Chapter
24
"We're
back" Ellie, Ian and Bonnie walked
through the door
"Hello
darling" Nicky greeted them "Tea anyone" she offered
"Yes
please Mum" Ellie put her suitcase down and took Bonnie into the living
room, Ian put his suitcase in his bedroom,
"So
how did it go" Jennifer walked into her Father's room,
"It
went well, Bonnie finally calmed down when she saw her Mother"
"That's
good. Bonnie will get better won't she, I mean it was the first time they were parted" Jennifer asked
"Yes
it will, she's only young, she doesn't understand the concept of going away for
a couple of day's" Ian put his overnight bag on top of the wardrobe
"Jenny"
"Yes
Dad"
"You
didn't sent me there with Bonnie for another reason did you" Ian asked
"No
I didn't" she answered
"Jennifer"
Ian stared her down
"Ok.
Ok, yes, I, I had a really good feeling that if you took her to London
then...Martin might get to meet her if he was around and Ellie might have
bumped into him" She looked at her father "Ok I know it's a long shot
but we never know where he's going to be, he could have been in London, I mean
you never know" Jennifer finished, Ian stepped forwards
"Yes
it was a bit of a long shot Jenny, a really, really long shot, but, you were
right, last night Martin meet his daughter for the first time"
Jennifer
jumped with excitement,
"Yes,
yes I knew it, I knew it, I've got to see Ellie" she ran out of the room
and into the living room where Ellie was sat telling everyone about her trip to
London,
"Ellie,
Ellie, did you see Martin in London" she asked, everyone looked at Ellie,
"Yes
I did" she said after few minutes
"He's
alive" Lindsey said
"Yes
he is Lindsey and he met Bonnie too" Ian said stood in the doorway,
"He
finally got to meet Bonnie" Chrissie smiled
"Yes
he did and he also gave me this letters to give to you all" Ellie handed
everyone a letter each. They spent the next ten minutes reading their letters,
"It's
good to know Martins ok" Lindsey said "do you think he will survive
the rest of the war"
"Yes
Lindsey he will" Ellie told her
"Are
you sure" Jennifer asked
"Curtain"
Ellie smiled
Life
returned to normal, well as normal as it could with Martin away. Over the next
few months everyone got on with their day to day business, Ellie and Jennifer
received their first order of fabric from Right Now Fabrics and it was a lot.
Lindsey and Chrissie continued looking after the chickens and attending school
with Louis who would soon be finishing and working on the farm full time. Maria
soon came up with an idea of opening a pub in the village after reading a
notice in the town nearby about extending the village,
"I
think it's a great idea" Ian said one dinner time after Maria had told
them her idea,
"It
really is" Jennifer put in
"But
Maria, do you know anything about running a pub" Ian asked
"Of
course I do, I use to work in one" she replied
"Yes
but Maria you where only a barmaid" Nicky reminded her
"I
didn't think woman worked back then" Chrissie said
"Of
course we did, the rich didn't but we certainly did. Anyway Nicky, Edward
taught me everything I need t know"
"Edward,
the Landlord's son" Nicky asked spuriously
"Yes"
Maria answered looking away from sisters eye
"Oh,
my, god you were sleeping together, the rumours were true"
"Well
of course they were true, we were in love, engaged to be married you know, well
before he died" a tear fell down Maria's cheek,
"I
never knew, why didn't you tell me" Nicky took her sister's hand
"Because
he was already ill and I knew Mother would never have approved had she
known"
"How
did he die" Louis asked
"Cancer"
Maria took deep breath then looked at Ellie "are you alright Ellie, you've
been very quiet over there"
"I'm
fine Auntie Maria" she was picking at her food
"No
you're not, you're not eating" Maria looked at her
"She's
not eaten anything all day and she left the shop early as well" Jennifer
said
"Are
you ok Ellie, what's wrong" Nicky asked her daughter
"Well, I'm pregnant again" Ellie announced, everyone looked so happy
"Oh
Ellie are you really" Chrissie asked
"Yes
I am"
"Congratulations
Ellie, how far along are you" Ian asked
"About
three months" She put her hand on her tummy
"Have
you written to Martin" Lindsey asked
"Yes
I have, I sent the letter off today"
"Is
that why you left the shop early" Jennifer asked
"Yes
I had to go into town" Everyone was so happy they started fussing over
Ellie, they were then interrupted by Bonnie throwing mash potato at everyone
and shrieking loudly
"Bonnie
that's enough, come on let's get you cleaned up" Ellie picked up her daughter "You're going to have a baby
brother or sister in about six months you know, someone to play with and watch
over as you grow up" they left the room and went into the kitchen.
