Bonds of Earth, The (12 page)

T
HE STORM THAT
had been threatening for much of that day broke soon after Goran and Jenken left Liskeard. Within minutes rain was falling with a ferocity that indicated it intended making up for the many weeks of drought Cornwall had experienced.

Goran had brought along a couple of old oilskin capes that had been hanging in a farm outhouse but these, with the hats both he and Jenken wore, afforded only partial protection against such a fierce storm and they were soon soaked through.

They had not travelled far when they came upon Marcus Grimble, battling his way on foot through the storm. He stood to one side as they came up to him and from his expression it was evident he was hoping to be offered a ride in the cart where he could gain some relief from the wind and rain that was battering him.

His hopes vanished when he recognized who was driving the cart and he turned away to trudge after them as they passed by. Despite his intense dislike for the gamekeeper, Goran felt a twinge of conscience about leaving the man to walk home in such atrocious weather but, remembering how Jenken had reacted when they saw him at the fair, he knew he could not have taken pity on Grimble.

The rain eased off slightly before they reached Elworthy Farm, although they were aware that the storm was still raging on the high moor, accompanied by thunder and lightning that provoked an occasional frightened whinny from the rain-sodden pony.

Despite their soaked condition, now talk was possible, Jenken was full of all he had seen at Liskeard and it seemed he must have seen everything the fair had to offer, his experiences including fire-eaters, dancing bears and a bearded lady. Yet he had not forgotten his family. He had come away with a clay pipe for his father, an embroidered handkerchief for his mother and sweets for his younger brothers.

While the boy was happily chattering Goran was very aware of the bracelet he carried in his pocket and he felt obliged to surreptitiously check it occasionally to satisfy himself it was still there. He also tried to tell Jenken about his own success with ploughman Horace but eventually gave up, aware his information would need to wait until his young companion was in a more retentive state of mind.

When both he and Jenken were drying off the pony in its stall, Goran said, ‘I wonder how long it will take Marcus Grimble to reach home? I detest the man, but I couldn't help feeling guilty about not offering him a ride in the cart.'

‘It's a good job you didn't,' Jenken replied fiercely, ‘If you had it would have been
me
still walking home. I wouldn't have stayed on the cart with
him
! I'll always hate Grimble for what he's done to Pa and if he's caught his death of cold because of the storm it's no more than he deserves.'

Fully aware the young boy had good cause to hate the gamekeeper, Goran said, ‘You're right; offering to be nice to Grimble wouldn't have changed the man he is, but I wonder what happened to the young man who was with him, the one you think you saw talking to Morwenna. He probably decided to remain at the fair, it's an event that's more likely to appeal to someone his age. In fact I'm surprised Grimble was there at all.'

‘Grimble going to Liskeard had nothing at all to do with the fair. He'd gone there to see his nephew off on the Plymouth bound coach because he was going to America.'

‘How do you know that?'

‘There was an inn on the far side of the fair and it had a coach and horses standing outside. I went across to have a look at the coach because I'd never seen one before. That's when I saw Grimble with the young man, who was riding outside on the coach. As it pulled away he called out, “Goodbye, Uncle, I'll write to you from America,” and Grimble waved to him.'

‘I'm surprised that even close relations would want to stay with a man like Grimble, but perhaps he's different with them.'

Goran wondered how Morwenna could have met up with a man related to Grimble, but Jenken was chattering about the fair once more and how his family would be delighted with what he had bought for them and the question quickly passed from his mind.

Goran knew there was little that could be done outside of the farmyard during the continuing wet weather and Elworthy would have carried out all the work that was needed at Roach Farm. Nevertheless he went there the following day to tell Agnes of his meeting at Liskeard Fair with Horace Rundle.

She was delighted to learn that the ploughman was going to help Goran on Elworthy Farm. ‘He's a good, honest man,' she declared. ‘I came close to marrying him when I was a young girl, and could have done a lot worse, but he spoke of nothing but ploughing all the time and I'd have soon tired of that. Come to think of it, it could explain why I've never wanted you to start ploughing anything here! But then I met my future husband and knew right away that I didn't want to marry Horace anyway. But if you're going to learn about ploughing from anyone then Horace is the man to teach you. He was the top ploughman in the county in his day.'

