CHAPTER Nine

Cassie was vaguely aware of activity around her, of shouts, and moving lights, and people running. Her eyes and ears absorbed the commotion, passing information to her brain that help was on the way. But the message didn’t reach her legs. They started to run, straight through the door and into the hall.

The tree had knocked out all lights inside. Enough light spilled through the windows for Cassie to see that several huge branches filled the hall, having crushed the roof and the rafters. The trunk was caught on the side wall. Debris fell like snow, and now the wind found its way in, exploring its new playground and shaking the dangling branches. It was eerily silent. Apart from Cassie’s own ragged breathing, there was no sound of life – from dog or man.

An ominous crack from overhead shattered the silence, and the tree dropped down another few inches, bringing with it a shower of roof tiles. It shook Cassie into action.

‘Gin!’ she shrieked, hardly recognising the strained voice as her own. She shuffled forwards. ‘Gin! Barney! Where are you?’

Cassie nearly cried when she heard an answering bark. It sounded close by, and she squeezed past a branch. Gin was on the other side, unharmed as far as Cassie could tell in the gloom, although as she hugged the dog she felt bits of grit and dirt caught in her fur.

Another creak echoed over their heads.

‘Gin, where’s Barney?’ Cassie asked, hooking her fingers in Gin’s collar. ‘Show me where Barney is.’

Gin pulled her forwards, heading towards an open door in the corner of the room. Cassie saw that the largest branch, as thick as her waist, was hanging through the ceiling here – and then her stomach lurched as she noticed Barney slumped on the floor, his back against the wall. A torch lay near him. Cassie picked it up and turned it on, pointing it towards Barney. The beam wavered up and down in her shaking hand, but travelled over his face long enough for her to see that his eyes were open and staring.

The torch dropped to the floor. Cassie took a step back. Was he dead? How could he be dead? She had seen him striding into the village hall only a few minutes ago. How could all that life, all that energy, be gone? What would Frances do without him? What would happen to Gin? She couldn’t let this happen.

‘Barney!’ She leaned forwards and slapped him on the face. His beard was rough under her hand. His cheek was still warm. ‘Barney!’ she shouted, hitting him again. ‘Come back! Barney!’

Her hand had become an automaton, repeatedly moving backwards and forwards to slap him. She had no control over it. Her only thought was that she had to bring him back to life.

Her arm was swinging back when a hand closed round her wrist. Cassie screamed. Gin barked.

‘Bloody hell,’ Barney said. ‘Will you stop hitting me? Are you mad?’

Mad? Too right she was mad. In fact, she was furious. What had he been sitting there for, letting her think he was dead? Cassie hit him with the hand he wasn’t restraining.

‘I thought you were dead,’ she shrieked, recoiling as the final word came out wrapped in a sob.

‘So did I, for a moment,’ he said, and his voice held a gravelly vulnerability she hadn’t heard before. ‘So what were the slaps for? Do you have a fetish for dead bodies?’

How could he joke at a time like this? Cassie felt like hitting him again. He was still gripping her arm, as if his fingers had locked in place. The roof groaned, and increasingly heavy drops of rain fell on Cassie’s face.

‘We need to get out of here,’ Cassie said. ‘Are you hurt? Can you walk?’

‘Probably, but I can’t move.’

Picking up the torch, Cassie shone it on Barney and saw what he meant. Part of a roof beam had fallen on him. A chair had broken its fall and held the beam suspended precariously above his legs, but he was trapped against the wall. If he tried to wriggle out, there was every chance that the beam would dislodge and land on his legs. If she tried to move the beam, there was still every chance it might land on his legs, but the alternative was leaving him there in the certainty that the roof would fall on his head. There was no choice.

She put down the torch so it cast some light in the right direction. The beam was about as thick as a telegraph pole. She wrapped her arms round it, and tried to lift it, but nothing happened. She braced her feet, took a huge breath, and tried again, but it didn’t shift.

‘Leave it, it’s too heavy for you.’

‘No, it isn’t.’

Another blast of wind, and the tree dropped another foot. Cassie yelped as a twig scratched her cheek.

‘Cassie, take Gin and get out of here. That wall isn’t going to hold much longer.’

‘I can do it.’

‘Leave it!’ Barney bellowed. ‘Get out now.’

Cassie wasn’t going anywhere. She hadn’t slapped him back to life only to let him be crushed to death.

