Splintered Lives

by Carol Holden

  I know he will always have people to love him although Taj is not here and he will miss having a dad. My own dad will be a good granddad and I know he will teach him the manly things in life, I have often thought that dad would have liked a son but had two daughters. His joy when Mark was born was great and I know he will love Simon with the enthusiasm he shows to Mark.

  I have kept in touch with my friends from college and I have received today, an invitation to Ann’s wedding. She has been lecturing at the University of Cork and I have kept in touch, although I have not met up with any of them because of my circumstances.

  Simon is three years old now and he is such a sweetie. I have spent all my free time looking after him. I kept on my teaching supply work and my mother has looked after him during the week school times. I rush home to mother’s to pick him up and take him home to my little cottage, for which I have managed to get a mortgage. I get him his tea and then we read a book whist we snuggle together until it’s time to take his bath. He loves the water and he splashes whilst I soap his little body and he doesn’t even object to having hair washed and rinsed. I reach him out and dry him on a fluffy white towel and dry his now thick silky curls.

  We play the piggy goes to market game and when he is sleepy and warm I tuck him into his cot.

  I am unsure about going to Ireland to Ann’s wedding because I don’t want to leave Simon. My mother is insisting that I have a break because she will love having Simon for a full weekend. I get on with my marking and push any decision to the back of my mind. I used to mark any work at school but since I have had Simon I rush home to spend with him what little time there is before he is ready for bed. It is time I made my meal and consider what I intend to do.

  Chapter 13

  Charlie

  Charlie was a handsome young man who was popular with all his friends. He was a carefree lad who had always wanted to be a fireman. At the age of twenty he joined the local fire brigade. He also loved to dance. At the local dance hall in Ruthin, he spent his free Saturday nights dancing to the local dance band. He wasn’t forward but he always had a twinkle in his eye and a broad smile for the girls until he met Amy, who stole his heart. Amy was the eldest of three sisters, and although she was only sixteen she was mature for her age, because their father had been away in the war, she had to help her mother with her two siblings.

  Charlie and Amy became a couple and their friends and relations noted their closeness. No -one could put a pin between them. Amy worked in the local library and they saved their money, after paying their dues to both their families.

  By the time Amy was nineteen they had enough for a deposit on a small terraced house on the outskirts of Ruthin.

  They persuaded Amy’s parents to give their consent to the marriage and they had a quiet wedding and moved straight into their new home together.

  There was not a lot of money to spare for the first few years, but they had each other, and they still loved to dance on Saturday nights, enjoying long walks together on Sundays. After a year Amy started to want a baby to complete the happiness they had found together. Charlie was just as keen to have children and soon they were planning a family.

  David was born on the 15th November 1962 when his father was 23 years old and Amy, his mother, was 21 years old. They were young strong parents and their son was the apple of their eye. David was a beautiful baby with golden curls and blue eyes fringed with dark long lashes, exactly like his fathers. Amy felt a rush of maternal love as soon as the baby was put into her waiting arms. Charlie brought the largest bunch of flowers the maternity home had ever seen and he and Amy smiled together, as he held his arms around his wife and son.

  David was five years old when Charlie had an accident at work. He was attending a vicious fire when the building gave way and sent Charlie falling down through a ceiling on to the floor below.

  When the fire brigade reached the paper mill, the raging fire was sending up sparks that could be seen for miles around. Charlie was the first to step down from the fire engine. He wore his protective clothing and carried his equipment at the ready. His team stepped into the building to find the fire was on the second floor. It was here that the chemicals used for the manufacture of paper were kept the air was stifling and the burning paper crackling, whilst throwing black burnt flakes in to the air. The men used their hoses and the flames seemed to die. The firemen felt they had control of the situation when a great explosion of chemicals filled their space. The team had to retreat from the area. Charlie was caught at the other side of the room. He called for his men to leave the building whilst they could. Charlie broke a window at the side of the building with flames following him persistently near as he jumped, the floor collapsed beneath him and he lay unconscious on the ground below.

  His back was injured and he was taken to hospital where the prognosis was not good and it was suspected that he was paralysed. Amy was desperate to see him so she phoned the school where David was and asked if they would keep him there if she could not get back from the hospital in time.

  Charlie had been made as comfortable as possible when Amy arrived.

