Just the first few chapters of another little Story.

The Welsh Mountain Ram.

Briony Betrayed wife and mother.
Sion Her five-year-old son.
Ellairy Her nine-month-old daughter.
Arfon Brionys’ unfaithful husband.
Jenny and Lassie Daves’ sheepdog bitches.
Laddie. Daves’ sheepdog.

Brionys’ hands pulled and turned frantically as her feet pumped on the brakes but it was no use. She let out a scream as the car simply refused to deflect from its’ trajectory and lurched straight into the bank of snow that covered the low hedge marking the edge of the mountain road. As the wheels struck the hard frozen verge under the snow, the car lurched with a sickening crunch that announced the end of the front suspension. The car continued ploughing into the snow bank and finally came to halt with its’ nose stuffed into the hedge and peering out over the sickeningly steep mountainside of snow and bracken. The engine raced as the front wheels now hung suspended in the hedge and the back wheels span uselessly in the snow. As her scream finally subsided, Brionys’ heart slowed to a hammering tattoo while her foot slowly eased itself off the brake. The car didn’t move; she was not going to topple down the steeply banked moorland field. Gradually she calmed and turned to study her precious cargo. Sion and Ellairy were safe. Ellairy was still sleeping peacefully in the rear child seat, blissfully unaware of anything but Sions’ eyes were like saucers as he stared at his mother. At five, Sion knew enough to realise the danger. Briony offered up a silent prayer of thanks that her precious children were safe, that is, at least safe from crashing down the bank. Then as her heart slowed to a modest thump she began to take stock.

“Damn! Damn! Damn! She cursed.

“Are we alright Mummy?” Sion whimpered, still nervous about the situation.

Briony looked at him and tried to smile reassurance but she was anything but assured. Sion sensed his mothers’ distress and promptly fell silent. After watching the ferocious row his mother had just had with his father, Sion was traumatised enough to stay quiet. He’d seen enough rows and fights.

Briony put the car into reverse and tried to back out of the hedge but it was useless. The car was hung fast on top of the hedge while the back wheels were simply stuck over a drainage ditch that was full of ice. The same ice that had also spread across the flooded mountain road and then frozen to form the treacherous ice sheet that she had driven onto. In her anger she had been driving too fast through the snow but she would not have seen the frozen stream flooding the road anyway. It was under the snow. When the wheel became dead and the brakes failed to work, Briony thought it was mechanical failure but now she realised what had happened. She had skidded on a sheet of ice.

She heaved at the door and it opened reluctantly as she jerked it several times to dislodge the deep snow. Finally the door was open enough and she probed delicately with her heels. She cursed as the broken hedge scratched her legs and laddered her tights. The car was sitting on top of the low-lying hedge and there was no way she was getting out through the drivers’ door; ‘or the passengers’ door’. She quickly realised she was in deep trouble. The snow had started falling again thick and fast.

In her heels and flimsy tights, she was totally unequipped for tramping about in moorland snow but she finally managed to scramble into the back seat and get out of the car through a rear door. She now stood shivering in her ordinary clothes as she ruefully studied the two muddy, icy skid-marks that followed her car into the hedge. In the red tail-lights the skid marks looked exactly like two bloody trails as though some large wounded beast had collapsed and died in the hedge.

“Damn! Damn, damn, damn everything!” She screamed again in frustrated rage and fear, for she knew she was in serious trouble. She was stranded on a lonely mountain road miles from just about anywhere and with the snowstorm getting worse by the minute. To cap it all, night had fallen. As she tried to take a few steps in the ever deepening snow to see what she could see of any farm houses, or indeed any sort of habitation, she realised her feet were already beginning to grow numb. In a short skirt, flimsy sleeveless top, teetering heels and only ten denier tights, she was going nowhere. Briony was now frightened as fear and cold sent her shivering back to the car! She clambered back into the car, restarted the engine and offered up a silent prayer of thanks that at least the engine and heater still worked. She had no extra clothes for she had stormed out of their family home in a tearful rage.

She had only that evening, discovered that Arfon, her husband of only six years was having an affair and, after a huge row, she had stumbled angrily out of the house dragging Sion behind her as she carried Ellairy in her arms. She flung herself into her own little car and stormed off to her sisters’ house in Machynlleth. There was no way she could spend Christmas or indeed, another minute with her unfaithful pig of a husband.

