Step into the Rainbow by Colin R Brookfield (little red riding hood read aloud .TXT) đ
- Author: Colin R Brookfield
Book online «Step into the Rainbow by Colin R Brookfield (little red riding hood read aloud .TXT) đ». Author Colin R Brookfield
âThank you. You really are so kind. Iâd love to stay for the week, thatâs if your husband doesnât mind. I think the people that were supposed to arrange all this, will have it sorted out by then. Incidentally, Iâm hoping to be out fishing from dawn to dusk, so I wouldnât be any trouble.â
âOh, donât worry yourself âbout that, weâll manage. Now can I get some more for you to eat or drink?â
âNo Iâm quite full thank you.â
âWell then, if youâd just like to follow me sir, Iâll show you where things are, so as youâll know your way around.â
âBy the way,â he added, âpeople usually call me Peter.â
âOh I couldnât do that, it wouldnât be proper, you being a city gentleman and all that,â she added.
Peter followed her, but said no more as she opened the door to the left of the curtained stair entrance. It led into a small utility room where food was presumably prepared prior to cooking. They then passed through another door and out into the open.
âWe âave another little room,â she said, âbut we can only get to it through this other door on the outside. There you are; âave a look inside. Itâs the coldest place that we âave, as the sun never reaches this wall of the cottage, so itâs where we keep our perishables, not that we keep too much in âere in the warmer months.â
Hanging up inside were several joints of cooked meat, some rather high pheasants, and a side of bacon that was covered in a muslin-like material to protect it. Various covered dishes lay on the shelves.
âWell thatâs our main food store; all the rest of our needs we grow in our vegetable garden. Now then, I donât suppose that really interests you. What I really brung you out for, is to show you where the pump is, in case you be in need of water anytime, but when you want a wash in the morning, thereâll be a jug of water and a bowl on the wash-stand in your bedroom.â
Peter couldnât help but remark on the water pump, because its extravagant design seemed so out of place.
âOh, that was fatherâs work,â she replied, âhe replaced the old one that used to be here with another that he found lying abandoned in a nearby field. It must âave belonged to the great house that used to be somewhere âere-abouts afore it were burnt down and then demolished.â
She led on further down the pathway until they came to a small building, which due to its isolation and particular size and shape, needed no explanation â even to a âcity gentâ.
âThis be the small room,â she said, âin case you need it, if you know what I mean.â
He nodded his head enthusiastically, hoping that by doing so, they might move a little faster away from the cowshed midden that was steamily marinating close-by in the late afternoon sun.
âBarneyâ was the next port of call. âWe be very proud of our Barney,â she said. Peter noticed the udders beneath Barney, but decided not to ask the obvious question. âShe gives lovely creamy milk.â Barney swung her head around as if in appreciation, and her large brown eyes surveyed Peter for a second, before she turned her attention back to the large chunk of brown-coloured salt she had been licking.
Peter noted how clean Barneyâs stall was. The floor was thickly covered with, what he took to be straw. Up in one corner, stood a small three leggĂšd stool and several spotless containers with handles. Milking equipment, how charming, he thought, but like Mrs. Persill and her house, they seem like relics from the past.
Sounds of activity from outside the cowshed, sent Mrs. Persill hurriedly away, having first excused herself. Peter followed at a much slower rate, examining each area before putting a foot down. He thought it best to be prudent when cows were around.
Outside, Mrs. Persill was standing there chattering away to a man, who Peter assumed was her husband. Surprisingly, he was dressed like a farmer who had just stepped out of a Dickensâ novel. They certainly go in for hand-me-down clothes in a serious way, thought Peter.
Unlike his wife, the man had a lean build. His face and hands were weathered to a deep brown. His moustache had points that projected out a couple of inches either side of his upper lip; they had been waxed and given a twist or two, to provide the sort of military appearance of a bygone age.
He was holding the bridle of a very large draft horse, which was scuffing impatiently at the ground with one of its gigantic hair-covered hooves. With a nod of the head in Peterâs direction and a touch of his hand to his forelock, the man and horse moved off, as if they had just bidden âGood Eveningâ to the Squire.
That evening, they all sat down to a meal. It was one of the tastiest Peter had ever eaten, and the quietest. Apart from the occasional âCan I get you some more sir?â or âIâve packed some lunch for your fishing trip in the morning,â that was about it.
Strangely enough, there was no sense of inhibition, just a comfortable feeling that idle chatter was surplus to their needs, or perhaps Peter thought, surplus to Mr. Persillâs, especially when he suddenly murmured, âStop blathering at the table woman!â She smiled at Peter as if to say âIt doesnât mean anything.â
Her husband must have exhausted himself with that diatribe. It was the last word he mentioned that evening and very nearly for the rest of the week.
