by S. Y. Robins
Normally Lorna liked the solitary quiet of a walk but the cheerful young woman was an endearing distraction. “No, I don’t mind. Back off to the stone circle are you?”
“Yes,” the girl said with a smile in Lorna’s direction. “The place terrifies me but so long as Brian’s there I know I’m safe. He’s ever so protective.”
Lorna gave the girl a smile as they continued down the damp stones of the road going down the hill. The girl continued to hum the tune but Lorna still couldn’t place it. She looked over at the younger woman, thinking how very strange the girl’s attire was. The beatific smile on Sadie’s pretty face and the hands clenched at Sadie’s chest were clear indications of the girl’s infatuation with her young man, however, and Lorna suspected Sadie’s adoration was well-deserved. Lorna bit her lip to keep from making some remark that might be funny to her but not to the girl and controlled her urge to bat her eyelashes.
“I’m sure he is,” Lorna finally replied as they continued to walk. “How did you two meet, anyway?”
“Oh, he was sent home from the war after his plane was shot down. He was in the air force you know?” Sadie said with a glance over her should at Lorna. “He suffered a broken leg and I used to see him in his father’s garden, catching what bits of sun he could when I’d go out for my daily walk. We started chatting and things have just gone on from there.”
Brian must have been in one of the helicopter crashes she sometimes saw on telly from Iraq or one of those wars. The kid wasn’t any older than 21, surely!
“That’s very sad, but at least he made it home in one piece.” Lorna offered, feeling rather lame and unprepared for commenting on a war she felt disconnected from.
“Indeed, so many haven’t. At least it’s over with now.” Sadie said, her head poised in such a mature way that acceptance and fortitude seemed to exude from her pores.
“Well, I hate to say it but this is my turn, have a lovely evening Sadie, see you around. Be careful on the rest of your walk.”
“I will. Thanks again for your help. Have a lovely evening, yourself!” Sadie bounced off, waving as she went. Lorna sighed, wondering if she’d ever been that in love.
Young Jack, barely out of puppyhood and still tiny shot out of his doggy door as he heard his mistress outside, yapping a greeting to show his adoration. Lorna picked him up to cuddle the small dog as she went into her small home just off the main road of the village.
“Ah, someone’s happy I’m home anyway. How’s my little fella? I missed you too, Jack. Let’s get inside now.” Lorna, a pretty girl herself but uninterested in romance, walked into the cosy home and turned off the 'dog TV' she had running for Jack on her laptop, and went into the kitchen. Much like the night before she went through the same routine, eating some of the dinner she’d brought home from work and sharing it with Jack as they watched a movie online before showering and heading to bed. Another day over with and out of the way Lorna thought as she once more climbed into her cold bed, reminding herself to buy a hot-water bottle on her next shopping trip out.
Lorna spent the next week in a fog, literally. Every day she woke up, and looked out of her bedroom window to be greeted with the grey gloomy fog that seemed to have settled over the village. She was on the verge of investing some of her savings into giant fans that might blow the gloomy moisture away.
“We shall go to Spain for our next holiday, Jack. Or maybe Portugal, I hear it never rains there. What do you think?” She asked Jack as he yipped at her from his perch on a pillow. Today was her day off and she had wanted to spend it shopping but she hated shopping in fog. She came home damp and annoyed after two trips on the village bus line.
Humming the tune she’d heard Sadie singing Lorna went into the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee in her French Press and filled Jack’s bowl with food. Thinking about the only excitement she’d had over the last few days she wondered which of the pair of lovebirds she’d have met if she had walked down that hill tonight. The pair was lovely, well spoken, and always polite, even though they weren’t much younger than she was. For some reason they made her feel like a motherly matron, the few years that separated their age provided a huge gap of wisdom. But sometimes one of them would come up with something so mature it would shock her.
Only last night Sadie had mentioned the necessity of being frugal and conserving food and electricity. Generally not the kind of things most young people worried about today unless they were involved in some sort of green initiative. And young Brian had mentioned the night before that his father was worried about this year’s harvest after some kind of damage that Brian had never really got around to mentioning. Lorna couldn’t remember hearing about anything to do with crop failures from the other farmers that visited the pub but she did spend most of her time in the kitchen.