Her decision to stay with her sister was in itself a reasonable idea, what was not reasonable was choosing to travel via the shorter mountain road from Llanidloes instead of taking the longer, safer, less exposed, main road via Caersws. Yes the mountain road was much shorter but it was prone to snow and December the 23rd was not a day to attempt it without some sort of ‘four-by-four’.

Now Briony had a night on a bare winter mountain to consider her wilful stupidity; and there were her children to think of as well. She slumped into bitter tears and sobs as she considered her fate and worse, the fate of her little ones. Occasionally, she ran the engine to keep warm but she sorely missed some extra coats especially for the children. Fortunately she he had remembered coats for them but she had left in such a rage she had forgotten hers. She pulled both children close to her in the drivers’ seat to share some warmth. Sleep was impossible but slowly, the deep winter cold began to take its toll. Eventually the fuel ran out and in the pitch darkness, she bundled the children up in their coats and persuaded them to go to sleep in the foot-well.

oooOOOooo

Chapter 2.

Dave was tired but secretly happy. After buying the ram at Shrewsbury market he had stopped to indulge himself at the shops on the retail park. New-look, Next, Primark and TK Max, had all lured him in with their bright lights and beautiful fashions, inevitably, he had succumbed. The passenger seat of his land-rover was full of wonderful creations and he looked forward to a Christmas of delight. Now, as he had stopped to eat the last of his sandwiches, he studied the skies over far away Plynlimmon Fawr, they threatened snow so he resumed the journey home. He wondered if it might not have been better to stop over at ‘The Bull’ in Trefeglwys. However, it was too late now; he was a few miles past Llawr-y-glyn and almost home as the snowstorm hit. He cursed as he felt the first whisper of a skid and changed into four-by-four traction control. Now the gears began to sing a slightly higher song as he wound his way over the first mini-bwlch into the tiny hamlet of Staylittle. There were no pubs with rooms in Staylittle, not even a shop or a garage so it was pointless stopping. Just a tiny collection of houses and precious little else. He measured the snow against a familiar fire-hydrant sign and frowned.

‘It was getting deep’, he thought. ‘Best push on; not far now and with his rack of roof lights to supplement his headlights, he should have a good view of a road he was totally familiar with.’

He looked at his watch and sighed to himself.

‘Eleven o’clock ... home by midnight, in bed by one; oh the luxury’!

He smiled inwardly at the thought of the silky new nightie he had bought. He would release the ram into the stable loose-box for the night and sort him out in the morning. He whispered affectionately to Jenny and Lassie his two sheep-dog bitches and they whined appreciatively in the passenger foot-well where the heater served to give them a life of luxury.

They had behaved perfectly all day and he promised them two big bowls of food when they got home. The dogs whined a little louder and wagged their tales. After again patting his bags of purchases with a deep thrill of satisfaction, he turned off the Staylittle road and began his mountain drive in earnest. Now it would require his full concentration. Before commencing the climb, he stopped and checked at the back to see if the ram was okay. It bleated gruffly and stamped its’ foot as Dave disturbed the door. Dave decided to leave the divider at the side to allow the ram all the room it wanted. There was no point in stressing the creature any more than necessary. He also slid back the cab ‘panel window’ so the ram could share some of the cab heat. Again it bleated gruffly and Dave grinned as it poked its nose into the open panel where its hot breath sent clouds of vapour into the cab. The ram was an important purchase to try and improve the flock he ran on the high mountain pastures.
He resumed the slow careful climb up the winding mountain road but soon the visibility became precarious. He sucked thoughtfully as he switched on his powerful roof rack lights and saw the snow thickening into heavy swirls of glittering flakes.

‘It was getting heavy.’ He thought. ‘Best push on.’ And he did, but not before redirecting a couple of the roof lights to pick out obstructions close to the side and immediately in front.

Slowly the miles crept by almost at walking pace as Dave picked his way delicately between the snowdrifts sometimes slipping a bit but always keeping momentum and going forward. Even though the switchbacks and mini-bwlchs became more and more exposed and the gusts shook the land-rover, Dave knew the road like the back of his hand and kept on course even when the road was completely covered in heavy snow and only the snow markers gave any hint of the route. Eventually he reached the summit of the pass and gave a silent vote of thanks.

‘Now he had only a few miles to go and all downhill. Albeit steep hills, so the dangers were not yet passed.’

