Promised Land Read Free Page B

Sean what to do. There was no point worrying her father about it as he had enough to contend with. He just had to get better. The farm needed him and truth to tell so did she.

Chapter Three
    ELLA HAD SCARCELY slept a wink, tossing and turning all night. Her bones were so stiff and sore she could have sworn that she was an old one, instead of a twenty-one-year-old woman in her prime.
    Martin had been in a bad way the night before. He had never opened his eyes once to any of them and had developed a strange heavy breathing.
    ‘He’s just resting.’ Her aunt had tried to reassure her but she could see the worry in Nance and Uncle Jack’s faces. Sean had gone out to sit in the hospital waiting room.
    ‘Do you think your father would like the priest?’ the staff nurse had asked.
    Ella had seen the look that passed between his sister and her husband. She had just nodded in agreement. She had sat by his bed for an hour, watching the rise and fall of his chest and the easiness that now filled his face. Her father was a religious man; he’d want the priest to attend him.
    ‘If he doesn’t get in tonight I’ll leave word for Father Tom to come up to the ward in the morning,’ the staff nurse added gently, squeezing her patient’s hand.
    ‘Come home and stay the night with us, Ella?’ her aunt had offered.
    ‘No! No thanks! I’d prefer to go home.’
    She was adamant about going back to Fintra, not wanting to leave the farmhouse empty. Sean was waiting to drive her. Understanding her need to be in her own place, Aunt Nance had wrapped her plump arms round her and held her close, while Ella forced herself not to break down and cry.
    Sean was quiet on the drive home along the dark country roads, both of them enveloped in silence. She was in no mood for kissing and courting and was glad that he didn’t attempt to pull off down towards the lake shore. Outside the house he turned off the engine; she was exhausted and in no humour for chatting.
    ‘Thank you for driving me, Sean.’
    ‘Are you all right, Ella?’ he asked, concerned.
    She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak as tears began to stream down her face. Sean pulled her towards him, cradling her against his chest. ‘It’s all right Ella, I’m here. You’re not alone.’
    Strange, but there in his arms she felt safe and secure and not at all embarrassed. She relaxed against him, sniffling as he stroked her hair and the side of her face.
    ‘Ella, you are so beautiful.’
    She sniffed, knowing that her eyes were red and scalded and her nose running and Sean was the only one who would still consider her beautiful.
    ‘You and I have known each other a long time and you know I’ll do anything for you. Should anything happen to your father, you can count on me. What I mean is that I’m here for you, Ella, I always have been.’
    Ella studied his broad strong face in the darkness. He was as kind and as good a man as a girl could ever expect to meet. She’d known him all her life and knew in her heart he’d make a good match, a good husband, a good father and a good farmer. Was he offering to marry her? She didn’t want to think that far ahead, not with her father lying so ill in his hospital bed.
    ‘Thank you, Sean.’ Her breath shuddered as she opened the car door. ‘But Daddy’s going to get better. He’s as strong as an ox. Daddy will be fine again, you just wait and see!’
    She sat at the kitchen table waiting for the kettle to boil. She’d boiled an egg for herself and out of habit had put on two; she’d have the other hard-boiled later. Two slices of her aunt’s soda bread lay buttered on her plate. She had no appetite but knew she must eat. The warm April sunshine filled the room as the birds sang outside in the trees, oblivious to her distress. A car pulled up out in the yard and, fearful, she jumped to her feet and ran to the door. She didn’t recognize the black Ford Anglia. A man and woman were getting out of it, and looking up at