to accept that the apology included him.
'I just brought your mam some vegetables, Col,' he said. 'You don't have to go to sea to get scurvy, do you?'
'Don't you? Mam, I hope you're not making that pie for me. I couldn't face owt more than a cup of tea and mebbe a sandwich.'
'You missed your supper last night and I'll not have you going to work on an empty stomach.'
'They don't need their meals regular like us old ones, May,' said Downey, 'I bet you often got dragged out of your bunk in the middle of the night when you were at sea, Col, and had to work all day with next to nowt.'
'It weren't the bloody Cutty Sark I were on!' exclaimed Farr. 'All right, Mam, I'll have some, but not too much, mind.'
'Don't you miss it, the sea?' said Downey. 'I sometimes wish I'd given it a try when I were younger.'
'You're not old now, Arthur,' said May Farr, bringing a flush of pleasure to the lanky man's cheeks.
'No, you ought to sign on as a cabin boy,' said Farr. 'Or better still, stow away.'
Downey laughed and finished his tea.
'I'd best be off,' he said. 'See you down the hole, Col. Thanks for the tea, May.'
After the door closed behind him, May Farr said, 'Right, my lad, before we go any further, I'll not have you being rude to Arthur Downey or anyone else I care to invite into my house. Understood?'
'The bugger's always sniffing round here . . .' protested her son.
'You listen, Arthur were a good mate of your dad's and he's been good to me since ... it happened. He'll always be welcome in this house as long as I'm here, understand?
‘Besides, he grows best veg in Burrthorpe on that allotment of his,'
She offered this lightening of tone by way of truce which Colin Farr was happy to accept.
'Aye, it's not many lasses round here who get bouquets of broccoli,' he said slyly. 'You best be careful else you'll have folk talking.'
'What do you mean?' she said indignantly as she took the pie from the oven. 'Has someone been saying something?'
Her son smiled sweetly.
'There's not many round here would dare say owt like that to me,' he said with an easy confidence she found more dismaying than comforting.
She heaped the pie on to a plate which she set before him. As he ate, he asked casually, 'Do you think you will get married again, Mam?'
'How should I know? I've no one in mind, if that's what you mean. But this is wrong way round. It's me as should be asking you when you're going to get wed and settle down?'
'Me?' he laughed. 'Who would I marry when all the best ones are gone?'
'You're not still moping after Stella, are you?' she asked in alarm.
'Me run after a married woman? What a thing to say about your own son!' he mocked. 'All I meant was, you're the best, Mam, and they don't make 'em like you any more.'
She sat down and regarded him seriously, refusing to respond to his sentimentality.
'What does keep you here then, Col, if you've no plans for settling? I know you hate it, always did. And don't say it's for my sake. I'm all right now. I've got friends, real friends . . .'
'You mean Red Wendy and her mates in the Women's Support Group?' he laughed. 'With friends like yon, you need a man around the place to keep an eye on you.'
'You see, there you go again, Col, trying to put it down to me. Don't do that. Don't keep things hid deep inside you like he did. Yes, Wendy and the others are my friends. It may have ruined the Union, but there's me and a lot like me who can say thank God for the Strike. It showed me a road I'd not have found on my own. And you, Col; I thought when you started getting involved that mebbe you'd found a road too . . .'
'Me? Oh, I liked the action and the fighting well enough, but the only road I hope to find in Burrthorpe is the road out of it.'
'Then why don't you go?' she asked passionately. 'And don't pretend to be hurt, I know all your little acts, remember? You know what I'm saying. I wept the first time you went, after your dad hurt his leg. And I'll weep if you go again. But I were
'I just brought your mam some vegetables, Col,' he said. 'You don't have to go to sea to get scurvy, do you?'
'Don't you? Mam, I hope you're not making that pie for me. I couldn't face owt more than a cup of tea and mebbe a sandwich.'
'You missed your supper last night and I'll not have you going to work on an empty stomach.'
'They don't need their meals regular like us old ones, May,' said Downey, 'I bet you often got dragged out of your bunk in the middle of the night when you were at sea, Col, and had to work all day with next to nowt.'
'It weren't the bloody Cutty Sark I were on!' exclaimed Farr. 'All right, Mam, I'll have some, but not too much, mind.'
'Don't you miss it, the sea?' said Downey. 'I sometimes wish I'd given it a try when I were younger.'
'You're not old now, Arthur,' said May Farr, bringing a flush of pleasure to the lanky man's cheeks.
'No, you ought to sign on as a cabin boy,' said Farr. 'Or better still, stow away.'
Downey laughed and finished his tea.
'I'd best be off,' he said. 'See you down the hole, Col. Thanks for the tea, May.'
After the door closed behind him, May Farr said, 'Right, my lad, before we go any further, I'll not have you being rude to Arthur Downey or anyone else I care to invite into my house. Understood?'
'The bugger's always sniffing round here . . .' protested her son.
'You listen, Arthur were a good mate of your dad's and he's been good to me since ... it happened. He'll always be welcome in this house as long as I'm here, understand?
‘Besides, he grows best veg in Burrthorpe on that allotment of his,'
She offered this lightening of tone by way of truce which Colin Farr was happy to accept.
'Aye, it's not many lasses round here who get bouquets of broccoli,' he said slyly. 'You best be careful else you'll have folk talking.'
'What do you mean?' she said indignantly as she took the pie from the oven. 'Has someone been saying something?'
Her son smiled sweetly.
'There's not many round here would dare say owt like that to me,' he said with an easy confidence she found more dismaying than comforting.
She heaped the pie on to a plate which she set before him. As he ate, he asked casually, 'Do you think you will get married again, Mam?'
'How should I know? I've no one in mind, if that's what you mean. But this is wrong way round. It's me as should be asking you when you're going to get wed and settle down?'
'Me?' he laughed. 'Who would I marry when all the best ones are gone?'
'You're not still moping after Stella, are you?' she asked in alarm.
'Me run after a married woman? What a thing to say about your own son!' he mocked. 'All I meant was, you're the best, Mam, and they don't make 'em like you any more.'
She sat down and regarded him seriously, refusing to respond to his sentimentality.
'What does keep you here then, Col, if you've no plans for settling? I know you hate it, always did. And don't say it's for my sake. I'm all right now. I've got friends, real friends . . .'
'You mean Red Wendy and her mates in the Women's Support Group?' he laughed. 'With friends like yon, you need a man around the place to keep an eye on you.'
'You see, there you go again, Col, trying to put it down to me. Don't do that. Don't keep things hid deep inside you like he did. Yes, Wendy and the others are my friends. It may have ruined the Union, but there's me and a lot like me who can say thank God for the Strike. It showed me a road I'd not have found on my own. And you, Col; I thought when you started getting involved that mebbe you'd found a road too . . .'
'Me? Oh, I liked the action and the fighting well enough, but the only road I hope to find in Burrthorpe is the road out of it.'
'Then why don't you go?' she asked passionately. 'And don't pretend to be hurt, I know all your little acts, remember? You know what I'm saying. I wept the first time you went, after your dad hurt his leg. And I'll weep if you go again. But I were
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