House of Memories by Alice; Taylor

this proposition up to Danny. He might well think at first that it’s an unrealisable dream,” she cautioned.
    “And so it might well be,” Jack told her.
    “Now, Jack, you know and I know that if you put your back teeth into it you will make it work,” she told him.
    “Kate girleen, my back teeth are getting a bit worn down now for big projects,” he warned.
    “Yerra go on, Jack, you know that you love a challenge, and I’ll be right behind you on this one. Between the two of us we could turn water into wine.”
    “We might well need a miracle or two along the way,” he smiled, but he was secretly glad that Kate was showing such interest in the undertaking. He felt in his bones that he was right about Danny moving back into Furze Hill, but her encouragement made him feel more positive.
    “When are you going to meet up with Danny?” she asked.
    “I hadn’t thought that out yet,” he said slowly. “Do you think that I should go to him or wait until he comes to me?”
    “You know, it might be nice to offer,” Kate told him. “Isn’t it always nice when somebody holds out a helping hand instead of waiting for you to ask?”
    “You might be right,” he agreed. “He wouldn’t think that I was putting my nose into his business now, would he?”
    “Not at all,” Kate assured him. “Poor Danny has his back to the wall, and I’d say that any offer of help would be like manna in the desert.”
    “Right! I’ll walk over there some evening this week after the cows, and we’ll see how things go from there.”
    “Now that that’s settled, Jack, I’m going to make tea for the two of us. This farm planning is thirsty work,” Kate told him, going to the dresser and taking down two china cups and putting milk and sugar on to a tray. When he attempted to get up to make the tea she told him, “Stay where you are now, Jack, and I’ll tend you for a change.”
    As they sat by the fire in companionable silence, he saw that Kate was not her usual chirpy self. He had been so intent on Furze Hill that he had not noticed until now.
    “How are things with you, Kate?” he inquired.
    “Thought that you’d never ask,” she told him ruefully, “though I should not be bringing you my troubles when you are so taken up with Furze Hill.”
    “Kate girleen, there are no troubles in my life more important than yours,” he told her warmly.
    “You know something, Jack, I have always known that,” she said, putting her hand over his, “and it has turned you into my father confessor. When I have a problem, the first person that I think of sharing it with is you. Maybe not so good for you but great for me. But this problem is more David’s than mine, though of course when he’s upset so am I.”
    “So what’s causing this upset?” he asked gently.
    “Martha,” she told him grimly.
    “Martha?” he asked in a puzzled voice.
    “Well, maybe not on the surface, but without a doubt she‘s behind it,” Kate said, and she told him about the letter from Rodney Jackson.
    “So you think that Martha is up to her old tricks?” he asked. “And we thinking that all that was behind us.”
    “Could I be wronging her?” Kate asked doubtfully.
    “Hard to answer that now,” he told her. “Martha and I have worked side by side with years in Mossgrove, and just when I think that I have her measure, she throws a surprise punch out of the blue. Though since Matt Conway’s death I think that she has calmed down a lot. It was as if she buried some demons with him.”
    Later, when Kate had gone home, he went down into his little parlour and looked across the valley at Furze Hill. The high cliff over Yalla Hole was a pale bite at the bottom of the high field. The old house lay buried in the trees. Bringing it back to life was one half of his plan, and he was glad to have discussed it with Kate. But he had not told her the full story. The time was not right.

C HAPTER S IX
    D ANNY STOOD INSIDE his kitchen window and looked