Christmas Wishes (36 page)

‘Too late,’ her companion said. ‘There’s a girl …’

He stopped speaking as trembling hands seized Joy’s and Gillian began to berate her and hug her all at the same time, whilst Joy gave up all pretence of being brave and self-confident and wept, taking her twin’s proffered hanky and blowing her nose heartily.

Presently, however, she regained control and turned to her rescuer. ‘This is my sister – my twin sister,’ she explained. She turned back to Gillian. ‘This gentleman saw I’d got amongst the rocks by mistake and rescued me. I don’t know what might have happened if he’d not seen I was in trouble.’ She held out her hand, and after a second’s hesitation her rescuer grasped it. ‘I’m so grateful, truly I am,’ Joy said awkwardly. ‘You might well have saved my life, because I kept thinking that if I fell and bashed my head …’

‘’S awright, queen,’ the man said diffidently. ‘Glad to have been of use.’ He chuckled. ‘Now off wi’ you, because I reckon you’ve had a bad fright and need to sit down and recover yourself.’ He waved aside Gillian’s heartfelt thanks but could not resist telling her that in his opinion Joy should not have been left alone.

‘Actually, she wasn’t alone, though she thought she was,’ Gillian said. ‘I wasn’t going to tell her, because I know she likes to be independent, but one of our party refused to leave her on her own on the beach. He stayed about ten yards away but unfortunately, what with the hot sun and the meal we’d just eaten, he fell asleep. He awoke to find her gone and was in a rare old state, so he rushed to find us, only we had no idea where she was either. Now he’s quartering the beach …’

‘Poor Edward – I take it it was Edward who stayed behind?’ Joy interposed. She chuckled. ‘We’d best go after him, Gillian; it wouldn’t do to lose two people in one day.’

‘That’s right, missy, but get some clothes on because the sun’s mortal hot,’ her rescuer said. ‘Oh, hang on – there’s someone slogging along the beach towards us, coming from the direction of the pier; would it be your pal? Sandy hair and freckles?’

‘That’s him,’ Gillian and Joy said in chorus, Gillian adding: ‘And the dark-haired feller just behind him is Keith. I’m sure they’ll be as grateful to you as we are.’

‘Forget it,’ Joy’s rescuer said gruffly. ‘And now I’d better be gettin’ back to the missus or she’ll think I’ve run away to sea.’

The twins repeated their thanks as the man’s shuffling footsteps faded and the two boys joined them. Joy smiled in their direction and gave her sister’s hand a convulsive squeeze. ‘It was all my fault,’ she said contritely. ‘I was so stupid; a group of people passed me …’ She told the story of her foolish flight as Gillian began to lead her towards their encampment on the rocks, assuring Edward as they went that no one could possibly blame him for Joy’s mad behaviour.

As they walked, arm in arm, Joy felt something trickle down her legs; was it seawater or blood? She pulled at Gillian’s hand and bent her head to look, and just for a split second she saw her own legs, scratched and bruised, with a thin trickle of blood running down her shin. She gasped, and started to tell Gillian that she could see, but then everything was blackness once more and Gillian was saying they would have to take her back to the hotel and get some sticking plasters before they all caught a tram to the top of the Great Orme.

As they sat on the grass at the summit of the Great Orme, Keith suggested that the three of them might like to visit Llandudno again over the August bank holiday weekend, but though they liked the idea neither Edward nor Joy felt that it was fair on Keith and Gillian.

‘We could come again at the end of August or early September, just before your job here finishes,’ Edward suggested. ‘We’ll have to see how we go on. Both Joy and I hope to be in reasonable jobs and earning a salary quite soon, so we should be able to afford another coach trip. Only next time, we’ll provide the picnic.’

Keith pressed Gillian to come down on bank holiday Monday, but Gillian was oddly evasive. ‘I’m not sure what I’ll be doing,’ she said. ‘As you know, the Ocean Assurance Company employs me as holiday relief …’

‘Oh, come on, Gilly,’ Keith said impatiently. ‘No insurance company would dream of expecting any employee to work on bank holiday Monday. It’s different for me because the hotel will be packed to bursting and as busy as it’s possible to be, but …’

‘There you are, you see!’ Gillian said triumphantly. ‘Even if I
could
get down, I wouldn’t see much of you, would I? It’s no fun playing the machines on the pier by yourself, or buying fish and chips and sharing them with the seagulls because the friend you’ve come to see is working. If I could come on a Wednesday, of course … but Ocean Assurance wouldn’t release me again, so I’m afraid we’re doomed not to meet until your work here finishes.’