The pair were obviously different from most youths of today and was obviously some kind of romantic duo stuck in the romanticism and allure of World War II, at least in their clothing and style choices. Lorna wondered if they did the jitterbug up there in the stone circle, Sadie’s white cotton socks flashing in the darkness as her tiny little feet flitted about.
The mental picture made Lorna smile as she hummed the tune and she decided to have a walk up to the pub later to see if she met up with either of the pair. For some reason they never seemed to appear together, only separately. Lorna wasn’t sure what that part was about. Come to think of it, they did seem to just appear out of nowhere, there were no footsteps ahead or behind her to warn her of their presence, they just appeared out of the fog and darkness.
“Perhaps they’re ghosts, Jack. What do you think to that notion, my good sir? No, I believe you’re right, there’s no such thing.” Lorna whispered to her companion.
Lorna dismissed it as coincidence and her growing notion that perhaps they were ghosts as a symptom of her lonely lifestyle. She simply had too much time on her hands alone. Ghosts weren’t real after all, were they? She’d touched both of them; they were solid, real, their skin warm against the cool air of the night. Nope, no ghosts in these parts Lorna told herself.
2
Lorna sat at the bar of the pub later that evening, watching the young and old mingling together in different stages of inebriation. She’d never quite understood the allure of spending every waking moment drunk. She’d had her small cider, spoken with Mildred for a little while, smiled at a group of women celebrating another’s engagement, and gone past Oona on one of her jaunts outside for a smoke.
Oona was one of the local characters. She appeared rather like a pixie and enhanced the look with dark makeup and purple hair. Lorna liked the woman but had only spoken to her in passing. Tonight she’d caught Lorna watching her with an odd smile. Lorna didn’t think the 30-ish woman was coming onto her or anything but she did wonder what that pleased smile was about. Dismissing the memory Lorna prepared for her walk home, pulling young Jack along with her.
“You leaving, Lorn?” Daniel, the barkeeper asked.
“Yes, got to get Jack back to his warm bed before he overdoses on treats. Poor little fellow, he’s waddling now with all the treats he’s been given!” Lorna said as she picked the dog up and put him in a basket she’d brought with her. Jack was only a little bit spoiled.
“See you tomorrow then love. Good night.” Daniel called out, which prompted some of the other patrons to do the same.
Lorna called out a goodnight to all and carefully made her way out of the door. It wasn’t long before she came upon Brian, kicking at pebbles in the fog, looking glum. Oh dear, trouble in paradise?
“What’s the matter Brian?” Lorna asked, shifting the basket Jack was softly snoring from.
“Let me take that for you, Lorna.” He offered and smiled as he heard Jack growl softly from inside. “Have a young dragon in here do you?”
Well there you go then, a ghost wouldn’t be able to hold that basket would it? And Jack certainly wouldn’t be giving his tiny little puppy growl if he was being held in thin air by
a ghost because there’d be nothing there to growl at. That settled that question, at least. Sadie and Brian were as real as her.
“Oh, it’s only Jack, my Yorkie. What’s wrong my friend?” Lorna asked as they continued to walk.
“Nothing really, I guess, but everything. Sadie’s father hates me you know? He thinks my father stole some ring from him and doesn’t want me around Sadie. He keeps showing up at the farm, threatening all sorts if he catches me with her. We never meet in public so he won’t find out. He just shows up every now and then with his old hunting rifle to make sure I understand. He suspects I guess but he never catches us. That’s why we meet like this, at night and alone.” Brian informed Lorna.
“Ah, that explains a lot then. What does your father have to say about it all?” Lorna asked as they made their way down the slickest part of the fog covered hill.
“Oh, he insists he didn’t take it and I believe him. It’s just getting Sadie’s father to. My father’s a farmer, of no importance to a banker like Sadie’s father. Her father thinks all farmers are thieves for some reason but we’re honest folk. We couldn’t do business otherwise.” The boy said glumly.
