Chapter Twenty-One #2
The men ran forward with spades, digging out a clear path to the package, and soon cut the ties that bound it together, boxes spilling out at once.
Under Joe’s guidance, the villagers formed a straggling human chain between the green and the village shop, and Sheila and Margaret found themselves directing people where to place each food parcel in the shop.
Soon, the tiny premises was crowded with boxes and crates, most labelled, but some not. Jack Treedy found a crowbar and began opening the unmarked crates, shouting out the contents to Margaret, who kept a careful note of them.
There were dried goods, flour and sugar, tea and coffee, large pallets of tinned meat, fruit and condensed milk, plus oils for cooking, dried herbs and spices, a few sacks of animal feed, and an impressive pack of medical supplies to cover most eventualities.
There were also lengthy instructions on contents and distribution protocols, thankfully, that were passed to Sheila for her perusal.
During all this commotion, Bernie turned up, riding a horse through the gleaming tunnel of snow dug out in front of the shop by Joe’s tractor.
Everyone stared as he dismounted outside the shop, looped the reins over a protruding post, and sauntered into the shop in the manner of a cowboy from a Western, complete with a wide-brimmed leather hat.
‘Blimey, what in the name of …’ Sheila gawped. ‘I didn’t know you had a horse, Bernie. Where on earth did he come from?’
‘It’s a she. And I borrowed her from my neighbour. Heard about the food drop and saw the plane coming in. Thought you might need a hand.’ Removing his hat, he nodded to everyone else. ‘Good afternoon, folks. Right, Sheila, where can I be useful?’
Gradually, the parcels were distributed to those in need, with some set aside for collection for outlying homes as soon as the road through Porthcurno could be cleared.
One of the villagers mentioned an elderly widow living half a mile outside the village, who’d told a neighbour a few days before that she was running low on fuel as well as food.
Joe took the tractor and used the scoop to push his way through the snow, carrying a supply of logs as well as emergency food supplies for the old lady.
While this was going on, Sheila turned on the wireless she’d installed in the back room of the shop and turned it up so they could all listen.
It cheered up the villagers no end to hear a few popular tunes on the radio while they were working.
Eventually, it grew dark, and the crowds began to disperse. Even Bernie had finally ridden home on his horse, cradling supplies for himself and his neighbours, and wishing them all a pleasant evening.
Mrs Treedy pulled Sheila aside. ‘I wanted a word, if you can spare a moment,’ she said, looking worried. ‘Do you remember I told you about Jack wanting to go to Australia?’
‘How could I forget? Silly boy, I hope he’s put that nonsense out of his head.’
But the widow pulled a face. ‘No, he’s more serious than ever.
I think it’s this snow … He says Britain’s more like Siberia now.
He’s been reading about all the sunshine and lovely beaches down under.
He’s applied for a passport too, and he’s been working a few days a week on a farm, saving up for his boat ticket as soon as he’s old enough to move there.
Oh, I don’t know what I’ll do if our Jack leaves us.
It’s the other side of the world. I’d never see him again. ’ There were tears in her eyes.
Sheila didn’t know what to say. If the young man was intent on emigrating to Australia, there wasn’t much anyone could do about it.
But she could hardly say that to Mrs Treedy, who was beside herself.
‘Would it help if I asked Joe to have a word with him?’ she asked uncertainly.
‘He might listen to a man, where he ignores us ladies.’
Mrs Treedy also looked doubtful. ‘I don’t know.
If you ask me, I think Jack’s bewitched.
He barely even mentioned Australia a year ago …
Now it’s all he can talk about.’ She wiped away a tear.
‘He acts tough. But he’s still just a boy at heart.
And I’m scared what might happen to him out there. It’s an awfully big country.’
The Land Girls came trooping into the shop, spades on their shoulders, looking cold and exhausted, as well they might after all their hard work. Caroline said bleakly, ‘We’d like to head back to the farm, if that’s all right, Mrs Newton? We’re bushed. Do you think we’ll be needed again?’
‘No, love, but leave one of them spades with me, just in case it comes in handy later.’ She watched the girls traipse off into the gathering dusk.
‘They’re such good girls,’ she told Mrs Treedy and Margaret, who was sorting out supplies for Violet up at the farm.
‘We were bloomin’ lucky to get a crew like that.
Oh, we’ve lost a few girls over the years, changing jobs or leaving to get married.
But Caroline … She’s a nice, hard-working girl.
And she don’t chatter on all the time like some of them. ’
Mrs Treedy didn’t appear to be listening, peering out of the window as her son ran after the three girls trudging up the snowy hill. ‘My Jack quite likes that new girl. Jamaican, isn’t she?’
‘No, from Liverpool. But her mother comes from Trinidad, if that’s what you mean.’
Mrs Treedy looked uncomfortable. ‘I haven’t spoken to her much. But Jack’s got a crush on the girl, if you ask me.’
‘Are you hoping he might stay in Porthcurno if she gives him any encouragement?’
‘The thought had crossed my mind.’
Sheila made a face but said nothing. She rather thought that Grace was too thick with Caroline to look twice at Jack Treedy.
That wasn’t any of her business, though.
‘Well, it’s getting dark. I’ll start tidying away and when Joe gets back, I’ll close up the shop until tomorrow.
There are still plenty of canned goods here.
Anyone still needing food can come by in the morning.
’ She turned to her sister. ‘Maggie, are you sure you don’t want to come up the farm? It’s awfully cold down here.’
She had asked Margaret up to stay with them during the worst of the snow and been rebuffed. Her sister valued her independence too much, she supposed. Besides, she and Violet had never got on, so keeping them apart was probably for the best.
To her surprise though, Margaret nodded.
‘I will come with you tonight, Sheila. I’m sick of the electric heater cutting out when the electric goes off …
Anyway, I can help carry some of this. Don’t forget you need to take your own rations up to the farm for Violet.
And a bag of animal feed for Joe’s livestock. ’
Mrs Treedy made an unhappy noise, and they turned to see Jack waiting outside the shop for his mother, shoulders hunched and his hands in his pockets. No doubt Grace had sent him packing yet again.
It was a shame for the poor boy. But a good lesson too.
Some things in life were simply impossible and you had to learn to let them go, Sheila thought, glancing at his flushed face.
She kept this nugget of wisdom to herself though, having also learned that people didn’t always want to hear the truth.
Not when a little white lie made them feel better. Or even a great big whopper.