Before starting the descent, he lightly dabbed his brakes and the land-rover slewed slightly, enough to demonstrate that the surface was treacherously slippy. Dave sighed and cursed silently for he had anticipated such conditions. He stopped the land-rover and set about attaching the chains in the screaming blizzard. He opened the bad-weather box behind the drivers’ door and quickly attached the chains to the wheels, a job he did often and had become quite expert at. After testing the traction again he gave a nod of satisfaction to the dogs.

“That’s better girls now we’ll get home alright. Are you looking forward to meeting Laddie?”

At the mention of the dogs’ name both bitches gave soft barks and their tails thumped against the foot-well panels as Dave now paid constant attention to the treacherous descent.

‘Who said dogs were dumb animals?’ He asked himself. ‘Hey-up! What the hell’s that?’

He frowned uncertainly as he slowly ground to a halt.

A large mound of snow stood where there shouldn’t have been a mound of snow and it seemed to be covering something in the hedge. He had never seen the snow gather on that particular corner before and he sat pondering it for a second or two then decided he could get past it. Slowly, he picked his way past the huge drift then suddenly; both bitches sat up on the passenger seat and started barking furiously.

“What’s got into you two?” Dave asked. He spoke to his dogs a lot for he lived alone in a remote farmhouse just a couple of miles further down the narrow valley.

The dogs continued whining and barking furiously then they started prancing about furiously and banging their noses against the land-rover door. Finally they started howling dementedly. Dave realised there was obviously something that had disturbed them so he stopped, reached across, and opened the door. Both dogs leapt out and went bounding back along the tyre tracks to bark excitedly at the large snow-drift. Dave decided to follow and soon found himself standing beside the snow drift as the dogs started digging furiously with their paws.

‘Must be some poor bloody sheep or something’, Dave thought, ‘hope they’re not mine. They shouldn’t be, not this high up ... and not in the middle of bloody winter. Did I miss some maybe, during the last roundup?’ He wondered.

Then, a large heap of snow toppled from the lop-sided drift to reveal a car roof and the dogs started barking frenziedly. Dave realised what had happened.

‘Some stupid idiot had tried to cross the mountains and crashed his bloody car.’

oOOOo

Chapter 3.

He plodded back through the snow, collected his shovel and returned to quickly excavate the rear of the car. Meanwhile the dogs continued barking furiously. Dave eventually heaved the rear door open and looked inside to see some long hair draped over the drivers’ headrest. He looked closer and recognised a comatose woman.

‘Bloody hell!’ He cursed. ‘How long’s she been here?’

He returned to his Landrover and changed his trainers for the his heavy boots as he realised getting to the passenger door involved trampling through some pretty nasty bramble bushes. He also grabbed the gloves and got himself properly equipped to do some real digging. Eventually, he had crushed a path through the snow, flattened the brambles and opened the drivers’ door. The woman still had not stirred and Dave realised she was comatose with hypothermia because she was still breathing. Carefully he lifted
her out of the car and half carried her - half dragged her, onto the road where he had a surer footing. Then he quickly placed her on his passenger seat and prepared to drive home. He whistled up the dogs but they refused to budge and resumed barking
furiously again.

‘What now?’ He wondered. ‘I didn’t see anybody else.’

He returned to the car with a torch, to find the dogs scrabbling in the dark of the passenger foot well. Then, as he focused the beam, he gasped with shock. Two tiny figures were curled up and also comatose with hypothermia.

‘Fuck me’, he cursed silently for Dave rarely swore. Getting a better purchase, he leant right in, grabbed the bundles and carried them to the land-rover. He eased the woman across the seats so that her head lay on his precious shopping, while her feet would be curled up foetal style. Then he told the dogs to sit on the seat whilst he carefully curled the two children down into the foot-well with their heads resting against the seat.

Next, he ‘wedged’ the dogs on either side and they whined curiously before getting the idea. Keep the babes warm. Finally he re-arranged the womans’ legs again then returned to the accident where he completed a thorough check and searched for any footprints that might have led away from the car to tell of somebody perhaps deciding to ‘go for help’. He found none but it had been snowing all evening and any footprints would have long been covered over by the snow. He half expected to find somebody waiting at the farm.

Job done he resumed his journey and started to carefully pick his way down the steep hill towards his farm gate. The land-rover lurched at one point but Dave was anticipating it for he knew the road well and this hairpin was particularly sharp. The ram however, was not expecting it and it gave off a loud, gruff, startled 'baaaa'! that sounded like a lions’ roar in the confined space of the Land-rover. The noise startled the waking woman and she sat bolt upright in shock. Confused and frightened she grunted then squealed.

“What the hell was that?! Who are you?! Where am I?!

