Bonds of Earth, The (6 page)

G
ORAN WAS OF
necessity an early riser in order to fit work on the two adjacent farms into the day, but the following morning he rose even earlier than usual and after letting out the animals and domestic birds housed within the farmyard complex, he left for Roach farm before Elworthy put in an appearance.

Agnes had not yet risen from her bed and, although the front door of the farmhouse was never locked, Goran dared not enter the house before she was up and about.

It was some time before a window was thrown open in response to his persistent hammering on the door and when Agnes showed herself at the window, her nightcap was awry and she appeared bleary-eyed and not fully awake.

‘What on earth are you doing here at this time of the morning? Why aren't you at Elworthy's farm? Is something wrong with him? Is he ill?'

‘He's not ill, but he's very unhappy. Yesterday evening he hid himself away in the hayloft, just as he did that time his foal was killed.'

‘Why, what's happened this time?' Irritably exhaling a deep and noisy breath, Agnes added, ‘Whatever did I do so wrong that I deserve a brother like Elworthy?'

‘He's sold the farm to Sir John and is desperately unhappy about it, as am I and Ma. Sir John must have bullied him into it and he's coming to the farm this morning with the papers for Elworthy to sign.'

‘He's
what
!' Irritability disappeared with all remnants of sleepiness and, suddenly decisive, Agnes said, ‘Catch the pony and harness it to the light cart. By the time you've done that I'll be dressed and you can take me to Elworthy. Once I've sorted
him
out we'll wait for Sir John – and you can tell your ma she has nothing to worry about. Sell Elworthy indeed…!'

On the way to her brother's farm in the light cart, Agnes muttered darkly about the threatened purchase of Elworthy Farm. ‘It's the thought of mineral rights that's brought this about, you mark my words, but Sir John Spurre is going to have to think again about his plans because he's not having the farm. As for Elworthy, I despair of him, I really do!'

Goran thought it wise to say as little as possible on the short journey between the two farms lest Agnes should vent her simmering anger upon him. Instead he allowed Agnes to do all the talking.

‘Do you know that Elworthy got his name from the farm where he was born? It's as well he wasn't born on Roach Farm. It was called Caspar Farm in those days – and Caspar is supposed to have been one of the three wise men who visited the stable in Bethlehem when Our Lord was born. Can you imagine Elworthy being named after a wise man? Our father would have been a laughing stock!'

‘I don't suppose there are many folk around here who remember your farm when it had that name. It's been Roach Farm for the whole of my lifetime.'

‘Elworthy, Casper or Roach Farms, they'll never be part of the Spurre estate as long as I'm alive. Why, my father would turn in his grave at the very thought of it!'

It was only a short distance to the farm and as they approached the buildings Elworthy came out of the farmhouse.

When the simple farmer saw his sister, Goran thought he was about to run back into the house, but Agnes called, ‘Elworthy! I want to speak to you.'

Her voice would have caused a braver man than Elworthy to quail. He stopped and, ill-at-ease, took off his soft hat and twisted it nervously in his hands as he stood staring down at the ground, awaiting the inevitable confrontation with his sister.

Walking stiffly towards him, a result of the uncomfortable ride she had endured in the utilitarian farm wagon, Agnes reached him and stood looking at him for a full minute, taking in his unshaven and untidy appearance before asking, in a surprisingly gentle voice, ‘What am I going to do with you, Elworthy? What would our ma say if she was alive to see you today?'

Looking up at her, his lower lip trembling, Elworthy said dejectedly, ‘I'm sorry, our Agnes, I've done something bad, haven't I?'

‘Well, you have never been the brightest button in the box, but let's go inside and you can tell me about it.' Taking his arm, she led her unhappy brother to the farmhouse.

At the doorway she turned and called to Goran, ‘Let the pony have a drink and give it a nose-bag, then you can do whatever needs doing around the farmhouse, but don't go out to the fields, I want you here when Sir John arrives, although I suspect he won't be here until much later in the day. But before you do anything else ask your mother to cook a good breakfast for all of us. I have a feeling we're going to need all the sustenance we can get today.'

