When the Heather Blooms

WHEN THE HEATHER BLOOMS

by
Gwen Kirkwood

Following the death of her brother Victoria Pringle has lost touch with his fiancée so it is a surprise to learn that she has a nephew, Peter. In spite of his upbringing he has inherited his ancestor's love of the land but he faces fierce opposition if he follows his dream.

Libby and Billy Lennox are eager  to resolve the family feud with the Crainby's in order to help Charlotte find the security and love she so desperately needs.

 Willie Pringle is devastated when tragedy strikes. His daughter, Mimi, needs all her courage and determination to fight for her own future happiness.

Sweet land of the bay and wild-winding deeps
Where loveliness slumbers at even,
While far in the depth of the blue water sleeps
A calm little motionless heaven!
Thou land of the valley, the moor, and the hill,
Of the storm and the proud rolling wave-
Yes, thou art the land of fair liberty still,
And the land of my forefathers' grave!

Extract from
Caledonia by James Hogg

Chapter One

Andrew Pringle leaned his sinewy arm on the open window of the cattle lorry while he waited for the red mail van to negotiate Langmune's narrow farm track.

‘'Morning Kevin,' he called as the van drew abreast, ‘bringing us the usual bills, are you?'

‘They're not all bills,' Kevin replied, ‘there's one frae Edinburgh.' Over the roof of the van Andrew raised quizzical dark brows and his mouth twitched as he met the laughter his wife's eyes. The country postmen knew everybody's business.

Victoria had helped Andrew load up three heifers for the November sale at Lockerbie market. She shared his pride in the stock they reared and she gave a good luck wave before she turned to take the bundle of letters from Kevin.

‘That's a new lorry, eh?' he remarked.

‘Yes, it's more convenient having our own transport now that we have a regular supply of heifers to sell. Andrew likes to get there early to get the cattle washed and brushed up ready for the ring.'

‘Ye'll be hoping for a good trade today then?'

‘We are,' Victoria smiled, eyeing the letters. ‘We shall need it with this lot.'

His gaze followed hers.

‘The one frae Edinburgh is on top …' he offered, hoping she would open it. Victoria looked. She recognised the handwriting and her heartbeats quickened but she slid the letter to the bottom of the pile. Kevin sighed with disappointment. Victoria knew well enough what he wanted and she shook her head ruefully. At one time it had been Doris on the Darlonachie telephone exchange who knew everybody's affairs but there was a central exchange in the town now.

In the kitchen she drew the letter from the bottom of the pile. In sixteen years she had never received more than a Christmas card from Catriona Sterling. Why did she have such a feeling of foreboding as she slit open the envelope? Memories of her twin brother, Mark, came flooding back. They had shared a bond which neither distance nor deceit could sever. Mark had loved Catriona but he had been killed during the war.

Victoria was happily married and blessed with three children but she knew there would always be an ache in her heart for Mark. His last request to her had been a plea that she should befriend his fiancée, Catriona McTeir but Catriona had rejected her friendship. She had resented the bond they shared and which had been more precious because they were orphans and separated for the first ten years of their lives.

Doctor Grantly and his wife, Anna, had treated Mark as a well-loved, adopted nephew. They were proud when he qualified as a doctor and stricken with grief when he died fighting for his country. They had arranged a memorial service for him in Darlonachie village Kirk. The whole village had attended but Catriona, his fiancée, did not come from Edinburgh. Victoria had been stunned when she received a card the following Christmas with a brief message to say she had married Doctor Deane Sterling. She still remembered the shock and hurt she had felt. Last year, for the first time, Catriona had enclosed a snapshot of her three children, a tall dark-haired boy and two younger fair-haired girls, but why was she writing a letter after all these years?

Victoria scanned the single sheet. She gasped and read it again.

…I have no right to ask any favours from you but I have had time for contemplation and regret in recent months. I pray you can find it in your heart to forgive me and allow me to explain before it is too late.

Rejecting your friendship was not my decision but it was weak and wrong of me to succumb to a stronger character than mine. I apologise with all my heart. I know Mark longed for us to be friends. I loved him dearly although we were so young. There are things I need to explain. I need your help. If you cannot pardon my conduct, for Mark's sake, I beg you to come to Edinburgh and visit me here at the hospital. Time is running out for me …

As she folded the letter Victoria had an uncanny feeling that Mark was standing beside her, urging her to go to Catriona without delay. She wished Andrew had been at home. They shared all their problems. What could Catriona Sterling want of her? Why was time running out? Catriona had been a year older than herself and Mark but surely forty-one was too young to be seriously ill? To die?

