Chapter 8
Beth arrived back at the farmhouse exhausted. Her brain shut down all entreaties from her heart to go next door and see if the Wolverine was all right. Stuff him! Shucking her wellies, she scuttled over to stand on the warm bit of floor by the Aga. ‘Gosh! It’s cold out there.’
Paddy yawned, struggled to his feet in the dog bed on the flagstones, turned his back on Beth and sank back down with a loud huff.
‘Well?’ Daisy demanded.
‘The cows stampeded.’
The teen’s eyebrows disappeared up under her fringe. ‘Oh my God. Is Jack alright?’
Beth’s jangling nerves made her reply sharper than necessary. ‘Honestly, Daisy, do you think I’d be stood here, if he wasn’t? Of course he’s alright! He’s feeding the chickens.’ She glanced around the kitchen. ‘Where’s Grace?’
‘She’s upstairs getting dressed. Why? Don’t you trust me? You’re the one who dragged me out of bed to look after her.’
Beth put her hands up in submission. ‘Sorry. Sorry. I’ve just had a scare. Plus, I’m still fuming. I can’t believe that awful man over at the barn—’
‘What man? You mean over at Charlie’s place?’ Daisy leaned over the sink to peer out of the kitchen window, craning her neck so she could peer past the side of the stables. ‘There’s a car. Someone moved in? What’s he like?’
Beth hesitated, the Wolverine hovering in her mind’s eye.
‘Beth?’
‘He’s scruffy. And a right prat.’
‘Huh. Figures. If I inherited a house, I’d be there, like, yesterday. I wouldn’t wait six months.’
Rose sloped into the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. She slumped onto a chair, draped her arms across the table and rested her head on top. ‘What’s a girl got to do to get any sleep around here?’
‘Late night, was it, Rose?’ asked Beth.
Rose rolled her head to one side and opened one eye. ‘Duh! It’s a pub. Of course it was late.’ The eye closed and the head rolled back.
Daisy made a cup of strong coffee and shoved it in her big sister’s direction. ‘You were saying. The cows stampeded. Then what?’
Beth leaned back against the sink. ‘I was convinced Jack was a goner, but, when I got to the junction, Nick was with him and—’
‘Uh… cows?’ Rose lifted her head, eyes leaping from Beth to Daisy. ‘What cows?’
Jack burst through the back door. Paddy launched himself from his bed and skipped around the teen like a naughty puppy. Beth averted her gaze. The ungrateful creature never appreciated the one person who actually remembered to feed him.
Jack dumped his coat, hopped over his adoring four-legged buddy, and hurried to the cupboards in search of breakfast. Watching him pour nearly a pint of milk over a huge mound of cereal, Beth suppressed a wince. Such a lot being consumed by only one member of the household in a single sitting hurt. Was it any wonder the food bill was astronomical? She mentally added “buy more milk” to her to-do list for the morning.
Mid-mouthful, Jack dragged his eyes from his phone and glowered at her. ‘What?’
Beth flashed him a bright smile. The milk was already on the cereal, after all. ‘You were brilliant this morning. Thank you for helping.’ Jack grunted and raised an eyebrow. Whether he was suspicious of her smile, her thanks or the compliment, Beth couldn’t be sure. ‘Are the rest of the animals okay?’
‘All except Pablo. Daft donkey has got himself wedged between the black shed and the back of the stables again.’
Beth groaned. ‘Why does he do that?’
‘I gave up trying to coax him out. Grumpy sod tried to kick me.’
‘Poor Pablo,’ said Rose, stretching. ‘I’ll sort him out, after I’ve had a shower.’
‘If you’re sure you don’t mind.’
Rose gave Beth a pointed look, before answering, her tone blank, ‘Why would I mind looking after my dead mother’s donkey?’
Beth’s cheeks burned. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean—’
‘Oh no!’ Daisy looked up in alarm. ‘What’s going to happen to Bert, Ernie and the girls? They belong to the new guy, don’t they?’
Beth sighed. ‘Yes. The llampaccas belong to whoever inherited the barn. Now he’s finally turned up, we’ll have to hand them over.’
‘Someone’s living at the barn?’ Jack was at the kitchen window in a heartbeat. ‘Since when?’
Grace bounced into the kitchen, waving a pink sparkly hairbrush at Beth. ‘Ponytail, please.’
Beth spun Grace around and started untangling curls. ‘Yesterday, I think. And to answer your question, Daisy, I’ve no idea. Whoever he is, he’s not exactly skipped over quick sharp to demand them back, has he? If his appalling behaviour towards those cows this morning is anything to go by, who knows what will happen?’
Grace twisted round to look at Beth. ‘What happened to the cows, Mummy?’
‘They’re fine, sweetheart. It’s just the man next door was a bit silly and made too much noise.’
‘They ran like mad, Grace,’ said Jack. ‘But they weren’t hurt. Honest. I just thought Daisy’s daft plan had gone wrong when I saw them galloping towards me.’
Daisy poked her tongue out at him. ‘My plan was epic. You’re just jealous that I thought of it.’
Grace’s lip wobbled. ‘Will the man scare the llampaccas, too?’
‘I’m sure he won’t,’ said Beth. ‘But we’ll keep them a bit longer until we can be sure he knows how to look after them properly.’
Jack scraped his breakfast bowl, then stood up and tucked his phone into his back pocket. ‘We going to school then or what?’
‘Ten minutes,’ said Beth. ‘I need to change. I’ve got some jobs to do in the village this morning.’
Jack huffed, hauled his phone back out and sat back down.
‘Is one of those jobs getting the roof fixed?’ demanded Daisy. ‘You do know there’s, like, this mega storm on the way, don’t you?’
‘That’s true,’ said Rose. ‘Tail end of Hurricane Harvey from the States. Two months’ worth of rain in twenty-four-hours, they reckon. It’s all anyone was talking about in the Crashing Boar last night.’
‘When is it due to hit?’ Beth glanced towards the bucket in the doorway.
‘Friday,’ said Rose.
Jack looked towards the window as if expecting to see black clouds already and muttered, ‘We’d better make sure the animals are all under cover.’
‘Beth needs to make sure we’re under cover.’ Daisy pointed to the ceiling. ‘It’ll take more than that stupid bucket.’
‘I’ll sort it, I promise,’ said Beth and hurried from the room.