Abediah Thornton

Chapter 24 - Tuesday

Since it had finally stopped raining Edwin had been out in the field. Bringing him in now Abediah felt glad that he and the donkeys had been enjoying themselves but rather annoyed about the work involved in sorting them out. 

These days she often left it up to the donkeys to decide what they wanted to do. If they followed Edwin into the barn then they wanted to be inside, if they stayed out in the field then they wanted to be out. She wasn't surprised they wanted to be inside today. With all the wet mud the three had rolled into their coats they were probably starting to feel the cold. 

She started on Edwin's neck with her hard brush. She hadn't got far before she began to wonder if it might just be easier to turn the hose on them all. She was rather relieved to hear a car coming up the drive. 

She was expecting Winnie and the Sheriff this afternoon and their arrival was a good excuse to leave Edwin and the donkeys chomping on their hay in the barn. Abediah recognised the car pulling up. It wasn't Winnie, but instead the big black sedan, belonging to Mr Goodman. This was not a happy development. 

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever might come and stuck her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans. 'Mr Goodman,' she said, announcing his arrival as he hauled himself out of the car. 

The big man seemed to have a uniform of suits. Today it was a navy blue pinstripe, white shirt and red tie. He looked like he should be in a courtroom, right down to what looked like handmade Italian leather shoes.

'Mrs Thornton, how are you?' said the big man, moving around the car with his hand outstretched and a big smile on his face. He appeared to be preparing to pretend they were on the best of terms. 

'As well as can be expected, thank you, Mr Goodman,' she said, keeping her hands firmly and resolutely locked in her pockets. She saw the look of disapproval pass over the man's face as he was forced to drop his hand. 

'Good. Good,' he said, looking around the yard. 

Abediah sighed, 'Mr Goodman, how can I help you today?' she asked pointedly. 

'Ah, Mrs Thornton, I thought I'd just pop in to see if you were ready to get the sale going now.'

Her eyes must have looked like they were about to pop out of her skull. She couldn't believe the gall of this guy! Hadn't they already sorted this out? How could he be back here, making out like nothing had happened two weeks ago?

The shock stunned her into silence. In the two beats before the lawyer started talking, she heard another car begin to make it's way up the drive. Thank goodness, she thought, back up!

'Mrs Thornton, we really must get the process started, if we leave it much longer you may lose out.'

She looked at the lawyer sharply, 'Mr Goodman, what on earth do you think I am going to lose out on? The world is not going to run out of people who want to buy farms any time soon, is it?' 

She could see the dust cloud approaching now, the lawyer still didn't appear to have noticed the approaching car. 'Mrs Thornton,' he started, the exasperation leaking into his voice again, 'Charlie is waiting.'

She turned away slightly, smiling, so that was his game. She was very glad now that Winnie had suggested she have a conversation with Charlie.

'Mr Goodman, I have spoken with Charlie.' Behind the lawyer she could see a sporty red Ford pulling up. He looked shocked at her revelation. Did he really think that she would just never speak to Charlie again after their first meeting?

'Mr Goodman, I don't know who you are representing, but I know for a fact that you are not representing Charlie. And I am delighted to be able to take this opportunity to inform you, once and for all, that neither Charlie or I have any interest in selling my farm.'