Chapter
Four: The Hour Maketh the Man
It
took several days for Tomas to catch up with some sleep and attain at least a
little bit of colour in his scrawny pale cheeks, during that time Sam carried
on at the quarry working more and more hours while Jake did his level best to
avoid school by dragging his feet with the farm chores and found great
entertainment was to be had with his new friend Tomas. Eileen had kept an eye
on the runaway youth but was touched by how he and Jake had bonded, Tomas was
always kept busy helping Jake feed stock and tend the other farm needs and had
fitted in very well, though she was all too aware that this was just temporary
as Tomas would have to go back to the base and face the consequences for
running off, but for now however he was a very handy addition to Pole Farm.
Jake
showed Tomas many of his tricks and dodges over the next few weeks, he showed
him his favourite rope swing across the fast flowing brook and how to catch
sheep without being dragged for yards across a field, Tomas was intrigued by
the fact he could stand next to a ewe with just the slightest hold just under
the front of her rear leg and the sheep would stand there and not move, it was
commonly known on The Hill as grabbing a ewe “under the hock”, it is still very
widely practiced nowadays and is remarkably effective, Tomas enjoyed his days
with Jake and he caught on quickly for a lad who was brought up in such a large
city in Poland. Just as Jake had
mentioned the first time he had met Tomas, the lad was becoming an asset to the
farm while Sam worked long hours in the quarry, Tomas helped with many chores
for his bed and food, he was always very polite. Eileen sat Tomas down one
afternoon and brought up the subject of The Camp and going back to face the
music, she noticed a fear in the lads eyes with mention of the camp that she
hadn’t seen since the first day they had found him, clearly there was something
or someone that had frightened the lad and it was etched on his face. “Never
mind Tomas we will speak again, you go find Jake and help him bring the cattle
in there’s a good lad”. But Eileen knew there would come a day when the truth
would have to be faced and the lad would be forced to return, but for now at
least the lad was being fed and sheltered, a far better situation for all
concerned and in any case they needed his help.
Jake
was walking across the top fields that were so unusually flat for such a hilly
area when Tomas caught up with him, Jake was leading the old mare by the reins
and following the sheep tracks towards the old barn. In the distance there was
a haze of smoke and dust that stood out on the horizon, Tomas pointed to it
“What is that?” the youngster enquired “That’s where dad is Tomas, that’s the
quarry, it’s a horrible place, noisy and dusty, it frightens me too” “It
frightens you? Why?” Tomas asked looking concerned for his friend, “Lots of men
get hurt up there and I worry about my dad, its long hours and there is very
little time to rest” “can we go see?” Tomas asked, “If dad catches me up there
Tomas I will get my backside tanned” “tanned?” said Tomas looking a little
puzzled and pointed skywards to the sun, “No you daft beggar, tanned!
Smacked! You know!” and with that Jake
turned his hips sideways on and pretended to smack himself on the backside, “Oh
I see” said Tomas “tanned!” they both chuckled, “we had better not go up there
Tomas it’s a bad place for youngsters to be, come on let’s get back into the
yard at home and see if mum wants owt from the orchards”
With
that the two jumped on the old mares back with no saddle on and went hell for
leather back down towards the farm, as they sped across the fern covered
headlands they were stopped by a man with a blackened face, he had been
kneeling down and looking at the hoof of the horse he had been riding, as they
pulled up the man scowled “She is lame lads, can one of you give me a lift back
to the quarry with this fresh milk for the rest of the lads?” “My dad says I am
not allowed up at the quarry mister” Jake replied immediately, “Aye like as not
you are a bit young lad your dad is right, but your brother here can go I am
sure?” “He is not…” Tomas poked Jake in the side before he had chance to say
anymore, “OK I will take you not a problem” Tomas tried hard to talk without
his accent, but the man was more interested in getting the milk off the saddle
of his lame horse than how Tomas spoke. “Take my horse back to the blacksmith
at Hopton for me young man and tell them it’s for The Alexander Mine Co, we
need her back as soon as possible, here is a penny for your troubles,” Jakes
eyes lit up, he knew a penny meant toffees! “OK I will see you later at the
farmhouse Tomas” said Jake and with that he was off like a shot.
