The Farmhand - 1. Chapter 1

I woke up at 5am as usual, and went through the everyday tasks to get ready for work, well not really work, I was a volunteer,was more accurate, The Young Farmers Union, was exactly as it sounded, young farmers of both sexes joined in a union of help and support for each other. I was one of the older volunteers to help them out when needed.

I had my own place, a small farm breeding goats, with the usual collection of various chickens and pets that came our way. My wife and her sister did most of it, the goats were pretty easy, and chickens almost look after themselves, our two beautiful blonde haired daughters, helped too, more mischief then assistance, but at the ages of eight and six, what more could we ask of them.

I sat at the PC with a steaming hot mug of tea and signed in to my email. I quickly opened one marked “urgent”, a young lad, with his own place had become violently ill and urgently needed help. I jotted down the address, called in to head office to tell them I was on my way, then said goodbye to my wife.

It took a good forty minutes to get there, the winding roads of the Yorkshire Moors, couldn’t be done at break neck speeds, the last mile on the main road. I pulled onto a track, first passing a farm, but the wrong address and so carried on, the track winding round for what seemed like miles at this slow pace. Coming up to another place, but that was empty and boarded up, probably for years with the state of the weathered boards that covered the windows, the abandoned cars parked there made it look eerie and forgotten. I looked all around me,I couldn’t even see the main road now, and there was nothing, just nothing but moorland and sheep. I carried on the winding track once more, and then stopped to stare at the gate and military fencing of an air base. I swore to myself,what the fuck do I do now? I didn’t have to wait long before I saw Baz, another volunteer come to open the gate from the other side and then closed it up after me.

“Hey Luke, I’ve got to wait here for the doctor, just follow the track, he’s in a pretty bad way poor kid.” He gave me a sad smile and I carried on for another ten minutes or so before arriving at the impressive looking farm. The house itself looked Victorian with a few additions over the years, an array of outbuildings round the back.

“Hello? Is there anyone at home?” Then I saw him, a young giant of a lad sprawled across the couch. He was deathly white. By his eyes I guessed he was drifting in and out of consciousness. The knees of his jeans were dirty and torn apart, his knees a bloody mess of ground in dirt and blood. I rushed to his side, and got down on my knees to stroke his head,

“Hey how you doing? Its Mark isn’t it? Can you speak?” He looked at me and I felt my heart stop, his grey green eyes seemed to bore right through me. So haunted, so scared. But of what?

I couldn’t touch him. I didn’t know if anything was broken, so I just stroked his forehead and told him everything would be ok.

“My back,” he croaked. “I went down on my knees in the pig sty, and crawled here. My animals, I can’t leave my animals.” His eyes rolled again and closed.

“It’s ok Mark. I’m Luke, and Baz is the other bloke. We will do that for you. We will stay for as long as it takes.” I searched his face to try and fathom if he even heard me, never mind took it in. “I need to look through your stuff Mark, to see what you do here and how best to help. I’m sorry I hate this part of the job, but it’s necessary.” He nodded and limply waved a hand towards a large over stuffed desk. I winced as he cried out in pain, his body arching high. Where the fuck was that doctor?

His doctor arrived ten minutes later. He was in his seventies easily. But out here there wasn’t a choice of doctors;you got what you were given. He was a tall well-built man, with long white hair round the sides, and a shiny bald dome at the top. He put down his large leather bag and got on one knee, to check Mark’s eyes, then his pulse.

“Now then young man. What happened here, hmmm?” Hey looked back at me, then again to Mark. As he was checking over Mark, he winced as his back was touched.

“Don’t touch my body please I can’t … aghhhhhh, I can’t stand it.”

The doctor shook his head. “Now don’t be silly young man. I need to find out what’s wrong with you. Don’t you forget I delivered you?”

Mark struggled to sit up and growled, “I said don’t touch my body…. Arms, legs, head, fine. But not my body! I went down on my knees…. From pain in my back…. It isn’t broken, nothing is.” He winced and growled as another pain stabbed into his back. “Luke? …. Whatever your name is ….? Help me off with my shirt, but try not to touch my skin.” He winced again.

