‘Can’t we go, mam?’
‘It’s a long way away,’ she told him.
‘But granfer took you . . .’
‘Granfer had a horse and trap.’
‘Grandma Malpas has a pony,’ Morgan persisted.
‘Some day, when you’re a big boy, you shall go,’ said Mary.
The subject dropped from their conversation, but not from Morgan’s mind. The child knew better than to pester his mother about it, but as the time of the fair grew nearer, he talked to every one else that he met, to Mick, to Abner, to Mrs Mamble, and even to old Drew. The thought of Bron Fair obsessed him and even found its way into his dreams. The week before the event he became so persistent and showed so keen a disappointment at the thought of missing it, that Abner began to take him seriously.
‘Why shouldn’t we take ’em along?’ he said to Mary, when the children were in bed.
‘It’s too far away,’ she said. ‘Much too far.’
‘It’s not that far over the hills. Some of our chaps is going to walk there.’