CHAPTER ELEVEN
Peggy and Aaron had discussed what to do on her return from Hedon, whilst Molly was showing Robin around outside. Aaron was uneasy about keeping the lad. ‘It’s not that I don’t want him here, you understand,’ he said. ‘I’m bothered that we might get into trouble.’
‘I’ve been to ’Sun Inn,’ Peggy said defensively, ‘and that’ll be ’first place anybody would go to enquire. I went to ’police station too and told a clerk but he said I’d have to go back when there was an officer on duty, and then I went to ’Town Hall, but there was nobody about to ask.’
Aaron shook his head. ‘It’s not enough.’
‘Well, I don’t know what else to do,’ she began, but stopped when Robin and Molly came into the kitchen.
‘I’ve been thinking.’ Robin stood in front of them. ‘If you’re willing to let me stay with you for a short time, I’d like to do some work on the farm to pay for my keep. I don’t know anything about ploughing and haymaking and things, but maybe I could feed the pigs or the poultry? The hens seem quite easy, though they are a bit silly and run about squawking when you’re near them, and maybe I could progress to the pigs when they’ve had their babies. Molly said they’re having some.’
He looked enquiringly at them and wondered why they were both puckering up their mouths and Aaron was covering his with his hand. ‘I wouldn’t expect any wages, of course, and I’ll try not to eat too much, but I was also going to ask you if I might go to school whilst I’m here? Louisa told me that she went to the school in Thorn-gum-bald, but it’s such a funny name that I thought she might be joking.’
Aaron began to laugh and took out a handkerchief to wipe tears from his eyes. ‘She wasn’t joking,’ he chuckled when he could speak. ‘That’s ’name of ’village. My granfer told me that there was once a country gentleman living in these parts named Thorne and in ’same area were two gentlewomen called Gumbaud and the three of ’em owned most of ’land and estates round here, and over ’years ’village began to be known as Thorngumbald. Do you get my meaning? It’s a corruption of their names.’
‘I see,’ Robin said thoughtfully. ‘That’s very interesting. Do you think that’s how most towns and villages get their names, because of the people who once owned the land?’
Aaron viewed the boy with interest. ‘Well, aye, I reckon that’s right in ’main, though not allus. I think mebbe sometimes a name might come from summat else—’
‘Like French or Latin or something, do you mean?’ Robin continued his questioning and Aaron seemed flummoxed.
‘Tell you what,’ Peggy interrupted. ‘Our daughter Jenny will be coming to see us soon; we’re hoping she’ll come for Christmas too, but we’re not banking on it, and we can ask her if you’re still here with us. She’s a schoolteacher in Hull and very clever. She’ll know, I expect.’
‘Oh, good.’ Robin gave a grin. ‘And will she be able to say if I can go to school in Thorn-gum-bald?’
‘No,’ Peggy said firmly. ‘That’s something that me and Aaron would have to discuss wi’ school and ask if they’ll tek you, that’s supposing you’re still here and your ma hasn’t come back for you.’
She looked determinedly at Aaron, challenging him to dispute the matter as Robin said a polite thank you.
Later, after their midday meal, Jack left the table muttering that he’d better get back to the field work; Aaron said he’d join him shortly and Susan slipped upstairs for a lie down, much to Peggy’s obvious annoyance. Robin brought up the subject of pigs again as he hadn’t received an answer to his question.
‘Come on then,’ Aaron said. ‘Let’s go and tek a look, and then I must get off to give Jack a hand.’ He found Robin a pair of rubber boots which were rather tight and squeezed his toes, and Robin thought perhaps they belonged to Louisa. Then Peggy gave him a pair of hers, which were too large but more comfortable, and she mumbled something about getting him some of his own if he was going to stay with them.
Left alone, she washed the dinner things and prepared supper, scrubbing potatoes, peeling shrimps and skinning and filleting two large whiting to make a fish pie. When she had finished, she glanced at the clock. Robin and Molly were still outside, and making an instant decision she washed her hands, took off her apron and wrote a short note asking someone to put the pie in the oven at four o’clock as she was going to pick the girls up from school. Then, leaving the note and the pie prominently on the table, she slipped on her winter coat, hat and outdoor shoes and left the house, making for the stable block.
She pulled the trap into the yard and brought Betsy out from her stall, murmuring, ‘Come on, old girl, let’s you and me have a little jaunt on our own afore anybody misses us.’
The old horse snickered at her as she put her into harness and they pulled out of the yard just as it started to rain.
Good, she thought. I wasn’t fibbing after all when I wrote that I’d fetch the girls cos it looked like rain. She drove out of the farm gate and up the track towards Thorngumbald, chuckling as she remembered Robin’s pronunciation of the name.
She heard the bell ringing out the end of the school day as she pulled up at the gate. The rain was coming down fast and she reached down to pick up two black umbrellas. Then she saw the three girls coming out, with Louisa hurrying them along and turning up Rosie’s coat collar.
‘Louisa,’ she called. ‘Louisa!’
All the girls looked up and the two younger ones squealed when they saw her. ‘Oh, Granny, hurray,’ Rosie said. ‘We
