Lark Rise to Candleford (2008) s01e09 Episode Script

Within our small community, rivalries ran deep.
What's going on here? If a few sparrows in a hedge was an under-keeper's business, - I might tell you.
- Hamlet folk by the estate I've a right to think you're poaching.
If I wanted to poach, I know where the game is and how to get them.
So why are you eating a few skinny sparrows? Oh, so I'll enjoy the plump birds all the more when I fancy one.
Well, maybe you'd like to try your hand.
- I might.
- Alfie, leave it be.
Spadging's good enough for poor folk.
I'll be waiting for you.
The row that those boys had that autumn day may have been about poaching, but the true rivalry was about what was in their hearts.
And the discovery in a graveyard of a mysterious parcel wrapped in an old newspaper was about to open up Miss Lane's own troubled heart.
Episode 9 The day finally came when Caroline arrived home from prison and she must have wondered what kind of welcome the hamlet and her family would give her.
Ma! Good to have you back.
I think you can do better than that, Son.
Come on, give your ma a kiss.
Come on, let's get your dinner on the stove.
Oh, all done I see.
That's just as well.
Look at you, all washed and cleaner than I've ever seen.
Wait, who's taken all the laughter out of this house? Where's that gone? And you! Ah, Miss Ellison.
The rectory baby box has been left here for you to collect.
- Do come through.
- Thank you, Miss Lane.
I am taking the box over to Lark Rise for Mrs Arless's confinement.
I thought that it did not go out until the baby arrives.
It occurred to me that Mrs Arless might appreciate something to cheer her up on her return home.
And something to concentrate her mind on, an' all.
Thank you, Zillah.
The Ellison family christening robes.
These go back four generations.
And still so beautiful.
Now this is quite heavy, would you like Thomas to give you a hand with it into the carriage? Oh.
Well that would be most appreciated.
Thomas? He must have taken out the second delivery already.
Oh, well Miss Margaret, would you care to join us here for tea on Thursday? I found it in the graveyard.
That was lying on a grave but hidden under some bushes, - like a secret.
- What is it? That's Adam and Eve.
There's a strangeness to it, makes my skin shiver.
I don't think we ought to have that thing in the house.
The tree of knowledge.
Well, if anything has a message, that does.
That's got me curious, look.
Wrapped in an old Candleford newspaper.
I shall take it to Miss Lane.
See if she can make sense of where it's come from.
She can have it.
Now, do we want these birds roasted or cooked in one of your best puddings, my dear? And you're coming to Candleford with me.
You can sell a few nuts and we'll call it a day out.
He walked right past me.
Inches away.
It took me all my strength not to laugh out loud.
That's better than a few sparrows, Alf.
- Ma'am.
- Thomas I have done it again meddling in other people's business.
I am such a terrible troublemaker.
You're too hard on yourself, ma'am.
You usually meddle for a good reason and most often with a favourable outcome.
I'm glad you think so, because it's your business I've been meddling in.
I have invited Miss Ellison to tea on Thursday.
Tea? Here? Miss Ellison and myself, at the table, - in front of other people? - Only your friends, Thomas.
Miss Lane, you have placed me in an intolerable position.
It's just I felt so sorry for her I could sense that she was so eager to see you.
Miss Lane, I find myself in such a state of ill temper, I feel I must remove myself before I say something unchristian.
Mr and Mrs Turrill.
There's something antique-looking about the human figures.
Naked looking, an' all.
It has the air of a holy relic.
Do you know, I think this is human hair stitched onto the heads of Adam and Eve.
I can't take my eyes off it.
I keep asking myself, "What is it? What does it mean?" And where did it come from? This newspaper is more than 40 years old.
Do you suppose it's been lying in the graveyard all this time? It can lie there for another 40 years.
I don't like it.
Do you remember the name on the grave where you found it, Mrs Turrill? Harold Wigmore, same name as my brother, you see? Harold, not Wigmore.
I read in the Gazette a few weeks ago about a man in Kidlington who found some wood carvings, a curiosity, and it fetched quite a sum at auction.
- £5, I seem to recall.
- That's ours.
We found it.
That's ours now.
Sir Timothy can tell us all about the legalities of that, I'm sure.
He'll be calling in on us shortly.
Caroline! Oh, it's good to see you.
- Oh, and you, Emma.