“That’s quite true, quite true indeed. I don’t suppose there’s a way to track the ring down now, is there? What a quandary. Well, in this day and age at least a girl doesn’t need permission to marry. I assume that’s your intentions anyway, to marry Sadie?” Lorna asked.
“Indeed it is.” Brian replied. “Sadie’s not a girl you fool around with; she’s the marrying kind, that’s a fact.”
“What’s her father’s name, perhaps I could talk to him?” Lorna asked, not sure what she’d actually say to the man but willing to aid the young couple.
“Oh no, I couldn’t bother you to do that. His name’s William Conley but no, don’t trouble yourself.” Brian urged her, looking frightened for some reason.
Thinking that perhaps the boy was afraid her talking to the man would make matters worse, that it would confirm the pair were actually seeing each other, Lorna wondered. He could be right, if that’s what he was afraid of. Sometimes such stubborn, pig-headed men were worse when confronted, and Lorna was only a little slip of a woman so perhaps tracking him down wasn’t the best idea, after all.
“Perhaps Mildred knows him; Mildred owns the pub where I work. I’ll talk with her tomorrow; see if she knows anything that could be helpful. Well, this is the turn to my place, Brian; I appreciate you carrying Jack for me. Shall I see you tomorrow?” Lorna stood with Jack in his basket on her hip, looking at the young man with a smile.
“Perhaps so, perhaps so Lorna. Have a good night then. See you soon.” Brian called as he ran off down the road to the stone circle. He waved at Lorna before disappearing into the fog.
“That’s just terrible, don’t you think Jack? Imagine threatening such a brilliant young man with a gun!” Lorna shivered as she walked into her warm home, setting Jack’s basket on the floor. “Sadie’s father should have a cricket bat taken to him for doing such a thing. Now, what’s for dinner tonight my little love?”
Lorna spent another night in front of the electric fire, watching a movie with Jack. It was only as she fell asleep that she realized something she’d not paid attention to before but only now realized. She never heard Brian or Sadie and only knew they were there when she saw them. Her first reaction was to dismiss it because of the fog. But then she realized she never heard them even when she was walking right beside them. Even soft-soled shoes made a slapping noise against the wet road as you walked but even Sadie’s old fashioned pumps didn’t make a sound.
Lorna trudged up the hill the next morning, her shoes catching on the cobbles every now and then. A restless night of tossing and turning, an unusual event for Lorna, left her with so little energy she could barely lift her feet from the ground before taking the next step. She was also worrying about her sanity; entertaining the notion that the two people she met on her walk home each night were ghosts wasn’t exactly something a sane person would do was it?
Lorna paused for a moment going up the hill, something she never had to do but if she wanted to catch her breath to get up the hill she was going to have to do today. Even if the two young people were not ghosts, there was the matter of Sadie’s father threatening young Brian with a gun. That was not to be tolerated, not at all. Lorna continued up the hill, troubled deeply over her worry for the boy and her own thoughts.
Finally reaching her destination Lorna wearily took her coat off, removed her scarf, and headed into the kitchen to begin her prep work. Looking around the brightly lit kitchen she knew this would be the one place that could cheer her up today. Turning on the radio in the window, placed to get the best reception, she began to chop carrots, onions, parsnips and other vegetables she’d need for tonight’s menu. She was lost in chopping and in her own thoughts when Mildred came in to make a cup of tea.
Lorna glanced over at Mildred, and smiled at the older but pretty woman. With shoulder-length dark wavy air and penetrating grey eyes Mildred was a lovely woman who knew how to handle most situations. Lorna thought of her as an adopted mother and she often spent a lot of time out of work helping Mildred with community projects and events. Lorna went back to chopping carrots as Mildred filled the kettle.
As she waited for the water to boil Mildred had a look at Lorna and saw the weariness, the lines of worry on her friend and employee’s face. Frowning she came over and put her arm around Lorna.
“What’s the matter then love? You look like someone stole your Jack away from you!” The kind woman explained.
