Hope at Holly Cottage (26 page)

‘I’d forgotten how stunning the moor is,’ Jack declared, dipping his head to look out of the window of William’s Rover. ‘I’ve only seen it a couple of times, mind.’

‘You had moors in Yorkshire, didn’t you?’ Anna replied a touch sharply. She had been caught up in a web of sorrow as the car had effortlessly taken the steep hill from Tavistock up onto the open moor, all the memories swamping her in a tidal wave. Queenie, and the contented years she had spent with her. And now she was gone.

Jack nodded vigorously. ‘Oh, yes. Hundreds of square miles of them. But they’re different in character. Just as beautiful but in a different way.’

Inwardly Anna gave a petulant sigh. She wanted him to say something she could disagree with but so far there was nothing she could pick him up on. Oh dear, what was the matter with her?

‘Keenie?’

Charlie suddenly bounced in her lap, pointing his chubby finger in exuberant expectation. He had evidently recognised where he was, and Anna’s heart lurched as they passed between the lodges on either side of the road. Set a little further back was Holly Cottage looking so empty and forlorn. So lost without the homely woman who had spent her entire life there. Already the little front garden was becoming overgrown and neglected.

Anna had to gulp down the lump in her throat. ‘Not today, Charlie,’ she muttered, and then, forcing brightness into her voice, she went on perkily, ‘We’re going to meet some new friends instead.’

Charlie seemed satisfied, beaming as he clambered across onto Jack’s lap. Anna caught the amused expression on Jack’s face and felt obliged to say something.

‘Do you mind?’ she murmured with embarrassment. ‘He seems to have taken a shine to you.’

‘Not at all. I’m flattered.’ And then Jack’s eyes took on a compassionate intensity. ‘Is that where you lived?’ he asked softly. ‘You looked so sad just now.’

The lump reappeared in Anna’s gullet and she had to nod in reply. On her other side, Carrie squeezed her hand. Anna sniffed and gave a watery smile.

‘Not long now,’ William announced from the driver’s seat and turned off towards Princetown. Anna was glad that they had left Holly Cottage behind, but she had brought some flowers to put on Queenie’s grave, and William stopped the car outside the church gates.

‘Would you like me to come with you?’ Carrie asked gently.

‘No, I’ll be all right, thank you. I’d like a few moments alone if you don’t mind.’

‘Well, don’t be too long, dear,’ Deborah said kindly from the front of the car.

She wasn’t. It was too unbearable to think that Queenie’s remains were lying, cold and decaying, just a few feet below the ground. But, just in case there was some way her dear friend could hear, she whispered to her how she was now living with Carrie and that she and Charlie were happy. She didn’t mention Jack.

The centre of Princetown was busy with parked cars and coaches. Ponies were following visitors in the hope of titbits, and people were taking snapshots of them.

‘No wonder Daniel’s hotel has taken off,’ William commented as he negotiated all the obstacles.

‘Dartmoor’s becoming a real tourist attraction,’ Deborah agreed. ‘And there aren’t many hotels slap in the middle of it. And I’m sure people will appreciate all the personal touches Daniel and Lily are giving their place. And of course, there are the guided walks Daniel’s giving across the moor. Not every hotel offers that.’

They turned the corner by Bolt’s. Anna glanced at it wistfully, remembering the day she had ordered maternity patterns there. It seemed a lifetime ago. Now Charlie held her world together, and she couldn’t imagine having ever even contemplated giving him up for adoption. Her attention was distracted, though, by William driving the car up Tor Royal Lane. After they had passed the sharp bend by the entrance to Tor Royal itself, they continued out on one of the loneliest parts of the moor Anna had ever seen. She had never been out this way and was struck by the bleak, desolate beauty of it.

‘This is Hound of the Baskerville country,’ William informed them. ‘So look out for any strange beasts.’

‘Oh, you fool!’ Deborah laughed merrily.

‘Seriously, though, this road is a dead end. It stops at the old Whiteworks tin mine. And beyond that is Fox Tor Mire. It’s what Conan Doyle called Grimpen Mire in the book. You wouldn’t want to get stuck in one of the bogs, I can tell you.’

William gave a wry chuckle and then turned in at some large wrought iron gates. Anna suddenly felt the butterflies in her tummy. Although very different from Ashcroft Hall, the imposing building reminded her too much of the time she had spent working for Lady Prudence. But no sooner had William parked the car than a black-and-white collie bounded out of the front door to greet them, followed by a young couple who Anna guessed must be the Daniel and Lily she had heard so much about.