The large breakfast produced by Mabel Trebartha in her cottage no more than half-an-hour later was eaten in silence, Agnes being in a thoughtful state of mind, Elworthy subdued and neither Goran nor his mother wanting to be the first to broach the subject that was dominating the thoughts of each one of them.

It was not until the meal came to an end and Agnes was ushering Elworthy from the cottage that the woman farmer said, ‘There will be no need to extend the usual courtesies to Sir John when he arrives, Mabel. He's not welcome here and I want him to be fully aware of it – and you can stop worrying about what's going to happen. When he rides away the only thing he'll be taking with him will be a flea in his ear.'

‘What do you think she meant?' Mabel asked Goran when the brother and sister had left the cottage.

‘I don't know, Ma, but Agnes isn't in the habit of talking for the sake of it. If she says things are going to be all right she'll have something planned to stop Sir John having his way.'

‘Well, you know her better than I do, but I won't breathe easy until after he's been and gone.'

Sir John Spurre arrived at Elworthy Farm shortly before noon accompanied by a soberly dressed man whom Goran had never seen before, but who his mother said was Simeon Quainton, Spurre's solicitor from Launceston. This was confirmed shortly afterwards when Elworthy came to tell Goran that Agnes wanted him in the farmhouse. He added, ‘She's told me I'm to stay out here and carry on with your work.'

The party were in the farmhouse's ‘best room'. To Goran's knowledge it had never been used during the whole of the time he had been working at Elworthy and there was a damp smell about it that emphasized its lack of use.

Goran was known by sight to the landowner but when he entered the room neither he nor Agnes bothered to introduce him to the solicitor. Instead, Agnes said, ‘I've called you in here to witness what's said, Goran. One day you may be called upon to repeat in a court of law what is said here, so be certain you listen and remember.'

Sir John said angrily, ‘I have told you, there is no need to involve anyone else. This is a private business affair between me and your brother. It is nothing to do with you and involving an employee is utterly intolerable.'

‘That's where you're wrong,' Agnes retorted. ‘I want an honest witness present to hear everything that's said. One who won't be afraid to tell the truth if the need arises.'

‘Let us not become heated about this matter, Mrs Roach,' the solicitor said soothingly, ‘but I am in full agreement with Sir John. I see no reason at all why you are even involved in what is a perfectly straightforward business transaction. Sir John has made an offer for Elworthy Farm and your brother has accepted the offer. All that is now required are the signatures of the two interested parties on the deed of sale and an agreed date for your brother and any tenants to quit the premises. I will then arrange for the sum involved to be paid over and the interests of all parties will be satisfied.'

‘No, Mr Quainton, the only interested party to be satisfied
if
such a sale was to go through would be Sir John. He'd be satisfied because he'd successfully bullied a simple soul into parting with something for less than a third of its value and be rubbing his hands with glee because he'd be expecting more from mining rights than he's offering for the farm. If it was anyone else doing it they'd be taken to court for trying to swindle a simple man, but
trying
to swindle Elworthy is all it will be because it's not going to happen.'

‘Really, Mrs Roach! I find your remarks most offensive, to both Sir John and myself. Now, as the sale is between Sir John and Mr Coumbe and has nothing at all to do with you I suggest you leave the property immediately.'

Turning to Goran, the solicitor said imperiously, ‘Young man, please find Mr Coumbe and ask him to return here to sign the deed of sale. Sir John is a busy man with more to occupy his time than listening to the virulence of an embittered old woman.'

‘Goran! Stay where you are.'

Agnes's fierce glance rested briefly upon Goran before returning to the solicitor and his client who was nodding smugly at Quainton's words.

‘I said I wanted him to stay here to be a witness to what is said, and that's exactly what he's going to do. Besides, even if Elworthy came in here and signed a hundred such deeds, they'd all be just as worthless as the words of you and Sir John.'

‘Mr Coumbe made a firm commitment to sell the farm to me at the price I offered him, and it was a fair price. I suggest you do as Mr Quainton has suggested and go away before we send for the constable and have you removed from what will be my land very soon.'

‘Elworthy Farm will
never
be yours … any more than it's Elworthy's.'

