funny.
"Gillane wasn't even farming the land he'd bought from Denley. He kept some pigs but that was all. He wasn't selling them either. John went round there to see what he'd got and Gillane said the pigs, they were pets. Pets!
"Downswold used to be the workmen's cottage on Denley's farm. Just for the winter really. For some of the men to stay when it got too late. When he got the farm, Gillane boarded it up and told the boys to find work somewhere else. He put a big sign on the road saying, PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT. You didn't need a bigger sign than that.
"I made Sarah promise me that she would have nothing to do with that man. He deserved to be left alone. She promised me. Ach, she could fool me, that girl!
"One day I went to John's to get some apples for stewing. There were some beauties, he had. Big, shiny Bramleys. I asked John whose farm they were from. He couldn't look me in the face. He said he didn't know. Sarah got them, not him. I asked that girl. She told me she got them at Downswold. That Gillane, he told her to come and pick them or they'd rot where they fell. I didn't wait to get that girl home to tell her what I thought! And John! Right there and then, I told them both.
"Every day after that, I checked there was nothing of that man in the shop. There wasn't. Sarah went home for Christmas, back to her mother. She didn't come back to me until January. We spent Christmas Day with her family though and we had such a jolly time. Sarah was talking to her mother again although she stayed very close to me when I was there.
"I didn't see that Gillane either. He stopped coming to collect his letters and got young Zachary Turnbull to do it for him. Simple lad, he's still doing tricks for his master.
"Sarah didn't say much when she came back to stay. She'd go to work with John, then come home. Sometimes, maybe twice a week, she'd take John's horse, Trudi, out for a ride.
"It was snowing something terrible then. All day. On the days the sun was out, I didn't have the heart to stop her enjoying herself. She'd be gone for hours, burst through this door here. Kiss me, she would, and say Nanny! I'm starving!
"I didn't know where she had been riding but she never mentioned that Gillane. I didn't see him either, so I was sure he was gone from her life.
"Gwennie Stamp came to see me again. She said she'd seen Sarah with a man, she wasn't sure who, driving into Downswold. That was the day she disappeared. She didn't come home that night. I stayed up all night waiting for her. She never came.
"I knew something had happened to her. She told me she was going to ride Trudi. She told John too. But the grooms on the farm never saw her and Trudi stayed in her paddock. They would have seen her. Sarah didn't like saddling the horse and would tell them to do it for her.
"I went to see that Gillane. He closed the door in my face. It was awful!"
Here Mag burst into tears. Her face buried in her hands, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Sara put her arm around her. She felt genuinely moved by the woman's anguish. Despite the twenty years that had elapsed, the memory of her beloved niece brought only sadness. Mag obviously felt responsible for what had happened to Sarah.
"Come now, Mag. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know."
"I did! I did! I knew that man was no good!"
"What did the police say?"
Sara needed to know more.
"They came the next day. I told them everything I knew. I told them Gillane had done something bad. They went to see him. Nothing. They let him alone."
"Did they search everywhere?"
"We all did! Apart from Gwennie, no one had seen Sarah. And then Gwennie told them that she wasn't even sure if it was Sarah."
"What do you mean? She changed her mind?"
"I don't know. I don't know."
Mag stopped crying abruptly and looked at Sara suspiciously.
"I'll be getting back to the shop now," was all she would say as she got up and cleared the table.
Sara understood
"Gillane wasn't even farming the land he'd bought from Denley. He kept some pigs but that was all. He wasn't selling them either. John went round there to see what he'd got and Gillane said the pigs, they were pets. Pets!
"Downswold used to be the workmen's cottage on Denley's farm. Just for the winter really. For some of the men to stay when it got too late. When he got the farm, Gillane boarded it up and told the boys to find work somewhere else. He put a big sign on the road saying, PRIVATE PROPERTY KEEP OUT. You didn't need a bigger sign than that.
"I made Sarah promise me that she would have nothing to do with that man. He deserved to be left alone. She promised me. Ach, she could fool me, that girl!
"One day I went to John's to get some apples for stewing. There were some beauties, he had. Big, shiny Bramleys. I asked John whose farm they were from. He couldn't look me in the face. He said he didn't know. Sarah got them, not him. I asked that girl. She told me she got them at Downswold. That Gillane, he told her to come and pick them or they'd rot where they fell. I didn't wait to get that girl home to tell her what I thought! And John! Right there and then, I told them both.
"Every day after that, I checked there was nothing of that man in the shop. There wasn't. Sarah went home for Christmas, back to her mother. She didn't come back to me until January. We spent Christmas Day with her family though and we had such a jolly time. Sarah was talking to her mother again although she stayed very close to me when I was there.
"I didn't see that Gillane either. He stopped coming to collect his letters and got young Zachary Turnbull to do it for him. Simple lad, he's still doing tricks for his master.
"Sarah didn't say much when she came back to stay. She'd go to work with John, then come home. Sometimes, maybe twice a week, she'd take John's horse, Trudi, out for a ride.
"It was snowing something terrible then. All day. On the days the sun was out, I didn't have the heart to stop her enjoying herself. She'd be gone for hours, burst through this door here. Kiss me, she would, and say Nanny! I'm starving!
"I didn't know where she had been riding but she never mentioned that Gillane. I didn't see him either, so I was sure he was gone from her life.
"Gwennie Stamp came to see me again. She said she'd seen Sarah with a man, she wasn't sure who, driving into Downswold. That was the day she disappeared. She didn't come home that night. I stayed up all night waiting for her. She never came.
"I knew something had happened to her. She told me she was going to ride Trudi. She told John too. But the grooms on the farm never saw her and Trudi stayed in her paddock. They would have seen her. Sarah didn't like saddling the horse and would tell them to do it for her.
"I went to see that Gillane. He closed the door in my face. It was awful!"
Here Mag burst into tears. Her face buried in her hands, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Sara put her arm around her. She felt genuinely moved by the woman's anguish. Despite the twenty years that had elapsed, the memory of her beloved niece brought only sadness. Mag obviously felt responsible for what had happened to Sarah.
"Come now, Mag. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know."
"I did! I did! I knew that man was no good!"
"What did the police say?"
Sara needed to know more.
"They came the next day. I told them everything I knew. I told them Gillane had done something bad. They went to see him. Nothing. They let him alone."
"Did they search everywhere?"
"We all did! Apart from Gwennie, no one had seen Sarah. And then Gwennie told them that she wasn't even sure if it was Sarah."
"What do you mean? She changed her mind?"
"I don't know. I don't know."
Mag stopped crying abruptly and looked at Sara suspiciously.
"I'll be getting back to the shop now," was all she would say as she got up and cleared the table.
Sara understood
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