by Rosie Harris
‘So you think that once he is behind the wheel he could manage to drive all right?’
‘Send off for a driving licence for him and when that comes through I’ll suggest it to him and we’ll see how he gets on.’
At first Lloyd didn’t even want to give it a try. ‘Damnio di, what are you trying to do, boyo, get me to make a fool of myself?’
‘No, not at all. I simply thought it might give you a little more independence if you were able to drive.’
‘Not likely to get much of that, not at my age and in my state of health, now am I?’ Lloyd muttered gloomily.
‘Of course you’re not when all you do is sit in your armchair and wait for other people to ferry you around.’
‘I’m past it, boyo, and the sooner I settle down and accept the fact the better.’
‘If that’s how you see things, then probably you’re right,’ Owen shrugged as he turned away.
‘The sooner the lot of you accept that my life’s more or less finished the more contented I’ll be,’ Lloyd muttered.
‘You can’t blame me for trying,’ Owen said mildly as he started up the engine. ‘I even thought that if you did learn to drive then it might be possible for you to have a job again at Morgan’s. Even if it was only part time it would keep you occupied and prove to the rest of the world that you’re not quite useless yet.’
Lloyd looked startled and so taken by surprise at his son-in-law’s remark that he was speechless. He puffed out his cheeks and raised his eyebrows speculatively. ‘Do you really think so?’ he asked in disbelief.
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘If I’ve managed to learn to drive then I’m sure you can as well,’ Sarah told her father when he brought the subject up over the meal table the next day.
‘It’s not so easy learning new skills as you get older,’ Celina said thoughtfully.
‘Dad’s not all that old, though,’ Sarah argued as she helped herself to potatoes and passed the dish along to Owen.
‘Well, he’s middle-aged like me and I know I tried and I was absolutely hopeless.’
‘Owen would probably say that was because you’re a woman and therefore you find it more difficult to understand how mechanical things work,’ Sarah laughed.
‘Well, in that case, your dad shouldn’t have any problem,’ Celina murmured, her eyes twinkling as she looked across at Sarah.
Lloyd and Owen remained silent while listening to their banter.
The following day, however, Owen reported that Lloyd had said he was going to give it a try, that was if he was able to manage to climb in behind the wheel.
Three weeks later he had not only mastered getting into the car, but was also driving as confidently and proficiently as if he’d done so all his life. Owen was pleased and Sarah was delighted. Celina was also full of praise about what he’d achieved although she declared that she’d known all along that he’d be able to do it.
‘I shall expect you to fulfil your promise and find me a job back at Morgan’s,’ Lloyd reminded Owen.
‘Well, you can start by chauffeuring Sarah and Rhoslyn around and taking Celina out,’ Owen told him.
‘Oh no, he’s not doing that; I don’t want him depriving me of driving,’ Sarah told them promptly.
‘She’s right, boyo, it’s not what I want to do. I’m hoping for a proper driving job, in either a van or a small lorry. I want one that will put me back on the payroll, in fact.’
‘I’m still expecting you to take me out for a run now and again, Lloyd,’ Celina reminded him. ‘I’m looking forward to it, so don’t let me down.’
‘I can see we’ll have to draw up a rota so that we know whose turn it is to use the car,’ Owen laughed.
Although they never did anything quite like that they did arrange certain days when the car would be available for Lloyd to take Celina out and Sarah realised that these became the highlight of Lloyd’s week.
Celina, too, seemed to enjoy their excursions which were extremely varied and depended to some extent on the weather. When it was bright and sunny they journeyed out into the surrounding countryside or to places like Penarth. Occasionally when they intended to go to Barry Island, Porthcawl or anywhere near the coast where they knew there was going to be a sandy beach, they took Rhoslyn with them.
Rhoslyn loved these outings and soon grew to know which days of the week Lloyd and Celina would be going out. She would have her little bucket and spade with her when she came down to breakfast in the hope that her grandfather would take her along as well.
Although they loved taking her with them they both admitted that they found it very tiring having to keep an eye on her. Celina was the one who had to run after Rhoslyn most of the time because she moved far too fast for Lloyd to keep up with her.
Sarah welcomed the opportunity to have a few hours on her own whenever they did take her. She found she was leading such a busy life that she had no time for personal things and welcomed these opportunities for shopping or a visit to the hairdresser’s.
Although it was fairly hectic day to day, she wouldn’t have changed things for a moment. Her father seemed to be so much happier and brighter now that he was working again, even though it was only for two or three days a week. The other days while Sarah was at work he spent at Pen-y-lan Road with Rhoslyn and Celina.
As Lloyd’s health improved over the next couple of years he spent more time at Pen-y-lan, and did more and more odd jobs for Celina while he was there; things which neither her daily woman nor her housekeeper could manage to do. It was a very big house with four bedrooms, a large drawing room and a spacious dining room as well as a huge kitchen and scullery.
There was also a greenhouse and potting shed in the big garden and Lloyd loved to potter around in there as well as in the well-equipped workshop that was built on to the side of the garage.