  “How are you feeling darling?” she quietly asked.

  “Not too bad but I can’t feel my feet.” He replied.

  It took weeks for Charlie to convalesce but he was soon his old pleasant self, winking at the lady doctor when she was telling Amy how well he was doing.

  He had broken both his ankles and as they mended so did Charlie. He had taken the impact of the fall on both his ankles and although he had hurt his back there were no bones broken there. His bruising took time, and along with his ankles, he wasn’t fit for work for three months. He was young and fit so he was glad to be back on his fire engine again.

  David was a happy little boy and although he was shy he made friends easily and there was always a gang of them around his house. He passed for the secondary high school and Amy and Charlie were so proud of him. He was very bright but his main interest was science, and his curiosity and interest in the subjects, made it easy for him to secure a place at university.

  He came out with a first class honours degree and he decided he wanted to be a civil engineer.

  Charlie and Amy were now empty nesters and they had saved some money and they decided that they would see something of the world. David was working on various projects all over the world and when it was possible, his mother and father visited him.

  Their globe- trotting came to an end when Amy was taken ill in their garden one lovely day in May. She was walking around the outside of their bungalow, where they had moved to when David was twelve, when she suddenly felt faint and stumbled as she held on to the wall. Charlie took her to the doctor, where tests were arranged, and she was found to have cancer. Charlie was devastated, his love for Amy has never wavered, and Amy feels the same, as they always had a close relationship beyond compare.

  “Don’t tell David yet”. She implores Charlie

  “We have to tell him” Charlie replies.

  “But not yet,” she says firmly.

  David has written asking his parents why they have not arranged another visit as he is working in Mexico and they have mentioned the fact that they would like to visit him there.

  Charlie writes a very sad letter saying Amy is too ill to travel that far and lets David know a little of the problems they are facing at home. He does not want to alarm David so he puts a light emphasis on the matter, hoping David will finish his project before he decides to come home.

  David arrives home as soon as he can get a plane. He finds the house empty and rings his Auntie Margaret, the nearest one to where they live.

  ‘Where are my parents?’’ asks David feeling afraid when he finds an empty house.

  “Your mother has been taken to the hospital in Ruthin.” Margaret replies feeling sad and sorry for David, her favourite nephew.

  “When did she go there?” David asks.

  “Only yesterday and your dad has been with her all the time.�
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  “Give me the number of the ward and I’m on my way,” replies David

  “I’m coming in myself”

  “Will you call on your way? And I will take you straight there,” asked his aunt.

  He agreed and left the house, heading two streets away to pick up his aunt.

  They arrive at ward-number 10 out of breath because David has run all the way along the corridor, with his aunt trying her best to keep in step.

  Amy’s face lights up at the sight of son and she feels so content to have her family around her. The Macmillan nurse has been and relieved her of any pain

  Her oxygen is flowing and her breathing is eased.

  ‘It is wonderful to see you David’ Amy whispers, tears filling her eyes as the emotion she feels at seeing David becomes too much for her.

  David takes her hand and looks around to hug his dad.

  ‘Great to see you lad.’ Charlie gives his son a hug.

  Margaret gives her sister a light kiss on her forehead and leaves David alone with his parents.

  Amy dies peaceable in her sleep with her family holding each hand. She is just fifty years old.

  Charlie is devastated. It is the worst day of his life when he has to follow the coffin to the Crematorium. He gets through the ceremony with the help of David holding onto his elbow as they enter the chapel.

  David has to go back to Mexico to finish the project, and he is very sad and afraid for his father. Amy and Charlie have been soul mates and David is concerned about how his dad will cope, now without her. He decides that after completing the job in Mexico he will find something else to do in order to be near to his dad.

  He decides to take a teaching course and perhaps get a job near to his home.

  Chapter 14

  David completes his teacher training and finds a placement in Ruthin at the six-form college. There is great shortage of science teachers and he is in great demand. He could have found jobs at any of the major universities but he is committed to staying near to Charlie.

  He made friends at training college and he has kept in touch with two of them since leaving. Sarah has been away in Nepal but John and Ann have kept in touch.

  Charlie is mending little by little but he has lost the sparkle he always had. David is hoping that it will return in time. He lives just a street away from his father and his Aunt Margaret so he now can keep an eye on him. They have a night out once a week and he calls around frequently to see how he is doing.

