Books and banter by W.H.Manke

CHAPTER 5–DECEPTIONS

For several years after Hannah left Hawking Manor the days in the land were stormy unlike the way they had passed in the previous decade.  The sun rose and the sun set, it seemed, each day to new inventions and the working out of previously unimaginable ideas.

Henry completed his first two years with Sir Walford’s regiment and signed on for two more.  Melissa came home.  For three years she became Benjamin’s tutor.  Hannah and Sidney married and a year later christened their first child.  Anthony Holbrook, Lady Lydia’s husband, passed away.  It was not quite a year after the bells had tolled for him that Lady Lydia and Captain Dranton were married, and eight short months after that a second daughter was born to the lady.

The Tories rose to power.  Their man, Sir Robert Peel, became the new Prime Minister. The queen married Prince Albert.  In the country the Penny Post was instituted.  The first British census recording the names of the populace was undertaken, and the Chartists continued to be a menace in the minds of many.  Railway mania swept the country.  To the shaking of many citizens’ heads 5000 miles of railway track was laid down across the country.

Samuel made the Carstairs a partner in a steamship company.  Meredith co-hosted a reading of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Merlin I and Merlin II with Lady Lydia, and Melissa met the man of her dreams.

A fancy horseless carriage. The first motorized vehicles similar to this one were seen for the first time in England in the times described.  This one I saw in Nuernberg in 2008.

Life for Benjamin also changed.  While he continued to spent time in the spring, summer, and autumn at Eagleridge, after his fourteenth birthday his parents enrolled him in a prestigious boys’ school more than 200 miles away from home.  His friendships with Albert and Christopher continued to grow, but the number of carefree days together was fewer by far.  On those occasions when he was at home he continued to avoid visits with the Penningtons to escape Louisa’s kisses, but Lady Lydia with her new husband and her two daughters and the Carstairs made frequent visits to each other’s homes which Benjamin enjoyed a great deal.

It was on one of those visits that he made a gift of a pony to eight-year-old Rebecca who feared large animals.  Benjamin found that Rebecca, who had always been a beautiful little girl, had grown tall.  She was very pretty, Benjamin thought, but much too timid.  He encouraged her to do little things like petting a calf.  And each time, once she conquered her initial fear, he found her to enjoy the activity and grow in confidence.  One morning, as he was preparing to ride to Eagleridge, Rebecca came to bid him goodbye.  She asked him after he mounted his horse, “Are you not afraid to fall off this big animal, Benjamin?” 

“Rebecca, this is a gentle horse,” he replied.  “It will not buck.  I have broken it for the saddle myself and it obeys my slightest command.  Would you like to pet Moonbeam?”

Rebecca looked at him with her big blue eyes and Benjamin thought he could see there both fear and longing to be unafraid to touch the animal.  “Will it not bite me?” she asked unsure of herself.  “It is a very beautiful animal, but see how large it is.”

Benjamin smiled at her.  “Let me take your hand, Rebecca, and together we will stroke its neck very gently.  Would you like that?”  Rebecca nodded.  Benjamin jumped from his horse.  He took her hand and when their hands had rested on the animal for some moments, Rebecca began to stroke Moonbeam on her own.  Soon she spoke soft words to the horse and petted its head and ears.

Benjamin laughed for joy.  “Rebecca, Moonbeam likes you.  I can see you are not afraid of her any longer.”

“Oh Benjamin, are you not proud of me?  Thank you for helping me touch your horse.

Only this morning my stepfather said to me that I am a sissy.  He said I am the only girl of

eight never to have enjoyed seeing the world from the saddle of a horse.”

“You must not despair, Rebecca.  In time you will get over your fears.  Do you think of the captain as your stepfather?  He has lived in your house for some time now.”

“My mother encourages me to think of him as my father and he is very good to me, but Anthony, my true father, loved me so, and I cannot forget him or betray his love.”