I helped him to pull the black T-shirt up over his head. I saw his white skinned back, and the long white stripes that covered it, evidence of abuse he’d suffered. He knew exactly what I saw.

“It’s none of your business, just forget it…. aghhhhhh!” He collapsed back into the couch.

The doctor shook his head again. “Well if it was an infection you would have a fever, so without an examination I can only presume you have pulled some muscle or other. So all I can do is give you some pain relief and sort you out some physiotherapy.”

“Nobody touches my body! Nobody. Just give me something for the pain and get out!”

I tried to calm him a bit. “Mark the doctor is trying to help you, what good are you to your animals like this?” I asked softly.

The doctor shook his head again. “I understand young man. Living like this can’t be easy.I’ll be back in the morning. Just rest.”

I walked outside with the doctor. The old man turned to me, "He is totally stressed about something. But without examining him I can only guess. I’ll leave you to try and clean those knees up.” He looked back into the house, then back to me. “You should know his mother died some six months ago. She wouldn’t accept help either, but something wasn’t right there. In fact something was very wrong.” As he got back into his car he rolled down the window. “I can’t discuss any more with you. I wish I could. He needs all the help he can get.”

“Thanks doctor. We’ll do all we can for him, See you tomorrow.” I patted the roof and watched him drive back towards the gate and took a deep breath before I went back inside.

After I cleaned up his knees as best I could, I left them open to the air to help them scab over, and then helped him change into something clean and comfortable. He smiled for the first time. It lit up his face so differently. There was a good lad buried in all this anger and pain. I knew it from the moment he smiled.

I made him something light to eat and drink, and made him more comfortable before I sat at the desk to go through his vet books and diaries. They were immaculate. No mistakes. All the records were up to date and in order, and the money he had was impressive, even to me. He was a lot better a record keeper than I was, and his income far outweighed what he paid out. This kid was quite well off, and at eighteen he was doing pretty damn good. I was impressed. Although his desk seemed to be the epicentre of chaos the rest of the place was clean, a little dated and scuffed round the edges, but for a lad on his own he was doing ok.

I couldn’t get the image of those scars out of my head, and wished I could get the courage to ask further, but I decided against it. I decided to get to know him a little first, and see if he would open up then.

As night drew near Baz and I settled into the adjoining annex, a small bed-sit type flat joined onto the house. Mark had finally fallen to sleep with the help of the tablets, and Baz and I would take turns through the night in case he needed anything, me going first.

I settled down at Mark’s desk, I turned on the pc, and was instantly bombarded with Facebook messages. Some guy named Chris, really pissed off at being kept waiting. Seeing Mark was still sound asleep, I tried to reason with the guy, but to no avail. Mark hadn’t kept to his part of the deal, and had promised this, that and the other. This guy really was a prick, and so demanding I could have happily blocked him. It wasn’t my business though. How much was this guy pressuring Mark? I looked him up on facebook to discover there was virtually nothing on him apart from “add as friend.” Was Mark his friend? Did he know more?

Mark had made it automatic sign-in with his name and password already filled in, and feeling the biggest kind of fraud, as I signed in as him to discover the only friends he had were scrabble buddies, and all of them women, from all over the world and all walks of life.

This guy was nowhere to be seen. Trying to piece it all together was hopeless without Mark, so I quickly signed out and went through the paperwork again.

The animals consisted, of twenty rare breed sheep, a male and female of each breed, with some young being bred to sell on to keep the breeds going. One of the breeds was on the endangered list, so this lad really knew his stuff. One Gloucester Old Spot sow, with seven piglets almost ready for the butchers. Twenty odd chickens, the numbers going up and down as he got them in from rescue centres, and the ones he used for food.

The pets were his love. Max, a black Labrador. A show cat. I’d never heard of the breed. A Norwegian forest cat named Captain Noah, and a pretty little moggy called Hollie who was the farm cat, and caught mice on a regular basis. Then I moved on to the feed orders, and bedding, all in meticulously kept books.