* * * * * * * * *
"The
chickens have escaped again" Chrissie shouted through the door, everyone
jumped up, put on their coats and ran outside to help Chrissie and Lindsey
round up the chickens. Ellie who was now near her due date struggled to get up
of the sofa,
"Shall
we go make everyone some nice hot choco for when they have finished" she
said to Bonnie after she managed to get off the sofa,
"Ok
Mummy" Bonnie replied and followed her Mother out of the living room.
Outside
the rain was coming down heavy, wellingtons were on, hats were on but it still
didn't stop them from getting wet, after all they were running around after
chickens.
"Thanks
for the help Ellie" Louis said as they all came back inside,
"I'm
heavily pregnant Louis, I can't go running around after chickens" she put
the mug's of hot choco on the table,
"Ooo,
hot choco, thanks Ellie" Louis said taking a sip of his, everyone else
grabbed theirs,
"That
was excellent, thank you Ellie. Come on Louis, back to work we go" Ian
said
"What,
now, but it's still raining" Louis complained
"Yes
it is, but the animals still need tending to and I can't do it by myself, now
come on" Louis reluctantly went
back outside.
Down
at the shop Jennifer was getting ready to close up when she had a last minute
customer
"Oh
Hello" she greeted the customer "I was just about to close up" A
young boy, not much older than herself had come into the shop
"Hello,
I'm looking for some wool for my Mother" the boy said
"Which
colour or colours would she like"
"Oh,
green, pink, yellow and blue"
Jennifer
got the wool from the shelves, put them through the till and gave it to the boy,
"Thank
you so much" he turned to leave the shop then stopped "did you say
you were about to close up" he asked
"Yes
I am"
"Can
I walk you home, it's raining out there and I'm heading your way anyway and not
to mention the war"
"How
do you know where I live" Jennifer asked
"I've
seen you on the Pickard Farm, I live on the meat farm further up"
"Are
you Farmer Michaels son"
"Yes, Anthony Michaels" he held out his hand
"Jenny
Dinsdale" Jennifer shook his hand.
"So how old are you Anthony"
Jennifer asked as they walked up the road together in the rain
"I'm
16, 17 end of January" he answered
"Same
as me, except I'm 17 in February. Do you work on your Father's farm full
time"
"Yes
I do, my sister helps out from time to time but she spends most of her time
with the evacuees" he told her
"You
have evacuees"
"Yes
we do, we have such a big house my Mother insisted"
"How
many evacuees have you got" Jennifer asked
"Eight
altogether, four boys, four girls"
"Seems
like a house full"
"It
is, it gets a bit annoying to be honest, they're all aged 10-12, the house is
really crowded, my Mother needed wool so I used it as an excuse to get out of
the house for a little bit" They reached Jennifer's farm, as thunder
sounded in the sky a loud bang came from the stables
"Louis
get out of the way" Jennifer heard her Father shout
"Oh
no not again" she said worried
"What's
happened" Anthony asked
"The
horses don't like thunder, they get a bit freaked out"
"Here
let me" Anthony handed Jennifer the wool he had bought and ran towards the
stables, Jennifer followed
"Whoa,
easy boy" Anthony stepped in front of the out of control horse and calmed
it down. Louis who was on the floor from diving out of the way, Ian who was
calming the other more calmer horse and Jennifer who stood in the doorway all
looked amazed at how quickly he did it,
"That
was amazing" Louis said getting to his feet. Anthony put the horse in his
box,
"Anthony
good to see you, thank you so much for your help" Ian shook Anthony's hand
"Not
a problem sir"
"Wow"
Jennifer said under her breath. They settled the horses and went inside for a
cup of tea.
