‘Now, that’s a mother’s love. Just look at her and listen to her – she loves that bonny little thing, no matter how much he’s bleating.’ Lucy smiled as the lamb searched for a drink from his mother, and she nudged him and directed him to her udder.
‘Aye, she’ll make a good mother. I don’t think I need to worry about her. But I’ll have my work cut out lambing, and watching the rest until they have all delivered and have survived the weather and whatever it throws at us. I’ll be looking at them first thing in the morning and last thing of an evening, to make sure that all are well. I’ve never seen a fox on my land, but they are all too fond of a newly born lamb. And with that, I mean the four-legged kind, not the two-legged kind in the name of Baxter.’ Adam walked away from Lucy and followed his flock and Reggie up onto the higher ground.
Lucy watched him as he walked up through his yard. She knew he was worried about the Baxter family; they were a bad lot, everyone knew it. But with Robert Baxter having a family of five sons and a foul temper, nobody dared challenge the family, for fear of reprisals. However, Lucy had a feeling that if they were to do anything against Adam, he would not turn a blind eye. And perhaps the Baxters had met their match in the quiet man.
Adam stood on the fresh green moorland and looked at his new flock. ‘My father would have been proud, if these had been his. You have a good eye for a well-bred sheep. I bet it hurt, having to part with them.’ He looked at the lad leaning on the wall, watching his years of work wandering to the corners of their new home, and felt for his loss.
‘As long as they’ve got a good home and I can keep the roof over our heads for another year at least, it’ll be worth it,’ Reggie said with sadness.
‘It shouldn’t be like that, though. The Baxters might have the right to put up your rent, but not to that extent. Just because they want you off the farm, for their son’s use.’ Adam kicked a tuft of moorland grass.
‘Aye, well, they couldn’t find fault with the upkeep of the farm, so they had to get me some other way. It is how that family work – underhand and careful never actually to be caught doing their dirty business.’ Reggie looked around him. ‘You’ll have to keep your eye on my lasses, as the Baxters will soon realize whose sheep they were, and that you’ve helped me out by buying them. They’ll not like that. At least if they do make off with some of them, you’ll soon recognize them, as they are the only Rough Fell breed to be found for a good few miles around. I was also thinking about what to do if any of the Baxters fancied stealing them, so I’ve marked each ewe with a spot of red paint on its horn, just behind its ear, so that you know it’s one of yours, if you come across it somewhere it shouldn’t be.’
‘That was good thinking on your part. They’ll be fools if they do tempt fate and rustle any of them. I was a peeler in my younger years and still have contacts, but they won’t know that. Perhaps it was fate that I’ve become their neighbour.’ Adam laughed. ‘Stop worrying. Now come and have something to eat and drink, and then I’ll take you and your dog home. Lucy will have the kettle boiling and waiting for us, I’m sure. She bought some coffee when she was at Keighley and tried it for the first time yesterday. You should have seen her face when she sipped it – she did not like the taste one bit, so we are back to tea today, thank heavens.’
Reggie grinned and thought about Adam’s maid, who had taken his eye on the quiet. ‘She seems a good lass.’
‘Aye, she’s Bill Bancroft’s daughter – Lucy from the flay-pits. I’d be lost without her. She’s got the old farm looking exactly how it used to, and she’s a really good hand around the yard. As well as keeping me fed.’ Adam looked at the young lad and noted his interest.
‘Is she wed? She’s a bonny lass, I couldn’t help but notice.’ Reggie put his head down and then turned and smiled at Adam.
‘No, she’s not wed, nor does she have a beau. She’s too feisty for a lot of people, I’d say. She knows her own mind, does Lucy.’ Adam grinned, but at the same time felt a pang of what he knew to be jealousy, that Lucy had taken Reggie’s eye.
‘Then I’ll join you for that drink and a bite to eat, and perhaps you could introduce us?’ Reggie suggested. ‘My mother keeps telling me to find myself a woman, and Lucy’s rather taken my fancy.’
‘She’s a flirt, I’ll warn you, and she says what she thinks.’ Adam tried to dissuade Reggie, suddenly realizing that his maid was beginning to mean a lot more to him than he had recognized.
‘I like a challenge, and she’s about my age. Now these sheep seem to have settled, so my job is done here.’ Reggie stood for a second and looked around him, before stepping out down the fresh-smelling moorland, with Adam not far behind him, pondering whether Lucy would be interested in Reggie’s advances.
‘So, Mr Brooksbank tells me that your father owns the flay-pits.’ Reggie sat in a chair at the kitchen table and looked at Lucy, eyeing her up and down as she cleared it of the dirty plates from which they