- Is there anything you need? Ah, two shillings under my pillow, My Walter in my bed, and a horse and carriage to lift the weight off my feet, if you can manage it.
- I'll see what I can do.
- Has everything been? I mean with Alf and the little 'uns? - You can be proud of Alf.
- You think I in't? Emma, I can truly tell you I've come out of that place with something I didn't go in with.
I am decided to be entirely different.
Caroline, perhaps it's not best to give yourself too tall a mountain to climb No, I have vowed it to myself.
I will not speak unless I can be civil and gracious.
Well, perhaps gracious will come later.
I will not cuss nor slander.
Ale shall not pass my lips.
Throwing up my skirts is a thing of the past.
I have seen where gallivanting gets me and I am cured of it.
No more borrowing.
No spending beyond my means.
Attitude is my problem, Emma, so I will greet life with humility and gratitude from now on.
Well, sounds like quite a challenge for even the best of souls.
You see if I don't.
I have always wanted to be like you, Emma, and now I shall be.
One egg from each nest now.
You know the rule.
He wants to make a whole string of them for his ma.
So he shall.
It'll take a while longer, that's all.
Why? It ain't so much what it does to the chaffinch when you take them all, as what it does to you.
One egg from each nest.
Every father laid down the same law.
But maybe something in my father's voice made Edmund want to defy him.
Legally, you must register it as found with Constable Paterson and he must check that it hasn't been reported lost or stolen.
And then an appropriate amount of time must be allocated to enable its owner to come forward and claim it.
- Sir, how long, sir? - Sometimes a year.
A year? Sometimes a good deal less than that, depending on the circumstances.
Well, sir, the circumstances obviously indicate that it was long abandoned.
It might have been the proceeds of some burglary, perhaps thrown away in haste in the graveyard by the villains - as they made their escape.
- What do you base such supposition on? Other than an over-excitable imagination, fired up by too many novels.
It is a rather intriguing piece.
Can we keep hold of it, your lordship while Constable Paterson does the necessary? I don't see why not, provided everything is done by the book.
When everything's done by the book, sir, will it be ours to do with as we wish? That is the law, yes.
I could send off a description of it to the auction house and obtain an initial valuation, if you would like that, Mrs Turrill.
You tell them that that's worth more than any wood carving.
That's H-Adam and H-Eve.
With human hair! I'm afraid I won't be able to join you riding tomorrow.
Oh, well, Friday then? Friday is not possible either.
And I think perhaps it might be best if you weren't to spend so much time in the post office.
- Yes, I understand.
- I don't think you do understand.
Well, I assumed it was, erm - No, I'm sorry.
It's - Stop apologising.
You are going to be a father.
You have every right to be happy and to show it.
I've said too much.
I always say too much.
I assumed it was because of Mr Delafield.
Well, yes, I suppose it is.
Now I think we have both said too much.
Either way, it is decided, we should keep our distance.
I found this in the lane this morning.
While you were at school.
It's the cruelty of it that's unnecessary.
I didn't do it.
Edmund, I'm asking you.
I'll find out.
I'll get it out of the other boys.
Did you destroy this nest? Leave the lad alone.
A chaffinch don't have no feelings.
It's not just about the bird.
It's about my son telling his pa the truth.
It was only a nest.
Is that what you see? Only a nest? Robert, you have the truth out of the child.
Let's not make too much of it.
If you lie to your pa, you'll lie to the world, and that ain't no way to live.
I've seen where lies get people and it's not a life you want, I promise you.
Robert, don't make such heavy weather of it.
Children will tell tales, it's just their nature.
And so they must learn by it.
Your pa's at his most handsome when he's righteous.
I wish he wasn't but he is.
£5! What do you suppose £5 will buy? Who could set a price on such a marvellous thing as this is? You're right.
It could be worth more.
Such a devious thing is bound to bring the best price.
We ought to have it checked over by some of those clever London experts.
We don't want to get robbed out of what's ours.
I'll just sit here and gaze at it a bit, till it speaks to me.
Look at this old place of ours.
Didn't I always say we could do better? Didn't I always say that? - No, you didn't! - Well, I thought it.
Queenie, my dear, I can picture us in a pretty little home.
Roasted bird for supper every night of the week.
Ham on Sundays.
But not here in Lark Rise, mind.
No.
