Page 112 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
She got to her feet, trying to catch hold of Boris, but he was lunging at the window and she was almost knocked over by his huge size. He was trying to protect her, she knew that, but the dog was clearly terrified too. Her own heart was hammering in her chest, and it gave a wild leap as a masked face appeared at the window, illuminated for a second by the flare outside. Whoever was outside was in her garden! And then, as an icy trail snaked down her back, everything began to make sense. This was not kids having irresponsible fun, nor was it an early bonfire party. This was a deliberate attack on her.
Laura grabbed hold of Boris’ collar and dragged him across the floor and out into the hallway. She kicked the kitchen door closed, whimpering, and came to rest in the corner of the hallway, her back against the wall, her arms trying to contain the terrified dog. It was at least darker in the hallway, with the doors closed and no windows to broadcast the light from the fireworks. The doorbell alarm was still flashing, but the light from it was nothing compared with the onslaught in the kitchen. She could only imagine the noise level, and knew this was what was making Boris so scared, and her so panicked. She also realised that it was preventing her from thinking straight.
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate for a moment, weighing up what she could do. There was no way she could go outside. Apart from being terrified, without fully functioning senses she would be defenceless; and Boris, despite his size, was a gentle dog and not given to aggressive behaviour. And then it hit her; the cold truth was that whoever was behind this definitely knew her, and knew the best way to scare her too. She clung to Boris even tighter, knowing that she was trapped in her own home until whoever was outside had finished intimidating her. Only then might she be able to venture back into the kitchen and root out her mobile. She was beginning to feel slightly more in control when she suddenly realised that she had no memory of locking her back door. Granted, she normally did it automatically when she had finished outside for the day, but in her earlier haste she couldn’t remember whether she had or not. The thought made her stomach leap in shock; they could be in her kitchen right now…
To her surprise, this new fear brought anger rushing to the surface. How dare they corner her in her own home? Cowardly bullies, she thought, that’s all they were, and it was about time she stood up for herself. She flung open the door to the kitchen, realising a split second too late that the room was now pitch black. She cannoned straight into a hard body on the other side of the door, the shock causing her legs to buckle alarmingly. She felt a cry loose itself from her lips, and a pair of arms caught hold of her as she dropped; strong arms which held her up and then held her close. She breathed in a scent that had become so familiar over the last few days, and this time instead of evading Stephen’s touch, she returned it, letting his solid warmth seep into her.
The tears came as she felt his hand move to cradle her head. She could feel his lips moving against her hair, saying words she could neither hear nor see, yet words her heart imagined. They clung together silently in the dark for several moments until Laura felt a sudden need to see his face, to talk, and to understand. Slowly, she disentangled herself and doubled back to flick on the light switch, flinching once more as the kitchen sprang into relief.
Stephen’s face was dark with anger, but his eyes were soft on hers.
‘They’ve gone,’ he said. ‘It’s okay.’
He bent down, stretching out one hand in front of him, and as Laura watched, Boris slunk across the floor, half his usual height, his tail tucked between his legs, but with just the faintest twitch of a wag. He pushed his nose into Stephen’s palm, his body quivering gently, from fear still, or a sense of delight, Laura couldn’t tell. He sat on the floor pulling Laura down too and held the dog in a jumble of limbs between them. ‘Who were they?’ she whispered.
‘I’ve no idea,’ Stephen replied. ‘Three of them, all wearing masks. It’s a wonder they didn’t kill themselves, letting off fireworks at such close range, but I imagine that when the police catch up with them, they’ll be easy to spot; their clothes must be covered in burns, and stink too I shouldn’t wonder.’
Laura nodded. ‘And will the police catch up with them?’ she asked.
‘If they’ve anything about them, they will. Particularly as I told them a good place to start looking.’
She swallowed. ‘You reckon it was Giles then?’
‘Not personally. He’s far too cowardly for that,’ sneered Stephen, ‘but he’ll have found some thugs for hire. His sort generally do.’
