Dr Fulton gave a few words of welcome, thanked everyone for their contribution to the opening of Amber House and in particular Mrs Leigh-Maddeson, who had worked so tirelessly in her efforts to provide a home and support for young women who, for whatever reason, found themselves in an unenviable position without hope or succour. He then invited the Chief Magistrate to officially perform the opening ceremony.
After that, some of the assembly began to drift away, whilst others inspected the rest of the house. Lily went to collect her outdoor coat and left Johnny talking to Daisy, who had come in for the last quarter of an hour.
‘I don’t want to go back to ’country to live,’ Daisy told her father. ‘I don’t mean that I don’t want to see you’ – she hung her head – ‘or Ted; it’s just that I prefer it here. There’s more to do, and I like being back at my lessons.’
‘But you’d come and stay sometimes, wouldn’t you?’ Johnny asked anxiously. ‘And – what if your ma came back to live wi’ me? How would you feel about that?’
‘All right, I suppose. Would that mean I’d have to live with Mr and Mrs Walker? Cos I wouldn’t mind that really.’
Johnny smiled. ‘I don’t know if they’d want you to live with them all ’time. We’d have to sort summat out.’
‘I’d like to go away to school,’ Daisy said eagerly. ‘I’d be with other girls then.’ She sighed. ‘But I know we couldn’t afford that.’
Johnny patted her head. ‘Don’t let’s worry over that now. Your ma hasn’t said she’ll come back to Hollym to live. I let her down. I don’t know if she’ll forgive me.’
Daisy looked up at him. ‘But you came back, didn’t you? You returned from ’dead and that’s what she always wanted. More than anything else.’
Daisy’s given me hope, Johnny thought as he helped Lily into the trap, covered her knees with a blanket and set off for Holderness.
Lily glanced at him. He’s soft-soaping me and I’m not used to it. I’m used to managing for myself. ‘So whose is ’trap?’ she asked. ‘Did somebody lend it to you?’
‘Erm, no. I bought it. I thought if we were going to be backwards and forwards to market I’d better invest in some transport.’
‘Hardly big enough to load taties and vegetables in it,’ she remarked. ‘Besides, it’d be a shame to muck it up with soil.’ The seat was wooden but covered in dark green leather.
Johnny gave a wry grimace. ‘You were allus smart, Lily. Nowt much gets past you.’ He laughed. ‘How else could I come to Amber House? I can’t keep on catching carrier, can I? Not if you’re going to stop there. I bought it so that I could come and see you. We’ll get a cart for Ted’s stuff once he’s ready for market.’
What’s he doing for money? she wondered. Fine suit of clothes, horse and trap, talking of buying a cart! I’ll not ask him; not until I’ve seen this house and land. He’ll have leased it I expect from one of the landowners. Hope he knows what he’s doing and hasn’t landed himself in a load of debt.
The sun was lowering as they approached Hollym and Lily kept glancing over her shoulder to look at the sky. She sighed in satisfaction. ‘There’s nowt to beat a Holderness sunset,’ she murmured. ‘There are some good ones in Hull, but out here there are no buildings to get in ’way; nothing to detract from ’miles and miles of sky.’
Johnny agreed. ‘I often thought of Holderness when I was up in ’mountains wi’ ’sepoys,’ he said. ‘Sunsets were brilliant but they didn’t linger the way they do here. There was a great splash of colour and then it was gone into darkness.’ He shook the reins to urge on the horse. ‘But out here you can watch them changing into a rainbow of colours, onny without ’rain. We’re nearly there,’ he said eagerly. ‘You’ll know ’house, Lily, when you see it. I remember it from when I was a lad and you’ll remember it too. It’s an old one and been derelict for a long time, by ’state of it.’
‘There’s the new mill!’ Lily interrupted. ‘Its sails are turning.’
‘Aye, it’s up and working,’ Johnny said. ‘I lost my bearings when I first saw it. I onny remember ’owd post-mill.’
‘They hadn’t finished it when I left to go to Seathorne. They still had to put on ’cap and sails.’
‘You can see it from ’top window,’ Johnny told her. ‘And here we are!’
