Authors: Trisha Ashley
Gregory Lyon was most popular with the photographers from the local papers, since he was dressed in a flowing green velvet cloak and, with his long silver hair and piercing blue eyes, he looked sort of alarming but splendid. I noticed that once he’d fixed his gaze on a customer, they didn’t go away without buying at least one of his books, so that the most unlikely people left clutching lurid supernatural thrillers.
After the event we all had a cup of coffee together, and Gregory said Zillah had told him that my little one had a glowing future and he himself would perform a rite to ensure the best outcome, which was sort of comforting even if I wasn’t sure if I believed in that kind of thing.
Raffy had stayed for coffee at the end too, and he added that his whole congregation were going to pray for Stella when she was in America, so it looked as though all my bases were covered.
‘It’ll be the meeting to wind the fundraising up soon,’ he added, ‘and I confidently expect we’ll have more than double the amount we set out to raise. In fact, the money from today’s event will just be the final cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake.’
‘I’m so grateful to everyone for their help. It’s been wonderful and I really do feel part of the community now.’
‘You
are
part of the community and will always be, whatever your plans are for the future. But I don’t suppose you’ve given that much thought yet.’
I shook my head. ‘No, I suppose I’m like one of those brides who are so busy planning their perfect wedding day that they don’t give a thought to what life will be like afterwards. When I sold the flat, I imagined that as soon as we could we’d be back to London again … but now, I don’t know.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it. Things have a way of working themselves out,’ he said kindly.
Stir a good tablespoon of peanut butter into the flapjack mixture. After baking, the flapjacks taste extra delicious with a thick layer of dark chocolate on top …
Cally Weston: ‘Tea & Cake’
Miss Honey invited us up for tea again, though I thought Stella seemed a little off colour and left her behind in Jenny’s capable hands. I’d made peanut butter and chocolate flapjacks that morning and she’d eaten part of one, so I was suddenly afraid she might have developed a peanut allergy.
Jenny told me not to be daft, because she wasn’t likely to suddenly get one at four if there’d been no sign of it before, and I supposed she was right.
Miss Honey looked frailer but cheerful, and although she was disappointed that Stella hadn’t come, she wished her well for the operation.
‘Perhaps, if I’m spared, you’ll bring her to see me when you get back,’ she said, then sighed. ‘Livens us all up no end, when children visit. It’s a pity poor Gladdie didn’t have any more.’
‘Any …
more
?’ I repeated blankly, as this sunk in. ‘You can’t mean—’
‘Ah, so your mother didn’t know all of the story, did she?’ Miss Honey said. ‘I don’t think it got round the village, but I thought the Almonds would be sure to talk about it.’
‘Apparently not. But if the Almonds knew, then does that mean your sister …’ I paused, wondering how to phrase this with least offence.
‘That Esau Almond got Gladdie pregnant on his last leave. She wrote to him as soon as she found out and so did Father – well, he was furious! Esau wrote back saying he’d put in for compassionate leave and they’d get married. But of course, that was just before D-Day, so that was the last she ever heard from him.’
‘Well … that makes more sense of the whole thing,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘But poor Gladys!’
‘Having a baby out of wedlock was a huge scandal at the time, though others in the village were rumoured to have been caught the same way – things were a bit different in the war. To go by the carryings-on on the telly, you’d find it hard to believe anyone ever bothered about these things. Sodom and Gomorrah, that’s what the world’s coming to.’
‘You’re probably right,’ I said diplomatically. ‘What happened to your sister – and the baby?’
‘She kept it quiet because she hoped he’d get leave quickly so they’d be married before it showed, but when he didn’t, Father sent her up to his cousins in Scarborough, who had a small hotel. She was there when she heard he’d gone missing and then she lost the baby – stillbirth.’
‘How awful,’ I said. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It took her a while to get over it and then she was knocked for six when she found out he hadn’t been killed in action after all. But after a while she met her husband and they were happy as Larry, so in the end it all worked out for the best.’
