R
Robert Harrison
Guest
“If we are going to meet the nine o’clock train at Lockley we had better start looking to the animals needs. I can’t afford to have you moping around the cottage feeling sorry for yourself”.
He looked at her in a way that he had never looked at her before. Was this the Land Army girl he had married all of those years ago, the girl, up until he realised just how much he loved her started out as a convenience.
She opened the door to the stairs, and then suddenly turned towards him. “Well, get a move on lazy bones, we have family to meet”.
At a quarter to nine, they were standing on Lockley railway station. It was a pretty station for the Station Master Harold Thomas took pride in keeping the station well decorated with hanging baskets of geraniums and window boxes filled with all of the smaller, but colorful flowers that he could cram into them. He was not bothered about this did not go with that and the like, just so long as there were plenty of color. The station seats were also painted a different color. How he managed to get away with this none governmental regulation color was beyond the villagers. They did not mind, it was their station and the government could go jump.
“Mornin’ Harold” said Mrs. Tom giving him one of her nicest smiles.
“Mornin’ Mrs. Tom, and to you Tom. Going somewhere are you? Harold knew that they were not but her thought that it was nice to be polite. There was not much that he did not know. Therefore, he deduces that if they were not going anywhere they would be meeting someone. Being the stationmaster it considered it his duty to know who was coming and going. He went to the far end of the station to await the train.
Mrs. Tom took Toms hand, she could see that he was nervous about meeting a grown up daughter who he had never seen. She squeezed his hand for comfort and he gave her a weak smile.
“Stand back please” Shouted the stationmaster as the train drew in to the station. Steam escaped from the release valve making Skip pull at his lead as the train came to a halt.
Lockly” shouted Harold “Lockley station, mind the doors please.”
It was Tom who noticed the young blonde girl who walked from the last carriage towards them. She was as Tom had said about eighteen years of age. Slim built and wearing jeans, a brown sweater over which she wore a suede leather jacket. Skip wagged his tail as if he knew this person or that he would come to no harm by knowing her.
She stopped in front of them, none of them speaking for a moment. It was Mrs. Tom who made the first move. To the girls surprise she found herself being hugged by Mrs. Tom, even Skip seemed happy to see this stranger who smelt like dogs. Janet let her eyes fall upon Tom who had stood back a pace, he looked at a loss for words, and so it was Mrs. Tom who spoke first.
“Welcome my dear, I’m Mrs. Tom, Toms wife.” She moved to one side so that the girl could meet her father for the first time. There would be time enough to get to know the girl when they reached home.
The girl was still looking at Tom when she said “Father’. That was all she said, but there were tears in her eyes as the words were spoken.
Skip still wagged his tail and stood upon his hind legs so that his front legs rested upon the girl’s thigh. Tom walked towards her. “Janet” and he took her in his arms and they both wept.
They stayed like that for a while, Janet holding onto Tom like she did not want him to let go of her. Tom on the other hand was frightened to hold to hard as he was a strong man, and was scared he might break her in two. Mrs. Tom smiled inwardly to herself; and thought, “I should be jealous of this girl but I am not”.
Emotions came to Tom that he had never experienced before; he was a father of a beautiful daughter who, for the first time since she was born he now held in his arms. Why after all these years should he suddenly feel this way, she was a stranger to him and yet deep down he thought he knew more about her than he was ever told. Was it something that in their close embrace she was telling him all about herself, she certainly clung to him as if she would never let him go again?
Eventually he let her go and held her at arms length. Her face was still wet from the tears that she had shed. He dabbed her we face with his large red handkerchief, and then wiped his own pretending that his nose needed the attention. “Lets all go home” he said, “There will be plenty of time to get to know each other”. He took both of his women by their arms and led them to the car. “His women” he thought. “Oh my, how will Mrs. Tom take all of this?” He nearly stopped in his tracks at the thought of the idea of having two women in the house. “And how will Mrs. Tom feel about it”. He looked across at his wife but he could not guess what she was thinking, except for the faintest of smiles on her face nothing else showed.
