Chapter 6

Sam was cautious at first, as he didn't want to upset the girl anymore than he had already, but with Abby's reassurance that she was fine, he was more at ease.

"I had long known that I was illegitimate." She told him. "That doesn't upset me. What did upset me was realising that Mum had just walked away from here when she had a family who could have helped her." Sam nodded.

"I was just as upset. Your mum running away was one thing, but realising that she was with child when she did, really angered me. We all knew your mum, and knowing that she couldn't confide in any of us, especially her dad, made me very sad. I just wish that ... Oh well it's no good going over that, it won't help at all, too many years have passed." Abby wondered what he was going to say, but didn't press the point knowing that as Mary had said, when they don't want to tell, they won't say anything. She decided to bring the conversation around to her Grandfather.

"What was my Grandfather like?" Sam smiled affectionately at her.

"To tell the truth girl, I don't really know how to describe him. I won't describe him physically, my missus reckons she has a photo of him somewhere, and she started turning the house upside down at eleven o' clock last night. But don't worry, if it's there, she'll find it. Apart from that I suppose I would say your grandfather acted as though his job was the most important thing in the whole wide world. I never knew him once to appear anywhere without his uniform, and it was always cleaned and pressed like he was going on parade in the army. You knew when he was around; his uniform always carried the faint smell of Mothballs."

"Excuse me Sam, but what are Mothballs?" Sam chuckled

"Mothballs were small pellets which you hung in the wardrobe. Supposedly the aroma, it was Camphor, kept the Moths away, don't know if it worked too well though, most of our clothes had small holes where the Moth had been." He carried on. "His boots, you could see your face in them. He was brought up in the traditions of the Great Western Railway, and although every other railwayman was pleased when Nationalisation happened, not him. That was the blackest day of his life, and he refused to give up the styles and trappings of the Great Western. To the day he retired he still wore that funny Pillbox cap with the initials on the front, and his frock coat. Everything that British Railways did was wrong, because it was not Great Western, and he told them too, no wonder he never got any further than Combe Lyney. I don't know if he applied for promotion, if he did, well he didn't get anywhere, I don't even know if he was disappointed, if he was he never showed it, not your grandfather, he still did his job every day as if the District Manager was watching him constantly, and for him, there was only one way, by the book, perfectly!"

Sam paused to take a long drink from the pint that had appeared as if by magic at his elbow, brought by Jack who nodded to Abby letting her know that it was paid for. "He wouldn't accept any standard but the best, from himself, and particularly from the porters, strewth; he could, and did, make their lives a misery." Abby listened intently, building a picture of this martinet, who was now coming to life.

"Was Grandfather born here, in the village?" Sam shook his head.

"No, he was a Cornishman, don't know exactly whereabouts, but he was certainly Cornish. Tregonney, you know, Cornish name." Abby could have kicked herself, she wasn't thinking straight.

"So when did he come to Combe Lyney?" she asked. Sam had to think about this.

"Before the War it was, now was it before or after the old King died, yes after, I'm sure after, so that would put it about '37 or '38," he thought a little bit more then stated confidently. "Nineteen thirty-eight. That was it. I was still a lad at the time, he would have been in his late thirties, and even then he acted as if he was late fifties. How he managed to get that lovely girl to marry him I shall never know, she came with him, Stationmasters had to be married you see. Mind she looked frail even then, not surprised she was taken early." Abby interrupted.

"Taken early, she died?" Sam looked at her with sympathy.

"Yes, girl, she died, Pneumonia it was, would have been about Nineteen fifty-eight, she never was very healthy." Here he stopped again and his eyes grew cloudy as he wandered back into a past that was gone forever.

Abby waited patiently, wanting to ask about her mother, but not wishing to disturb his thoughts. Sam roused himself, and as if he had read her thoughts continued.

"You'll want to know about your mum. Lively girl, had your Granddad's colouring, very little of your Grandma in her. Had a lot of spirit, right little tomboy as I recall. After your Grandma died she was left very much to herself, didn't get into trouble though, always interested in what was going on. She came into the milking parlour one afternoon, and insisted on being shown how to milk, got it right too, Cow's are very sensitive to who's milking them, and if it's not right will get quite vexatious, and won't milk freely. She would come most afternoons after that and help, then her father found out and put a stop to it."

"Why?" asked Abby.

"Because his daughter was going to be better in life than a Farmer's wife," replied Sam, "don't ask me why being able to milk a Cow, automatically made her into a Farmer's wife, but that was how he thought, he was a bit mazed about it. Same as when the signalman, Purvess his name was, showed her how to pull the levers, and answer the bells. Your Grandfather really carpeted him, and no mistake. Funny thing, he could have had him sacked, if the District Superintendent had found out about it he would have been, but according to Purvess it never even went into the weekly report." Abby digested that; it seemed so out of character with the man that Sam had been describing.

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

"Don't know, ' replied Sam, "some would say, it would have reflected badly upon him, allowing his daughter to run around the station yard, unchecked. But I think the real reason was because he might have felt guilty that he wasn't giving his daughter the attention she should have, anyway nothing more was ever said about it. He was strange in some ways, your Granddad. He seemed determined that your Mum should better herself in life, but never did anything about it. Oh, she went to school, I don't know how she did there, must have been alright though, she always had a way with words, but your Granddad never seemed to spend time with her. It was the job, Porters worked shifts, Signalman had plenty of time to relax during the day, Stationmaster, well he was on duty from first train in the morning until last train at night, and then he would be in his office, balancing the book, writing letters. I reckon your Mum brought herself up." Abby was entranced, this was not only her family Sam was talking about, and he was also talking about a way of life that had vanished. She was hungry for more, but realised that Sam came into the pub for relaxation with his friends, and not to tell her the story of her family. She gave him the opportunity to leave it for a while by excusing herself to go upstairs.

When she came down Sam was in the bar part of the pub, talking with some of his friends. Abby went straight past, not wishing to take him away but Sam caught her eye and indicated that he would join her in the Lounge shortly.

It was little more than two minutes before Sam followed her and sat himself down, prepared to talk as long as Abby wished. He was quite happy talking about those times, the more he spoke the more he remembered. Abby was concerned that she was selfishly monopolising his time, and said as much.

"Don't you worry about that girl; the talk in there is all about the weather, the grazing, Livestock, and the bloody Government. It was the same last night, and it will be the same tomorrow night. I get to sit down and chat with a pretty young lady, and it seems I don't have to buy me own drinks either. If you and Jack are in cahoots you can leave off now. I'm enjoying myself; I don't need free beer to persuade me to something I enjoy." Abby laughed delightedly, she quite like being called Girl, it was a long time since she had thought of herself as that.

"Tell me, Sam, you seem to have known my Grandfather reasonably well, yet you must have been of quite different ages, how was that?" Sam took another drink before replying,