Chapter 27
Because we had driven to the woods in separate cars, we had to travel back to Fernside in convoy.
James took the journey considerably faster than I did and by the time I pulled up behind him, he’d already parked, got Buddy out and was scowling at a muddy truck which was taking up most of the space in front of the house.
‘Henderson,’ he growled at it. ‘Come on, Tilly.’
I almost had to trot to keep up with him and wasn’t sure whether to follow him into the house, but he ushered me into the sunroom and then through to the kitchen.
‘James!’ bellowed a guy who I guessed was the owner of the truck. ‘How on earth are you? It’s been an age.’
He was standing at the side of the table, while Constance was looking though some sheets of paper. I didn’t like how close he was to her and James’s livid expression and Buddy’s deep bark suggested they weren’t impressed that he was crowding her, either. Sensing this, the guy took a step away.
‘Hello, Tommy,’ James said back and I noted he neither said how he was keeping nor returned the courtesy of asking how Tommy was.
‘Constance mentioned that you were back,’ Tommy nodded. His huge bulk, both tall and wide, made the kitchen feel small. ‘Not staying though, are you?’
Again, James didn’t answer. His eyes were on his aunt.
‘Hello, my dear,’ Tommy said to me. I didn’t appreciate the way his gaze seemed to take in every inch of me. ‘I don’t think we’ve met.’
‘You’re running the farm now, are you?’ James finally spoke. ‘I was sorry to hear about your dad.’
‘He had a good innings,’ Tommy sniffed, as he adjusted the waistband of his trousers.
His belly was so large and the buttons of his checked shirt so strained, it didn’t move far.
‘And now I’m slowly bringing the place up to speed.
Less farming, more…’ he eyes flicked to the table and James’s gaze followed.
‘What’s going on, Aunt Constance?’ James asked, as her hand hovered over one of the pages with a pen in her hand. ‘There’s a for sale board going up down at the woods, and it’s already got sold—’
‘Just a formality,’ Tommy interrupted rudely. ‘My wife’s agency is handling the sale, so we thought she might as well put a sign up. One that size will attract a bit of attention. Lovely bit of free publicity.’
‘Constance, you can’t have sold the woods already. I only told you last night I wasn’t going to buy them,’ I exclaimed, feeling bewildered. ‘And,’ I added with emphasis, ‘you know why.’
‘I do,’ she said. ‘And you both know why I am going to sell them. Tommy’s father had once expressed an interest and said if I was ever going to part with them, I should get in touch.’
I wondered why she hadn’t just done that in the first place.
‘And here we are,’ Tommy said expansively.
‘But Tommy’s father is no longer with us,’ James pointed out. I had no idea how he could sound so calm because internally I was fizzing. ‘And I’m sure his dad would have had different plans for the woods than his son.’
Tommy shifted from one foot to the other, which made Buddy growl.
‘I can’t believe this is happening so fast.’ I swallowed.
I was beginning to feel dizzy and sick and not only because I was hungry.
‘Nothing’s happened yet,’ James said, with a nod to the papers, which Constance hadn’t yet signed. ‘And no matter what it says on there, it wouldn’t hold up in court anyway. With or without a signature.’
‘Sometimes it’s not what you know,’ Tommy said and tapped the paper with a chubby finger. ‘Just sign your name there, my dear, and that’ll be enough to get the ball rolling.’
I frowned at Constance. This felt so completely out of character for her. I knew she had James’s welfare at heart, but selling the woods to this guy just didn’t add up, and how was James managing to keep so calm given what he was facing?
‘So,’ I said, as I forced myself to smile sweetly at Tommy, in the hope of trying to get some information out of him, ‘what is it that you’re planning to do with the woods?’
‘Bikes,’ said Constance as she held up one of the sheets and Tommy looked aghast. ‘There’s going to be a cycle route through the woods. Won’t that be lovely?’
James and I exchanged a look and he took the paper from her. He read it for a few seconds and then his attention returned to Tommy.
‘Motorcross.’ He nodded. ‘You’re planning to set up a motorcross circuit in Willowell Woods, are you?’
I couldn’t keep down the noisy sob that forced its way up and out of my mouth, but Tommy just shrugged and stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets as if the noisy, messy transformation of the currently idyllic woodland meant nothing.
‘That sounds fun,’ said Constance.
‘Perhaps in the right place,’ I said and gathered my wits enough to quickly search online for a video to show her what the woods could be reduced to, ‘but I hardly think Grace’s lovely plot should end up looking and sounding like this, do you?’
