Larkrigg Fell Read Online Free

can wait.’ Sarah sounded highly relieved. Anywhere which could offer a hot cup of coffee and a spot of dry comfort was fine by her.
    ‘Is Meg OK?’ Beth asked, as she lifted bags and boxes so she could squeeze herself into the back seat beside the beaming James. She let him tug at her hair with his sticky fingers and grinned back at him. ‘Fine, some problem with the sheep no doubt. Nothing, but nothing, comes before her stock.’
    ‘So it would appear,’ said Sarah darkly.
    As the mini bounced off down the rutted drive a shutter moved at a window in the house behind them. But they were all so busy chattering, none of them noticed.

 
    Chapter Two
    Tessa pushed open the door, baby James propped on one hip, and led the two girls into Broombank’s big warm kitchen. A hen followed her in and she tossed it a piece of bread and butter pudding from a dish on the sink. It scurried off as if it had been given a rare treat.
    ‘Bit of a mess I’m afraid.’ Tessa sighed, and with one hand filled a kettle at the low stone sink, plugged it in and flicked the switch. ‘It’s my job to wash up, in return for room and board, but I forgot this morning. One of the peasants, that’s me,’ she said. ‘Tea?’
    ‘Lovely,’ Beth said, while Sarah suffered a desperate longing for a decent cup of coffee but was so busy wondering what this odd girl was doing here, that for once she held back.
    Tessa lay the patient James flat on his back on the kitchen table, stripped off his dripping pants then rubbed his nose affectionately with her own. ‘Potty time, cherub.’ She placed the baby on his potty then poured some fruit juice into a feeding cup and gave it to him. James hooked chubby fingers round the two handles and brought the spout straight to his mouth. He started to suck with loud appreciation.
    ‘That’ll keep him occupied for a while, with more hope than anticipation of a performance, I have to say. Potty training is the very devil. So, you liked Larkrigg Hall then?’
    ‘Didn’t catch more than a glimpse but it looks intriguing,’ Beth agreed, fascinated by the girl who moved about the large untidy kitchen finding mugs, milk, a tin of biscuits, stepping adroitly over her son as he motored about the floor.
    She was frowning. ‘It’s a bit neglected. Nobody’s lived in it for years. Sad waste really but your mother apparently didn’t like it and refused to have anything to do with it. Wouldn’t even bother to let it.’
    Tessa abandoned the idea of washing three of the mugs in the already full sink and selected clean china cups and saucers from a pine dresser, every inch of which seemed stuffed with a variety of pretty flowered china that had seen better days. Stacks of papers, leaflets and letters were crammed in the gaps between. ‘Make yourselves at home.’
    She placed the cups on a tin tray that said: ‘Young Farmers Do It Best’ and added a sugar bowl and milk jug that did not match the cups or each other. ‘Meg and Tam will be back soon. They had some errands in town, including the bank manager, I believe.’ She pulled a wry face. ‘Meg has her hands full, as usual.’
    ‘Clearly,’ Sarah said, not troubling to hide the coolness in her tone.
    Embarrassment coloured Tessa’s cheeks. ‘You can blame bureaucracy for my inadequacy this morning.’ She was pouring boiling water into a large brown teapot with a chipped spout. ‘Single parent. Unemployed. One of the rural poor seeking a handout from the state. Deserted wife and all that.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Beth, her caring nature at once warming to the girl. ‘That’s even worse than…’ Then stopped, blushing furiously. ‘I-I’m sorry. I’d no right to ... I mean...’
    Tessa looked puzzled and Sarah calmly explained. ‘My sister means that she’s recently suffered a similar fate, only the knot hadn’t quite been tied.’
    ‘You had a lucky escape then,’ Tessa said and as Sarah calmly agreed, Beth blinked. She’d never thought to look at it