Chapter Thirty-One
Sam became aware of the dark skies gradually giving way to daylight. Whilst he was used to the light sleep of the homeless, he was unused to the country noises. Every snuffle or sound jarred him out of his sleep and he would be instantly alert, his eyes straining in the dark for monsters to come looming out of the trees. In truth he had probably had one of his worst night’s sleep in months, which was saying something for a lad who had become used to sleeping on the streets of London. Stretching, he swept the leaves and twigs off his new charity shop clothes.
After Henry Ferguson had given him that money, he had spent a few weeks deciding what to do. Eventually he decided to head west. When he arrived in Cornwall he wanted to make a good impression, so he’d also spent some of the money on a room for the night and had showered himself raw, scrubbing at his hands and feet and washing his hair a few times. In the morning, the breakfast servers had teased him for being such a pretty boy and whilst he laughed, he knew that that wasn’t necessarily a smart look for a homeless lad in London. Time to hit the road.
He dumped the clothes he had been wearing but was loath to dump his rucksack and other belongings in case this all proved to be a colossal hoax or joke. Or worse. London streets weren’t the only places that offered dangers for the vulnerable. For the next two days he wandered the streets looking out for friends he had made along the way giving them tens and twenties until he was down to his last ￡20 and then he stuck out his thumb and began to hitch west.
The idea of wasting ￡200 on a train ticket was laughable. Hitching was free and it was wonderful to be able to spread some of his luck out to others. Maybe he was a fool but it had felt good and that was something he hadn’t felt often in the past year.
Now here he was sleeping in a ditch. A little warm lump beside him stirred and a wet nose twitched the air around her. Lucky had slept well; so long as she was by her master, life was fine. Sam ruffled her head and began to remove leaves from her coat. This had been the last thing he did as he left London. He had bought her from Old Tom for ￡30 and renamed her Lucky.
His last hitch had got him to the train station that Hal had recommended and he had started to follow instructions from a local taxi cab as to how to walk to Vollen. But he either got lost or it was further than he expected and the night caught him before he found his destination. He decided to bed down and try again in the morning. It meant he was a bit smellier and dirtier than he had intended but there was nothing he could do about that.
Slinging his rucksack on his back he set off tramping down the road with Lucky by his side, in the hope that he would happen upon his destination. He’d never been to Cornwall before and was surprised by how green it was. Small fields everywhere, lots of trees, tiny roads and seemingly no people. Overhead a large group of birds circled and cawed, moving from field to tree and back again; in another field he saw two deer run out of sight. Everyone was waking up. There was a rumble behind him and an impossibly large tractor was bearing down on them. Waving, the farmer leant out of his cab having switched the engine off. Sam couldn’t work out how the tractor was going to pass him without squishing him flat. He’d need to climb up into the hedge.
‘You’re up early!’
‘Them birds are noisier than an alarm clock. Am I on the right road for Vollen?’
The farmer scratched his ear. ‘You’re a bit off track but I tell you what, I’m dropping off near there after this. Is it the house or the farm you want?’
Sam wasn’t sure but he guessed he was after the house. He showed the farmer the card Hal had given him.
‘The house it is then. Right, let’s get you in the tractor. Walk on down the lane here till you get to the gate. There’ll be room then for me to get past you and you can climb up. I’ll get you a bit closer and then set you on your path. You might even make it for breakfast.’
A minute later Sam and Lucky had climbed up into the cab of the tractor. As they rumbled down the lanes Sam looked out over the tops of the hedges. The tractor seats were more comfortable than he ever imagined. And heated! Lucky sat in the footwell, excited by all the strange smells. She was used to being cold and hungry and occasionally waking up by bodies that were stiff and smelt wrong. Now she was surrounded by lots of strange smells that made her feel happy and excited. Plus her new companion smelt young and full of energy. Life was good.
