A Flight To Heaven Page 6

  Arkady tried again, but, although his balance was somewhat better this time, he could not seem to get the bicycle moving very well.

  “It’s difficult on the grass,” Jeremy said, “because the ground is damp and it’s slowin’ the wheels down. It’s easier on the road.”

  “Then let’s go there!”

  “If you don’t mind me sayin’, sir, the grass is softer to fall on!”

  But Arkady was already wheeling the boy’s bicycle towards the drive.

  Jeremy ran after him.

  “Sir. I would come with you, but I have duties in the garden.”

  “Of course! Go back to work. I will return your bicycle when I have mastered the art of riding it.”

  The young lad looked doubtful, but then the Head Gardener was approaching, pushing a wheelbarrow full of young plants and he knew that he must take them and start digging them into the flowerbeds.

  So he said nothing as Arkady mounted the bicycle again and wobbled precariously away.

  It was hard going at first and Arkady kept having to put one or other of his feet to the ground to keep upright, which meant that his progress along the narrow country lanes was very slow.

  But gradually he found that he could keep his feet on the pedals for one or two complete revolutions and then he realised that the faster he went, the easier it was to keep his balance.

  Suddenly the bicycle began to pick up speed as the lane took a gentle slope downwards. Arkady took his feet off the pedals and found himself flying forwards, his hair blowing back in the wind.

  He had no idea where he was going, but ahead of him in the distance, he could see the sun shining on a wide expanse of blue water, which must be the sea.

  *

  “Lady Chiara!” Jonah dropped the bundle of hay he was carrying and peered over the door into Erebus’s stable. “Whatever be wrong?”

  He had caught her unawares and Chiara buried her face in Erebus’s long white mane to hide the fact that she had been crying.

  “It’s nothing, really, I am just a little upset.”

  But Jonah continued,

  “It isn’t that Mr. Hunter, is it? I know he’s here, as I had to take his horse from him when he arrived. I saw him speakin’ to you when he was here before.”

  Chiara stayed silent.

  She did not know what to say. She could not tell Jonah that Mervyn Hunter had kissed her and left her full of a strange excitement that was so strong it frightened her.

  “A nervous creature the poor beast is, too!” Jonah said. “No gentleman should ride a fine thoroughbred horse like that so hard. Drenched in sweat, it was, when he gave the reins to me.”

  “Poor thing. But I am sure you have taken good care of it, Jonah.”

  “Indeed. I put him in the little paddock to relax and enjoy the sun. But will you not ride today, my Lady?”

  She looked down at her silk skirts.

  “I cannot, Jonah.”

  Her sensible woollen riding habit was hanging in her wardrobe and she did not want to go back to the house to change, in case she encountered Mervyn Hunter again.

  “That’s a pity, as it’s a perfect afternoon for a ride,” Jonah said and, as Erebus nudged Chiara with his nose, he added, “see! He agrees with me.”

  “I will ride!” Chiara cried. “Saddle him for me!”

  The sunshine was warmer than usual on this spring afternoon and it would not matter at all that she was only wearing a thin dress.

  It would be Heaven to feel the soft wind in her hair, blowing away all the unpleasantness of luncheon and she did not intend to go far. Just a quick turn around the Park.

  Erebus was a fine spirited creature with hot Arabian blood running in his veins and he was overjoyed to feel Chiara’s light weight on his back again. He knew that she would let him gallop, instead of trotting sedately along the roads, as he did for his daily exercise with the groom.

  He tossed his head, tugging hard at his reins and he then danced over the gravel with little prancing steps in his impatience to be speeding across the Park.

  “Steady!” Chiara told him, for it had been many weeks since she had ridden and she had almost forgotten what is was like to sit on an eager lively horse.

  As soon as they left the drive and Erebus felt the soft springy turf of the Park under his feet, he broke into a swift bounding canter.

  Chiara’s hair was soon tumbling down around her shoulders and she felt the cool breeze on her face as they flew forward towards a copse of trees.