‘We’ll have to try together,’ she said. ‘But there’ll only be one chance. When I shout “go”, I’ll pull, you push, and draw back your legs. Ready?’

They stared at each other, oblivious to the storm blowing around them. If they couldn’t do it… if Barney couldn’t move in time… In that moment of silence, they were both well aware of how those sentences might end.

‘Ready.’ Barney’s voice was quiet, but Cassie was so wholly focussed on him that she was sure she could hear the brush of his eyelashes against his cheeks as he blinked.

She wiped her hands on her trousers, and hooked her arms underneath the beam.

‘Three, two, one … go!’

Cassie pulled, her muscles burning along her arms, across her shoulders and behind her neck. Eyes closed, teeth clenched, she pulled with every grain of strength she had. She felt an answering pressure from Barney’s side, and for a second the whole weight of the beam seemed to hang in her arms, before they gave way under the strain and the beam crashed to the floor.

Cassie looked up. Barney was standing in front of her, alive and legs intact. They had done it – although they weren’t safe yet. She bent down and grabbed Gin’s collar.

‘Come on,’ she shouted. ‘Let’s go.’

Barney didn’t move. He gazed at the tree, hanging through the ceiling, apparently transfixed. Cassie wondered if he’d banged his head, and was concussed, or worse. With her free hand she grasped his sleeve and pulled him, not stopping until they emerged through the doors of the village hall.

The rain, the wind and the villagers attacked them as soon as they set foot outside.

‘Barney!’ Akram reached them first, and gave Barney a hug. ‘I thought you were a goner, mate. When that tree crashed down …’

His words were drowned out as the tree finally won its battle with the wall, crushing the side of the hall as it collapsed. The reality of what might have happened hit Cassie and her knees buckled. She sank down to the pavement, and put her head between her knees. Her head was swirling as if she had the worst hangover, but she was vaguely aware of male conversation around her, and Barney’s voice more distinct than the others. She felt a warm tongue lick her cheek, and Gin nudged up next to her and began to bark.

‘Cassie? What’s the matter? Are you hurt?’ Barney spoke close to her ear. Cassie shook her head, but that made the spinning worse.

‘She’s like a drowned rat.’ Akram’s words drifted over Cassie. ‘Come on, Smiler. Let’s get you somewhere dry.’

Akram looped his arm in hers and pulled her up, but the bones in her legs had vanished and she dropped back down, dangling off Akram like an oversized handbag. Before she could sink to the ground again, Barney scooped her off her feet, and staring silently ahead, marched towards the pub. Cassie was too exhausted to raise a protest.

The pub door opened as Barney approached, and Mel peered out, eyes wide.

‘What happened? What was that noise?’ She looked at Cassie. ‘What have you done to Cassie?’

‘Nothing!’

‘I’m fine.’ Cassie wriggled and Barney put her down. She leant against the wall, feeling far from fine. Her heart was having a funny turn, galloping in a way she hoped would stop now she was on the ground and not in Barney’s arms.

‘She’s in shock,’ Barney said. ‘The tree has fallen onto the village hall. One wall and the roof have been destroyed.’

‘Destroyed?’ Mel’s face was a slide show of emotion as it went through disbelief to horror and freeze-framed on fear. ‘Akram? Where is he?’

She tried to rush past Barney, but he held her back.

‘He’s OK. He’s on his way.’

The door opened and Akram sauntered in, followed by the other men who had been helping out. Mel flung herself on Akram, despite the water dripping off him, and gave him the sort of kiss that was barely decent in public. Their raw passion made Cassie’s heart flip. She shuffled along the wall, heading towards the fire.

‘I think I’m on a promise tonight, lads,’ Akram said, when Mel detached herself from his lips.

‘Any night,’ she agreed, taking his hand. ‘When we heard that crash …’ She shuddered. ‘I thought you were sure to be in the thick of it.’

‘Nay, you needn’t have worried about me.’ Akram patted his stomach. ‘The tree would probably have bounced off me. It’s these two you should have been worrying about.’ He waved a hand from Barney to Cassie, who had now reached the hearth. ‘We almost lost the pair of them. It’s a toss up which one is the daftest. Him for going in the hall in the first place, or her for dashing to his rescue.’

‘Not his rescue,’ one of the other men said. ‘It was the dog she was calling for.’

Everyone turned to Cassie, including her in their laughter, and the warmth radiating off them was as strong as any heat coming from the fire behind her. She had forgotten the pleasure of belonging, of sharing laughter rather than being the subject of it. She wanted more of this. She needed it.

