Pennyroyal (17 page)

“If that’s what you would prefer… Have you details of the transaction? Any papers?”

He was totally in control, so self-contained. She was out of her depth, lost in a search that could never have a happy ending.

Cassy felt herself drowning in her need to stay with Jake, yet they were talking like hostile strangers.

“You can have Pennyroyal back for all I care,” she said wearily. “The mine obviously means a lot to you and who am I to stand between a man and his mine? I don’t want anything more to do with it or with you.”

“What do you mean? Or with me? I’ve done nothing but think about you these last few days. You can’t get rid of me now,” said Jake curtly, with a look that chilled her to the bone.

“You’re just using me. Men always want their own way; their ideas take first place. Women don’t exist as individuals. We just get treated as a form of decoration. You’re no exception in your attitude to women. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going with you. One minute we’re getting on fine and I’m beginning to think you’re a really nice person; the next you’re hateful and everything you do is cruel and unkind.”

“Thank you for the mini-lecture; that just confirms what I first thought of you. You’re spoilt, selfish and irrational. A wonderful combination with your looks. Quite a mantrap.” She flinched from the wrath in his eyes. “Now, do as you are told and get in the car. Perhaps you don’t care if you get soaked, but I’ve had my fill recently of wearing wet clothes.”

Cassy had not noticed the scattering of rain on her skinny knit suit, almond shaped-drops discolouring the pale fabric.

“I’ll get a taxi.”

“Is there no end to your stubbornness? Don’t you realise that I have never done this before? I don’t usually drive half a day to see a woman. I’m beginning to regret it.”

“Don’t expect me to be flattered.”

“I won’t. I don’t expect anything from you. That’s one thing I’ve learned in these last weeks. Oh Cassy, this is ridiculous.” He let out a long breath and ran a hand over his cropped hair. “Where are we getting with this? Nowhere. We’re wasting valuable time in arguing and fighting when we could be indulging in far more pleasant activities.”

The sudden change of tactics took Cassy by surprise. His face swiftly reflected a tenderness that filled his dark eyes. It seemed that they were alone on the street; the traffic vanished, the pedestrians had all disappeared into an unnatural mist. She was helpless.

“Can I take you home?”

Cassy knew it was a momentous decision.

He searched her face for an answer, touching her chin lightly with his finger. All her resistance went up in flames.

“Only because it’s raining,” she murmured. “And this hat was expensive.”

“Terrific hat,” he agreed.

“I believe you got it to rain on purpose,” said Cassy, glancing up at him uncertainly.

“I did indeed. You’ve no idea the trouble I’ll go to just for a few minutes alone with you.”

Her eyes softened with laughter. “I didn’t know you could control the weather.”

“One of my many talents…”

She glanced round for the muddy Land Rover but Jake was leading her to a big, silver Mercedes parked nearby.

“My town car,” he drawled.

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile that made Cassy’s heart turn over. The small crooked tooth was so endearing, part of the big man that she loved so much. And she did love him with all her being.

It was a heady moment as she realised how deeply she loved and wanted him in her life.

Jake wrapped his arms round her and buried his face in her hair, the damp tendrils clinging to his skin.

“Don’t let’s fight anymore, angel,” he said. “Leave the past where it belongs. Don’t let their yesterday take away our today. You and I have so much to look forward to and it could be wonderful. It will be wonderful, I promise you.”

They clung to each other, melding together, their bodies aching with the need for closeness. A pulsing passion raced through their veins. They wanted to feel, to touch, to devour… Cassy responded to Jake’s demanding mouth with an abandon that shook her. I will never forget this moment, she thought as her head swam with delight.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

Chapter Ten

The ringing of the telephone broke through the mist of Cassy’s early morning dream. She stretched out an arm to lift off the receiver, the sheet slipping from her bare shoulder.

“Hello….” she said sleepily.

