Time passed and as Timmy became a familiar face that Edith and Elgar almost regarded as their son, he adapted to play the role so convincingly that his own parents would have hardly recognized him, certainly not by his speech which had become as broad as Elgars. Not a trace of the well educated, literate young Hilton heir remained to make him recognisable and hard work in all weathers had turned him into a tough, tanned and well muscled youngster.
Most of his time was spent herding the sheep and in doing so he gradually roamed further afield in the search for grazing and up into the moorlands at the foot of which the homestead stood. Elgar and Edith had chosen this remote site because of its isolation which, they had believed would keep them safe from the thieves and said to infest these isolated lands.
This odd belief wasn't grounded in experience but from the local superstition that the North was an inhospitable place forbidden to visitors, so as Elgar had explained to Timmy "we thought it the safest place to be 'cos no one would come near us."
"Like who?" Timmy had enquired
"Well you know, theres strange goings on up that way at night and when the moon has fully waned there are magical lights like curtains that dance and waver right up on the heights, so don't you go there young 'un. I mean not unless you has to chase down a missing lamb and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't."
Edith reinforced this superstition with many a tale of how the innocent had disappeared probably lured by them fairies and their fancy dances! The information gathered had occurred when the couple took their stock to market to trade for what they required and it took some canny bargaining at that.
The market was held three times a year and the village at which it was held lay some two days distant. So in the past Edith and Elgar had taken turns to go there, not being able to leave their animals untended.
"Now we've got young Timmy to help us we can go together my dear" said Edith "He can stay behind and keep house till we return and then come the Summer fair perhaps he can go in our stead?" She had long nursed the suspicion that she could be better at trading but the goods she wanted like bolts of linen and knitting wools always seemed to be overlooked by Elgar. With him to watch over her and help carry things they might do a lot better than Elgar at the pub!
The markets, or fairs, were held in Winter, Spring and Summer and Timmy had missed the Winter one by a week, for it was held in what most Bryths would regard as Autumn but up here on the border Winter was already drawing nigh.
Even the cattle couldn't keep the winter chill at bay come nightfall, so Elgar and Edith had made him a cot by the fireside as they became used to his presence and his mannerly behaviour towards them. Besides it wasn't right that he should keep his distance especially since when he was needed it meant them having to go out to the cattle byre to fetch him which was most unwelcome at nightfall. Neither would admit to being afraid of the dark but both often made references to "ghoulies and ghosties and long legged beasties".
That simple rhyme intrigued Timmy because it explained their broad dialect. His father often said he preferred to find sailors from the West Country and it was from such men that Timmy had first heard the saying, so one evening when Elgar muttered those lines Timmy said "Don't forget the things that go bump in the night!" You could have heard a pin drop during the few seconds that followed that remark.
"Now where would a boy like you have heard them words afore?" asked Elgar. Timmy realized he'd just opened his mouth unwisely for he couldn't supply an explanation without giving his origins away. "Just some pedlar I heard along the way. I liked the way the words rhyme and remembered them." explained Timmy but he thought it sounded unconvincing even to his ears.
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