On the 'skirts of Candleford, that's where we're destined.
This thing here is gonna change our lives.
Pa, what are you doing here? Watching my girl grow before my very eyes.
Can you stop, please? If you grow another inch, I'll lose you altogether.
Don't listen to me, Laura.
If you listened to your old pa, you'd still be stuck in that little hamlet of ours.
We all have to swallow a speck of dust during our time here on this earth.
Matthew My knife It's gone.
It was here.
I know it was.
I remember our Laura sitting on my lap, wearing this same dress.
And our Alf, and the frills was timeworn then.
Oh, this bonnet is so old-fashioned.
I'm sure I must have had it on my head.
Oh, and every arse that's ever walked up the lane has been wrapped in these napkins.
I don't want my baby to be jigged out in in anything other than the rectory-box clothes.
Can you forgive my cussing, Miss Ellison? There's no call for me to be saying "arse" in front of the reverend's daughter.
"Arse" is not a civil word.
Even though we all has one, and some of us has two.
My own arse is quite - Caroline - Yeah, sorry.
Sorry, yeah.
As I was going to say, there's what you might call a a whole hamlet history in this box.
For which I'm most grateful, Miss Ellison.
Every family in the hamlet has enjoyed the loan of the box, and I'm glad to say, made good use of it.
And what about you, Miss Margaret? That fine old christening gown must make you feel broody, don't it? Goodness.
You're still young and attractive.
Mmmm, and available.
You told me a while ago that Thomas Brown had sent you a poem.
More than likely charged you three-and-six for it! Has Thomas made any more advances? No, but Miss Lane has invited me to tea at the post office.
Why, that's splendid! - I shan't go.
- Why ever not? If I were to miss tea at the rectory, my father would want to know why he had not been invited.
Well, can't you, just this once, ask to be excused without saying why? He would interrogate me and I'm afraid I can't lie to him.
Robert says your father will outlive us all.
And that's far too long for any woman to keep her own bed warm.
Sorry.
Sorry Someone's been poaching on Sir Timothy's estate.
I thought you said you were ready and waiting if anyone dared.
You made it sound like it was impossible.
Any fool can get lucky once.
Well, maybe they're just quicker than you.
Whoever they are.
Maybe that's what they think which is why they'll get caught if they're foolish enough to try again.
Well maybe they've got what they wanted now.
That could be so if they know they've met their match.
Or they're too afraid to put themselves to the test.
Could be.
Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you.
No.
Come in.
That's only our morning parley.
What brings you to Lark Rise, Dorcas? I wondered if I might borrow the embroidery.
I have an idea how we might learn a little more about it.
I've been looking at it.
That's not just any picture.
That's a sin.
Like it's a warning.
But I can't fathom what that warning might be.
Perhaps it's best not to concern yourself too much with what it means.
It could be worth £5 or more.
And that's why you're here, is it? Because you're not concerned with what it means? £5?! That thing?! And you found it in a graveyard? Why does the good luck never fall on them that needs it most? Probably cos it's busy falling on them that deserve it most.
It's good to see you back with us, Mrs Arless.
I'm very grateful to be sitting here.
Caroline was about to have her tea leaves read.
I'm not in the mood for it any more.
The only luck I have is bad luck.
- What about you, Dorcas? - Me? Oh, no.
Reading leaves isn't my cup of tea! Queenie has quite a gift for it.
Yeah, come on.
Come on sit down, Dorcas.
Well it can do no harm, can it? Drink the tea, and leave a little drop in the bottom of the cup.
Lordy! An ostrich.
What does an ostrich mean? And I can see a zebra.
- A zebra! - A zebra! I don't understand.
Why are you all reacting like this? Well, an ostrich means travel.
I've never been one for travel.
I like it so much where I am.
Ah, and a zebra means there's to be an adventure overseas.
See here the shape of an hourglass.
You need to make a decision.
I can't think of any pressing decisions I have on my mind.
- Dorcas.
- Timothy - what are you doing here? - Well, the same as you, I expect.
I've just been to look at the grave where the panel was discovered.
Harold Wigmore, died January the 1st 1843.
I might have known you'd be ahead of me.
The newspaper in which the panel was wrapped was dated January the 7th, just six days after he died.
Why are you doing this? The mystery of it has got the better of me, I'm afraid.
