Darkest Before Dawn by Gwen Kirkwood Read Free Book Online Page A

there’s problems?’
    ‘If you make a good vet, maybe I’ll send for you to do that.’ For the first time since the accident some of the strain and tension left Billy’s lean face and a glimmer of a smile hovered around his mouth. Passing the ward, Sister Palmer nodded with satisfaction. That child in her school uniform seemed to be helping herpatient after all.
    ‘Do you mind if I come again and bring Amanda with me, Billy? So long as my father doesn’t find out, of course, and if Rena will give us a lift again? Some of the boys talked about coming too. Jim Finlay and Phil Maxwell are staying on at school to try for better grades.’
    ‘I’m not going to be here much longer. I’d have been mobile quicker if I hadn’t broken my arm and a couple of ribs. I’m hoping to get home as soon as I can manage the crutches.’ He hated having to depend on the nurses every time he wanted the toilet, or anything else. He was impatient to try anything which would give him a measure of independence.
    ‘Well, you played enough rugby so I suppose you should have strong shoulders to take your weight,’ Fenella said.
    ‘Rugby.’ He groaned. ‘There’ll be no more of that, or football. Oh, God.’ He bowed his head in his hands in a gesture of despair. ‘Sometimes I wish….’
    ‘No! Don’t say it, Billy. Never, ever wish you’d died like Liam.’ Fenella’s voice caught in her throat. ‘There’s so many other things you can do. You have to think positively or you’ll be as bad as my father,’ she added. ‘Every word he utters is something negative. You’ll still be able to sing when you come to parties. You still have your brains. Promise me you’ll make the most of what you have, Billy. It is what Liam would have wanted. You know it is.’
    ‘I suppose so,’ Billy muttered. He pulled himself up straighter in the bed. ‘All right then, Miss Lennox, I shall start by doing exercises to get the strength back in my arms and shoulders and I shall tell thatpretty little physio I intend to get moving under my own steam as soon as the doctors say my ribs have healed properly.’
    ‘You’re sounding more cheerful, Billy,’ Rena said, coming in to join them. ‘I believe your visit has done him good, Fenella. Let me know if you want a lift another day. It’s no problem. I drive past your school on my way from Langton Gardens anyway when I’m heading for Dumfries.’

FOUR
    The months which followed were a period of ups and many downs for Billy as he struggled to regain some independence. He was dismayed to find his own parents seriously believed he would change all his plans and ambitions and pursue a sedentary career. His mother suggested law or accountancy and he almost wished he had not worked so hard at school and done so well in his exams. Even more discouraging was his father pointing out the tasks he would never be able to do around the farm, such as chasing the cattle when they were moved from field to field or loaded in a lorry to be sold: calving cows could be stubborn to manage, especially when they were in difficulties and suffering pain, and even doing the artificial insemination could be risky if one caught him off balance.
    ‘Then I shall have to go back to using the artificial insemination service,’ he said stubbornly. ‘There has to be a way round the things I can’t do myself. If that pilot, Bader, could fly an aeroplane without anylegs then surely I deserve to have a go at following my dream to farm when I’ve only lost half a leg. I shall have to be a good manager and make sure I employ men who can do the tasks I can’t do myself,’ he argued. ‘Uncle Alex believes I can do it. He says a good manager is worth three men.’
    ‘We don’t employ any spare labour on farms these days for you to manage. In fact fewer men want work on dairy farms with early mornings and seven days a week,’ Sam said. ‘Fate usually guarantees it is when a man is off that you need him most. I’m lucky.