he noticed. I mentioned no names.’
He said nothing.
‘Perhaps Mickey’s right and it won’t be so easy for you to get work, after all?’ she suggested, but Rob seemed certain that he could, once he’d honed these new skills he’d acquired.
‘Mickey Roscoe doesn’t know everything. I can do this work. Besides, it’s better than doing geometry and algebra far from home, in the freezing bare classrooms of a new school, I can tell you.’
Yet strangely enough, it was he now who talked of moving on. He was distrustful of the attention Mickey gave to Alena, though not for the world would he say as much. Rob noticed how much time Mickey spent demonstrating some skill or other to her, which she already understood perfectly well, and he found that he didn’t much care for it. ‘Soon as we’ve learned all we need to know, we’ll find somewhere better. I’ll see you want for nothing, Alena, but I’ve decided we’d be better away from here, soon as we can manage it.’
‘ You’ve decided?’
‘Aye, I have.’
‘And when did you decide?’
‘Last night.’
She bunched her fists on her hips and glared at him. ‘Don’t I get a say?’
He scowled at her, wishing for once she’d not argue but seeing the familiar stubbornness set in. ‘It was your idea in the first place that we keep moving. That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?’
‘I’ve changed my mind. Why can’t we stay? I like it here. I thought you did too.’
In the silence which followed, Rob’s face became more serious than she had ever seen it. ‘You do realise they’re probably looking for us, Ally? My father will get up a search party and be scouring every inch of these woods by now. It’s right what you said before, we have to get further away. Miles and miles away from Lancashire. Perhaps as far as Scotland.’
This new idea came as a shock to her, and yet was so eminently sensible, that, at a loss for a sensible response, Alena sat down in a huff and began to pull off her Wellington boots. Her mouth set in a furious pout as she wriggled her freezing toes, wishing again for warmer footwear as a tumult of confused emotions ran through her. She wanted to go with Rob, of course she did, but she also wanted to stay here, in the forest. She’d heard that Scotland was beautiful, with perhaps even more magnificent mountains than the ones in her own part of the Lake District, but it sounded a long way from home. A flutter of unease grew in the pit of her stomach as she recalled the warmth of her own fireside and her mother’s home-baked bread. What should she do? She longed in that moment to lay her head upon Lizzie’s soft breast and ask for her advice.
‘We’ll have real skills and experience to offer,’ Rob was saying. ‘Who knows where that could lead?’ His whole face was alight as he talked, gold flecks seeming to dance in his brown eyes. ‘I always wondered what I would do with my life. I knew I didn’t want to go to university, but nor did I want to work on the farm with my father or have to take over the mill one day. Now I know exactly what I want. Now I know where I belong - in the forest. This is the life for me, Alena. I don’t care which forest, or where it is. I mean to be a woodsman.’
She looked up at him then, responding to the thrill of his voice, and her heart swelled with a sudden rush of love for him. The feeling was so unexpected it left her breathless, banishing the last of her doubts. Where else would she want to be, but with Rob?
She pushed her feet back into the boots and stood before him. ‘What about me?’ she quietly asked, struck by a sudden and unaccustomed shyness. ‘We won’t always be fourteen. We won’t always be like this, a boy and a girl. What then?’ She looked at him from under her lashes, trying to imagine him as a grown man, fearful he might no longer need her then.
Somehow he had moved imperceptibly closer, so close she could feel the fan of his warm breath upon her cheek,
He said nothing.
‘Perhaps Mickey’s right and it won’t be so easy for you to get work, after all?’ she suggested, but Rob seemed certain that he could, once he’d honed these new skills he’d acquired.
‘Mickey Roscoe doesn’t know everything. I can do this work. Besides, it’s better than doing geometry and algebra far from home, in the freezing bare classrooms of a new school, I can tell you.’
Yet strangely enough, it was he now who talked of moving on. He was distrustful of the attention Mickey gave to Alena, though not for the world would he say as much. Rob noticed how much time Mickey spent demonstrating some skill or other to her, which she already understood perfectly well, and he found that he didn’t much care for it. ‘Soon as we’ve learned all we need to know, we’ll find somewhere better. I’ll see you want for nothing, Alena, but I’ve decided we’d be better away from here, soon as we can manage it.’
‘ You’ve decided?’
‘Aye, I have.’
‘And when did you decide?’
‘Last night.’
She bunched her fists on her hips and glared at him. ‘Don’t I get a say?’
He scowled at her, wishing for once she’d not argue but seeing the familiar stubbornness set in. ‘It was your idea in the first place that we keep moving. That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?’
‘I’ve changed my mind. Why can’t we stay? I like it here. I thought you did too.’
In the silence which followed, Rob’s face became more serious than she had ever seen it. ‘You do realise they’re probably looking for us, Ally? My father will get up a search party and be scouring every inch of these woods by now. It’s right what you said before, we have to get further away. Miles and miles away from Lancashire. Perhaps as far as Scotland.’
This new idea came as a shock to her, and yet was so eminently sensible, that, at a loss for a sensible response, Alena sat down in a huff and began to pull off her Wellington boots. Her mouth set in a furious pout as she wriggled her freezing toes, wishing again for warmer footwear as a tumult of confused emotions ran through her. She wanted to go with Rob, of course she did, but she also wanted to stay here, in the forest. She’d heard that Scotland was beautiful, with perhaps even more magnificent mountains than the ones in her own part of the Lake District, but it sounded a long way from home. A flutter of unease grew in the pit of her stomach as she recalled the warmth of her own fireside and her mother’s home-baked bread. What should she do? She longed in that moment to lay her head upon Lizzie’s soft breast and ask for her advice.
‘We’ll have real skills and experience to offer,’ Rob was saying. ‘Who knows where that could lead?’ His whole face was alight as he talked, gold flecks seeming to dance in his brown eyes. ‘I always wondered what I would do with my life. I knew I didn’t want to go to university, but nor did I want to work on the farm with my father or have to take over the mill one day. Now I know exactly what I want. Now I know where I belong - in the forest. This is the life for me, Alena. I don’t care which forest, or where it is. I mean to be a woodsman.’
She looked up at him then, responding to the thrill of his voice, and her heart swelled with a sudden rush of love for him. The feeling was so unexpected it left her breathless, banishing the last of her doubts. Where else would she want to be, but with Rob?
She pushed her feet back into the boots and stood before him. ‘What about me?’ she quietly asked, struck by a sudden and unaccustomed shyness. ‘We won’t always be fourteen. We won’t always be like this, a boy and a girl. What then?’ She looked at him from under her lashes, trying to imagine him as a grown man, fearful he might no longer need her then.
Somehow he had moved imperceptibly closer, so close she could feel the fan of his warm breath upon her cheek,
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