Well, I have an idea how I might discover more about the panel.
I doubt the panel will give up its secrets.
The only way to unravel this is to investigate Wigmore.
You are a little too sure of yourself.
One only has to look at the embroidery to see IT holds the key to this mystery, so I shall have the Misses Pratt examine it.
Why don't I find out about Wigmore, and you pursue the meaning of the panel? Then we will see.
We will.
Mr Turrill? how old are you? I'm not so sure.
I'm as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth.
Did you know the Wigmores? The parish records reveal nothing remarkable about them.
It seems that Harold Wigmore was a furrier, a family man, and a churchgoer.
I wondered if there were any local stories? Oh, I knew the Wigmores! Only so much as to tip my hat to them in the lane.
It ain't for me to keep company with such as Candleford furriers.
But one thing I do remember about them is that there was nothing to remember.
Your lordship, sir, if I could ask you about our panel.
It is in the hands of Constable Paterson now.
He will ascertain its ownership.
But he ain't minded to do nothing but wait, sir.
And waiting is what I'm not so good at.
That don't seem fair, sir.
We did the honest thing of reporting it.
And a year of waiting What if I die, sir? And that thing knocking around the house and worth £10? It's gone up in value since I last set eyes on it! But what is it exactly that you think I can do? In't there some law, sir, that says that folks that in't long for this world can have the money now and sort out the legal papers later? No, there is no such law.
But I intend to unravel the history of the panel, and find out who it belongs to.
Good day.
Phillip, you can't be sure it was Alf.
I don't think he would.
Well, I'll catch him and then we'll see.
Why do you boys have to turn everything into a fight? I'm only doing my job.
Anyway, his ma's only just out of prison and he'll be heading the other way.
Yeah, and if you catch Alf and he's in trouble, it'll be all my fault.
Edmund - Did you take my knife? - What a thing to say! Why do you think he took your knife? Boy, that is a valuable tool.
It has an ivory handle.
I want to know if you've taken it.
Don't look to her! You face me and give me an answer.
Oh, leave the lad alone.
You probably dropped your precious ivory handle in the privy.
Telling me how to raise my own children? Your trouble, Robert Timmins, is is nothing compared to the trouble I have with my interfering mouth.
Edmund, you respect what your pa tells you.
- I didn't take the knife.
- He lied to me about the nest.
What about the knife? Lying to me about that too? Robert don't say that.
Why are you behaving like this? It's too much.
I'll not have my son heading for a life of trouble.
Now listen to me, I will get the truth out of you.
And I will teach you to be an honest man if I have to take my belt to you.
Now, there's no supper for you.
Go on to bed.
- It is a fine piece of needlework.
- The finest.
So you would say it was a professional hand that made this? A seamstress of the highest quality.
And am I right in thinking that Adam and Eve have human hair? They do.
Why? Perhaps a twisted sense of authenticity.
Where to stop? Genuine eyelashes? Real ears? I sense something more of a purpose of devotion in it.
Oh, don't be so ridiculous, Ruby.
Why would a gifted needlewoman put her arts to such a displeasing article? That's what I am trying to discover.
What do you mean by devotion, Ruby? Pearl and I sew every day and you have to put a certain amount of dedication, some might say love, - into every stitch.
- There's a calling in what we do, quite different from selling a stamp or two.
But this seamstress had something particular she wished to express.
See how the stitching is faded in places? You can still see evidence of the work being done over a period of time.
- As though she'd put it down? - Yes.
And this devotion, do you think it might be religious, given the subject matter? Adam and Eve.
A man and a woman.
No, it It feels personal.
Because for a needlewoman, embroidery, it's like the poet taking up the pen.
It expresses her deepest longing.
You know Phillip's determined to catch you? Please tell me you won't go back poaching on the manor grounds.
He tells you I've been thieving and you believe him.
Why is that? Well, have you? I've never lied to you before and I won't start now not because of him.
Think of the consequences if you're caught, Alf.
And what is it to you? Is this why you're doing it? To show that you're better than him? To try and come between Phillip and me? You've got it all upside down, Laura.
Before he came along, you and me were as close as close can be.
Now look at us.
You have a think about why that might be.
Just promise me you won't go back poaching.
Perhaps Edmund went out into the woods poaching simply because he wanted to be like Alf.
But I felt as if he did it to defy my father.
