Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection

‘The lad was crossing the far side of the field when they came at him,’ the owner had confessed. ‘He was lucky they didn’t kill him.’ He was all for shooting them. But Clem Jackson persuaded him otherwise.

It was eleven-thirty the next morning when John climbed aboard the tram in Blackburn. Tanned by sea and sun, and with a jaunt to his step, he caught the attention of several women passengers. ‘Now there’s a good-looking young man.’ The woman who whispered this was nearer sixty than fifty, and when John smiled at her she didn’t know which way to look, so she turned to her friend. ‘Did you see that?’ she breathed. ‘He’s got a lovely smile, don’t you think?’

Her friend was older and wiser, and the teeniest bit envious. ‘Lovely smile or not, he’s probably on his way to break some young woman’s heart.’ She’d been around long enough to know about such things.

Some way along the tram, John seated himself, paid his fare and got chatting to the conductor. ‘You’ve made a conquest back there,’ the conductor said, rolling the ticket out of his machine and handing it over. ‘Them poor women are swooning all over the place.’

‘I can’t be seen flirting with other women,’ John said with a grin. ‘I don’t think my future wife would like that.’

Being as the tram was almost empty, and this route was a lonely one, the conductor sat in the seat opposite. ‘Oh aye?’ He was ready for a chat. ‘On your way to be wed, are you?’

John nodded. ‘Soonever we can arrange it,’ he said proudly. ‘I’ve been away, but now I’m back for good.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘Emily.’

‘Pretty name.’

‘Pretty lady.’

‘What made you leave her?’

Here, John grew cautious. ‘Oh, this and that.’

The conductor guessed. ‘Family problems, I expect,’ he remarked knowingly. ‘We all have ’em.’

John neither denied nor confirmed it. Instead he answered lightly, ‘Getting wed is an expensive business.’

‘So, you went away to make your fortune, is that it?’

‘Summat like that.’ He patted his coat pocket. ‘I’ve enough here to make us a good life. It took over two years of being without her, but it’ll all be worthwhile now. We can make a fresh start. We’ll get wed and have a family, and the time spent apart will soon fade.’ His heart soared with joy. ‘By! I can’t wait to see her.’

The conductor was realistic. ‘Ah, but will she still feel the same way?’

Taken aback, John asked, ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you said yourself, you’ve been two year and more apart. Folks change in that length o’ time. How can you be sure she hasn’t found herself another fella while you’ve been gone?’

John’s heart sank. ‘Because she wouldn’t, that’s all. We love each other. We’ve always loved each other.’

‘Oh, aye! I’m sure.’ Then, regretting his thoughtless remark, the conductor now tried to soften it. ‘Tek no notice o’ me,’ he said. ‘I wish you both all the happiness in the world.’

Pointing out of the window, he said, ‘We’ve another couple of passengers coming on board.’ And as the tram slowed to accept them, he was glad to move away. You and your big mouth! he chided himself. Trust you to put a damper on that young fella’s homecoming.

Some folks had a talent of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Unfortunately, he was one of ’em.

Some short time later, having got off the tram in Salmesbury, John slung his kitbag across his back and set off across the fields towards the spinney and Potts End Farm.

The nearer he got, the harder his heart pounded. He couldn’t believe that now, after their long separation, he was so close to her. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. For too long now he had been stumbling through every minute of every day, longing to be with his darling Emily.

Memories flashed through his mind – of himself going away, of Emily’s pleas for him to stay and his persuading her it had to be done if they were to spend the rest of their lives together in contentment. Then that last embrace, and the awful feeling of loneliness at leaving her. Afterwards, when she was gone from his sight, the long, empty time between, when he had waited only for the day he would be back.

His heart lifted. That day was here now, and it was the most important day of his life. He thought briefly of Clem Jackson, and his lip curled. He’d learned a lot about self-defence in the Navy, and he was more than ready to take that fat bastard on and teach him a lesson he’d never forget.

As he got to the top of the hill, he could see the curl of smoke rising from the Ramsdens’ chimney. ‘I’m here, my darling,’ he murmured, his heart bouncing inside him. ‘I’m home.’

