31 Dream Street (39 page)

Sorry I haven’t been in touch much. I’ve been really busy. Flight school starts next week and I’ve been looking for somewhere to live. I’ll be sharing with some other guys, students from the school. The flat’s not that great (I miss number 31!), but it’ll be fine for a year or so. I’ll be glad to move out of Daisy’s place, too. It was really nice and everything, but I don’t like to freeload. It’s good to be paying rent again and I won’t miss their stupid dog breaking into my room every night to eat my socks! They had to take him to the vet’s the other day with half a flannel in his stomach!

Things are going great with Daisy. She’s on really good form and you can tell just by looking at her that the country air is better for her than being in London. She’s waitressing at her mate’s restaurant in the village. I’ve been helping out there, too, washing dishes and stuff, just to tide me over. She’s thinking about doing a cookery course, setting up a catering thing. I reckon she’ll be brilliant. And cooking’s something you can do anywhere, isn’t it, anywhere in the world
.

Her mum taught me how to do her physio. It’s really easy, actually. And she’s doing so well at the moment that it doesn’t even take that long. I won’t be able to do it any more when I move out, but at
least I know how to do it now, if we ever end up living together. As for how I feel about her illness, I’m doing what you said, just acting like I don’t know the truth, just having fun with her. I’m a strong bloke. Whatever happens in the future, I can take it. Well, I’ll have to
…

I quite like it out here, in the sticks. I miss my mates, of course, and my mum, but I don’t really miss London. How are you, anyway? Have you moved yet? Maybe you’re in the country, too. Weird, eh?!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks a lot for the money. And for everything. I’ll write again when I’m settled at the school. And watch your post. You’ll be getting an unexpected invitation any day now!

All the best
,

Con

Dear Toby

Melinda and Jack are engaged!

Please come and help us celebrate at

41 Cranmore Gardens, London, N10 5TY

on Saturday 23rd June 2005

............................................................................

VISSER SCHOENMAKER SMIT

Literary Agency

The Estate of Augustus Veldtman
c/o Toby Dobbs

Dear Mr Dobbs
,

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lucia Schoen-maker and I represent Mr Veldtman at his agency. I was very saddened to hear of his death. Although I never met him, I feel he is someone close to me, having personally represented his wonderful book for so many years (more than I care to admit!)
.

I am writing for two reasons. First, I enclose Mr Veldtman’s royalty statement and payment for the period covering June 2004 to December 2004. This amounts to the princely sum of £3.78, which is about standard
.

My second reason for writing is to tell you about an interesting proposal we have had from a TV production company here in Holland. Mr Veldtman was in the habit of posting us his personal journals with the instructions that they be kept untouched until his death, at which time we could use them however we saw fit. This company is interested in making a documentary about Mr Veldtman, about his extraordinary life, his career as a film actor, his love affairs and, of course, his marvellous book. They have offered us an option of €6,000 for the rights to the journals, which they will extend to €60,000 should the project proceed to production
.

I think this is a very generous offer and I would suggest that we accept it
.

There is one other point, however. The last journal Mr Veldtman sent us is from 1992 and I wondered if you had come upon any further journals after his death. If so, the production company would love to have them, just to complete the picture. I understand that Mr Veldtman lived in your house for the final years of his life and this was a very interesting period in his life, I’m sure
.

Please let me know what you think about these matters. I will look forward to hearing from you in due course. And maybe if you were ever to find yourself in The Hague we could meet for a coffee and a chat
.

Yours, most sincerely
,

Lucia Schoenmaker

85

Toby watched the removals van pull out of Silversmith Road and headed back inside. The house was completely empty now. Not a stick of furniture; not a picture or a plant. The sun streamed through the front windows, highlighting the house’s natural beauty. He wandered for a while, from room to room, just as he’d done the very first time he’d seen the house. This was exactly how he’d wanted the house to look that day, all those years ago. Leah had been right to persuade him to finish the job. Leaving would have been much harder if he hadn’t.

He took the stairs slowly towards the upper floors, as he’d done a thousand times before. The thud of his footsteps reminded him of Gus’s slow rhythmic steps, up and down the stairs, day in, day out. He peered into Joanne’s room, Ruby’s room, Con’s room. And then he took the next flight of stairs and went into his own room. There was a roll of packing tape on the floor and an empty box. And there, on the floor, where his wardrobe had been, was a piece of paper:

Things To Do

12 Get a publishing deal (?)

16
START LIVING

He smiled and pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket and with a flourish of intent and satisfaction he drew a thick black line through the last two words.

86

A seagull regarded Leah from the windowsill with tiny pinprick eyes. She stared back at it, until it heard a cry from above and glided away, into the clear blue sky. She peered through the tiny dormer window, to the beach across the road. The boats were out already, with their crab pots. Solitary anglers lined the shore, casting for the whiting which were back for the autumn. Leah had only been here for three months, but already she knew about the seasonal variations of aquatic life around the headland, about the tidal patterns, about the likelihood of a good catch, or a bad one. She also knew about the problems with the new headmistress at the primary school, that Mrs Wendle had been taken to the hospice on Friday night and that the beer served at the Plough up the road was watered down. It wasn’t difficult to pick up local knowledge. All you had to do was keep your ears open as you walked round the village. All you had to do was talk to people.