‘Is this it?’ She gave a gasp. ‘Why, this was part of Barnard’s estate at one time.’
‘Aye, it was.’ He drew up at the gate. ‘But different lots have been sold on over ’past few years.’
Lily stared up at the old turreted house. She remembered it from childhood. It had always seemed unusual and fascinating, even though run-down and in need of repair. It had been empty for years. ‘So, have you leased it? Are you a tenant or what?’
‘Come in,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell all in a minute, but I want you to see ’view from top window afore ’sun sets.’
‘Where’s Ted?’ she asked. ‘Is he here?’
‘He’ll be out tending beans or peas or whatever he’s growing.’ Johnny grinned as he led her inside. ‘He’s got a young lad from ’village to help him plant up. He keeps calling Ted “young maister”!’
A market gardener and a scientist, she mused. Whatever next? She followed Johnny up the staircase to a landing, and then up another flight of stairs to the top floor. He held out his hand. ‘Come and see this.’ He smiled. ‘Prepare to be overjoyed.’
She stood beside him at one of the windows and took a breath as she saw the sea a mile away, the tops of the waves white and frisky. Johnny turned her round. ‘Now look the other way,’ he said softly. ‘Isn’t that a sight worth seeing?’
From the opposite window she saw the sunset in all its glory. Red, yellow, blue; a fusion of brilliance and splendour which coloured the fields below them and filled the room with a rosy glow.
‘Like purple mountains and golden clouds. It’s wonderful,’ she whispered. ‘However did you come to get it, Johnny?’
‘I passed ’house one day and I remembered how curious I’d been when I was a lad. There was nobody about and it was empty. Back door had been broken open, by village lads I expect, and somebody, some tramp mebbe, had made a fire in ’kitchen. So I came in and came upstairs, and ’sun was setting just like now; it was as if ’sky was on fire, and I knew I had to have it.’
Lily looked at him. Then she licked her lips. ‘You bought it? Wherever did you get ’money from, Johnny?’
He took a breath. His whole life depended on her reaction. Without her the house meant nothing.
‘When ’sepoys released me I had my hands tied at my sides. So, as I came down ’mountain I dug my heels in to stop myself falling. As I skidded down, some of ’rocks and stones that I dislodged fell alongside me and some of ’debris got into my boots, which were in tatters. When I got to ’bottom, I banged my heels on to ’ground cos it was gritty and painful to walk on, and I noticed that some of ’stones had a colour to ’em. I couldn’t pick ’em up cos my hands were tied, but when I was released by ’cavalry I decided that next time I was on my own I’d tek a closer look. Which I did,’ he said, ‘after I decided that I wasn’t going back.’
‘So, what was it, this gritty stuff?’ Lily asked. ‘Was it valuable, like diamonds?’
He shook his head. ‘Not like diamonds. It’s amber. It’s a fossil which comes from tree sap.’
‘A fossil! You mean like we used to find on ’sea shore?’
‘Aye, except it comes in different colours, depending on where it’s been and where it comes from, and sometimes has bits of leaf or flowers trapped inside it, insects even. Anyway, when I went on my journey across India I kept a lookout. I didn’t really expect to find owt and at first I didn’t; but at night I sheltered in caves halfway up ’mountain side and it was in one of them that I found some. It’s millions of years old, Lily,’ he said excitedly. ‘Treasure of the earth.’
‘So you used it to buy this place,’ she said quietly, ‘and to buy ’trap. So are you rich then, Johnny? Is that what you’re telling me?’
He shook his head. ‘No. Well, yes. Richer than I ever dreamed we’d be. Our own house, Lily! That’s riches. Nobody can turn us out of it. And Ted will be set up now cos I bought fifty acres to go with ’house.’ He gazed steadily at her. ‘But it means nowt, Lily, if you won’t come back to me.’
Her thoughts were in turmoil. To come here; to live with a view of the sea and the sky. To have her own home again. But what about Amber House? She’d be letting them all down. She was relied upon.
‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘I can’t let those girls down. Amber House means so much to me. Just because you have money now doesn’t mean – doesn’t mean …’
She stopped, her glance flickering over his face and the eyes which were gazing with such intensity into hers. ‘Amber House!’ she whispered, and saw in her mind’s eye Charles Walker shaking Johnny by the hand. ‘Was that you? Are you our benefactor?’
He nodded, but said nothing, only holding her gaze as if his life depended on it.
‘Why?’ she croaked.
‘Because it was what you wanted. It was your dream, and if it meant so much to you I was willing to give away a fortune if it meant that you’d give me another chance.’
‘So you arranged that I should run it?’
‘Yes – to be ’manager and on ’committee. You’re a trustee. Those were ’terms I insisted on when we were setting it up.’ He reached for her hand. ‘It means that you’d allus have influence, even if you didn’t live there. You’d still have contact and know what was going on. You’d be involved for as long as you wanted to be.’
The sun was almost down as they stood together in the room, the shadows growing longer. Lily took a breath and watched the sea getting darker; somewhere along the shore the cliff would be crumbling, but here the ground was solid and safe.
‘Did you spend it all then?’ she murmured. ‘Money you got for ’amber?’
Johnny nodded. ‘Yes, just about. Amber House took most of it. That’s why I said I wasn’t rich. I didn’t think you’d want me if I tried to buy you wi’ promises of riches, anyway. We’ll have to work to mek this pay – this garden of Ted’s, I mean. He hasn’t got much of a head for figures or planning, though he can mek things grow.’
‘No, he hasn’t,’ she said softly. ‘He didn’t care for learning, not like Daisy.’ But I have, she thought. I’m good at planning and organizing. ‘And you definitely haven’t got any money left? You sold all of ’amber?’ It’ll be a challenge putting this place back together, she thought. ‘Ceiling needs fixing,’ she said, looking up.
He felt hope rising and thought he could tell a small white lie. ‘Sold all that I had.’ He mentally crossed his fingers. ‘All of ’jewellers were mad for it! But I tell a lie, Lily.’ He saw her frown and gave her a smile which made her heart flip over. She had always known when he was teasing her.
‘What, then?’ She laughed, and felt her spirits lighten. ‘You’d better own up!’
He put his hand in his pocket and brought out a piece of soft cloth. ‘You’ve to tek care it doesn’t scratch,’ he murmured. ‘That’s what ’experts say, anyway.’ He opened up the cloth and brought out a ring set with a pale gold stone.
‘This was ’best piece, Lily. Finest colour there is. See – it’s got flecks o’ brown, probably tree bark. I had this made for you, so that even if you don’t want me, this stone will allus be your safeguard. You’ll never be poor if you have this.’
He slipped it on to her finger, above her wedding ring. ‘Is this ’one I gave you, Lily?’ he whispered. ‘Say that it is.’
‘Yes,’ she breathed. ‘I never had another. Never wanted another. But you don’t think I’d ever sell this, do you? Even if I was as poor as a church mouse I wouldn’t.’
‘So will you keep it, and will you come back to me?’
‘I’ve never been away from you, Johnny,’ she said, and leaned towards him to kiss his lips. ‘It was you who went away. I loved you so much and prayed for you to come back; but then I gave up wishing and hoping.’ A tear trickled down her cheek. ‘I should have had more faith. I should have known that you wouldn’t let me down – but when they said you were dead I wanted to die too, and if it hadn’t been for our two childre’ I might have done.’
He held her close. ‘But you didn’t, and I didn’t, and you’ve proved yourself to be strong, and didn’t weaken.’
‘Just that once,’ she whispered. ‘With Billy Fowler.’
‘It’s done with, Lily,’ he said, kissing her wet cheek. ‘It’s all over. I love you just ’same as I allus did. What’s passed was just an interlude in our lives. Will you have me back?’
A sudden bright shaft of light seared the room, highlighting them as they stood close, and they both blinked from its intensity. Lily saw Johnny just as he once was, with laughter lines round his generous mouth and a crease at the sides of his eyes as he gazed anxiously at her. They would need to get to know each other again, but she could look forward to that with pleasure.
She nodded, unable to speak; then she swallowed. ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I will.’