He could barely wait to throw his arms round her and hold her tight. Thinking about it, he quickened his steps. He was so close. So tantalisingly close.

It was when he got to the spinney that he heard the laughter. Curious, he slowed his step. Some instinct kept him back, partly hidden by the overhanging branches, yet able to see down to the farm.

And what he saw was like ice-cold spray, flung in his face by an angry sea.

Not knowing what to think or how to deal with it, he stayed there, out of sight; watching the scene unfold below him, and with every minute his dream slipping away.

At first his gaze fell on Emily, and his love for her was all-consuming. With the chill March daylight glinting in her golden-brown hair and that familiar, lovely face, she was everything he remembered. And yet she was different somehow, though for the moment he could not tell why.

Curious, he followed her proud gaze. He saw the child run towards her; he saw how she opened her arms and caught that tiny bundle to her heart, her eyes alight with love – and when in that moment she shared the laughter with the child, she seemed to John to be the most beautiful, fulfilled woman on God’s earth.

Slowly, when the truth began to dawn, the revelation was crippling.

For a moment, he could not think straight, though his every nerve-ending was telling him that this little girl was Emily’s child. But how could that be? The conductor’s words ran through his mind. ‘How can you be sure she hasn’t found another fella?’

Torn by what he was seeing, he could not move away.

From the corner of his eye he caught sight of the stranger as he walked towards Emily and the child. He saw him smile and open his arms to take her from Emily; she released the child without a moment’s hesitation. The man swung the child round, while Emily laughed out loud at the little one’s delight.

After a while, Emily approached the man and collected the child into her arms. As she did so, the child uplifted her face for a kiss from the man. Obligingly, he cupped her tiny face in his hands to gently kiss her on the forehead. But then before he drew away, he quickly turned his head to Emily and kissed her full on the mouth.

Unable to look any longer, John turned away, his heart breaking. ‘No, it can’t be!’ he muttered. ‘It can’t be!’ The images of Emily, the child and the man, burned in his mind.

Summoning all the courage he had, he forced himself to look again. The couple had gone inside to the kitchen and closed the door on the chilly day. John strained to see inside. The table was set with food, and in the centre, a cake with two bright candles told him it was the child’s birthday.

There were six people seated at the table: the child, Emily and her mother Aggie, the old grandad whom he knew and loved; and the two men, the younger one who had kissed both Emily and the child, and last of all an older man who looked vaguely familiar. There was no sign of Clem.

As he watched, still hidden in the spinney, the child leaned forward to blow out the candles, her small arms wrapped round Emily on one side, and the man on the other. Emily glanced at the man, and he smiled back. It was a warm, intimate smile, and it cut through John’s heart like a knife through butter.

Devastated, he turned away for the last time. ‘Oh, dear God.’ His voice broke with emotion. The reality of what he had seen was too much to take in. Without further ado, he cut a path to Lizzie’s cottage. His aunt would put him straight, he thought. She would tell him the truth.

When she saw him approaching over the hill, Lizzie could hardly believe her eyes. ‘John? Oh my goodness, is it really you?’ Peering from the bench where she had been resting after finishing her work in the yard, she recognised that familiar long stride and that mop of dark hair, and in a minute was on her feet and hurrying towards him.

When he took her in his arms she laughed and cried, and held him for what seemed an age. ‘Oh lad – I thought I’d never see you again.’ Wiping away the tears, she looked up at him, and her love was bright in her expressive green eyes.

‘Come in!’ she laughed. ‘Come away on in. You’re at home now, son.’ With her arm entwined in his and her heart full of joy, she went inside with him. In the midst of her own happiness, she did not notice how sad and subdued he seemed.

Inside the cosy parlour, Lizzie bustled about. ‘Eee, you’re a sight for sore eyes, my lad. Let me cut you some fresh-baked bread and a hunk o’ cheese – how does that sound? Oh, and a pint mug o’ tea.’

John shook his head. ‘Not just yet,’ he answered gently. ‘There’s things I need to ask you first.’ Even now after what he had seen down there in the valley, he still nurtured the smallest gleam of hope.