Abby Ch. 13

Abby broke the news that James had invited her to the Hunt Ball to Toni the next morning. This prompted an early Coffee break in order that this could be discussed in greater detail. "My, you are honoured, James doesn't normally attend. In fact I don't think he has ever attended." Abby was equally delighted to hear that Toni would be there.

"My father would not miss it for the world." Toni told Abby. "It's golden opportunity to rub shoulders with all the great and the good, and network outrageously." Abby had got the impression that Toni was never too impressed by her father's motives.

"Oh good, at least there will one friendly face there."

"So you don't count James as a friendly face?"

"Of course, but you know what I mean, a friendly face besides James." Abby moved on to the most pressing business.

"I am going to need something to wear, could you recommend a good shop?"

"Not around here, you will have to go to Taunton, or Exeter for something good. It does depend on what you want to spend."

"Well I suppose if I saw something I really liked up to seven or eight hundred."

Toni sat there with her mouth open. "How much?"

"Don't you think that will be enough?"

"More than enough, but if you are thinking of spending that sort of money, you may even have to go to Bristol."

Abby thought about it. "Look, I could do with your help. Is there any chance you could come with me?"

"That's no problem. One advantage of having a Councillor for a father, is that I can get time off for Civic duties, and this will count as a Civic duty."

"What helping me buy a dress?"

"Yes, as I am accompanying dad to the Ball as his escort, my going to buy a dress for the occasion will count as Civic duty. He doesn't have to know that the dress is not for me, any way I might even buy one, but not for that sort of money."

"Well if you think it's all right. When do you think we can go?"

"The best day would be a Monday; the shops are never as busy; so we will have plenty of time. I think we should go to Taunton first, then Exeter; and if we have no joy at either of those, then we will have to go to Bristol. But we won't be able to get there the same day." Abby hesitated before saying that Monday week would be best, she would have opted for this Monday, but there was a possibility that she and James would be riding again, and that was not to be missed. With this decided they parted, exchanging telephone numbers as they did, Toni to return to work, and Abby to return to Combe Lyney.

The atmosphere at the Combe Inn that evening was of quiet curiosity, as James came in, and instead of making his usual chatty progress through the Bar, joined Abby in the Lounge immediately. Sam was a little put out, as he was enjoying his chats with Abby, but Mary made it plain that he should not interfere; even though she had no idea why they had closeted themselves so quickly. For whatever reason, she would encourage their closeness, knowing that Mavis would back her to the hilt.

James started the negotiation. "Have you thought seriously about this? I wouldn't want to hold you to something said on the spur of the moment."

"Yes I have, and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. But have you checked that you do actually own the land?"

"I phoned my family Solicitor early today, he seems to think that what you say is correct, he even phoned back later to say that his records would appear to confirm the Way leave, at the same time apologising profusely for not having brought this to my notice before. He will need to check with the Land Registry, and that will take some time, but it would all seem to be above-board. So what do you think you will do with the property?"

"I'm not sure yet, except that I want to convert the house to live in. I am toying with the idea of restoring the station to how it would have looked when my grandfather was working there, but that's just a whim at the moment."

"O.K. First, I am sorry that I can't sell, but I know you do understand. So what I was thinking was a lease for ninety-nine years, at a ground rent of two hundred and ninety pounds per acre. We can do a survey and decide later how many acres you want. For the station building I would be looking at a fully repairing lease for nineteen hundred per annum. I would also write into the contract a clause to the effect that should I, or my successors, ever decide to sell the land, you would have a first refusal to the property. Now you will have to realise that there is a tremendous amount of work and expense that will be required, and in view of that I have tried to keep the rents down to a minimum."

Abby looked pensive, trying to keep the look of delight off her face. Compared with the prices she was used to; and she knew it was an unfair comparison; this was a steal. She knew however that she would have to negotiate, or James would think it too easy.

"I would imagine that the price per acre you quote is for agricultural land." She reckoned that he would have simply looked at the rents he was charging to his other tenants. "As you yourself said the other day, the land is useless, except as an unofficial right of way for the farmers, correct? So it is not agricultural land."

