The dwelling house was renovated almost out of recognition and I drank coffee instead of tea in the living room which had become a place of grace and charm with an antique table, chintzy furniture and pictures on the walls. The old outbuildings were converted into loose boxes with shining, freshly painted doors.
The only thing which got no attention was Frank’s little new byre; it was used as a storage place for corn and bedding for the horses.
I always felt a tug at my heart when I looked in there at the thick dust on the floor, the windows almost opaque with dirt, the cobwebs everywhere, the rusting water bowls, the litter of straw bales, peat moss and sacks of oats where once Frank’s cows had stood so proudly.
It was all that was left of a man’s dream.
39
I HAD NEVER BEEN married before so there was nothing in my past experience to go by but it was beginning to dawn on me that I was very nicely fixed.
I am talking, of course, of material things. It would have been enough for me or anybody else to be paired with a beautiful girl whom I loved and who loved me. I hadn’t reckoned on the other aspects.
This business of studying my comfort, for instance. I thought such things had gone out of fashion, but not so with Helen. It was brought home to me again as I walked in to breakfast this morning. We had at last acquired a table—I had bought it at a farm sale and brought it home in triumph tied to the roof of my car—and now Helen had vacated the chair on which she used to sit at the bench and had taken over the high stool. She was perched away up there now, transporting her food from far below, while I was expected to sit comfortably in the chair. I don’t think I am a selfish swine by nature but there was nothing I could do about it.
And there were other little things. The neat pile of clothing laid out for me each morning; the clean, folded shirt and handkerchief and socks so different from the jumble of my bachelor days. And when I was late for meals, which was often, she served me with my food but instead of going off and doing something else she would down tools and sit watching me while I ate. It made me feel like a sultan.
It was this last trait which gave me a clue to her behaviour. I suddenly remembered that I had seen her sitting by Mr. Alderson while he had a late meal; sitting in the same pose, one arm on the table, quietly watching him. And I realised I was reaping the benefit of her lifetime attitude to her father. Mild little man though he was she had catered gladly to his every wish in the happy acceptance that the man of the house was number one; and the whole pattern was rubbing off on me now.
In fact it set me thinking about the big question of how girls might be expected to behave after marriage. One old farmer giving me advice about choosing a wife once said: “Have a bloody good look at the mother first, lad,” and I am sure he had a point. But if I may throw in my own little word of counsel it would be to have a passing glance at how she acts towards her father.
Watching her now as she got down and started to serve my breakfast the warm knowledge flowed through me as it did so often that my wife was the sort who just liked looking after a man and that I was so very lucky.
And I was certainly blooming under the treatment. A bit too much, in fact, and I was aware I shouldn’t be attacking this plateful of porridge and cream; especially with all that material sizzling in the frying pan. Helen had brought with her to Skeldale House a delicious dowry in the shape of half a pig and there hung from the beams of the topmost attic a side of bacon and a majestic ham; a constant temptation. Some samples were in the pan now and though I had never been one for large breakfasts I did not demur when she threw in a couple of big brown eggs to keep them company. And I put up only feeble resistance when she added some particularly tasty smoked sausage which she used to buy in a shop in the market place.
When I had got through it all I rose rather deliberately from the table and as I put on my coat I noticed it wasn’t so easy to button as it used to be.
“Here are your sandwiches, Jim,” Helen said, putting a parcel in my hand. I was spending a day in the Scarburn district, tuberculin testing for Ewan Ross, and my wife was always concerned lest I grow faint from lack of nourishment on the long journey.
I kissed her, made a somewhat ponderous descent of the long flights of stairs and went out the side door. Half way up the garden I stopped as always and looked up at the window under the tiles. An arm appeared and brandished a dishcloth vigorously. I waved back and continued my walk to the yard. I found I was puffing a little as I got the car out and I laid my parcel almost guiltily on the back seat. I knew what it would contain; not just sandwiches but meat and onion pie, buttered scones, ginger cake to lead me into further indiscretions.
There is no doubt that in those early days I would have grown exceedingly gross under Helen’s treatment. But my job saved me; the endless walking between the stone barns scattered along the hillsides, the climbing in and out of calf pens, pushing cows around, and regular outbursts of hard physical effort in calving and foaling. So I escaped with only a slight tightening of my collar and the occasional farmer’s remark, “By gaw, you’ve been on a good pasture, young man!”
Driving away, I marvelled at the way she indulged my little whims, too. I have always had a pathological loathing of fat, so Helen carefully trimmed every morsel from my meat. This feeling about fat, which almost amounted to terror, had been intensified since coming to Yorkshire, because back in the thirties the farmers seemed to live on the stuff. One old man, noticing my pop-eyed expression as I viewed him relishing his lunch of roast tat bacon, told me he had never touched lean meat in his life.
“Ah like to feel t’grease runnin’ down ma chin!” he chuckled. He pronounced it “grayus” which made it sound even worse. But he was a ruddy faced octogenarian, so it hadn’t done him any harm; and this held good for hundreds of others just like him. I used to think that the day in day out and hard labour of farming burned it up in their systems but if I had to eat the stuff it would kill me very rapidly.
