Unforgettable (Gloria Cook) - By Gloria Cook Page 0,25
he reminded her of Piers, kindness and forbearing to the last but not a pushover. She was sure Guy would protect Fiona with his life. ‘Actually, I’ve just had an idea which might ease Mrs Templeton along the way to a quicker recovery. Tell me what you think. If you agree with me, then after she’s had a rest and Finn has come back we’ll put it to them both.’
Seven
By The Way, the Vercoe home, was easy to locate, nestling a thousand yards down the lane of the same name, behind the north side of the village church. Finn first passed the redundant forge where Denny Vercoe’s father had been the last blacksmith. When motorized vehicles caught on for farming and private use there had not been enough work to justify keeping the forge occupational. Equestrian needs were now seen to by neighbouring villages. Finn felt Nanviscoe was missing something by the silencing of blasts from the furnace and the rhythmic clangs of the hammer. Apparently, Denny used the forge as a store. He was jack-of-all-trades and worked as a dealer in a diverse variety of goods.
Finn listened to the persistent happy chirps and tweets of the birds, something he had not noticed when living in town. He had marvelled at how still and calm little Eloise seemed in his arms when he was outside with her, as if she was aware of nature’s calls too. Across the fields he saw rabbits hopping about and wondered if Denny Vercoe, known for taking bounty where it abounded, was out with a shotgun to bag his family a meal. He had seven children in a wide range of ages, according to Mrs R – a lot of mouths to feed.
‘Damn it, hope you’re not out, Vercoe,’ Finn muttered, shifting, as he was apt to, all too easily into a dark mood. ‘I want to get back to Eloise quickly.’ He trusted Mrs R not to be late arriving at Merrivale but he hated the thought of Guy Carthewy being there. Carthewy had the right to be inside his property, and while Finn was grateful for his charity and goodwill, he feared Carthewy’s influence on his mother. After days of Finn and Nurse Rumford trying to coax his mother out of bed it had only taken Carthewy five minutes to get her to agree to do so. It was plain as the nose on his face that Carthewy was hankering after Fiona, that he would promise her anything to make her happy, and Finn feared she would plead with him to get in touch with his father on her behalf, and this might lead to his sly and calculating father using Carthewy to springboard him back into some element of the business world and the same sordid pattern being repeated.
Under his arm Finn had a large parcel of things he hoped to barter with Denny Vercoe for a second-hand, good-quality pram for Eloise so he could take her down to The Orchards to see Belle, who was never out of his mind and hopes.
On either side of the Vercoe home rambling one-storey extensions had been built. The original house seemed squashed in between and the walls were begging for fresh coats of whitewash. Moss and mud splashes clung to them. Dotted about in slapdash disorder were countless sheds made from scraps of wood and corrugated iron. The pigsty housed a small herd of pink and grey pigs with strong snouts feasting on mangolds, and swarms of tumbling piglets. There was a long strongly built chicken and bantam run and behind the wire a strutting rooster of different species were keeping a respectful distance from each other. A ragbag of cats was sprawled up on a shed roof as if they had been busy ratting all night and needed their rest. The place was open and sunny and gave off a lazy, contented air, with just an old apple tree and a hawthorn tree to offer shade. There was nothing creepy or despairing about this property and Finn felt comfortable as he closed in on it. Parts of rusting vehicles and machinery fronted the buildings. Weeds and nettles grew everywhere. A wooden sign stuck out of the hedge bearing the place’s name: BY THE WAY. Finn thought it a good name for the pleasing shambles.
On the driver’s seat of a wheelless rust heap was a small tan curly-coated dog, with a tall tuft sticking up on the top of its square head. In case