I looked back to the couch to see the lad still sleeping peacefully, so I moved round the house. I was never comfortable with this part of the job. This was someone’s life.

It was upstairs that felt so wrong. Two double bedrooms and one single, one double freshly painted with everything smelling new. Even the walls and floors were freshly covered. The atmosphere felt cold and unused. The next double, another empty room, a few boxes piled up at one side. But apart from that, nothing. Just an unlived in room. I moved on to the single, where it seemed the lad slept. A single bed, and a couple of cupboards, but no posters or toys. Nothing that made it personal to anyone. I walked round the small room which had a single window looking out over nothing but moorland. Something on the shelf caught my eye. It was a necklace, a small glass square, containing a character from a famous video game. I held it in my hand and chuckled. Assassins Creed, the only thing in this room that said ‘Mark’.

I walked out of that room, to look along the landing where there were several small closets. One was the airing cupboard that held the hot water tank; others were full of bedding and towels. The last was the strangest of all, with a small wooden door, painted white, covered from top to bottom in sliding bolts; three with padlocks. One of these would have been enough to hold it. I frowned and shrugged. Maybe the lad would tell me. The last door opened into a modern wet room. It had the usual toilet and bath with shower over. It was clean and smelt fresh, but where were the toiletries? No shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, or brush. Not even a bar of soap. Nothing to shave with and no mirror either. So many questions were flying through my head when I heard a groan.

And went downstairs, but he was still sleeping. His head rolled from side to side as he groaned in his sleep. I couldn’t make out what he was saying; his screwed up face mumbling half formed words. I smiled at Max, covering Marks legs from ankle to thigh, while Noah lay in a curl on his left shoulder. This was a strange family, but a family unit, nevertheless. These animals loved Mark, and he loved them back.

I sighed and checked everything, then settled myself on the other couch in the living room and switched on the large flat screen TV. The games and DVD collections were to be admired. Several were odd films, but most were box sets. This kid really collected stuff with a passion. I was equally impressed when I turned my attention to the TV. The channels were global, and he didn’t have Sky. I looked back at the pc again and frowned, there was no landline here for the telephone so how could he have internet and global TV? I didn’t even have that myself. I shook my head again. Too many questions, but would I get them all answered? Who knew?

Between us, Baz and I did four hourly shifts, which meant I was there when Mark woke. His terrified cry tore through me and I instantly jumped to attention in the adjoining room. I rushed in, not caring that I only wore boxer shorts. Mark was half way up the back of the couch, shaking, his white faced, terror filled eyes. “I’m up… I’m up!” he cried, over and over.

“Mark! What the hell ... Mark? Hey, hey, it’s ok, calm down … shhhh.”

Those tortured eyes glared at me again. “It’s nothing. Just a stupid dream. I’m fine. Max get your cup.”

I watched in amazement as Max dashed into the kitchen, jumped up to a kitchen cabinet, tip over a plastic cup, then picked it up, to carry it over to a large plastic covered bin. He sat wagging his tail, holding the cup obediently. Mark walked over to take it from him, filled it twice full of dog kibble, then dropped it in the dog dish and refreshed the dog’s water. Then cat food was brought out and put into dishes. This was routine. This happened every morning. The kettle was then slid onto the stove.

He stretched. I didn’t know his height, but he was one very tall lad. I couldn’t control my gaze as I took in the huge erection that stretched out his boxers. He looked at me with a smirk. “If you don’t get up hard in the mornings, you’re not human,” he chuckled, as he walked to the window to relieve himself. Then he walked to the sink, to scrub his hands.

I stood and watched as he pulled on socks and jeans, smirking at me again, as he adjusted himself and fastened himself up. Lastly a t-shirt and a run of his fingers through his hair.

“Ok, coffee please Luke, no milk, two sugars,” he said, beginning to brush his teeth at the sink.

“I don’t wanna sound thick lad but there’s a bathroom upstairs?” He looked slowly round at me, the toothbrush held in his teeth. He threw it in the sink and rinsed.

