Working Wonders (40 page)

Of course, there was to be an enquiry into the methods of how the award was given, but that didn’t detract from this result; just closed down an outward bound company. The award had been so overwhelming, coming as it had in the depths of his grief, and Arthur had reached out to it – and the endless meetings; the paperwork, the administration; the fourteen-hour days; the hordes of new staff; the constant publicity – he’d even been on
Newsnight
– like a drowning man clinging to a life raft. Everything was work, and that kept him sane.

And now, it was five months on and here he was, walking to the park to open the maze. Finally. It was hard to believe it was here, that it would be even larger than the Sandwiches-savaged model.

The size of the thing, as he came to it over the path, completely threw him; it had been imported nearly full grown, and the rosebushes were taller than he was. The sides stretched away, further than the eye could see.

The maze man was there too, and like before he bowed gravely. ‘You are happy?’ he asked Arthur.

‘It’s beautiful,’ said Arthur, not answering the question.

‘Well, watch out for the thorns.’ The man looked at him. ‘But you know all about thorns, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ said Arthur.

A crowd had gathered – it had been well publicized in the press – and a small podium with a microphone had been set up. Sir Eglamore was positively beaming.

Arthur looked at the crowd that had gathered and coughed slightly.

‘I just wanted to say … thank you so much to everyone who’s here.’

Howard stepped forward and took a photograph.

‘Yes … thank you. The support that’s been shown to us in this town over the last few months, if not before …’ He thought about it. ‘Well, not before, but definitely since then, has been overwhelming. We …’

And Arthur surveyed the crowd to see who was there.

In fact, since they’d got back, there’d been a general diaspora of the office, even after the official awarding of their status.

Gwyneth had returned to her office in London almost straight away. They had barely spoken. He couldn’t bring himself to talk to her.

But there she was today, shyly standing at the back of the crowd. Her hair was a little longer. It suited her. Also in the crowd was Rafe. He had left the office too; he was off to pursue a PhD in international poverty and relations in Nairobi. Arthur had high hopes for it. He couldn’t tell if they’d noticed each other yet – but that was ridiculous; they must have. There was Cathy, already going up to Gwyneth, wearing her broad smile. Since they’d got back, she’d practically been a different person. She’d stood up for herself more and more around the office, refusing to take any shit – and, from the way she told it, taking less and less at home, too. She had confided in Arthur that conquering her fear of heights had made her think about what other fears in her life were holding her back for no good reason – and she had found more than a few.

Marcus had come back for two weeks, then, completely out of the blue, handed in his notice. He had returned to Wales with his boyfriend and started working for an outward bound company – not the same one – and, in the one brief postcard Arthur had had from him, was having a fabulous time, outdoors in all weathers getting cold and wet and helping people climb hills for no reason.

And Arthur had finally turned up one morning and given the temp an official certificate of permanent employment. Overwhelmed, she had broken down into tears and insisted on telling him her name. Since then she had been late or absent eighty-six times.

‘We – from the planning department – we put a lot into this maze; into this city. And it took a lot out of us. So we just hope that you enjoy this …’

He swallowed suddenly.

‘There’s someone who can’t be here, but who would have loved it very much. Well, he would have complained that it was boring and he couldn’t be bothered to walk round it. But underneath he would have liked it. Maybe. So, I’d like to welcome you all to the Sven Gunterson Memorial Maze.’

Everyone clapped loudly as he cut the ribbon, Howard took another photograph, and then the crowd surged forward, chattering excitedly.

Within moments, it seemed, everyone had disappeared into the maze, and he was left outside alone. The high walls muffled the noise, and it felt as if he was the only person in the park, except for the maze man standing there with him.

‘Aren’t you going to try it?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ said Arthur. ‘It’s just, last time, it seemed to have a rather strange effect …’

‘It’s a well-sited maze,’ said the man. ‘You should try it.’

The dark yew and rosebushes kept off the heat of the sun; it was pleasantly cool inside and ridiculously quiet. Fifty people must have disappeared inside here, thought Arthur. Where had they all gone? Occasionally he caught a high-pitched giggle, or a light footfall, but whenever he whipped round to spot where it had come from, there was nothing there.

He didn’t plan which way to go, but meandered, enjoying the scent of the bushes, the occasional buzzing of bees, the coolness of the deep green. His heart felt lighter than it had in many many months. He was surprised to suddenly turn a corner and find himself in the heart, the centre of the maze.

A small fountain tinkled there. A cherub stood in the centre, next to an elaborately carved bench, and white flowers carpeted the ground. Arthur went and sat on the bench to wait for her.

She was looking a lot less drawn, he noticed. In fact, she was looking well. As well as when they’d first met, at that personnel conference, six years ago.

‘Hey,’ she said softly.

‘Hello.’

Arthur stood up and walked towards her, and suddenly they found themselves hugging.

‘Oh, Fay,’ said Arthur. ‘I’m so sorry.’

They were both on the edge of tears.

‘Well, you saved my life,’ said Fay, as they pulled apart.

‘Yes, but …’ He forced himself to talk and not change the subject. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we were in love … once. And I was … lazy. Complacent. I wouldn’t talk to you. And I pissed it up against the wall.’

‘Well, I was no barrel of monkeys. Wait, is that right? Well, you know what I mean. Maybe I
was
a barrel of monkeys. Hairy and hard to control.’

‘Well, a bit. But I – I should have fought for it.’

‘Seems like you do plenty of fighting.’

‘God, yes, it does, rather.’

She shrugged. ‘It suits you, taking the initiative.’

He grimaced, and there was a pause.

Fay sat on the bench. ‘Well, I did some pretty awful things too.’