  David is finding his job less than satisfying and when he sees an advert in the Guardian Newspaper’s educational section for a lecturer at the prestigious Manchester University ‘s Science Department he is very tempted to apply.

  He worries about Charlie but he thinks that they can perhaps move together if they can find a house where they have their own space but still have the company of each other.

  Its four years since his mother died and Charlie is about to retire from his job.

  He knows his father will hate to live in the city but there are semi-rural areas around Manchester and with luck they may find something within driving distance of the University. When he approaches his father, Charlie is ready to move on. His house has not felt like home since Amy died and although he has many happy memories of their life together, he now feels it is time to move on.

  David applies and is successful in securing the position of senior lecturer in the Science Department. His salary will increase and with the help from his father he will be able to find a home suitable for both their needs. David does not start his new position until September and this gives them time to find suitable accommodation. They spend the summer looking for a home somewhere they will love to live.

  On one of their rovings they stumble on to the tiny village of Rivington on the outskirts of Manchester. There is a country park where Charlie can wander and David also, on weekends. The village is very close to a the small town of Horwich and quite near to Bolton, where there is a theatre and a good busy market, as well as, a number of first class shops and supermarkets. They find an estate agent and start their quest for a house to suit the both of them.

  They find a remote cottage overlooking a reservoir and they both fall in love with it. It is not cheap but after reviewing their financial position, they agree that they can afford it with the money from Charlie’s bungalow and the sale of David’s terrace house. They may have to take out a small mortgage but with David’s new job it will not be a hardship. Charlie will have his pension and they will have a comfortable life style.

  “This is great,” shouts Charlie as he circles the grounds of the house by the water. He is making plans for the garden and the idea of growing fruit and vegetables is exciting Charlie. There are a few fruit trees and gooseberry bushes as well as raspberry canes and blackcurrant bushes. Charlie has always loved to garden but has not had the amount of land that they have now.

  “I’m going to love it here.” He says quietly to himself. He has worked as a volunteer in Ruthin for the Samaritans and with their contacts they have found him a place in the Bolton branch. He has found many friends within the organisation and he knows that there will similar types of people in his new branch.

  David settles into his new position and he finds his colleagues are friendly and they include him in their out of work activities. He soon makes friends and they show him the ropes of working in the city, the best restaurants, the theatres and the various clubs. David has been used to city life before when he worked as a civil engineer, but they were only short stays and most of his life was lived in the small town of Ruthin. Charlie has started work on the garden and he finds there are friendly people who are walking the paths around the reservoir, who stop to have a word with him. He finds the locals very friendly and his work for his local Samaritans, very rewarding. He is really glad that they have made this change. He finds David is a lot happier, as he is getting much more satisfaction out of his more challenging job.

  “How about a look around the area.” Asks Charlie one weekend in late October.

  “We have been here two months now, and because of the work we have been doing on the house and garden, we haven’t had time to look around and about.”

  “Sure.” Replies David who is feeling a bit stir crazy, what with all the preparations for his lectures, as well as, helping his father with a bit of decoration some weekends.

  “Let’s have a look around Rosefield Park, my friend James at work, tells me that you get a good Sunday lunch at the Black Horse.”

  “Great,” replies his dad. I’ll just get my boots on and we can have a walk around our lake first.” “It’s a bit muddy by the looks of it, and the few walkers I’ve seen walking along the path from here, all wear walking boots.”

  “I’ll get my boots if I can find them, I think they are in one of the boxes I have not yet unpacked.” Says David halfway up the stairs in his half of the house.

  They set off at a good pace along the edges of the reservoir and find the terrain quite challenging. Some of the way is very muddy, but as they walk across fields in order to get them back on to the hard paths around the water’s edge, they find the views enchanting, as the trees are slowly turning from green to the various shades of autumn, red, gold and yellow.

  “I’m really glad we made this move, son,” says Charlie who is glowing from the brisk walk and the fresh air.

  “Me too,” replies David, who is pleased that his father is so fit for a man of his sixty years.

  “How far are we off this restaurant you promised me,” asks Charlie, “I’m famished with all this exercise.”

  “About half-hour up this road and along that smaller reservoir and we should be there.” David replies.