When the Heather Blooms (18 page)

‘N-no,' Mimi shook her head and the tears swamped her blue eyes again. ‘H-he's right. I'll never be able to dance like everyone else. I'd better be going home now.'

‘Stay for tea,' Libby urged. ‘I'll phone and tell them you're here. You can help me bathe Joe and Kirsty and I'll run you home later.'

‘All right.' Mimi brightened a little. She loved helping with the children. A while later Libby left Mimi having fun with her two boisterous offspring while she telephoned her mother.

‘The trouble is, Willie will not accept that his wee girl is growing up,' Victoria said. ‘Maybe he's right about her not being able to dance as well as other girls but I'm sure she would manage and she has to find out for herself. Mimi's never lacked courage.'

‘How can we persuade him to let her go then, Mum?'

‘I doubt if anyone can make Willie change his mind when he gets an idea in his head – except perhaps …'

‘Perhaps what?' Libby asked.

‘Peter might be able to persuade him. He could take our car and tell Willie he will bring Mimi home if she isn't enjoying it. Fraser has his own wee car now.'

‘Will you be seeing Peter?'

‘Of course. He's coming up tomorrow for his lunch. There's plenty of time before Saturday.'

Peter was dismayed to hear Mimi had been upset. He went over to High Bowie as soon as lunch was over. He had to get Willie on his own. It would never do if Mimi heard them discussing her again.

He and Willie walked to the very top of High Bowie hill and still Peter hadn't managed to broach the subject that was uppermost in his mind.

‘Come on, laddie, get it off your chest, whatever it is that's bothering you. You have a frown like my old granny. Is there something the matter with your sheep?'

‘No, no, they're fine. Mr Draper arranged the transport and they travelled without any bother. They had a compartment of the lorry to themselves. You'll have to come and inspect them soon and give me your opinion.'

‘Opinion!' Willie echoed with a bitter laugh. ‘Nobody wants my opinion on anything else it seems. Not even Mary …'

‘Oh? Have you had a disagreement?' Peter pretended ignorance.

‘We had a wee difference of opinion over Mimi.'

‘Speaking of Mimi,' Peter seized his chance, ‘we're hoping she'll agree to come to the dance with us to celebrate her success in her exams. Aunt Victoria says I can borrow their car so I can bring her home when she's had enough, or if she doesn't enjoy dancing.' He hurried on allowing Willie no chance to argue or interrupt. ‘She told me a while ago she's never been at a proper dance so we thought it was a good chance to take her when we're all going to be there to look after her.'

‘Och, I dinna think it's a good idea,' Willie scowled. ‘I told Mary that. She's only sixteen. Anyway, I ken what young fellows are like. You'll forget you've taken her and leave her sitting on her own at the side of the dance floor. I've seen many a miserable lassie …'

‘You must have a very poor opinion of me.' Peter pretended to be hurt and angry; he was disappointed Willie didn't trust him to take care of Mimi. ‘Can you believe I'd take Mimi then forget about her? When I first came to Darlonachie Mimi was like a ray of sunshine. I was so bloody miserable and she cheered me up every time I saw her smile. I owe her for that.'

Willie looked at him sideways. He knew Peter never used even mild swear words as a rule. He frowned.

‘Er … we-ell, laddie, it's not that I don't trust you, but I know what young fellows are like when you get together …'

‘You're forgetting I've been away for most of the last four years. I shall be like a stranger. Mimi and I will be good for each other. We'll stick together. Tell her I'll pick her up about eight o' clock. I don't know whether Lachie is coming with me or if he's going with Fraser. Oh, and tell Mimi it's an ordinary dance so most of the girls will be wearing trousers and a fancy top.' Willie opened his mouth to protest but no words came and Peter hurried on to another topic.

‘I'd like you to come and see my ram lamb. I'd like to have kept him when he's so well bred but he's too closely related to my three ewe lambs.' Willie knew he was being deliberately side-tracked but he liked Peter. If anyone could be trusted with Mimi it was him. He sighed. He loved her so much but he couldn't visualise her ever enjoying life like other young women and having boyfriends.

‘Don't worry if you can't dance all of the time,' Mary said, ‘we often sat out, but it is a good place to meet other young people and to chat. Your father and Uncle George were mad about the dancing when they were young so your father thinks that's the way it is for everybody, but they're not all like that. Would you like to go into Dumfries on Saturday morning and buy some new trousers and a pretty blouse?'

‘Oh Mum, could we?' Mimi's eyes shone with excitement. ‘Will Dad mind?'

‘Of course not. You deserve some new clothes when you've done so well in your exams. I'll tell you what, I'll leave the dinner ready for your father and we'll have ours in Binns. It will be a treat for me too.'

