Interrupted Journey

Chapter 4 - Neighbours

After lunch, Alice, Mike and I set off down the hill to meet the neighbours. It went without saying that we walked down the valley. It made no sense to use the vehicles any more than was necessary and, anyway, Mike wanted to get a feel for the area.

Lintondale was short and flat-bottomed but had steep sides leading up to open ridges where sheep grazed. The fields and road were lined with limestone drystone walls which had been built quite high in places as generations of farmers had tried to clear the fields of rocks.

At the bottom of the valley, a small stream bubbled along, lined in places by scrubby woodland. It joined a larger river down in the main valley where the lane went over a bridge and joined a slightly larger road.

There were six houses spread out along the little valley and the first one we came to was the Thompson's. They lived in a large bungalow and, though they were retired, Mr Thomson tended a large vegetable plot and they had a small cottage down by the bridge that they let out to visitors in the summer. Mary and I had stayed there one Christmas when the farm had been full.

Alice knocked sharply, on the back door of course, and, after a few seconds, a slightly nervous voice asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Alice," she replied. "I've got our Mary's Philip with me and a friend of theirs. You goin' to open up?"

"Ay, alright," came the response as bolts were drawn back and locks undone.

We were invited into the kitchen and offered tea - though we'd have to drink it black because they had no milk.

"Well that's daft," Alice commented. "They've got t'better part of two dozen cows down at the Drummond's that they're goin' to 'ave to let go dry on account of havin' nowt to do wi' t'milk. You should 'ave said summat."

"We heard as there were trouble up at your place," Mrs Thompson said cautiously, changing the subject.

"Ay," Alice replied grimly, "that there was. That Ken of mine and his two good for nowt mates took it into their 'eads to come callin' on our Angie. Luckily Mike, here, was up on t'ill. He were in in t'army wi' our Mary an' t'three on 'em won't be giving us grief no more."

The Thomsons nodded understandingly but the telepathy that operates in this part of the world - for there had been no sign - told them there was more and they waited respectfully for her to finish.

"Our Tom were killed an' all," she added tersely and I heard the crack of emotion in her voice. This was, of course, respectfully ignored.

"I'm sorry to 'ear that," Mr Thompson said after a brief moment of respect. "He were a good bloke... solid."

Alice nodded at this heartfelt eulogy and I could swear I saw her wipe away a tear.

"Any road," Alice went on to cover up this embarrassing outpouring of emotion. "That's not why we're 'ere. As I were sayin', we were thinkin' there might be trouble from t'folk in town makin' their way out here, lookin' for food. I asked our Mike 'ere an' a couple of his mates to come out an' keep an eye on things for us."

This received nods of understanding and agreement.

"He's 'ad a look over things an' he thinks it might be best to get everyone workin' together to see 'em off."

The Thompsons looked at each and exchanged a silent nod," Ned got to his feet, returning a few seconds later with a shotgun and a couple of boxes of shells. "This any use to you?" he asked.

Mike nodded, took it out of his hands, checked it wasn't loaded and inspected it. It was clearly ancient but had been immaculately maintained. "It's beautiful," he murmured. "Thank you. I'll try to make sure we take care of it."