‘Third?’
‘You knocked out the other two during our first fight.’
‘And you have blinded me in one eye.’
Abel looked away and busied himself by rummaging in his bag, which had been rolled up as if to form a makeshift pillow. He placed his bottle inside it and looked up to find Drake watching him.
‘Are you sleeping here?’ asked Drake.
‘I couldn’t pay the rent after losing my job. Been here for several days now . . . as well as other places. The vicar’s not noticed yet. My life has taken a different turn to yours. You have always had it easy. A home, a mother, an apprenticeship, girls . . .’
‘Is that why you attacked me? Jealousy?’
‘I was drunk.’
Drake’s steady gaze encouraged him to go on.
Abel shrugged. ‘I’d just spent the week sleeping in the wood on the outskirts of the estate. Then you turned up in your hired trap and your fancy clothes.’ Abel fell silent, preferring to show a keen interest in his own nails.
‘Go on,’ prompted Drake.
Abel moved in his seat, the discomfort of confessing clearly etched on his face. ‘I remember hitting you from behind and then I kicked and beat you. I feared that I had killed you and panicked. I knew I had to get rid of your body so I loaded you on the trap and drove a mile or two. Can’t recall how far.’ He frowned. ‘I can’t even remember carrying you to the edge or what I did with the horse and trap. I remember seeing you rolling down the bank.’
‘Someone found the horse and trap.’
‘That’s good. It wasn’t me, was it?’ asked Abel.
Abel reminded Drake of a confused child. If he hadn’t nearly died from his attack, his question would have amused him.
Drake shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ he said, testing his hand by flexing and stretching his fingers.
‘I went too far. I admit it. It’s not your fault you had everything I wanted.’ Drake remained silent and continued to examine his hand. Abel saw it as a sign to explain further. ‘The orphanage took the other bothy lads in as babies. They never knew their mother and father. I knew my mother but she abandoned me when I was four.’ Drake looked up in surprise. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear about Abel’s troubled childhood. ‘I still remember it. She pretended she found me wandering the streets as she was afraid they would not take me in.’
Now it was Drake’s turn to speak. What should he say? He could only imagine how rejected Abel must have felt as a child. He hoped his mother had not given him up lightly.
‘She could not look after you?’ he asked.
‘She could, she just didn’t want me any more.’
Outwardly, Drake remained impassive, because he felt that was what Abel needed. He would not welcome platitudes. He just wanted someone to listen, but inwardly, Drake felt Abel’s pain and saw it in his eyes.
‘I know she didn’t want me. She told me often enough. It’s a hard thing to hear.’ Abel tapped his own temple. ‘It never leaves you. I could never understand why you would leave your home to live in the bothy. You had everything I wanted. I hated you.’
Drake felt there must be more to Abel’s ongoing hatred of him, but felt it was not the time to press further. Best change the subject to something else.
‘You said I had girls. What girls?’ he asked
‘I saw Miss Evelyn singling you out on more than one occasion.’
Drake waited for him to reveal more. Had he seen them becoming close in the country parkland when they were teenagers? ‘And then there was Tilly,’ continued Abel, unaware of Drake’s watchful gaze. ‘I had a soft spot for Tilly, but she only had eyes for you. After you stopped working at Carrack Estate, I thought I would finally have a chance with her. I was wrong. She didn’t want to know. On the night I beat you I was sleeping in Carrack’s laundry room. Tilly came in. It had been six years since you left and she was still crying over you . . . I felt so . . . so . . . angry. I had been around for years, but you turn up and Tilly realises she is still in love with you. I hated you.’ He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.
So Tilly was the reason his hatred had lasted so long, thought Drake. ‘I wish you had told me. I had no interest in Tilly and I would have told you so.’
‘I wasn’t going to tell you that the girl I was sweet on was sweet on you. How would that make me look?’
‘You are telling me now.’
‘It makes no difference now. I’ve recently found out that she’s goin’ to wed the baker’s son. I’d no idea they were courting. Too much drink does that to you. It takes you away from the real world.’ Abel jerked his head towards Drake’s face. ‘Does your eye hurt?’