Ruby? What are you doing? I had a disturbing dream.
Hot milk and straight back to bed with you.
It was about the panel of embroidery.
I knew setting one's eyes upon something so sordid - would have its consequences.
- No, it wasn't sordid.
It was sad.
Oh, well now, we'll have some hot milk and go back to bed and you can tell me about the dream if that helps.
She was in the shop, the seamstress.
But in my dream, she was old.
She wanted me to have the embroidery.
I felt compelled to take it because it was a warning.
Her sadness made my skin shiver.
Ruby, you need pacifying.
I will take you to see Dr Ingrams first thing in the morning.
We must tell Miss Lane.
It might be significant.
Do you want us to look fools before the whole town? "Ruby Pratt, possessed by a piece of needlework!" We will not tell Miss Lane.
We will go back to sleep and forget this grisly business.
Now, come along.
I found it behind the wood pile.
It must have fallen down there.
You're saying that to cover for Edmund.
- Don't say such a thing! - Did he give it to you, is that it? Are you calling your own wife a liar now?! Robert, I don't understand why it has hold of you this way.
I see how it's churning you up, the anger in your eyes.
That's not a father's obligation I see.
- Robert - My younger brother started this way.
A small lie, a stolen thing or two, and bit by bit, I watched him slide into a life of ruin.
I've been haunted by the thought I could have done more to stop him.
But Edmund is not your brother.
He in't made that way.
Robert, I've seen it in his eyes, the last few days, he's afraid of you.
And if you lose him, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
You just have to be the pa you are, and Edmund will learn all he needs just from watching you.
And thus endeth today's sermon! - A seamstress? - According to Ruby and Pearl.
Well, if Wigmore was a furrier, that does seems to be a connection.
- It's possible she worked for him.
- Yes, but it's not his wife.
Wigmore married well and, his widow survived him.
Perhaps we're making too much of it.
I chastised Laura for concocting fantasies out of nothing.
We're no better.
If we can get hold of the names of the seamstresses who worked for Wigmore, that might tell us something.
He had three sons, but they all moved away.
Which only leaves us with the parish records, what the local elders remember and the newspapers of the time.
What are we doing here? We agreed not to see one another.
But we have a legitimate reason.
The panel.
Edmund I was too hard on you last night.
Perhaps it was a fear that put the whip in my tongue.
I watched my own brother come to grief through lying and thieving.
Edmund, your ma found my knife.
As for the eggs, we'll go out together, you and me, this coming Sunday.
See if we can't reach a swallow's nest.
Not to destroy, mind, but to admire.
What do you say, boy? Queenie, my dear, I've been thinking about how we might spend our money.
Oh, that'll be why you have such a tormented look on your face! We should get ourselves a cow, some geese, some poultry, more pigs, and how about a donkey-cart to carry our eggs and such to market? That does sound nice.
We're always saying how we long for the old life.
So, we'll buy it! Much as I like the sound of it, something don't seem right.
Where is it?! Where's our panel?! Miss Lane took it off to enquire more about what it is.
She might sell it and cheat us out of what is ours.
- Dorcas Lane?! - We don't know if we can trust her.
We can't trust anyone.
Suppose she's found out that it's worth more than we realise.
- £50! - Listen to yourself That's ours! That should be under our roof, where we can keep an eye on it.
That's ours.
It is, indeed, yours.
And I am glad to say the auction house have sent word to say that they would be most interested to see it, as it could fetch a pound or two.
I believe there is a warning in that thing.
That does something to people.
It's got me bewitched trying to find the meaning of it.
And what about you, Miss Lane? What does it say to you? I have no wish to know any more.
So were the Misses Pratt able to tell you anything about the panel, ma'am? Yes, they were.
They believe it was made by a professional seamstress.
That could be very interesting.
If we take the date from the newspaper, then, Zillah, you can tell us who the local seamstresses were then.
Every other woman in town was a seamstress, gal.
But this one must have been different, or strange, - given the nature of the panel.
- That is enough.
We have all been getting rather too agitated by a silly piece of embroidery! Miss Ellison sent a note, she was unable to join us.
I hoped she might change her mind.
And Thomas? Does anyone know where he is? It's not easy being good, is it? You know what you said about, wanting to be more like me? Yeah.
Well, the truth is, Caroline, I often wish I was more like you.