Tomas
helped the miner up on to the back of the old mare and the two made their way
up on to the quarry site, Tomas could see what his friend Jake had meant by
frightening, the dust and the noise were so much out of touch with all the raw
beauty that surrounded the site, it was almost surreal. “Drop me here lad I can
walk the rest of the way”, with that Tomas stopped and helped the man down with
his precious milk cargo. As Tomas was about to turn and go a huge rattle
accompanied by a massive cloud of dust heralded the appearance of Sam’s team of
horses as they strained at the full load of Dhustone Ore they were pulling out
of the quarry pit, Tomas just sat there for a moment and watched as Sam handled
the horses to perfection, pushing them at just the right speed so as not to
overtax them on the steep climb or make them lose their grip, as they reached
the level of the tipping point Sam looked across at the man carrying the milk
and waived, he then looked to his right and saw Tomas sat on the old mare
looking straight at him, “What the bloody hell” Sam mumbled to himself and with
that shouted out “Whoa Whoa” to the team of horses he had just brought up the
hill, he put the brakes on the outfit and jumped down and strode straight up to
Tomas, “What the bloody hell do you think you are doing lad?” Sam shouted at
the youngster who immediately looked scared to death, “Hold on Sam, that lad
just brought us the milk from the village, my horse went lame and your boy and
his brother helped me out” “Brother?” Sam looked momentarily confused, “Yes my
brother Jake, father” Tomas replied almost immediately, “Oh, right, yes well
then OK in that case lad stop sitting about and go and help your brother with
the feeding” Sam had caught up with what was being said, he winked at Tomas and
Tomas turned the Mare towards Pole Farm, but just at that moment there was a
huge bang as the brake handle that Sam had pulled broke away from its
mountings, it started the trucks moving slowly backwards, pulling the valuable
team of horses with it, Sam ran as fast as his legs could carry him and grabbed
a steel spike from by the dinner hut, he held the spike above his shoulder like
a javelin and threw it at the rear wheel of the last truck in the row, it went
through the wheel and went round until it hit the body of the truck and slammed
against it locking the wheels up as it did, Sam was barely a few feet away as
the whole lot came to a shuddering halt with the horses screaming and jumping
around for all they were worth as they were being pulled backwards down the
slope.
Sam strode over to the truck and put the
emergency brakes on, but just as he secured the line of trucks the spike
snapped in two and the one half of the spike went off like a bullet and
embedded itself deep into Sam’s shoulder knocking him to the ground and on to
the rail track the trucks were sat on, this set the horses off again and they
pulled and pushed violently as slowly the emergency brake began to fail, Sam
was reeling in agony on the tracks, Tomas shouted but it was too little too
late, Sam lay there dazed for a few moments and suddenly felt a warm liquid
dripping down his arm, he looked and it was his own blood, Sam tried to stand
up but couldn’t because of the spike, “Sam!” Tomas shouted and jumped from the
old mare and raced to calm the team of horses down just as the last truck was
inches from where Sam lay, Tomas went to the lead horses and pulled on their
reins with all his might and they pulled the trucks screeching further up the
track and away from Sam, then Tomas ran to his barely conscious friend, “Go get
the doc lad” Sam gasped “He is next to the camp in Ditton, please lad, go now
you are my only hope” Tomas ripped his shirt off and tore it into thin shreds,
he bandaged the wounded Sam up as best he could before leaping on to the old
mare. Tomas rode like he had never done before, he jumped over hedgerows and
gates, the old mare seemed to know the urgency, they galloped across the open
fields and down into Ditton Priors, past the camp where he was still a wanted
man and straight to the Doctors doorstep, “Doctor!” shouted Tomas as he jumped
from the mare before she had stopped running “Doctor!” “Steady boy, steady what
on earth is the matter?” Doctor Egan was stood in his doorway wearing just a
shirt and bracers with his sleeves rolled up, “It Sam, he been stabbed by spike
up in quarry, please you come quick, is bleeding!” “Well why didn’t you just
say that lad!” the Doctor shouted as he ran inside to get his bag, he grabbed
his black stallion by the reins from the stable opposite his large garden and
jumped up on the huge horse as he shouted at Tomas to lead the way, the two set
off at break neck speed.