James was astonished; this was not the discussion he had anticipated. "Well no, but the rent is below that which would be usual for agricultural land anyway."

Abby let that go for the moment. She had always found it a useful tactic to change the point of attack rather than looking for a compromise immediately. "You ask for nineteen hundred for the house. Is that just the house, or would it be all the buildings on the site?"

"The house and the station building."

"And the platform?"

"Obviously the platform."

"I should want to take the other buildings, the goods shed and the other house, would you be prepared to look at a package deal?"

"The station house and station yes. But there could be a little bit of a problem. Since this new situation has arisen, it occurred to me that I may have a use for the goods shed, so I wouldn't want to commit on that now. The small house is in a very poor condition, I don't think you could do anything with it except knock it down."

Abby had to admire this tactic, by giving the goods shed a possible use, he had diverted her from asking for special terms on what in essence was an unwanted building.

"What about water and drainage?"

"There should be a well for water, and I suspect that there is a septic tank for waste. You don't need to pay for water, but there is a sewerage charge for emptying the tank."

"Right I think nineteen hundred is a bit over the top, I will offer you fifteen hundred." James set to thinking about this. Abby continued, "go on James." She urged him. "After all you will not get any rent off the place otherwise. And the house is essentially part of the station." James was going to deal anyway, but put on an air of sufferance.

"OK Abby, you have a deal."

"Would you be prepared to waive the buildings rent until such time as the building was fit for occupation?" Now James had to think.

"I could go along with that."

"What do I do about Power?"

"I am sure that SWEB will be happy to connect you, the power lines run along the road anyway."

"The ground rent James, it is a little higher than I would have thought, particularly as the land is in effect useless, what do you say to two hundred and twenty pounds per acre? Don't forget I shall be improving your property."

James groaned. "I'll settle on two hundred and fifty, and buy you a drink to seal the deal." He shook his head sorrowfully, "where did you learn to negotiate?"

"It came with my territory, James. Now mine is a Vodka and Tonic, do we shake hands as well?" She offered her hand.

James took it and shook, but he had a grin on his face, that Abby knew spelt trouble.

"That grin tells me I've missed something. Come on, out with it, where's the catch."

"You will need change of use permission from the Council, they don't negotiate."

Abby suddenly realised that she should have included that as part of James' responsibility. His smile broadened. "You will meet some of the local Councillors at the Ball, so if you charm the right people I am sure that it won't be any problem."

"Oh I see; do I have to grease a few palms as well?"

"No, nothing as serious as that, just a smile in the right direction, a little flattery, and you'll be home and dry."

"I'll do my best, now where is that drink you promised me?"

James left for the bar, and Abby looking over her shoulder saw Sam looking curiously in her direction, she beckoned him over. "I was going to come and see you earlier, but Mary reckoned that you should be left alone. If Mary and my Missus are up to something I shall get rather upset."

"No Sam, James and I had some business to discuss, and it looks as if you are not going to get rid of me that easily, I am going to take the old Station and house, and convert it to live in." The effect on Sam was tremendous, his face lit up, and the biggest smile split his face in two.

"By golly Girl, that's the best news I have had in years, I'm so happy. Let me buy you a drink to celebrate, oh just wait until Mavis hears." James returned with the drinks. Sam took one look at the drinks and said.

"That's no way to celebrate news like this, Jack's got some nice Champagne, that's what we need." He was off, leaving Abby and James looking at their suddenly redundant drinks. Moments later the voices at the bar rose to a crescendo as Sam obviously had imparted this news. Mary came rushing over with tears just starting in her eyes. She flung her arms around Abby, and burbled words, which appeared to convey her happiness.

Then standing back she accused Abby of not being content with staying at the Inn. "Mary I have been very happy here; and I will stay for quite some time, if you'll have me, as it will take a long time to get the station fit for occupation."

Mary was somewhat mollified. "Of course we will have you, there's no question of that."

Sam had caught Abby saying that it would take some time to get the station ready. "You are right about that, the first thing will be to open it up, and get Harry Webster to put his terriers in."