Benjamin had not intended to dwell on the subject of her father.  He quickly turned the conversation back to the horse.  “Moonbeam is a most gentle horse.  Would you like to sit in her saddle for a moment?”

“I would be the happiest girl in the world to ride Moonbeam, but I am too afraid.  Yet I might dare to ride with you.  Can we not both sit on Moonbeam?”

Benjamin thought for a moment.  He had ridden on a mount with his father and Andrew.  They had taken care of him on the horse when he was a small child and they rode together.  “Yes, it can be done, Rebecca.  You are too big to sit with me at the front of the saddle, but if you’re not afraid to ride behind me or sit sideways right in front of the saddle, we can attempt it.”

“Please let me sit with you, she said.  “Then you can hold on to me.”  Benjamin mounted the horse and gave Rebecca his hand to pull her up in front of him.  To his surprise she

gripped his hand firmly and nimbly rose with his help on to Moonbeam.  He wrapped his arms around her and walked the horse slowly into the pasture.  Soon Rebecca began to giggle and laugh.  Her eyes sparkled when she turned to look at him.  “Oh Benjamin, you have made me so happy.  If my stepfather could see me now, would he not be so surprised?”

A gentle feeling came over Benjamin.  There had always been a special bond between him and the girl in front of him, and he liked the way she trusted him.  “You are very brave, Rebecca,” he said.  “One day soon I will teach you how to ride, and you shall have your own pony to do so.”  After riding into the pasture for a short distance he returned with Rebecca to the stable where he let her gently to the ground.

After he dismounted, he took her hand and walked with her into the stable where a few of his horses were.  In front of a pen in which three horses stood that were not much more than four feet tall, he stopped.  “Morning Star shall be yours, Rebecca.  Can you guess which of the three ponies Morning Star is?”  He smiled at her, enjoying the thought of giving her a present.

“Benjamin, what will your parents say?  You are much too kind.  They are all adorable.  Is the black horse with the white star on the forehead Morning Star?”

“It is, Rebecca!” Benjamin laughed, “And she shall be yours.  Tomorrow, when I return from Eagleridge, you shall have your first riding lesson.”

“Oh Benjamin, I wish it was today that I learned to ride.  And Morning Star is so beautiful.  Is she really and truly mine?”

“Morning Star is your pony from this day on.  You may even take her with you to your own stables when you go home in a few days.  Come let me acquaint you with your horse.”  He

took her by the hand and walked her into the stall where Rebecca, after a second of hesitation,

hugged Morning Star.

“You are so beautiful my little one,” Rebecca sang out.  She stroked the horse’s head and her eyes were dancing with delight.  “Benjamin, you have made me very happy.  I will truly love you always.”  By the evening of the next day Rebecca, for the first time, rode a horse by herself, while Lady Lydia, the captain and the Carstairs looked on with Benjamin who had earlier patiently walked the pony for half an hour with Rebecca on its back.  Riding by herself Rebecca was very nervous at first hanging on for dear life, but she carefully listened to Benjamin’s instructions.  After some minutes, she began to relax and eventually she ventured out on her own with more confidence.

Two weeks before Benjamin was to depart for his third year at the private school Henry came home on furlough for several days.  He had grown taller and his built had become more powerful.  He was also handsome, and at twenty-two he made an imposing figure.  His uniform gave him a dashing appearance that the young women he met found irresistible.  His coal-black hair curled around his ears.  His eyes, like large, black diamonds sparkled under long eyelashes.

To Benjamin’s sorrow Henry ignored him most of the time, choosing instead to renew his acquaintance with David Dickison.

