Part 5 (2/2)

Anya frowned. 'You can't go shopping in Ravensmere -we never do. Daddy always takes Mrs Harris into Penrith, and she goes to the supermarket there.'

'Well, for once it won't matter,' Joanna retorted blandly.

'Hurry up, bring those plates here. I want to get down to the village and back again before your father gets home.'

Anya looked as though she was going to argue and then thought better of it, shrugging her thin shoulders as she carried the crockery to the sink. If only she could get through to her, thought Joanna hopefully. How much simpler her task would be!

Matt returned with the plucked chicken as she was putting the clean dishes away, and Joanna smiled at him gratefully as he put the bird on the table. 'It really was kind of you,' she murmured, wis.h.i.+ng there was some way that she could repay him, but he only winked at her before turning his attention to the child.

'And don't you go giving Miss Seton a lot of bother, young 'un,' he declared, taking her pointed chin in his gnarled hand and tipping her face up to his. 'About time someone took you in hand, it is, and I'm putting my money on Miss Seton to be the one to do it.'

'Oh, are you?'

Anya jerked her chin away, her mouth a.s.suming a rebellious curve, and Joanna couldn't help wis.h.i.+ng he had not made such a statement.

It was tantamount to provocation, and Anya was not likely to let it go unchallenged.

'What time did Jake say he'd be back, Miss Seton?' Matt continued, now turning to Joanna, and with one eye on Anya, she shrugged her slim shoulders.

'He didn't. But he was taking Mrs Harris to her sister's in Lancaster, so perhaps you'd know how long that would take.'

Matt tugged thoughtfully at his chin. 'Left about eleven o'clock, you said, didn't you? Should be there soon after one. I reckon he might be back before four.' He frowned. 'Seems like we might as well leave those ditches till tomorrow.'

Joanna hesitated. 'You mean-you and Mr Sheldon were going to- work on these ditches together?'

'That's what I said.'

Joanna nodded, uneasily remembering what had happened the day before. What would Jake have said in these circ.u.mstances?

Was Matt's weakness for the bottle likely to rear its ugly head again in his employer's absence?

Taking an impulsive decision, she said: 'The-er-the garden out back seems a bit neglected. If you've got nothing else to do, Mr Coulston, perhaps you could start digging it over. I'm nor absolutely sure about these things, but isn't it possible to sow crops now that will provide early vegetables in the spring?'

Anya's indignant expression changed to one of malicious antic.i.p.ation at Joanna's suggestion. 'Yes, why don't you dig the garden over, Matt?' she taunted impudently. 'Miss Seton's very good at finding jobs for everybody but herself.'

'That's not true, Anya!'

Joanna spoke defensively, and then quickly turned her irritation to a smile as she encountered Matt's puzzled features.

The last thing she wanted to do was antagonise the one person who had shown her a little understanding since she came here, and she hoped her hasty words had not jeopardised their friends.h.i.+p.

'I only thought ...' she began awkwardly, and then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his eyes were twinkling.

'I fancy Jake's been telling you about those attacks I have from time to time, Miss Seton,' he said, scratching his head through the thinning threads of his hair. 'Seems like you're worried that the devil himself will take charge of these idle hands.'

'Mr Coulston, honestly -'

'The name's Matt, and don't you forget it. And if you want the kitchen garden digging over, then I'll be happy to do it for you.'

He waggled a finger at Anya as he spoke. 'And don't you go trying to get me and Miss Seton at odds with one another, just because you don't want to learn how to behave yourself.'

Anya's lips compressed into a mutinous line. 'I know how to behave myself,' she declared hotly. 'And you're a fine one to talk about behaviour! I know where you were last night.'

'Anya!'

Joanna was horrified, but Matt only held up his hand. 'She doesn't mean any harm,' he said, his eyes on the girl's flushed face. 'She's like a hare, trapped in the woods. Try as it might, it can't get free, and when someone happens along and tries to release it, it claws and scratches and bites without realising someone's trying to help it.'

'Don't tell me your tales, Matt Coulston,' Anya retorted with a grimace. 'I don't need any help, if that's what you're trying to say.

I know everything I need to know to live here, and that's all that matters.'

'And what happens when your daddy goes back to London?'

enquired Matt patiently. 'Do you think he wants his daughter behaving like a little savage?'

'Daddy's not going back to London,' declared Anya, but there was a note of anxiety in her tones that she could not quite disguise. 'He- he wouldn't be happy there. He said so. And in any case, it's nothing to do with you, so there!'

She threw herself out of the room without another word, and Joanna breathed a sigh of resignation. Anya would probably disappear again now, and her hopes of finding a short cut to the village seemed doomed to failure.

Then a thought suddenly struck her. 'Mr Coulston- Matt!'

He halted in the process of going out the door. 'Yes?'

'Could I walk to the village from here? I mean, without going round by the road? It must be about three miles that way. I wondered if there was a short cut.'

Matt frowned, and looked as if he was about to ask why she wanted to go to Ravensmere. Then he seemed to think better of it, and shrugging his slightly-stooped shoulders, he said: 'You can walk down to the stream and follow the path that takes you to Piper's Bridge, but I wouldn't advise it. With all this rain we've been having, the path's flooded in places, and you could find your feet sliding into the water.'

'Oh, dear!' Joanna grimaced.

'There is the other way,' he added doubtfully. 'Young Anya could show it to you. It's a bit more complicated to describe, you see. It means going round through the copse, over Trevor's field, and down into the village by the lane from the farm.'

Joanna's face brightened. 'That sounds more interesting. I'm sure I Could find it, Matt, if you just told me exactly how to reach this farm track.'

It was a little complicated, remembering the path she had to take through the wood, and which field skirted the farm buildings, but when she left the kitchen to go up to her room to get ready she felt reasonably confident of her route. She washed her face and hands, applied a little more makeup, and then surveyed the room with some misgivings. Perhaps now that Mrs Harris was gone she could persuade Jake to spend some money on redecoration, although it was possible that he might not be able to afford such luxuries.

Coming down the stairs again, b.u.t.toning the sheepskin jacket she had worn that morning, she was surprised to find Anya waiting for her in the hall. The girl had brushed her hair and put on a clean anorak over her sweater and jeans, and Joanna couldn't believe that this improvement was going to last.

'Where are you going?' she asked, checking her handbag to make sure she had everything she needed, and Anya a.s.sumed an indignant expression.

'You said you wanted to go to the village,' she replied, pus.h.i.+ng her hands into the pockets of her anorak. 'I'm here to show you the way.'

'Oh!' Joanna tried not to look as astonished as she felt. After the scene in the kitchen, the last thing she had expected was that Anya should remember what she had told her, and she wondered if their apparent truce was going to last.

'You do want to go to the village, don't you?' Anya persisted, and Joanna had to admit that she did. 'Then let's go,' suggested the girl impatiently, and with a helpless shrug Joanna agreed.

Outside, the day was quite warm, considering the time of the year, and Joanna breathed deeply, feeling quite exhilarated at her unexpected success. Still, the sharpness of the air reminded her of Anya's refuge the night before, and testing the strength of her amicability, she said: 'Weren't you cold in that hut last night? I mean, it didn't look particularly well insulated, and it was quite far up the mountain.'

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