“Miss Cassy? I hope I didn’t wake you, but I had to call you.” It was Mrs. Hadlow. The housekeeper’s dry voice was pitched with excitement.

“What is it, Mrs. Hadlow? Has something happened?”

“Well, not exactly happened but it’s something I think you ought to know about since you are so interested in everything to do with Pennyroyal,” Mrs. Hadlow began. “Of course, I know one shouldn’t actually, because they are private but I’m not sure if they are private now that she’s dead.”

Cassy was afraid to stop the torrent of words. She knew long before Mrs. Hadlow had finished where fate was taking her and it was back to Derbyshire, perhaps her hands on the last clue that would untangle the mystery around Pennyroyal.

“What do you mean? I’m not quite following you.”

“Oh, Miss Cassy, I had to start clearing out your grandfather’s things. I’d been putting it off for weeks but it had to be done. I came across a cardboard box; it looked as if it hadn’t been opened for years. All tied up and covered in cobwebs.”

Cassy rolled over and caught hold of a wrap to put round her shoulders. The bed seemed very large and empty. She wished Jake had stayed, but he had left her in the early hours of the morning. It had been a wonderful evening spent talking and learning about each other; and they hadn’t fought once.

“There were all sorts of things in the box, mostly belonging to Miss Alician, little trinkets and flipperies that she had treasured. At the bottom of the box was a pile of old exercise books, but they were nothing to do with school. They were diaries, Miss Alician’s diaries.”

Alician’s diaries… She had been there on the spot, when everything had happened. Perhaps only a schoolgirl, but nevertheless she would not have been blind to what was going on.

“Mrs. Hadlow, how amazing.” Her voice quivered with excitement. “I’d love to have a look at them.”

“I hope I did right in phoning you.”

“Yes, of course you did. I think I’ll come up at the weekend for a flying visit. Would you mind, Mrs. Hadlow?”

“You’re welcome, any time, you should know that.”

The days went swiftly with Jake promising to return in time to drive Cassy to Netherdale. She could not wait to read the diaries and hoped they were not simply a catalogue of meals and homework. She knew so little about her mother that even a bare outline of her life as a young girl would be fascinating.

Eventually Anton told her to go home.

“Anyone can see you’re beyond concentrating today.” He grinned. “Who’s the lucky man? Or have you been left another mine?”

“One is quite enough trouble, thank you. The mine is for sale. Are you interested?”

“I’ll give you a flyer.”

“Done!”

Every time Cassy saw Jake, she marvelled again at the height and size of the big man. He stood out against everyone, dwarfing them with his powerful build. She knew it was a primitive feeling that his bulk would protect her from all the blows life might aim, but nevertheless such was the strength he emanated, anyone would think twice before crossing his path.

He immediately took her in his arms, and they stood close and still, not wanting to break the magic of the moment.

“Hello, I’ve missed you,” he said.

“And I’ve missed you,” said Cassy. “It’s been years.”

“I’m glad we’re going back to Netherdale,” said Jake. “There’s something I want to show you.”

“Another surprise? Not another Kettlehulme?”

“No, something even bigger and better than Kettlehulme. You’ll love it,” he grinned. “Especially if you’re wearing the right shoes.”

“If you’re going to spend the weekend criticising my clothes, then it’s off before it’s even started,” said Cassy, trying to looked annoyed but finding it impossible.

He drove fast up the motorway but so smoothly that Cassy had complete confidence in his skill as a driver. As the miles slipped by, Cassy was lulled into a dream-like state in the warm cocoon of the purring Mercedes. She wished they could drive on forever, close and intimate, hardly talking but their thoughts attuned.

They stopped for a quick supper at a Little Chef cafe; Cassy ordered a peach and cottage cheese salad, Jake went for steak and chips.

Cassy leaned across the table with a smile.

“You certainly know how to spoil a girl on her first date,” she teased.

Jake’s face was deadpan. “Is this our first date?”

“This is the first time you’ve taken me out to a meal.”