‘There’s your proof she’s not daft,’ Barney said. ‘She knew which one of us was worth rescuing.’ And he smiled at Cassie. Even across the pub she could see the crinkles around his eyes and knew this smile was real. A bubble of hope floated into her head. Perhaps she could stay here, and belong, and be content.

‘Come off it,’ Mel said to Barney. ‘There’ll be a queue of women lining up to thank her when this news gets out. The Yeti look is amazingly popular.’

‘Are you and Ethel at the head of the queue?’

‘In your dreams.’

‘I told you about that dream in confidence. You weren’t meant to blurt it out in the pub.’

Mel snorted, and hugged him.

‘You daft bugger,’ she said. ‘Don’t ever do anything like that again. You know I’m keeping you in reserve as my next husband in case I wear out Akram.’

Barney laughed, while Mel wandered away to fetch towels and Akram handed out glasses of whisky. Cassie refused hers, but watched as Barney downed his in one. She wondered if he’d been hit on the head before she had gone into the village hall. There was something wrong with him. Where had this flirty Barney come from? He was laughing, smiling and joking, a totally different man. Perhaps the true character of a person was only revealed under the most extreme circumstances. And his true character … Well, it wasn’t what she had expected.

‘You’d have been better with the whisky to warm you up,’ Mel said, as she gave Cassie the orange juice she’d asked for. ‘You’ve not stopped shivering since you came back. Get that wet coat off and you’ll feel more benefit from the fire.’

Cassie took off her coat, peeling the soaking sleeves from her arms. Her thin top was more wet than dry, and clung to her skin. She plucked it away from her chest, shivering as air crept below the fabric.

‘Here, have this.’ Barney walked towards Cassie, taking off his coat. Cassie thought he was giving her that, but he threw it on the table and continued to strip off the jumper he was wearing underneath. He tugged it over his head, lifting his T-shirt with it, and revealing a taut stomach, divided by a strip of dark hair like the shaft of an arrow, pointing below his belt.

A coil of lust twisted inside Cassie, rising up from her toes. She hadn’t expected it. She didn’t like him, and she would rather saw off her limbs with a blunt knife than become involved with a man again, but she couldn’t deny what she felt.

It was wonderful. Mike had been wrong. She wasn’t broken, or faulty goods, or frigid, or any of the other horrid things he had delighted in calling her. It was as if a match had been struck in the darkness of her heart and mind – if Mike had been wrong about that, how much else that he’d said was a lie too? She looked again at Barney, catching another glimpse of skin before the T-shirt fell back down.

Barney held out his jumper, and Cassie pulled it on. The wool was so soft that she wanted to hug herself to feel more of it, and Barney’s warmth clung to it. The jumper smelt of outdoors, and log smoke, and something else uniquely male. Lust writhed again. Cassie took a deep breath, savouring every tingle of desire that proved she was normal.

‘What shall we do about the village hall?’ Mel asked, when everyone had a towel. ‘Do we need to report it?’

‘I’ll ring the Colonel in the morning,’ Barney said. ‘He’ll need to inform the insurers, and see if there’s any chance of them paying out.’

‘And if they won’t? Do we double our fundraising efforts? How bad is it?’

‘We won’t be sure until the storm is over, and we see it in daylight, but I think we could fundraise for the next ten years and not make enough for the repairs. It’s too far gone. And don’t forget we can’t use the hall now. We’ve nowhere to hold the events, even if there was any point.’

‘I hadn’t thought about that.’ Mel slumped into a chair. ‘What will we do? So many groups use the hall. It’s the life of the village.’

Barney shrugged.

‘I know, but making it safe is the first concern.’ He turned to Akram. ‘Did you ring the fire service?’

‘Yes, but they have a lot on their plate tonight. It might be hours before they get here.’

‘At least they can get here,’ Mel said. ‘Without Cassie, they wouldn’t be able to reach the village.’ She smiled at Cassie. ‘You really are the heroine of the night. Thank God Barney brought you with him.’

‘What else have you been up to, Smiler?’ Akram asked. ‘Was saving a man from certain death not enough excitement for one night?’

‘Mel’s exaggerating my usefulness,’ Cassie said, shrinking into Barney’s jumper as all eyes in the pub focused on her.

‘You can’t be modest after what you’ve done tonight.’ Mel turned to the men. ‘While you lot were working on the tree, the bus shelter fell down and blocked the road.’

