‘Of course,’ Bobby said. ‘If we walk there then I can show Lilian some of the countryside on the way.’
‘Charlie will be around to look after you once you arrive. He’s on his way already with the bairns. They were very excited to ride there with him in the trap.’
‘Our dad’s going too. Tell Reg not to worry and look after his leg.’
‘Just a moment.’ Mary took a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her apron. ‘He told me to give you this note. Instructions on what to do when you get there, I think.’
Bobby opened it and read the terse, Reg-like information scribbled in his handwriting.
Get prices fetched by championship beasts in sale ring and names of breeders. Minimum three quotes from winners. Reporters’ tent if you need a rest.
She smiled as she tucked it away. ‘Thanks, Mary. Tell him it’ll be attended to.’
They started walking up the rough track into the village. Lilian grimaced as she stepped in a present that had been left for them by a passing sheep.
‘Why is everyone so concerned about us having a man to look after us at this thing?’ she asked Bobby as she wiped her shoe on a patch of grass. ‘Are farming shows really as debauched as all that?’
‘I’ve never been to one before, but I’m sure it’s just Reg making a fuss. He’s always worrying I’m going to get into trouble if he sends me out on a story.’ She put on Reg’s gruff tones and thick Dales accent. ‘“This is man’s country, lass. No place for a slip of a city girl. Hrumph, hrumph, hrumph.”’
Lilian laughed. ‘Well, then today’s your chance to prove to him you’ve got what it takes to do a man’s job, isn’t it?’
‘Obviously I’m sorry his leg’s bad but it does work out rather well for me,’ Bobby said. ‘If I can stand my ground long enough to get him a good report, he’s bound to be impressed.’
They started crossing the old packhorse bridge. Lilian stopped halfway to look out over the beck. The banks were covered in glorious wild flowers as far as the eye could see: daisies, buttercups, clover and forget-me-nots creating a riot of colour. She breathed their fragrance deeply.
‘I can’t deny it’s a bonny place,’ she said. ‘Still, I’m sure I’d be bored to death here in a week. Only one cinema and you have to ride there in a trap! How do you live, Bobby?’
Bobby shrugged. ‘I’m not like you. Dancing and films are fun now and again, but I rather like a quiet life. Mind you, there’s a lot more going on behind the closed doors of Silverdale than you might guess from looking.’
‘Such as?’ Lilian asked as they started walking again.
‘Oh, there are all sorts of delicious scandals to keep our housewives gossiping,’ Bobby said, smiling. ‘Mabs Jessop was seen walking out with Timmy Doyle last week, although everyone knows that he and Laura Bailey were as good as engaged. And then there was the incident of the prize tup Laura’s father hired last autumn, when their neighbour Tot Hector was caught smuggling it out to service his yows on the sly. The families have been at war ever since, and Mrs Hector positively snubbed Mrs Bailey at the WI bazaar in the church hall last week.’
Lilian laughed. ‘I only understood about half of those words, Bobby.’
‘You soon learn to speak sheep farmer when you live here. Anyhow, there’s been plenty going on since the warmer weather came, what with the evacuees arriving and all the walkers and campers coming from the towns for their holidays. Not to mention the airmen’s hospital that’s going to be opening soon at Sumner House. There’s an RAF training school ten miles away too – we sometimes see the cadets in their uniforms at the dance hall in Settle. I suppose it doesn’t seem much to you with your exciting war work and all, but things aren’t so sleepy here as you might have imagined.’
‘So it seems,’ Lilian said, but Bobby sensed she was just trying to be polite. Lil had made her mind up that the countryside was sleepy and dull, and nothing her sister could say was going to convince her otherwise. Bobby tried not to feel too disappointed at her twin’s lack of enthusiasm for her new home as she pointed out the main path through the village.
‘We’ll go this way,’ she said. ‘Then I can give you a tour of Silverdale itself.’
They wandered through the village, Bobby pointing out the church and the chapel, where people were spilling out after the morning services; the Golden Hart; the village green; the wishing well where she’d first caught sight of Charlie. If she was hoping to see her sister go into sudden raptures about the place, however, then Bobby was destined to be again disappointed. Lilian looked interested in a detached way to see the place that was her father and sister’s new home, but for all that she admitted it was a pretty, charming little village, she didn’t seem particularly excited about it. And yet Bobby had seen her practically swoon over a sweet little hat she coveted, or the latest silver-screen romance being reported in the fan magazines she liked to read. Only the peak of Great Bowside in the distance sparked a little interest when Bobby pointed it out.
‘I’ve never seen a hill so big,’ Lilian breathed, her awed gaze drifting to the summit.
‘Technically it’s a mountain, not a hill. Impressive, isn’t it?’
‘Very.’
‘The source of our beck is all the way up there,’ Bobby told her eagerly, pleased to have found something that could impress her. ‘After heavy rain, it comes thundering down like a waterfall – we can even hear it at Cow House Cottage, although luckily we’re far enough away not to have to worry about flooding. It’s one of my favourite places to walk.’
Lilian stared at her. ‘You’ve climbed an actualmountain?’
Bobby laughed. ‘Is it so hard to believe? I’ve really developed a taste for exploring the fells. There’s a tiredness and hunger that comes from a day out walking, breathing the mountain air… I don’t quite know how to describe it but there’s nothing like it. The meal you have when you come back down tastes like the best, most satisfying meal you’ve ever eaten, even if it’s nothing but bread and cheese, and though your body’s a mass of aches and pains afterwards, the sleep you have that night is the most restful you’ll ever experience.’
‘I wouldn’t like to climb the thing but it’s very nice to look at,’ Lilian said as her gaze rose again to the peak. ‘Have you really been all the way to the top?’
‘No,’ Bobby admitted. ‘I’ve only been as far as the little shepherd’s hut two-thirds of the way up. But Charlie’s promised to take me right to the summit now the days are long enough – I mean, before he goes off to training. He says there’s nothing like the view from the top, especially at sunset.’
