Two Strangers

by Beryl Matthews

  ‘This school is an ambitious undertaking, and I would like to see it succeed.’

  ‘It deserves to.’ She noticed the English book on the table and picked it up. ‘I am so pleased to have been able to return this to you at last.’

  ‘I gave it to you, Vicki. I never expected to see it again.’

  ‘I couldn’t keep it. It belongs to you.’

  ‘I had about three books with me at that time, and that was just one of them. It didn’t mean anything to me. I like books and pick them up cheaply wherever I can.’

  ‘It meant a lot to me.’ She smiled up at him. ‘I must go now or I’ll miss my train. Bye, Bill.’

  His only reply was a nod of his head, and Vicki walked away. When she had seen him writing, she had hoped he was looking into the origin of the book, but he had been preparing lessons. He hadn’t appeared to have any interest in finding out about the crest. As far as that was concerned, his mind seemed to be a blank, and yet one thing was clear: he had known all the time that he was a teacher.

  Two days later, when they had finished clearing up after the evening meal, Bob made Vicki sit down with them. ‘We’ve been discussing your future, my dear, and realize we have taught you all we know about hairdressing. You are good and need another teacher now.’

  Vicki’s heart gave a lurch. Where was this leading? Were they going to send her away now? The old fears came rushing back. ‘But you both know all there is to know about hairdressing.’

  ‘Things are changing fast, and your talent needs a more advanced teacher now.’ Flo caught hold of her hand. ‘Don’t look so upset, Vicki. We want the best for you.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Bob leant forward. ‘I saw Don James yesterday. His salon in Knightsbridge is favoured by the wealthy and famous. I told him about you, and he is willing to take you as a student for the next two years. After that, you will have all the necessary qualifications to work in a high-class establishment. With Don’s name behind you, there will be no limit to what you can achieve.’

  Vicki looked from one to the other in dismay. ‘But I’m happy here. Don’t send me away, please!’

  The desperation in Vicki’s voice brought Flo to her feet in alarm. ‘Oh, my darling, we would never do that. We were so excited about giving you this marvellous opportunity that we haven’t made the arrangements clear. You will go to Don James only two days a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can travel by train and come back here at night. This is your home, Vicki, and always will be. When we’ve gone, all this will be yours. We’ve made legal wills.’

  Shaken and stunned, Vicki couldn’t speak.

  ‘I’m going to employ another girl just for those two days each week, and then you can show me what you’re learning.’ Flo sat down again. ‘We can try the new things out on our customers. That will be fun, won’t it?’

  ‘Of course, if you really don’t want to do this,’ Bob told her, ‘you don’t have to. We wouldn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to. It’s a rare opportunity, but think it over and let us know what you decide.’

  ‘I don’t have to think about it,’ she told them. ‘It would be foolish to turn down a chance to improve, and I’ll do my best to be a worthy student of Mr James.’

  ‘We know you will be. If we’d had any doubts about your abilities, we would never have approached Don. Flo and I talked about this a while ago but knew we had to wait for the right time. You’ve found Bill at last, and we hope you are now ready to move on with your life. You have a talent, Vicki, and that needs to be developed by someone more qualified than us.’

  ‘I understand you want me to become a skilled hairdresser, but I must admit the thought of working with someone else is rather frightening. And the salon sounds posh!’

  ‘You don’t need to worry about that.’ Flo smiled encouragingly. ‘Your manners are impeccable, and your speech excellent. Do you know your accent is very like Bill’s? How did you manage that when you only met him once?’

  ‘I liked the way he spoke and I kept that sound in my head as I practised.’ A worried expression appeared on her face. ‘I do hope he’s going to be all right.’

  ‘If you mean is he going to regain his memory, then no one knows that. My concern is that it has been too long since his injury, and if his memory was going to return, it would have done so by now.’ Bob gave her a sympathetic look. ‘But you mustn’t worry about that. He is with Harry now and he will do all he can to help him.’