Dave was startled for a moment and the dogs whined uncertainly at the sound of a distressed womans’ cry. He answered quickly.

“I’m Dai Cadwalloder. You are in my car and that was the sound of my ram. Who, might I ask, are you?”

She stared at him, still momentarily confused then replied.

“I’m Briony; Briony Davies.”

Without taking his eyes off the road Dave continued.

“Well, Briony Davies, might I be so bold as to ask what on earth you were doing driving on a road like this, on a night like this? In a car like that?”

“His question jogged her memory and she sat up to regard her rescuer as tears flooded her eyes.

“Where are my children, Ellairy and Sion?”

He switched on the courtesy light to illuminate the children.

“Still sleeping in the foot-well, between the dogs.”

She looked down and gasped then asked.

“Are they safe?”

“What, the children or the dogs?”

“The children you oaf!”

“Of course they’re safe ... and warm. That’s the warmest place! And ‘oaf’ is not something you should be calling somebody who has just saved your life. Another hour and you’d have all been dead ... frozen stiff!”

“Sorry. That was wrong of me.”

“Good, now shall we start again?”

“Where are you taking us?”

“To safety. The moors are not a place to be out in this weather, especially dressed like that!”

“You’re right, and for that I thank you, truly I do. So where are you taking me.”

“To my farm, I was on my way home when the dogs alerted me. It’s too dangerous to try going further. This snow’s set for the night and it’s getting worse every minute.

Briony stared at the swirling blizzard screaming through the powerful light beams and realised the man was not lying. The whole landscape had been softened into huge puff-balls of pure white snow. Briony could not recognise a single feature, hedge, road or anything. Then she remembered his remark about the dogs.

“The dogs? What d’you mean; they alerted you?”

“Yes, you’ve got them to thank, not me. We were passing what looked like just another unusual snow-drift and I was easing my land-rover past your car. It was completely buried by the snow. The pair sensed something that I would never have spotted. Barked like all hell, they did.”

Briony looked down at the dogs then smiled as she noticed that the children had slumped between them and were breathing blissfully with their heads pillowed on the dogs’ backs.

“They look comfortable.” Briony observed.

“Dogs make good bedfellows if you don’t mind fleas.”

“Uugh! Fleas!”

“Only teasing. No they’re just two nice warm cushions to complement the foot heater. Now, no talking, I turn off here, this is my lane and it’s a bit tricky down to the farm.”

Briony fell silent as she watched him navigate through a featureless waste of white. Eventually Dave turned between two very large stone gate-posts and picked his way down another smooth field of pristine snow. Briony could see no sign of a road. Dave sensed her uncertainty and reassured her.

“Don’t worry, I drive this track ten times a day. We’re here, there’s the farmhouse.”

She looked as some trees appeared out of the blinding snow then a sensor light flicked on in the farmyard and she was dazzled by the pure white snow as Dave stopped in a yard behind a large unlit farmhouse.

“We’re here. Let’s get these kids inside.”

Briony hesitated as she heard some deep hysterical barking then Dave called softly.

“Be quiet Laddie, it’s me and your wives.”

The barking dropped to an excited whining as Dave unlocked the door and immediately switched on the lights. This action told Briony that at least he probably owned the farm and was therefore telling the truth. She was still nervous though and the three dogs seemed to sense it.

Laddie jumped up while the bitches nosed against her bloodied legs and whined affectionately. Dave grinned and ordered the dogs to desist which they did immediately. Then he asked her to help him bring the children into the warmth of the kitchen. The children were now warm but still fast asleep so they carried them without waking them. Briony was grateful for the heat and the light and the large settee that sat incongruously at the back of the kitchen.

‘Strange place to have a settee,’ she thought as she placed the children on the soft cushions.

Then she heard the familiar noise of a kettle and the chink of china as mugs were produced.

“Tea or coffee?”

“Oooh, tea please, thank you.”

“Okay, you’d best sit by the AGA, that’ll warm you up. I’ve got to go and see to my ram. That was him in the back of the land-rover.”

“Oh. I see,” Briony smiled. “The ram that roars.”

Dave grinned then clicked his fingers and all three dogs pattered out eagerly behind him.

oOOOo

Chapter 4.

Suddenly Briony was alone except for her two children. She looked around the kitchen and noticed the lack of a woman’s touch. It was clean, in a rough, manly sort of way, but it lacked even the smallest refinement that might have betrayed a womans’ hand. She began to wonder if he lived alone and if she had not gone out of the frying pan into the fire then she scolded herself.
‘So far the poor man had shown nothing but respect and hospitality.’