‘He's also made me a very good offer,' Goran said, and went on to tell her what Horace had suggested.

‘You take him up on his offer,' Agnes said, firmly. ‘You'll never get a better one, and the hay has been so good this year there's more than either of us will need, even with two working horses to feed, but if you do find yourself running short there'll be plenty here for you to call on.'

Waving aside his thanks, she asked, ‘How is the family of that young mining lad you took on making out?'

‘They are all very happy at Elworthy and I'm particularly pleased with Jenken. He's keen and hardworking, and seems to enjoy farm work.'

Goran went on to tell Agnes about Jenken's day at the Liskeard Fair and of the presents he had bought for his family from the money they had given to him to spend there.

‘Did he buy anything for himself?'

‘No, although I believe he spent a few pence looking at some of the attractions they had there.'

Agnes made a sound in her throat which might have indicated either approbation or disapproval before saying, ‘Would you have room at Elworthy for that young calf that was born to my Devon-cross cow last week? It's only just been weaned but it should be a good milk cow when it's grown.'

‘I'll have no shortage of grazing with all the rain we're having, but if it's only just weaned it's going to need a bit of extra care for a while.'

Aware that Agnes also had ample grazing land, Goran added, ‘Wouldn't Elworthy be happy to take care of it?'

‘He would, but as you say, it's going to need a bit of tending for a while. I thought it would be good experience for the boy and that he'd take extra interest in it if it actually belonged to him.'

‘You're thinking of giving the calf to Jenken? He'd be over the moon to have a calf of his own to rear, but it's very generous of you, Agnes.'

Embarrassed by his words, Agnes said, ‘There's no generosity involved. Having a calf to rear would cost me both money and Elworthy's time – and the price calves are fetching in the market today doesn't make it worth the trouble involved in taking it there. Let this young mining lad learn what's involved in bringing up farm animals before he gets all starry-eyed about farm work.'

Goran knew better than to smile openly at Agnes's attempt to pretend the gift of a calf to Jenken was an economic decision and not a philanthropic gesture.

He left Roach Farm in a happy frame of mind, not least because talking about the Liskeard Fair had reminded him of the present he had bought there for Nessa. As soon as the weather improved he would go to the Pyne cottage and give it to her. He had become increasingly enamoured of her in the brief time they had known each other and hoped the bracelet might prove sufficient to bridge the gulf that seemed to have opened between them in recent weeks.

‘W
HY DON'T YOU
and Morwenna like each other any more?' The unhappy question came from Jennifer when Nessa closed the book she had been reading to the young girl in their bedroom. It was the youngest Pyne girl's bedtime and, as the rain had seemingly exhausted itself for the day, Morwenna had just come into the room to change her shoes before taking a late evening walk on the moor, a pleasure she had been unable to enjoy for a couple of days due to the severe weather.

Morwenna had entered the room, changed her shoes and left without saying a word to anyone, carefully avoiding looking at Nessa and giving only the merest semblance of a smile when she glanced at Jennifer.

‘It's nothing for you to worry about, Jen. Families don't agree with each other all the time.'

‘Is it because of Goran? When I asked Morwenna whether that was the reason she wasn't talking to you she said there was no need for you to quarrel about him any more because you can have him back any time you want.'

‘Morwenna said that?'

‘Yes, but she said she didn't think it would make any difference because you were really only angry because of some silly old book. But you wouldn't quarrel with her about a book, would you, 'cos we like books.'

‘Yes, we do.'

It was a half-hearted reply because Nessa was wondering what was in Morwenna's mind. She felt her sister must be planning something. She had been obsessed with the thought of marriage for almost as long as Nessa could remember and she felt the obsession had grown to the exclusion of almost everything else in recent weeks. If Morwenna believed there was even the faintest chance of Goran marrying her she would have pursued it with a vigour that was otherwise lacking in her everyday life.

