Free Moorcroft - the Possession: Book One of the Moorcroft Trilogy by Sandra Callister Page A

goodness. I checked the stables everything is okay in there.” He looked up the stairs. “Father has anyone checked on mother and the girls?”
    His father nodded. “They are all fine, just a bit shook up and a little scared. What was that dreadful noise, does anyone know?”
    Mr Howard, rather breathless, appeared behind Richard.
    “I and the stable boy have had a good look around outside Sir, but nothing seems out of order. Perhaps it was a fox caught in a trap, the tenants have been complaining lately of losing some of their poultry.”
    John was relieved to have the matter cleared up. “That must be it. Now let’s all get back to bed before the morning and work is upon us.”
    Shaking his head, and feeling the aches in his old bones, John climbed the stairs. “What a night.”
    Charlotte sighed and wiped away her tears as she watched them all return to their bedrooms. Her time would come, she wouldn’t always be alone, she would make sure of that.
     
     
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CHAPTER 5
     
     
     
    The summer passed like a whirlwind. Victoria visited Moorcroft whenever she could, eager to see Richard. Like Sarah and Charles they were often seen walking by the river arm in arm or riding across the fields. Dancing Lady finally dropped her foal, a handsome colt and Richard asked Victoria to name him, she chose the name Emperor. John was pleased with the colt and thought that Richard had become a fine horseman and left that side of the estate to him. He was getting tired and was glad of Charles’s help with the estate, although at times he thought he was a bit hard with the tenants. Emily kept her eye on her daughter, she seemed to have blossomed since her party, and she followed Charles around like a love sick puppy, much to his amusement. Emily had mentioned this affair several times to John and had told him to start saving for a forthcoming wedding. John told his wife to stop being silly, he still saw Sarah as his little girl.
    Charles had taken Sarah many times to meet his parents who lived in Worcester. She got on well with them and had loved their home and the surrounding area. Although Emily admired and loved Charles Wesley she feared that one day he would take her daughter away. Victoria on the other hand was never away from Moorcroft and she and Sarah were constantly chatting and enjoyed going into town window shopping. Richard was kept busy with the horses and the estate and regularly held meetings with his father and Charles to discuss the monthly accounts. He often had rows with his father who was still too lenient with his tenants, their rent was essential for the upkeep of the farm and he knew Charles constantly had to tell the tenants to keep up good husbandry and to check the boundary fences and walls.
    The following winter seemed very cold and long with high winds that rocked the trees, snow and hail soon followed making the ground soggy, followed by the hard frosts. The tenants complained the soil was sour and the crops would not be good and lambing would be poor. John, once a factory owner knew nothing of farming and feeling sorry for his tenants and unbeknown to his son, halved their rent. Mr Howard could see what was happening and heard rumours in the village, and sitting in the kitchen with Mrs Shaw he often voiced his concerns. Mrs Shaw felt the same but what could they do, it was obvious that John Gardener was not an astute business man, but a man with a sympathetic heart, which his tenants took advantage off.
     
    Emily came in from the garden and kicked of her boots in the rear porch. She could hear Richard shouting and a door slam and Richard came rushing towards her.
    “What on earth is the matter, Richard?”
    He grabbed his coat. “Ask your husband. If he thinks he can run the farm better than me and Charles then let him get on with it. I’ve had it up to here; all he does is keep on undermining us. We tell the tenants one thing and he contradicts us. If he carries on like this we will have no