The journey to the farm was traveled in silence, only Skip showed any signs of what was going on in his mind for his tail wagged every time Janet looked at him and gave him a scratch behind his ear. They had formed a bond between them, these two strangers. Skip had already accepted this girl who smelled of dogs. Tom was coming slowly back to earth and was wondering just what he was going to say when they eventually arrived at the farm.
The farm came into view as the car came to the top of rise. Mrs. Tom turned round to speak to the girl “Whetherby Moor Farm” she said. “Home for as long as you like”.
Tom looked across at his wife and she gave him a smile. He gave her a questioning look but she only smiled back at her husband. Perhaps things may not be as complicated as he had imagined. How long would Janet stay was the question uppermost in his mind. So she had found him, her father after all these years, the question was what did they all intend to do about it. He dismissed the thoughts from his mind for the moment for they were now at the farm.
As soon as they where in the big kitchen Mrs. Tom put the kettle on the Aga and began preparing the table for tea. Tom took Janet’s case which was really only an over night case. Tome took off his coat and hung his and Janet’s on the set of elk antlers, which had always acted a coat hanger for three generations, ever since grandfather Tom had bought them at an auction some seventy years ago. “Thought they would look nice by the door” he had said.
Mrs. Tom as thoughtful as ever-asked Janet if she would like to freshen up after her long journey. “Yes please, I do feel a bit worse for wear,” replied the girl. Mrs. Tom took her to the guest bedroom, showed her where everything was and told her to come down when she was ready.
Tom was sitting at the table when she arrived back to the kitchen. The black kettle was spluttering away on the hob and the hot water had marked the shining black leaded top, which Tom had been so careful not to damage earlier in the morning. Mrs. Tom took it off the boil and pored the hot water into the old teapot. She put on the tea cosy and sat next to her husband. “She seem a nice girl,” she said.
“Yes she does doesn’t she”. Then quickly looking at her he blurted out “Oh Mrs. Tom I am so sorry for not having told you all those years ago about the baby, but I did not know what had happed to her after her mother died”.
Mrs. Tom places her hands upon her husbands. “Tom it does not matter, it is all in the past, we need to look at what is to be done now. Janet I suspect has not come all this way to find you just to go off again, I think that she would like to stay and get to know you better. Lets wait until she has freshened up and we can all talk about it”.
“Perhaps you are right,” said Tom.
Mrs. Tom got up from the table as soon as she heard Janet on the stairs and started to pour the tea. Janet had washed, put on new lipstick, and combed her hair. She wore the same jeans and sweater, which seemed to have been made for her slim figure. Tom wondered where she got her looks from, for as far as he could remember her mother was not all that desirable. She sat next to Tom.
“I know that this must have come as a shock to you, and I am sorry that I did not give you time to answer my letter, but you see when I found where you lived I had to contact you. I have been searching for a father that I never knew for many years, ever since my adopted parents said that it was all right for me to do so. I was of legal age and so they could not really stop me, but I had to ask them out of kindness to them you see”.
“We are glad that you did” Said Mrs. Tom “And I know that your father agrees with me, don’t you Tom?”
“Of course I do,” said Tom. “It was decent of you to consider them. He took Janet by the hand and looked into her still somewhat red eyes. “I have been at a loss as to what to do, but as usual Mrs. Tom came up with the obvious answer, and has said that you must stay with us until you have decided what you want to do, if that is alright with you?”
“I was hoping that I could,” said Janet. “I did not want to stay in the village, and was hoping that all that I had heard about you from my mother was true, that you were a very kind and understanding man.” She looked at Mrs. Tom. “And I was not sure about how your wife would feel about it. Thank you both for letting me stay.”
They talked away the rest of the morning, Janet telling them all about herself, about when she left Birmingham University and decided to work for a vet and then at the Birmingham pound looking after the stray and unwanted animals.