By the
time the two reached Sam he was out for the count, none of the other quarrymen
had spotted him lying there because of the dust, Doctor Egan tended the stab
wound, Sam being Sam he had pulled the huge metal spike out of his shoulder,
“Listen boy I am going to need your help to save this man, help me put him on
his side so that I can stitch his wound through his back” with that Tomas and
the Doctor turned the big man on his side and he let out an almighty groan as
the pain had started to become all too much even for such a big man as Sam, the
boy held his friend and stopped him from rolling over as the Doctor sewed Sam’s
wound up firstly on his back and then his front, Tomas winced as the Doctor
poured neat Iodine straight into the fresh open wound and Sam’s cry could be
heard throughout the quarry. The Doctor bandaged Sam’s chest up and lay him
back down and gave the big man some Morphine as Tomas went over to find some
transport in the shape of a horse drawn cart for the journey to Bridgnorth
Infirmary, before long Sam was surrounded by willing helpers and within minutes
he was on his way back down the valley to the hospital.
It was
a tense few days before Sam was able to be propped up in his hospital bed, as
the big man had lost a lot of blood and was lucky to have survived. When he did
finally come around he asked for Eileen and Jacob, they were of course only a
heartbeat away in the next room, he also asked for Tomas, but to no avail,
Tomas had been sent back to the barracks at Ditton from whence he absconded and
thus was facing a court martial for desertion.
Sam
was unaware of this and it was probably a good thing at the time, he needed
rest to get his strength back, his body had been in shock when he arrived a few
days before and he was lucky to be alive. Jacob stood in front of his dad and
smiled, “Hurry up Dad will ya? we haven’t shorn a single sheep and the thistles
are growing like mad!” “You cheeky little tike” Sam smiled, if that’s the case
then you will have to get on with it” he quipped back and they both laughed,
Eileen was not quite so submissive or happy however, “I told you about that
damned quarry Sam Reynolds, but would you listen? Oh no you just charge off and
very near get yourself …..” and with that Eileen burst into tears and put her
head in her hands while she sat quietly on the bed, the two boys looked at each
other not quite sure what to make of the usual rock solid Eileen starting to
lose it. Sam looked at Jacob and made with his eyes that perhaps he should go
into the other room for a while, so that he and mum could have a chat, with
that Jacob was off, not needing to be told twice as Eileen continued to sob,
“Look here love, you know we need that job and the money that goes with it, we
can’t say no, it is what it is, now dry your eyes and go and put your face
right woman you will get my bloody blankets all wet!” Eileen was not finished however, she looked at
Sam through tear stained eyes, her make up running down he cheeks and her face
red and blotchy, “I told you Sam because we are frightened of losing you and
look what happened! We don’t need the money we can tighten our belts in other
areas you don’t need to kill yourself to provide food on the table” “Aye maybe
you are right lass but we need more than food, we need rent and clothes for the
youngster, he has nowt that lad and asks for even less, it’s about time we did
a bit more for the boy” Eileen slowed her sobbing, she was facing her hands
that were leaning in front of her on the bed, they were made up in two fists
and she held the tissue in them twisting it between the two, slowly backwards
and forwards, she mumbled to Sam as she kept looking down, Sam asked “What did
you say woman?” “I said Sam Reynolds, Jacob is going to have a baby brother or
sister” Sam ‘s jaw dropped, for the first time that day he was speechless, he
was trying to speak but nothing came out, then all of a sudden he shouted at
the top of his voice “Yeeeeehaaaaa! Oh my life, the woman has only gone and got
herself pregnant again! Yes!” as he jumped about in his upright position he
suddenly realised he was still in a lot of pain and started groaning “Ooohh Ooohh
Ow” “Sam!” Eileen shouted scornfully, her old stern face coming back in a
heartbeat, “get back into that bed and stop behaving like some school child
please!” Sam did as he was told but he had a smile bigger than the quarry hole
he had just been pulled out of.
