Chapter 22

The next evening Abby drove to Gallow Farm for her dancing lesson. Sam and Mavis had prepared for this by shifting the furniture in their Lounge back against the walls to leave enough space to dance. Sam had opened up what he was proud to call the Radiogram, a huge piece of furniture, with large speakers either end and in the middle under an opening lid a record turntable. Abby found this fascinating as the spindle in the centre was at least four inches tall, with the top inch kinked to one side. Sam explained that it was possible to load the top part with up to ten records, which the machine would automatically drop into place to play, once the preceding record had finished. Mavis produced with triumph a load of twelve inch records, saying to Abby,

"I knew we still had these, and look, none of them have been broken." Abby examined one of the records, surprised at how heavy it was, until she realised that it was made from a hard substance like a brittle plastic. The label in the centre showed not the HMV logo with which she was familiar, but the name spelt in full, running in a half circle over the top, with below a picture of a little black and white dog, listening at the trumpet of an antique phonograph. The credit on the label was for Victor Sylvester and his orchestra.

Mavis, all businesslike announced that they would start the tuition with the Waltz.

"It's the easiest to do and you really only have to remember the three steps." She then proceeded to coax Abby through the steps, watched by Sam, who then interrupted the proceedings.

"Wouldn't it be better if I took Abby through the steps, then she can see how they fit in with her partners?" Mavis immediately bit back,

"What's the point of her dancing with a partner, when she doesn't know the basic steps? I'll show her those, and then when she understands them, you can dance with her to show how it all goes together."

Abby got the hang of the Waltz quite quickly, and was soon moving around the floor with Sam, who held her at a respectable distance, so that she could look down and see how their steps interacted. Then Mavis put on one of the records, and the strains of Violin, Piano, and Saxophone filled the room. The most notable feature of the music was the strong beat, which made the music so easy to follow in time.

"Victor Sylvester was renowned for this," explained Mavis as Abby and Sam danced. "He was a champion Ballroom Dancer himself, so he knew how important it was to keep to a strict tempo." Again Sam took Abby through her paces, with Abby managing the steps with little trouble. It seemed quite easy, as Sam seemed to indicate what they were doing with subtle pressures, either with his hand, holding hers, or with an inclination of the body. The proof of this was when he took her through a turn, which she followed as if she had prior knowledge of the steps.

"How did we do that?" she exclaimed. "You didn't teach me those steps." Mavis laughed.

"It's easy. Sam was, no is, a very good dancer. And a good male lead can get you doing all sorts of steps as if it was natural. Now do you think you could do that again?" They went through those steps a dozen times, yet Abby somehow stumbled over them every time. Sam said to her.

"Abby you are trying to think what steps are coming next. Don't! Your feet know the steps, just listen to the music and follow my lead. The steps will come automatically." This worked and Abby again floated around the room in Sam's arms. Later Abby sat and watched Sam and Mavis dance and marvelled how they seemed to accomplish quite intricate steps together moving as one.

She said as much to Mavis who explained.

"Don't worry about those steps. On a crowded floor you will not get the chance to dance those, and if you try will annoy everyone else, because they cannot do them. Just get the basics and you will do fine."

They sat down for a cup of tea, and Mavis asked if Abby had got a dress for the Ball. Abby described it to her, and Mavis suggested that she bring it down next time.

"I would love to see it." The look on Sam's face suggested that he too would love to see it. The next suggestion was that perhaps Abby would like to come down to Gallow Farm and dress, and have James pick her up here. Abby gave that some thought and shook her head.

"Thanks for the offer, but I would have to bring everything, my make-up and all the other bits and pieces down here, and would be sure to forget something. So if you don't mind I will dress at the Inn. But could you come up there? I could probably do with some morale boosting before I go." Mavis smiled, happy that she was being involved.

"Yes Love, of course we will."

Abby was waiting the next morning, sitting on one of the benches at the back of the Inn, when James arrived, leading Jason on the rein. Jason immediately moved to Abby, and nuzzled her, then stood quietly, waiting for her to mount. The riding hat was looped over the pommel on the saddle.

"I see Jason has fallen under your spell, as well." remarked James as he dismounted Cassie, and helped Abby mount. Mary hovered, with the Picnic lunch she had prepared for them; a smaller lunch, totally inadequate in Mary's view, but provided due to Abby's urging that too large a lunch would prevent her, Abby, from enjoying the evening meal. James comment was not lost upon Mary, who tucked this morsel away in her memory for future examination.

"Now you two have a good day, and James, don't ride too far."

"Mary, I shall look after Abby as if she were the Queen of Sheba." James replied with the grin just flickering around his mouth, as if he was undecided to be flippant of serious.

With the lunch packed in the saddle-bags, Mary waved them goodbye as they left through the gate and out into the field, heading towards the old station once again. Abby quickly found her seat, and settled comfortably in the saddle. Looking across at James she asked.

"So who else has fallen under my spell?" James avoided the trap adroitly.

"Just about everyone in Combe Lyney, Sam, and Mavis especially. Why? Were you thinking of anyone in particular?"

"No. I just wondered." James grinned.

"Talking of spells. I think that you may have fallen under a spell as well."

"Perhaps you would like to explain that?"

"Combe Lyney. I think you might have fallen under the spell of Combe Lyney." Abby thought about that for a while, and they rode in a companionable silence.

"Yes. You are right. This place does get to you; I could easily spend the rest of my life here, if only I could find something to do."

"There's so much you could do," replied James. "There's milking Cows for a start." The laughter in his voice alerted Abby to the fact that his flippancy was back, preventing the conversation from getting into too serious an area. Abby laughed with him.

"Oh I couldn't do that; Grandfather would have a fit, or at the very least spin in his grave."

They were riding along the old railway track now, and the old station came into view. This prompted James.

"I have some news for you. My Solicitor has had a reply from the Land Registry, and it is confirmed that I do own this land."

"That was quick."

"Yes, Cobbold usually take an age to do anything, but I think he was so embarrassed that he hadn't spotted the Way leave clause, he felt that he had to move quickly to get back into my good books. So there we have it. This place is now yours as soon as you sign the lease." They had stopped alongside the platform. Abby looked around and smiled.

"James, you couldn't know how pleased I am. I feel at last as if I am connected to something."

"Oh I think I can understand." Abby came back quite sharply.

"No James, you can't. You have always been here, where your family have lived for generations. You have always been part of this place, and it has been part of you. I have never had that feeling. When Mum was alive we rented small flats, constantly moving in order to get a lower rent. Mum was the only family I had, and because she wouldn't talk about it, I had no history. Now I have discovered a history, and I am going to own a part of it. You could never understand how good a feeling that is." James, taken aback by Abby's vehemence said nothing. Abby feeling guilty because she had reacted so strongly was also quiet. After a while James broke the silence.

"I am sorry, Abby. You are right; I did not understand what you were saying." He leaned over and put his hand over hers as she held the reins.

"Forgive me." Abby smiled, turned her hand over and clasped his.

"I am sorry too, I overreacted." He squeezed her hand and relinquished the hold.

They had started moving again, drawing level with site of the signal box, and shortly after crossed the lane at the level crossing. Abby had assumed that this lane had only ever led to the goods yard, but from the different perspective of Jason's back could see that another lane had once branched off, heading in the general direction of the river. She pointed this out to James asking where it went.