The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore

Author:Rachel Hore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2023-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

Nineteen

June 1966

‘I have a new plan,’ Rain announced that evening as they all sat round the table after dinner. They had just finished recounting their activities of the day. Belle had mentioned visiting Mrs Kitto but had not revealed the nature of their conversation. Arlo stared at her hard, though, and she wondered what was going through his mind. She ought to rescue Imogen’s box but that would have to be tomorrow now.

‘There are too few of us here,’ Rain went on. ‘We need to grow. Then we can do more. We must spread our ideas.’ Angel, who’d been sitting next to her swinging his legs, yawned, hopped down from his chair and wandered out into the garden, closely followed by Figgy.

‘You mean your ideas,’ Sirius put in with a supercilious smile. ‘I think doing that would turn us into something different. Frankly, I can’t work when there are too many people around.’

‘We agreed, Sirius, did we not,’ Rain said, fixing him with a stately glare, ‘that we would work as a community free from the constrictions and manipulation of capitalist society. To do that successfully there must be more of us and with different skills. And we have to grow more of our own food. Janey can’t do everything on her own, can you, Janey?’

‘What are you suggesting, Rain?’ Janey’s expression was guarded.

Rain, Belle noticed, remained utterly unflustered by the resistance. Arlo looked perturbed, as well he might, the house being his uncle’s. Chouli, playing with her hair, showed no emotion at all, and Gray listened with folded arms and a polite expression.

‘We need people of vision,’ Rain intoned, raising her hands like a Hindu deity and briefly closing her eyes. ‘It has been shown to me.’

Sirius rolled his eyes. ‘What we really need is someone who’ll bring in a bit of cash.’

Rain glared at him again. ‘If we run Silverwood properly we won’t need money. Everyone will share their skills and work hard.’

Janey’s heartfelt ‘Hear hear’ was the only response and Janey, Belle discerned, simply thought that Rain was asking for more help around the house and garden. This was certainly not all that Rain was proposing.

When she asked Gray later what he thought, he only shrugged. ‘It’ll work out,’ he said vaguely. He doesn’t like conflict, Belle realized. Perhaps that was because of his upbringing. It was funny learning about people and how to get on with them. She didn’t like conflict either, but that didn’t stop her feeling annoyed about injustice in the world or overbearing people like Rain.

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