  “Oh, this is so lovely!” she cried out and Erebus flicked his little white ears back at the sound of her voice.

  Suddenly a cock pheasant ran out from the trees, flapping its wings wildly and then darted right in front of Erebus.

  The pony jumped sideways and Chiara felt the reins slip through her fingers as he leapt into a gallop, heading for the main gates that led out of the Park onto the road.

  *

  Arkady had lost all sense of time.

  He was having a glorious afternoon, now that he had finally mastered the difficult art of staying upright on the bicycle and he sped along deserted lanes that wound their way between green fields until he had lost all sense of direction.

  He had absolutely no idea how to get back to the King’s country house at Sandringham and he did not care.

  He was free and he wanted to keep going on and on as fast as he could.

  After a while, much to his annoyance, the lane that he was bicycling along grew narrow and overgrown and turned into a rutted cart track.

  But still he did not feel like turning back, so he dismounted and walked on, wheeling the bicycle, until the track emerged among sandy hillocks with tall pine trees growing on them.

  Arkady climbed to the top of one of the hillocks and caught his breath in astonishment.

  Stretching out in front of him there was mile upon mile of glowing golden sands and beyond them, the silvery shimmer of water.

  He had reached the sea.

  He laid the bicycle down and sat beside it, gazing at the expanse of beauty that lay before him.

  The wind blowing off the sea was cold and so he unrolled the old coat that was strapped onto the back of the bicycle and pushed his arms through the tattered sleeves.

  The beach was deserted, except for a few seagulls and he sat for a long time, staring out to sea and thinking of his homeland, until the sky began to turn pink.

  *

  Erebus’s hooves clattered as he raced along the open road and Chiara soon gave up her efforts to stop him, as her arms were aching and something in her heart longed to just let go and let him carry her wherever he liked.

  Soon she realised that Erebus was heading for the beach and for the vast expanse of smooth sand where in the past they had shared so many wonderful gallops.

  As they clambered down the dunes onto the beach, Erebus paused for a moment to catch his breath and then he was off again, his hooves drumming over the wet sand.

  Chiara cried out for joy, as it was like flying to go so fast, with the wind whistling in her hair and tugging at her silk dress.

  It was as if at any moment now they would be lifted up and borne away into the glorious evening sky that was just beginning to show the first rosy tints of sunset.

  Erebus ran and ran, until at last he began to tire and his legs began to falter.

  “Come now, we must turn back,” Chiara called out to him, patting his shoulder as he slowed to a walk.

  A cold wind was now blowing off the sea and she shivered, because her dress was wet where salt water had splashed up from Erebus’s hooves.

  And then a different kind of chill struck her, as a tall ragged-looking, dark-haired stranger was walking now towards them across the sand.

  “I thought there was no one here!” she whispered, feeling exposed and vulnerable in her thin dress as the odd figure drew nearer.

  Who was he? And what reason did he have to be here in this lonely place?

  Now he was quite close and
looking up at her with a mysterious expression in his dark eyes.

  “Madamoiselle,” he now began in a deep voice. “I thought your little horse had wings and I was waiting for you both to fly away, but you have come down to earth!”

  Chiara dug her heels into Erebus’s sides urging him to move on, but he stood stock still, staring at the stranger.

  The man remained where he was, a little smile on his face.

  “Who – who are you?” she asked, looking at the ragged dirty coat he wore. “Surely you don’t come from around here. You don’t sound like a Norfolk man.”

  He laughed.

  “You are quite right. I am a visitor. And you, I presume, live up in the sky?”

  “No! Of course not – I have just come – to ride,” Chiara replied with difficulty, as her teeth were beginning to chatter with the cold.

  “In a silk dress? With your hair flying loose like an angel in a painting? And all alone? I think you are fooling with me. You are a Heavenly being just fallen to earth.”

  And then he shook his head.

  “But no, you must be mortal after all – for you are shivering. Here!”

