Chapter Twenty Five – Disaster At Ashfordly Hall
"Jo, come on, seriously? Phil and I?" Gina said.
"Don't you try and deny it," Jo challenged with amusement.
Gina opened her mouth to protest once again when a dark, tall and handsome man came walking into the tent. He was impeccably dressed in white riding trousers and a classic red jacket. Her mouth still open, Gina put her hands on her hips. "Now that is good looking man," she managed as she rose from the chair and headed back to the counter.
"Hello, ma'am, can I have a pint please?" he asked politely with a pleasant smile.
"Certainly," the barmaid replied, returning his charming smile with a smile of her own. "So, tell me, how's the hunt progressing?"
He sighed and tilted his head a bit, smirking. "Not too bad. I seem to be surrounded by good looking women," he replied humbly.
Gina chuckled nervously at the compliment. "Thank you," she said, nearly drowning in his dark brown eyes.
At that moment Phil Bellamy made an unfortunate entrance into the beer tent. The boredom he'd been feeling just a second ago and the happiness of finally getting a break and have a chat with Gina disappeared altogether. With a deep disappointed sigh he walked over to Jo and Katie.
"Hi, Phil," Jo said softly appreciating the company.
He couldn't help but to return Katie's innocent smile as he sat down opposite them and the relief and happiness radiating from Jo made it impossible for him to be gloomy despite his efforts.
"Hi, Jo and hello Katie," he said softly before daring a glance over his shoulder, seeing Gina smile and laugh at something the posh rider said to her.
"Why the long face?" Jo asked softly with an undertone of sympathy.
"Why?" he asked, giving her an odd look. "She's practically drooling over him," he complained.
Jo suddenly started to chuckle, confusing him even more.
"What?" he asked.
"Don't you worry Phil, she'll get over him. In any case; he would get over her when his wife and mistress clashes over him back on the field," she explained.
"She doesn't know?" the constable said, his eyebrows knitting together.
"Not yet anyway," Jo let on.
OOOOOO
"Bernie," Blaketon said sharply as he walked up to the garage owner.
The man in question jumped slightly at the commanding tone of voice as he'd been engrossed in the participation list of the dog agility race that was to take place 30 minutes later.
"Oscar," he greeted. "You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to," the former sergeant apologized. "Look, the so called mobile toilets are full and Greengrass is nowhere to be seen."
"Right," he returned in exasperation, "I'll see what I can do about it."
"Thanks Bernie, you're a real life saver," Oscar said appreciatively and gave him a pat on the shoulder.
"More like a sanitary man," he muttered gloomily.
OOOOOO
Lord Ashfordly trotted up to the large stables and nodded to a stable boy as he dismounted his white stallion, handing over the reins. "Take good care of him," he said curtly, not really waiting for a reply.
He strolled over the courtyard and turned to overlook the activities going on all around. People were laughing and clapping their hands, children played with each other. 'Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea,' he mused proudly.
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted and his pride nagged as the sharp sound of a woman's scream echoed between the trees. He stiffened and went from satisfied, to annoyed, to angry within a single minute as he spotted a large dog running lose amidst all the competitors of the sack race only to move on to the small market stands, managing to wreck one of them completely.
Alfred, energized by the turn of events, hastily got up from his position next to David and took off after the other dog, barking along the way of spectators. The young, slightly slow, man went after him, almost knocking a posh woman off her feet in the process.
It caused a stir in the beer tent as the dog rushed in there and out the back, resulting in the dog being chased by, not only, it's sheepish owner but by PC Bellamy as well.
Unbeknownst to the chaos outside Bernie Scripps chose that moment to walk out of the small toilet tent for the women, in the process of switching the canister.
Lord Ashfordly chose that moment to place a hand before his eyes.
OOOOOO
"I don't understand what Lord Ashfordly is so upset about?" Claude complained as he gingerly, mindful of his aching back, sat down in his sofa back home several hours later.
