The stars of midnight shall be dear
To her; and she shall lean her ear
In many a secret place
Where rivulets dance their wayward round,
And beauty born of murmuring sound
Shall pass into her face.
Three Years She Grew in Sun and Shower, W. Wordsworth
The next morning Tamar awoke to a banging on her bedroom door.
“Tame, wake up!” Bang, bang, bang. “I’m hungry! And we need to head to the farm in an hour, I‘ve already walked the dogs.” Bang, bang; Charlie’s morning ritual. Who needed an alarm?
“Charlie you’re sixteen! Make your own breakfast.” She groaned and turned over again. He kicked the door in defeat and thumped downstairs, she smiled into her pillow before jumping out of bed and heading for the shower.
They were on the road to the farm half an hour later, Tamar eating breakfast as they walked. She knew the only reason he was so excited today was because he was going to do his first hive-check instead of just caring for the gardens. He’d been learning how to care for the bees and today was his first big test of how he would cope in the suit amongst the swarm.
The bee keeps were the pride of Honey End Farm. They had branched out to other areas of farming over the years but originally the historical farm indulged its locality with the luxury of endless fresh honey. Nowadays the honey wasn’t as lucrative a business because of larger companies selling their mass produced jars but the farm coped with what they sold and the fleece and meat production made up for what the honey sales lacked. However, the bee keepers were still held in the highest respect on the farm. They had the most delicate job of luring the bees into a false sense of security in order to care for the hives as the honey was produced - only to later intrude and relieve the bees of all their hard work. The danger of the job was never forgotten but if you watched closely through the netted faces, it was always done with a smile.
The workforce at the farm was modern in attitude but old fashioned in ways. They didn’t ignore the changing world around them but it was hard not to lose yourself in the charm of this secluded community. They ate together each morning and night, worked hard on the land side by side, laughed as jokes spread among the fields and dried young tears when the favourite cow was sent for slaughter. The Errington family had owned the land for generations. Mr & Mrs Errington and their children, Reuben, Josh and Sarah-Kay were the current family members running the farm. Mr Errington’s younger brother lived alongside them with his two young girls and wife who was currently carrying their third. Other staff came from local villages, old and young alike, needing work and wanting a change. The rest came and went, backpackers looking for a ‘real’ taste of Britain in the fields. Everyone seemed to click into place on the farm, each finding their role and feeling the reward of a day’s hard work.
Sarah-Kay and Tamar had been friends ever since they were six. ‘The Gang’ had consisted of the two sets of siblings meeting in the forest tree house each summer morning to explore what new adventures the day would bring. Tamar loved the farm like her own family; she’d grown up with all of them. She and Charlie often stayed over for a few days and always stayed for dinner after work. Coming to work on the farm had begun by playing together as children and as they grew they were allowed to help around the barns with the new-borns. By their teens they all started with weekend work and now she’d finished college, Tamar was full time with the Errington kids. Charlie was still only weekends but this summer break he’d been promised the lessons in bee keeping. Tamar was secretly glad of his company on the walk again, it was strange without her older brothers. His presence also produced one of the farms favourite amusements. For the longest time Charlie had nursed a soft spot for Sarah-Kay and everyone knew. Three years her junior, Sarah-Kay cringed at his clumsiness when his over helpful nature would surface around her, tugging at Tamar’s sleeve for a distraction. She was more capable at the work she did than many of the men, yet still as pretty a country bumpkin you could ever lay eyes on. Tamar had often felt plain next to her scruffy blonde hair and soft features with light green eyes that could make any head turn, but she’d grown out of that long ago. They were more like sisters than friends, neither having a sister of their own; they shared and bonded as they grew together. A look passed in silence could often mean more than anyone else could understand. They knew each other so well.
They were alike in most respects except for their ambitions. Sarah-Kay was resolved to life on the farm, it was her heritage and she adored it. But Tamar was unsatisfied. The world seemed like such an exotic place because she had seen so little of it. There appeared to be so much she could do and see that home didn’t offer, but she didn’t know how to get there.
Charlie waved frantically at her side and brought her back to the present. Up ahead Sarah-Kay was just coming out of the stables on her dark brown horse ready to go and do a morning check of the animals. She waved gracefully and trotted down to meet them.
“Morning guys! Big day today, huh, Charlie?” she teased.
“First time in the swarm! Will you come and watch?” He grinned. Sarah-Kay laughed and fiddled with the reigns.
“’course I will. Tamar and I will go check the cows and the new-borns and then come down to the hives.” she confirmed.
“For sure.” Tamar agreed, smiling to herself.
Tamar quickly saddled up and she and Sarah-Kay did the rounds, counting the cows and their young. All was well on the farm so they indulged in a race around the grounds. Many shouts and greetings reached their ears as they flew by, wind in their hair. Their arms flailed in exchange as they continued the gallop. Tamar caught sight of Reuben and Josh in the sheep field who tapped their wrists as they looked up at them and pointed towards the next field. She frowned in confusion before remembering.
“Charlie!” she shouted. Sarah-Kay let out a yelp-like noise as she tuned in. They sped up and headed for the hives with heads low from the wind.