Keith pulled a face. ‘And then I’ll be getting ready to return to Cambridge and you’ll be swotting for your Higher School Certificate,’ he said in a disgruntled tone. ‘Anyone would think we weren’t going steady!’

‘Well, we’re not,’ Gillian snapped. ‘We’re too young for that sort of commitment. I’m only seventeen and you’re only two years older; either of us might meet someone else.’

‘I shan’t; meet anyone else, I mean,’ Keith said quickly. ‘You know how I feel about you, Gilly.’

‘And
don’t
call me Gilly; you know I hate it. Why, even my twin doesn’t shorten my name,’ Gillian said crossly. ‘Don’t start taking me for granted, Keith Bain.’

Keith began to mutter indignantly that he was only taking her for granted because that was how she treated him, but Joy felt she could not let Gillian forget that their lovely day had largely been possible only because of Keith. ‘Shut up,
Gilly
,’ she said brusquely. ‘You’re tired and irritable and don’t mean a word you’ve said. Just you apologise to Keith, thank him for a lovely day, and tell me what I’m sitting here staring at.’

Edward, who had been very silent since Joy’s experience on the beach, came over and sat down next to her. ‘I’ll tell you what we’re looking at,’ he said quietly. ‘And I’ll tell you how sorry I am …’

But Joy hushed him at once. ‘If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a dozen times, it was all my own fault,’ she reminded him. ‘And before you say another word I’ll tell you what I
think
I’m looking at.’

Edward laughed and squeezed her hand. ‘You’re a generous lass,’ he said. ‘Fire ahead, then.’

Joy began to speak in a hollow, echoing voice, the tone she had once heard a fortune-teller at the fair use. ‘I see a wide expanse of ocean with tiny waves, and purple mountains in the background,’ she said. ‘I see fields of golden corn and gentle, sloping green meadows, dotted with sheep. I see a cliff edge and a blue sky, and warm yellow sunshine …’

‘Not bad, but you’ve left out miles and miles of sand, ridged by the waves, and something else which you must have been hearing all day,’ he said, and when Joy, after much thought, admitted herself baffled, he announced triumphantly: ‘Seagulls, my dear little halfwit; they’re everywhere, great strong wings taking them round and round the highest cliffs, and then they come down, all greedy yellow eyes and sharp beaks, to see if they can persuade us to part with sandwich crusts.’

‘Oh, I wish I could feed them and stroke their lovely white backs,’ Joy said longingly, and heard Edward chuckle.

‘Their backs are dove grey; only their undersides are white,’ he told her. ‘And I’m not sure they’d appreciate being stroked.’ She heard him rummaging in the picnic hamper, then felt some pieces of bread being pushed into her hand. ‘Throw them one at a time, as high as you can, and I’ll tell you whether you hit or miss. ‘By the time you’ve run out of bread, we’ll have to catch the very next tram to the town, because we don’t want to miss the coach.’

‘Couldn’t we walk down?’ Joy asked hopefully, but Gillian, overhearing, immediately vetoed the idea. ‘It would take too long,’ she assured her sister. ‘Come on then, let’s get going.’ She turned her head and addressed Keith. ‘I bet the hamper’s as light as a feather now that we’ve eaten just about everything.’

‘As light as a gull’s feather,’ Joy said. ‘Oh, what a wonderful day this has been!’

Keith felt very alone when he saw the other three climbing aboard the coach and taking possession of the back seat. He had often envied Gillian her twin’s companionship and now he felt a twinge of envy of Edward as well, because Gillian had told him that Billy and Doris Williams were the proud parents of five sons and a daughter.

Now, having spent a day with Edward as well as with Gillian’s twin, Keith had begun to feel part of a real group, an enjoyable sensation which he hoped to repeat when they were all in Liverpool once more. He was standing on the bottom step of the coach, bidding farewell to his three friends, when the vehicle’s engine roared into life and he stepped hastily back on to the paving stones. The noise of the engine drowned their words but he knew they were thanking him and saying goodbye as well as waving and, in Joy’s case, blowing kisses. Keith laughed; it had seemed strange to begin with that she was exactly like the girl he planned to make his wife – oh, not for many years, but eventually – but it was extraordinary how quickly one could grow accustomed. They were an extremely pretty pair, too, though Joy did not seem aware of the fact, which made her easier company in a way than his beloved Gillian.

