Moorcroft - the Possession: Book One of the Moorcroft Trilogy (17 page)

“That’s fine with me Mr Wesley I could do with a hand now and then.”

Charles made the introductions.

Ned looked up at Charles with a smile on his face. “Does this mean I get to stay here and look after the horses?”

Eddie bent down to his level. “That’s right and when you get back from school you can help me in the stables.”

Ned looked up at Charles. “Do I have to go to school?”

Charles laughed and ruffled his hair. “Yes you do young man. Now off you go with Eddie, he’ll show you where you will sleep tonight.”

Charles watched as Eddie put his arm round the boy’s shoulders and showed Ned upstairs, his new home for the time being.

In the drawing room a different kind of conversation was taking place. John was walking up and down the room shaking the piece of paper in his hand.

“Do you know what you have signed here woman?”

Emily sat quietly by the fire watching her husband going red in the face.

“This paper says you agree to look after the boy until his family can be found. Didn’t you read it before you signed it?”

“John calm down.”

“Calm down, calm down, how much money is this going to cost us?”

“Really John just how much can a child his age eat.”

“It’s not just the food, it’s the clothing and the schooling, we’ve been made responsible for him, do you know how much it costs to bring up a child, we don’t know how long he is going to be with us?”

Emily looked into the fire. “Oh dear.”

Once Charles had got Ned settled he joined Richard and the girls upstairs. They all had a good laugh as Sarah mimicked her mother as she told the tale of the poor man from the social services. Richard hadn’t laughed so much in ages.

“The poor devil, I’m glad I wasn’t in his shoes.”

Charlotte watched the happy little group, her attention drawn to the way Richard constantly stroked Victoria’s hand.

Soon Sarah was yawning. “I think it’s time for my bed so I’ll leave you two love birds to say goodnight.”

Charles followed her from the room. “Sarah I need to talk to you, in private.”

“Oh Charles you look so stern have I done something wrong?”

“Far from it my love, I just want to ask you something, can we go to your room.”

When they were both sat opposite each other Charles lent forward and knelt beside her. He took her hand in his. “Sarah I love you with all my heart and soul and I would like you to become my wife.”

Sarah stood and jumped up and down tiredness forgotten. “Oh Charles this is wonderful, we must tell everyone.”

“Is that a yes?” He pulled her into his arms and looked into her eyes.

Sarah could feel the butterflies in her stomach. “Oh yes, Charles, yes.”

They kissed a long embracing kiss. Breathless she pushed away and looked up into his smiling face. “Charles I love you so much, I thought you’d never ask.”

Charles threw back his head and roared with laughter. From his pocket he took a small red box and opened it and offered it to Sarah.

She looked in the box and gasped. “Charles it’s beautiful.”

“Sapphires, to match the colour of your eyes.” He took the ring from the box and placed it on her finger, it was too big. “Damn it, I knew you had slender fingers but I thought I had got the right size, Sarah I’m so sorry I’ll take it back to the shop, get a smaller one.”

“Charles we will do that together and in the mean time I’ll wear it round my neck, on the chain you bought me for my birthday.” She ran to the dressing table and pulled a gold chain from her jewellery box and placed the chain through the ring. Charles fastened it round her neck. She held the ring between her fingers. “Now I can wear it next to my heart.”

“I know how excited you are but I don’t want you to mention this to anyone, not yet, not until after the engagement party.”

“But why, can’t I even tell Victoria?”

“No, we don’t want to upset Richard and Victoria, the party is for them.”

“Nonsense, Richard wouldn’t mind and Victoria and I do everything together.”

“Lets just wait a few days; I’ll have a word with Richard and see how the land lies. Is that a deal?”

“Okay, I’ll wait until I have a ring on my finger but not a day more.”

He took her in his arms and kissed her long and hard.

In Richard’s room Victoria was talking about the guests for the party, she looked up and saw Richards’s intense stare.

“Come here and sit beside me.”

She sat on the arm of his chair. Richard pulled her down onto his knee. She stroked his face and kissed him gently on his lips. He pushed back her hair and nuzzled her neck. She arched her back and sighed. His hand went beneath her jumper and cupped her breasts, she gasped.