The vow Henry had made not to touch liquor again he kept until the end of his first two years with Sir Walford’s horsemen.  Celebrating with his comrades the completion of his first years of duty and the renewal of another two-year term, he forgot the promise he had made to himself and along with his friends indulged too liberally in drink during the celebration.  The night ended with a brawl.  While after that mêlée he attempted to embrace sobriety again, he succumbed from time to time to the temptation of the liquor, and David Dickison still was all too happy to put much temptation in his way.  Having been home for only two days, Henry met with David and two young women from Five Oakes.  Their invitation to go to enjoy a little ale with them led to another night of drinking.  Henry was drunk when he rode into the stable at home early in the morning.  Benjamin had just saddled one of his horses and was ready to ride to Eagleridge when his brother charged into the barn chasing an imaginary enemy.

“Well, could I have wished for a better sight than my sweet brother Benji,” Henry teased and brought his horse to a quick stop.  He slurred his words when he greeted Benjamin with a taunting grin.  “Where to so early in the morning, brother?”

Benjamin looked at his brother with disgust.  “You better come down from the saddle before you fall from your horse and break your neck, Henry.  You’re drunk.”

“Not a bit of it, brother.  I shall ride with you.”  His eyes were bloodshot.  He hiccupped as he spoke.  “To be up and about when others sleep can only mean you will ride to a wench or some other mischief.  Is it not my duty to ride along and protect my brother?”

“Go to bed, Henry!” Benjamin shouted, “And take care you do not wake our parents or Melissa.  Grandmother Elizabeth is not well and needs much rest.  She will not think well of you, should she see you drooling.  I’m off to Eagleridge for a day or two.  Good morning, brother.”  Benjamin mounted his horse and walked it out of the stable into the meadow.  As always, he chose the shorter route to Eagleridge along the river.  To his consternation Henry followed him.  A mile out he stopped his horse, turned and waited for his brother.  “Go back, Henry, before you break your neck,” Benjamin called out to him.  “Some sleep will do you good.”

Henry laughed as he trotted his horse to Benjamin’s side.  “You shall have my company today, sweet brother.  Ride on!”

A twinge of anger rose up in Benjamin.  He turned his horse toward the river and let his stallion gallop away.  Henry followed letting out loud battle cries.  They raced to the river and along its banks.  At a daredevil pace Henry overtook his brother whipping Benjamin’s horse as he rode past him on the edge of a bank above the river.  Directly below the bank the river was deep.  Feeling the whip on his rump, Benjamin’s stallion reared up.  Henry, looking back to see what effect his act had on his brother’s horse lost his balance.  He fell off his horse and tumbled into the water.  To his horror Benjamin saw his brother fall, hit his head on the ground and disappear in the river’s current.

To be able to look over the edge Benjamin jumped from his own animal, but he could not see Henry.  He saw only the bubbles and rings of disturbed water where Henry had entered the river.  Anxiously Benjamin watched for his brother to surface.  When Henry did not rise to the surface, Benjamin kicked off his boots, tore off his coat and shirts and dove off the edge twenty feet or more above the water.  Twelve to fourteen feet below the surface, near the river’s bottom, he saw Henry being carried along by the gentle current.  He made no attempt to swim but floated lifelessly near the bottom.  Fear shot through Benjamin’s heart.  He surfaced quickly to catch his breath, swam hurriedly ahead to where he had last seen his brother and dove again.  This time he caught Henry.  He pressed his body against his brother’s back.  Wrapping his arms around Henry’s chest he struggled to the surface.

Benjamin cast a quick glance around him.  Gaining a safe foothold nearby on the shore with his unconscious brother he judged to be almost impossible, as the bank was steep.  A little way downstream on the far side of the river he saw a small gravel bank.  Holding Henry’s head above water Benjamin decided to swim for it.  While his brother did not move or struggle, he was dead weight and enough of it to make the younger brother’s advance slow and difficult.  Twice he nearly lost his grip on Henry.  Exhausted, he finally gained the shallow water.  Panting heavily Benjamin pulled Henry on to the gravel.  After a quick search for signs of life, Benjamin found a pulse, but his brother did not breathe.  Thinking about what to do Benjamin remembered what his Uncle Andrew had taught him about surviving someone who had fallen into water and had gone under for a lengthy time.  Benjamin knew he had to keep his panic in check, but he worked feverously to start Henry’s breathing.  A few minutes elapsed.  They seemed like an eternity to Benjamin.  Finally, Henry coughed and spit up water.  Relieved Benjamin dropped exhausted, gasping for air, to the gravel beside his brother.