Victoria pushed back her chair. She would show Andrew the letter as soon as he came home but in her heart she knew she must go to Edinburgh. Her stomach fluttered as though a thousand butterflies were trapped inside. She had never travelled further than Dumfries or Carlisle, and even then she had rarely been on her own. But she wouldn't be able to put Catriona out of her mind until she had seen her so the sooner she went to Edinburgh the better. Mentally she was already planning food to leave ready for Andrew and Fraser. A smile lifted the corners of her mouth as she considered her eldest son. At eighteen he seemed to be permanently ravenous since he started working on the farm. It was a blessing the rationing had ended at last. Even ten-year-old Lachie had a healthy appetite and could eat almost as much as his father. First she must find out the times of the trains from Lockerbie to Edinburgh and back again. If she caught an early train she could ask Libby to give her a lift to the station on her way to work.

Libby was the eldest of her three children. Two months ago, on a beautiful day at the end of September, she and Billy Lennox had been married in Darlonachie village Kirk. The two of them were happy, settling in at Darlonachie Home Farm, less than a mile away down the glen from Langmune. Libby was in charge of the laboratories at the local creamery. Since the war many married women carried on working. Libby seemed determined to prove she could be independent and have a successful career, even though it meant being away from Billy all day. She had never spent a whole day away from Andrew and he didn't approve of Libby working away from the farm now she was married. There was tension between the two of them over this issue.

‘Give them time,' Victoria had soothed. ‘They're young to be married. Libby will give up working away when the babies come along.'

‘We were just as young when we married. It's not normal. I couldn't wait until midday to see you.' Victoria stood in the middle of the kitchen remembering how he had nuzzled the softness of her neck and drawn her close, loving her with as much passion as though they were newly married themselves. She hoped with all her heart that their daughter would find as much happiness in her marriage as she and Andrew had done. The years had flown by. They loved each other as passionately as ever and she didn't feel old enough to have a married daughter.

Victoria brought her mind back to her proposed journey with an effort, wishing she didn't need to go, but she recalled Mark's earnest face and the promise she had made. Her thoughts returned to Catriona's letter, wishing she had given more details. She didn't even know where to find the hospital. It was a relief when Andrew arrived home from the market late in the afternoon. He looked pleased with himself.

‘We got champion and top price for the Jenny heifer,' he announced with a wide grin, ‘and the other two sold well.'

‘I'm glad,' Victoria said but Andrew sensed there was something on her mind. He had known her all her life. He had always been sensitive to her slightest mood.

‘What's wrong, Victoria?' She gave him the letter. He frowned as he read it.

‘You feel you ought to go, I suppose. I'll come with you.'

‘I thought that's what you would say,' Victoria smiled, ‘but I think I should go alone. It sounds as though Catriona wants to talk. What do you think she means by “time is running out”?'

‘I hope I'm wrong, but it sounds as though she is dying. I don't want you getting lost roaming around the city. Promise you'll take a taxi from the station, Victoria. Have you enough cash?'

‘I'll dip into the egg money. You may need to draw from the bank to pay some of the wages at the weekend though.'

‘Take plenty of money with you.'

‘Dearest Andrew, don't worry about me. I don't want to go but I shall feel better when I hear what's troubling Catriona.'

‘Guilty conscience I should think,' Andrew said, ‘considering the way she treated everyone after Mark died. She's lucky you're so forgiving.'

‘I promised Mark, and her letter sounds desperate, don't you think?'

‘Yes, I'm afraid so, though we could do without more bad news.'

‘I know.' Victoria's thoughts moved to Joe and Polly Pringle, Andrew's parents, and the kindest couple she had ever known. ‘We have had enough sadness in the short time since Libby's wedding. It was such a happy day. Your father seemed to enjoy it as much as anyone.'

‘I'm sure he did, Vicky dear,' Andrew sighed. ‘At least it was a peaceful way to go. He just went to sleep that night as usual, Ma said.'

‘Your mother has been very brave,' Victoria said. ‘You know I wouldn't mind a bit if she decides to come and live here with us.'

‘I know that, and so does Mother. She's always thought of you as her daughter, but for now she's clinging to her independence. We must let her decide.'