It was
a full four weeks before Sam was allowed home and then only to do light duties,
Jacob was doing the best he could but was finding the work a struggle. Late one
afternoon Sam was sat in the small yard at the back of the house, it had been a
beautiful hot but humid summers day, Sam was almost asleep but was wakened by a
huge clap of thunder, the skies over Ludlow at the bottom of the valley looked
very ominous and Sam moved slowly to go inside, he heard the dogs barking just
as he got to the door and turned to look around, the cattle had gotten away
from Jacob and the dogs were struggling to get them back from the watering hole
they had been taken to, the dogs were barking so loud it was frightening the
cattle and they were running in every direction, Sam muttered under his breath
as he watched “Go on lad, get around them, go on, send the dogs to the right,
come on lad, wave your arms you can stop them” but just as Jacob seemed to be
getting control again there was a huge flash of lightening followed by a roar
of thunder and the scared animals took a run for it, the larger of the two cows
ran straight for Jacob and he froze to the spot, Sam shouted from the distance
“Move lad, quick! move she will kill you ya daft bugger, move lad!” But Jacob
was frozen and the cow bowled the lad clean off his feet and into the thick muddy
water of the watering hole. Sam was off like a shot, injury or no injury, his
boy lay lifeless face down in the mud, the dogs were chasing the cattle out of
control all around the field, “Jacob! Jacob” Sam howled at the top of his
voice, he ran as fast as his injuries would dare let him and perhaps more as
adrenalin filled his every moving fibre, “Jacob! Come on lad get up he was
shouting as he ran to the boy but Jacob lay still, not moving an inch.
Sam
finally reached his boy and sank to his knees in the mud beside him, almost too
scared to pull the boy out of the mud and what he might see but he summoned the
courage and turned the lad over, he brushed the hair off the boys forehead and
cradled the youngster, “Jake, Jake boy come on speak to me, Jake, please boy
come on speak to me!” but there was no reply, Jake was limp and lifeless in his
father’s arms, the rain had started to fall as only it could when there is a thunderstorm
overhead, but Sam didn’t even notice the rain or the thunder for that matter,
he slowly lifted the youngster out of the mud, summoning all his wounded body
could give and cradled him in his arms as he started the long walk back to the
farm house, the rain was so heavy now that Sam could barely see to walk, his
shirt was blood soaked from his old wounds opening up but he didn’t care, his
stamina kept him upright and walking towards home with his son in his arms and
nothing on this earth could have stopped that man.
Eileen
had been out feeding the chickens in the main fold yard while all this had been
going on, she had put the chickens in as soon as she heard the thunder and had
just managed to run inside before the rain started, she had been looking to see
where Sam had gone when she looked out of the bedroom window to see stray
cattle and the dogs running around all over the place, “what the…” she said to
herself as she dashed outside and shut the fold yard gate and brought the dogs
inside, at least the cattle were safe for now but she couldn’t understand where
the two boys were, she opened the back door and walked on to the small yard
where Sam had been sat, his chair was empty and his glass of water sat on the
table overflowing now with rainwater. She tucked the chair in behind the small
table and glanced to her left into the valley below, there was a huge flash of
lightening as she did and she strained her eyes, for the life of her she
thought she saw a man walking up the fields, she went in and got a coat and ran
to the gate at the bottom of the paddock, she couldn’t see a thing but just
then more lightening lit the fields up and she gasped in horror as she saw the
man stumbling, carrying something in his arms he was lurching forward, speeding
up and slowing down with every step he took, Eileen ran towards him and as she
drew closer she could see it was Sam, but couldn’t make out what he was
carrying, then to her horror she realised it was her boy, she screamed “Jacob,
Sam!” “It’s alright woman I have got him, now give me your shoulder and let’s
get him back to the house”
The
two burst through the doors and finally got the still lifeless boy into the
kitchen where they pulled his sodden clothes off and wrapped him in warm
blankets by the fire, the boy was breathing but had a nasty bump the size of a
golf ball on his head, as Eileen tended the boy she glimpsed at Sam who was
close to tears and realised he was bleeding from his wounds, “Sam! Go and get
out of those soaking wet clothes I will sort Jacob… do as you are told you will
be ill again!” Sam was not for going but Eileen shouted at him to go, he knew
the boy was in good hands so he reluctantly conceded.