Next to him Henry stirred and groaned.  When his own breathing came easier, Benjamin rose to check on him.  Henry looked pale.  His eyes were glassy.  He began to complain of a headache.  He could not remember falling into the river he said haltingly.  “Your head did hit the ground before you fell into the water,” Benjamin told him.  “I believe you were unconscious before you disappeared in the water.”

Henry seemed not to listen.  “What now?” he moaned.  “I fear I cannot swim across to the other side.  Why did you bring us to this spot?  You will see me drown yet.”

Benjamin was about to answer him sharply, but instead he said, “I will fetch the horses.  When you’re able, we’ll ride back upstream a mile to where the river is shallow.  We can cross there safely.  I’ll get you home and to your bed where you belong.  He felt no sympathy for his brother and wanted to be rid of him as soon as he could get him home.

An hour later with Benjamin’s help Henry managed to mount Benjamin’s horse.  Sitting behind his brother Henry hung on to him tightly complaining occasionally of his headache and demanding his brother slow the horses down. A short time later they rode up to the manor house.  Benjamin called for servants to help Henry off and to take his horse that had been tied to Benjamin’s animal to the stable.

Samuel, Meredith and Melissa rushed out of the house and ran to assist Henry.  Once they were all inside they repeatedly asked Benjamin to tell them what had happened.  “My wicked brother, whom I but thought to accompany to Eagleridge this morning, knocked me off my horse.  I hit my head on the ground and fell unconscious into the river where he fished me out like a dead carp.”  Henry complained.  He slumped into a chair holding his head.

“The truth is,” Benjamin said quietly after Henry finished speaking, “Henry rode into the stable this morning drunk, as I prepared to ride to Eagleridge.  He followed me against my wishes and overtook me at the river where it is deep.  He turned to grin at me after he had spooked my animal, lost his balance and fell off his horse and into the water.  I found him floating at the bottom of the river where the bank rises straight up from the water.  For some time, after I pulled him to the shore on the far side of the river where it was possible to bring him out of the water, he did not breathe.  This miserable wretch is a drunkard and a liar.”  Benjamin felt angry and his eyes blazed when he continued.  “I’m off to my room to change and will ride presently to Eagleridge for three days or more where the air is not as foul as near my wicked brother.  His head will need some mending.  I shall return after our sweet Henry has bid Hawking Manor goodbye.”

The bitterness in Benjamin’s words was of concern to his mother and father.  “Benjamin you must not ride again today.  Go to Eagleridge tomorrow,” his mother pleaded.  “Henry will be himself again when his head is healed, meanwhile do not think ill of him, my son.”

Samuel had examined Henry while she spoke.  “This boy will need bed rest.  His eyes are both glassy and bloodshot.  I believe they are not only so from the fall.  His breath, I am afraid, speaks of ripe liquor.  I am not sure if the knock on the head or the wine within him causes him the greater pain.  No matter what, some rest will help, but it may be wise not to let him fall asleep for some time.  I will have a word with you tomorrow, my son.” With disappointment in his voice Samuel turned from Henry.

To Benjamin’s surprise Henry remained quiet, but Melissa spoke up.  “Shame on you, Henry, for using Benjamin so unkindly.  Has he not saved your life today?  Go and change quickly, Benny, before you catch your death of cold.  I will fetch something hot to drink for you and for your ungrateful brother.”  She took Benjamin by the hand and led him out of the room.

When the sun had risen high in the sky, Benjamin rode toward Eagleridge on a fresh horse but with bitterness toward his brother in his heart.