at the gate? A man in a long coat, like a traveller?’
‘That I have, ma’am. Some few times now.’
Emily stared at him. ‘Grant, why didn’t you chase him off or something?’
He stuck his thumbs in his belt. ‘Well, ma’am, I did try, but Miss Alice told me to mind my own stupid business, and that I was to go back to my chores.’
‘I’m sorry, Grant.’ Emily put a hand to her forehead. ‘If you see her with him again, you may chase him off with a pitchfork, and never mind anything my silly sister says to you.’
‘With pleasure, ma’am.’
‘Emily! Emily!’ The voice was Mary’s, coming from inside the house.
The baby! Emily turned to see Mary running out as fast as her dress would let her.
‘Mary what is it? Is Francis—’
‘Not Francis. Emily you must see this! It’s terrible.’
She had a letter in her hand, and for a confused moment Emily thought it was Rodric’s. No, I have that, so what’s—
Mary practically forced it into her hands. Emily unfolded the letter and read.
Dear Sisters,
I daresay you must be all in a tizzy now, and have no idea where I’ve gone, so I’m writing this to set everything straight. I’ll leave it with little Francis, because I couldn’t think of anywhere else you were sure to go eventually. I hope my nephew will not mind the intrusion.
You have probably noticed how very dull Grammaine is these days, with Rodric gone, and all the men gone, really, except Poldry and Grant, and I can’t really count them because they’re so old. Or perhaps you haven’t, since you two do seem not to feel the boredom as much as I do. I suppose it is because you are both settled. Mary with Tubal, and Emily with Grammaine. I never knew anyone could marry a house before.
Anyway, I’ve gone for a little holiday for a few days, to cheer myself up and get away from all of you, because to be perfectly honest you do drive me mad sometimes with how dreary you are. My fiend Griff suggested I come and stay with his people for a few days, and he will tell me what it is like to be an agent of the King, who he has met three times. I will try and arrange an introduction for all of us, if the opportunity comes around.
Anyway, please don’t worry about me. I am perfectly able to look after myself for a few days, and I daresay I will love you all much more when I have had a break from you. I am not angry with you, and I know you do not mean it about Deerlings, because you are my sister after all
Yours wilfully,
Alice.
“Yours wilfully . . .”’ murmured Emily. It was always Alice’s favoured way of ending a letter, but just now it seemed truer than ever. This was not new: Alice had done similar before – running off to the estate of some friend, inviting herself as a guest with the family of some beau or other. Since the war started, such opportunities had been few and far between, and now . . .
She passed the letter to Grant, who grimaced and looked to Mary for enlightenment. She whispered the main points to him, and he rushed to the stables instantly.
‘Her bay’s gone,’ he confirmed, on returning. ‘And the black as well.’ He turned, his jaw jutting out angrily. ‘That tramp has one of our horses.’
‘He has our sister,’ said Emily.
‘What are we going to do?’ Mary’s eyes were wide.
Another deep breath. Time to think, then time to act. ‘Grant, you must go and get the guns,’ she said. ‘Then saddle up two horses.’
‘Two, ma’am?’
‘For you and me, Grant. You can’t go alone. If we track him down and simply point a musket at him, it should convince him that it’s time for him to move on, I hope.’
He nodded grimly, and stormed into the house.
‘Emily, are you sure about this? You’ve never even used a gun before,’ Mary cautioned her.
‘I can at least point the thing at someone. I know which end of it makes the noise.’
‘But those guns.’ And a world of bitter shared experience passed between them in those few words. Shuttered windows and silence, and the smell of cordite. The dreams of her younger self that just would not go away.
‘What would you have me do? I can’t sacrifice the future to save the past, Mary, so it will have to be the other way round.’