“I bought you sandwiches at the Castle Inn,” he said.

“And ate half of them yourself.”

“Things can only get better,” he said placidly.

Cassy liked his dry, self-mocking humour; it amused her more than other ways of being funny. She was noticing new qualities about him that had escaped her before. Behind that rough and arrogant exterior, he was kind, resolute, fair-minded.

It was very late when they arrived at Netherdale and as they turned down the lane to Ridge House, Cassy had a wonderful feeling of coming home. She half expected to see the shadowy figure of her grandfather leaning on the gate, his dog at his feet, an arm raised in welcome.

Mrs. Hadlow was waiting up but after bustling around making hot cocoa, she left them quickly to prepare a room for Jake.

“These are what you’ll have come for, Miss Cassy,” she said, taking a pile of faded exercise books out of a kitchen drawer. “I’ll leave you to browse through them on your own. Perhaps you’ll find what you’re looking for. She was a lovely girl, I’m sure, a real little beauty, our Alician.”

“Good night, Mrs. Hadlow,” said Cassy, giving her a quick hug. “We’ll have a long talk tomorrow.”

When Mrs. Hadlow had disappeared upstairs, Jake came over and kissed Cassy lightly on the cheek. She caught his hand and held it to her face, her eyes alight with love.

“I’m going to leave you too,” he said, showing a sensitive understanding of the circumstances. “I think you should get to know your mother on your own. I’ll take a walk.”

“Jake darling, thank you,” she said, her voice trembling. “And for understanding.”

When he had gone, Cassy pulled a chair over to the fire, fussed around with cushions and fixed a light over her shoulder. She curled up in the armchair and flicked through the lined pages, glancing at the small, neat schoolgirl handwriting. Alician had put the date above each entry and underlined it.

Cassy sorted through the books putting them into order, though it was tempting to read the last ones first. They were the ones which would surely give the clearest picture of those last days at Pennyroyal.

She began with the year 1946 when Alician was fifteen, expecting to wade through long descriptions of school, but almost immediately she was plunged into the most unexpected drama:

He came today to see father. I could hardly stand it, so handsome I couldn’t breathe. When he said hello, I just fell apart, my knees were like water. I was in heaven and I ran out on the moor, just saying his name over and over again, Lewis, Lewis, Lewis, I love you, I love you, I love you…

Cassy leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes, letting the words sink in. She could hardly believe it. Alician had been in love with Lewis Everand, her father’s boyhood friend, a man who had probably been in and out of Ridge House since she was a baby. A man twice her age and worldly. Cassy discovered that Alician had been following Lewis around for years; no one knew that she nursed such a passion for him.

She kept it well hidden and no one thought it unusual that she rode or cycled over to Kettlehulme several times a week, that she would happen to meet Lewis at the market in Netherdale, or out walking on the moors. She kept a log of his activities and could track him down any day, any time.

Found Lewis trying to fix the old well at Kettlehulme. I keep telling him the place is falling down. We had a lovely talk and Lewis told me all his plans for the house. If only I could help him! I would work so hard. We would make Kettlehulme glorious again. I’d give parties in the garden in the summer, and we’d be so happy together. Oh Lewis, wait for me to grow up.

But he did not wait, did he, thought Cassy, remembering the wedding photograph. Now she could understand the frozen expression on the bridesmaid’s taut face and the crushed flowers.

Lewis took a day off work. He went out walking with some woman. I pretended not to see them. She is so plain, I couldn’t believe it. I think she’s on holiday, so she’ll soon go. Did nothing today. Didn’t feel like it. Amy has made me a new skirt, gathered and full. Nice.

Cassy read on, her heart laden with pity for the young girl so infatuated with the older man. Her whole life revolved around him. It was now 1949. Alician’s anguish when he became engaged to Fiona was wordless. She simply filled page after page with his name and the paper was crinkled as if large wet tears had fallen on its surface.