Lorna looked up at Mildred with a look of a worry then went back to chopping. Mildred could be as soft as an angel or as tough as nails, depending on what the situation called for. After her night of tossing and turning Lorna wanted the tough as nails bird she knew, not the kind angel. The kind angel might bring out tears and she didn’t want to cry right now.
“Just a bit of confusion Mildred. Do you know a William Conley by any chance?” Lorna asked, tossing a pile of carrots into a bowl of water then going back to chopping as she waited.
“No, I don’t believe I do, I can ask around if you’d like? Who is he?” Mildred asked as she tapped her index finger against her chin, a thoughtful look on her face, as though she were digging deep into her brain for a memory.
“The father of a girl I’ve been walking home with in the evening. He doesn’t like the girl’s boyfriend and has been displaying rather odd behaviour. He’s threatened the boy with a gun! Can you imagine such a thing?” Lorna stopped to grab another bowl for the onions, and looked at Mildred.
“And what’s this young man’s name?” Mildred asked in a no-nonsense voice.
“Brian,” Lorna explained. “Brian’s a gentlemanly young man really, and a good boy as well. I really can’t understand the problem.”
“Oh.” Mildred said oddly and Lorna looked up from her chopping to see Mildred staring at Lorna in wonder. “And what’s this young woman’s name?”
“Sadie. She’s really quite lovely as well. They both dress in the oddest fashion but it’s romantic too. They’re both very well-mannered and a pleasure to be around. I just don’t know what can be done about the girl’s father.”
“Brian and Sadie. You haven’t heard the story then.” Mildred paused, looking at Lorna more closely. “I suppose you are that Lorna. I wondered if you were, if you could be.”
“Pardon?” Lorna said with a confounded expression. “Which Lorna? What are you on about, Mildred?”
“You really haven’t heard the story?” Mildred asked, settling on a bench in the kitchen with her cup of tea.
“I have no idea what you’re on about, what story?” Lorna repeated her question.
“Sadie and Brian’s story? You know nothing about them?” Mildred asked, looking at Lorna closely for any signs of fibbing.
Lorna put down her chopping knife and looked over at Mildred, frustration was setting in.
“No! Only what they’ve
told me as we’ve walked along the last few nights. They started showing up the other night when I walked home from work. I’d never seen them in the village before but you know how we get the walkers and other visitors around here.”
“So they showed up when that fog settled in then. I’ve often wondered whether you were the Lorna mentioned or not but that’s neither here nor there now. Follow me, you can do the prepping later love. I’ll give you a hand with it.” Mildred took Lorna by the elbow and led her into Mildred’s office with a pleased smile.
3
Lorna felt a strange sense of foreboding mixed with curiosity. What was she about to find out? Mildred was acting so very strangely and that smile and her words were just odd. Something was going on and though Lorna wanted to know what she also wondered if, perhaps, she didn’t really want to know.
Settling into a chair beside Mildred, a perplexed Lorna looked at Mildred’s computer screen as Mildred clicked a few links then typed in a web address. Then, suddenly, Lorna was staring at some very old pictures of Brian and Sadie! Perhaps it was their grandchildren she was meeting with? No, that would just be weird wouldn’t it, even if they were cousins.
“What am I looking at?” Lorna finally asked.
“This is your Sadie and Brian. These are the two young people you’ve been walking with each night.”
“Impossible!” Lorna declared. “There must be some mistake. These are old pictures. These people would be well old by now!”
“No, they’re both dead, actually. Let me start at the beginning, shall I?” Mildred asked kindly.
“Please do.” Lorna said, settling back into her chair, her arms crossed as if to protect her from some harm.
“Sadie and Brian’s story begins in the spring of 1945. Brian was sent home when his plane was shot down and he managed to escape the Germans. He’d broken his leg but still managed to crawl to safety. Obviously by that time the military didn’t bother to send him back and he spent the rest of the war at home, his leg slowly healing. He met Sadie in the summer of 1946 and they built a relationship that her father didn’t know about.” Mildred paused to show a picture of the pair together, obviously taken outdoors.