The latter was, of course, a fanciful notion as was proved to me one day.
It was when I was torn from my bed one morning at 6 a.m. to attend a calving heifer at old Mr. Horner’s small farm and when I got there I found there was no malpresentation of the calf but that it was simply too big. I don’t like a lot of pulling but the heifer, lying on her bed of straw, was obviously in need of assistance. Every few seconds she strained to the utmost and a pair of feet came into view momentarily then disappeared as she relaxed.
“Is she getting those feet out any further?” I asked.
“Nay, there’s been no change for over an hour,” the old man replied.
“And when did the water bag burst?”
“Two hours since.”
There was no doubt the calf was well and truly stuck and getting drier all the time, and if the labouring mother had been able to speak I think she would have said: “For Pete’s sake get this thing away from me!”
I could have done with a big strong man to help me but Mr. Horner, apart from his advanced age, was a rather shaky lightweight And since the farm was perched on a lonely eminence miles from the nearest village there was no chance of calling in a neighbour. I would have to do the job myself.
It took me nearly an hour. With a thin rope behind the calf’s ears and through his mouth to stop the neck from telescoping I eased the little creature inch by inch into the world. Not so much pulling but rather leaning back and helping the heifer as she strained. She was a rather undersized little animal and she lay patiently on her side, accepting the situation with the resignation of her kind. She could never have calved without help and all the time I had the warm conviction that I was doing what she wanted and needed. I felt I should be as patient as she was so I didn’t hurry but let things come in their normal sequence; the little nose with the nostrils twitching reassuringly, then the eyes wearing a preoccupied light during the tight squeeze, then the ears and with a final rush the rest or the calf.
The young mother was obviously none
the worse because she rolled on to her chest almost immediately and began to sniff with the utmost interest at the new arrival. She was in better shape than myself because I discovered with some surprise that I was sweating and breathless and my arms and shoulders were aching.
The farmer, highly pleased, rubbed my back briskly with the towel as I bent over the bucket, then he helped me on with my shirt.
“Well that’s champion, lad. You’ll come in and have a cup of tea now, won’t you?”
In the kitchen Mrs. Homer placed a steaming mug on the table and smiled across at me.
“Will you sit down along o’ my husband and have a bit o’ breakfast?” she asked.
There is nothing like an early calving to whet the appetite and I nodded readily. “That’s very kind of you, I’d love to.”
It is always a good feeling after a successful delivery and I sighed contentedly as I sank into a chair and watched the old lady set out bread, butter and jam in front of me. I sipped my tea and as I exchanged a word with the farmer I didn’t see what she was doing next. Then my toes curled into a tight ball as I found two huge slices of pure white fat lying on my plate.
Shrinking back in my seat I saw Mrs. Horner sawing at a great hunk of cold boiled bacon. But it wasn’t ordinary bacon, it was one hundred per cent fat without a strip of lean anywhere. Even in my shocked state I could see it was a work of art; cooked to a turn, beautifully encrusted with golden crumbs and resting on a spotless serving dish…but fat.
She dropped two similar slices on her husband’s plate and looked at me expectantly.
My position was desperate. I could not possibly offend this sweet old person but on the other hand I knew beyond all doubt that there was no way I could eat what lay in front of me. Maybe I could have managed a tiny piece if it had been hot and fried crisp, but cold, boiled and clammy…never. And there was an enormous quantity; two slices about six inches by four and at least half an inch thick with the golden border of crumbs down one side. The thing was impossible.
Mrs. Horner sat down opposite me. She was wearing a flowered mob cap over her white hair and for a moment she reached out, bent her head to one side and turned the dish with the slab of bacon a little to the left to show it off better. Then she turned to me and smiled. It was a kind, proud smile.
There have been times in my life when, confronted by black and hopeless circumstances, I have discovered in myself undreamed-of resources of courage and resolution. I took a deep breath, seized knife and fork and made a bold incision in one of the slices, but as I began to transport the greasy white segment to my mouth I began to shudder and my hand stayed frozen in space. It was at that moment I spotted the jar of piccalilli.
Feverishly I scooped a mound of it on to my plate. It seemed to contain just about everything; onions, apples, cucumber and other assorted vegetables jostling each other in a powerful mustard-vinegar sauce. It was the work of a moment to smother my loaded fork with the mass, then I popped it into my mouth, gave a couple of quick chews and swallowed. It was a start and I hadn’t tasted a thing except the piccalilli.
“Nice bit of bacon,” Mr. Horner murmured.
“Delicious!” I replied, munching desperately at the second forkful. “Absolutely delicious!”
“And you like ma piccalilli too!” The old lady beamed at me. “Ah can tell by the way you’re slappin’ it on!” She gave a peal of delighted laughter.