  ‘You are right, of course,’ Vicki agreed, and then changed the subject. ‘So, when do I go to this posh salon?’

  ‘Next week.’

  Twenty-Nine

  ‘I got your message.’ Peter ran up to Harry. ‘Are you sure it’s him?’

  ‘Certain.’

  ‘Oh, that’s marvellous! How is he?’

  Harry studied the excited young man. ‘He’s taking a class at the moment; you can see him during the break. As to how he’s doing, Peter, the answer is he’s struggling. This is going to be difficult for you – for both of you – but you must let me introduce you. Try not to overwhelm him by rushing in and greeting him like the old friends you really are. To him, you will be a stranger.’

  ‘But we grew up together. Is his loss of memory that bad?’

  ‘I’m afraid so. When I first met him, there were a couple of things that made me believe his memory would return if prodded – now I’m not so sure. A doctor in the village is keeping an eye on him and trying to find out where he was treated, but he hasn’t had any luck so far.’

  ‘Oh, Lord, that’s terrible.’ Peter’s eyes clouded with sorrow for his friend. ‘But at least he’s alive. I’ll do whatever you say, Harry.’

  ‘How much we tell him will depend on how he reacts to meeting you.’

  ‘I understand.’

  ‘Ah, there goes the bell. Follow me.’

  Bill was still in the classroom cleaning the blackboard when they walked in. He turned his head, showing no recognition of Peter. ‘Hello, Harry.’

  ‘Here’s someone who wants to meet you. Peter Harmond.’

  Dusting the chalk from his hands, Bill nodded and shook hands with Peter. ‘Are you a teacher?’

  Harry could see Peter was having difficulty containing his emotions. When he shot Harry a quick beseeching glance, Harry nodded, and the young man turned back to his friend.

  ‘No, Will, I am what you always said I would be – a gentleman farmer.’

  Stillness came over Bill as he looked intently at Peter. ‘You know me?’

  ‘Yes, we grew up together. There were three of us, we were inseparable, and our greatest pleasure was riding. We used to gallop around the estate trying to beat each other. You always won,’ he said, a touch of a smile on his face. ‘Ah, they were good days before the damned war came and ruined everything.’

  ‘Three of us?’

  Peter nodded. ‘You don’t remember?’

  Bill shook his head. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘Oh, God, Will!’ Peter’s composure began to crack. ‘I am overjoyed to see you are still alive! We were told you were dead, and it’s like a miracle to see you standing here. You obviously don’t know who the hell I am, so can we start over again, as if we have just met?’

  ‘I have a free couple of hours, so would you like to ride now? We have horses in the stables.’

  ‘I’d love to!’ Peter’s face lit up in a broad smile. ‘I’ll beat you this time.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bank on it.’ Bill winked at Harry to let him know everything was all right. ‘I’ve got a special horse.’

  When they walked out of the classroom, Harry let out a silent breath of relief. Bill had handled that well. He had seen how distressed Peter was becoming and had done exactly the right thing. They had been firm friends once, and there was no reason why they couldn’t be again. Bill was going to have to get to know the people from his past all over again, including his parents. That meeting was going to be the hardest of all, he suspected.

  It was late in t
he evening when Bill sought out Harry. ‘Can you spare the time to have a talk?’

  ‘All the time you need, Bill. Sit down. Would you like a drink?’

  ‘A whisky, if you’ve got it, please.’

  ‘A double?’

  Bill’s smile was wry. ‘Definitely.’

  ‘Who won the race?’ Harry asked, handing Bill a large tumbler of whisky, and watched him take a good swig.

  ‘I did. It felt right racing over the countryside like that. It’s a mess, isn’t it, Harry? What the hell have I been doing for the last few years? I haven’t even tried to find out if I have any family.’

  Harry topped up the glasses. ‘Your past has been completely wiped out. You’ve had nothing to go on – no idea where to start looking – and you did what you had to do by trying to make a life for yourself. The situation you were faced with must have been devastating, but you didn’t crumble or sink into despair. You held yourself together and reached for as normal a life as possible for you in the circumstances. You have nothing to reproach yourself for.’