She headed downstairs, bowing to avoid the low ceiling halfway down and stooping to collect some mail from the door mat.

Toby smiled at her as she walked towards him.

‘Tea?’ he said.

‘Lovely,’ she said.

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, then dropped the mail on the table in front of him.

‘Oh, look.’ She pulled a newspaper from the bottom of the pile. ‘The paper’s here.’

‘Oh, fantastic. Let’s have a look.’

Leah leafed through the pages, urgently. ‘Look!’ she announced. ‘There it is!’

Sea-Bay Auction Services

Leave it with us – we’ll sell it for you!

12 Bayview Parade
The Seafront
Portscatho
(right next to Prowse the Grocer)

Want to find a home for your old heirlooms, clutter and bric-a-brac? Haven’t got the time or the inclination to sell it yourself? We’ll take all the hassle out of it for you. Just bring us your unwanted possessions and we’ll market them for you on e-bay. If we don’t sell it, you don’t pay us a penny.

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?!

** GRAND OPENING TODAY,
SATURDAY 13TH AUGUST **

‘Bring this flyer and claim a free cup of tea and a slice of cake. We
look forward to seeing you!’

Toby Dobbs
£
Leah Pilgrim

‘It looks great, doesn’t it?’

Toby nodded and smiled. And then he stopped and stared at an envelope on top of the pile. The writing looked strangely familiar. It had an American stamp on it and had been addressed to Silversmith Road and redirected. Slowly he sliced the envelope open with a knife and pulled out a handwritten letter, three sheets long.

Dear Toby,

What can I say? Sorry doesn’t really seem sufficient. I can’t really explain why I did what I did. I was scared, I suppose, and angry. I realized immediately that I’d made a mistake moving in with Tim and I freaked out. I came back to the house. I was going to ask if I could stay for a few days, but you were out. And then I saw that cash in your room and something took me over. I felt like you’d let me down, abandoned me when I needed you most. So I took the lot and went straight to the airport and bought a one-way ticket to the States.

It’s been a real trip. I stayed at the Chelsea at first. That was a blast, being where all those incredible people had been, where Sid killed Nancy. Then I found a room in a flat on the Lower East Side. I played at someone’s wedding a few weeks later, mainly cover versions, but I threw in a couple ofmy new songs. And what do you know – someone liked them and bought them off me for $5,000! Some girl band is going to use them. Apparently they’re really famous, but I’ve never heard of them.

I tried to persuade the guy to let me record them, but guess what he said? He said, ‘Beautiful girl, the world does not need
another chick with an attitude and a guitar.’ Pah! That kind of took the shine off selling my songs. I went into a bit of a decline after that. I know, I know – I never appreciate what I’ve got. It’s never enough, is it?

I started drinking quite heavily. Got through a lot of your cash that way. Pissed off my flatmates. And it was when they threatened to kick me out that I realized I needed to take control of my life. So I joined AA.

Yeah, yeah – I can hear you laughing from here! I know, it’s hard to imagine. But it’s been great. I’m on the 12-Step Program (only one ‘m’!) and part of that is that I have to redress any imbalances in my life, undo wrongdoings, make amends and apologize. I’ve written to Tim and his wife, to say sorry for fucking them around. And now here’s my apology to you:

Toby, you are one ofthe greatest people I’ve ever known. It’s taken being away from you for me to be able to see that. You took me in when I had nobody else and you took care ofme and all I ever did was belittle you and take advantage. You’re a better person than I could ever hope to be and I am so sorry to have broken your trust and let you down. You didn’t deserve it. I really hope you managed to sell the house and that you have moved on and found happiness. No one deserves a happy ending more than you. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, but if you don’t that’s fine.

As for me, well, there’s no happy ending in sight just yet. I’ve written some more songs, but they didn’t go for them. To pay the rent I’m working as a waitress in some trendy Vietnamese place in Greenwich Village. I haven’t had a drink for five weeks and that, for now, is enough. I’ll get there in the end, I know I will.
When I do, I’ll let you know. And maybe one day I’ll be able to buy you that Lamborghini!

With love and respect,

Ruby xxxx

Toby passed the letter to Leah and sighed. He felt something in his heart loosen, untwist itself. Ruby was alive. Ruby was safe. Tonight, for the first time since she’d moved out of his house, Toby could fall asleep without wondering, without worrying. After nearly sixteen years, the last residual traces of Ruby had finally been expunged from the soft, sticky corners of his consciousness.

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ said Leah, passing the letter back to him a moment later. ‘Good news?’

Toby nodded and smiled. ‘Very good news indeed.’

‘So,’ said Leah, ‘are you ready to go to work?’

Toby nodded, and together they headed towards the front of the cottage, towards their shop.