Josephine Cox Sunday Times Bestsellers Collection. Josephine Cox

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СКАЧАТЬ the sadness in Barney’s eyes. ‘All the same, it’s worrying you, isn’t it?’

      Barney shook his head. ‘No, Adam.’ He took a sip of his tea. ‘It’s not that that’s been worrying me, well, not for the reasons you might think anyway.’

      ‘Hmh! If’s not that, what is it then?’

      Barney paused, his expression serious as he caught Adam’s curious glance. ‘What I’m about to tell you now, Adam … you’re not to repeat it to a living soul, d’you understand?’

      Concerned, Adam replaced his biscuit onto the plate. ‘I’ve never been one to spread folks’ business,’ he chided, ‘especially when it’s an old friend confiding in me. You should know that by now, Barney.’

      Barney was mortified. ‘I’m sorry, Adam. It’s just that, I’ve not told anybody else, and I won’t. When I leave here, I’m seeing the doctor. I’ve not told Vicky, and I don’t want her to know … whatever the outcome.’

      Now, as Adam began to grasp the seriousness of the situation, he gulped so hard, his Adam’s apple felt like a brick in his throat. ‘I think you’d best explain what you mean by that,’ he said.

      Barney felt such relief that he had been able to confide in someone, and as it was Adam, he knew his secret would go no further. ‘I’m sorry to put you in this situation,’ he said, ‘only I had to talk to somebody.’

      Deeply worried, the other man brushed aside his apology. ‘What is it, Barney old mate? What’s wrong?’

      Barney didn’t want to frighten Adam unnecessarily, but on the other hand, should anything untoward come of his visit to the doctor, he needed someone outside the family to be in full possession of the facts. ‘I reckon as how there’s summat wrong wi’ me,’ he began quietly. ‘Summat the doctors can’t put right.’

      Adam was visibly shocked. ‘God Almighty, Barney, whatever makes you say a thing like that?’

      Barney explained. ‘For some months now, I’ve been getting these crippling pains in my chest. Sometimes I can hardly breathe, and other times I’m as sick as a dog at the slightest thing. I’m allus tired, but I can’t ever get a good night’s sleep. It’s summat serious, Adam, I know it is.’

      ‘And why are you so sure about that?’ His pal would have none of it. ‘You’re no doctor, to say it’s summat serious that they can’t put right. Good God, Barney, it could be any number o’ things.’

      A glimmer of hope fluttered through Barney. ‘What could it be then?’

      ‘Well, I don’t know, do I?’ Adam replied irritably. ‘Like yourself, I’m no doctor. All I know is, you shouldn’t go jumping to conclusions. It could be a simple little thing that can easily be dealt with.’

      ‘Such as what?’

      ‘Well, such as a bad bout of indigestion. I get it all the time – it nigh doubles me up, but it’s nothing to worry about. Then there’s the nature of your work; you’re out all hours in all weathers, and how many times have I seen you lying on the damp ground, under a machine, or hanging on the edge of a ladder reaching for this or that, then another time you’ll be stacking hay up to the ceiling in the barn. Jesus! You’re allus up to summat, stretching your body to its limit and not giving a thought to the consequences.’

      He wagged a finger. ‘You know as well as I do, there’s many a farmer gone crippled because of his work and the changing weather.’

      ‘I know that, but it’s not the same thing at all.’

      ‘Like as not you’ve overstretched a chest-muscle, or you might even have fractured a rib. That’s been known to happen afore now and not been discovered for many a week – by which time it’s got worse.’

      Barney’s hopes rose. ‘You’re right. I didn’t think of all that.’

      ‘No, you didn’t,’ Adam confirmed. ‘You were too busy thinking the worst instead.’

      ‘So, do you reckon I should still see the doctor?’

      ‘It wouldn’t hurt, not now that you’ve made the appointment.’

      Barney nodded. ‘I’m glad I told you, Adam.’

      ‘So am I.’ The other man, though, was secretly worried. ‘You’d best mek tracks, lad. Soonest done is soonest mended.’

      A few minutes later, Barney was ready to set off. ‘I’ll call in and see you at home on my way back,’ he told Adam. ‘Let you know what Dr Lucas says.’

      His old friend waved him off. ‘You do that,’ he advised. ‘And stop your worriting!’

      Long after Barney was out of sight, Adam stood at the door, mulling over what Barney had told him: pains in his chest, being sick, sleeping badly and at times hardly able to breathe. He had assured Barney it could be any number of minor things, but deep down he had to consider that it could be really serious – far more serious than he had led the other man to believe. He was frightened for his pal.

      So frightened for him that he downed tools there and then and made his way home, intending to wait for Barney to let him know what Dr Lucas had to say.

      Expecting his appointment to last some fifteen minutes or less, Barney was in Dr Lucas’s surgery for a whole hour and a half.

      Having been pummelled about and then quizzed for what seemed an age, Barney dressed behind the screens and came out to stand before the man’s desk. ‘What’s the verdict then, Doctor?’ he asked. He needed to know, but was dreading the answer. Not for nothing had Raymond Lucas called in his colleague from the other consulting room, and each in turn had examined Barney yet again; in quiet tones discussing his condition while he quickly dressed.

      The doctor smiled. ‘Sit down, Mr Davidson.’ His quick smile was not a reassuring one; instead, to Barney it seemed more of a consoling smile, and sure enough with his next words he confirmed Barney’s suspicions. ‘I’m afraid it’s not good news.’

      Suppressing the fear inside him, Barney asked tremulously, ‘It’s my heart, isn’t it?’

      Dr Lucas slowly nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’ Quickly adding, ‘But it’s not all bad news. With proper medication and rest, you could go on for years yet.’

      Shocked to the soul, Barney interrupted him. ‘What you’re saying is, if I stop work and spend the rest of my life doing nothing, then I might live a few years more?’

      ‘Well, I’m not suggesting you should do nothing. I’m saying you will have to take things a lot easier. No more building haystacks, or driving in the sheep on a frosty winter’s morning. You have a damaged heart. It isn’t functioning as it should and that’s a dangerous thing, especially for an active man such as yourself, whose very livelihood depends on him using his strength to carry out his work.’

      A note of impatience marbled his advice. ‘From now on, you must be sensible in everything you do, and I cannot emphasise that strongly enough.’

      Barney wasn’t listening. By now he was seeing the future in his own mind, and what he saw was more crippling than anything he had so far endured. СКАЧАТЬ