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Blood Brothers

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Год написания книги
2018
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Growing serious, Nancy lingered a moment before asking quietly, ‘Frank didn’t spoil your homecoming with the arguing, did he?’

Joe was quick to put her mind at rest. ‘Course not. Frank is Frank.’ He forced a smile. ‘Nothing changes in that respect.’

Nancy lingered nervously. ‘Sometimes I wonder about Frank,’ she confided in a whisper, ‘…he should never have spoken out like that, embarrassing Alice in front of everyone.’

Joe promised her, ‘I’m sure he didn’t mean to upset anyone, and I don’t think Alice was embarrassed; in fact I think she quietly gave him food for thought. So, don’t you worry. It’ll all be forgotten in the morning.’

Nancy gave a sigh of relief. ‘It’s so good to have you home, son.’ She then ambled her way across the room and on up the stairs to a well deserved good night’s rest.

Joe smiled when he heard her cussing herself as she went, ‘Whoops there, Nancy keep your balance! Hey! I reckon you’ve had a drop too much wine.’ She gave a hearty chuckle. ‘I reckon we all have. Dearie me! I expect we’ll suffer for it in the morning.’

‘You’re right, Mum!’ Muttering to himself, Joe pulled the blanket over his head. ‘I expect we will.’

After Nancy had gone, he lay awake, thinking about Alice.

He felt it his duty to be best man at his brother’s wedding. Once he’d made up his mind, he vowed that whatever else happened, he would keep his distance from Alice.

He promised himself to think only of her as his future sister-in-law, rather than the girl he had fallen head over heels in love with.

This evening though, when he saw how she had dealt with Frank’s boasting, in a firm but tactful manner, and afterwards her childish joy as she danced with his mother, he knew then, that he would always think of Alice as the girl who stole his heart.

He could see his life stretching before him, when Alice would always be there; his brother’s wife, and in time the mother of Frank’s children.

He made himself a heartfelt vow. ‘However hard it might be, I’ll stand beside him as best man. I’ll stay to see them married. Then I’ll be swiftly away to make something of my life.’

If he was to keep his sanity, what other choice did he have?

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_5e6f11f5-e149-5cce-9ef5-9fd47e53d596)

LYING THERE ON the sofa, knowing Alice was just a few steps away, Joe found it difficult to sleep.

He had promised himself he would leave straight after the wedding, but then what? Wherever he went, Alice would be on his mind, and try as he might, he could not envisage a life without her.

Of course there had been flings with other women. He was a red-blooded man after all. He was lonely and they were there, but he’d never wanted to get serious with any of them.

It was always Alice. It always would be, and the strange thing was, although they had only met twice he felt as though he had known her forever.

He did not know that even now, while he was thinking of Alice, she was thinking of him.

Upstairs, seated on the edge of her bed, Alice wondered about Joe, and his brother Frank; tonight she had realised how very different they were.

She had witnessed a side to Frank that she had never seen before.

She had been shocked and ashamed to hear how he expected a share of her parents’ money like it was his Godgiven right. Moreover, he had stubbornly refused to listen to reason. Instead, he came across as being self-important and unable, or unwilling, to recognise his own faults.

For the first time, she began to wonder if he had ever really seen her as being his partner for life, someone to build a future with. Could they trust and support each other like married couples do?

What real part would she play in Frank’s empire-building, she wondered. Did he expect her to be seen and not heard, while she raised his children like the timid little wife, watching from a distance while he shut her out in the same way her mother had done; as though her opinions didn’t matter?

Feeling ashamed and guilty for thinking that way, she decided she must give him the benefit of the doubt.

His attitude tonight had been unfortunate, but it could well have been the drink talking, she thought hopefully. No doubt in the light of day, he would be mortified to know what he had said.

After deliberating, Alice came to the conclusion that, for better or worse, Frank was her man, and soon she would be his wife. When and if they were ever able to own their own farm, it went without saying that she would surely be involved in any decision making.

So, with that in mind, she decided that the sensible thing to do was to put Frank’s unfortunate outburst well and truly behind them.

After all, it had been a wonderful evening; Joe was home, and with all the excitement and the wine, things were said which otherwise, may never have seen the light of day.

Moreover, because she had put him straight with regard to her parents’ dubious generosity, the subject would probably never arise again. As far as she was concerned, that was an end to it.

Her thoughts turned to Frank’s brother, Joe.

Alice saw how Joe had remained silent, carefully listening to Frank, and studying the situation before speaking his mind.

Alice had been grateful for Joe’s intervention. She appreciated Joe’s quiet, confident approach, which in her opinion had helped to calm a difficult situation this evening.

She liked Joe. Yes! She liked him a lot.

Consumed with all manner of thoughts and unable to sleep, she got up from the bed quietly so as not to wake Frank. She was agitated, and for some inexplicable reason, she suddenly felt deeply sad.

Carefully now, she tiptoed across the landing and into the bathroom; pausing only when she heard what sounded like rhythmic rolls of thunder coming from Nancy and Tom’s room. ‘That’ll be Tom sending home the sheep,’ she thought with a little grin.

Once inside the bathroom, she cleaned her teeth and had an all-over wash, before going back to the bedroom where she put on her nightgown and brushed her hair.

Afterwards, she lay on top of the bed; half-dreaming half-thinking, but with not an ounce of tiredness in her body. Instead, she felt unusually restless.

She had to get out. She needed to breathe the cool night air. ‘Maybe I’ll go to the barn and check to see if the falcon is all right,’ she said softly to herself. Yes! She decided that would be a good thing to do.

Barefoot and in a hurry, she threw her pink robe around herself, tied the belt tight, turned up the collar and went like a whisper down the stairs and silently out the door.

Relieved to have got away from the house without waking anyone, she set about negotiating the darkened path to the barn; while underfoot the way was uncomfortable without shoes, yet she seemed not to notice.

It seemed to take forever, but at last she found herself standing at the barn door. Once there, she carefully lifted the bar, and pushed open the heavy door.

It was dark inside. ‘Now where did I see Frank put the lamp?’ she muttered to herself. One evening when they came back late from the field together, she had watched as he put the tilly lamp safely away, and she remembered it was up high.

It was too dark to see. Going up on tiptoe, she ran her hand along the upper wall, and there nearest the window, she found a shelf. Very carefully, for fear she might dislodge something heavy, she gingerly walked her fingers along the shelf, until her hand alighted on a metal object.

She thought she could feel the iron handle and the glass dome. ‘That’s it!’ Clutching it in her two hands, she brought the object down, giving a sigh of relief when she realised it actually was an old tilly lamp.

Reaching up again, she found the box of matches, and with the door open she was glad to see how the moon had risen and was shining a low, ghostly light, to help her see what she was doing.

Carefully now, she raised the glass dome from the top of the lamp and placed it tenderly down. Striking a match along the rough side of the matchbox, she put the flame to the wick.

Almost at once, the wick spluttered into life and lit the barn with a soft, yellow glow.

Giving a sigh of relief, Alice now carried the lamp high as she made her way to the far end of the stables.
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