Sarah’s initial envy that Celina’s place was so much grander than their home in Cyfartha Street was tempered by the thought of how much maintenance it required, even though Celina had plenty of help. She found that cleaning their own small house took up most of her time when she wasn’t at the office.
Owen kept telling her that she should never have stopped Marie coming in to help because they could afford to pay her now that their situation had improved so much.
‘I couldn’t bring myself to let someone do housework for me, not when I’m fit and well, because I always feel that my mother would have disapproved.’
‘You are an idiot,’ Owen laughed, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. ‘Lorna probably didn’t have anyone to help out because she couldn’t afford it; I keep telling you that nowadays we can. What’s more, I want you to let someone else do it so that you can have an easier time.’
‘It would make me feel guilty, though. The reason my mam couldn’t afford it was probably because they were scrimping and scraping all the time to send me to university.’
‘That’s all water under the bridge, cariad. We have a new life now, we’ve moved on. Take your dad, for example: here he is, driving and having days out and enjoying his life, yet a couple of years ago he looked as though he was going to be a permanent invalid only capable of sitting in his armchair all day.’
‘I know, and I’m very happy for him.’
‘He’d be very happy for you if he thought your life was easier. He was saying only the other day that life seems to be rushing by and what with a home to run and putting in time at the office you didn’t get much time to do anything else. In fact, he even suggested that this year we should arrange to take Rhoslyn away on holiday.’
Sarah’s face lit up. ‘That would be lovely!’
‘She’ll be four in July, old enough to appreciate a week by the sea. Next year she’ll be off to school, remember.’
‘It would mean leaving Ion in charge, would you be happy about that?’ Sarah queried.
‘Your dad would be there as well; he said he would go in every day to make sure everything was running smoothly.’
‘Let me know, of course. I would arrange to telephone in at a set time each day and he’d be there to take the call and let me know if there were any problems.’
Sarah mulled the idea over for days before she reached a decision and agreed with Owen that it was a good idea.
‘We’ll go in the middle of June; before the schools break up for their summer holidays, so then it won’t be too crowded. We won’t talk about it in front of Rhoslyn in case anything goes wrong and we’re prevented from going.’
There was so much preparatory work to be done that there were times when Sarah wondered if it was worth all the hassle it entailed. Then she thought of how excited Rhoslyn would be when they told her and all her doubts vanished.
At the beginning of the month they told her and made a special list of the days left before their holiday started. Each morning the minute she got up Rhoslyn crossed one off.
When Saturday 16 June arrived Rhoslyn crossed off the last day. She jumped up and down with excitement and could hardly eat her breakfast.
Owen had packed the motor car with everything they were taking the night before so the moment Sarah had finished washing-up the breakfast dishes and making the beds they were ready to leave.
Owen gave some last-minute instructions to Lloyd and then finally, to Rhoslyn’s joy, they were in the motor car and heading out of Cardiff on their way to Swansea.
Their hotel was close to the sea front with a wonderful view of the sweeping bay as it curved towards Oystermouth. They could see the castle perched on the hill and, further along, even the gleaming white islets of Mumbles Head.
There was so much to do and they revelled in the feeling of freedom. The week passed all too quickly but Sarah found that it did give her and Owen an opportunity to recapture some of the romance that seemed to have been squeezed out of their busy schedule since he’d taken over at Morgan’s.
Being out in the warm June sunshine all day was wonderful for all of them. Rhoslyn loved it when Owen rolled up his trousers as far as the knees and took her paddling in the sea. They built endless sandcastles and Rhoslyn had great fun exploring rock pools with her little shrimping net and turning over pebbles and stones to see what wildlife would scuttle from underneath them.
Every afternoon Rhoslyn had a donkey ride along the sand before they went back to the hotel for their evening meal. By the time they’d eaten she was ready for bed and once she was settled down they knew they wouldn’t hear a peep from her until the next morning.
Although it meant they had to stay in the hotel themselves during the evening they soon discovered that this could be the best part of the day. Once Rhoslyn was asleep they pulled back the curtains, opened the French doors on to the balcony, and swivelled the sofa round so that they could sit there in comfort.
As dusk fell and the lights came on around the sweeping curve of the bay the whole scene was transformed. In such a romantic setting, with a bottle of wine on the table beside them, they were content to sit, talk, kiss and cuddle before eventually making their way to bed to complete a night of lovemaking.
Their feelings for each other were as strong as ever and as the end of the week approached Sarah felt reluctant to return to Cardiff; she wanted their holiday to go on for ever.
‘Unfortunately that’s impossible,’ Owen sighed on their last evening there as they sat close together on the sofa, his arm round her and her head resting on his shoulder.
‘I know, I was only daydreaming. We must try and do this again, though, and not keep putting it off. This is the first holiday we’ve had since we’ve been married.’
‘Yes, but so many things have happened and in recent years our life has changed a great deal,’ Owen reminded her.
‘Yes,’ Sarah sighed. ‘I miss my mam and I was sorry that Bryn died when he did but in some ways we are so very much better off that we should be grateful that things have turned out so well.’
