What Was Rescued
Page 33
On the train home, I had a sudden sense of dread. I rocked my head back in horror. ‘Crumbs, Arthur! I think I left our notebooks on the mantelpiece!’ It was the last thing I’d meant to do – hide them away in the study. What if Helen and Fliss had read them? They’d had all day on their own!
He said, ‘I doubt they’ve even noticed them.’
‘But there’s nothing else on the mantelpiece – except for your ship – and they’ve seen us writing in them. They’re teenaged girls. They won’t be able to resist.’
He was thoughtful for a moment. Then he drew me into his shoulder. ‘Worse things happen at sea,’ he said, smiling. ‘The notebooks are probably just where we left them.’
We sat down on the sofa and stared at the mantelpiece. The notebooks had gone. The house was silent. Arthur could see I was in a state of panic.
‘Don’t worry. Maybe it’s best to tell them the truth.’
‘But some things are best left untold. Our stories are ours to keep. We’ve just spent ages explaining that.’
‘Yes, and I think that’s true. They are ours and not for general consumption. But these are their stories too.’
‘But they’ll be so hurt!’
He pulled me to him and rested his chin on my head. ‘Well, I for one am tired of secrets. They can be pretty corrosive, wouldn’t you say, Mrs Fielding?’
I was tired of secrets too, of course, but I wanted to protect our family, the one that Arthur and I shared and loved.
‘But think of the damage! We’ll have to do so much repair work . . .’
‘We can do that,’ said Arthur softly.
He kissed the top of my head and stroked my hair. Surely, I thought, we weren’t destined to repeat our parents’ clumsiness. I realized that my knee was shaking, and as I gazed at the mantelpiece, my eyes rested on the ship in the bottle. It was the one Arthur’s father made – the one that got so badly broken by Pippa the day I confronted her. Arthur has spent years lovingly restoring it, piece by precious piece. And now it’s every bit as good as his father’s. And that’s saying something.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to the journalist Katie Jarvis for giving me full access to her interview with the Benares survivor, the late Beth Cummings. Other principal sources of information about the sinking of seavacuee ships were Janet Menzies’ Children of the Doomed Voyage and Ralph Barker’s Children of the Benares.
I would like to thank Diane Setterfield, Caroline Sanderson and Katie Jarvis for their kindness and support, Anna Bailey for her helpful suggestions, and John Bicknell for his wisdom and constant encouragement.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Bailey is the author of five novels and a book of comic verse. Her first novel was shortlisted for the Dillons Prize. She is writer-in-residence for Cheltenham Festivals First Story, which promotes creative writing in schools serving low-income communities. Jane lives in Gloucestershire.