The bold statement took everyone in the room by surprise, but Agnes had more to say.

‘My father was fully aware of my brother's feeble mind and before he died he made a will leaving both this and Roach Farm to
me
, the only condition being that I allow Elworthy to live here for as long as his mental state poses no problem, either to himself or to anyone else. I think we may have reached the time now where poor Elworthy has become a problem to himself, thanks in no small measure to you, but, whether he has or not, the fact remains that the farm is not Elworthy's to sell. It belongs to me and even if I were inclined to sell – which I'm not – you'd be the last person on this earth I would sell it to, even if you were to offer me
twice
its real value – which is probably about six times what you thought you were going to pay to my brother. So, I think it's now my turn to say you'd both better get off my farm before I call the constable to remove
you
.'

‘You can prove the farm belongs to you and not to your brother, of course?' This from a tight-lipped Solicitor Quainton.

‘I can, but I've no intention of doing it here and now. If you want proof you can pay a call on
my
solicitor, Fletcher Pascoe of Liskeard. While you're there and before you try to swindle anyone else, I suggest you also ask him about the mineral rights that were passed on to me by my father.'

Outside the farmhouse a furious Sir John Spurre turned on his solicitor, ‘I will never forgive you for this, Quainton, I have never been so humiliated in all my life! If all that damned woman says is true you should have known the facts before I made a fool of myself.'

‘With all due respect, Sir John, it was
you
who insisted I draw up the documents for the purchase of Elworthy Farm in such a hasty manner, despite my warning that I deemed it extremely unwise. I told you it took time to look into a great many matters before making such a purchase. Your instructions to me were that I should forego all such – I think you called them “pettifogging” – details. I was extremely concerned about such a course of action but you were insistent. You are, of course, a valued client and in your capacity as a Justice of the Peace not unfamiliar with the law so I carried out your instructions. In view of what has happened, as a result I will make full enquiries concerning this whole unfortunate situation and inform you of my findings at the earliest opportunity, but I have no doubt you are aware of what the outcome is likely to be.'

The two men had reached their horses now and, swinging himself up into the saddle, the still angry landowner looked down at the solicitor and said. ‘While you are about it check on what that damned woman said about mineral rights. I want no repeat of what has happened here today.'

‘I
S IT TRUE
what you told Sir John? The farm belongs to you and not to Elworthy?' Agnes's revelation had severely shaken Goran, not least because of her hint that Elworthy was no longer capable of taking care of himself. It could be that his own future was in jeopardy.

‘I'm not in the habit of telling lies about things that really matter. Yes, it's perfectly true.'

‘You also said Elworthy might not be able to take care of himself in the future: where does that leave Ma and me?'

‘We'll talk about that later, but you and Mabel have nothing to worry about, you'll still have a home here. For now, go and find Elworthy, I need to have a long and serious talk to him. While I'm doing that you can be getting on with whatever it is you do about the place on a normal working day.'

Goran went on his way thinking that this was far from being a ‘normal' working day. He found Elworthy cleaning out the pigsties with a vigour fed by his nervousness about what was happening in the farmhouse. When he saw Goran, he said anxiously, ‘I saw Sir John and the other man leave. When are they coming back? Am I going to have to leave the farm?'

‘He won't be coming back, Elworthy, and he won't be buying the farm either so you can stop worrying about him now. But Agnes wants to speak to you so I'll carry on here.'

‘Is she angry? What's she going to say to me?'

‘She's angry with Sir John, not with you. All she said to me was that she wants to speak to you. She didn't tell me what it would be about, so you'd better go to her now and find out for yourself.'

Cleaning out the pigsties was not the easiest of tasks. In addition to the sow with her many piglets there were fourteen huge pigs currently being fattened up, each more than twice the weight of Goran. A Launceston butcher would soon be coming to take all but one of them off to his abattoir. The reprieve for the remaining pig would be merely temporary, it being earmarked to provide winter meat for both farms.

Despite the difficulties posed by the lumbering but lively animals, by the time Elworthy returned Goran had finished the task and was wondering what Agnes had to say to her brother that was taking so long.