‘Deborah, William, how good to see you!’ Lily kissed them both on the cheek. ‘Pity Wendy and Ian are on holiday, and Celia’s on duty, didn’t you say?’

‘Who are they?’ Carrie whispered at Anna, but Deborah had evidently heard her.

‘Wendy and Celia? They’re our other daughters. You must meet them soon.’

‘And you must be Jack,’ Lily turned to them, ‘and you must be, let me see, you must be Carrie because you look like Jack, so you must be Anna! Am I right?’

Lily turned on them such a lovely, open smile that Anna at once felt more relaxed. Lily was about the same age as herself, and exuded warmth and confidence. Perhaps it came from having a loving husband at her side. Certainly Daniel was tall, dark and quite the most handsome man Anna had ever clapped eyes on, and as they all trooped inside, Anna notice him drop a natural, affectionate kiss on his wife’s red-gold
hair. Envy pricked Anna’s heart. One day perhaps …

‘William, would you mind showing everyone round?’ Lily asked genially. ‘I’ve got some bits to finish off in the kitchen and Daniel will bring some drinks out onto the terrace.’

The tour didn’t take long but Anna was entranced by the house. It was impressive enough as a hotel, let alone as a private residence! And yet the atmosphere was friendly and inviting, so unlike the stiff coldness of Ashcroft Hall. But maybe that was down to the people living in it!

‘So you can see why I could do with some help,’ Anna heard Daniel say to Jack as they sipped drinks out on the terrace. It overlooked a huge well-tended garden – well, more like grounds, Anna considered – where the children were romping about on the lawn with Trojan, the dog. ‘There’s always so much to do, and if I had someone in to do the garden one day a week, say, it would really help. So what do you think?’

‘Sounds excellent to me. I haven’t got any tools of my own yet, though, or any transport.’

‘I’ve got all the tools you could ever need,’ Daniel grinned back. ‘Through that gate is the old stable yard, and there’s all sorts there. But what sort of transport are you looking for?’

‘A small van of some sort, I suppose. But big enough to put a lawnmower in.’

‘Tell you what. I saw in the paper the GPO are selling off some old vans at their depot Plymouth way. But come and have a look round. How long till dinner’s ready, Lily love?’

‘Half an hour, but don’t be too long. I want you to carve,’ Lily answered and then she turned a sympathetic smile on Carrie. ‘I hear your husband’s in the TB sanatorium at Didworthy. How awful for you.’

‘Well, it certainly came as a shock,’ Carrie replied. ‘But
he’s made reasonable progress so I’m not quite so worried as I was.’

‘Modern drugs,’ William nodded wisely. ‘It can be completely cured nowadays. I reckon you’ll have Jeffery home by Christmas.’

Anna noticed Carrie release a heartfelt sigh. ‘That’d be wonderful, but Christmas seems an awfully long way off. And it’s such an awkward journey for visiting. Thank goodness Jack’s going to take me when he’s got transport of his own. That’s why he gave up his job in Yorkshire to be with me.’

‘What a nice brother to have! You’re very lucky. He must be a lovely chap.’

‘Yes, he is. Don’t you agree, Anna?’

At that moment, Anna felt she could have throttled her friend for putting her on the spot like that. ‘Oh well, yes. I mean, we’ve hardly had time to get to know each other that well, but, yes, he does seem very nice.’ And she had to admit to herself that it was true.

‘Who wants to come for a spin in the van? I want to make sure she can make the climb up onto the moor.’

Anna raised an eyebrow as Jack got to his feet, evidently burning with enthusiasm over his new mode of transport, however ancient. She supposed she could understand his excitement at this major step towards building his own little business, but cars – or ex GPO vans in this case – didn’t do much for her. And somewhere at the back of her mind festered Gilbert’s adoration of his flashy sports car. No. Anna had no desire whatsoever to travel in Jack’s newly acquired jalopy.

‘Oh, Jack, I really think I’ve had enough of gadding about
for a while,’ Carrie sighed. ‘I’m really looking forward to you driving me to the sanatorium on Wednesday, but just now I’d rather put my feet up. Why don’t you take Anna? I’m sure you’d like a trip up onto the moor, wouldn’t you, Anna? You’ve been saying how you miss it.’