“Yes indeed,” I looked at her with streaming eyes. “Some of the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Looking back, I realise it was one of the bravest things I have ever done. I stuck to my task unwaveringly, dipping again and again into the jar, keeping my mind a blank, refusing grimly to think of the horrible thing that was happening to me. There was only one bad moment, when the piccalilli, which packed a tremendous punch and was never meant to be consumed in large mouthfuls, completely took my breath away and I went into a long coughing spasm. But at last I came to the end. A final heroic crunch and swallow, a long gulp at my tea and the plate was empty. The thing was accomplished.
And there was no doubt it had been worth it. I had been a tremendous success with the old folks. Mr. Horner slapped my shoulder.
“By gaw, it’s good to see a young feller enjoyin’ his food! When I were a lad I used to put it away sharpish, like that, but ah can’t do it now.” Chuckling to himself, he continued with his breakfast.
His wife showed me the door. “Aye, it was a real compliment to me.” She looked at the table and giggled. “You’ve nearly finished the jar!”
“Yes, I’m sorry, Mrs. Horner,” I said, smiling through my tears and trying to ignore the churning in my stomach. “But I just couldn’t resist it.”
Contrary to my expectations I didn’t drop down dead soon afterwards but for a week I was oppressed by a feeling of nausea which I am prepared to believe was purely psychosomatic.
At any rate, since that little episode I have never knowingly eaten fat again. My hatred was transformed into something like an obsession from then on.
And I haven’t been all that crazy about piccalilli either.
40
“WELL, DO YOU WANT t’job or don’t you?”
Walt Bamett towered over me in the surgery doorway and his eyes flickered from my head to my feet and up again without expression. The cigarette dangling from his lower lip seemed to be a part of him as did the brown trilby hat and the shining navy blue serge suit stretched tightly over his bulky form. He must have weighed nearly twenty stones and with his red beefy brutal mouth and overbearing manner he was undeniably formidable.
“Well, er…yes. Of course we want the job,” I replied. “I was just wondering when we could fit it in.” I went over to the desk and began to look through the appointment book. “We’re pretty full this week and I don’t know what Mr. Farnon has fixed for the week after. Maybe we’d better give you a ring.”
The big man had burst in on me without warning or greeting and barked, “I ’ave a fine big blood ’oss to geld. When can you do ’im?”
I had looked at him hesitantly for a few moments, taken aback partly by the arrogance of his approach, partly by his request. This wasn’t good news to me; I didn’t like castrating fine big blood ’osses—I much preferred the ordinary cart colts and if you came right down to it I had a particular preference for Shetland ponies. But it was all part of living and if it had to be done it had to be done.
“You can give me a ring if you like, but don’t be ower long about it.” The hard unsmiling stare still held me. “And I want a good job doin’, think on!”
“We always try to do a good job, Mr. Barnett,” I said, fighting a rising prickle of resentment at his attitude.
“Aye well I’ve heard that afore and I’ve had some bloody balls-ups,” he said. He gave me a final truculent nod, turned and walked out, leaving the door open.
I was still standing in the middle of the room seething and muttering to myself when Siegfried walked in. I hardly saw him at first and when he finally came into focus I found I was glowering into his face.
“What’s the trouble, James?” he asked. “A little touch of indigestion, perhaps?”
“Indigestion? No…no…Why do you say that?”
“Well you seemed to be in some sort of pain, standing there on one leg with your face screwed up.”
“Did I look like that? Oh it was just our old friend Walt Barnett. He wants us to cut a horse for him and he made the request in his usual charming way—he really gets under my skin, that man.”
Tristan came in from the passage. “Yes, I was out there and I heard him. He’s a bloody big lout.”
Siegfried rounded on him. “That’s enough! I don’t want to hear that kind of talk in here.” Then he turned back to me. “And really, James, even if you were upset I don’t think it’s an excuse for profanity.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, some of the expletives I heard you muttering there were unworthy of you.” He spread his hands in a gestur
e of disarming frankness. “Heaven knows I’m no prude but I don’t like to hear such language within these walls.” He paused and his features assumed an expression of deep gravity. “After all, the people who come in here provide us with our bread and butter and they should be referred to with respect.”
“Yes, but…”
“Oh I know some are not as nice as others but you must never let them irritate you. You’ve heard the old saying, ‘The customer is always right.’ Well I think it’s a good working axiom and I always abide by it myself.” He gazed solemnly at Tristan and me in turn. “So I hope I make myself clear. No swearing in the surgery—particularly when it concerns the clients.”
“It’s all right for you!” I burst out heatedly. “But you didn’t hear Barnett. I’ll stand so much, but…”
Siegfried put his head on one side and a smile of ethereal beauty crept over his face. “My dear old chap, there you go again, letting little things disturb you. I’ve had to speak to you about this before, haven’t I? I wish I could help you, I wish I could pass on my own gift of remaining calm at all times?”
“What’s that you said?”
“I said I wanted to help you, James, and I will.” He held up a forefinger. “You’ve probably often wondered why I never get angry or excited.”
“Eh?”
“Oh I know you have—you must have. Well I’ll let you into a little secret.” His smile took on a roguish quality. “If a client is rude to me I simply charge him a little more. Instead of getting all steamed up like you do I tell myself that I’m putting ten bob extra on the bill and it works like magic.”