The Runaway Woman (22 page)

Lucy thought she already knew what Kathleen was getting at, but she asked anyway. ‘So, are you suggesting I might be able to go and stay with your aunt for a time?’

‘Exactly!’ Kathleen grew excited, ‘Oh, Lucy, you’ll
love her. She can be cranky at times, but she’s got a kind heart, and I know she’ll take good care of you. Think about it, Lucy: a house with views you would never believe; the sea air all around you; freedom to do as you please. Oh, and she’s a good listener when needed.’

Lucy was not altogether convinced. ‘I would be barging in on her without fair warning. And when I get there, she might not
even like me. Worse, I might not like her, and it would be an impossible situation. Then where will I be? Right back where I started, only worse, because I’ll have used up some of the little money I’ve scraped together.’

Kathleen took Lucy’s worries on board. ‘All right, I understand what you’re saying. But if it does work out, you really will have landed on your feet. You might even find a job
in Torquay itself, and then you would be totally independent.’

‘Well, yes, there is that, I suppose. But I’m not altogether sure …’

‘OK, Lucy. I tell you what, you sleep on it. What do you say?’

Lucy agreed. ‘I’ll sleep on it.’

I
T WAS ALMOST
eight o’clock when Lucy woke from a restless sleep, and even now, in the light of day, her mind was in turmoil.

Having walked the floor of her bedroom for more hours than she had slept, she had eventually come to a decision; although she remained unsure as to whether it was the right one or not.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, she was shocked at her dishevelled
appearance. ‘Good grief, Lucy! You look a real fright.’ Her hair was wild and tousled because of her twisting and turning in her troubled sleep. Her eyes were sore and tired and her whole demeanour looked frantic. ‘What’s happened to you?’ she asked herself angrily. You had best get a grip of yourself, or you’ll go under … and that’s the last thing you want. Pull yoursef together, woman! For
once in your life, you need to think of what’s best for you. Not for Martin or Paula, not even for the family, but for you – Lucy Lovejoy.

Irritated, she ran the flats of her hands through her tousled hair. You won’t get anywhere if you keep looking back, she decided. You need to look forward.

Leaning into the mirror, she studied the tired, worn face and the sorry, red eyes that stared back
at her, and she laughed out loud. ‘You look like a sorry old drunk the morning after the night before,’ she giggled.

Patting her face, she managed to return a flush of colour to her cheeks. Lay off the booze in future … you know you’re not used to it, she silently admonished herself. Take a good look at yourself, woman. See what it’s done to you.

She felt the tiniest bit ashamed, and then she
gave a merry chuckle. ‘Me and Kathleen …’ she tutted, ‘… aren’t we a pair of bad ’uns, eh?’ There was Lucy, looking like something the cat dragged in, and judging by the silence from downstairs, her partner in crime was still fast asleep in bed.

Lucy was both nervous and excited. After examining all the alternatives, she had finally returned to a decision that she instinctively believed must
be the right one for her. It felt right. It made her feel good.

Standing here in front of the mirror, she stared at herself for what seemed an age, her frantic mind ticking over, worrying, weighing the possible consequences of the choice she had settled on, although deep down, somewhere in her deepest soul, she was content. For the first time in her life, she had actually made a decision all
by herself, without any persuasion from others. Moreover, she now felt strong enough to see it through.

Deep in thought, she walked to the window, drew open the curtains, and looked out. The fateful new day was here. ‘A new beginning,’ she murmured with a smile. ‘A new life for Lucy Lovejoy.’

She felt special. She felt stronger in herself than she had for a very long time. It seemed as though
she had actually achieved something.

Excited and unable to contain herself, she opened the window and called out in a strong, loud voice, ‘Lucy Lovejoy is off on a real adventure … yeah!’

Clenching her fists, she shook them above her head. From now on I need to find out who I really am, and where my place is, she decided. She was afraid. But not enough to change her plans; because this was her
time.

When Kathleen’s voice called from the bedroom door, Lucy quickly shut the window. ‘Lucy, what’s going on? Is that you shouting?’

‘What?’ Lucy was too embarrassed to admit it was her. ‘Oh! I thought it was
you
. I thought your radio must be on.’

‘No, I don’t have a radio in my room. Somebody was yelling, though. It woke me up. Oh, well, never mind. It must have been kids in the street.
Are you out of bed, Lucy?’

‘I am now, yes.’

‘Right, well, I’ll get washed and dressed and I’ll see you downstairs. You can tell me what you’ve decided.’ There was a pause before Kathleen asked, ‘You have decided, haven’t you, Lucy?’

‘I have … yes.’

Some ten minutes later, the two of them were sitting in the small kitchen, sipping tea.

‘Right then!’ Kathleen urged Lucy.
‘So, let’s hear your plan … what have you decided? Will you be going to stay with my aunt, or not?’

‘No. Thank you for the suggestion, but I’ve decided to go right away … somewhere Mum and Dad used to take me and Paula, when we were kids.’ She choked back tears. ‘I’ve been missing Mum and Dad so much, I thought it might make me feel closer to them. D’you know what I mean?’

‘Oh, Lucy! I think
it’s a lovely idea. And, yes, I have an idea how you feel. I agree wholeheartedly with your choice, as long as it doesn’t make you feel sad.’

‘It won’t. Oh, but we had such wonderful times there as kids … me and Paula. And later, when Samuel and Anne were toddlers, Martin took us there once. The children played for hours on that very same beach where we had played.’