Abby looked confused. "What would that do?" .

"Terriers will clear out any vermin in next to no time." James answered.

"Vermin? You mean rats!"

"Not necessarily, but it's best to be sure."

This information gave Abby a little fright, and her expression gave her fears away. Sam leaned over and told her not to worry. "Rats come with humans, they live off our waste, be it food or anything else. I would imagine that in London, there are more rats than you will ever find in the country, and I don't think that the old station has any at all, as nobody has lived there for years. Harry will be grateful though, for the chance to give his dogs some exercise." James felt that he had to put a stop to the euphoria and planning, which might be a little premature.

He coughed and cleared his throat. "Let's not get too carried away, as Abby is aware that all this does depend on the Land Registry recognising that I own the property." Mary's mind went back to the conversation she had overheard, and all the pieces fell into place.

She was not going to let a little thing like the Land Registry get in the way of her perception of the future. Therefore ignoring James' warning she went full steam ahead. "I can't imagine how you will turn that place into a home, but rest assured that Mavis and I will help. We can make it all comfy and pretty for you." Sam's eyes rose skywards in their sockets, and he looked at Abby with an expression of 'told you so'.

Those who had been in the Combe Inn that evening, took the news home with them, passed on to spouses and families, the gossip travelled along telephone wires, and by word of mouth, so that within twenty four hours almost everyone in the valley was in the possession of the facts. This was not earth-shattering news, indeed some in the valley had never seen Abby, but knew of her, and in an area where little occurred to disturb the even tenor of life, any event like this would give rise to intense conjecture, with embroidery and trimmings to suit whoever was discussing the subject at the time. It would make no difference to their lives; but it was something new, and would in the course of the next few days be dissected thoroughly, and examined from every angle for implications that could affect them. Mary and Mavis together assumed an air that bespoke prior knowledge, as if they personally were the movers and shakers that had brought this about. Sam chuckled inwardly to himself at seeing them fluffing their feathers. Mavis had swept into the Inn the following evening, to question Abby closely about her plans, and involved herself automatically in the execution. Abby realised that without help she would have difficulty in fulfilling this project, and pragmatically allowed Mavis, and Mary to contribute; yet at the same time was aware that without careful handling, the scheme would be taken away from her completely. She was grateful that shortly after she was able to get Sam to herself.

"Well Girl, you have certainly put the fox amongst the chickens, haven't you?"

Abby shook her head. "I'm amazed at how people here attach so much importance to it."

"No it's not that. It's something happening, something different. This little valley of ours is peaceful, sometimes a bit boring, as nothing ever happens. Each day goes by the same as yesterday, and tomorrow will be the same as today. The only things that change are the seasons, and our work patterns with them. We don't have traffic accidents, bank hold-ups, burglaries; these things happen elsewhere. So when something like this comes along, the whole valley is livened."

"Well they shouldn't get too excited about it, it depends on James getting confirmation that he owns the land."

"That's one thing I don't understand. How can that be?"

"Well it is all to do with how the land was made available to the Railway. It would appear that the Mr. Comberford of the time, didn't sell the land, merely leased it. So when they closed the railway, the land came back to the Comberfords. I suppose the original papers were lost over the years, so James didn't know about this."

"Well I don't care how this has come about, if it keeps you here in the valley, I for one shall be pleased." Abby blushed, not quite as deep a colour as Sam would, but a blush nonetheless.

"That's nice of you to say Sam, but I don't know what I am going to do for work. I can live easily enough, but I have to do something or I'll go mad."

Sam heard the words 'I can live easily enough', but refrained from comment. He decided also, that he wouldn't say anything to Mavis; she had enough to fuel her speculation, without him adding a log to the fire.

"Sam, I upset James a little when we talked about hunting. He said talk to you about it."

"What do you want to know?"

"Well everyone that I know back in London believes that it is harsh and cruel, and without thinking about it too much, I probably held the same opinion."

"There's nothing I can say that will help you. People have these opinions, and no matter what evidence they have to the contrary, cannot change them. There are no rights or wrongs to the situation; but there are practical reasons, which like it or not have to be thought about."