"Maybe because you promised to run the ground service and that the fence you provided for the competing dogs did nothing to keep them locked in," Bernie reasoned in an even voice. "Then that particular dog that tore loose managed to collapse the toilet tent."
Claude huffed. "He wanted to have an event no one would forget," he said.
Bernie nodded. "That was exactly what he got," he returned sourly. "Well, I better pop back to the garage and close for the day, see if that old chap, Harry, has accomplished anything while I've been away."
OOOOOO
"I don't believe this, two days ago it was this loose dog causing havoc all over the place and now this," Blaketon complained, his voice sharp and carrying an undertone of bitterness and annoyance as his eyes tracked a large horse galloping wildly over the field next to the market area.
Mike Bradley hastily glanced at his wristwatch and noticed to his disappointment that it was only eleven o'clock and the day had just begun. He had arrived almost an hour earlier hoping to have a fairly quiet day and enjoy some of the festivities himself but, as of right now, fate had other plans. "We better try and detain it," he reasoned as he started toward the grey gelding, stretching his long legs over the grassy green, heading toward Ashfordly's flower park. "Round up some men!"
Oscar started running in the opposite direction, back toward the gathering of tents and people, as Maggie came out of the tent serving as a temporary medical clinic and first aid.
"Oscar!" the nurse hollered.
He stopped to catch his breath as she closed the distance between them.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"A horse is loose and we don't know where the rider is," he explained, slightly out of breath.
Maggie nodded as she glanced over his shoulder, seeing Mike on his way to try and catch the animal.
"Leave it with me," she cautioned and squeezed his shoulder. "Just sit back and rest, I don't want you to have another heart attack out here. It's not worth it, let some of the younger blokes help Mike," she reasoned.
He nodded and bit back a reply about still being strong and vigil.
"What's going on?" Blaketon heard a familiar voice ask and looked up to see Alf Ventress with the relief sergeant in tow coming toward him.
"Stupid animal came loose," he muttered.
Without a word Lancewood took off with the bunch of people that Maggie had rounded up and headed down the slope of the hillock diverting Lord Ashfordly's park into two.
Oscar glanced over his shoulder at the people coming to help Mike and then turned to Alf. "What is he really doing here?" he asked.
"He's out for Nick's position," Alf replied calmly, causing Blaketon's eyebrows to rise into his hairline.
"Really?" he said.
"Apparently HQ in Whitby weren't too pleased with his achievements so far," Alf added with a cunning smile.
They both turned to see the gathering closing in on the horse just in time to see Sergeant Lancewood tripping on a root.
Blaketon chuckled. "Not used to rough terrain is he?" he asked ironically.
"More of a city boy I would say," Alf returned amused. "However, our own former city boy is doing better," he added as Mike slowly and with gentle movements managed to get hold of one of the reins.
OOOOOO
"Sit still please," Sr. Maggie Bolton said as she placed a firm hand on the rider's chin to clean the cuts and scrapes on her face.
"Ouch," the woman said with a grimace.
"What's going on? Is everything all right?" Lord Ashfordly demanded as he entered the small tent.
"I told you to loan me a good horse not some lunatic," the fortyish something, dark haired woman complained accusingly.
"I thought you knew how to ride, Amanda," he replied in a patronizing tone that managed to make the woman even angrier.
"How dare you, Charles," she countered as she turned to look at him, forcing Maggie to gently turn her head back to look at her.
"He's one of the offspring to my champion, which you were very interested in yesterday. I thought you wanted to see for yourself how good he was. I didn't expect to have him ploughing up my roses," the lordship returned. "Anyway, I'm glad to see that you're all right."
A slow creepy smile crept over Amanda's face. "If he's that good, I better take him out on another ride," she said.
"If you're up to it you can ride the last hunting day on him," Ashfordly reasoned.
"She will be fine," Maggie assured him.
"Well then, it's settled then," he said and strode out.
OOOOOO
To be continued
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