A Surprising Legacy. Ernest Swain
over the hole you’ve dug?” asked Ruth.
“Well, although I said ‘he’s blind’ he can see the difference between dark and daylight. Most of the time he’s below ground and sight isn’t much use to him, so he relies on his sense of touch - feeling with his whiskers - and his smell”, replied Amos.
“ What do you do with it if you catch it?” enquired Ruth.
“I knocks him on the head and kills him. Some folks skin him and sew the skins together to make clothes but you need an awful lot to do that. I just take ‘em back to Master John to show how many I caught so’s he pays me”, answered Amos, bluntly.
The night had closed in and the camp fire died to a few glowing embers.
“Time for some shut-eye”, said Amos. The oil lamp flickered and threw strange shadows and Ruth held up the ‘fairy’ that Amos had whittled the night before, to the glass of the lamp and amused herself with the shadows that were cast on the walls. She took it to her cot and held it tight, she buried herself in the blanket covers but try as she may, sleep wouldn’t come. “What’s the matter, can’t you get to sleep?” Amos asked. “I’m too excited to sleep. I can’t help thinking about Ma”, she answered. He sat down on the edge of Ruth’s cot and stroked her brow.
“Will it help if I sing a lullaby? I used to sing when we were gathered around the camp fire”, he said, and without waiting for an answer he began to sing. The voice was low with a mellow timbre and the tune flowed in a soothing manner. He sang words that came to his mind in that instant.
“Little girl lost, is now little girl found.
Safe in a world, where love now abounds.
Free of the cares that held her apart,
Unburdened at last, a part of my heart”
It was just something made up on the spur of the moment and Ruth loved it.
“Please sing it again” she said, and Amos did his best to remember the words he had just sung. When he came to the end this second time, he just continued to hum the tune. He realised that Ruth was snuggled up to his side and holding his arm, but she was at last asleep. He gently laid her back on the cot and once more covered her. He turned down the wick of the oil lamp until it spluttered and went out, then he lay back on his own bed. He felt a real affection for the child and his thoughts went immediately to Sarah. He was both excited and apprehensive about whether Sarah would decide to stay or whether she would find it too difficult to accept such hospitality from a man, and perhaps decide to leave and take Ruth with her. He turned on his side and pulled the blanket over his head.
The remaining days, until Sarah’s release, simply dragged by. Amos tried desperately to fill his mind with thoughts of work, but the days were of such a slow pace that he couldn’t help himself, wishing they would fly. Ruth was excited to the point that the feeling was infectious and they both were really overwhelmed. Together they cleaned the caravan inside and out and sorted out the extra bedding that would be necessary. The interior was re-arranged to give Sarah the space and comfort that she would require. It was in the quieter moments, when he was alone, that Amos’s thoughts were turned inwardly again and those feelings of foreboding returned. The doubts persisted, would she spurn his offer of a roof over her head and regular meals? Would she feel too vulnerable to live in such close proximity to someone – a man – she didn’t really know? For the time being there was no answer.
Within the austere walls of the prison, Sarah looked around the dingy room from her bed. The other women talked amongst themselves of their own problems but Sarah felt no affinity with them. She didn’t seem to belong to their world and although she was polite and sociable when spoken to, she tended to keep herself apart. She’d begun to get a little strength back into that fragile frame and had been eating better, probably because her mind was now more settled with the knowledge that Ruth was safe. Kathleen, her solace in this dreadful place, had disappeared. After that first meeting when Kathleen had sat beside her on the bed and had talked of her certainty that Ruth was being cared for, and the prophecy that they’d soon be reunited, Sarah hadn’t seen her. Prisoners were coming and going all the while in this place but when she enquired about Kathleen no-one knew of her and she was afraid that her fellow inmates would think her delusory. Rather than give them the impression that she was mentally unsound, she kept matters to herself. Secretly though, she still looked for Kathleen.
Chapter 7
The day of Sarah’s release was at last here. The grime laden sandstone of the gaol was even more depressing in the heavy wet mist that blanketed the area. A real autumn chill was in the air, but was it the cold of the atmosphere or the oppressiveness of the building that sent a shiver down his spine? The journey had been one of doggedness in the thick mist and by the time they arrived their clothes hung heavily with the dampness. They both felt the apprehension and Ruth was full of chatter showing her excitement. She pulled her blanket about her and looked up at Amos, and he sensed that she needed his re-assurance. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, offering the warmth of his body. Suddenly there was activity behind the huge oak doors and the sound of bolts being withdrawn from their keepers on the inside. Noiselessly, one door swung open, and there she was.
Ruth broke away from Amos and ran to her mother, flinging her arms around her. They hugged desperately and Amos hung back to allow them their moment. There were tears and kisses and the emotion also had its effect upon him, although he tried hard not to show it.
“Oh Ma I’m so glad I’ve found you. I was so frightened I thought I’d lost you forever”. Sarah could only hug her. The tears and emotion choked her words. She lifted her head and looked at Amos,
“How can I ever begin to repay your kindness?” she sobbed.
The experience of the gaol had been of a really daunting nature but now she was free once more. She breathed deeply of this mist laden air that felt fresh and sweet to her. Amos suddenly realised that she was without any substantial cloak to ward off the wet and cold, and without embarrassment, he took hold of her hand and led her to where the mare was tied. He took the roll from the horse’s withers that revealed a heavy blanket which he shook out and then draped around Sarah’s shoulders.
“Here now, let this blanket keep you dry”.
She was grateful for the protection as they walked slowly together towards the town; Amos leading the horse. Ruth excitedly said,
“Oh Ma, the caravan’s wonderful. It’s warm and dry, and Amos cooks wonderful food on the camp fire”.
Amos remained rather quiet, he was more concerned about Sarah’s pallid complexion and her slight frame; she really did need some nourishment to build her up. He decided the time had come to broach the subject of her homeless dilemma. “Sarah, I’ve grown to like Ruth, and I’ve learnt so much about you too. It seems to me that if you simply go away to live in the way you have - begging for food - then you’re going to either fall desperately ill, or you’re going to end up back in prison. The best you can hope for is to find yourself in one of these new workhouses for the poor. Look, I’ve lived alone - that is until I found Ruth - in a caravan that’s warm, dry and big enough for the three of us. You’d be welcome to share it – what do you think?”
Without waiting for her reply, he continued,
“You wouldn’t be obligated to me. I’d have a separate cot, and I’ll respect your privacy”.
Sarah was quiet for a short moment and then she replied,
“Yes, I trust you. You were so kind to Ruth, when she was frightened and alone, and I’m grateful to you for that. I’d like to accept. Thank you”
A weight suddenly lifted from Amos’s shoulders.
As they walked toward the town centre, they became aware of an unusual hustle and bustle with people running and shouts of “Boney’s coming. Boney’s coming”. As they followed the hub-bub Ruth looked at her mother and asked,
“Who’s Boney?”
Sarah