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Authors: Helen Watts
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particularly if it could place you in even deeper financial difficulties, then you have to start putting some insurance policies into placeâand fast.â
âWhat do you mean?â Barry asked.
âProtect your investments where you can. Tell the chairman of the railway company that we will both withdraw our support if the branch line is not open within the next twelve months. And by that I mean financial support, of course. Look out the time clause in the contract and threaten to use it. And make sure you tell that quarry owner that he wonât get a penny more until you have every last piece of stone that you need from his quarry.â
Barryâs thoughts went back to that morning, all those years ago, when he had taken breakfast in Richard Greensladeâs dining room. Greenslade was a good, honest man. Barry liked him, and he was aware that Greenslade had almost as much at stake in this whole railway line affair as he did. But Throckmorton was right. Barry had to protect himself, for Sarah and the childrenâs sake, if nothing else. Yes. He would have to start making some ultimatums.
Chapter 11 â August 2012
D uring the days that followed Kellyâs Sunday morning encounter with Ben, she returned to the railway bridge several times on her walks with Tyson, hoping that she might bump into her new friend again. But so far there was no sign of him. She had walked along the canal in the other direction too, to see if she could work out the route he had taken back to his cottage. She remembered him saying that it was on Stone Pit Farm, on the other side of the village, but she wasnât sure where that particular farmâs land started and finished, so she didnât really know where to begin looking.
By Friday, she had pretty much given up, and decided that it was about time she took Tyson somewhere he could have a good long run off the lead. She took the footpath that led south from the caravan site and crossed first over the railway, then over the canal, by way of a narrow old stone bridge, before winding its way through some woods and out onto open farmland.
There were no sheep or cattle out in the fields that day so she let Tyson off the lead and ambled along happily, while he ran in mad circles through the long grass. Every few seconds Tysonâs head would pop up above the level of the grass as he jumped up like a kangaroo to check where Kelly was.
It was a lovely warm sunny day. Kelly took off the denim shirt that she had on over her strappy T-shirt and tied it round her waist, as she and Tyson followed the footpath up the hill and along the edge of a wheat field. It wouldnât be long before the farmer would be out there harvesting. The wheat had already turned an even, pale gold colour, and Kelly could hear it popping and crackling in the heat.
In the corner of the field the path ran along the side of an overgrown copse, roughly fenced off with two strings of barbed wire suspended between wooden posts. Then it turned sharply on a ninety degree angle to follow the trees up towards a small gate into a meadow. It looked as though the ground inside the copse fell sharply downwards, forming a deep bowl in the earth, like a crater. As Kelly walked, she peered between the gaps in the vegetation, trying to make out what was on the other side of the fence line.
Just after she had passed through the gate into the meadow, she spotted a bigger gap in the bushes. A fence post had come loose in the ground and was leaning at an awkward angle, while the wire fence was bent down, as if someone had climbed over it. She glanced behind to check on Tyson and saw him happily sniffing around in the meadow. He had picked up a badger trail and was following it, nose to the ground like a bloodhound.
Kelly ducked under a low branch and stepped right up to the wire. She peered through the trees and bushes, trying to get a better view down into the crater. Suddenly, she flinched. There was
âWhat do you mean?â Barry asked.
âProtect your investments where you can. Tell the chairman of the railway company that we will both withdraw our support if the branch line is not open within the next twelve months. And by that I mean financial support, of course. Look out the time clause in the contract and threaten to use it. And make sure you tell that quarry owner that he wonât get a penny more until you have every last piece of stone that you need from his quarry.â
Barryâs thoughts went back to that morning, all those years ago, when he had taken breakfast in Richard Greensladeâs dining room. Greenslade was a good, honest man. Barry liked him, and he was aware that Greenslade had almost as much at stake in this whole railway line affair as he did. But Throckmorton was right. Barry had to protect himself, for Sarah and the childrenâs sake, if nothing else. Yes. He would have to start making some ultimatums.
Chapter 11 â August 2012
D uring the days that followed Kellyâs Sunday morning encounter with Ben, she returned to the railway bridge several times on her walks with Tyson, hoping that she might bump into her new friend again. But so far there was no sign of him. She had walked along the canal in the other direction too, to see if she could work out the route he had taken back to his cottage. She remembered him saying that it was on Stone Pit Farm, on the other side of the village, but she wasnât sure where that particular farmâs land started and finished, so she didnât really know where to begin looking.
By Friday, she had pretty much given up, and decided that it was about time she took Tyson somewhere he could have a good long run off the lead. She took the footpath that led south from the caravan site and crossed first over the railway, then over the canal, by way of a narrow old stone bridge, before winding its way through some woods and out onto open farmland.
There were no sheep or cattle out in the fields that day so she let Tyson off the lead and ambled along happily, while he ran in mad circles through the long grass. Every few seconds Tysonâs head would pop up above the level of the grass as he jumped up like a kangaroo to check where Kelly was.
It was a lovely warm sunny day. Kelly took off the denim shirt that she had on over her strappy T-shirt and tied it round her waist, as she and Tyson followed the footpath up the hill and along the edge of a wheat field. It wouldnât be long before the farmer would be out there harvesting. The wheat had already turned an even, pale gold colour, and Kelly could hear it popping and crackling in the heat.
In the corner of the field the path ran along the side of an overgrown copse, roughly fenced off with two strings of barbed wire suspended between wooden posts. Then it turned sharply on a ninety degree angle to follow the trees up towards a small gate into a meadow. It looked as though the ground inside the copse fell sharply downwards, forming a deep bowl in the earth, like a crater. As Kelly walked, she peered between the gaps in the vegetation, trying to make out what was on the other side of the fence line.
Just after she had passed through the gate into the meadow, she spotted a bigger gap in the bushes. A fence post had come loose in the ground and was leaning at an awkward angle, while the wire fence was bent down, as if someone had climbed over it. She glanced behind to check on Tyson and saw him happily sniffing around in the meadow. He had picked up a badger trail and was following it, nose to the ground like a bloodhound.
Kelly ducked under a low branch and stepped right up to the wire. She peered through the trees and bushes, trying to get a better view down into the crater. Suddenly, she flinched. There was
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