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carts come round tomorrow morning,’ Bob replied harshly. ‘What do you have besides the lambs and piglets?’
    â€˜Must you take all the piglets?’ Mary asked. ‘They’ll only fetch half a crown apiece now. If we fatten them until autumn we’ll get at least five shillings.’
    â€˜It’s not me who makes the decisions. I have to answer to E&G Estates, and they’ve warned me that my job’s on the line. If I don’t get the arrears on all the farms I oversee down to a manageable level in the next six months, I’ll be out on my ear. The way you’re going, most of what you pay is swallowed up by interest and there was one quarter last year when you didn’t even cover that.’ Bob scribbled a note in his book. ‘That’s one hundred and forty lambs, thirty piglets. Chickens?’ He looked up enquiringly.
    â€˜I have twenty plucked, trussed and ready for the butcher, and fifty live.’
    â€˜Geese?’
    â€˜Ten for the butcher and twenty live goslings.’
    â€˜Cattle?’
    â€˜Fifteen bullocks and ten milk calves.’
    â€˜That the lot?’ He gazed at her over the edge of his book.
    â€˜It is.’
    Bob finished writing his list of figures and looked heavenwards as if he were seeking inspiration before totalling them. ‘Going by the prices at last week’s market that should fetch forty pounds or thereabouts. And seeing as how it’s you, I’ll take a chance on the market remaining stable and knock forty pounds off your rent right now.’
    â€˜That lot is worth at least double, and you know it,’ David remonstrated.
    â€˜Prices have halved since last year.’ Bob pushed his face close to David’s and breathed tobacco and ale fumes at him. ‘Haven’t you heard there’s a depression on, boy? We’re all having to tighten our belts.’
    â€˜Some more than others.’ David stood his ground and parried the agent’s glare.
    â€˜It’s not my fault that your father was a useless waster.’
    The boy went white. ‘You -’
    â€˜David, do you want to see us evicted?’ Mary hissed.
    Bob turned to her. ‘Forty pounds, and that’s my final offer. As it is I’m forgoing my agent’s commission. I try to help you and all I get is sauce from this one.’ He clipped David across the ear. The blow stung and David drew blood when he bit his lip but he remained immobile and defiant.
    â€˜Say sorry to Mr Pritchard, David.’ Mary slipped her arm around her brother’s shoulders.
    â€˜I’m damned if I will.’
    â€˜Swearing too?’ Bob mocked. ‘Well, David Ellis, you may soon find yourself learning manners along with your Bible in the workhouse. I hear they are expert at beating the arrogance out of heathens like you.’
    â€˜Say sorry to Mr Pritchard, David,’ Mary pleaded.
    â€˜Sorry,’ David muttered mutinously.
    â€˜Sorry, sir,’ Bob Pritchard corrected.
    â€˜Sorry, sir.’ David mimicked the agent’s voice and inflection perfectly, but his eyes gleamed with undisguised loathing.
    Bob made another note in his book and Mary pushed David, willing him to move out of the agent’s reach. She was terrified that Bob Pritchard would strike her brother a second time and David would fight back. But Bob snapped his book shut. He looked her up and down. ‘I trust you wash yourself occasionally as well as the pigsties, Mary?’
    Mortified, she muttered, ‘I do.’
    â€˜Forty pounds. Take it, or vacate the farm.’
    â€˜We’ll take it.’
    â€˜That will bring your arrears down to one hundred and ten pounds after this quarter’s interest is paid. You’d better start looking around for something else that you can sell to make inroads on the rest.’
    â€˜We’ve sold all we can. If you left us more livestock -’
    â€˜I’ve done all I can for you today.