“Very observant of you Luke, but did you also notice there isn’t even a towel up there? I don’t use the upstairs; I don’t need to. “He washed his face and dried it.

“I usually have a coffee and get the chores done. Breakfast is hit and miss. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. You can please yourself, and your buddy.” He rubbed his back as he went to step into wellington boots.

“Oi, you can take them off, you’re not going anywhere.” I stopped him as he went to speak by holding my hand up. “Your knees are fucked lad, and that pain is held back by strong pain killers. You’re not fit to do the job.” That made him angry, but I stood my ground. “Yeah, yeah. Glare at me like that. You’re still not going out to work, so get on the couch, or sit at your pc and rest.”

Luckily he listened, and sat down at the pc and I placed his coffee beside him. “The more you rest, the quicker you get rid of us. Think about it.”

He stabbed his fingers on the keys noisily, with only a growl for response.

“The doctor will be here soon. I’ve got to go open the gate.” He didn’t even look up.

“Mark! For fuck sake, I know this is your space. I know you feel threatened, but we are here to help you, honestly.” Without looking round he spoke, coldly, emotionless, staring at the blank screen,

“Do what you have to do and leave me alone as much as possible.” He handed me a few sheets of paper. “This says all you need to do; who has what, and times I do things. Same every single day,” I flicked through them as he continued, “I make a loaf of bread every day, from scratch. But seeing as there are two of you it won’t be enough, so maybe one of you will go out for provisions.” He rifled through some papers and threw a roll of money at me. “Get whatever you need.”

He stood and walked across the kitchen to pull open a latched door. “Fully stocked pantry, there’s a cold room outside, greenhouses and veg patch. What I can’t grow is in there.” He kicked the door closed again, then yelled, as the pain hit his back again. He made a grab for the cupboard to keep him-self upright.

“That’s it Mark! Back to the chair.” I helped him limp back. “We will find what we need Mark. You really must leave it to us, and trust we know what we are doing.”

A shout from outside as Baz approached. “Didn’t anybody here the gate bell go? The doctor’s here.” Mark looked through the window and jumped up.

“I said no fucking physio! Luke get out!”

“What do you mean get out? Mark! For fuck sake, see reason!” I pushed against him as he pushed me outside and locked the door. I was no match for him. I could see him through the small pane of glass in the door, his hands pressed on the door holding it shut, even though it was adequately locked.

“Get rid of them Luke, or get rid of her. She ain’t touching me. I won’t let a bloke. I’m not letting a fucking girl. Get fucking rid!

“Ok, ok. Calm down. Please Mark calm down. You’re scaring me.” I looked through the glass pane to see him march over to the fireplace and lift his shotgun from the shelf it lay on. I fisted the door. “Don’t be a damn fool lad. Ok, ok. I’ll get rid. Just put that away.”

He was panicked. A blind, terrified panic, which scared the hell out of me. Baz ran over to see what all the fuss was. I told him to watch Mark as I ran to the doctor to explain.

I explained to the doctor, and he told the girl to get back in the car, and then opened up his bag “Give him two of these straight away, then two as and when he needs them. They are morphine based, the strongest I can give him. I’ll be back out in the morning… alone.”

“Thanks doc. I will.” I took the tablets and pushed them into my pocket. He gave me a sad look and patted my arm.

“He has a very sad story to tell. Listen if he confides in you. Don’t blame him for anything he’s done today.” I nodded and called Baz over to ride with them back to the gate, then walked round to the window besides Mark’s desk, and climbed in.

“They have gone now lad. You can calm down. He’s given me some pills for you, and he’ll be back alone tomorrow.” Mark heaved a heavy sigh, and put the gun back in its place. Then walked to his chair and almost collapsed into it.

This carried on for the next five days, and Mark grew weaker and weaker. He couldn’t eat or sleep. The pain that wracked his back worsened. He was vomiting he was sweating, but would only allow us so close. He refused any help for his own bodily needs until the fifth day when he would collapse every few steps. Again and again he dragged himself back to his feet, until; finally, he fell and didn’t get back up…