‘Very true, cariad. What we have to do now is make sure that we plan things so that we don’t get into the rut of putting work before our own interests. This break has done us good in more ways than one. It’s shown us how much more there is to life than merely earning money.’
‘If we weren’t earning the money, though, we wouldn’t have been able to afford to come on holiday,’ Sarah laughed. ‘We certainly wouldn’t be sitting here drinking wine! I can’t remember Mam and Dad ever having any wine in the house except at Christmas time and that was usually a bottle of home made parsnip wine or something like that. Mind you, it was pretty potent!’
She held up her glass and clinked it against his, ‘I still like this better and we didn’t have to go to all the trouble of making it, which can take weeks and weeks if I remember rightly.’
‘Perhaps you should start making wine at home, it would be a nice little hobby for you,’ Owen teased. ‘You’ll have quite a lot of spare time on your hands when Rhoslyn starts school.’
‘Yes, and we should talk about it and decide which school would be best for her.’
Owen looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean? She’ll go to whichever one is nearest to Cyfartha Street, surely.’
‘That is certainly what I’d always intended,’ Sarah agreed, ‘but the other day Celina was talking about Rhoslyn starting school and she was saying that the schools in Roath are very much better than those in Cathays. She seemed to think that perhaps we ought to be sending her to one of them.’
‘I see!’ He looked perplexed. ‘Perhaps we should make some enquiries after we get back and see what we can find out. We certainly want to give her the best start in life that we possibly can.’
‘No harm in finding out whatever we can, I suppose,’ Sarah agreed. ‘I went to school near Cyfartha Street and I seemed to have got on all right, though.’
‘You were probably one of the exceptions,’ Owen teased.
‘No, I was the one who was nagged silly by my father. I struggled hard in order to please him. I lost most of my friends and almost my way because I was so immersed in learning and education,’ she said rather sadly.
‘We certainly don’t want that to happen to Rhoslyn,’ he agreed seriously. ‘Let’s make some enquiries. There’s plenty of time before we have to make up our minds. Has Rhoslyn said anything about going to school?’
‘Not really; I must talk to her about it. She is going to find it a bit of a shock having to mix in with other children because she hardly knows any.’
Owen frowned. ‘I hadn’t thought about it until now but I suppose you’re right. She is constantly in the company of grown-ups. While you are at work she is with Lloyd and Celina and when you are at home she’s in the house or else out shopping with you.’
‘That’s right. We never let her go out in the street to play with other children and I haven’t any friends who bring their children round. In fact, our only visitors seem to be Alvia and Marie and you can hardly count them because they’re as old as my dad.’
Chapter Thirty-Six
Although it was quite a while before Rhoslyn would start school Sarah gave some serious thought to the fact that Rhoslyn didn’t have any little friends. It worried her because she was well aware that her daughter would find it hard to adjust to the cut and thrust of school life unless she was used to mixing with other children.
‘You ought to let her go out and play in the street; that’s what all the other children around here do,’ both Alvia and Marie advised when she mentioned it to them.
‘Yes, I know that, but it’s difficult because she’s not here all the time. When I go to work I leave her with Celina.’
‘What difference does that make? She can play out around there, can’t she?’ Alvia asked.
‘I’m not sure. I don’t think I have ever seen any children playing out in the street when I’ve been there,’ Sarah admitted.
As she spoke she remembered the children she’d seen at all hours of the day and evening in Tiger Bay; most of them ragged and
without shoes. There had been little tots who could barely walk sitting in the gutter playing with the debris that had accumulated there. Often these toddlers were knocked over if they got in the way of bigger children who were playing hopscotch, swinging from ropes tied to the lamp-posts, playing hide and seek or chasing after each other in a game of tag.
She knew quite well that that sort of thing didn’t go on in the streets in Cathays. Little girls pushed their dolls in prams which had been handed down by their older siblings or cousins who no longer wanted them. Some of the boys played football, or bounced balls against the wall and caught them; the girls would have skipping ropes and both boys and girls played with a top or marbles from time to time.
It had never entered her head to let Rhoslyn go out and join in their games; in fact, she didn’t even know the names of any of the children who lived nearby.
She could see now that she had been rather remiss; when they’d been talking about a party for Rhoslyn’s fourth birthday she realised that there was no one of her age they could invite. Just as for Rhoslyn’s previous birthdays, Marie and Alvia would plan a special tea for her and make her a birthday cake with candles on it. Apart from them, though, no one outside the family would be there to join in the celebrations.
Sarah knew that it was too late now to rectify matters – for this year, at any rate. But before Rhoslyn went to school in a year’s time, she certainly intended to invite other children to their home so that Rhoslyn could get used to mixing and playing with them.
Even though it was rather a subdued affair Rhoslyn’s fourth birthday was a tremendous milestone, not only for her but also for the rest of the family as well.
After they’d all sung ‘Happy Birthday’ Rhoslyn had blown out her four candles and they’d all clapped and cheered, Lloyd announced that he had something important he wanted to say.
‘I’ve decided that next week I’m moving away from Cyfartha Street,’ he announced as they all looked at him expectantly.
‘You are doing what?’ Sarah and Owen spoke in unison and stared at him in disbelief.