After this final revelation I was even more amazed that Miss Honey had been so forgiving towards one of the hated Almond clan, and so was Ma when I told her. In fact, a few days later she went up there to see Miss Honey herself and I don’t know what they said to each other, but she seemed cheerful when she came back so I expect it cleared the air.
Ma looked after Stella while I went to the village meeting to officially wind up the Stella’s Stars fundraising. Raffy was right – we’d raised well over twenty thousand pounds!
I thanked everyone all over again, though Hebe Winter assured me there was no need.
‘We have all enjoyed it – and perhaps we should have a welcome back party when you come home? You will return by December, won’t you, so the party can be Christmas-themed, since the hall will be decorated ready by then anyway.’
‘Oh, yes,’ Florrie Snowball piped up eagerly, ‘I always like a good Christmas party, with mince pies and a bowl of hot punch. The Falling Star will provide that.’
‘We usually have a Christmas party for the kiddies,’ Jenny said, ‘so we could combine them and have it a little earlier this year.’
‘That would be lovely, but I think
I
should be throwing a party for all of you, to thank you for your help, not the other way round,’ I said. ‘If all goes well, we’ll be home long before Christmas …’
My voice broke, because now the time to leave was so close, I was starting to panic at the thought of the difficult surgery that lay ahead for my little girl, and the chances of a good outcome … Though of course, there was no real alternative, for without it Stella would simply fade away.
‘Don’t worry, the surgery will go well,’ Hebe said, as if she had a direct line to the future.
‘Yes – I saw it in the leaves,’ Zillah Smith agreed firmly.
‘And the Angel cards said so too,’ Chloe Lyon said.
‘You see, all the omens are good, so there’s no need to fret,’ said Hebe Winter.
‘And we’ll all be praying for you,’ Raffy assured me.
‘Not perhaps
all
,’ interrupted Gregory Lyon, ‘but ceremonies will be performed and our good wishes and thoughts will be directed towards you.’
‘The party will be something for Stella to look forward to when she’s recovering after the operation, won’t it?’ Jago suggested. ‘You can tell her that Santa will drop in, with a very special Christmas present.’
‘Laurence will be contacting you all soon, then, to arrange the first of a series of meetings to organise the Christmas party,’ Hebe said. ‘The usual people and any extra volunteers.’
‘I’ll volunteer,’ Jago offered immediately.
‘Good man,’ she said.
‘Jonah from up at the hall is always the local Father Christmas,’ Mrs Snowball told me. ‘He loves to do it. There’ll be a gift for every child in the village, so we usually start to organise that around now anyway.’
Suddenly I had a shining vision of a twinkling Christmas star beckoning to me from the other side of the dark chasm in which lay the dreaded operation, and I felt heartened.
Stella had her final hospital check-up and suddenly, it was almost time to leave.
The last-minute details had been sorted out: Hal was to look after Toto and Moses, and keep an eye on the cottage, and Jenny, by now a seasoned traveller, kept us calm and gave us sensible advice – not to mention describing to Stella all the fun places in Boston she’d be able to visit.
Stella packed and repacked her favourite toys in her Trunki ladybird suitcase until she’d made her choice, though Bun was always a given, of course.
And then soon, too soon, it was the night before our flight and the cases were lined up in the hall. It took me hours to get to sleep and no sooner than I had, the alarm went off.
Jenny had met us at the airport, the luggage was checked in and Ma and Jenny had said their goodbyes and were waiting for us to join them. But Stella was clinging round Jago’s neck, her face hidden, and didn’t want to let him go.
‘I wish you were coming with us,’ she said.
‘I wish I was too,’ Jago said, ‘but I’ll be thinking about you all the time and we’ll talk on the phone a lot. And when the doctors have made you better and you’ve had a lovely holiday, I’ll be waiting right here for you when you get back.’
‘With a gingerbread piggy?’
‘Yes – and then you and I and Mummy will make a gingerbread castle together for Christmas.’
‘Promise?’
‘Promise. And it’ll be the best Christmas ever, because you’ll be well again.’
‘Come on, our Stella,’ Ma called, and Stella finally released her stranglehold on Jago’s neck and ran to Ma, who took one hand and Jenny the other.