He knew that Gillian was academically very bright indeed and she had several times referred to her twin as being the more practical of the two, though he had seen no sign of this. Joy had done very well at Blinkers, coming out with a sheaf of diplomas, and she was well read, too, always quoting the classics; she must have memorised great chunks of Shakespeare if her conversation was any guide. Keith had felt uncomfortable in her presence at first, but very soon her liveliness and sense of humour had made him forget her disability, and by the time they had paddled in the sea and begun their picnic he had felt totally at ease with her and eager for her friendship.

Edward, too, was someone Keith wanted for a friend. The other fellow was older than he, though only by a few months, but they had got along very well. Edward was reading accountancy and Keith himself was reading medicine, so one might have been forgiven for thinking they had little in common, but this had not proved to be the case. Keith was fascinated by engines, as was Edward, and both were fans of Everton football club. Before they parted they had arranged to go to a match together when both were back in Liverpool, and Keith was already looking forward to introducing this new chap to his friends.

He waited until the coach was out of sight, then sighed and headed for the promenade once more. He would not be back on duty until the following day, but he decided he might as well take the hamper back to Mrs Hubbard and assure her that the contents had been truly appreciated by one and all.

As he walked, he wondered why Gillian’s attitude towards him had suddenly become, if not antagonistic, definitely less loving. Without being conceited Keith considered that he was quite a catch, and had assumed that Gillian was aware of this. Yet today she had been rather offhand with him, not at all her usual appreciative self. If he were honest her twin had been the friendlier of the two. Odd! He knew himself too well to imagine that he could take on a blind girlfriend; he had no intention of being more than brotherly to young Joy. Besides, he had always been sports mad; he and Gillian played tennis together in the mixed doubles, and had won cups for their prowess. She did not swim but he meant to teach her, and like himself she excelled at most forms of sport. Joy, because of her disability, could scarcely indulge in any sporting activity. But what was more important was the fact that he had always thought he and Gillian would make a match of it one day, and now she had made him worry that she was cooling off.

If that was so, however, he knew he could easily find another girl, though he had no desire to do so. Perhaps he was only imagining that Gillian was no longer quite so fond; perhaps it was just the excitement of being in a strange town which had made her seem different. He would wait and see how things stood when they were all back in Liverpool.

Whistling a tune beneath his breath, Keith set off for the hotel.

Chapter Thirteen

Chalky went round to the Finnigans’ house as soon as he had finished his breakfast. He went the back way, uncomfortably aware that he was not looking forward to the forthcoming interview. He knew Irene very well indeed, mainly because of the many times Alex had paired them off together, and though Irene had always put a good face on it Chalky knew she had not been pleased.

On previous occasions, however, there had been no question of Irene going anywhere with Alex, because he had always refused even Irene’s most innocent suggestion that they spend time together. Outings to Sefton Park, trips on the ferry to New Brighton, a visit to the cinema had all been passed immediately on to Chalky, and though Irene affected complaisance Chalky knew that on each occasion he had been, if not actively resented, at least second best.

Now however, knocking on the Finnigans’ back door, he was horribly aware that Irene might well have believed herself to have broken down Alex’s resistance at last. This time the invitation to take a trip to the Isle of Man had come from Alex. True, it had been given because Irene had been unable to join the twins and Edward on their outing to Llandudno, but Chalky rather feared that this fact would have been pushed aside by Irene. He had seen her only once since Alex had issued the invitation and had noted both her triumph and her excitement, realising that the poor girl honestly thought that Alex had given in at last and had begun to take her passion for him seriously.

So when the back door shot open and Irene gave him a big smile and invited him in, Chalky entered the house with considerable trepidation. The kitchen was crowded with Finnigans large and small, and all of them were dressed ready to go out. ‘Mornin’, young Chalky,’ Fred Finnigan said jovially. ‘Ain’t it a lovely mornin’? Seein’ as how young Irene here is off on a pleasure trip, Mother and meself thought we’d take the kids to Seffy for the day. Mother’s packed a picnic, Timmy’s got a bag full of scraps for the ducks and Solly and meself have got half a dozen bottles of Corona, so we mean to have us dinners by the boating lake, and have a pot of tea and a bun at that there caff down by the water for us tea.’