Victoria nodded. Polly and Joe Pringle had given her a home when she was thirteen years old, after the death of her great-grandmother. She had always loved them. They were the nearest she had to parents of her own. Her thoughts moved to the Grantlys. ‘I wonder if I shall be able to tell Mrs Grantly I have seen Catriona before she moves away?'

‘It depends what Catriona has to say,' Andrew cautioned, ‘especially now Mrs Grantly is a widow and on her own. Catriona knew how much Doctor Grantly did for Mark and how they loved him, but she didn't consider them either. I agree you should go to Edinburgh, but only because I know your conscience would never be easy otherwise, especially if it does turn out that she is dying.'

‘Yes,' Victoria shivered. ‘I think that's what she means.'

‘It will be a stressful day. Are you sure you want to go alone, Vicky?'

‘I think I should.' She hugged him.

As soon as she heard Andrew creeping down the stairs for the milking the next morning Victoria was wide awake. She was up and dressed in her best Hebe Sports grey suit and a crisp white blouse long before she needed to be. Her hat and gloves and bag lay on the bed and her shoes were polished and waiting for her to step into them. She made herself a packet of sandwiches. She paced the kitchen, went twice to the bathroom when she didn't need to, sat down and got up, and called Lachie to get ready for school far too early.

It was a relief when Libby drew up in her little blue car and gave a toot-toot on the horn, more for her father's benefit than to let her mother know she had arrived. Victoria was out of the house and into the car almost before Andrew could get out of the byre to bid her goodbye.

‘See her onto the train, Libby,' he instructed. ‘Remember, you must take a taxi from the station, Victoria,' he called as he stood watching them disappear down the farm track.

The taxi driver seemed to sense Victoria's nervousness as she showed him the address of a hospice. He consulted with one of the other drivers on the best route to take. It seemed a long way to Victoria, perched on the edge of her seat, clutching the magazine and the packet of fruit she had purchased for Catriona. At last the taxi turned in between two large red brick pillars onto a half-moon drive, drawing to a halt before the wide double doors.

‘Do you want me to wait, ma'am?' the taxi driver asked.

‘No, thank you,' Victoria declined and told him what time she had to be back at the station that afternoon.

‘I'll be here to get you in good time,' the man promised, ‘if you're sure you want to stay so long?' His mate had said patients came here for treatment for cancer and they were usually too ill for long visits and rarely came out alive.

‘I've come a long way.'

‘I'll give you a card. Ask a nurse to telephone and one of us will collect you.'

‘Th-thank you, you're very kind,' Victoria murmured. Her stomach rumbled with nerves.

Once inside, Victoria was directed to the second floor where she was asked to wait in a small room.

‘Doctor Sterling left instructions that his wife has not to be pestered with visitors,' the nurse informed her. Victoria stared in dismay. ‘She does seem brighter today and her son cycles over to see her before he goes home from school and she is always happy to see him. I'll ask her. What name shall I say?'  

The nurse returned with a beaming smile.

‘I've never seen Mrs Sterling so eager to see anyone,' she declared, and led Victoria along a corridor to a single room. Victoria stood in silence for a few seconds and hoped she had not gaped with her mouth open. She barely recognised Catriona. She was like an aged skeleton of the girl Victoria remembered. Her skin looked greenish-yellow and it was drawn over the bones of her face, making her eyes seem enormous in their sockets and her teeth too big for her small face.

‘Victoria,' she whispered, ‘Oh, Victoria. How can I thank you for coming …?' Her eyes swam with tears. The sight of them cleansed Victoria's heart of grievances.  

‘I'll leave you with your visitor for ten minutes, shall I, Mrs Sterling?' the nurse asked.

‘This is one visitor I would like to keep as long as she is able to stay, Nurse Kerr,' Catriona said. ‘Please tell Sister Wilson we don't want to be disturbed, will you?'

‘Well! That's a change!' Sister said when the nurse repeated Catriona's words. ‘Doctor Sterling gave instructions. Who is she, nurse?'

‘Her name's Mrs Pringle; she must be a relation because she's just like the Sterlings' son.'

‘Is she?' Curiosity got the better of Sister Wilson. As soon as the nurse had disappeared she went to peer in the small glass viewing panel. Victoria had taken off her jacket and drawn her chair close up to Catriona's bed as she had requested. Sister saw her patient wipe away tears. There would be hell to pay from Doctor Sterling if she got upset. She glanced at her watch. He would be taking surgery but it wouldn't do any harm to let him know his wife had a visitor.