RIDE THE TIDE

Chapter 12-Men of Property:

It was a lively gathering around the old farm table. Akkers’ steak and tattie pies were hungrily demolished along with the carrots and peas. A plum tart was added for pudding.  The subject of Penny’s list came up and it was decided that on Saturday Janey and Penny would go to Harrogate to do a bit of shopping.  Anna would need tights for the service on Sunday afternoon. Janey would need something for the wake on Saturday night in Knaresborough. Davey was arranging a fine send off for the old man.

Anna called the solicitor and made arrangements to meet with him later that afternoon. The will would be presented after the service on Sunday afternoon.  The details of Tom’s plan needed to be discussed. The solicitor’s office was in Ripon and Penny said she would like to go too.

It had occurred to Akkers when she took Penny to the laundry that no laundry had been started today. She decided to see what Lottie was doing.  Climbing the stairs with her arthritic knees popping and grinding, she noticed the dirty linens piled at the top of the stairs.  Starting at the end of the hallway she began opening doors and inspecting beds. When she opened the door to Davey’s room she found Lottie curled up asleep on Davey’s bed.

The noise upstairs did not go unnoticed by the diners downstairs in the kitchen. It wasn’t long before what appeared to be a pile of dirty sheets with legs came running through the kitchen and out the door. Akkers appeared shortly afterward, her unintelligible mutterings following her to the laundry room. The diners lifted their eyebrows and shrugged their shoulders; Akkers and her clan.

Davey’s first stop after arriving back at The Black Bull in Knaresborough was in the tap room where he pulled the pump for a Tetley’s Ale.  His mother’s accusation this morning had hurt. He carried his pint to the kitchen and cut some bread and cheese, added some Branston Pickle for a ploughman's lunch, and carried it back into the tap room.  The tap room was usually empty this time of day, only filling up after 4:00 when the working men began appearing for their pint before going home.  Jamey Cox came through the door looking for his boss.

“Hey, thought I heard you come in.  Just wanted ya to know everything is still standing.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else, Jamey.  By the by have you heard from Young Cox yet?"

“Yeah, he was in here last night. Said he would find Mickey and they would set everything up for Saturday night. I told him about 7:00 would be good. Be great to hear you fellers again."

“I guess I need to let Tommy know.” The morning’s pain was gone and Davey was arranging for his father’s send off.  He and his mother had discussed a wake at breakfast.  Davey remembered his grandfather’s and wanted to do the same for his Dad. He had a lot of phone calls to make so he wandered back to his office to look up some numbers.

Tom had bathed and was hunting out some slacks and a shirt for the trip to Ripon when his cell phone rang.  Penny handed it to him along with some socks.

“Hey, Davey, what’s up?”

Davey told Tom what he had planned and added, “And, Tom, dress, okay?”

Tom looked down at his bare body and said he, of course, would dress. He did everyday.

He asked Penny, "You ever been to a wake?" When she shook her head 'no', Tom explained it was really a party to send the deceased off to a better world. He told her she would need a dress for Saturday and for her to go ahead and buy some clothes for cooler weather. “Just get whatever you want, Penny, and don’t worry about the cost.”  He handed her a credit card and winked.

"I have my own," she protested, but Tom wouldn’t hear of it.

He was tucking his blue shirt in his slacks. "I'll take care of you and whatever you need."

Penny turned the card over in her hand, not sure how she felt about that. For the long eighteen years she had spent with Garret she had always had her own money. Garret paid for everything, but Penny always had a job and a bank account. Not that she spent much; it was there if she wanted to buy something for her family or a trip to North Carolina. Having her own money made her feel independent. Perhaps that was something she and Tom would have to talk about some time.

It was a beautiful afternoon for the drive to Ripon. Penny again marveled at the countryside, how the black and white cows looked against the brilliant green hillsides. Anna told her there was a dairy farm near them where they got their dairy products and suggested she go over there sometime with Janey.  The couple that owned the farm had children same ages as her grandchildren and they were often back and forth.

The solicitor’s office was found and Tom parked the car. It was an ancient building of stone with a shiny black-painted door opening onto the street.  On the first floor they found the young solicitor behind his desk, his hair in a constant state of disarray.  Horn-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose, he listened to Tom’s plan. After much shuffling of papers he came up with a copy of the will.

He turned to Anna. “You are aware of the codicil, right?”

"Indeed, no, I have heard nothing of a codicil." Worry and fear began to work its way across her face.

“On, let’s see, eighth of January, 2006, John came in and we discussed a piece of land he had acquired and really had no use for.  He said it wasn’t suitable for the sheep and as there was a dwelling occupying the center of the tract, and the rest in forest and a lake he thought it would be best if he deeded out.”