If Morwenna had declared she was no longer interested in Goran it must mean that either Goran had made it very clear there could never be anything between them – or Morwenna had found someone else.

She dismissed the second eventuality immediately. It was most unlikely Morwenna could have got to know anyone well enough to consider him as a prospective husband without the family knowing about it – and the alternative excited her.

When Morwenna told her mother she was going out for a walk because she had been stuck in the house for so long if she didn't get out she felt she might suffocate, Annie Pyne commented only that she should take care where she walked because there were some notorious bogs on the moor that might prove treacherous after all the rain that had fallen in recent days.

Weary of constant arguments with her eldest daughter about the time she spent away from the mine cottage, Annie Pyne had arrived at a compromise with her that seemed to be working. Morwenna would spend the mornings helping in the house, her duties including caring for Jennifer, the ironing and mending of the family's clothes, tending the kitchen garden and helping with the general housework.

If this work was carried out to Annie's satisfaction Morwenna would be free to do as she pleased for the remainder of the day.

Morwenna would take needlework with her and when her father asked her where she was going when she left the house she replied that she intended finding a quiet spot on the moor in order to carry out her needlework without interruption. However, when she left it behind one day and Annie examined it, she discovered the piece of tapestry was certainly not of a standard she would have expected from something on which so many hours had been spent.

Annie said nothing to her daughter about the standard of her work knowing that to put her thoughts into words would have led inevitably to another of the bitter quarrels that had so disrupted the family in the past. She hoped that by showing a trust towards her daughter she sadly did not feel, Morwenna might eventually settle down once more as the loved eldest daughter of the family.

When Morwenna returned to the mine cottage that evening, she spent some time repairing a tear to the hem of her dress that she said had been snagged on a low-lying gorse branch during her walk and, as she did not seem in a mood for conversation, Annie left her to it, busying herself by ensuring that the meal she had prepared for her husband did not spoil because he was delayed at the Wheal Hope.

Upstairs in the darkness of the girls' bedroom, Nessa lay in bed, hands clasped together on the pillow behind her head, wide– awake and still thinking of what Jennifer had said to her.

When Morwenna eventually came to bed, Nessa waited while she undressed in the darkness and got into bed before speaking to her.

‘Morwenna?'

All sounds of movement ceased as Morwenna, surprised at having her sister speak to her, decided whether or not to reply.

Finally making up her mind, she said curtly, ‘What?'

‘Jennifer told me today you're no longer interested in Goran. Is that true?'

‘I don't see it's any business of yours, whether it's true or not.'

Nessa realized that any conversation between her and her sister was not likely to be amicable, but she wanted an answer to her question and was trying to think how she could learn what she wanted to know without starting a bitter argument when Morwenna unexpectedly spoke again.

‘Yes, it's true, I've got no interest in Goran at all any more, he's boring. So you can have him back again, if that's what you want.'

Angered by the condescending nature of her sister's reply and, despite her intention of trying to avoid an out-and-out argument, Nessa snapped, ‘I have no intention of bothering myself with one of your cast-off lovers. I just wanted to know if what Jennifer said was true, that's all.'

‘Well, now you know and I don't care whether you take him back or not, any more than anyone in this family cares what it is
I
want, or what it is that
I
might care about.'

There was silence in the room for a full minute before Nessa, regretting that she had reacted so angrily to Morwenna's declaration that she could take back Goran now she no longer wanted him, tried to placate her sister.

‘That isn't true, Morwenna, we
all
care about you and the things you want. Ma in particular worries that you're not happy here and Jennifer was almost in tears tonight because she's so unhappy you and I aren't talking to each other.'

Nessa waited for her sister to reply but all that came was a mock snore that succeeded in bringing all further conversation to an end.

Lying in her own bed and thinking about the gulf that was widening between her and Morwenna, and what had been said about Goran, it was a long time before Nessa's troubled thoughts allowed sleep to come to her.