She felt torn. ‘I somehow
feel that going back might help in some way. Last night when I was in bed, I got to remembering how it used to be. Back then we didn’t have too much of anything, really, but there were no complications. Just close family … and lots of love and laughter … unlike now, when it seems to be one bad thing after another.’ She went on, ‘For some reason, which I don’t fully understand, I feel the need to
remind myself of how wonderful it was in that delightful place, when me and Paula were just innocent kids …’ Her voice tailed off as she recalled the unforgivable liaison between Martin and her younger sister.

Lucy had been left shattered by recent, cruel events, so Kathleen fully understood why she would want to recapture the delightful times she enjoyed as a child, with her sister and parents,
and later, with Martin and her babies.

‘I think you’ve made the best decision,’ she reassured Lucy. ‘I do believe that sometimes, we really need to look back before we can look forward.’

Lucy was greatly relieved. ‘So, you’re not upset that I didn’t choose to stay with your aunt?’

‘Of course I’m not upset.’ Kathleen was adamant. ‘You seem to have made a choice I had not even thought of. But
you still haven’t told me where it is exactly.’

Joy lit up Lucy’s face. ‘It’s a beautiful little place in Dorset. Somehow, I need to recapture the peace and happiness I felt back then, if that’s possible. I remember it so vividly. It’s not far from Dorchester. It’s a small village off the beaten track, and right on the coast. When we went there, all those years ago, it was little known by holidaymakers.’

‘I’ll bet it’s different now, though,’ Kathleen remarked. ‘It’s been such a long time since you were there, it’s bound to have been discovered over the years. Don’t you think so, Lucy?’

Lucy thought it would be an awful shame if that lovely place had been spoiled, although it was true that nowhere remained unchanged for all time. ‘You could be right,’ she answered. ‘When we were there with the
children some twenty years back, I did notice there were a few more houses dotted about. After all this time, though, as you say, it’s not very likely that more people have discovered it.’

‘So, if it has changed, will that spoil it for you, Lucy?’

‘No. It won’t alter my memories.’ She was certain of that. ‘Besides, the landscape itself is bound to be the same … I hope. The high cliffs, the wide,
open beach and the waves lapping over the sands … oh, and the beautiful views from the pretty, wooden jetty.’

She could see it all so plainly in her mind. ‘Oh, Kathleen, I do hope it’s still just as I remember.’ For a magic moment, she was there, losing herself in the character of that charming little place.

‘You know what, Lucy? In a way I envy you, going back there. Revisiting your cherished
memories. I can see you in my mind’s eye, perched high up on some cliff, legs dangling over the edge while you gaze out over the sea. Oh, Lucy! It’s exactly what you need … and it’s what you deserve.’

She imagined the idyllic seaside village that Lucy had described so vividly. ‘It sounds like the kind of quiet, lonely place we all need from time to time, when the big bad world starts crowding
in.’

Lucy agreed. ‘The first time we went there, with Mum and Dad, I was just ten years old. I’ve never forgotten it. Then, some years later, after we had both the children, Martin and I took them there. We only went the once, when money was really short. Anne was a toddler, and Sam was a babe in arms.’ She paused to remember. ‘It was so beautiful, Kathleen. Sadly, though, that was the first
and last time for us.’

Kathleen was curious. ‘What’s the name of this little paradise?’

‘If I remember rightly, it was called Limerton or Littleton – something like that – but I’m sure I could find it on the map. The name just popped into my head last night – I can’t think why. Oh, and I’ll never forget the first time we went, and Dad got lost. We went round and round, up and down, and then
the old banger of a car suddenly stopped and wouldn’t go. Eventually, we were towed off to a garage, with Dad grumbling and cursing all the way.’

The memory was so real, she could hear her father’s voice in her head. ‘Roll on the day, when I have enough money to send this useless bag o’ bones to the scrapheap where it belongs!’ Lucy did a fine imitation of her father’s cursing.

Kathleen laughed.
‘I don’t blame him,’ she quipped. ‘Driving all that way, only to break down when you get there. I reckon I’d be grumpy an’ all.’

‘He really loved that old car,’ Lucy explained. ‘He never did send it to the scrapheap. Instead he kept it for about four years, but it was forever breaking down. In the end he sold it to a neighbour who, as far as I remember, had no trouble whatsoever with it.’

They
both laughed at that. ‘Maybe the car didn’t like your dad cursing it all the time,’ Kathleen teased. ‘But you were telling me … how did you manage to arrive at this little hideaway you loved so much?’

‘Oh, yes! The man at the garage couldn’t fix the car straight away, so because he had a big old truck, and as we were only four miles from the place we had been looking for, he took us all there
in the truck. It was great fun, but needless to say, Dad was not in the best of moods.’

‘I’m not surprised.’ Kathleen chuckled at the picture in her mind of Lucy’s dad ranting and raving.

‘He told the man with the truck that the old car had enjoyed its last journey, that it rattled the teeth and shook the bones, and that after that bad experience it would be a week before he could walk properly.
He vowed that whenever he managed to get the old rust bucket back home, he would turn it into a henhouse in the back garden!’

Kathleen roared with laughter. ‘Your dad sounds like a bit of a devil.’

Lucy smiled at the memory. ‘It was one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong, but when we actually got to our destination, it was so beautiful we just forgot all the disappointments. We
came off the busy main road, then round a bend, and right there before our eyes was paradise on earth. Tucked away among some high, sloping cliffs, it simply took our breath away.’ She smiled. ‘It even silenced our dad. One minute we were on the main road, with him swearing and moaning and threatening all manner of punishment for the poor old car, and then we turned a corner into the village, and
he didn’t even make another peep. At least not until me and Paula scrambled out and ran towards the beach. Then he was yelling, “Be careful, you two!”’