Gloria looked down at her wellingtons. Julia arrived with the three children, who hung back shyly at the door. Seeing her, Gloria asked, ‘Will these do?’
Julia shook her head. ‘No, but there’s no point in wasting good money if you’re only going to go once. Might as well wait and see, right, Dolly?’
Dolly was eating scrambled eggs and burnt toast. ‘I’ll need to borrow a pair of trousers. You girls are going to be left alone just for a while, I got some things for you to do.’ They were sitting at the big kitchen table as Dolly laid out drawing pads, crayons and picture books. ‘Now you be good, stay put in here and wait until we get back. Don’t leave the house, and I’ll know if you do because I’m gonna ask the builders to check on you.’
‘They not comin’ today,’ piped up little Sheena.
Dolly patted her head. ‘Ah, you don’t know, they come and they go. Just be good girls and watch the clock. When the big hand gets to—’
‘I can tell the time,’ said Kathy, one of the twins.
‘Good, then you stay put for two hours in here and I don’t want to have to tell you again!’ Dolly was trying her best but she wasn’t used to handling little kids, as well as a houseful of adult ones.
Julia fitted her out in an old pair of her jeans which were too tight and the flies gaped but, as Julia said, why waste money? They piled into Gloria’s Mini, all five of them, and headed for the local stables.
‘I see they bleedin’ downed tools again,’ Gloria said as they drove out of the manor.
‘They’ll pick them up again as soon as they get paid,’ Dolly snapped.
‘I thought our Connie was supposed to be keeping him happy,’ Gloria sniggered.
‘I’m already workin’ on him and the bloke in the signal box. I don’t intend to get through all the ruddy workmen. You do it.’
‘My darlin’, I’d do it any time and place, it’s a question of willingness, right enough; but not on my part.’ Gloria hooted.
Dolly closed her eyes. Sometimes Gloria’s constant sexual innuendos really got under her skin. She never missed an opportunity for snide digs and asides about getting her leg over. ‘I wish you’d watch what you say, Gloria, now we got the girls living in. And that goes for us all. Cut down on the swearing.’
Well, excuuuuuse me for livin’. I can’t help bein’ the way I am, it’s called frustration. I see her getting her leg over at every opportunity and—’
‘Shut up!’ roared Dolly.
‘It’s the truth! I’ve not had a good seeing-to in years and it’s not for want of trying, lemme tell you.’ Dolly knew it was pointless attempting to change Gloria. ‘Mind you, this horse ridin’, they say it gives you a climax, did you know that, Dolly? I’m lookin’ forward to it.’
When they got to the riding school Sandy, a young stable girl with a high-pitched Sloane Ranger voice, began to bring out the horses, all shapes and sizes, as her assistant saddled them up. Julia began sorting through hard hats, which were compulsory, and they switched them around and tried them all on. Sandy kept on taking sly looks at the group of women and couldn’t help tittering as they appeared to be first-timers, apart from Julia who had obviously ridden before and was there to offer as much assistance as was needed, which turned out to be a lot. Just getting them mounted took considerable time, and when Julia left they all looked petrified, including Dolly. When her horse suddenly bent his head to eat some grass, she almost came off with a high-pitched ‘Help!’
They had a two-hour lesson and at the end of it they could all mount and dismount, knew how to use the reins, and had been led up and down the field. Gloria wandered into the stables, cocksure, as if she had just won the Grand National.
‘It’s quite easy, isn’t it?’
Sandy smiled. ‘Yes, if you’re a natural.’
‘You think I am, then?’
‘We’ll see. You haven’t really been riding yet.’
‘Course I have. We been round the field ten times.’
‘There’s more to it than that, Gloria.’
By lunchtime none of them could walk. Their legs were stiff, thighs in particular, and everyone moaned. Dolly had booked them in for another lesson in a second stable twenty miles away. They cranked themselves into the Mini again.
‘I don’t think this is a good idea you know, Dolly,’ Gloria gasped. ‘I mean, I’m knackered after just two hours — and my legs! I think I’ve done serious damage to them.’
Julia waved them off and decided to take the little girls out for a walk, but before she could set off, Big John arrived and said he needed to speak to Mrs Rawlins. Julia told him she was not at home but asked if she could help. ‘Well, it’s just that she’s supposed to pay me the second instalment. We’re behind now, and she did say today. I’ve got the lads on another job until she pays, but this scaffolding needs finishing and we got all that cement ordered and the sand.’
‘I’ll tell her to give you a ring.’
‘I hope so. This was a cash deal and she’s put me in a very difficult position.’
‘She’ll call you.’
He hung about a moment, then asked, ‘Connie here, is she?’
‘She’s out.’
He returned to his truck; he was determined that until he saw the colour of Mrs Rawlins’s money he was not going to finish anything off or order another bag of cement, nothing. The reality was that he had been so desperate to get his firm off the ground that he’d stretched himself to the limit. He had a nasty feeling that his inexperience was going to teach him a hard lesson.
The afternoon riding session brought grave doubts that any one of them would be capable of ever being let off a leading-rein. Out of the four Connie was the best and the most confident, Gloria the worst. She yelled and shouted abuse to the embarrassment of the others and the very country stable girls. When they returned to the manor, Dolly was certain they could never do it and she would have to think about something else.
She sat with the children, made them their tea and read them a story. The Three Little Piggies was requested yet again by Sheena and for half an hour Dolly lost herself in the story and in the warmth of the three little girls. They were gradually becoming less dependent on each other, more open. Dolly constantly repeated that the manor was their home, no one would take it away from them; it was theirs, their mummy knew where to write to them and when she was back she would know where to find them. That was why she had brought them to the new place.
Early next day Dolly drove into the village, toured the second-hand shops, and returned laden with hacking-jackets, jodhpurs, second-hand riding boots plus two men’s riding coats. Some of the clothes were in good condition, some not so good, but she laid them all out, choosing the best for herself. That morning the lesson was booked for ten and, creaking in agony, the women argued and fought over each item like ten-year-olds. Gloria stuffed two pairs of thick woollen socks inside a pair of men’s riding boots as they were far too large; Connie squeezed into a pair that were too small but highly polished which she’d grabbed before Gloria. They didn’t look any more professional — on the contrary, they were like something out of a Thelwell cartoon and their riding was no better.
Sandy, the stable girl, led them all into the field connected to the stables and they proceeded to learn how to trot with gritted teeth and loud moans.
Julia remained at the house with the children, cooking breakfast and taking them on a ramble around the grounds. They were shrieking with excitement when she brought out Helen of Troy and they each had a turn at being led round the yard. None of them had been in the country before or ridden a horse, and their excitement touched Julia. As a child she had wanted for nothing, she even had her own pony, and it made her realize just how wonderful a place the manor could be for kids like Kathleen’s.