“Oh Vicky I love you so much.”

She lent forward and they kissed passionately, she felt him release her from her bra. He lifted her jumper and took her soft nipple between his lips, he could feel it harden. She gasped once more and ran her fingers through his hair pushing him down. “Richard, I’ll love you until the day I die.”

His voice breaking he looked into her flushed face. “I need you so much.” Soon their passion was all that mattered. Charlotte watched as his hands roamed Victoria’s body, she was enraged, this woman had to go, and her dying day would have to be sooner rather than later.

The next morning Richard joined them for breakfast, he couldn’t take his eyes from Victoria. She blushed remembering their night of love.

Emily watched them noting the sparkle in Richard’s eyes. “Well have you young ones any plans for this weekend?”

Sarah looked at Charles expectantly, he looked at John.

“Richard and I thought we might take a run out to the Fletcher place see what needs doing?”

John looked up from his plate. “Good idea my boy, assess the situation. When you get back we’ll have a talk about it?

Sarah looked at Charles disappointedly. “I thought we might spend the day together.”

“And so we shall, the minute we get back from the farm, I’m all yours.”

Richard looked at Vicky and smiled. “We won’t be long, I promise.”

Emily looked at the pale complexion of her son. “Are you feeling up to this Richard?”

He looked at his mother. “You bet, I’m going crazy upstairs in that room, I need some fresh air in my lungs and I want to look in on Dancing Lady.”

She looked apprehensively at Charles. “You will look after him, won’t you Charles, if he shows any ill affects you will bring him straight home?”

Charles smiled and nodded. “You have my word.”

The boys soon left the room, John followed shortly after, off to his study no doubt.

Emily looked at the two young women. “Well girls what are you two going to do.” Victoria seemed in a daze.

“I thought perhaps Victoria and I could go for a walk, perhaps take Brandy with us.”

“Good idea that will leave me in peace to read my book.”

By the time the girls had got their shoes and coats on the boys were well on their way. As they left the house Eddie was in the yard grooming one of the horses a small boy by his side.

Sarah rushed to his side. “You must be Ned, how are you little man?”

Eddie looked down at the shy lad. “The ladies are talking to you Ned say Good Morning.”

“Good Morning ladies.”

The girls laughed and went on their way.

Ned watched them go. “Cor, they’re good lookers.”

Eddie clipped the boy behind his ear. “Hey, have some respect; they’re proper ladies they are.” He chuckled to himself, the cheek of a ten year old.

When they arrived at the farm Richard was appalled at its run down condition. “What happened to the man, Fletcher always had a well run farm?”

“Seems he just fell apart when his wife ran off with another man and took the daughter with her.”

“She took the girl and left the boy, what kind of a woman does that?”

“I don’t know but according to Ned, his father turned to drink, let the place run down.”

They looked in the barn making a note of what farming equipment there was. Next they looked in the house. Richard pulled back when the smell reached his nose.

“Good God, how do people live like this, do you think there’s anything here worth salvaging for the boy?”

“You have a look outside, I think they had some hens and sheep, we’ll have to get someone up here to round them up and sell them. Ned’s going to need some money behind him as he gets older. I’ll look around in here; there must be somewhere where they keep documents, birth certificates and the like.”

A couple of hours later the boys were back at Moorcroft explaining the condition of the farm and its land to John. “Well boys what do you think we should do with it?”

Richard looked at Charles. “Well, Father, I think we should sell it, there are lots of jobs around the estate that need doing and the cash would come in handy.”

John pulled a face. “Wouldn’t we be better with a new tenant, regular income?”

Charles looked at John and raised an eyebrow.

“That’s one option but there would be a lot of costly repairs and it may take a while to find a suitable tenant but we both know Reg Phillips is after the land, why don’t we let slip to one of his farm hands that Fletcher is dead and see what he offers.”John smiled to himself. Looking at Richard he frowned. “I don’t know, what do you think Charles?”“I think Richard has a good idea, I know Eddie drinks with them in the pub, I’m sure he could leak the information and it would soon circulate.”