Tom had begun to tap his fingers on the arms of his chair. Anna was wide eyed and silent.

“This tract”, he continued, “would, I believe, either border on or it may cross into the tracts of land you are proposing to deed to Peter Solmes.  It would require a survey, of course. We can go ahead and get that scheduled.” He was shuffling papers again, looking for a pen and pad to write down his instructions.

Tom said, “I know very well the tract you are talking about. It's one I acquired for Dad and backs up to Tipple Hill. Just who has he deeded this tract to?”

“Oh, sorry, actually the codicil states and you can read it of course, that tract of land John instructed was to be deeded to Davey upon his death. I don’t believe Davey is aware of this.” He looked over his glasses at Anna.

Anna shook her head, “No, I’m sure Davey is unaware of this. He would have said something."

Tom had risen and began to pace around the room. Why hadn’t his father told him of this? He had, in fact paid for the piece of property for his father when it became available. John had always had his eye on that old place because of the lake. Now he had given it away, to Davey. It wasn’t a large tract of land, but it was beautiful, Tom remembered.  He stood looking through the dusty window down to the street. What had been in his father’s mind? Perhaps he would never know.

They concluded their business with the solicitor and were back on the street.  Tom suggested they go for a pint and headed towards the corner pub. Anna and Penny sat at the little round table while Tom ordered their drinks. "Will the codicil in anyway affect Tom’s plan?" Penny

asked Anna. 

"No, but it's given us a shock."

 Tom brought his pint of Tetleys, Anna’s shandy and a lager for Penny and sat down. He ran his hand through his hair and looked at Anna. “Mum, what was going on with Dad and Davey in January?”

“It was about the time Davey came into ownership of The Black Bull. You know how that happened? Davey was in a, well, a relationship with the widow Richards. Belinda Richards, she was. Davey was a bartender in the Black Bull for several years and when her husband died, well Davey, you know. Anyway, as the pub had been left to Belinda she began to depend on Davey to take care of everything. Belinda Richards was about 10 years older than our Davey and she had a stroke one day and died. She had made a will and left the pub to Davey.  I remember John and Davey walking out to the garage one day and they had an argument about something, John wouldn’t talk about it but he was upset for days. Was it this incident? I don’t know, Tom.” Anna finished her Shandy.

Tom tried to remember where he had been in January 2006. Was it Africa or Australia?  It was all beginning to blur. It wasn’t so much that his father had provided for Davey in his will, that was right and proper, it was the particular piece of property.  He was remembering the walk over the land with his father the day after the purchase.  He had imagined himself living there one day. He couldn’t imagine Davey living there. Dad must have had his reasons, thought Tom, and he downed the rest of his pint.

They were nearly at the turn off to the farm when Tom suddenly blurted, "You two fancy some fish and chips?"

At Penny's murmured affirmations,  Anna added, "It's been awhile since I've had any myself, and, besides, it would be nice for Penny to see Pateley Bridge."

Davey slicked his hair back into its pony tail and straightened his bow tie.  He was working tonight in the public room, having set Jamey back in the tap room.  Jamey was a good kid, at least  Davey still thought of him as a kid though he was nearly thirty. Davey employed two bartenders, but tonight Molly was off, some sickness in the family. Davey’s employees were all related to the Cox family.

When Davey assumed ownership of The Black Bull, he made several changes. First the game machines had been moved to the tap room. He wanted a more authentic old pub atmosphere out front.  He added a piano in the corner and a small area used as a stage for live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Jamey dressed in white shirt and bowtie every evening as did Davey; Molly wore a white shirt and a black skirt.  When they reopened the kitchen, a waitress was hired for lunch time three days a week. He had plans to increase to six days a week when he could afford it.  With the four rooms upstairs which were rarely empty and the addition of opening for lunch the pub was finding its customers.  He hoped Young Cox would be back in tonight. Young was old as dirt but the name had stuck since childhood. Young was a fiddler and showed up to play when the mood struck him. Davey took a last look around his room, turned out the light and went downstairs to go to work.

Dipping down into Pateley Bridge by the River Nidd and through the narrow streets, Tom found a place to park his car and they got out and walked down the main street.  To Penny, its quaint shops and buildings seemed from another time...just what an English Village should be.  There was a sweet shop and around the corner the butchers, the bakers, and a book store.  Tucked down an alley they found a tiny shop that sold fish and chips. Doused with a good helping of malt vinegar and wrapped in newspaper print, their bounty was taken to the village green to be eaten. Penny loved the fish, but thought the chips needed ketchup instead of vinegar.

"It's a taste you'll have to acquire if you're going to become Yorkshire lass," Tom grinned.

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