Amid the groans, Akram laughed.

‘I hope there weren’t any courting couples in it at the time. It’s a popular place once it gets dark.’ He gave Barney a nudge. ‘I bet you could tell a tale or two about what you got up to in there in your heyday.’

‘Never mind in my heyday. Now I’ll have to rethink my date for tomorrow night.’

Laughter lingered over his face as he turned to Cassie.

‘What were you doing in the bus shelter? You were safe in the truck when I left you.’

‘Not very safe,’ Cassie said. ‘It was rocking, and it was dark.’

‘Why would you leave her in the truck?’ Mel asked. ‘She’s a woman, not an animal, as I’m sure you must have noticed.’

Barney ignored this, and picked up his coat.

‘Is the road completely blocked? We’d better go back out and clear it.’

‘No!’ Mel flapped her hand at him. ‘Will you listen? That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Cassie cleared the road.’

‘By herself?’ Akram laughed. ‘Are you wearing a Wonder Woman outfit under that jumper?’

‘I wouldn’t mind finding out…’ It was probably meant to be a whisper, but the group of men at the bar had taken control of the whisky bottle, and lost control over their voices. Cassie folded her arms over herself, hating the attention.

‘How did you do it?’ Barney asked.

‘In the tractor.’

‘Tractor? What tractor? We saw Joe out in his tractor. There wasn’t another one.’

‘You’re being remarkably dim, Barney. Look at Joe. He’s been like this for the last hour.’ Mel gestured at Joe, who was slumped in his chair, snoring. ‘It was Cassie driving the tractor.’

‘It was just like the war!’ Ethel added, removing her lips from her sherry glass for long enough to speak. ‘Girl power!’

‘What do you know about driving a tractor?’ Barney asked Cassie.

‘I grew up on a farm. My dad taught me.’

‘But Joe’s old Bertha? She’s like a tank. I’ve struggled to drive her.’

‘It had to be done. The road needed clearing.’

‘Well, good for you, Smiler.’ Akram leant down and kissed Cassie’s cheek. ‘You’re one of us now, a true Ribblemiller. Welcome to the gang.’

A few whistles and a feeble round of applause drifted over from the bar. Barney put on his coat and picked up Cassie’s.

‘You must be shattered. I’d better take you home.’ He held out her coat, so Cassie could slip it back on. ‘You should soak in the bath and then get to bed.’

‘Oh aye? Planning on searching for that Wonder Woman costume yourself, are you?’ Akram winked at Barney.

‘Certainly not. I don’t want her to catch a cold and pass it on to Frances.’

The wind was as strong as ever, but the rain held off as Cassie followed Barney out of the pub, and he drove back to Ramblings. He pulled up close to the front entrance, the engine still running, and switched on the interior light. Cassie blinked, partly at the sudden brightness, and partly at the full on Barney stare that fixed on her. But it was different from normal: less hostile, more curious.

‘You’re not what you seem,’ he said.

‘What?’ Cassie felt colder than she had all night. What did he know?

‘Frances told me you were tougher than you look. I didn’t believe her until tonight.’

Frances and Barney had discussed her? She wondered what they had said, and whether Barney was still trying to persuade Frances to sack her. Surely she had done enough, tonight, to earn a reprieve? He had called Ramblings her home, and that was how she saw it, even after so short a time. The thought of leaving made her feel sick. She opened the truck door and turned to get out.

‘Cassie.’ Barney made to stop her, but as she swivelled in her seat, he missed her arm, and his hand caught hold of hers. She could feel the imprint of each warm finger against her skin. She stared down at his hand, noticing the gash across the back of it. He wasn’t applying any pressure, but she couldn’t move her hand away. ‘Thanks for what you did tonight.’

‘It was nothing.’

‘Nothing to you, maybe, but saving my life means a lot to me. I owe you.’

‘Anybody would have done the same thing.’

‘No. It takes someone pretty remarkable to do what you did.’

He didn’t smile; in fact, he appeared as surprised to be saying the words as Cassie was to hear them. His manner couldn’t be more different from that in the pub. He wasn’t flirting or trying to compliment her, but the atmosphere in the truck seemed charged. Their hands pulled apart simultaneously.

‘I’d better check on Frances,’ Cassie said, and she slid out of the truck and ran into the house. She closed the front door, and fastened the bolts, and only then she heard the clatter of gravel as Barney drove away.