The Forgotten Cottage (11 page)

‘That looks a fine pie, Joss; did you make it yourself?’

The boys giggled and Joss smiled.

‘I cannot lie to you, Betsy; no, I didn’t. I just put it into the oven. My mother makes a batch of them and sends them down so we don’t starve ourselves.’

‘Well, your mother is a very good cook then and also very kind; did you tell her I was coming for tea?’

‘I did and she thought it was a very good idea, didn’t she, boys?’

They both nodded in unison as they waited eagerly for Joss to dish the pie out. He stood up and filled four plates with pie and vegetables, passing Betsy hers first, then his sons and finally he sat down himself. The boys put their hands together, ready to say grace, and Betsy followed suit as Joss said a prayer of thanks to the good Lord. Then they began to eat. They talked about the weather, the crop of apples that were ripening on the trees out the back and lots of other things. When they had finished, Joss sent the boys upstairs to play before they had to go to bed and they ran off, glad to be on their own. Betsy helped him to clear the table and then she began to fill the sink with water from the kettle which had boiled on the stove. Joss told her to leave it; he would see to the dishes when she had left, but she pushed him away.

‘It’s the least I can do, Joss, please let me.’

He nodded and stepped back from her, sitting at the table to watch her. When she had finished drying the pots she wiped her hands and walked across to him.

‘You have a beautiful home, Joss, and a lovely family. I used to dream about living in a house like this when I was a child—a home filled with love and laughter. My mother was always in bad health from the day I was born and I spent most of my childhood looking after her and cooking and cleaning. This is a terrible thing to say, but I felt relieved when she died, as if I was free to finally have a life of my own.’

She bowed her head and lifted a finger to wipe away a tear which wasn’t there. Joss stood up and pulled her close to him. She lifted her face to stare up at him and he bent down and kissed her. It was Betsy who pulled away, not wanting him to think her too forward, but inside she was gloating.

‘I know this is probably far too soon, but how would you like to live here with us, Betsy? I don’t mean as my wife…well, not yet, unless you wanted to, but more like a live-in helper. You could help to look after the boys, which would make it a lot easier for my mother, who isn’t getting any younger, and if you wanted to help with the cooking and cleaning that would be up to you, but I would very much like it if you said yes. We could see how it goes and then, when you are ready, if you wanted to be more than a helper then I would be more than happy to marry you, Betsy Baker.’

‘Oh, Joss, I don’t know what to say.’

‘Say yes, please. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for weeks. I want you so much that it hurts.’

She smiled and lifted her lips to kiss him, then pulled away. ‘Yes, I would love to live here with you and look after you all. But I want to be more than some housemaid, Joss; I want you just as much.’

Loud shouting from upstairs and thudding broke the moment and Joss pulled away from her, running towards the stairs.

‘Boys, stop it now; if you can’t play nice then you can go to bed. I’ll be up in five minutes and I want you tucked up under your covers.’

Betsy wanted to go up and smack the little bastards for spoiling the moment; she would soon change them once she moved in. There was no way they would get in the way of what she wanted and that was Joss; she didn’t care one bit about the brats—she only wanted their father and his house.

Joss came back to her. ‘I’m sorry, Betsy. I’m so pleased that you want to move in. When should I bring the horse and cart to collect you?’

‘Tomorrow would be fine. I have very little to move. There is nothing in that house except for my clothes and books that I would want to keep. You have everything in here that I could ever need.’

‘That is grand that you want to move in so soon. I will come and fetch you tomorrow afternoon. Would you like to come upstairs and pick a room to sleep in now and then I can get it cleaned out and ready for you?’

‘Joss, I would sleep anywhere as long as you are close by. Is there a room next to you so the boys will not notice me slipping in and out of your room when they go to bed?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, come on. I’ll show you the one that the boys are in now. I can move them further down the corridor to give us some privacy if you like.’

Yes, she liked that idea very much indeed, and it would show them she was to be in charge if they had to leave their room and give it to her. Things were happening very fast but that was fine by her. The sooner she left that dingy hovel she called her home the better.