Mimi knew she would always remember that day. It was so rare for the two of them to go shopping together, or for her mother to enjoy herself away from High Bowie. It was a happy day. She persuaded her mother to buy herself a new skirt and she helped to choose it. Her mother seemed to want her opinion and she treated her as a companion. She began to feel she had left her childhood behind at last.

‘It seems strange to see girls dressing up in trousers for a dance but I'm glad you didn't choose one of those miniskirts that are in fashion, Mimi,' Mary remarked, her eye fixed on a tall girl with the shortest of miniskirts.

Peter arrived in Andrew's Volvo. Mimi was ready.

‘How will you get back to Croston when you return Uncle Andrew's car?' Mimi asked.

‘Don't worry about that,' Peter patted her knee. ‘I cycled up to Langmune but Uncle Andrew suggests I take the car home tonight and come for Sunday lunch. I'll cycle home in daylight tomorrow. I'm thinking of buying myself a second-hand car if I get a good price for my ram lamb. I've got my eye on a Morris Minor.' As they drew nearer the dance hall Peter sensed Mimi's nervousness.

‘You're looking lovely tonight, Mimi,' he said. ‘Your blouse is the same deep blue as your eyes. I can see I shall have to fight off half the fellows there.'

‘Oh Peter, you know very well no one else will want to dance with me so don't pretend,' Mimi said. ‘And don't think I expect you to be my nursemaid all evening. I know you haven't had many evenings for pleasure.'

‘Listen to me, Mimi, you pay too much attention to your father's opinion on dancing. It's different now. Even if we do get an odd slow waltz or a Scottish dance or two you'll manage fine, but everybody does their own thing for the dances these days. You must have seen them on the television dancing to The Beatles. You can do what suits you, so don't worry. Quite often the girls dance with each other if the lads are slow to join in. Some of the lads get very energetic of course and swing their partners over their shoulder. Just promise me you'll tell me when you've had enough, or if you're tired. Promise?'

‘All right, I promise, but I don't want to ruin your evening.'

‘The only way you'll do that is if you desert me for a young handsome fellow.'

 ‘You do talk rubbish,' Mimi laughed but when she looked at him he seemed serious. She was surprised and warmed when he met her glance and nodded. ‘I mean it, Mimi. I wouldn't have asked you to come if I hadn't wanted you for my partner.' Peter had said the words intending to reassure her but he realised they were true. He was looking forward to taking Mimi to her first dance. He loved to see her smile and the way her eyes lit up when she was happy. It always made his spirits rise.

 Fraser, Lachie, and his friend Tom Adamson were already there. Close behind them was Tom's older sister, Jade Adamson. Mimi's heart sank. Jade had been a prefect at the Academy when Mimi first started there. She was bossy and spiteful, quite unlike her younger sister, Iona, who was the same age as Mimi, although she was in a lower class. Jade Adamson was tall and sophisticated, dressed in a bright red miniskirt and a low-cut black top which clung to her slender curves. She was wearing a lot of make-up round her eyes and Mimi felt young and gauche in comparison. She wanted to turn round and go home. Peter sensed her uneasiness though he had no idea of the cause.

‘Don't be nervous, Mimi,' he said in a low voice, bending close to her ear so that she felt his breath caressing her cheek. ‘Come on …' He drew her onto the floor and moments later Jade Adamson was forgotten as she became absorbed in the rhythm, the beat, the noise, following Peter's manoeuvres and improvising with her own. He grinned down at her, tugged at her hand and drew her around him with a twirl. Mimi grinned back. She was beginning to discover a whole new world.

Sometimes Lachie drew her onto the floor, sometimes Fraser, but she always knew Peter was never far away.

‘Come on, you must join in this, Mimi,' he chuckled. ‘It's just a bit of fun.' He clasped her round the waist and she saw him looking around the dance floor. He caught Fraser's eye and jerked his head. They exchanged a grin and Fraser beckoned Lachie. They both came to join in, with Fraser on her other side. She was imprisoned by two strong arms at her back. Other lines were forming across the hall now. A young man came up to Fraser, hoping to join their line. ‘So you've shaken Jade off at last, have you, Frase? Who's the new chick?' His eyes were on Mimi and she blushed. ‘She's a real looker. Haven't seen her before …' Fraser glanced at Mimi, his eyes filled with laughter. He was just about to introduce her, but the light died from his face as Jade Adamson pushed herself into the line between him and Lachie. The other fellow raised his eyebrows. ‘What's her name?' He yelled over the increasing volume of the music.

‘She's his cousin. She's a cripple, that's why you haven't seen her around,' Jade Adamson shrugged. Mimi heard the words. She felt Fraser tense. He scowled. Peter had heard too. He met Fraser's angry glare.