You have a a freedom in your heart to dance and sing and make people laugh that I never had.
It's a gift, Caroline.
Come on.
Dance with me.
Oh, that's good! Oh, let's have a beer.
Dancing's always better with a beer or two.
Cheers! - Oh, I'm sorry, Caroline.
- It in't your fault, Emma.
I have to make a blaze out of every little thing.
I can't just have a dance I have to whoop and wail and make too much of it, until I'm back where I always am, in trouble.
You can't live your life afraid of your own passions, Caroline.
I look at my children and it isn't forgiveness I see in their eyes.
It isn't even gladness that their ma is home.
I see fear.
They wake up with it in their little faces.
Fear that I'll be gone again.
- Gone for good.
- Give it time.
You'll find a way to be yourself.
Well, what if you don't want to be yourself? What if you've seen who that is and you don't like it? What about that? No, that's prison that's done that to you.
You don't listen to that.
You listen to your friends who tell you that they love you.
Miss Ellison.
Mr Brown.
I am walking.
And I.
I had a fancy for some air.
I was seeking a few moments of contemplation.
Then please don't let me disturb you.
- Miss Ellison.
- Yes? - I wonder - Yes? perhaps we could walk together? That would be most pleasant.
Perhaps tomorrow evening, then? Well, that would be Thank you.
Yes.
Yes.
I shall be here - after tea.
- Till then.
Pearl? What is it? - Nothing.
I have a chill.
I'll be fine.
- Pearl, tell me.
I had the same dream.
And more.
In my dream, she spoke.
She said, "We will be - together now.
" It was only a dream.
And dreams are no more than mere frippery.
No, Pearl.
This thing is talking to us and we must listen.
We must tell Miss Lane.
We most certainly will not indulge in such emotional weakness.
We have a shop to run.
I in't going to be stinting with them that used to be my friends and neighbours.
I'll stand a beer for any man.
You might want to get your hands on the money first, Twister.
Sir Timothy his-self says we have the law on our side.
What are you gonna do with so much money, Twister? Me and Queenie are gonna have ourselves a new life on the 'skirts of Candleford.
I'm gonna exchange this old hat for a shining new one.
A new hat don't make you belong, Twister.
£10 don't make you belong.
You're always expounding, Robert Timmins, how poor folks are as good as any counter-jumpers.
We might know it but I'm not so sure they do.
You ought to take a care, Twister Turrill.
You won't be one of us and you won't be one of them.
- You might find yourself nowhere.
- You're all jealous, that's all! A man's got a bit of wealth and you don't like it.
That's the problem with poor folk.
They They got no charity about them.
You.
I have you now.
Bold words.
He's been poaching on the manor grounds.
Did you see him? Did you catch him at it? No, I didn't.
He was cut, he fell.
There's a fair bit of blood.
It's his blood.
He'll be cut, and that will prove I'm right.
If you're right, you fetch a constable and you lay charges.
I want to see now! Let him show me.
Let him show all of you! Alf? I have no cut.
Let him show me.
If it's true, then let him take his shirt off.
Son, you've said enough.
Know your place.
"Know my place"?! I'm the squire's under-keeper.
He's just a a Lark Rise field boy.
I am no more than a Lark Rise stone mason! Don't you come in here, looking down your nose at us.
If you want to lay charges, fetch a constable.
Would you like me to take my trousers down now? "Would you like me!" - He's wrong for you.
- Pa, you don't know Phillip.
- I've seen enough of him.
- There must be a reason.
Has something happened? It's Alf, isn't it? The under-keeper marches into Lark Rise and talks to us like he owns it! What? What is it? I must be getting back.
Miss Lane will want me to take over.
Laura, what is that look on your face? I am your pa.
You tell me.
People say that same thing about you.
Robert Timmins, he walks down the road like he owns one side and he's about to buy the other side.
They're envious of your pride, Pa, that's all.
The under-keeper is a vindictive sort.
There's something selfish about him.
Stay away from him.
Pa, please don't tell me what I must and mustn't feel.
You're to tell him you can't see him any more.
Do you understand? A letter for Mrs Arless, from overseas.
Oh, I will take it over to her.
I need some air and a ride out will do me good.
And I'm sure she would appreciate any piece of encouragement at this time.
"My darling dear " "Darling dear" don't mean much from across an ocean or two.
