The Sweethearts Collection. Pam Jenoff
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van and you can catch up with your kumpania. They’ll no doubt have a fire going and be brewing up some concoction in their cauldron,’ he laughed, holding out his hand to take the bridle from her before helping them up. Then, with Ears trotting behind, they continued their journey.
The rain was falling in big fat drops now, the leaden sky merging with the moors. Thankful to be under cover, Colenso sat back on the seat. Big Al and Mara had their heads close together and were muttering but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. All she could think of was that malicious grin on Marco’s face. The man was mad.
✳
‘Tinks and I are going to see if we can get some offcuts of leather from the tannery before we leave,’ Mara told Colenso. Despite their eventful afternoon the previous day, they were up early and were enjoying their first cuppa of the day. ‘I noticed old Ears’s rein is getting worn when I was leading him yesterday.’
‘It didn’t take Titan and Tory long to recover your van, did it?’ Colenso asked, amazed at the speed with which it had turned up. By the time they’d arrived here, the rain had stopped and the kumpania were cooking chitties over the yag. Colenso still marvelled at the way everyone pulled together, for by the time they’d finished supper, the men had not only recovered the van but set it up alongside the others.
‘Told you Big Al had things organized, didn’t I?’ Mara told her, winding the red scarf around her curls.
‘Jago doesn’t see things that way, does he?’ Colenso asked.
‘No, but then he doesn’t like paying out for anything he deems unnecessary,’ the woman replied. ‘Talk of the devil,’ she added as there was a brisk rapping and the door opened. ‘Let yourself in, why don’t you.’
‘Morning to you an’ all, Mara,’ he grinned. ‘Hear you girls had a spot of bother on the road yesterday.’
‘That Marco had better not show his face, that’s all I’m saying,’ Mara growled.
‘Blimey, that look would scare me,’ he replied, pretending to cower. ‘I’m going to see what delights Karla’s making and I thought you might like to come with me,’ he said to Colenso.
‘I’d love to,’ she cried, excited at the prospect of meeting his sister and seeing how the confections were created. ‘If that’s all right with you, Mara?’
‘See you at the fairground in Truro then. Don’t forget to call in at the post office on your way through, cos you never know,’ she winked.
‘What might you never know?’ Jago asked as they rode through the little town waymarked Probus.
‘If there’s a letter waiting for me,’ she admitted, excitement bubbling in spite of her worries that there might not be. ‘And if there is, I shall need to purchase a card and stamp,’ she added, staring at him expectantly.
‘My, it’s busy today,’ he murmured. Colenso stared at the empty lane ahead and sighed. Getting money out of the man obviously wasn’t going to be easy. She’d have to devise a strategy, she decided, sitting back and looking around.
The air was fresh after the rain and she breathed in deeply. They were crossing a river now and as two swans glided down, her thoughts turned to Kitto. Would he have found some way to reply to the card she’d sent?
Before long they drew up outside a little cottage on the edge of Truro. Although it was small and quite run-down, it was on a corner plot and when she followed Jago round to the back she saw that an outhouse of some sort had been added.
‘Hello sister, dear,’ he called brightly, pushing open the door and beckoning Colenso to follow him into the steam-filled room. A woman in her thirties, dark hair piled messily on top of her head, white apron covering her dress, looked up from the big pan she was stirring. ‘I’ve brought Colenso here to meet you.’
‘Yer’ve brought a girl home, Jago? Well I never,’ she exclaimed, nearly dropping her spoon into the mixture. ‘’Tis good to meet yer, dear,’ she smiled warmly at Colenso. ‘I’d like to say any friend of my brother’s is a friend of mine, but sadly that’s not always true.’
‘This is Karla,’ Jago said, looking uncomfortable. ‘Learn what you can from her and I’ll be back later.’
As Jago scuttled back outside, Karla burst out laughing.
‘Forgive me, dear. Bit of sibling banter. Must have got to him cos he forgot to take those,’ she chuckled, gesturing to the jars of brightly coloured sweets that were lined up along the cupboards. ‘I’ll just put this pan in water to arrest the cooking then we can get to know each other.’ There was a hiss and spitting before she turned back to Colenso. ‘Sit yerself down and tell me how yer got caught up with my brother.’
‘Thank you,’ Colenso said, perching on a seat beside the huge, scrubbed table. ‘I work on the Panam, selling sweets with him.’
‘Oh, yer not walking out, then?’ she asked candidly.
‘No,’ Colenso spluttered, the very idea amusing her.
‘Thought it was too good to be true. Mother said he wasn’t normal, like. Does he pay yer?’ Dark eyes surveyed her curiously. Colenso shook her head.
‘He keeps promising but …’ she shrugged.
‘Same here,’ Karla told her. ‘’Tis time we taught that brother of mine a lesson. I’ll think on it while I’m finishing these,’ she added, carefully adding drops from a little brown bottle to the mixture and stirring. A pungent aroma filled the air as she lifted the pan and set it down on the scrubbed table. Snatching up a spoon, she began dribbling the orangecoloured syrup over the tips of sticks that were laid out on large trays.
‘Lollipops?’ Colenso asked, staring in fascination as the liquid pooled into perfect circles.
‘Yes, Jago says you can’t have a Panam without lollipops. Course, they takes longer to make and I have the devil’s own job getting him to pay me for my time, but yer not interested in that.’
‘Actually, I might well be,’ Colenso replied. ‘And I’d like to hear more about your brother, for I really don’t know him that well.’ She smiled at the woman, thinking she might have found an ally.
‘Perhaps you could start crushing that while we talk,’ the woman said, pointing to an enormous cone of sugar. ‘I’ve finished everything apart from the rock canes,’ she said.
‘I’d love to see how you make those,’ Colenso told her as she set about her task.
‘Yer can helps me shape them later, if yer like. But first, I needs to grease this then get on with my mixing. Timing’s everything when yer making confections. That and temperature,’ she said, setting down a huge tray that almost covered the length of the table. Colenso glanced around the room, taking in the range, the sink under the window and the row of cupboards, their tops lined with the jars of jewel-coloured sweets.
‘Did you make all those yourself?’ she asked, gesturing to the containers.
‘Mother helped. It’s how we makes our living, supplying the fairs. When we gets paid, of course,’ she sighed. ‘Oh good, yer’ve finished enough for me to get started,’ she said, scooping up the sugar Colenso had filed from the cone. As she tossed it into another huge pan on the stove, Colenso noticed the livid mark on her finger spread all the way down to her hand, and remembered how Jago told her she’d burned it.
‘You need more?’ Colenso asked, not wishing to be caught staring.
‘Yep, yer gets through an awful lot of the stuff when you makes confections,’ Karla laughed. ‘Cors different ones need different textures so yer has to be careful how yer controls the melting and recrystallization process. Needs to know which part of yer range is hottest and which is cooler.’