Oh. Anna withered under Carrie’s strained smile. She really did look tired and Anna didn’t have the heart to argue. And it would be churlish to take the wind out of Jack’s sails with a refusal. She should be happy for him, and it wasn’t his fault she felt inexplicably topsy-turvy whenever she found herself alone with him.

‘That’d be lovely,’ she murmured. ‘This weather could turn any day so we might as well make the most of it.’

‘Go on, then. I’ll look after the kiddies.’

‘Are you sure?’ Anna asked doubtfully, hoping Carrie would change her mind.

‘Yes, go on, the pair of you.’

‘Just give me five minutes to change, would you, Jack? I don’t want to go in my waitress uniform.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Jack gave his easy-going smile. ‘We can go for a walk while we’re there. You can show me some favourite spot of yours.’

Oh, dear. That was even worse. Alone, with Jack, on the lonely moor. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It was just that she felt so
awkward
.

‘She might be ten years old, but hopefully there’s some life left in her yet,’ Jack was saying proudly as he unlocked the van a little later. ‘And she is the right colour. For me. As a gardener. Green,’ he explained. ‘They’ve painted out the GPO lettering but I don’t think I’ll have anything put on instead.’

‘Why do men always refer to their cars as
she
?’ Anna said scathingly as she got into the passenger seat. The only cars she had ever travelled in were Lady Ashcroft’s Rolls Royce, Gilbert’s Jaguar and William’s Rover. The Morris Z van seemed tinny and pretty basic by comparison - even to Jeffery’s modest Austin that she had been in a couple of times.

She caught the hurt look on Jack’s face and wished she hadn’t said anything, but then he gave a light laugh.

‘Do you know, I’ve absolutely no idea. Perhaps it’s because you get attached to them. Like sailors and ships, I suppose. Right, come on, girl,’ he encouraged the engine as he pulled out the starter button. ‘Oh dear, I said it again, didn’t I?’

But then he was concentrating and Anna felt able to sink into silence. Jack seemed to her a good driver, and as the van strained its way up onto the moor, Anna’s heart was inevitably snapped up into contemplation of the wild, open spaces she knew and loved. Banks of heather were still in full bloom, swaying blissfully in the gentle breeze, but the overall impression remained the verdant hues of green stretching to the horizon in fold upon fold of distant hills. Peace. And Anna could feel close to Queenie again.

‘So where would you like to walk?’ Jack’s unwelcome voice cut into her reverie.

‘Oh well, if we stop soon after where they’re building the new bridge,’ Anna suggested unwillingly, ‘there’s a nice walk along the Walkham Valley. The scenery’s quite varied. You can go as far as Ward Bridge and come back on the other side, but I’ve never gone all the way round. It was always too far with Charlie, and today it wouldn’t be fair on Carrie, not when she’s already had the children all morning as well.’

‘OK, we’ll just go so far and turn back,’ Jack agreed quite amicably. ‘The drive’s let me see what the old lady’s capable of, and that was the object of the exercise. You just show me where to stop.’

Anna could hardly believe she was doing this. She pointed out the small car park and then they walked back down the road and turned off through a farmyard, following the track out along the far side. The rising ground to their left was strewn with granite boulders, and on their right, the valley dropped down towards the river. Sheep scattered nervously as they passed, while a herd of black cows tore unperturbed at the rough grass, their teeth rasping as they chewed.

‘You were very fond of this Queenie, I gather,’ Jack broke the silence as they walked along. ‘Tell me about her. That’s if it’s not too upsetting. Up here on the moor you seem, I don’t know, distant. Sad and yet as if you’ve come home. I noticed it when we came up with William and Deborah. Tell me to mind my own business if you like, but sometimes it helps to talk.’

Anna felt like doing just that, telling him to mind his own business. But when she cast a scornful sideways glance at Jack, she caught him looking at her with a concerned expression in his deep, intense eyes.

‘I’m not prying, really I’m not,’ he assured her, his generous mouth twisting awkwardly. ‘I’m genuinely interested.’

‘Is there a difference?’ she bristled.

‘Yes, of course there is. We’re living under the same roof and you’re my sister’s best friend. Besides which …’

He broke off, colouring slightly as he looked away. Anna felt herself flush with remorse. Jack was obviously sensitive
to her tangled emotions and she shouldn’t be so touchy.

‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised. ‘It’s just that I still feel raw about Queenie. I loved living up here on the moor. But now, well, I suppose it holds too many memories.’