‘We'll show the lot of 'em,' he said.

‘Aye, we will that.' Fraser nodded, his jaw clenched, then he relaxed and grinned. ‘Just follow our steps, Mimi.' He nodded to Peter and they lifted their arms. She was a foot above the floor. ‘You're light as a feather.' He ignored Jade and her expression grew sullen. The lines of dancers began, step to the right, step to the left, so many steps forward, half as many back. She recognised the old nursery rhyme “Horsey, Horsey,” as one of the tunes. Mimi was lost in no time when Fraser and Peter delighted in swinging her off her feet. When the dance finished Fraser moved away, determined to lose Jade, but Peter retained his hold around Mimi's waist. She fitted so snugly beneath his arm; her head just reached his shoulder.

‘We'll have one more dance and then we'll leave?' he said above the noise. She nodded, trying to glance at her watch. ‘It'll be ending soon and there's always a rabble to get out. I don't want anybody to bump Uncle Andrew's car,' Peter explained. She nodded. ‘I can't believe the time had flown so fast.'

Outside the air was crisp and cool after the heat of the dance hall, and it was quiet and peaceful with just the two of them. Peter settled her into the car but he didn't drive away. He turned towards her.

‘How did you enjoy your first dance, Mimi?' He wondered if the Adamson girl's remark had spoiled her evening. He need not have worried.

‘I loved it!' she said, smiling, her eyes shining. ‘Thank you for taking me, Peter.'

‘It was my pleasure. Maybe we'll be able to do it again. I know your father thinks you're a bit young yet so he'll not want you to go too often, and you'll be busy studying for your higher grades this year and I shall have to earn my salary as a manager, but maybe we could go to the Christmas dances, if you'd like that?'

‘I'd love it.' Mimi said, her young heart soaring, little dreaming of the changes which could turn a life upside down in a few short weeks.

Chapter Seventeen

Mimi was working hard towards her higher grade exams. She often went down to Lintysmill to practice her French conversation with Charlotte on Sunday afternoons. She enjoyed amusing Lucy and the other foster children Charlotte often seemed to have around. Rory and Robin considered it their second home.

‘What do you want to do when you've got your Higher Grades?' Josh asked one Sunday over tea. ‘You're very patient with the children, Mimi. Would you like to be a teacher?'

‘I don't know. I don't want to go away to training college.' She caught Peter's eyes and he smiled at her across the table.

‘Two years soon passes if it's what you want to do.' Most Sundays Peter spent time tending his sheep in Lintysmill fields and Josh often went with him. He had bought a second-hand maroon Morris Minor although he had not sold his prized ram lamb. Instead he had followed Willie's advice and bought some more pedigree Suffolk ewes to run with the well-bred ram and he had accepted Mr Stacey's offer to run the three related ewes with the Croston flock. They were commercial ewes but the Suffolk rams were pedigree and it was the best arrangement Peter could afford.

The days were short and dark as November drew to a close and Uncle Josh often strapped Mimi's cycle to the back of his car and ran her home to High Bowie. On this particular Sunday Peter offered to take her home instead.

‘You haven't forgotten you promised to come to the Christmas dances with me, have you, Mimi?' he asked when they were almost back to High Bowie. Mimi had dreamed of little else since he first mentioned the dances but she smiled and said of course she remembered.

‘There's one on Christmas Eve and another on Boxing Day, but I'll be seeing you before then to make proper arrangements. Do you like my little car? There'll be no problem about collecting you and seeing you home.'

December dawned and the days passed. When Mimi mentioned the dances Willie was filled with doubts again. This time his objection was that she was too young to be gallivanting. Mary smiled and winked at Mimi. Her look said “leave him to me”.

‘It's only a fortnight to Christmas. I think I'll drive to Dumfries on Monday and do some Christmas shopping,' she said. Later she asked Mimi if she would like a new dress to wear for the Christmas dance.

‘You think Dad will let me go?' Mimi asked.

‘He will when I've talked to him. I know you'll be safe with Peter; I suppose Fraser and Lachie will be there too?' Mimi nodded and hugged her mother.

Mary drove to Dumfries on Monday morning and spent a happy few hours browsing around the shops. She saw a dainty hexagonal watch on a gold bracelet in the window of one of the jewellers. She had promised to buy Mimi a gold watch for her eighteenth birthday but that was more than a year away but she stared at the watch for a long time. It would look so good on Mimi's slim wrist. It was more expensive than she had intended to pay but she might never see anything as lovely when she wanted it. Mimi deserved a few pretty things to give her confidence. Mary would have done anything she could to compensate for the blow life had dealt her beloved child.

