A Maxwell Loss (ebook)

Argumento de A Maxwell Loss (ebook)

Part Four of an historical romance saga set in the Scottish Borders.

Bridie saw two small figures wending their way along the street as she drove through Lochandee village on her way home. Her mind had been on Fiona dashing away, barely taking time to say goodbye, but when she saw Ewan, her young brother, she realised school must be over for the day. She was even later than she had thought. She drew the car to a halt beside them.

‘Jump in quickly, you two, if you want a lift.’

‘Oh, good-ee, Bridie,’ Ewan whooped and pulled open the car door with alacrity. It was a long walk from school, up through the village and along the road to Glens of Lochandee. He was hoping to get a bicycle for his eighth birthday in January. Lucy Mason hung back. ‘Come on, Lucy, get in quick,’ Ewan urged.

‘Mama said I had to stay at Carol’s until she came home,’ Lucy said, ‘but I’d rather go with Ewan. He says there’s a poorly calf.’

‘Yes, I’ve just been to the vet’s for medicine to make Moonbeam better. Hop in then. I’m late as it is, so your mum and I will be a bit later finishing the milking tonight. I expect she’ll be glad to know you’re with Ewan.’

Lucy scrambled eagerly into the car. The farm was like a second home to her and she needed no persuasion.

‘Isn’t that Carol’s two girls just ahead?’ Bridie asked.

‘Yes, we were going to play “house”, but I like being at the farm best.’

‘That’s good.’ Bridie drew the car to a halt again beside the two older children. ‘Will you tell your mum I’m taking Lucy back to Glens of Lochandee with me please, Joanne? Just say Beth may be a bit later getting home tonight.’

Beth Mason had worked at Glens of Lochandee most of her life, starting as soon as she left school when she was 13. She had missed a few years after she married Harry Mason. They had taken over her grandfather’s cycle shop in the middle of the village and Harry had added small electrical goods and repairs. They had been doing nicely until war was declared.

Harry had been one of the first to be called up for active service and Beth had been unable to carry on the little business without him. They had been forced to close the shop so Beth had scrubbed out the empty rooms and taken in a family of evacuees. At the time Beth and Harry had been longing for children of their own, but Beth had begun to despair of her wishes ever being fulfilled. Consequently she had welcomed Carol Williams and her two small girls. Carol’s husband was in the Navy and he had urged her to leave their home in Glasgow for the relative safety of the border village of Lochandee. Less than a year later his ship had been torpedoed and he had been lost at sea. When the war ended Carol had decided to settle in Lochandee and she now rented a house just 50 yards or so up the street from Beth and Harry. The two families had remained friends, helping each other whenever they were needed.

There were some good things to have come out of the war and the painful separations, Bridie reflected as she listened to Ewan and Lucy chattering happily in the back of the car. They had been born within a fortnight of each other, nine months after Harry had returned to camp and Conan had left to join the RAF. Bridie had been almost 15 at the time and she remembered the comfort Ewan had brought to her parents, and even to herself, compensating a little for Conan’s absence from their close family circle.

Lucy’s birth on a bleak February day in 1941 had seemed like a miracle, bringing inestimable joy to Beth and Harry. Bridie loved both the children in spite of the mischief they often caused.

Beth had returned to work at Glens of Lochandee as soon as she had recovered from Lucy’s difficult birth. Farmhands were in short supply, with most of the able-bodied men fighting for their country, and all available hands were needed on the farms and in the factories. So Lucy and Ewan had grown up together and had quickly become as inseparable as twins. Their elders, with the exception of Beth, were often amused by their identical mannerisms. When comments were made about any similarity between the two children, Beth would exhibit a rare irritation.0