Elworthy seemed bemused but was no longer unhappy. Beaming at Goran, he declared, ‘Agnes says I'm a good worker and because of that she wants me to go and help her run Roach Farm.'

His words jolted Goran. ‘You work at Roach Farm? What about me?'

‘I don't know. She said I'm to tell you to bring Mabel to the house 'cos she wants to talk to you both.'

Perturbed at the thought of what Agnes might have to say to him and his mother about their futures, Goran went into the cottage deep in thought.

His mother was equally apprehensive. She had been brought up to consider landowners – even those she knew well, like Agnes Roach – omnipotent. As they walked the short distance from cottage to farm, she said, ‘First Sir John walks into our cottage yesterday as though he owned the place and now Agnes is here and wants to speak to us both. Do you think Elworthy Farm is being sold and she's going to warn us that we'll need to move out?'

‘I don't think so, Ma, she's already promised me we won't be turned off the farm and Agnes doesn't go back on her word. I wouldn't be surprised if she were to put the farm up for sale, but it certainly won't go to Sir John and she'll make sure we are kept on.'

‘Once the place is sold whatever goes on here will be out of her hands.'

‘Well, we'll know soon enough,' Goran said philosophically, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt about Agnes's plans for Elworthy Farm and its tenants.

Agnes was still in the musty-smelling sitting-room when they entered the farmhouse and she greeted Mabel with a reassuring warmth, ‘Hello, Mabel, take a seat; you don't need to stand on ceremony with me, we've known each other for far too long. It's been a long time since I was last here but I'm delighted to see that both the house and the farm itself have been well looked after. I doubt whether Elworthy can be thanked for that.'

‘Elworthy's no trouble and doesn't make much mess about the house. As for the farm, that's Goran's doing, he takes a pride in his work. It would be criminal if it passed to Sir John Spurre and Goran were to be dismissed.'

Goran gave his mother a warning look, but Agnes had been anticipating some such comment.

‘I agree, Mabel. Fortunately Sir John will never get his hands on either Elworthy or Roach Farm as long as I'm alive and I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen when I'm gone, either.'

Mabel sagged in relief, but although Goran accepted what Agnes had told them he was not entirely convinced the crisis was over.

‘Elworthy told me you want him to help you work Roach Farm. There's not enough work up there for two except at hay-making time, does that mean I won't be needed?'

‘Not very often, I trust.'

The reply dismayed both Goran and Mabel, losing half of their income would prove a very real hardship … but Agnes had more to say about the situation.

‘You'll not be coming to Roach Farm because you'll be needed here full-time if you agree with what I suggest.'

Trying unsuccessfully to outguess what Agnes had in mind for him, Goran gave up and Agnes continued, ‘I've known for some time by things Elworthy has said to me that his mind is getting worse and realized that one day I'd need to have him living with me in order to keep an eye on him. I've put off doing anything about it because I've got used to living my life in my own way, not needing to concern myself about anyone else, but this business with Sir John means it's time to make good the promise I made to both my mother and father before they died, to take care of Elworthy. For me to do that he's going to have to move to Roach Farm. I've spoken to him about it and managed to convince him I need him there to take care of
me
and he likes that idea. He says it makes him feel important, poor soul.'

‘I think you're quite right about him,' Mabel said. ‘I've noticed in recent months that he's getting worse at remembering things and even knowing what he's supposed to be doing at times, but what's going to happen to this farm – and Goran – if Elworthy moves in with you?'

‘That's what I want to talk to you about. If you agree to what I have in mind, it will mean a major change in everyone's life.'

Switching her attention to Goran, Agnes said, ‘I'd like you and Mabel to move into the farmhouse here, and for you to run Elworthy Farm.'

Stunned, Goran said, ‘You mean work here full time, drawing a full day's pay?'

‘No. That
was
my original plan, but since coming here today I've come up with another idea that might be better for both of us. I really don't want the responsibility of running two farms. At my age one is more than enough, so why don't you
rent
Elworthy Farm from me? You've been virtually managing it on your own anyway, but this would mean you'd be your own master and could try out some of those new-fangled ideas of yours that I'm too set in my ways to even think about.'