‘You weren’t yourself.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘I wasn’t, you know. You – you split my heart right down the middle. For nothing, Arthur. For some excitement, and some blonde bitch and …’

He raised his hands. ‘Again, already I know.’

Fay shook herself. ‘And I made myself a victim, too. But, it’s in the past. And, when it was really important, you came through for me.’

He looked at her, and remembered her as the girl she had been, not the shrew he’d pictured her as in the last couple of years. He pushed a stray strand of her hair, an oddly affectionate gesture. She looked up at him.

‘You know, when Sven kissed me … it was like he really did wake me up.’

Arthur kept looking at her.

‘Like I’d been asleep since I left you … like I had no idea what was happening …’

He smiled. ‘And yet you still went back to …’

‘I know,’ she said, thinking of all that had happened since.

‘How’s Sandwiches?’ she asked, quickly.

‘Not bad,’ said Arthur. ‘He ate a tablecloth the other day. Gives one cause to hope, you know? That he’s eating at all.’

Fay nodded.

‘How’s Ross?’

‘Not bad,’ said Fay. ‘Much better, in fact. You really put the fear of God into him. He’s a changed man. Six weeks in bed was quite useful, too.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes, he’s had to take up yoga and changed into a much more spiritual person. Practically a conversion. He’s discovered a lot of inner calm. In fact, he’s opening a chain of yoga centres called “Yogotit”.’

‘Well, that sounds great,’ said Arthur, trying to sound sincere.

‘Reckons we’ll make a fortune.’

‘Great!’

‘And …’

She coyly rubbed her stomach. It took him a second to realize what she meant.

‘You’re not?’

He was genuinely delighted, if fairly desperate that it would take after its mother.

‘Looks like it.’

‘Oh my God! Congratulations.’

She smiled.

‘If it’s a boy we thought we’d call it Sven. The hygiene issue is a worry of course …’

Arthur smiled and hugged her again.

They left the heart of the maze by one exit, just as Gwyneth entered by another, too late to see them, Rafe by another.

‘It’s okay,’ said Rafe, quietly. And they came together in the summer light, soft on Gwyneth’s golden hair and Rafe’s long eyelashes, soft on the rippling water and the gentle perfume of the roses, where they kissed in secret as long as the summer afternoon, and the white flowers blew in the breeze, and no-one else found the heart of the maze at all.

‘Not this way,’ said Fay, only half-joking.

‘That’ll take us to the exit, won’t it?’ said Arthur.

‘No, definitely not!’

They looked at each other and smiled.

‘Well, why don’t you go
this
way and I’ll go
this
way?’ said Fay, smiling.

‘I wish it could have been that simple last time,’ grumbled Arthur, but he too was smiling. And he embraced her one last time, and they separated.

At first, he scarcely noticed it getting colder. It was so pleasant, after the heat of the day, to feel a cool breeze through his shirt.

But it was definitely feeling cooler. Practically chilly. Arthur shivered in his shirt. It was late July – why so chilled? He looked overhead, and the bright blue sky of the morning was rapidly darkening. Even the green on the walls, and the trees of the park he could see up above him looked oddly different – with a start he realized they were turning brown.

This couldn’t be right. But it was properly cold now; there was a frost in the air, and the grass was crackling beneath his feet. He started to move faster, breaking twigs. The cold air froze in his lungs.

It started to snow.

This was ridiculous. It must be one of those freak storm things that blow in from Greenland: El Niño, something like that. In the meantime, he would have to get somewhere warm or put some more clothes on. He worried about the other people trapped in the maze, but he couldn’t see or hear any signs of anyone at all – maybe they’d already left.

He wasn’t sure for how long he tried to struggle through the maze, but the snow came down harder and harder, and he held his thin shirtsleeve over his face to try and make out a way ahead.

Finally – and it was, very quickly, becoming dark – he stumbled through a gap in the hedge and into a part of the park he hadn’t visited before.

‘God, there you are,’ said the familiar voice. ‘That took you bloody well forever. I’ve watched frogspawn evolve into monkeys in the time that just took you.’

Arthur looked up crossly. ‘Yes, well, your concept of time wasn’t the best to begin with.’

‘Nonsense.’ Lynne took out a heavy pocket watch, and tapped it twice. ‘It is absolutely and immutably, two thousand years past four. And we are late!’

‘Late for what?’ said Arthur. ‘And why is it so cold?’

‘Just … um, freak storm,’ said Lynne. ‘El Niño?’

She handed him a large fur.

‘Is that real fur?’ said Arthur.

‘I don’t know, is that real pleurisy?’

Arthur would have worn the still beating hide of a Disney fawn at this point, so didn’t argue, threw it on – it was wonderfully warm – and followed Lynne as she hurried across the fields.

‘Where are we going?’ he said, more than once. Lynne shushed him.

‘How are you feeling?’ she asked. ‘As your therapist, I mean.’

‘Not bad,’ said Arthur. ‘Things are – well, you know.’

‘Do you miss Sven?’

‘Yes, but … more … I just can’t believe … how could he be there and then not?’

Lynne’s voice softened. ‘You made the right choice, Arthur.’

‘But still,’ said Arthur, shaking his head. ‘It just … it means it wasn’t worth it.’

Lynne reached the end of the clearing, and they pushed their way through some trees which were covered and frosted with snow.

‘Now,’ she said. ‘Where were we?’

In front of them was the river; great, wide and, to Arthur’s stupefaction, completely frozen.

All up and down it, as far as the eye could see, were people, stalls, colour, and light. Braziers from which people were selling chestnuts were actually lit on the ice. Children skated, screeching and laughing, in and out of the crowd.