Eileen
made the boy as comfortable as she could then put on her shawl and headed down
the driveway, the summer thunder storm had gone and she needed to get Doctor
Egan out as soon as possible. Sam came back downstairs and sat by Jacob, he
brushed the lads hair back and spoke softly to him, “I know I have been a bit
harsh on you son, it’s been tough for all of us, you do so much work around
here and nobody scarcely remembers that you are only a nipper yourself, I
reckon it’s about time we let you be a boy for a while instead of all this work
all the time, it’s my fault lad, I thought the quarry work would be perfect but
I asked way too much of you” Sam screwed his face up and his big old head dropped,
tears never come easy in this part of the world but this was the big man’s
realisation that he had put too much on the young boys shoulders, his heart
sank to the bottom of his stomach and his big calloused quarry hands were
clenched as teardrops dropped one by one on to them, slowly down his fingers
and on to the floor, he stayed there sat by his boy and sobbed, not a gentle
sob but a howl that can only come from the heart of a big man gravelly wounded,
his son was everything to him and now because of his own selfishness to earn
money he had risked the boy’s life too, it was a hard realisation for Sam and
it cut deep.
“Mum won’t
be happy if she sees thee crying like a baby Dad”
Sam
looked up, Jacob was looking straight at him from under the massive blankets
Eileen had wrapped him in, “Jake boy!” Sam shrieked and hugged his son so hard
it fair knocked him clean out again! “Alright Dad, you are squeezing the breath
out of me!” “Sorry son, how do you
feel?” Sam asked excitedly, “A bit sore to be honest dad I think my leg hurts
the most” Sam unravelled the lad from the blankets and lifted the base of the
one by Jacobs feet, his leg was clearly broken but Sam didn’t want to scare the
lad, “Ooohh that’s a bruise and a half son, don’t worry Doc Egan is on his way
he will soon sort that” “I hope so dad
‘cos it hurts quite a bit” “you just lie still son and don’t worry yourself, do
you want owt to drink?” “Some water would be nice dad but don’t worry I will
get it” Sam held the boy down, “You sit there fellow me lad, I will sort you
out, just you lie back there and don’t move” Jake didn’t have the energy to
argue so he lay his head back down, “Tell me Jake do you remember what happened
back there?” “Aye Dad the lightning spooked the cattle and I got hit by one of
the old cows” “Did you not hear me shouting to get out of the way though boy?”
“Oh aye Dad I did” “Well in that case son why didn’t you move?” “I couldn’t dad,
me feet were stuck in the mud!” With that the two burst out laughing, Sam gave
the boy his glass of water and ruffled his hair again as he drank heartily, it
was just then that a still pale and ashen faced Eileen walked through the door
with Dr. Egan, “Oh… an emergency eh Mrs Reynolds? Life and death it is you said…you
can’t finish your dinner you said…” Eileen stood with her mouth open
exasperated, as the two boys sat by the hearth beaming up at her, “well as I am
here Eileen I may as well take a look at the young tike, I trust you have
plenty of tea and cakes in the house?” “Err yes Doctor Egan, sorry Doctor Egan,
I swear the boy was out for the count I honestly do!” The Doctor bent down to
look at Jacob and winked his eye at the men who both smiled, but Sam caught the
Doctors eye and moved his eyes towards the blanket covering Jacobs broken leg,
“It’s a fair bruise the lad has Doc” Sam said softly, the Doc lifted the
blanket and looked back at Sam, “Aye that it is, I will have some special
ointment for that in a special bandage, you just lay back young man we will
soon have you sorted”