  He pulled off his ragged coat and held it out to her and she was astonished to see that he wore an elegant grey morning coat and beautifully cut trousers underneath it.

  “Please, I insist!” he said and tossed the coat up to her so that it fell around her shoulders.

  “But – who are you?” she asked. “I cannot take your coat if I don’t know who to return it to and you will be cold without it.”

  “It’s not my coat,” he replied, “and, just for today, I am nobody, lost in a strange land.”

  He threw back his head and laughed again.

  “Go, quickly!” he shouted. “Back to your home in the sky!”

  He clapped his hands so that Erebus was startled and shied away from him.

  Chiara clutched the ragged coat around her with one hand and clung to the reins with the other.

  Erebus was turning for home now and the stranger was leaving, running with long loping strides as he headed for the dunes at the top of the beach.

  “Thank you!” she called, but he did not turn back.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Chiara’s heart now leapt with excitement as Erebus cantered swiftly back over the beach.

  She could not get the dark-haired stranger’s face out of her mind.

  His high cheekbones and the fierce glow of his dark eyes seemed strangely familiar and yet she was certain that she had never met him before.

  And the sound of his voice!

  When she remembered his curious accent and the odd things he had said to her, her whole body rang with a sensation she had never felt before, as if she was a silver bell giving out a sweet high note.

  The sun had fallen below the horizon and the sky was turning purple as they left the beach.

  Chiara knew they might not get back to Rensham Hall before dark, but Erebus would have no trouble finding the way even though there was no moon.

  The little pony kept a steady trot along the narrow country roads and Chiara slackened the reins and let him make his own pace.

  She was very glad of the stranger’s dusty old coat, as, now that the sun had set, the air was turning very cold.

  Suddenly, Erebus’s ears flicked back, as if he had heard something and he jumped forward, quickening his pace.

  Chiara strained to catch the sound that had startled him and her heart quickened because she could hear men’s voices shouting and a distant clatter of hooves on the road.

  Riders were galloping along the road behind her.

  “Go on, go on, as fast as you can,” she whispered, leaning low over Erebus’s white mane. “I don’t want them to see me out riding in the dusk in my silk dress and this funny old coat.”

  But the little pony was tired from his long gallop on the beach and, although he tried valiantly to keep ahead, the noise of the shouting grew steadily nearer.

  “Hello there! Lady Chiara? Where are you?”

  A chill ran through Chiara’s limbs, as she heard her name being called out. It was Mervyn Hunter’s voice and it was he who was on her trail.

  “We must take a short cut!” she cried.

  She pulled the reins, turning Erebus’s head so that he had to leap up the steep bank that bordered the road.

  Now they were in the fields and ahead of them in the gloomy twilight, a bright light winked and Chiara knew that this must be coming from a window at Rensham Hall.

  “We’re almost there!” she called and dug her heels into the pony’s sides.

  He stumbled forward across the deep furrows of the ploughed field, pushing on as fast as he could, as the faint scent of home was drifting towards them and he wanted to be safely there as much as his Mistress.

  For a moment Chiara thought she had outwitted her pursuers, but then a great shout went up from the road.

  “I see her! Look, her white horse, over there in the field!”

  Then the thud of hooves came crashing over the muddy ground and Mervyn Hunter’s thoroughbred raced up alongside Erebus.

  “Whoa, there! Stop I say!” he shouted out and he reached down from his saddle and caught the reins out of Chiara’s hands, tugging on them so hard that Erebus was dragged off balance and he staggered and fell to his knees.

  Chiara was flung over his head and hit the ground so hard that all the breath was knocked from her body.

  “I say. Is she all right?” Lord Darley cantered up, leaping down from the saddle to kneel beside Chiara.

  “That brute threw her!” Mervyn Hunter exclaimed, throwing the reins at Erebus’s head. “Get away! Be off with you!”

  Erebus limped away across the furrows.

  Chiara wanted to call out to him to come back and that he had done nothing wrong, but she was struggling to breath and could not speak.