Constance covered her ears with her hands while she watched. The sound of the bikes as they blasted around on screen was deafening in the confined space of the kitchen. I didn’t turn the volume down though because I wanted Constance to experience what it was both going to look and sound like.
‘You’d never get permission for this,’ I said to Tommy angrily when the video ended. ‘Some of the trees there are ancient.’
‘Hardly ancient,’ he said patronisingly.
‘But far older than us,’ James put in. ‘And that will count for something.’
‘Not to mention the birds and wildlife you’ll displace by wrecking the place.’
Tommy didn’t look like he cared a jot about the birds, bees and possibly even badgers. Some farmer he must be!
‘But like I said,’ he shrugged carelessly, and James still didn’t look rattled, ‘it depends on who you know, and besides, we’ll only take down the trees that are in the way.’
‘You shouldn’t be taking down any trees,’ I objected loudly.
I knew for a fact that Helen wouldn’t approve his awful scheme.
‘Not the ideal alternative for the place considering what you had in mind, is it?’ Constance said to me, and I began to get the first inkling of what her game was.
‘It won’t be that bad,’ Tommy smiled. ‘If the wind is in the right direction, you’ll barely hear it from here. Now come on, let’s have this signed.’ He tapped the papers on the table again. ‘I need to get to my solicitor.’
James gave the other paper back to his aunt and started to clap while Buddy slunk around the table to stand between Constance and Tommy.
‘What are you doing?’ Tommy frowned at James.
‘I’m applauding my aunt,’ James said. ‘Can’t you see that?’
‘Congratulating her on her shrewd business acumen, you mean?’ Tommy laughed.
‘Not quite.’ James grinned and turned back to Constance. ‘This is all an elaborate attempt to get Tilly to change her mind about buying the woods, isn’t it?’
That’s what I’d guessed too, and the rush of colour spreading across Constance’s face was proof enough that she’d been found out.
It was a canny tactic on her part, but what was I going to do?
Talk about caught between a rock and a hard place!
Whatever option I chose, I was going to break one of their hearts and my own, too.
‘You thought that if you set up some really vile alternative for the woods, I’d cave and not kick up as much of a fuss when you sold to Tilly, didn’t you?’ James continued.
Constance suddenly looked close to tears, rather than proud of her fiendish attempt at trickery.
‘Don’t say anything else, James,’ I pleaded. ‘You’ve made your point.’
‘I’m just so scared that you’re going to crack under the stress, James,’ Constance sobbed. ‘You hear about it all the time, don’t you? These apparently fit and healthy folk keeling over because they work too hard. I can’t have that happen to you! You’re all I’ve got left in the world.’
‘Oh, Aunt Constance,’ James cried when he realised the true depth of her fear for both his physical and mental health.
I quickly stepped aside so he could reach her and he knelt next to her chair and gave her the longest hug. She succumbed to a bit of a sob, and I was hard pushed not to cry myself when I heard her.
‘Well, this is all very touching,’ Tommy said uncertainly as he pulled his trousers up again, ‘but what’s the deal for me here? Is there still a deal?’
‘Of course there’s no deal, you buffoon,’ James blustered as he stood back up. I noticed he was holding his aunt’s hand. ‘And there never was.’
Tommy began to turn red and lurched across the table to grab the papers, but I was quicker than him.
‘We’ll keep hold of those,’ I said and snatched them out of his reach. ‘We can shred them for you.’
‘So, I’ve been tricked, have I?’ he bellowed. ‘And made to look a fool, to boot.’
‘I think you’ve managed that yourself,’ said Constance. ‘Your dad would be ashamed of you and your current business dealings, Thomas. I’ve heard about it all and you should know, people won’t put up with your bullying tactics much longer.’
She clearly had more intel on him and more of an agenda than I had realised.
‘Yeah, well, Dad’s not here, is he?’ Tommy shouted. His colour had now reached a frightening shade of puce. ‘So that’s it, is it?’
James looked thoughtful for a moment.
‘There is just one more thing,’ he said and turned his attention to his canine companion. ‘Buddy, see him off!’
Tommy tripped his way around the table in panic and shot through the kitchen door far faster than I ever would have thought he could move. Buddy, by comparison, stayed exactly where he was and scratched his ear.
‘You think about what I’ve said!’ Constance shouted after her unpopular visitor, as we heard him stumble and ricochet off the sunroom door, doubtless full of fear that Buddy was about to bite his backside.
James and I shared a quick look, and I wondered what was going to happen next. Life at Fernside was proving to be unpredictable of late and it was just as well I’d taken a leaf out of my brother’s book and started to roll with the punches rather than rail against them.