The kettle began to sing it’s message and she found the makings exactly where she would have expected to find them. Everything was in its’ place and everything was clean. No tea-leaves or coffee grindings in the sugar, no yellow hard lumps in the sugar bowl. Everything was clean and presentable if a little rough and ready.

She heard some shouting and whistling in the yard and curiosity brought her to the kitchen door. She saw the three dogs surrounding the ram and it had no option but to retreat into the open stable door behind it. As the ram dashed through the door, Dave slammed it shut and praised his dogs.

“Good dogs; that was quick, now let’s get you fed.”

Briony retreated back to the kitchen and called out.

“How d’you like your tea?”

“Coffee for me Miss, three sugars and lots of milk.”

As she made the coffee, she heard the land-rover door slam and he appeared in the scullery with his hands full of the shopping she had noticed when she woke up in the cab. He was stacking it reverently on top of a kitchen unit as she walked in with the mug of coffee.

“Been shopping?”

Dave turned momentarily red then brazened it out with a well worn excuse.

“Yeah, Christmas presents for relatives. Can you pass me that bag of dog biscuits please?”

Briony nodded for it made perfect sense and she returned to the kitchen to drink her tea. As they sat in Windsor chairs either side of the Aga, it was the first time each of them had a chance to sum the other up.

Dave saw a rather attractive woman with shapely curves and a beautiful but tearful face. Briony saw a tallish, slender man, about five feet ten inches tall but slender and with a loose fall of thick, light brown hair. There was still some snow on it so she found a towel and handed it to him. He smiled and tousled his hair. This act reassured her a little as he next pressed his hands gratefully around the hot coffee mug and adjusted the settings on the AGA stove. She caught his eye and rummaged in her bag for her phone. As she pulled it out Dave shook his head.

“You won’t get a signal down here. We’re stuck here at least until the morning.”

A shiver ran down her spine as she sensed she was ‘cut off’ and isolated. Then she looked around the kitchen and her eyes lit on the ordinary land-line phone. This reassured her and she asked to use it.

“Please may I call my sister to let her know I’ll be late.”

“Go ahead, that’s what it’s there for.”

His reply reassured Briony. At least he had let her phone her sister so somebody would know where she was. Her sister answered and Briony secretly sighed with relief as she related events.

“What, you’ve crashed your car! Where? Are the children alright?”

“Yes, yes and hold on a minute.”

Briony asked Dave the address of the farm and he told her. Then she noticed some letters on the sideboard and discreetly double checked the address. Dave had not lied and this was the final reassurance. Not once had he shown any suspicious behaviour. She explained to her sister that she was stuck for the night and she’d speak in the morning. Her mobile wasn’t working and then Dave explained they were so remote that there was no signal down in the valley.

“You can get a signal up on the hill but not down here.” He explained. “Tomorrow when we go to see about your car, you should be able to phone from the hill up above where you crashed.”

She nodded and drank the last of her tea as the children stirred.

Sion blinked and rubbed his eyes.

“Where are we Mummy?”

“You’re in a place called Plas Craig Glas, wherever that is darling. This nice man rescued us and we’re staying the night in his farm.”

Sions’ sleepy eyes widened as he stood unsteadily and stumbled towards his mother. Dave reached out to save him and the boy tensed as he fell into Daves’ arms. He struggled nervously and Dave released him immediately. The boy flew into his mothers’ arms and remained there whilst staring nervously at the stranger. Briony caught Daves’ eye and mouthed.

‘He’s a bit nervous of men.’

Dave said nothing and simply nodded uncertainly. As an only child brought up on large lonely farm, high in the Welsh hills; he had little experience of children. He lived alone now that his father had died, for his mother had died in childbirth having his younger sister who had also died. Dave had never known what it was like to share a home with other siblings. He sat watching Briony hugging the boy and turned to stare reflectively at the glow of flickering flames as the AGA responded to another charge of fuel. He also picked a couple of logs to add to the fire because the stove was ‘multi-fuel’ and it increased the flames.
When the dogs heard the clunk of the oven door they strolled in and took up their familiar stations without so much as a by-your-leave as they settled in a huddle close to the heat source. Dave smiled as he noticed Sion studying the dogs. He caught Brionys’ eye and nodded towards the dogs. She smiled as the boy leaned forward.

“D’you want to stroke them?” Dave asked Sion.