I looked at Jago hopelessly. ‘I keep going hot and cold and I feel I’m moving through a dream-like trance – or a nightmare. It’s all so unreal, I can’t believe I’m doing this.’
‘I know it must seem surreal but you have to take this chance for Stella’s sake. There’s no going back. Only I want you to keep in contact and tell me what’s happening every step of the way, because I’m going to be thinking about you all the time. And just say the word and I’ll fly out.’
‘Oh, Jago!’ I said, feeling my lip trembling, and then somehow our goodbye kiss turned into a reprise of the epic kiss we’d had at the fête and time stopped in its tracks.
Then we broke apart, and he touched my cheek and smiled. ‘Boldly go, as they used to say in
Star Trek
.’
I grinned weakly: ‘Oh, beam me up, Scotty!’
Jago sat in his car in the airport car park, his head resting on the steering wheel and his heart winging its way towards Boston with Cally.
Logically he knew Cally was right and he needed to stay and get his business up and running, but he still would have dropped everything and gone with them, if she had only given the word.
Not that he had any rights in the matter, despite loving them both, of course.
Then he thought about that last kiss … whatever scale that was on, it was so far away from platonic it had probably dropped off the end. Had that been just a need for comfort, or was she beginning to care for him? Only time would tell.
But she certainly hadn’t given much thought to what would happen after they returned and it would probably be some time before she would be in a position to move back to London … if she still wanted to.
Then and there, Jago hatched a plan to offer them the annexe at Honey’s to live in after Christmas, for as long as they needed it. He’d put off finishing the attic and the annexe till a later date, but now the task of turning the annexe into a wonderful guest suite in the hope Cally would agree would give him something to occupy his mind with.
I’d never flown business class before and neither had Jenny, but it was so much more comfortable than tourist class. They gave Stella a special child’s goodie bag and then seemed to be constantly offering us food or drink, though Stella, exhausted by excitement, was soon fast asleep in her reclining seat, thumb in mouth and Bun tucked in under her cheek. Ma soon followed suit and could be heard gently snoring.
It was a long flight, but due to the five hours difference we arrived at Logan International airport outside Boston practically before we set out, though of course it didn’t feel like that.
I staggered off the plane well and truly jetlagged, but Stella and Ma seemed surprisingly fresh and Jenny said it had all been so comfortable compared to her usual flight over that it had been a complete pleasure.
Jenny’s family met us at the airport, bringing with them the buggy they were kindly loaning me for Stella. Jenny had already given me their address and phone number and promised Stella she’d come to visit her soon.
We got into a yellow cab with a friendly driver who told Stella she could call him George and then chatted with her all the way out to the Best Western in the Longwood Medical Area, where we were staying.
She told him she was going to the hospital to have her heart mended and he assured her that he’d driven lots of much sicker children than her to the hospital and when he took them back to the airport to go home, they were all as good as new.
I could have kissed him, because Stella took this as gospel, though why she should have believed a cabbie over me or anyone else, I’ve no idea. But I was just grateful she did.
The hotel was literally next to the hospital, so it couldn’t be handier, and they’d given us a two-bedroom suite, which was much swisher than anything I’d stayed in in the UK. Ma had one room and Stella and I shared the other, twin-bedded one.
We unpacked while Stella had a nap on the bed, and then went out for a little stroll around the area and an early dinner in the hotel.
We had the weekend free and had already planned to go to see the New England Aquarium and perhaps the Children’s Museum on Sunday, if Stella wasn’t too tired.
Ma came to the aquarium with us, bringing her sketchbook and making lots of drawings, because it was the most amazing place with seals and penguins, and a vast tank with a coral reef in it, which riveted Stella.
Stella tired first, so we left Ma there and went to find lunch – and discovered the delights of Boston cream pie. Why had no one ever told me about this wonderful creation before?
Boston cream pie is local speciality
, I texted Jago.
But it’s a cake.
Trust you to find local cake on first day in Boston!
he texted back
. Bring recipe.
Jago and I had been exchanging texts and emails since we landed, but I was already missing the sound of his voice.