The thought of becoming a tenant farmer and his own master excited Goran greatly but, forcing himself to come down to earth, he spoke more cautiously, ‘It's a wonderful idea, Agnes, it really is, but there's an obvious problem – and a very big one. I've no money to pay you rent or spend what's needed to set myself up in farming.'

‘I've thought of that. You've worked hard for me ever since you were a young lad and I've appreciated it, even though I have probably never put my feelings into so many words. If Mabel is prepared to come and help me with house and dairy work three times a week and you come to Roach once or twice a week to make certain Elworthy is doing things properly there, I'll forego the first year's rent. It will be hard work for you – even harder than now – and you'll need money to keep Elworthy Farm running for that year as well as putting some by for the following year's expenses, but I believe there are a good many pigs here ready for market right now. Sell them off and the money you make should help keep things going. You'll also have money coming in from the milk and eggs sold in the village. No doubt you'll be able to sell produce to the mine too once it gets working and there's a hay crop coming in which will help with winter feeding.'

Goran was silent for a long time. The prospect of being a farmer and not merely a farm labourer excited him so much he could hardly think straight but he forced himself to face practicalities.

‘Your offer is very generous, Agnes, so generous that I am itching to shout “Yes!”, but I'm trying to be sensible about it. All the things you have mentioned will keep things running as they are now for a year, at least, but it leaves nothing left over for me to plan for the future of the farm. Next year I would need to pay you rent and I doubt I'll have made enough in the first year to afford that.'

‘I'm sure we'll find a way, Goran.'

Mabel had been completely won over by the thought of her son becoming a farmer. In all the hopes she had entertained for his future she had never set her sights this high and she did not want him putting obstacles in the way of such an unexpected opportunity.

Aware of the thoughts that prompted his mother's optimistic plea, Goran chose to ignore it. Still questioning Agnes, he asked, ‘And what will happen about mining rights if a lode from Captain Pyne's mine is found to run beneath Elworthy land?'

‘Goran!' Dismayed that Goran had not seized on Agnes's offer immediately, Mabel pleaded, ‘Agnes is being incredibly generous, don't spoil everything by being greedy.'

‘He's not being greedy,' Agnes's reply was unexpected. ‘I'm glad he's giving my offer some sensible thought and not just grabbing it because of the idea of having people look up to him in the future. There is a lot more to farming than that. Plenty of hard work, for a start, and a successful farmer needs to plan well ahead and have something put by to cope with unexpected happenings – and there are no shortages of those on any farm.'

Turning back to Goran, she asked, ‘What do you have in mind for these mining dues – if they should happen?'

‘I would think that as it's not money you've been expecting to come your way you might give me something from them – for perhaps a couple of years or so, anyway – so I can make improvements to Elworthy. It will increase the value of the farm for you and mean I'll be able to cope with any of the unexpected happenings you've mentioned.'

Agnes looked at him thoughtfully for some time before saying, ‘There are improvements that need to be made at Roach too and
I'll
need money for them … but, all right, I'll give you half what I get from the mine for Elworthy's rights for the first two years and we'll look at the situation again then. We'll set a date of the first of next month for you to take over here and I'll have my solicitor draw up a tenancy agreement. We'll tie up any loose ends then.'

Struggling up from the sagging armchair in which she had been sitting, she nodded approvingly at Goran and said, ‘The day has turned out much better than I thought it was going to be when we set out from Roach Farm this morning, but we're done here now so you can take me back home again.'

Turning to Mabel who had not dared say a word for at least two minutes, Agnes said, ‘Collect together all the things Elworthy is likely to need when he comes to live with me and be firm with him. I haven't room in my home for all the useless things he's collected over the years. Don't allow him to procrastinate, either, it's not long to the end of the month and he'll need to be out of here by then.'

Making her way heavily towards the door, she returned her attention to Goran. ‘When you come back from Roach I want you to go up to the mine and find Captain Pyne. Tell him to come and see me before the day is out as a matter of urgency. I want to speak to him and show him the documents I hold concerning mineral rights. Tell him I think he'll find them very interesting.'