The boy looked up, turned to check with his mother then nodded solemnly.

“They won’t bite.” Dave added. “The blue one is the nicest. She’s the mother of the small one with the eye patch.”
Sion looked up again and remarked.

“She looks grey and silver to me.”

Dave smiled and nodded.

Well; yes Sion, your right. She is grey and silver but we farmers call her a blue. She’s got a nice coloured coat hasn’t she?”

Sion smiled and turned to lean into his mothers’ knee. He had half expected the man to be angry because he had contradicted him about the colours. Briony gave her son another hug and then released him as he tentatively reached out to touch Lassie. Lassie raised a single eyebrow then wagged her tail softly. It was almost as if the bitch knew the boy was traumatised. He remained at his mothers’ knee but the bitch was not to be denied an extra ration of affection. She stood up and padded to the boy who tentatively touched her. The touches soon turned to strokes and within a minute, the boy was surrounded by three dogs all demanding attention. Within two minutes, the boy was sat cross —legged at his mothers’ feet with dogs and wagging tails all around him. Sion was in heaven.

“Does he want some supper?” Dave asked Briony.

“Oh I don’t want to be too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble, only some buttered toast and jam; and maybe some hot drinking chocolate.”

Sions eyes widened hopefully as he asked.

“Is that like cocoa?”

“More or less lad, d’you want some?”

Sion turned expectantly to his mother who smiled and nodded. Dave stood up, pointed out the cocoa so that Briony could attend to that as he pulled out a thick-cut sliced loaf and started making toast. Then he turned to Briony again.

“What about the baby? Will she like toast?”

Briony giggled.

“Gosh no! She’s not on solids yet.”

“Oh. Oh I’m sorry. I don’t have any milk here. I’ll have to go to the deep freeze. It’ll take some time to thaw though.”
Briony blushed deep red then confessed.

“I’ve got her milk David.”

It was Daves’ turn to blush and he turned away in embarrassment to concentrate on the toast. Briony finished making the cocoa then spoke softly.

“Is there another room? Somewhere I can feed her.”

Dave blushed deep red again.

“Well there’s the living room, but there’s no fire in there. I sort of wasn’t expecting guests. I can get you a thick blanket maybe and you can uuhhm — uuhhm ... you can do it under that. I’ll leave the room if you wish.”

“And where will you go?”

“Upstairs. I’ll have to prepare an extra bedroom anyway.” I’ll do that while you feed her.

Then Briony had a more disturbing thought.

“Dammit! Her nappies are in the boot of the car.”

Daves’ face fell.

“I can’t help you there.”

Briony had a think then ventured a request.

“Have you got some old towels? I could fashion something up out of that.”

“There’ll be something in the airing cupboard.”

So saying he almost bolted from the room and returned within seconds with a huge blanket. Briony gratefully pulled it around her shoulders and thanked him as he left again to allow her privacy. While he was gone, she fed Ellairy while Sion played with the dogs.

oOOOo

Chapter 5.

Half an hour later he knocked on the kitchen door and Briony gave the ‘all clear’. He entered with a towel cut up into squares and ruefully offered them to her.

“These should be big enough. My cousin used terry towelling nappies about this size for her children."

Briony took them gratefully and promptly changed her daughter using a bowl of warm water and soap to clean her. Dave looked on slightly embarrassed and somewhat apologetically.

“I’m sorry, there’s no baby stuff here. I live alone.”

Briony nodded, finished changing the nappy then re-fixed the waterproof knickers. Fortunately, Ellairy was pretty dry through the night. She was close to being potty trained.

After that essential job was completed, Briony discussed sleeping arrangements. Dave explained.

“I’ve turned the heating on in the next room to mine and the bed is airing now. It’s all newly laundered and dry bedding. There’s an en-suite as well so you’ll be okay in there."

“Where will the children sleep?”

“They’ll have to sleep with you. It's a big double bed. It’s the best I can do for tonight. We’ll sort out the rest in the morning.”

Briony smiled and nodded sleepily. Events were beginning to overtake her. Dave offered to carry the baby to the spare bedroom and Briony gratefully followed as she towed Sion upstairs to the appointed bedroom.

They arrived on a large landing that seemed out of place for a farmhouse but Briony was just grateful to have a room and a bed.

Later as she lay in bed she was able to take stock of her room. The ceilings were unusually high and the old oak doors seemed overly ornate. Her last recollections was of the storm still howling outside the window as she snuggled up and fell asleep.