  Bill took another swig of the drink and shook his head. ‘I should have tried! You didn’t have anything to go on, but you found me.’

  ‘Vicki wouldn’t give up, even when every step we took ended nowhere. It was one disappointment after another, but that lovely girl was determined. It was only by chance she saw a photograph and insisted that one of the young boys was the stranger she had met. Even when everyone said you had died in the war, she would not accept it, declaring that you were alive, much to everyone’s disbelief.’

  ‘She’s a very determined young lady and I’m glad everything has turned out well for her.’

  Harry nodded. ‘She has blessed us all.’

  Draining his glass, Bill ran a hand through his hair and drew in a deep breath. ‘It was hard seeing Peter so distressed when I didn’t recognize him. He said we have been friends since we were children, and it meant nothing to me. It was as if we were meeting for the first time.’

  ‘You handled it well, Bill. Inviting him to ride with you was the kindest thing you could have done. Have you arranged to meet again?’

  ‘Yes. He’s part of my past, and I’ve got to piece it together somehow.’ He put the empty glass on the table with a crash. ‘When I met Peter, I tried to remember him, but it was like looking into a thick fog. There’s nothing there! I think all along I have feared meeting someone who knew me, knowing I would have to put myself through this torture.’

  ‘Tell me the first thing you remember.’ Bill was opening up, and Harry wanted to keep him talking. He poured a little more whisky in their glasses and waited.

  ‘I was in a boat – a fishing boat, I think. They dropped me off on a beach. I don’t know where it was. When I walked into the town to get something to eat, no one understood me. I wasn’t speaking the same language as them.’

  Harry’s head shot up. ‘What language were they speaking?’

  ‘English. I was speaking French.’

  ‘Ah, so you were in this country. What time of year was it?’

  ‘I saw daffodils growing, so it must have been spring.’

  ‘Was the war over?’

  Bill nodded. ‘While I was having a meal, I heard someone say that it was a relief that terrible conflict was over.’

  ‘So you had lost months. Where on earth had you been all that time?’

  ‘I haven’t the faintest idea, but it must have been France. And I had obviously been used to speaking that language, because for a while there I thought I was French.’

  Harry was astounded by what he was hearing and desperately tried to fathom out what it all meant. ‘You were badly injured – we know that – so someone must have been looking after you. But why didn’t they take you to a military hospital? When you regained consciousness and your memory was a blank, you obviously knew the language and, hearing it spoken all the time, you did the same. Carry on. What did you do then?’

  ‘I changed to English.’

  ‘Just like that?’

  Bill gave a wry smile. ‘I was hungry, and I soon realized that I understood what people were saying to me.’

  ‘Did you have any belongings with you?’ Harry was probing, he knew, but Bill was talking freely. ‘What were you wearing?’

  ‘A suit. It had been cleaned and repaired, but it had once obviously been quite good, and it fitted.’

  ‘Quite likely your own, but why you weren’t in uniform is a mystery. You said you had a meal; how did you pay for it?’

  ‘There was English money in my pocket, enough to buy me food for a while. I used some of it to buy a ticket to London.’

  ‘That’s extraordinary! Can you remember anything else that happened before you came back to this country?’

  ‘I’m afraid not.’

  ‘From what you’ve just told me, it would appear that someone in France nursed you back to health and then brought you back here.’

  ‘That seems possible, but who they were and why they did it, I really don’t know. And I can’t confirm that your hypothesis is correct. My memory only seems to start from the time I stepped out of that boat.’ Bill sat back and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his mouth set in a grim line. ‘What about my parents? Do they know I’m alive?’

  ‘Yes, they know. They live in Yorkshire, and Charles has invited them to stay with him. They are on their way now. I’ve held them off because I wasn’t sure how you were going to react, and your first meeting with Vicki didn’t fill me with confidence. When I was certain you were going to stay with us, I told Peter he could meet you.’