“No wonder Skip took so much of a liking to you.” said Tom. “He could smell the scent of all of those animals on your clothing.”
“Well I have to prepare dinner.” said Mrs. Tom. “Tom why don’t you show Janet around the farm while I am preparing.”
“Would you like to see the farm Janet?” asked Tom.
“Yes please,” she said “I would love to, it seems ages since I last was on a farm, working at the pound in Birmingham did not afford much opportunity.”
They talked for the next hour as Tom showed his newfound daughter around their smallholding. “Not much to see.” he said “But it keeps the wolf from the door.”
“I love it.,” she said to his remark. “You have kept it beautifully clean and productive.”
Tom was pleased that she liked what they had done, though they were not able to see much because of the falls of snow that they had received.
“Janet, would you like to stay here at the farm, I know that you have your adopted parents to think of, but you could go and see them anytime you wished, and you have already been working away from home?
“Oh father,” said Janet “Can I? But I do not have a job and Birmingham is to far to travel to and from work each day”.
“If you are still interested in veterinary work we have a young vet in the village who is looking for some help. The money will not be much but I am sure he would love you to help him out”.
“That would be lovely, and we could get to know each other even more, but what about Mrs. Tom, will she mind, and I would have to tell my step parents because I still love them?
“Let us sleep on the matter,” said Tom, and tomorrow we can start making plans.
The dinner and the washing up done they all went into the comfortable cosy room next to the kitchen. Tom had already lit the fire, which was burning with a warm and comforting brightness. They all sat down, Tom next to Mrs. Tom and Janet in Tom’s chair near the fire with Skip sitting at her feet, his chin in her lap.
Soon Janet was asleep. Tom looked at his wife and whispered “Mrs. Tom, that is my daughter over there”. Mrs. Tom smiled at him and said “Mister Tom, that is our daughter over there? She kissed him on his smiling face. Resting her head against his warm woolen sweater, she to went to sleep with a contented smile on her face.
Skip and the lamb were lying on the hearthrug, happy in their friendship. The snow began to fall again, and Whetherby Moor Farm snuggled into itself.
He looked at her in a way that he had never looked at her before. Was this the Land Army girl he had married all of those years ago, the girl, up until he realised just how much he loved her started out as a convenience.
She opened the door to the stairs, and then suddenly turned towards him. “Well, get a move on lazy bones, we have family to meet”.
At a quarter to nine, they were standing on Lockley railway station. It was a pretty station for the Station Master Harold Thomas took pride in keeping the station well decorated with hanging baskets of geraniums and window boxes filled with all of the smaller, but colorful flowers that he could cram into them. He was not bothered about this did not go with that and the like, just so long as there were plenty of color. The station seats were also painted a different color. How he managed to get away with this none governmental regulation color was beyond the villagers. They did not mind, it was their station and the government could go jump.
“Mornin’ Harold” said Mrs. Tom giving him one of her nicest smiles.
“Mornin’ Mrs. Tom, and to you Tom. Going somewhere are you? Harold knew that they were not but her thought that it was nice to be polite. There was not much that he did not know. Therefore, he deduces that if they were not going anywhere they would be meeting someone. Being the stationmaster it considered it his duty to know who was coming and going. He went to the far end of the station to await the train.
Mrs. Tom took Toms hand, she could see that he was nervous about meeting a grown up daughter who he had never seen. She squeezed his hand for comfort and he gave her a weak smile.
“Stand back please” Shouted the stationmaster as the train drew in to the station. Steam escaped from the release valve making Skip pull at his lead as the train came to a halt.
Lockly” shouted Harold “Lockley station, mind the doors please.”
It was Tom who noticed the young blonde girl who walked from the last carriage towards them. She was as Tom had said about eighteen years of age. Slim built and wearing jeans, a brown sweater over which she wore a suede leather jacket. Skip wagged his tail as if he knew this person or that he would come to no harm by knowing her.
