She tried to talk herself out of it – she’d seen her that day; it would be nice to have news when she went in next time – but she realised she just had to go.
She wrote a long note for Issi, including a certain amount of boasting about rescuing the calf, and set off back to town.
She passed Roy’s car and gave him a brief wave, hoping he hadn’t just come from Amy in spite of having seen her earlier in the day. Amy would be exhausted if he had and she’d have to tell her about the quarry tomorrow.
‘Hi,’ she said to Monica, on reception. ‘I’m here again.’ She signed in. ‘Do you know if Roy’s just been in?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Monica. ‘But I’ve only just started my shift.’
‘I’llgo and see if Amy’s awake – that’ll tell me if she’s just had a visitor.’
Amy was awake, but in bed, her hair in a plait. ‘Oh?’ she said, surprised. ‘You here again? Weren’t you here earlier?’
‘Yes I was. But I had to come and tell you. I found the quarry!’
‘About time too. And how did that come about?’
‘I had to reunite a calf with its mother. The calf had gone through the hedge and Flora couldn’t follow. I had to go through the hedge myself because I couldn’t remember where the gate was.’
‘You still don’t know the farm very well, do you?’
‘I’m learning, Amy!’ Fran laughed gently, beginning to accept that nothing she ever did for Amy would produce praise.
‘But didn’t Roy tell me you were afraid of cows?’ Amy went on, frowning a little, as if doubting her memory.
‘He might have done, and I do admit I find them a bit unnerving. They’re so big. But I did my duty by this one, I’m pleased to say. I couldn’t find Tig.’
‘Well done, dear,’ said Amy, to Fran’s huge surprise. ‘Now just sit with me for a bit.’
This was also a surprise. Amy never seemed to want visitors to stay long. But Fran was more than happy to sit in the comfy chair, next to the bed, especially as Amy was in the mood to reminisce.
‘Ithink my proudest day was when we won Best in Show, just before the war,’ she said. ‘Me and my husband had worked so hard to get this bull trained for the ring, and he looked so smart. He was strong, but not too strong for my husband. Proud as punch, he was.’
‘Did your husband have to go away in the war, or did he stay and work the land?’ Fran asked, delighted to have an opportunity to ask all these things that Amy hadn’t talked about before.
‘No, farming was a protected occupation. It was our duty to feed the country. Mind’ – Amy’s accent was becoming more rural now; usually her voice mostly lacked a country burr – ‘we were lucky. We thought we’d have to plough our fields to grow cabbages and the like. In fact’ – she lowered her voice although Fran was the only other person in the room – ‘we always blamed that Gilbert Arlingham for sending the Min of Ag to inspect the land. He worked for them, you see? It was his duty to go round telling people what they should plant.’ Amy was obviously outraged by this, even now.
‘Goodness!’
‘But when the man did come round he said the fields were too steep to plough. Well, we could have saved him the visit. Those fields have never been ploughed, which is why we have all the wild flowers on them.’
‘Which is why the milk and cheese is so delicious,’ said Fran.
‘Exactly.But Gilbert needn’t have mentioned us to the Min of Ag. He could have just left us alone. Supposing we had had to plough our fields?’
‘It would have been a dreadful shame.’
Amy reached for Fran’s hand and they sat in silence for a bit. Fran felt her little hand in hers, thinking of all the hard work it had done over the years. Amy had battled through the winter cold and the summer sun, every day, for all of her adult life.
Fran felt humbled and immensely grateful to have been given a glimpse of what she now understood was a noble and very valuable life. Fran suddenly realised she was crying.
As if sensing her tears, although her eyes were shut, Amy gave Fran’s hand a little squeeze. ‘I’ve had such a happy life.’
A little while later, Fran realised that Amy had gone to sleep. She kissed her forehead and tiptoed out of the room.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Fran set off for home feeling uplifted and, on impulse, stopped at the off-licence and bought a bottle of chilled Prosecco and some fancy olives. It had seemed a bit crazy to go back to see Amy for the second time in the day but it had produced a lovely chat and a real point of connection. She felt their relationship had made progress. That was something worth celebrating. And of course she’d found the quarry and rescued a cow. She was on a roll!