After dinner, the farmer settled down by the fire, having first brought down a gigantic pipe from the mantle shelf. Its bowl was about three inches in diameter and about four inches deep, with a stem some twelve inches long. It was curved at the end towards the smokerâs mouth. He deposited what seemed like an ounce of tobacco into its gaping maw, and applied a light to it. He sat there for half an hour or so, with both hands cupped in his lap supporting the bowl of the pipe, as it threw out great puffs of smoke like the chimney of a locomotive.
It wasnât until the locomotive finally ran out of fuel that he decided there were other things to be done, and disappeared out of the door.
âI noticed that Mr. Persill is very quiet,â Peter observed, âI do hope my presence isnât offending him.â
âNot at all,â she said, âfather never could string more than three or four words together at one time. âIs father was just the same. Anyway, who is there to talk to out there in the fields all day âcept the âorse and, âees got even less to say.â
He took the opportunity to change the subject. âWhat happened to William? Why didnât he have dinner with us?â
âOh, he wasnât feeling too good, so I gave him a little to eat and put him to bed. âEeâll be right enough upon the morrow. Now, youâll be feeling rather tired I expect. Perhaps I should show you to your room. I start cooking breakfast at six every morning, but you get up when it suits you. One little thing I should mention though, if you go out passed the cowshed in the morning, prâaps you could make sure to close the wicket behind you or we might âave the animals at the vegetables.â
âCertainly, and six in the morning will do me fine. Iâm not sure whether I mentioned it before, but I expect to be back rather late each day, if thatâs alright with you.â
Having nodded her approval, Mrs. Persill reached up to the mantle shelf to bring down a candle holder. âFollow me,â she said, âand Iâll show you to your room.â The candle wick was lit and she proceeded through the curtained opening and up the steep stairs. The stair handrail turned out to be rather a surprise; it was just a tree branch, about two inches in diameter, still with its original bark on it, which he found rather amusing. At the top of the stairs, they came to a small landing with three rooms leading off it.
âEre we are,â she said opening the first door. The room was quite a good size, or it would have been had it not been for the large double-size iron-framed bedstead that in turn, was almost swamped by its high mattress and overlapping quilt.
Peter looked out of the window while she checked that all was well. In the dim light he could make out the form of Mr. Persill, digging a long trench across the vegetable garden.
âDoesnât your husband ever stop work?â he asked.
âEe âas to keep busy sir, we âave to get all our vegetables in whilst the weather is suitable, because come winter, if weâve not enough to get us through, then we go âungry. You see we only rent this farm; what we grow in the lower field must pay the rent and feed the animals. Then there are things like oil for the lamps, candles and peat for the range. It donât leave much to spare even in a good year.â
Next, Mrs. Persill pointed to where her husband was working.
âNow that long trench that fatherâs digging, is for next yearâs prize carrots and parsnips. Itâll be almost as deep as I am by the time âee âas finished. Then he fetches our âorse and cart to the spinney for leaf mould, and thatâs laid through the bottom of the trench. Then father sieves all of the soil back in the trench. That way, his prize parsnips and carrots grow downwards nice and straight, âcos thereâs no stones in their way.â
Peter was amused by her animations and chatter.
âEe always gets first prize at shows. They call father âThe Carrot and Parsnip King of Salopâ. The worst part of the whole business for me, is when itâs time to dig âem up. You see itâs my job to sit on the ground and hang on to the vegetable, whilst father burrows down like a rabbit âtill he comes to the very last whiskery point. It all counts when itâs measured by the judges, but believe me, father is very touchy at these times because, if I move one little bit, it might ruin the vegetable. But you want to see them when theyâre all cleaned up! Most of them are taller than William when theyâre stood on end.â
âIt sounds very interesting,â Peter replied.
âNow, you see those tiny little hillock-like heaps in a row across the bottom end of the vegetable patch? Well, thatâs what we call âclampsâ. Theyâre full of potatoes that have been layered in, and covered with straw with a thick layer of earth over the top, so as the frost canât get to âem in the winter. What I do, is open up the side of one of âem when I need potatoes, then I take what I want and block the hole up till the next time.â
âWhat a great idea,â he replied
âRabbits are a problem, so we let our dog Gyp off the chain at night so as he can patrol the vegetables, otherwise the varmints gobble them up. Father is usually out at first light to get us a few rabbits, but âeeâs run clear out of black powder.â
âBlack powder? What on earth is that?â Peter enquired.
âWell, I can see you donât know much about guns in the city. Black powder is what you pour down the muzzle, then you put some wadding in, followed by the lead shot, then more wadding is pushed in to stop the lead pellets falling out of the end of the barrel while youâre hunting the rabbit. When the trigger is squeezed, the hammer
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