Chapter Nine

The door opened and Will didn’t know if he wanted to hear what the doctor was going to tell him. The woman smiled at them—Jake and Alex were standing next to each other behind him.

‘Mr Ashworth?’

Will stepped forward and nodded.

‘I’m pleased to tell you that we’ve managed to stabilise Annie. She has a punctured lung and is being prepped for surgery. The bad news is she is in a coma due to the head trauma. I see from her previous X-rays that she’s already sustained quite serious injuries to that part of her brain. Her signs are all good, though, and once we’ve sorted out the lung she’ll be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, where they’ll take good care of her until she decides to come back to us.’

‘Oh, thank God for that—thank you. Do you have any idea how long she could be in a coma?’

‘I’m afraid I have no idea. That will be down to how fast her injuries take to mend and how strong she is. Would you like to come and see her before we take her down to Theatre?’

His eyes moist with tears, he nodded and followed her as she turned and led him through the curtains into the resuscitation room to where Annie was wired up to so many monitors and tubes he hardly recognised her.

‘It’s just until she’s breathing properly on her own; my colleagues inform me that Annie is a bit of a legend here in the department and they all think she’ll make a full recovery.’

He looked at the doctor and nodded. ‘Yes, I suppose she must be.’

Then he stepped forward until he was close enough to bend down and kiss her cheek. ‘Oh, Annie, I love you so much. Please get better soon.’

Tears fell onto her cheek and he reached out to wipe them away. He straightened up.

‘Can I stay with her until they take her down, please?’

The doctor nodded and walked away. Will picked up Annie’s hand and held it, stroking his finger along her thumb. He’d heard countless times about how someone in a coma could hear what was going on around them and that you should talk to them, so he began to tell her all about his not so exciting day at work and anything else that entered his mind until the nurses and the porters arrived to wheel her down to surgery. He kissed her once more then watched as they wheeled her away.

A young student nurse came over to him. ‘Are you okay? Would you like to go back to the relatives’ room or you can come and sit on a chair near to Theatre if you like. It’s a bit busy in there though so you might want to stay up here.’

‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to be as near as possible. Can I just tell my friends they should go and I’ll ring them if there’s any news?’

‘Of course you can. I’ll wait in reception for you and then I’ll take you down.’

Will walked back to where an anxious Jake was pacing up and down.

‘She’s gone to surgery then she’ll be going into Intensive Care so you might as well go home and I’ll ring you once she’s out.’

Jake looked at Alex, who shook his head, and for once Jake didn’t argue.

‘Are you okay on your own? I can stop if you want me to.’

‘No, there’s not much point, but thanks, anyway. They’ll only let me in to see her tonight. You’ll be able to come see her tomorrow and I don’t mind being on my own. In fact I’d rather be on my own.’

Alex reached out and squeezed Will’s arm. ‘We understand and you’ll let us know if there’s any news?’

‘I’ll ring you as soon as there is. Thanks, guys, I appreciate it.’

Jake stepped forward and hugged Will. ‘She’ll be okay; she’s used to being battered and abused so this is just a glitch. She’ll be back to normal in a few days, looking for the next disaster to walk into.’

Alex looked at Jake in shock; he never failed to say the wrong thing. He grabbed Jake’s arm and led him to the door, pushing him out.

‘If you need anything at all, Will, give us a ring. One of us can be here in less than five minutes.’

He shoved Jake out into the corridor before he could say anything else. Will smiled to himself. Jake was right; Annie had been battered and abused by her husband, Mike, but she’d come through it and escaped him. She’d beaten a serial killer in a fight for her life and saved them both, so this should be like a walk in the park for her. He just hoped she had the strength to fight back this time because he didn’t want to imagine a life without her.

He watched Jake and Alex for a minute; they were standing outside Alex’s car having a domestic. No doubt Alex had been mortified at what Jake had just said, but that was Jake. They both got into the car and he heard the doors slam through the double glazing unit.