She hurried back to the car. She had been longer than she intended. It would be almost dark by the time she got home. She could feel a headache coming on. She ought to have stopped for something to eat, or at least a cup of tea, but she hated going into a restaurant alone. She would have a drink before she tended the hens. She heaved a sigh of relief as she drove through Darlonachie and up the track, past Home Farm, on to High Bowie. She had no recollection of driving out of the town, but she was almost home. It was going to be a cold night. She blinked, trying hard to clear her vision. The car swerved violently as it caught the edge of the track; she managed to get it under control but the shock made her shiver. If the car had rolled over the edge … ‘Don't think about what might have happened,' she muttered. It was a relief when she drove into the familiar yard. She gathered her packages and carried them inside, dumping some on the table while she poked up the fire with her free hand. Automatically she shoved the kettle on for tea but she was only vaguely aware of her actions. Instinctively she clutched the long narrow package from the jeweller's and climbed the stairs.

 The house was in darkness when Mimi arrived home from school. She found the kettle steaming away on the side of the fire but there was no sign of her mother and no answer when she called. She went outside to look for her. Some hens were still scratching outside their huts, waiting for their afternoon feed although dusk was falling.

Willie was collecting the buckets to feed the pigs.

‘Where's Mum? Have you seen her, Dad?'

‘Not since she went to Dumfries about mid-morning, love.' He walked beside her towards the house but he frowned at the sight of the abandoned car slewed across the yard. ‘She must have been in a hurry to get indoors. She never leaves the car like that.' Mary was neat and tidy in everything she did. Willie felt his heartbeats quicken. Some sixth sense warned him something was wrong. He set down the buckets and hurried into the house, switching on the lights as he went.

Mary was still wearing her winter coat, sprawled half across the bed where she had collapsed in the cold darkness of the December afternoon. As soon as he saw her Willie knew she had had a stroke.

‘Telephone the doctor, Mimi, an ambulance …' Gently he lifted Mary's arm and then her leg onto the bed and opened the buttons of her coat.

‘B-but Daddy …?' Mimi felt young and helpless.

‘Hurry, lassie,' Willie urged brusquely. ‘I-I think your mother has had a stroke.' Mimi rushed down the stairs to the telephone.

Mary opened her eyes but there was no recognition in them. She tried to speak but all she could utter were unintelligible noises. Willie stroked her brow gently and murmured soothing noises but his heart was heavy. He had known a stroke ruin the life of the strongest man. Mary was only forty-seven. “Please God don't let it be serious,” he prayed silently, but in his heart he knew it was. Her mouth was pulled to one side and she couldn't move her left side. She was clutching a slim package in her other hand; she seemed agitated but no words would come.

‘Doctor Ritchie is visiting at one of the cottages at Home Farm. They're sending him straight up,' Mimi said breathlessly as she ran into the bedroom. She threw herself to her knees beside the bed, holding her mother's lifeless hand.

It did not take Steve Ritchie long to get up to High Bowie. He had seen all sorts of illnesses but he felt his heart contract with pity when he looked down at Mary, and at Mimi kneeling beside her, holding her hand. He could see by her clothes she had been away from the farm. He asked Willie a few short questions as he bent over his wife.

‘She seems agitated,' he frowned. ‘What's this?' He touched the slim package clutched in Mary's other hand. Her brain was incapable of making her fingers release it but she turned her head in the direction of Mimi's voice. ‘I think she wants you to have this, Mimi … Listen, that's the ambulance. Bring them up Willie.' Mary seemed more agitated. Doctor Ritchie prised her fingers from the package and handed it to Mimi. ‘It looks like jewellery – a gift perhaps. Put it away in your room, Mimi.' Mary seemed to grow calmer as he gave Mimi the package, but Doctor Ritchie had seen more than Mimi and he ushered her out of the bedroom. ‘Make way for the stretcher, Mimi. I'll go in the ambulance with your Mother. Be brave now. Follow in the car with your father.' Mimi hurried to her room and tucked the package beneath her handkerchief case where it lay forgotten. She wanted to speak to her mother, to kiss her cheek, before they carried her to the ambulance but Doctor Ritchie stood between them. His eyes met Willie's. ‘I'll see you at the hospital,' he said.

Later they were told that Mary had died in the ambulance on the way to hospital. There was nothing anyone could do. All the way there Willie had been shaking like an aspen leaf. Mimi knew there was no way he could drive them home. She felt cold and remote. A nurse told her where to find the public telephone but she had no change. She dialled Langmune and reversed the charges. After the initial shock Victoria said, ‘Wait at the hospital, Mimi. We're coming. Fraser can look after Molly. Andrew will drive your car back.' Mimi put the receiver back in place then she began to tremble. She was vaguely aware of a nurse talking to them, bringing a cup of tea, asking her father questions.