The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont Read Free Book Online Page B

born in the saddle and was a much better rider than Finbarr, who’d never had his own horse, or me, who’d only learned to ride two years ago. So, as Aunt Rosie envisioned, it was the three of us, riding in a group, sandpipers and plovers rising into the sky to get out of our way. Clouds overhead moved aside to let thesun through. I would have betrayed my mother in an instant, taking myself and future children away from London, across the sea, to live on these shores forever.
    ‘The tide’s out,’ Finbarr said, as my horse came to walk abreast of his. ‘We can pick across the tide pools from one beach to the next.’
    Horse hooves clipped over tiny pebbles and dipped into the salty water. Alby splashed through the waves, porpoising through the deeper shallows. We climbed off the horses and Finbarr showed me some whistles he’d been working on as commands. Seamus stayed on his horse, a polite distance, eyes on us.
    ‘Here,’ Finbarr said, trying to teach me to whistle. He cupped his hand around my chin, pushing my lips into a pucker.
    I tried to release the same sharp-noted whistle that had made Alby run forward, then backtrack in a wide circle. But the saddest little bit of breath came out.
    ‘Try with your fingers,’ Finbarr said. He put both forefingers into his mouth and let out a noise so loud it made me jump. Alby raced forward and came to a sitting stop at our feet. Finbarr took a small rubber ball from his pocket and cocked his arm to throw it.
    ‘Make a wish,’ he said.
    ‘I wish this day would never end.’
    The ball and the dog flew.
    ‘Granted,’ Finbarr said, when Alby caught it.
    Alby trotted back to us and spat the ball at our feet. I kneeled to embrace him. ‘Thank you, Alby. You’re beautiful. You’re perfect.’
    ‘Just like you.’ Finbarr kneeled beside me and pushed my hair behind my ears.
    ‘None of that,’ Seamus called. His voice hadn’t changed yet.
    ‘Thank you for joining me, Nan,’ Finbarr said, when we’dreturned the horses to the barn. ‘There’s always work to be done but I hope we can go for another ride together before the summer’s end.’
    ‘I hope so too.’

    August came and with it the war. Finbarr appeared at our farm. That’s how I’d come to think of it. Not just Jack’s, Rosie’s and Seamus’s farm. Mine too.
    From the window in the kitchen I could see Finbarr walking over the hill, Alby at his heels. The boy and dog with matching strides, at once purposeful and carefree. There was no conscription; Finbarr joined the British Forces with his parents’ blessing because that’s what patriotism meant in those days, to a certain kind of person. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves and Come and do your bit . My Uncle Jack would join, too, once the efforts were underway. But we didn’t know that yet. For now war was a young man’s business.
    ‘Go on out,’ Aunt Rosie said, when she caught me watching through the window. This time she didn’t send Seamus with me. She knew what Finbarr had come to say. We make special dispensations for soldiers, even when it comes to girls.
    ‘I’m sorry to leave,’ Finbarr said. His voice was sombre but the lightness hadn’t left him. None of this was real. War was nothing but a ruined summer. ‘This wasn’t how I imagined things would go.’
    Tears clouded my eyes. At first this embarrassed me but Finbarr reached out and took my hand.
    ‘Are you frightened?’ I asked.
    ‘Sure, I think I am. Though I don’t quite know what to be frightened of. I can’t hardly imagine what it’ll be like.’ The worldaround us stood green and untroubled. ‘Do you know what I can imagine? After it all. The war won’t take long. Six months tops and it’ll all be over. And you’ll come to Ireland to stay, and we’ll have a farm of our own, and I’ll train dogs, and you’ll write books.’
    My face broke open into a smile that nearly cracked my body in two. He hadn’t said the word, married, I was too young for