***Chapter 17***
***Decisions***
Although he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, Jimmy's head was spinning by the time he left for the kitchen to inform a certain Private Jones, who had apparently been entrusted to Davey's care, that his superior, Colonel Geoffrey Maddocks, was now ready to leave. He had gone into the drawing room expecting to be hauled over the coals for taking the car without permission. He left having learnt that potential enemy codes were being broken and allied codes created in a top secret underground London HQ. That there too strategic plans were being drawn up by top boffins in preparation for the impending war. That the highly intelligent, if slightly eccentric, Colonel Maddocks was helping create allied and crack enemy codes on behalf of the Government.
Now Arthur and Prudence, who would be heavily involved in the work too, hoped Jimmy, under his guise as a chauffeur driving the fabulously wealthy to theatre shows and dinner parties, would deliver top secret papers and documents. False statements would be fed to the press about Prudence and Arthur being "disillusioned" and "quitting politics", having supposedly decided to concentrate instead on the idle life of leisure which their riches could easily afford. Jimmy would be given his own cottage in the grounds of their exclusive home and his children attend a nearby private day school, its fees and uniforms paid for by the Maddocks. Rose would be free to do as she pleased. Lord and Lady Maddocks would have no hesitation in footing the bill if she tired of being a homemaker and decided to pursue some interest. She might like to "study the history of art or take flower arranging lessons", Prudence gushed. Privately, Jimmy thought Rose would laugh till she cried at such "silly notions".
He stopped for a moment by the circular window of the winding corridor to peer out through its ancient thick panes at the empty stable block now blackened and charred by lightning. His mind mocked and teased him with memories of happier times, when the tree had been in full summer bloom and Beauty and Magic majestic and proud. Follyfoot Farm was to be closed down. He had always dreamed a foolish dream that one day Arthur and Prudence would own horses again. Always thought he would spend the rest of his days living happily in Whistledown and working at the little family-like community of Follyfoot. Now everyone was to be divided and scattered, perhaps forever. The war would see to that. He wiped away a stray tear. No use dwelling on the past. Time moved on. Nothing stayed still, not the rush of the ocean nor the wayward wind that whistled eerily down from the wild Yorkshire Moors. The future beckoned now.
It was an incredibly generous job offer and the Maddocks were relying on him so much to accept it. His family would want for nothing and he would be helping with the war effort.
But they were simple country folk, his heart argued. Rose had gone with him once to Leeds but she couldn't wait to hurry home. She had hated the swarming crowds, the noise of the traffic, the factory chimneys belching out their thick fumes. Like himself, his wife loved pretty little Whistledown and its quaint, old-fashioned way of life. And what of Peggy and Johnjo? They were bright, happy children who thrived on the unsullied country air and they adored animals. They were always full of what they'd learnt at the village school or caring for some wounded bird or deciding what vegetables or flowers they could grow next. How could he tear them away from all they'd ever known?
It seemed a thousand years since the tree had been struck by lightning. It was as if it had signalled the end of Follyfoot forever...