The Nothing Girl Part 42

He kissed her cheek. 'Off you go. And for G.o.ds sake, have a bit of a lie-in tomorrow. You deserve it. Now, Im a.s.suming you snagged yourself a couple of firemen and chained them to the walls with all your other lovers, so dont keep them waiting.

She snorted.

'And keep the noise down in there, he called after her.

She slammed her door.

'Kev, Im sorry, I cant let you back into your room until we get the OK and Ive no idea when that will be.

'No problem, Mr Checkland. Ill sleep here, in front of the range. Just in case anyone ... comes back.

I hadnt thought of that and looked at Russell in sudden alarm. He shook his head. 'If theyve got any sense, Richard and Julia have got him out of the country by now. Sharon, its really late. Ill get you a taxi.

'No need, she said, innocently. 'Ill stay too. Just in case. Ill curl up on the sofa.

'You dont have to do that, said my dense husband. 'There are spare rooms upstairs and I kicked him under the table.

' obviously you prefer to be down here in case of any emergency. Commendable ... dedication. Remind me to remember to pay you this month. Jenny, go to bed. You look dreadful.

Glad to go, I said goodnight and departed for the longest and best bath of my life.

Emerging, pink and fluffy some considerable time later, I found Russell in T-shirt and shorts, sitting at the bottom of my bed, rubbing his hair dry.

He dropped the towel and looked at me for a very long time. My heart rate picked up.

Finally, he said, 'You told your aunt and uncle that I went like a train?

Whatever I had been expecting, it wasnt that.

'What?

'You told them I went like a train. Do you even know what that means?

'Well, I heard someone say it once ...

'Not in connection with the Great Western Railway timetable, Im thinking.

'Um ...

'And how would you know anyway?

'Well ...

'How can I possibly maintain my reputation as a sober married man and responsible member of the community when youre dashing around telling everyone I go like a train?

'Um ... well, if you think it would help, I could tell everyone that on the contrary, you definitely dont go like a train.

He closed his eyes. 'I never actually thought Id have to say this, but Jenny please stop talking.

'I was just trying to help.

He shook his head. 'Sometimes, I really dont know what to do with you.

'Yes, you do.

He smiled. 'Yes, I do.

He stood quickly, scooped me up in his arms, laid me carefully on the bed, and made slow love with such exquisite gentleness that I nearly fell apart.

Epilogue.

I awoke very early. Even the birds werent up yet. I turned my head on the pillow and smiled at the giant, golden horse standing in the corner, swishing his tail and filling the room with the scent of warm ginger biscuits.

'h.e.l.lo, Jenny.

'h.e.l.lo, Thomas.

'Come downstairs. Dont wake anyone.

I disentangled myself gently from the randy octopus sleeping next to me, found some clothes, grabbed an old sweater of Russells against the early morning chill, and quietly let myself out of the house.

He waited for me in the lane.

'Thomas.

I put my arms around him. It was so wonderful to touch him again. He lowered his head and rested his forehead against mine. I lost myself in huge happiness. I stroked his cheek, arranged his mane, and tidied his forelock. He blew in my hair.

'Shall we walk a little?

We set off in the dim, grey morning light. Somewhere in the trees, a bird started to sing. Theyd all be at it soon, heralding the start of another long summers day.

I put my hand on his neck as we walked. He didnt seem to mind.

'So, how are you, Jenny? Whats been happening?

Where to begin?

'Well, Russell is exactly the same. Hes painting like a madman at the moment. A local gallery took some of his work, which was quite well received. Someone came down from London to see them. He sold one and got a commission and the local paper did a piece about him and hes putting together a body of work for an exhibition next year.

'Hows it going? Is it coming back to him?

'Hes struggling a little. His work is different. I think hes making a mistake trying to capture his old style. Hes not the same person he was then.

'Is he happy?

'He shouts a lot, so I think so.

'What about Francesca?

'Oh, youll not believe this; she took a shine to Marilyn and offered to do a promotion for the local donkey centre. The press was there and she was photographed cuddling hugely photogenic baby donkeys. She was a ma.s.sive hit and now does a lot of fund raising for them and donkeys in general. Tons of good publicity of course, which does her no harm at all, but I think she enjoys it. And, more surprise, shes very big in Spain.

'What? Is it our revenge for the Armada?

'They love her over there. Shes always dashing off to do photo shoots and things. Daniel often goes out to join her.