The farmer laughed when Sam exclaimed about the seats. All mod cons in this little beauty and he went on at length to tell Sam all the ins and outs of his tractor. A father holding his newborn could not have glowed with greater pride and Sam enjoyed listening to the man talk of things that meant nothing to him. As the tractor pulled up, Sam was almost reluctant to part ways. Warmth was not a thing he was used to. Neither was kindness. Jumping down he thanked the man and he and Lucky set off down a new lane; apparently the turning for the house was half a mile on the right. ‘Just look out for the huge granite boulder. The house name is on that and then just head on down the drive. They’re a good enough sort there.’
Half an hour later he found himself wandering down a drive lined with big bushes. He was brushing himself down when a massive baying of hounds sounded out and Sam found himself surrounded by five or six very noisy dogs. Lucky cowered around his legs; these smells were a bit scary. Sam could hear a man shouting and the dogs all sat down around him as Hal walked into view.
‘Hello?’ The man did a double take and Sam was worried that he wouldn’t remember him. ‘Sam? Hello, you made it!’ Striding up he gave Sam a vigorous handshake and apologised for the dogs. ‘It’s a wall of sound thing, they are more likely to deafen you than anything else. Did you catch the night train?’
When Sam explained he’d hitched Hal laughed but didn’t ask what had happened to the money. ‘Come along. Help me feed the hounds; we’ve just had our morning walk as well and then we’ll have some breakfast? Yes?’
Suddenly he spotted Lucky.
‘Hello! Who’s this?’ Squatting on his haunches he extended his hand towards Lucky to sniff. ‘Good girl. Did my lot scare you? All bluster.’ As he scratched her ear she relaxed and began to wag her tail. ‘Good girl. Yes you are!’
Standing up he smiled at Sam. ‘New addition?’ and listened appreciatively as Sam explained Lucky’s history.
‘Come on then, there’s always room for another mouth.’
After a big breakfast he introduced Sam to Brian. He explained that Sam was a new apprentice and asked Brian to put him to work. He would catch up with them later in the day and show Sam his new accommodation. Brian gave Hal a nod and he knew that lad would be in good hands.
Heading towards the house Hal knew he had done the right thing. He had helped Sam, Sam had helped his friends. It all knocked on. There was no way he could abandon his charity when he could see it in action. He needed to raise more money and he knew what he needed to do, although he knew it was going to hurt him.
He went off to the library. He had never thought in his wildest dreams he would sell his mother’s Fabergé snowdrops, but seeing Sam had woken him up. There were more important things in the world than possessions. He knew his mother would understand. With the money he could raise from them he would be able to properly launch his charity and help lots of lost souls like Sam.
A few minutes later he left the library calling out for Odette and found her in the long sitting room.
‘Where are my mother’s snowdrops? I couldn’t see them in the library. Have they been moved?’
Odette looked worried and wished James was here. She had already raised her concerns with him, and he had told her categorically to drop the subject. He would talk to Hal about them. Now it was clear that he hadn’t.
‘They are missing.’
Hal looked at her in horror. ‘What do you mean, missing?’
‘They disappeared the night you broke off your engagement with Bianca. I went into the library the following day and noticed one of the chairs had been pushed up against the shelves and there was a muddy stiletto print on the seat of the chair. I assumed that Bianca had helped herself.’
‘Why the hell didn’t you say something? Odette, I’m sorry, but those little flowers aren’t just from my mother, they’re also rather valuable.’
‘Oh Hal, of course I said something. I went to your father straightaway and told him what had happened and he said he would deal with it. That under no circumstance was I to worry you about it.’
Odette looked ready to cry and he felt awful, snapping at the older lady. She had never shown him anything other than love and compassion.
‘I’m sorry. Forgive me.’ He wiped his hand across his face and sighed. ‘Let me speak to Bianca. It’s about time I wished her congratulations on her recent wedding.’
He was livid. He couldn’t believe Bianca had taken the flowers. He had vowed never to contact her again after Hugo told him about the wedding but this broke that pledge. He had wasted too many nights feeling regret for the way he had treated her. The slate was clean, or at least it would be when he got his mother’s flowers back.