Shepherd's Cross Read Online Free Page B

coming his way would be enough to see him
through. Besides, he didn’t have anyone else to fuss over. He’d never married or
fathered any children. He’d always wanted to; but as the years had passed, he’d
become too set in his ways and unwilling to compromise; growing comfortable
with the kind of selfish idiosyncrasies that only a single man is allowed to
get away with.
    ‘Thanks, Sarge, but I’m fine,’ she lied.
‘Actually, I could do with stretching my legs. Why don’t you wait here while I
take a look around?’
    Jennings needed no encouragement to
remain in the warm confines of the Police car. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘You know where
I am if you need me.’
    Cara nodded and opened the car door. It
was clear that Blackett wasn’t at home, but she wanted some fresh air and space
to herself. Closing the door behind her, she looked around, deciding to walk
around the back of the old stone house. The building was typical of the old
‘miner-farmer’ homesteads that were scattered across the Pennines; single
buildings combining cottage, barn and hayloft. Many of the buildings dated back
to the eighteenth century, having been built in the heyday of the North Pennine
lead industry, when over a quarter of all Britain’s lead came from nearby
mines. Rich lead veins meandered through the earth, the ground above them
becoming littered with mine shafts, smelt mills and limekilns. The hills were
criss-crossed by man-made reservoirs providing power to the giant water wheels,
with railways being built to support the ponies that pulled the lead from the
larger sites to the outside world. Many of the walking trails that dissected
the land were once old tracks that had linked the mines to the dwellings of the
workers who came from far and wide to eke out a living in this harsh
environment. While the trails may have survived, many of the settlements had
not been as fortunate, their melancholy ruins standing testament to the rise
and fall of an industry that had flourished and died over the course of a
hundred and fifty years.
    Many of the farmers had used mining to
supplement their incomes, but pay and working conditions had been diabolical.
There were only two winners; the Byrne family, who had owned and ruled the
mines with a ruthless disregard for anything but their own wealth, and the
Church, which profited from the money given to it by both Lord Byrne and the
impoverished workers who filled up the pews every Sunday, praying in vain for a
better future for themselves and their families.
    Cara continued around the side of the
house, breathing in the cold, refreshing air, the silence broken only by a
ragged brood of clucking hens clawing and pecking at the stony ground beneath
them. This place was still alien to her; the remoteness and isolation being a
far cry from the hustle and bustle of the world she’d grown up in.
Nevertheless, even a city-girl like her could not deny the rugged beauty of the
hills. Much of her four months in The Cross had been spent wandering around
farms like Banktop; following up leads on missing sheep or vandalism,
intentional or otherwise. With only two months of her rotation remaining, it
was highly likely that her next posting would be spent in a more urban and
challenging environment. While she would be ready to welcome the change of
scene, she was keen to appreciate the rest of her time in the ‘back-of-beyond,’
as she called it.
    It wasn’t long before the sound of the
chickens was accompanied by the monotonous drone of a Land Rover, growing
louder as it drew closer to the farm. Cara woke from her daydream and returned
to the front of the house to join Jennings. She was surprised to see that he had
already left the comfort of his seat to greet Blackett as he pulled up to the
house. Rex jumped down from the back of the Land Rover and ran to the visitors,
crouching down on his haunches and barking at them, his top lip peeling back to
reveal a line of sharp, pointed teeth.
    The two officers