"Such as?"

"Protecting our livelihood."

"But surely a fox cannot endanger your livelihood?"

"It's such a small thing, isn't it, It's got a cute little face, and eyes that seem to twinkle, and it reminds everyone of that nice little dog they have at home, so cuddly, and obedient. Well a fox is not a dog, and you cannot train it, because it's a wild animal, and if you tried to cuddle it; you would probably be bitten. Anti-Tetanus jabs, not to mention a possibility of Rabies, would be the next thing on your agenda then. That cute little thing will go into a chicken run at night and kill ten or twenty birds."

Abby interrupted Sam. "Why does it do that?"

"The chicken has a very basic nervous system. You can break its neck and even though dead it will run away. The fox may think it hasn't killed the bird, so goes on to kill another, then another. It can only take one though. You may think that at the price of a chicken in your Supermarket, that it isn't a great loss. Bear in mind though that that fox will do the same every night, and at the end of the week a farmer could have lost fifty or sixty birds. That is about seventy pounds to him. If you were to lose seventy pounds every week, wouldn't you want to do something about it? If we could keep the hens in batteries it would solve the problem, but the government tells us that is cruel so it exposes the hens to an even greater cruelty, the fox. There's another thing. A fox will chase sheep. A pregnant ewe, if she's chased will sometimes abort, now that's fine for the fox, he's got a nice warm meal, which has cost the farmer something like ten pounds. Not a lot of money you might say, but a big sum to a bloke who works something like twelve hours a day, seven days a week, to get an income of eight thousand pounds a year. You are the one that knows about business here. Tell me, if you had a department that was making losses year on year, if you could do something that would turn it around, wouldn't you do it?"

"Well yes of course."

"If that process involved making people redundant; you would do that?"

"It's happening all the time."

"So it's all right to cast a man on the scrap heap, possibly never to work again, in the interests of making profits. But it's not all right for a farmer to try and keep his livelihood intact by culling an animal that could ruin him?"

"I don't think your comparison is completely fair but I'll let that go. What I would ask is it necessary to kill them in such a horrible way?"

Sam thought the comparison was fair, but wasn't going to challenge Abby. He addressed the topic of how the fox died. "Let me ask you a question in return. Do you like Rats?"

Abby shuddered. "No of course not."

"Well in that city of yours, there are more rats than ever we have in the country. So rats are your vermin. How do they go about getting rid of them?"

"They put poison down."

"Exactly, they put poison down. It's Warfarin which thins their blood to such an extent that they bleed to death. The rat dies in agony, a really horrible death, taking hours, and sometimes days; not to mention the cat or dog that might have picked up the bait inadvertently. But that's one of those things, isn't it? Because you don't want the rat living cheek by jowl with you, and it's dirty, it carries disease. So if something else suffers to rid you of the rat, tough. But the rat is only doing the job that nature intended it to do. You can put poison down in the city, because it will not affect other wildlife. We can't do that here. There's livestock, birds, other mammals, squirrels, rabbits, hares all of which could pick up the bait and suffer. You would be really upset if Mr. Brock the badger died, curled up in agony, for picking up a bait set for a fox."

Abby had to agree with that. "Couldn't you shoot them?" she asked.

"It would take a good shot to kill a fox running at close to thirty miles an hour, and the fox would know you were coming before you had got within half a mile of it, so he's not going to hang around. You couldn't do it with a shotgun. You could use scatter, but you still have to get very close to it. A rifle would be better but we have to make a very good case to the magistrates for a rifle licence. The other problem would be that the fox would have to be sporting enough to come out in daylight, but they're sneaky, they're mainly nocturnal. Shooting at night with a shotgun or a rifle, Heaven knows what would be hit. No Abby, the only way to control the fox is with the weapon that nature gave us for the purpose, the dog. And the only way to control a pack of dogs is on horseback, because no man can run fast enough to keep up with a running fox, or a running dog. When the dogs catch the fox they behave with the instincts that nature gave them."