Page 43 of Change of Heart
Leaving the dog where he was, she picked up the rope and jumped out again. Treading as delicately as she could, she looped the rope around one of the exposed axles of the tractor and ran it back to the front of the pickup. She had just finished fastening it when she heard Luca’s voice behind her.
‘Good thinking.’ She saw his eyes flick to her bad leg. ‘Do you want me to reverse it up?’
‘Please. I doubt if the pickup will be powerful enough to pull the tractor upright but at least it should help to keep it from toppling further down the slope.’ She stepped back and watched as he gradually reversed back up the slope until the rope tightened. He had just set the brake and switched off the engine, and was climbing back out again when a flashing blue light indicated the arrival of a Land Rover in red fire brigade livery.
After that, things happened remarkably quickly. After a brief conversation with the fire chief, the red Land Rover was manoeuvred into position alongside the pickup and also attached to the upper part of the underside of the tractor with a hefty rope. Both vehicles then reversed cautiously up the slope and their joint efforts resulted in the tractor slowly being pulled until it toppled back upright and away from the injured man. By this time another 4x4, this one containing two paramedics, had arrived and they took charge of the victim. All this excitement was watched with disinterest by Horace the horse who just kept on munching on the grass.
Alice suddenly felt very weary and unexpectedly cold so she climbed into the pickup and slumped onto the passenger seat to the delight of the Labrador, who immediately climbed onto her lap. She hugged him willingly and within seconds he was as muddy as she was but neither of them minded. She let her eyes close and drifted into a trance-like state until she was roused by the sound of the driver’s door and she opened her eyes to see Luca climb in.
‘Frank, get off! You’ll squash Alice.’
‘No, leave him, Luca, he’s heavy but he’s lovely and warm. I got very cold all of a sudden.’ She managed a little smile. ‘It’s just shock and a lot of not so pleasant memories, but I’ll be fine. How’s your dad?’
‘Not good. His legs are crushed and he’s lost an awful lot of blood, but by some miracle they think he’s going to be okay.’ He caught her eye for a moment. ‘Of course you know only too well what he’s going through. They’ve filled him full of painkillers and the plan is to get him onto a stretcher and take him up to the top of the field where it’s flat enough for the air ambulance to pick him up and fly him to hospital in Parma.’ His brow furrowed in concern. ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’
‘I’m fine. Like I say, it’s just been a bit of shock.’
‘I was able to talk to my father for a little while before the medics got to him.’ There was now a different, more quizzical expression on his face and Alice felt the colour rush to her cheeks as she had a premonition of what was to come next. She wasn’t wrong.
‘He told me you said you’re in love with me. Is that true?’
She reached over and caught hold of his forearm. ‘I’m sorry, I was trying to keep your father talking and it was the first thing that came into my head.’
‘So you didn’t mean it?’
Realising she risked digging herself into a hole, she avoided answering the question. ‘I’m sorry, it just sprang to mind. It was all a bit stressful down there, with that tractor hanging over my head. I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘So you didn’t mean it?’ He wasn’t giving up so she threw caution to the wind.
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘So you did mean it?’
She knew when she was beaten. ‘Yes, I did.’ She didn’t know what else to say.
His smile broadened. ‘Well, that, Miss Sterling, is definitely rather nice.’
Chapter 26
The next six months flew by. Planning permission for work on the castle to begin was granted remarkably quickly and all the way through the autumn a procession of tradesmen’s vans and trucks filled the courtyard. A full modernisation programme was set in train and by the time the first hard frosts of winter arrived, the brand new radiators in Alice’s office kept her cosy and warm. Regular visits from Luca also did a lot to keep her cosy and warm. And very happy.
When Christmas came around, they arranged that he would go south to visit his mother but then would return between Christmas and New Year so that he and Alice could spend the festivities together. She took advantage of his absence to go back to England and see her own folks. Her father came to collect her from the station in the pickup truck and she was mildly surprised to find that when they got back to the farm, he didn’t immediately drive up to the house. Instead, he turned into the high field and drove right to the top, the four-wheel drive making light work of the frozen rutted ground. He pulled up by the top gate and indicated that she should get out with him. She did as instructed and he led her over to the gate and pointed.
‘Look what we’ve got now!’
There, looking perfectly at home, were a dozen or so alpacas. She turned towards him and gave him a big smile.
‘What happened to the ostriches?’
He grinned back at her. ‘I was contacted by a guy in Somerset who wanted to start ostrich farming and he made me an offer. I was so glad to get rid of the things, I almost bit his hand off, which coincidentally is what those damn birds kept trying to do to me and the guys. You can’t beat alpacas – placid, hardy, good-natured. How’s your herd?’
‘Thirty-six now and more on the way. We’ve been getting the local schoolchildren along to take them for walks and they all seem to love it – and by that I mean the kidsandthe animals. We’ll start advertising properly when the castle opens to the public.’
‘When’s that going to be?’
‘Easter, if all goes well.’
‘And how’s it all going at the moment?’