"Everyone
this is Anthony Michaels, Farmer Michaels son" Ian introduced him to the
family
"So
nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you over the years" Nicky
said "Cup of tea" she offered
"Yes
please" Nicky handed him a cup and he sat down on a chair Ian had brought
though
"So
what brings you to our farm" Ellie asked
"I
was walking Jenny home" he replied, everyone looked at Jennifer who went a
bit red,
"What,
he offered I accepted. He's great with horses" she changed the subject
"Really,
do you have horses" Nicky asked
"Yes
we do, I've been teaching my sister how to ride"
"You
can ride, can you teach me" Jennifer asked
"Of
course I can" Anthony smiled at her
A
few days after new year Anthony arrived at the farm to teach Jennifer how to
ride a horse,
"Hi,
I brought you a riding helmet and I also brought saddles and that, I don't
really know what you've got" he said getting down off his horse
"That's
great, we don't really have much, none of us know how to ride" Jennifer
said leading Anthony and his horse to the stables
"The
sheep and cows are in the barn so we have the whole field to ourselves"
Jennifer was a bit nervous,
"Ok
great. First I'm going to teach you how to saddle a horse" Anthony went
through everything with the horse he had helped calmed down just before new
year and soon they were ready to ride,
"So
I will be on the back of the horse until you get the hang of thing, no matter
how many lessons it takes, is that ok" he asked
"Yes
it is, I don't really want to be on the horse by myself just yet"
"Ok
great, here" he put a helmet on Jennifer's head. As they lead the horse
out of the stable they heard a scream from the house,
"What's
happening" Anthony asked worried
"Oh
nothing, Ellie's in labour, has been since early this morning, it's very exciting" she told
him
"Oh
right thats fantastic news, shall we" Anthony gestured towards the field,
"Sure"
Jennifer lead the way.
After a few hours they put the horse back
in the stables, tidied up and went inside for a hot drink,
"Jenny,
Jenny, Ellie had a Baby Boy" Lindsey said as they walked through the door.
She disappeared into the living room Jennifer and Anthony followed
"Oh,
he's so cute" Jennifer said as she leaned over to see the new born baby.
Ellie sat on the sofa, her newborn son in her arms, Bonnie sat on her
grandmother's knee who sat next to Ellie
"What
have you named him" Anthony asked
"Patrick,
after my Father" Ellie looked down at her son
"Patic"
Bonnie smiled and laughed, she gave her baby brother a little kiss on the
forehead
"Would
you like a cup of tea Anthony" Ian asked
"Yes
please sir" Anthony replied
"Please
call me Ian, I'll be back in a few minutes"
"I'll
help you" Jennifer left the room with her father
"Are
you my sister's boyfriend" Lindsey asked
"Lindsey"
Nicky looked shocked at what had been asked
"What, I was only asking"
"It's
ok, I'm not Jenny's boyfriend but I like her, I'm enjoying getting to know her,
anyway we are only 16 we've got plenty of time" he said
"Martin
and I got married at 18" Ellie said
"I
know I was at the wedding"
"Really,
I didn't know that, how didn't I know that"
"Well
you did invite us but we didn't stay long, I was with the two adults with ten
children" he told them, Ian and Jennifer walked back in with a pot of tea,
"Your
parents have ten children" Chrissie asked
"No
they only have two, me and my sister, but we have eight evacuees"
"Oh
how nice, we have three and their Father" Nicky replied with a little
laugh
"And
we're here to stay" Lindsey said throwing her arms in the air, everyone
laughed
"Well
we did have three, one went off to war" Nicky finished
"I'm
sure he will be ok, you saw him last year right" Anthony asked
"Well
I did or this little one wouldn't be here" Ellie said rocking her baby son
"so did Ian and Bonnie" she added
"Daddy
not here" Bonnie said sadly
"Don't
worry Bonnie Daddy will be home soon" Chrissie gave her niece a hug,
Bonnie then playfully jumped on her and Lindsey,
"Bonnie
play nicely" Ellie told her
"Ok
Mummy" Bonnie carried on playing
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