  ‘I appreciate you trying to introduce me to my past a little at a time, Harry. It would have been overwhelming to be faced with this all at once. I hope you have made it clear that it is unlikely I will recognize them.’

  ‘I’ve explained that to them.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Bill finished his drink and began to stand up.

  ‘Before you go, something is puzzling me. When Peter mentioned that there had been three of you growing up together, you didn’t ask who the other one was.’

  ‘I didn’t want to know. If he had been alive, he would have come with Peter.’

  ‘Now that’s interesting. You knew that without being told. I think you ought to know his name.’

  With only a slight nod of his head, Bill waited.

  ‘James Ashington.’

  A momentary look of anguish crossed Bill’s face, and then his composure was back.

  ‘That means something to you?’

  ‘The crest on the book Vicki returned to me is that of the Ashington family.’

  ‘That’s right, and I’m pleased to see you have looked it up. James probably gave you that book. You served together in France.’

  ‘No wonder I didn’t want to know his name.’ Bill sat down again. ‘I think I need another drink, Harry.’

  ‘Just a small one, then.’ Harry poured the drinks, smiling encouragingly. ‘That fog in your mind might not be quite as impenetrable as we thought.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want you to be right! There could be things there I don’t want to relive.’

  ‘I’m sure there are. If that fog starts to clear, there will be pain – I won’t deny it. But there will also be joy as well – remember that.’

  ‘Do you know I was living a peaceful life until you walked into that classroom, Harry? Now you and that little girl have turned my life upside down. I don’t know whether to thank you or punch you on the nose.’

  They looked at each, smiled, and downed their drinks.

  It had been such a busy week that Vicki hadn’t had time to visit Harry, but they had seen Charles, and he had given them all the news. The boys were fine. Bill was fine. Harry, Edward and Pearl were fine. The school was doing fine. There wasn’t a thing to worry about.

  Taking a look in the mirror, Vicki grimaced. It was all right for Charles to say that, but she did have something to worry about, and that was starting her training today
at the posh salon. Why on earth had she agreed to this?

  ‘Ah, you look lovely.’ Bob nodded his approval. ‘We had better go. It wouldn’t do to be late on your first day.’

  She managed a smile. He was taking her the first time to introduce her to Don James, and show her how to get there.

  When they reached the salon and looked inside, she wanted to run. It was all glass, chrome and pink leather! She thought it was appalling. The man she was going to be working with was tall and thin, wearing tight black trousers and a pink shirt.

  ‘Oh dear,’ she murmured.

  Bob laughed at her expression of horror. ‘Comes as a bit of a shock, doesn’t it? But he’s a first-class hairdresser, with a reputation for excellence. He’s considered one of the best in the business, and his client list proves that.’

  ‘Really? If he’s that good, why is he going to train me? He’s never seen me before.’

  ‘I told him you were gaining a good many faithful clients who always asked for you to do their hair. He said he had a vacancy at the moment and would be interested in training you.’

  ‘Really?’ She couldn’t take her eyes off the salon.

  ‘Is that all you can say, Vicki?’ he laughed. ‘You’ll enjoy the challenge. Come on, let’s go inside.’

  She followed reluctantly, muttering, ‘I hope he doesn’t expect me to wear that shocking shade of pink!’

  ‘Ah, good morning, Bob. I see you’ve brought my pupil.’ He studied Vicki from head to toe, and then back up again. He stepped forward and ran his fingers through her hair. ‘Beautiful, but let it grow longer.’

  ‘I like it short,’ she said defiantly. ‘It’s the fashion.’

  ‘I’m well aware of that, young lady, but very few women have hair as lustrous as yours. It needs to be shown in its full beauty, and that can’t be done if you keep chopping it off.’

  Chopping it off! ‘We don’t chop hair, sir; we style it.’

  He studied her for some moments, and she waited for him to show her the door. This couldn’t have been a worse start, but she wasn’t going to put up with his pretentious posturing. She always tried to please Bob and Flo, but this was going too far!