"Our ship is heading homeward" "and, God willing, I'll be with you before the baby is born.
" Perhaps you better read that last bit again, Miss Lane.
- "I will be with you before " - Miss Lane! I I must apologise to you.
I have misguided you with the tea leaves.
Oh, thank heavens! It wasn't a zebra.
I won't be joining the navy after all! It was a zebra.
But it weren't no ostrich I saw.
I weren't quite certain at the time, and it's been on my mind to tell you what WAS in the leaves.
I've looked a dozen times a day at it, and now I am certain.
It was a raven.
Mrs Turrill the look on your face You you're making me feel afraid.
Oh, I am sorry, Miss Lane.
But I must tell what I saw.
It's bad news.
A death that leads to new beginnings.
You're hurt.
Edmund you have to tell your pa about this.
The under-keeper knows there was someone hurt out there.
I'm scared.
He'll be so angry.
I'll say it was my doing.
I'll take the blame.
Edmund, if you don't tell him, I will.
Leave me alone.
Make a wish.
Go on.
Anything you want.
Go on.
Wish for it and you shall have it.
I will make it happen for you.
What is it you would wish for more than anything else on this earth? Go on! The one thing.
The one person you'd like to see walk back through that door! What's the matter with you? Don't you want to see your pa home? Oh, there.
I've said it.
Your pa is coming from sea.
Isn't that the best news? Pearl, don't you find it disconcerting that I had the dream and then you had the very same dream? Dreams are not contagious, Ruby.
It was merely your mention of this grotesque business that has disturbed my mental equipoise.
Pearl, I understand your point of view.
I only ask that you hear mine.
Go on.
What I am wondering is, if the dreams have a purpose, a message for us, to do something.
And if we don't act, they may continue to haunt us.
If it would put your mind at rest, we will speak with Miss Lane.
it was me that was poaching on the manor grounds.
I know it.
You can smell the bird cooking all the way across the hamlet.
You take care, Alf.
A month in quod's a hell of a price to pay for one meal.
Well, that's not the worst of it, sir.
There's something more I have to tell you.
Emma! Where's Edmund? I in't seen him all afternoon.
What's the matter? God, what have I done? Edmund is hurt.
We have to find him.
Her name was Constance Jeffers.
She was a seamstress.
One of the best clearly.
Yes, she worked for Harold Wigmore.
Now the reason she appears in these newspapers is that just days after Wigmore was buried, Miss Jeffers left her cottage, leaving the door wide open, and was never seen nor heard of again.
In our dreams, she was trying to give the panel to Pearl and me.
She left her message on his grave.
An act of simple devotion.
Indeed.
A spinster devoted to Harold Wigmore.
There was no impropriety, though.
No.
All the locals I spoke to, all said that Wigmore was a devoted father and husband.
Constance had suitors, but none would tempt her to marriage.
It seems her heart was spoken for.
The panel seems to have been made over a period of year.
A life's work.
She must have been something of an obsessive, wouldn't you say? Giving her her life over to waiting for a married man.
She wasn't waiting.
She left it by his grave and vanished.
Vanished? That's it the warning vanishing.
So, Mrs Turrill, the panel is now yours.
Sir, as much as I like the sound of £5, I don't want to be at the mercy of that thing.
We might vanish.
Perhaps it ought to go back where it came from, where it belongs.
I shall lay it down where Constance left it.
Phillip what's happened between you and my pa? - He's taken against you so.
- I know I am right about that Arless.
But there weren't a scratch on him.
You're not making any sense.
- I don't understand.
- I heard a cry in the woods.
Someone was hurt.
There must have been someone else out there with him.
Edmund! Edmund! - Edmund! - Edmund! Edmund! Edmund! - Edmund! - Edmund! Edmund, is that you, young poacher? Don't worry.
Old Twister's here.
- I can't go home.
I can't go home! - Come on, lad.
You can't stay here, you'll catch your death.
I'm sorry, Pa.
- I'm sorry, Ma.
- You shush.
You save your breath for better things.
Your pa's promised not to mention poaching.
Now let's see if we can get you to drink something.
Edmund was safe and my father could do as my mother had asked him.
"Just be the pa you are," "and Edmund will learn from watching you.
" If we thought that life could settle down again, we were mistaken.
The business of the poaching was far from over.