‘I can’t believe he’d be so stupid. I mean he’s now being investigated for a hit and run, right? How does this possibly make things any better for him?’
Stephen sighed. ‘Well, he might be loaded, and he might think the world is his to command, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t thick as shit. Whereas you and I might approach a difficulty with rational thought and integrity, I suspect that when the Drummond family are faced with a problem, they simply require it to be got rid of; I don’t suppose they’re especially bothered about how.’ Stephen sank his hands into the dog’s fur. ‘And of course there is another way to look at it…’
‘Which is?’
‘That by scaring you senseless, you might change your mind about what you saw on the day of the accident…that you might even retract your statement, telling the police that you simply got it wrong…’
‘But that’s ridiculous!’
‘It’s not actually…Because today they only scared you. They lit fireworks, knowing that the noise would terrify Boris and that the flashes and flares would disorientate you. By taking out Boris, it effectively made you very vulnerable, which is just what they wanted of course—’
‘Yes, but…’
Stephen held up his hand. ‘And if they could do that today…what might they get up to the next day, or the next…’
Laura stared at the gentle expression on Stephen’s face. He couldn’t possibly mean that, he was just being melodramatic; but the more she looked at him, the more she could see the truth in what he had said. A shiver ran through her. Despite all that had happened to her in the past, Laura still believed in a world that was kind and good. Things like this only happened in soap operas, not real life. And yet, it had happened. Giles Drummond had knocked down a defenceless old lady and driven away; left her for dead at the side of the road, and even now, when faced with the possibility of having to accept responsibility for his actions, he was trying to wheedle his way out of it. People did do bad things, she had seen the proof of it, and Stephen was right. She felt his hand cover hers.
‘I’m not trying to scare you, Laura, but we need to think carefully about what we do next. I’m worried about you being on your own, and I know you’re very capable, and independent…’ he gave a wry smile, ‘and you’ll probably punch me for coming over all macho on you, but even though I know all this, I’m still not happy about you being by yourself. I don’t want to point out the obvious for risk of permanent injury to my nether regions, but where Giles is concerned your deafness puts you at a real disadvantage, and he knows it.’
A few months ago, she would have been angry at Stephen’s words, and his nether regions would most definitely have been under threat, but today, she simply smiled. Shehadchanged over the last few weeks, and however much she wanted to dispute that fact, her current feelings were proof, and they would have to be faced up to very soon. She wasn’t at all sure what she wanted to do about them, but for now at least the thought of Stephen not leaving her alone was stomach churningly lovely. A warm glow began to rise up from her toes.
‘So what do we do now?’ she asked, blushing.
‘Well, our most pressing business is still Freya and Sam’s wedding, and nothing must prevent that from being the glorious day it deserves to be, which also includes giving your decorations the chance to shine, by the way. As all your materials are here, and you’re going to need help gathering more of them and transporting them too, I suggest that I bagsy your spare room…just for a few days until we see how things lie. That way I can help make sure that the wedding arrangements go according to plan, and I can be on hand in case there’s any repeat of this evening. I dread to think what might have happened if I hadn’t been around.’
Laura hardly dared to think what colour her face might be, but apart from that she suddenly realised what had been flitting about in her brain over the last few minutes.
‘I was wondering about that,’ she said. ‘Don’t think that I’m not stupidly grateful of course, but why are you here? I thought we’d said goodbye for the evening.’
‘Ah…’ Stephen smiled, patting his stomach. ‘I’d like to say something worthy and heroic, but sadly it was a case of having got home, realising that I was knackered, starving, and couldn’t face cooking, and wondering if maybe you felt the same? I was going to suggest a takeaway. The Indian place at the far end of the High Street is very good, it does home delivery too.’
The look on Stephen’s face was priceless. ‘Well, it’s honest at least.’ She grinned. ‘And…actually not a bad idea. Now that I’ve thought about it, I’m starving as well. I could murder a good curry.’