'Theyre still together, are they?

'Very much so. I paused. 'A lot of people learned a lot that night. Oh, youll never guess Mrs Crisp has a boyfriend.

He stopped dead and I walked into him.

'No! he said, as we sorted ourselves out.

'Yes. Its the a.s.sessor from the insurance company. He turned up to inspect the damage and a.s.sess the claim. He kept coming back with all these silly questions. Russell was going mad thinking they were trying to wriggle out of paying and was barely even civil to the poor man, and then it turned out that Mrs Crisp was the attraction. He cant keep away. His name is Bill and he takes her out every Sunday. She stayed out overnight once and didnt turn up until after breakfast the next morning and we all had to pretend shed just overslept. Russell is worrying hes going to have to do the "What are your intentions?" speech.

'Whos "we all"?

'Well, Kevins still with us, but not for much longer. Sharon has seen suitable premises for her cup-cake shop, with living accommodation over the top. We loaned them a bit of money. No idea whether it will be a success or if Kevin will get a job after college, but theyre young. Theyll cope.

'Whereas you, of course, Jenny, are almost completely over the hill.

'I consider myself to have reached the age of mature reflection, if thats what you mean.

'So, what else?

'Youre insatiable, arent you? Not a lot, really.

He sighed. 'I mean, Jenny, what about you?

'Oh, me. Well, Im in the process of selling the bookshop. A national chain, you know the one, has made me an offer Im going to accept. And I did a bit of work with Daniel on his TV series. It was really interesting. I loved it. And we may do another about Queen Isabella. You know, The She Wolf of France. And I ride a lot. I paused. 'Did you send him?

'Who?

'The other Thomas.

'Certainly not. How could I? I simply caused a few things to happen.

I remembered Russell telling me about the mare Id so nearly had. 'But as soon as I saw this fellow, I knew he was the one for you ...

'And see how well it all turned out.

By now, we were pa.s.sing the Braithwaites farm. Martin stood by his back door, mug in hand. I waved.

The sun was coming up over the hill as we stepped out on to the moors. Another bright, golden day was being born. Although not as bright and golden as Thomas himself, looking down at me with love in his eyes.

'So, what about you, Thomas? Are you well?

'Of course.

'And your little boy? Did he ...? Was he ...?

'No.

There was a world of pain in that short word.

I stopped.

'Oh, Thomas.

He sighed. ' I did what I could. It wasnt enough. Its never enough. He was so small. But I was able to take away his pain and his fear at the end.

I felt my own eyes fill with tears. 'Im so sorry.

'It happens, Jenny. More often than I would like. There isnt usually a happy ending. In fact, I can only ever recall one.

Poor, poor Thomas. Who gave his all. Every time. Who never stinted. And who almost always failed. I stood on tiptoe and kissed his forehead. 'Its good to see you. Why have you come?

'I left you more suddenly than I wanted to. There were still things to say. And I missed you. And I thought you might like to see this.

We started forwards again. I rested my hand on his shoulder, feeling his warmth and strength. Trying to find the courage to come out and say it ...

'Thomas, would you like ...?

I stopped, suddenly. We breasted the top of the hill and there, spread over the valley before me a whole herd of huge horses of every colour. Flashing chestnut, creamy white, glittering silver, rich dark brown. Beautiful horses. Beautiful, big, strong horses. Some stood in small groups with their heads close together; some grazed, one or two drank from the stream, some stood quietly and alone, perhaps quietly enjoying the early morning sun. A s.n.a.t.c.hed moment of peace.

Above them all, on the hill, stood a solitary horse, far bigger than all the others, coal black, still and watchful. The King Horse.

But there was only one golden horse. My Thomas, standing quietly at my side, watching me watch them.

My heart swelled at the beauty and majesty of them.

'Thomas ...

He said, 'This doesnt happen very often. I thought you might like to see it. You could call it a works outing, I suppose.

On the hill opposite, the black horse shook his head and stamped his foot. I felt the ground tremble.

'I must go.

No, he mustnt ...

'Wait. Thomas, I wanted to say ... you dont have to be alone. Your little boy died and youre sad, but you dont have to be alone. Why dont you come and see me, just every now and then? When you need to talk. Or if you dont want to talk, if things have gone badly, just to be with a friend. I dont want to lose you. I hadnt realised, until I saw you again ... And I owe you so much. Let me repay a little. Please. Dont let this be the last time we see each other.