  “My poor sweetheart!” Mervyn Hunter leant down from the saddle. “Can you lift her up to me, Lord Darley?”

  Chiara felt herself being lifted high in the air and then Mervyn Hunter’s strong arms went round her, holding her in front of him as his tall horse bounded across the fields towards Rensham Hall.

  Night was finally falling as they clattered under the echoing archway that led into the stable yard.

  Lady Fairfax was standing in the yard, surrounded by servants carrying lanterns.

  “Oh, my darling!” she cried out, her face pale in the flickering light. “Thank God they have found you!”

  Chiara had recovered her breath, but his arms still held her in a vice-like grip, perched in front of him on his tall horse.

  “Mama, I am so sorry. I did not mean to be out for so long. I intended just to ride around the Park – ”

  Jonah now came up to them leading Erebus, who had found his way back across the fields to the stable yard.

  “Ah, ha, there is the culprit!” Mervyn Hunter said, holding Chiara so tightly that she felt the vibration of his deep voice against her.

  “What happened?” Jonah’s face was puzzled. “The little pony always brings you safely home.”

  Chiara was about to explain that Erebus had been doing exactly that, until Mervyn Hunter made him fall, but she was interrupted.

  “God knows what might have happened if we had not been there!” he snapped. “The beast was completely out of control.”

  Lady Fairfax gave a little cry of horror and pressed her hands to her face in horror.

  “My poor sweet daughter!” she muttered.

  Lord Darley jumped down from his horse and came over.

  “Lady Fairfax, please – don’t be distressed. See – all is well. She has not been hurt.”

  He then took Chiara’s hands and helped her to jump down from Mervyn Hunter’s horse.

  “Mama, I am really quite all right,” she began, but Lady Fairfax was looking at her with alarm.

  “What is this horrid thing?” she asked, touching the tattered coat Chiara was wearing.

  “A
gentleman gave me his coat, Mama.”

  “A gentleman?” Lady Fairfax shook her head in disbelief. “But this is just a dirty old rag!”

  Chiara was about to explain about her encounter with the dark-haired man in the elegant morning suit, when Mervyn Hunter spoke again.

  “Perhaps Lady Chiara has been paying a visit to the raggle-taggle gypsies!” he sneered, “she certainly managed to give us the slip for quite some time. Was by chance this ‘gentleman’ of the Romany people?”

  “I – don’t think so – ” Chiara hesitated.

  She could not place the dark-haired man’s foreign accent she had liked so much, but she was quite certain that no Romany would have worn an immaculate morning suit.

  “Promise me, my darling, that you will never go off like that again.”

  Lady Fairfax had overcome her repugnance for the dirty old coat and was taking Chiara in her arms to hug her.

  “Not much chance of that,” Mervyn Hunter piped up, watching as Jonah led Erebus to his stable. “The brute that threw her is quite lame.”

  “Oh, no!” Chiara cried. “My poor Erebus! It really was not his fault. If you had not pulled the reins so hard, and frightened him – ”

  “Chiara!” Lady Fairfax spoke up sharply. “You are being exceedingly ungrateful. These two gentlemen have been riding around the countryside in search of you and have stopped at nothing to make sure that you came safely home – and you have said not one word of thanks.”

  “Oh, there is no need!” Lord Darley exclaimed. “I am just so glad she is safe. And it was no trouble, really, we would have done anything to find you, Chiara.”

  Mervyn Hunter leapt down from the saddle.

  “We searched high and low,” he declared, “and the moment of finding you, Lady Chiara, was the sweetest of my life.”

  He took her hand and raised it to his lips, bowing as he did so.

  Lady Fairfax was frowning at Chiara, reproving her for her bad manners and she knew that she must say some words of thanks.

  “I am most – grateful,” she managed. “It was very kind of you to make – such efforts on my behalf.”

  Then she could not help adding,

  “But I am used to taking long rides round Rensham Hall and, although it was late and I had gone further than I meant to, I was perfectly safe.”