Sophie reaches for the Coke and flips off the cap on the edge of the ledge. ‘Really, Aunt Ellie? Uncle Thomas never brought you out to see them?’
Ellie laughs. ‘Oh, no. You didn’t do that kind of thing back then. But Thomas loved the whales. He had lots of stories about seeing them when he was out fishing. He said they were a good omen.’
Florie pulls the basket of food out of the store cupboard. ‘Right, so. Anybody as gut-foundered as me? We’ve gots egg salad and ham and mustard, not forgetting Becca’s date squares, of course. Don’t eat too much, though. We’ve got baked cod, brewis and scrunchions and my special recipe birthday cake for supper, and I expects everyone to have a piece of that.’
Chapter 34
Norwich, England – 4 October 1942
Dottie is reaching the crescendo of ‘Ode to Joy’ when she hears someone knocking loudly on the door.
‘Hello? Hello? Anybody home?’
Huffing, she slides off the piano bench and stomps across the sitting room carpet and out into the hallway. She opens the door. A telegraph boy in a navy-blue uniform and pillbox hat edged in red piping fidgets on the stoop. He thrusts out his hand.
‘Telegram.’
‘Telegram?’
‘For, uh, Ellie Burgess. Any reply?’
‘I’ll take that.’ Dottie tears open the envelope before the boy has a chance to object.
3.45 LONDON
DEAR ELLIE MAE – REGISTRY OFFICE SORTED – OCT 11 2PM – MEET YOU LIVERPOOL ST IN MORNING – BRING MARRIAGE LICENCE – I LOVE YOU – THOMAS
Dottie gasps. She glances at the telegram boy and shakes her head. ‘No reply.’
Clutching the telegram, Dottie steps back into the hallway and shuts the door. She wanders into the kitchen and spies Ellie through the open window, bent over a flower bed, humming as she pulls weeds from between the parsnips.
Dottie sits on a chair by the table. She fingers the telegram and a thought grows in her mind. Ellie opens the kitchen door and Dottie slides the telegram into the pocket of her skirt.
‘Can you believe this weather, Dottie? It’s like summer out there today.’ She turns on the tap at the sink and washes the dirt off her hands. ‘Was there someone at the door? I thought I heard a bicycle bell. We really must get the doorbell fixed.’
‘You must have heard me on the piano. I’m practising Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’.’
Ellie picks up the kettle. ‘Would you like some tea? I’m about to put the kettle on.’
‘Yes, please, but I’ll have to run out to the Co-op for some milk. Poppy had the last of it this morning.’
‘All right. Be sure to shut the gate. You haven’t found the key, have you? Poppy’s misplaced it somewhere.’
Dottie shakes her head as she rushes out of the kitchen.
‘And pick up some Robertson’s! Poppy’s eaten it all. Marmalade if they have it.’
***
Dottie slams the front gate shut and turns right down the road. Her mind is a whirl. Should she run across the quad and meet up with Poppy when lessons were finished and show him the telegram? Or should she just … tear it up? Poppy would be so upset if he read it. Ellie would get into so much trouble. That would be good to see. Saint Ellie could do no wrong in Poppy’s eyes.
The thought that had planted itself in her mind like a seed grows, as strong as a weed. If Ellie thinks Thomas has gone off and forgotten about her, maybe she’ll start thinking about George again. She’ll forget all about Thomas and stay here in Norwich with her and Poppy and George. They’ll be a family together, the way it’s supposed to be.
She didn’t like Thomas at all. Sure, he was handsome, and he could be funny, though his friend Charlie was much funnier. But, he wasn’t George. She could get George to do anything she wanted. So what if it was just because he wanted to make Ellie happy? She didn’t care. George was sweet. A bit dull – even she could see that – but sweet. Thomas was, well, he never paid her any notice, and that just wouldn’t do at all.
Dottie stops on the corner by the church and unfolds the telegram. Why did Thomas have to come to Norfolk and make a mess of everything? She takes a deep breath and tears the telegram in two. She’s about to tear it again when she stops.
No, Dottie. No, you never know when it might come in handy. Ellie would never want Poppy to see it. Trying to keep everything a secret, weren’t you, Ellie?
She folds the two pieces of paper together and slides them back into her pocket. She’ll keep the telegram. Put it in a safe place. You never know when it might come in handy.
Chapter 35
Tippy’s Tickle – 16 September 2001
Emmett grasps the jagged rock at the face of the cave and pulls himself up the cliff face until he secures a foothold on the cave floor. He clambers into the cool dampness, the safe place.
He’d had to come the long way today, and hide the boat behind some rocks on the far side of the headland at Seal Point, what with Sam coming out this way on the cruiser with the others later. Tricky manoeuvring that, what with the waves, but luckily the wind wasn’t up too much. Another couple of weeks and the waves would make getting to the cave impossible. Winter was hard. No place to escape to. No place to go where he couldn’t be bothered by anyone. Eight months before he could get back to his cave.
Everybody’s a busybody in a small place like Tippy’s Tickle. Sam’d said once you could disappear in a big city like Boston. People keeps to themselves. That’d suit him just fine.
Unlooping his brown leather satchel, he takes out a paper bag and two of his mother’s white linen napkins. Spreading one of the napkins out over a flat rock at the mouth of the cave, he unloads the paper bag: a chicken sandwich, a dill pickle, a piece of blueberry duff, a bottle of Molson’s Canadian. He tucks the other napkin into his shirt collar and settles back to eat.
***
Emmett wipes his face with his handkerchief and rolls up the paper bag and the two napkins and stuffs them back into his satchel. Reaching into the bag, he removes a stack of papers. He slides out one of the papers and reads.
Something out on the water below the cliff catches his eye. The cruiser. He shrinks back against the cave wall. He can just make them out. Sam at the wheel with Becca, his mother and that Englishwoman. The boat comes to a stop. Florie totters from the stern to join the others just as a humpback breaches near the boat. Becca jumps around, clapping her hands.
Relief floods over him, like the warmth of the sun breaking through a thundercloud. Becca seems all right for all she went through yesterday. The fairies must’a just wanted to play.
He takes a swig of beer and slides out another piece of paper. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he settles down to read.
Chapter 36
Norwich, England – 13 November 1942
Ellie reaches into the drawer and lifts out the folded pink nylon negligee. She sits on the bed and runs he hands over the silky fabric. It had been dear, a week’s wages and eleven clothing coupons from the ration book, but she’d wanted to look special on her wedding night. The wedding night that hadn’t happened.
Thomas, why didn’t you telegram me like we’d agreed? I was ready to jump on the train to London. What happened? Did you change your mind? Are we still engaged? What am I to think, Thomas?