They made it just in time to see Charlie stepping into his suit. Horses tethered to the fence, both girls made themselves comfy on the worn out wood. The other keeper going in with Charlie was Danny, Mr Errington’s younger brother. His two little girls ran along behind the fence to pat the giant horses and see Sarah-Kay and Tamar. They lifted the little ones onto their laps and everyone settled down to watch. Charlie looked up once he was ready to go in and waved. Four hands rose automatically and waved back, the young ones shouting their encouragements. After checking Charlie’s net and giving him a thumbs up Danny set off through the millions of flowers that grew in the Bumble Garden for the bees to collect their treasures, Charlie almost cantering in his wake. He kept glancing over to the onlookers to make sure he still held their attention, but as soon as he was next to the hives his posture altered into one of concentration and importance. Tamar imagined how the hum of the bees would increase in your ears as you entered the swarm. One of the most dangerous dares you could receive on the farm as a child was a run through the Bumble Garden by the hives - it was also the one that landed you in the most trouble when one of the workers spotted you. The young girls gasped as bees started to settle on this curious addition to their home but Charlie remained indifferent. He was slow in his movements and carefully applied his new knowledge when handling the roof, then crown board followed by the honey-super. And there it was the glistening liquid gold that made the hours of pruning flowers worthwhile. It was in this moment you could see that knowing smile of satisfaction even through the netted faces. With patient placing, Charlie reassembled the hive and with another of Danny’s thumbs up and jerk of the head they headed out of the swarm and back through the gardens. The girls whooped and clapped their congratulatory praise. The small sisters jumped down and ran to see their dad and Charlie. Sarah-Kay and Tamar were about to follow when a call came from behind.
“Escape!” Josh cried for help. The girls turned and saw him, Reuben and another of the workers running towards the corner field in the direction of Tamar’s house. Now and again the younger animals became rebellious and there was always one Houdini that continuously found escape routes from the field. This year’s new-borns had brought such a lamb. She had been terrible for getting out of the barn at night and crying by the house. Now released into the fields with the rest of the sheep she was even harder to keep an eye on - but clearly she’d just been spotted on the run again. Privy to the rescue call, both girls hopped the fence and ran toward the corner field like the rest. It was a well practised routine of grouping together to capture the runaway. They hopped the second fence and pursued with the others. The foliage in this field was waist high and unkempt. The grass swayed in the wake of the lambs’ flight. Tamar vaguely realised she’d never been in this field and she didn’t know why it was never used, but there was no time to consider it. She bolted towards the lamb with the intention of chasing it into the centre of their group ready for capture. It ran towards Reuben and then Sarah-Kay while Josh closed in on Tamar’s right. As it ran at her again she saw it coming through the grass. The lamb didn’t notice her so close and it darted away. As she went to capture it she froze. The lamb freaked out and ran right and a second later Josh bore down on it and the escape was foiled. Tamar however was still staring at the spot where the lamb had spun erratically. She was sure her eyes had deceived her because she had no explanation for what she had just witnessed. As the lamb had panicked upon finding its escape route blocked it had spun quickly to change direction, and in doing this, half of it vanished from sight. Tamar blinked to check she was awake. One side of the lamb simply disappeared. She could have sworn it bleated in shock as the abnormality took place. But all too soon she was jolted back to reality with the commotion of the capture. It was a trick of the light through the grass, surely. What else would it have been? Tamar quickly joined in the laughter and re-telling of events as they left the field to return to work.
Later in the day Tamar was brushing down the horses in the main barn as Reuben came bearing fresh hay. He gave her a nod in greeting as he struggled to nudge the horses out of the way with his elbows. Her curiosity about the corner field had increased since the almost escape and she thought it strange that she’d never bothered to ask about it.
“Hey Reu, what’s the deal with the corner field? Why don’t we use it?” she asked.
“Sarah-Kay’s never told you the stories?” he asked with an excited suspense only he could revel in. “You know, the Unknown-Keeper?”
“No? Should I have heard about it?”
He slashed through the bound on the hay and continued. “I just thought it was common knowledge. The field is officially ours in regard to the land we own but for as long as we can track back it’s been ‘rented’ of sorts. Each summer an anonymous sum comes in to keep the field in its current state for the next year. No reason, no details. Just to leave it as it is. And in reality, it’s less work for us and a profit so we don’t argue, but it’s always raised a little suspicion.” He paused and shrugged for effect, he always was the story-teller of the group. “Generations have left it the way nature intended it as instructed and theories behind why have trickled down. Some suspect buried treasures or crime scenes. Others simply think it’s a place of memorial to someone who can’t bear to let it become anything other than what they knew it to be, a family thing maybe; honour and tradition. Either way, bills get paid and no one is put out so it’s been left that way. No one has time to be investigating something that isn’t causing any trouble.”
“So nothing weird has ever happened to it?” she questioned further.
“Not that I know of, we don’t even go in there much; today was just a rare occasion where we needed to. It’s not off limits so to speak, it’s just another field.” He patted the nearest horse and headed for the door. “Catch you at dinner Tame.”
“Yeah, maybe.” she replied as he walked away.
Thank you for reading. Please vote and follow to stay up-to-date! More chapters coming soon!