John looked pleased with himself. “Right, we’ll wait a few days and see if Reg Phillips comes to us with a good offer. It would have to be a good price mind.”

In the hall Richard looked at Charles. “I can’t believe it; I never thought it would be that easy.”

Charles smiled.

####

The night of the party was drawing ever nearer and Sarah was getting excited. “Only a week to go and then you will be telling the world that you are going to be married to my brother, aren’t you a little bit excited?” She looked across at her friend. “You look so depressed?”

Victoria looked up from her magazine. “We are hardly telling the entire world Sarah, just our closest friends.”

Sarah looked at the pale complexion and the dark circles under her eyes. “You’re not having second thoughts are you, Richard would be devastated?”

“Of course not silly, Richard means everything to me; I’m just not sleeping well.”

“Don’t you worry about a thing I won’t let anything go wrong, this party is important to me too.”

Victoria looked at her. “Are you plotting something?”

Sarah’s hand went to her chest; she could feel the ring through the fabric. She shook her head.

“Sarah Gardener I know you well enough to know that you are hiding something, come on, out with it. What is that you keep playing with?”

“It’s nothing just a necklace Charles gave to me that’s all.”

“Let me see.”

Sarah grasped the ring in her hand and shook her head. “No it’s secret.”

Victoria was taken aback. “We’ve never kept secrets from each other before, show me.”

“Okay but Charles told me not to.” Slowly she pulled the chain up until the ring fell forward.

Victoria gasped. “Is that an engagement ring, has Charles proposed, Sarah tell me everything.”

Sarah’s excitement mounted eager to tell her best friend how Charles went down on one knee and proposed. At the end of her tale she looked at Victoria’s face. “So you’re not angry with us?”

Victoria smiled and shook her head. “It’s wonderful news, why would I be angry?”

“Charles thought it might clash with your announcement, he didn’t want you to think we were muscling in as it were.”

“Nonsense, this is great news now we have two engagements to celebrate.”

Everyone was happy with the news and Sarah walked around with a constant smile on her face, kissing Charles whenever they met. Richard made his usual funny comments but he was truly happy for his sister, Charles was a good man. Things seemed to be looking up on the estate, Reg Phillips had come through with a good offer and the deeds were being exchanged for the Fletcher farm. The young lad, Ned, had a way with the horses and after school couldn’t wait to sit with Eddie and discuss grooming and tack. John had told the bank manager that some money was coming his way and was given a reprieve, and Emily was just pleased that peace now reigned over the household.

Only one person was unhappy. Charlotte roamed the house from room to room watching the loving couples and feeling more and more unrest. This was her house and she was the only one without a partner, but that would soon change. Richard was back to his old self, tall and handsome. He was her destiny, Frederick may have died but he had returned in Richard. At times when her mind drifted back to better days she became confused, was it Richard or was it Frederick, they were so alike. At night she walked freely about the house, her house, watching and waiting for the time when Moorcroft would once again be hers and her lover’s. She would often visit the girl Victoria whispering in her ear disturbing her sleep, she was weak and easily rattled. Sometimes she would open the windows wide and pull back the bed sheets leaving her exposed to the chilly night. She had been working on the girl for weeks, she could already see a change in her, soon the waiting would be over, Richard would see what a pathetic creature Victoria really was and come to her.

Charles took Sarah into town to exchange her ring. They walked hand in hand and stopped at a coffee shop. He laughed at the way she moved her hand from side to side watching the sapphires and diamonds sparkle, using her left hand at every opportunity, to pick up her cup or stir her coffee. She dragged him into a dress shop to pick her outfit for the party; he was embarrassed at the looks he received. Sarah was proud, knowing that the women were admiring the good looks of her fiancé. Charles had spoken to his parents and they were to spend the night at Moorcroft after the party. His mother refused to stay any longer than one night; she didn’t like the atmosphere of the house and always had a restless night under its roof. His father had also presented him with a problem, he wanted Charles to take over the family business after he was married, and that would mean leaving Moorcroft, how was he to explain that to Sarah, she loved her home.