Two Strangers by Beryl Matthews

Author:Beryl Matthews
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780106007
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2014-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

‘Oh,’ Harry gasped when he stood in front of the large house. ‘This would be perfect for the school.’

‘You haven’t seen inside yet. It has been neglected and will take work to make it suitable. You tell me what you need and I’ll instruct the workmen to start straight away. I’ll be pleased to see the place in good repair again and being put to such splendid use.’

‘Could we have a bit of land for a sports field?’ Edward asked.

‘How about down to that tree line? Would that be enough?’

‘That’s far too much,’ Harry protested, gazing into the distance at the wooded area. ‘We can’t take the house and so much of your land.’

‘Of course you can. The estate has a hundred acres. Some of it is parkland, and the rest put over to crops and cattle. This section here is not being used for anything.’

Vicki couldn’t believe what she was hearing and began to study the surroundings. The house in front of them was nowhere near as large as the mansion, but it was substantial, and she could see that it would make a perfect school. The land around it was clear and would need very little work to make it into a sports field, with ample room for anything else they wanted to do. The wooded area was in the distance, and over to the right of that she could just see the movement of animals grazing. She was finding it difficult to grasp that one man could own so much space.

There was a muffled sound of a horse approaching, and a man rode up, dismounted and came over to them.

‘This is my estate manager, Jim Baker,’ Charles introduced.

He smiled and shook their hands. ‘Sir Charles has told me what you are planning; it will be good to see the place come to life again.’

‘Can we fence off the area up to the tree line, Jim, and make the stables habitable for ponies?’

‘Yes, sir. I’ve already got men working on the stables. They haven’t been used for a long time and are in a bit of a mess. Do I have your permission to employ men from the village to erect the fence, sir?’

‘Go ahead, but ex-soldiers only, if you can. We must give them employment. Any with injuries can be given whatever tasks they can manage.’

‘Understood, sir.’

‘And see if you can find two men who know about horses. Tell them the jobs will be permanent.’

‘I have just the men in mind. They are both finding it hard to get jobs because of war injuries, but they will be quite capable of the work at the stables. I’ll go and see them at once.’

‘Perfect. I’ll leave everything to you then, Jim. Consult with Harry to see if he needs anything we haven’t thought of so far.’

‘My pleasure, sir.’

As the estate manager walked back to his horse, Vicki noticed that he had a pronounced limp, and her respect for Charles rose even higher. He was clearly wealthy, but there

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