She stopped in front of them, none of them speaking for a moment. It was Mrs. Tom who made the first move. To the girls surprise she found herself being hugged by Mrs. Tom, even Skip seemed happy to see this stranger who smelt like dogs. Janet let her eyes fall upon Tom who had stood back a pace, he looked at a loss for words, and so it was Mrs. Tom who spoke first.
“Welcome my dear, I’m Mrs. Tom, Toms wife.” She moved to one side so that the girl could meet her father for the first time. There would be time enough to get to know the girl when they reached home.
The girl was still looking at Tom when she said “Father’. That was all she said, but there were tears in her eyes as the words were spoken.
Skip still wagged his tail and stood upon his hind legs so that his front legs rested upon the girl’s thigh. Tom walked towards her. “Janet” and he took her in his arms and they both wept.
They stayed like that for a while, Janet holding onto Tom like she did not want him to let go of her. Tom on the other hand was frightened to hold to hard as he was a strong man, and was scared he might break her in two. Mrs. Tom smiled inwardly to herself; and thought, “I should be jealous of this girl but I am not”.
Emotions came to Tom that he had never experienced before; he was a father of a beautiful daughter who, for the first time since she was born he now held in his arms. Why after all these years should he suddenly feel this way, she was a stranger to him and yet deep down he thought he knew more about her than he was ever told. Was it something that in their close embrace she was telling him all about herself, she certainly clung to him as if she would never let him go again?
Eventually he let her go and held her at arms length. Her face was still wet from the tears that she had shed. He dabbed her we face with his large red handkerchief, and then wiped his own pretending that his nose needed the attention. “Lets all go home” he said, “There will be plenty of time to get to know each other”. He took both of his women by their arms and led them to the car. “His women” he thought. “Oh my, how will Mrs. Tom take all of this?” He nearly stopped in his tracks at the thought of the idea of having two women in the house. “And how will Mrs. Tom feel about it”. He looked across at his wife but he could not guess what she was thinking, except for the faintest of smiles on her face nothing else showed.
The journey to the farm was traveled in silence, only Skip showed any signs of what was going on in his mind for his tail wagged every time Janet looked at him and gave him a scratch behind his ear. They had formed a bond between them, these two strangers. Skip had already accepted this girl who smelled of dogs. Tom was coming slowly back to earth and was wondering just what he was going to say when they eventually arrived at the farm.
The farm came into view as the car came to the top of rise. Mrs. Tom turned round to speak to the girl “Whetherby Moor Farm” she said. “Home for as long as you like”.
Tom looked across at his wife and she gave him a smile. He gave her a questioning look but she only smiled back at her husband. Perhaps things may not be as complicated as he had imagined. How long would Janet stay was the question uppermost in his mind. So she had found him, her father after all these years, the question was what did they all intend to do about it. He dismissed the thoughts from his mind for the moment for they were now at the farm.
As soon as they where in the big kitchen Mrs. Tom put the kettle on the Aga and began preparing the table for tea. Tom took Janet’s case which was really only an over night case. Tome took off his coat and hung his and Janet’s on the set of elk antlers, which had always acted a coat hanger for three generations, ever since grandfather Tom had bought them at an auction some seventy years ago. “Thought they would look nice by the door” he had said.
Mrs. Tom as thoughtful as ever-asked Janet if she would like to freshen up after her long journey. “Yes please, I do feel a bit worse for wear,” replied the girl. Mrs. Tom took her to the guest bedroom, showed her where everything was and told her to come down when she was ready.
Tom was sitting at the table when she arrived back to the kitchen. The black kettle was spluttering away on the hob and the hot water had marked the shining black leaded top, which Tom had been so careful not to damage earlier in the morning. Mrs. Tom took it off the boil and pored the hot water into the old teapot. She put on the tea cosy and sat next to her husband. “She seem a nice girl,” she said.
“Yes she does doesn’t she”. Then quickly looking at her he blurted out “Oh Mrs. Tom I am so sorry for not having told you all those years ago about the baby, but I did not know what had happed to her after her mother died”.