He turned and walked out into the reception area and the waiting nurse, who smiled at him. She led him down to the theatres, where there were some chairs partially hidden behind a screen; he thanked her and sat down. He thought about ringing his dad and Lily but they had enough to contend with and he didn’t want to make his dad come down here when he wasn’t in the best of health and Lily would insist on coming. So he didn’t bother; he would wait until tomorrow before phoning them and then they could decide whether to leave Tom at home with Amelia while Lily came. Will had thought a lot about why he had taken a dislike to Amelia when he didn’t even know her and he’d never seen her before in his life. But it was the fact that she seemed so at home in his dad’s house and she gave the impression that she knew him and didn’t really like him. Which he thought was odd, but at least she wasn’t a permanent fixture; Lily had made sure that it was agreed Amelia’s position was only a temporary one.

***

Tom had stayed in bed all day, his stomach churning and his appetite non-existent. Lily had come back and fussed around him, wanting to call the doctor out. What was he going to say? He wasn’t well because he’d just found out he’d fathered a daughter he knew nothing about and hadn’t provided even a pair of shoes for her since she’d been born? Tom wasn’t like that; it wasn’t in his nature. If he’d known, he would have made sure she was taken care of from the day she was born. It wasn’t fair that he’d never been given the chance and, if it was true, he could understand why she would be angry with him. He didn’t know what to do; he was embarrassed that he had never stepped up to the mark. He didn’t want Will or Lily to think he was a disgrace and he didn’t know how to even contact whoever had sent the card; of course it could be a total hoax from some jealous person—but why now?

He shut the laptop. The only link he’d found when he’d searched the Internet had been the death notice for Emma Jackson, who had died last year in a hospice near to Blackpool. It had said ‘dearest mum to Amy’ so she did indeed have a daughter. He’d then tried searching for Amy Jackson but there were hundreds of them so he gave up. His head was hurting and he felt sick to the very bottom of his feet.

Lily came back in to check on him, feeling his forehead with the back of her cool hand.

‘Lily, for the love of God, I’m fine. I just feel a bit run down; I just need to sleep. Will you please stop fussing?’

‘If you’re not any better by tomorrow I’m ringing the doctor, Tom, I’m not taking any chances with you. I’ll leave you be and sleep across the hall tonight; if you want me just shout. I hope you feel better soon.’

She went out of the room, softly closing the door behind her, and he felt even worse. He’d never lied to her since the day they had met; he didn’t lie to anyone. He turned on his side and shut his eyes, hoping that he’d wake up and this would all be a bad dream.

1782

Betsy had settled into Joss’s home as if she was meant to be there. The boys were a bit of a handful but she had locked them in the bedroom one day whilst Joss was out at work and neither fed nor watered them. After six hours they had begged her for a drink and promised her they would no longer be bad for her. That was a week ago and it seemed to be working, although they were keeping away from her full stop. She had expected them to go running to Joss but they had not said anything to him because she knew that if they had he would have taken the belt to them for not doing as Betsy had told them in the first place. Joss was such a gentle father unless the boys needed disciplining but she respected that and enjoyed it. A couple of times she had told him little white lies about his boys so Joss had sent them to bed, banishing them to their room, so it gave her some time alone with him.

She liked cooking and cleaning. It was such a pleasure in the large bright room that was his kitchen, which was nothing like the squalid corner of her mother’s house. Most of all she liked to potter around in the garden. Joss had built her some raised beds to plant some herbs and vegetables in and she liked nothing more than digging in the soil and planting seeds, weeding and watering them. There was something so satisfying about the feel of the earth underneath her fingers. She also enjoyed picking the fruit from the trees out the back of the house in the orchard. Joss’s mother had spent a morning with her, showing her how to make jams and chutneys to store in the larder. Betsy would not say that she liked the woman much but she had been kind to her and still took the boys to the farmhouse to sleep every weekend, giving her and Joss some time on their own.

The only problem was that Betsy wanted Joss to herself all the time and she didn’t want to share him with his horrible boys or his parents. She wanted it to be just the two of them in this big house but she knew he loved his boys a lot more than he loved her. She had made a point of studying him carefully at first whenever they walked into the room and his face lit up. He would play fight with them and tell them such stories even she enjoyed to listen to them because she loved the sound of his voice.