Slaughter House Farm by T. Orr Munro

Author:T. Orr Munro [Munro, T. Orr]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2023-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

31

Ingham Farm lies in the heart of Exmoor, nestled towards the bottom of a gentle grassy slope where the light is brighter and the air sweeter. As I get out of my car, I can hear the stream gently chuckling its way through the valley floor. The low growl of chickens drifts over the stone wall circling the farm, and somewhere deep in one of the barns a lamb bleats in hunger.

Carla’s words about Esme and Lawrence played on my mind long after I left the Stag Inn yesterday. Will’s parents never got over the loss of their daughter, Caroline, and both died quite soon afterwards. If Will beat up Gabe because he blamed him for Caroline’s death, what else was he prepared to do if he thought Gabe was responsible for his parents’ death too?

Jonny Ingham is already at the front door of Greystone cottage; the throaty roar of my ageing red Volvo having already disturbed the peace. Alongside his small flock of sheep, Jonny rears Gloucestershire Old Spots and sells the pork at the local farmers’ market. When I first met him, he only had a few chickens in a shed in his back garden in Bidecombe and he was PC Ingham, North Devon’s police wildlife officer. He was good too, but the call of the land was too great, so he left the job, sold up and moved out here to become a full-time farmer.

‘Hi, Jonny. I see you have a new addition to the farm since I last saw you.’ I smile at the little girl of about three with blonde curls and red wellington boots he’s holding in his arms.

‘This is Daisy.’

‘Hello, Daisy.’

She buries her face in her dad’s shoulder and he gently lowers her onto the ground, making sure she finds her footing before he lets go.

‘Off you go, back inside now. Noodles needs feeding.’ Watching her march purposefully back into the farmhouse kitchen, I feel a pang for the days when Megan did as she was told.

‘Noodles?’

‘A lamb. Rejected by its mother. I thought she’d be a great mum too. She’s even taken on other ewes’ lambs, but when it came to her own, she wasn’t up to it. Just goes to show you never can tell. That’s what I like about farming. Full of surprises.’ He smiles.

‘Doesn’t sound like you’re missing your old job then?’

‘No, I did my time, but this is my first love.’ His eyes flow over the surrounding hills blushing purple with heather. ‘Apart from Jayne and Daisy, of course. But how’s things with you? I heard what happened to your daughter. You’ve been in our prayers.’

‘Thank you, Jonny. I really appreciate that, and Megan is getting better every day.’

‘That’s good to hear. They’re all that matters really, aren’t they? So, what brings you out to these wild and desolate parts?’

‘Do you remember a few years back you asked me to photograph the sheep killed on Gabe Narracott’s land?’

‘How could I forget? The worst case of sheep worrying I’ve ever seen.

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