May's Boys by Beryl P. Brown

Author:Beryl P. Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Three Bees Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Her shoulders ached. The dishes were put away, the laundry was fluttering on the line and Spencer was content outside in his pram. He was playing with a saucepan lid and a wooden spoon. The tinny banging was audible through the open door but far away enough for her to ignore it. Time to strip the chicken carcasses for a stew. Cliff would be ravenous when he got home. There were a lot more hens at the farm now and it was hard work caring for them.

‘Auntie May?’

‘Cliff?’ She dashed to the door. Cliff was running up the path, shirt hanging out. ‘Mr Arrowsmith. ’e’s gone to ’ospital. The doctor’s comin’ ter get yer.’

A clammy hand seemed to clutch May’s insides. She must be calm for Cliff.

‘Wait until you can speak.’ He was panting, bent over, hands on knees, gasping for breath. His boots were caked with muck. May dragged a chair over to the door. ‘Sit down and tell me what’s happened.’

‘Mr Arrowsmith was hitchin’ up Blossom and he fell down. Collapsed. Holding ’is chest.’

‘Were you there?’

‘I was emptyin’ the barrer on the muck heap; Sally was with Mr Arrowsmith. She got me to bike to the house up the lane and ask them to phone for the doctor.’ Cliff’s eyes were wide, his face flushed.

‘What about Mr Arrowsmith?’

‘When I got back, he was sat up next to the cart with an old horse blanket round ’im. He looked awful, kind of grey. His cap had come off and he was shakin’.’

She should’ve made him see the doctor weeks ago. ‘He looked ill yesterday, but he insisted on going back to do the animals at teatime,’ she said. I don’t suppose all that cider helped, she thought. ‘What happened when Dr Haskett arrived?’

‘He looked at his chest and used them earphone things. Then the ambulance turned up and they put him on a stretcher and took him away. The bell was ringin’ an’ everything.’

Déjà vu. In a month’s time, it would be the seventh anniversary of Seth being taken from the farm by ambulance. His last ever journey.

‘What did you say about the doctor coming to get me?’ she asked.

‘He’s going to pick you up in a minute and take you to the hospital. I can look after Spence. Sally said to tell you she’ll sort out the hens tonight.’

Worries spread like ink on blotting paper. How seriously ill was Tom? How long would she have to leave Cliff? What if the doctor couldn’t bring her back and she had to get a bus from Dorchester?

She ran upstairs, telling Cliff to get his boots off and keep an eye on the baby. She stepped out of her old patched skirt and flung it on the bed. She pulled on her charcoal costume. It was warm; she wouldn’t need a coat. But what if it rained, or if she was on the bus late in the evening? She left the skirt on and swapped her blouse and jacket for a twinset the colour of ripe apples.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.