Poppies At the Well (ebook)

Argumento de Poppies At the Well (ebook)

She heard the sound of water and was waylaid. Worms Head and the sea were distant, and the afternoon languid. It would take only a moment, and she had until evening, a whole day free. Unimaginable luxury. She turned and climbed the downs, seeking the waterfall she sensed was near, but it eluded her. Perhaps in the next copse of trees

You looking for someone, Miss?

The man was tall, dark, rough-looking; neither young nor old. She looked no more. Instinctively, she lowered her eyes and backed away, for she was unused to people, only children, and afraid of men.

No. I beg your pardon, I heard the water Her voice trailed.

Its not a fall. Here, Ill show you. He stepped back and moved some bushes. Ill not hurt you, he offered gruffly, sensing her fear.

Warily, she inched forward, then she saw it, a spring gushing out of an old pipe set into a low, dry stone wall.

They call it The Well Talgarths Well. Its not mine, though its on my land. Everyone has the right to draw water here. Not that they do, he murmured. No one comes here any more.

Your land? she ventured shyly, looking around the wilderness that was the downs. You live here?

Where Im standing, Miss.

For the first time she looked past the greenery and saw the veranda. Stone-built, it blended with nature. Only the profusion of poppies betrayed mans artifice. They were everywhere, their full round heads hanging heavy as though their stalks could no longer bear their weight. Here and there a bloom had burst into full crimson. The heralds of summer.

Its beautiful, she stammered. It looks as though it was meant to be this way.

My grandfathers grandfather built it. He carved his name and date over the door, he said proudly.

She gazed at the cottage, long, low, straw-thatched, built of the same stone that littered Rhossili Down, marking the Norsemens graves.

Would you like to see inside, Miss? he pressed. Its much the same as it was when the first Ellis brought his bride here.

Suddenly she remembered where she was. And the Mistress. The stern, uncompromising voice rang through her mind.

Never speak to a man, Kitty, unless women are near. Men want only one thing, and once they have it, a woman is tarnished, used-up, despised by the world. Finished.0