and seemed to stop perfectly still for a moment. Then his whole face lit up with a smile.