Christie Barlow - Love Heart Lane

Felicity looked nervously in his direction, and finally Fergus met her gaze. For a split second he narrowed his eyes and remained silent.

She swallowed. ‘Hi Fergus.’ As much as Felicity didn’t want her voice to sound shaky, she faltered.

Fergus just stared at her, then gritted his teeth. There was no welcoming smile, more of a ‘ What are you doing here’ grimace.

Felicity felt her cheeks colour fast and that was down to the look on Fergus’s face, not the cold white flakes stinging her face.

‘Well, you crop up in the most unexpected places,’ he said gruffly.

Felicity flinched at his words. She’d dreaded this moment and didn’t know what to say as she swallowed a lump in her throat. The snowflakes continued to pelt against her frozen cheeks, clinging to her eyelashes forcing her eyes into a squint.

‘And don’t look at me like that; what did you expect, that you’d be welcomed back with open arms?’

The tension between them could be cut with a knife.

Felicity felt wretched. She’d not prepared for this meeting and had thought she’d at least have a couple of days to catch up with Allie and Isla first and gauge how the land lay.

‘It doesn’t have to be like this,’ said Felicity, knowing it wasn’t going to be easy.

‘So, you’re finally back then? How long has it been?’ His dark brows sloped downwards in a serious expression and the playful smile she once knew had drawn into a hard line across his face.

Feeling a tug at her heart, Felicity felt shameful. Fergus was a decent man and she knew she hadn’t been fair to him. He’d needed her, but she hadn’t been able to cope. Call it self-preservation but the only person she could concentrate on at the time was herself. She’d been young, but she’d treated him badly, and he had every right to speak to her this way even though it saddened her that it had come to this.

‘Eight years,’ she said regretfully.

Fergus’s hazel eyes didn’t look any different from all those years ago, and she could still sense a sadness in them. He stood and raked the snow from his swooping fringe that revealed the kind face Felicity had once loved to kiss. He was handsome all right, but his character was also beautiful on the inside. He was slim yet muscular and his face almost symmetrical with his sharp jawline and chiselled cheekbones. She felt a pang in her heart and wished she could turn back time.

To Felicity’s relief, the icy silence was interrupted by the drone of the tractor making its way back through the snow towards them.

Once at the river bank, Drew jumped out, leaving the engine running. In his hands he grasped a rope.

‘I’m not sure how we’re going to do this?’ Drew shouted down the bank, the blizzard now coming down thick and fast.

Fergus looked between him and the Shetland. ‘I’m not sure how close I can get.’

The river ran along the bottom of Foxglove Farm’s boundary. Felicity remembered many hot summers swinging on the rope swing with Isla and Allie, all of them without a care in the world. The banks had been alive with nestling ducks taking advantage of the tall reeds providing shade but today everywhere was stripped bare. The river had an eerie feeling about it, and was wider than she ever remembered, flowing swift and strong.

Drew threw the rope down the bank towards Fergus who gradually began making his way into the water. The Shetland pony was now wedged against an old oak tree that must have fallen into the water after a storm.

Felicity shivered at the very thought of the icy coldness of the water against Fergus’s skin.

‘I’m going to tie this end to the tractor mate, keep hold of the rope and we’ll pull you out.’

Fergus nodded, taking in the instructions as he stumbled into the fast-flowing freezing water, which was now attempting to knock him off his feet. Suddenly he lost his footing, the water gushing over his head. Without thinking, Felicity let out a scream. She watched on in horror, her heart banging against her chest willing Fergus to reappear, her brain now in full panic.

‘There he is,’ she exhaled with relief, pointing to where Fergus reappeared above the water line. The river was bashing against his body, as his head went underneath the water for a second time.

Drew cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted with all his might. ‘FERGUS!’ He turned to Felicity. ‘I’ll have to go in after him.’

‘Wait … look!’ She pointed.

Fergus’ limbs moved slowly through the water as he managed to claw himself back up and grasp on to the fallen tree strewn across the water. Felicity gasped in relief to see he’d managed to get himself upright. The river was flowing around his thighs, swirling around his stomach and splashing into his face as he waded towards the Shetland which was now within grabbing distance.

‘The water is too fast … I can’t … I can’t…’ His voice petered out as he slipped again under the fast-flowing water.

Felicity’s heart was in her mouth. ‘Please let him be okay,’ she whispered to herself as she saw Fergus fight to get to his feet once more, his exhausted but strong arms powering through the water.

They both watched in anticipation as Fergus looped the end of the rope and tied it securely.

‘Throw it,’ instructed Drew.

Fergus flicked a quick glance over towards Drew before taking a deep breath. He focused his gaze and threw the rope successfully over the little pony’s head.

‘Yes!’ Drew shouted, triumphantly punching the air. ‘Keep hold of the rope,’ he shouted down the bank before turning towards Felicity. ‘Can you remember how to drive the tractor?’

Felicity thought for a second. There had been many summers she’d helped out at the farm. ‘Yes, I think I do.’

‘You jump in and drive it slowly, and I mean slowly. I’m going down to the water,’ Drew continued, beginning to clamber down the bank.

The snow wasn’t slowing down, and thick flakes pelted against their cheeks, clinging to their eyelashes and hair. Even though Felicity was frozen to her core it was nothing compared to what Fergus must be suffering right that very second in the freezing cold river.

Climbing into the tractor, she was relieved to have shelter from the flakes. She started driving the tractor slowly.

She could hear Drew yelling behind her and opened the door quickly to make sure everything was okay. He was back on the top of the bank and gave her the thumbs up. She continued to drive forward. She’d no clue what was going on behind her but then suddenly Drew was at the side of the vehicle banging on the window. Immediately, Felicity came to a stop and turned off the engine.

‘They’re out.’ The look of relief on Drew’s face said it all. ‘But we need to get Fergus back to the farmhouse ASAP. I’m going to take the pony over to the stable block, but I need you to drive him back. He needs to get out of those wet clothes and get warmed up. His body temperature has dropped considerably.’

Just as Drew was talking, the passenger door opened, and an exhausted Fergus wearily climbed into the tractor and slumped into the seat. He was soaked to the bone, his head bent low, his lips blue and he couldn’t stop shivering.

Felicity’s heart began to race as she took him in. She knew this didn’t look good.

‘Felicity,’ Drew said in a stern tone. ‘He needs to get out of those clothes, wrap him in blankets and put him in front of the fire. He needs a warm drink and make sure he can swallow properly. Any concerns, ring the emergency services.’

Felicity nodded, taking in every instruction even though she knew in this weather there was no ambulance getting over the bridge and up the track into Heartcross today.

Her gaze slid to Fergus again. No matter the distance and time that was between them, Felicity’s attraction towards him had never wavered. His eyes, his skin and his toned muscles still made her pulse race and as much as they had their differences, Felicity didn’t like seeing him like this. She felt worried and knew there was every possibility his condition could worsen. They didn’t speak as Felicity ploughed the tractor through the snow and pulled up outside the farmhouse.