Read Online Sons and Daughters by Margaret Dickinson - Free Book Online Page A

Harry’s coffin into the ground. He glanced across at Charlotte, who, white faced, couldn’t help glancing at the place where her mother lay. She’d not attended that burial but the fleeting images of watching the cortège leaving the farmyard still haunted her.
    It was something she knew she’d never forget.
    The committal, spoken by an obviously nervous Cuthbert Iveson, was over. Once the earth had been scattered by members of old Harry’s family on to the coffin, the mourners began to move away.
    ‘A grand feller.’ One burly farmer put his hand on Joe’s shoulder. ‘But you’m following in his footsteps and meking a good job on it, by all accounts. Funny your boss hasn’t come,’ he added, looking round. ‘Old Harry served him well. I’d’ve thought the least he could do was to come to his funeral.’
    Joe gave a wan smile. ‘Well, Miss Charlotte’s here and it’s her that . . .’ He stopped, not wanting to give away the truth about the running of Buckthorn Farm nowadays. Charlotte had always made it very clear to him that no one was to know. Swiftly, Joe altered what he’d been going to say. ‘She’s here to represent them both. Mebbe her father isn’t too well,’ he added, making an excuse.
    The farmer eyed him speculatively, but said no more. He went away muttering, ‘There’s summat funny there. Still, none o’ my business, an’ I’d best be on me way. Me cows’ll be burstin’ to be milked.’
    Charlotte was still standing near her mother’s grave when Peggy touched her arm. ‘We’d like you to come back to the cottage, Miss Charlotte. We can’t ask everyone, but we’ve put a bit of a spread on. Just for the family, old Matty, the Morgans and you.’
    Charlotte turned to her and smiled. ‘I’d love to, Peggy. Thank you.’ She glanced down at the coffin now lying deep in the hole. ‘Your father-in-law was always so kind to me. I’ll miss him too. I used to love our little chats. He taught me so much about farming and country ways.’
    ‘He always said you should’ve been a boy, that you—’ Peggy stopped, appalled at her own thoughtlessness. ‘Oh, miss, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Me an’ my mouth. Joe allus ses it’ll get me into trouble one of these days.’
    Charlotte smiled and patted Peggy’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, Peggy. It was what Harry used to say to me, though I don’t think he realized just how very true his words were.’
    ‘What he meant, miss, was that you’d be as capable as any man to run the farm. And one day – you will.’
    Charlotte glanced at her briefly and then looked away. So, she thought, Joe had kept his promise. Not even his wife knew that Charlotte already ran the farm.
    Peggy’s voice butted into her thoughts again. ‘Dad was a good man and your visits to the cottage, even after he’d given up work, always brightened his day. But there was something troubling him at the end, and we’ve no idea what it was. He told the vicar that last day, but he wouldn’t tell us.’
    Charlotte glanced again at her mother’s grave. ‘Perhaps it was because he couldn’t be buried beside his wife, d’you think?’
    Peggy sighed. ‘Maybe so, but he could’ve been if he’d asked. At least, we could’ve found out if it was possible, but he never asked. He never asked,’ she repeated, the unspoken question hanging between them. Why?
    Far from being a sad occasion, the little gathering at the Warrens’ cottage drank a toast to Harry and reminisced about the years they’d all worked alongside him. Charlotte recalled him teaching her to ride and instilling in her a love for all the animals in their care.
    ‘He always said,’ she reminded those present, ‘that it was a funny mixture being a farmer. We breed and raise animals sometimes to be slaughtered, but we should always respect and care for them. He couldn’t abide cruelty to animals in any form and he would travel miles to find the best slaughterhouse.’
    ‘He always told us you