Mrs. Tom places her hands upon her husbands. “Tom it does not matter, it is all in the past, we need to look at what is to be done now. Janet I suspect has not come all this way to find you just to go off again, I think that she would like to stay and get to know you better. Lets wait until she has freshened up and we can all talk about it”.
“Perhaps you are right,” said Tom.
Mrs. Tom got up from the table as soon as she heard Janet on the stairs and started to pour the tea. Janet had washed, put on new lipstick, and combed her hair. She wore the same jeans and sweater, which seemed to have been made for her slim figure. Tom wondered where she got her looks from, for as far as he could remember her mother was not all that desirable. She sat next to Tom.
“I know that this must have come as a shock to you, and I am sorry that I did not give you time to answer my letter, but you see when I found where you lived I had to contact you. I have been searching for a father that I never knew for many years, ever since my adopted parents said that it was all right for me to do so. I was of legal age and so they could not really stop me, but I had to ask them out of kindness to them you see”.
“We are glad that you did” Said Mrs. Tom “And I know that your father agrees with me, don’t you Tom?”
“Of course I do,” said Tom. “It was decent of you to consider them. He took Janet by the hand and looked into her still somewhat red eyes. “I have been at a loss as to what to do, but as usual Mrs. Tom came up with the obvious answer, and has said that you must stay with us until you have decided what you want to do, if that is alright with you?”
“I was hoping that I could,” said Janet. “I did not want to stay in the village, and was hoping that all that I had heard about you from my mother was true, that you were a very kind and understanding man.” She looked at Mrs. Tom. “And I was not sure about how your wife would feel about it. Thank you both for letting me stay.”
They talked away the rest of the morning, Janet telling them all about herself, about when she left Birmingham University and decided to work for a vet and then at the Birmingham pound looking after the stray and unwanted animals.
“No wonder Skip took so much of a liking to you.” said Tom. “He could smell the scent of all of those animals on your clothing.”
“Well I have to prepare dinner.” said Mrs. Tom. “Tom why don’t you show Janet around the farm while I am preparing.”
“Would you like to see the farm Janet?” asked Tom.
“Yes please,” she said “I would love to, it seems ages since I last was on a farm, working at the pound in Birmingham did not afford much opportunity.”
They talked for the next hour as Tom showed his newfound daughter around their smallholding. “Not much to see.” he said “But it keeps the wolf from the door.”
“I love it.,” she said to his remark. “You have kept it beautifully clean and productive.”
Tom was pleased that she liked what they had done, though they were not able to see much because of the falls of snow that they had received.
“Janet, would you like to stay here at the farm, I know that you have your adopted parents to think of, but you could go and see them anytime you wished, and you have already been working away from home?
“Oh father,” said Janet “Can I? But I do not have a job and Birmingham is to far to travel to and from work each day”.
“If you are still interested in veterinary work we have a young vet in the village who is looking for some help. The money will not be much but I am sure he would love you to help him out”.
“That would be lovely, and we could get to know each other even more, but what about Mrs. Tom, will she mind, and I would have to tell my step parents because I still love them?
“Let us sleep on the matter,” said Tom, and tomorrow we can start making plans.
The dinner and the washing up done they all went into the comfortable cosy room next to the kitchen. Tom had already lit the fire, which was burning with a warm and comforting brightness. They all sat down, Tom next to Mrs. Tom and Janet in Tom’s chair near the fire with Skip sitting at her feet, his chin in her lap.
Soon Janet was asleep. Tom looked at his wife and whispered “Mrs. Tom, that is my daughter over there”. Mrs. Tom smiled at him and said “Mister Tom, that is our daughter over there? She kissed him on his smiling face. Resting her head against his warm woolen sweater, she to went to sleep with a contented smile on her face.
Skip and the lamb were lying on the hearthrug, happy in their friendship. The snow began to fall again, and Whetherby Moor Farm snuggled into itself.
