Chapter 9
An idea began to form in Luke’s mind.The more he thought it impractical,even foolhardy,given the snow,the more he wanted to do it.He would give the man his jacket back.Luke felt embarrassed that he hadn’t thought about posting it back to Andy before.
Days earlier,in one of the coat’s pockets,he’d found a receipt for a consignment of pork for a butcher’s shop.Digging in the pocket,Luke pulled the receipt out and smoothed it on the table.
“Bentley’s Butchers”then in smaller type it gave the address.Luke wasn’t sure quite where Outwood was.West Yorkshire was over the Pennines,he knew,and a journey like that shouldn’t be attempted in the snow.And there was no guarantee Andy lived anywhere near Outwood anyway.Realising he could phone the butcher’s and perhaps they’d tell him where Andy lived,Luke dialled the number before he could change his mind.
The butcher refused to give out Andy’s address.The man did mention Andy’s surname,Johnson,which he wrote down before hanging up.Feeling a bit like a detective,a role he’d played in one of his films the previous year,Luke exited the caféand walked out of the railway station in search of a cyber café.
The snow was still falling and the pavements were becoming slippery.Luke soon found a cyber café;the north of England wasn’t quite as backward as Roger had once said it was.
He sat down in front of a computer terminal and,ignoring the cup of disgusting tasting coffee he didn’t want but had felt obliged to buy,logged on.
It soon became apparent Andy didn’t have his own website,Facebook or MySpace page.Naturally there were a number of Andy Johnsons listed,but none fitted his Andy.
Your Andy?The voice in his head questioned.Luke ignored it.He then remembered something Andyhad told him.He’d recently had his pigs classified as organic.
A Google search led him to a directory of organic-pig rearers.Clicking on a link brought up a list of pig keepers by region.Luke focussed in on West Yorkshire.Lo and behold,there was Andy’s name,and,more importantly,his address.Luke let out a whoop of triumph.A few peoplelooked round at him,one bearded old guy in his fifties staring just that bit too long,making Luke shiver uncomfortably.The knowledge he had probably been recognised as Luke Wales dulled his elation just a little.
Luke switched his attention to a route planning website and quickly printed off directions to Andy’s village.
“Don’t I know you?”The old guy had approached.He was thick-set and quite attractive in a daddy kind of way.
Normally Luke would have stayed to talk,it usually paid to keep the fans happy,but he was on a mission.“Uh,I don’t think so.Where do you think we’ve met before?”
The man seemed flustered,obviously not wanting to admit in public he watched gay porn.
Luke snatched up the directions he’d sent to the printer and dodged past the guy and made for the exit.
His need to get moving allowed him to ignore the voice of reason that was becoming ever more insistent.On his walk back to the railway station,Luke realised he would have to hire a car.Getting to Andy’s by rail would be impossible;he imagined the closest mainline railway station would be quite a distance from such a small village.So a hire car was the only option.Thank God he’d brought his driver’s license with him.
The bored woman at the Avis counter performed her duties mechanically and at a snail’s pace.Luke managed to tamp down on his impatience.Eventually he was given the keys to a Ford Fiesta,and armed with his directions,he was off.
****
Several times on the journey,Luke wondered why he was doing this.He didn’t have an answer.Twice he almost headed back to Manchester.However,once he’d passed the half-way point,it seemed more logical to carry on rather than turn back.
The snow continued to fall.Luke began to think about what he would do once he’d given Andy thejacket.Where would he stay?Could he get a train back to London?Then his mobile rang.Knowing it was illegal to drive while holding a phone,Luke thought about not answering.The thing stopped ringing,then a few seconds later,started up again.Luke pulled over and took the phone out of his pocket and looked at the display.It was Sam and Donnie’s number.
“Luke?You all right?”Donnie asked before Luke could say anything.
“Yeah,but something’s come up,I’m uh—”How could he logically explain what he was up to?
“Are you staying up there?The television news says there’s a lot of snow falling in the north.I wondered if the trains were still running?”
“Yeah,they are,but—”
“So you’re on your way back,then?”
There was no other option.Luke couldn’t lie to his best friend.“You know that army jacket and how I got it?Well…”After he’d told his tale,there was silence on the other end.Luke was beginning to wonder if he’d been cut off.“You still there?”
“This has to count as one of your less bright ideas.”At least Donnie didn’t condemn him for being stupid,fool-hardy or whatever.
“Yeah,I know.But he,Andy I mean,he seemed like a nice bloke,and I was in the area,sort of,and—”
“But if you give him back his jacket,what are you going to wear?”
Luke hadn’t thought about that.
“Just be careful,that’s all I ask.”
Luke swallowed the lump in his throat.Donnie understood,or at least pretended to.“I will.I’ll give you a ring when I’m there and—”
“Drive safely.”
“I will.And Donnie?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too,you stupid,irresponsible fool.”
Luke laughed,before flipping his phone closed.
****
The directions were excellent:Luke only made three wrong turns.He put those down to the unfamiliar,snow-blanketed environment,the fact dusk was approaching and that there weren’tmany street lights around.Finally,through the gloom,he saw a little sign atop a gatepost that announced“Johnson’s Piggeries”.Luke’s nervousness increased.Whatever had motivated him to meet Andy seemed to have fled.He could hardly go up to the door,knock on it and say“I was just passing,so I thought I’d return your jacket?”The farm was in the middleof nowhere;one wouldn’t ever be just passing.But it was too late to turn back now.
Driving up the rutted road that passed for a drive,Luke parked and got out of the car.He felt the icy wind immediately chilling him to the bone.The snow sank over the tops of his hand-made Italian shoes as he crunched up to the house,a welcome glow of yellow light coming through the leaded windows on either side of the door.
Standing on the doorstep,his teeth chattering with cold,Luke asked himself again why he was there.Unable to come up with a reasonable explanation,he picked up the head of the heavy iron door-knocker and brought it down.He rubbed at his arms and hugged himself as he waited to be admitted.
Luke wasn’t sure what kind of welcome he would get,though he probably couldn’t have guessed it would be the one he received.The door was opened by a thin,tall teenager,dressed in faded jeans and a black Metallica T-shirt,and chewing on a sandwich.
“I was—”Luke began.
“Oh,fookin’‘ell!”the teenager said,dropping his sandwich.The two pieces of bread came apart on the door mat,revealing a ham and tomato filling.
“Sorry,I—”Luke bent to pick up the discarded sandwich as the boy stared open-mouthed at him.
Handing back the youth’s food,Luke was about to say something when the boy said,“Do you know who you are?”The youth,realising what he’d said,clapped a hand over his mouth.His eyes were wide,seemingly not able to believe what he saw.
Luke was uncomfortable.The young teen,who couldn’t be any older than sixteen,obviously recognised him.“Um,can I come in?It’s sorta cold out here.”
“Oh,uh,yeah.”The boy stood aside,allowing Luke to enter.
“I came to see Andy.Is he in?”
The boy was back to staring silently.Luke wondered if he’d grown a second head or something.
“Andrew Johnson.Is he here?”
“You know my uncle Andy?”
“Well,sort of.Uh,is he in?”
“Oh,sorry,Mr Wales.Yes,Uncle Andy’s here,he’s seeing to his pigs.Uh,I’ll,uh,just go get him.”
Without offering to take his/Andy’s jacket or show him to a seat,the boy fled,leaving Luke standing in the hallway.
No,Luke thought,I certainly didn’t expect this kind of welcome.