by Carol Holden
“Oh Charlie! I remember! I remember! The day when I first came here with my mother and David and the things you taught me about the wildlife on the lake. I had some hypnosis treatment in London, before we came up North, and I think it might have worked, along with the magic of the lake.” Simon told Charlie as he lifted Taj in the air and hugged them both.
Mula heard the sounds that came from the garden and she joined the three of them and asked, ”What is going on here, all this fun and laughter, what am I missing?”
Simon brought her to them and told her. Her face broke into her beautiful smile as she moved closer to Charlie, held his face in her hands and kissed his cheeks, one and then the other. “I used to do that to my grandfather, who I have just lost. You shall be my grandfather, Charlie.”
Sarah and David watched from the kitchen window, and when they understood what had happened, they whooped with joy as they ran out to be with them.
Mark and Sahida were upstairs, where Sarah had shown them their room. They were unpacking, when they heard the happy shouts from the garden.
“I think Simon has remembered his life here, Oh my God, isn’t that wonderful, let’s join them.” Mark said as he swept Sahida in his arms and pelted downstairs, into the garden.
Simon was ecstatic, his heart felt more calm, the heaviness that had been always
there since his loss of memory, had disappeared. He felt whole.
He held Sarah’s hand and then David’s with his other hand and said to them both.
“I want you both to know that at the time Taj was born, the care you gave to Mula and myself, I felt in my heart that you were my parents.”
“Welcome home son,” they said in unison, as they felt relief pour through their veins.
As this commotion was going on in the garden, Anne and her family arrived on the drive. They passed the house and went straight to the scene of celebration. Anne ran to Simon with tears running down her cheeks and hugged her long lost brother.
“Oh, my darling brother.” She sobbed as she hugged as if she would never let him go.” Simon held her to him as he remembered the many years they had been together. Their childhood and their adolescence and their many hours spent with Charlie, around the lake.
“Oh granddad, what a wonderful birthday present for you and all of us.” Anne hugs Charlie, wishing him a very happy birthday.
The young families got to know each other. Simon and Daniel, as well as Mula and Anne, had a lot in common, because of their careers. The children were playing ball together on the lawn, as the other guests arrived. Mark’s parents were the first to arrive, Sarah’s sister, Katie and her husband, Stan. Mark proudly introduced Sahida to his mother and father. They were both impressed with her, as much as, she felt at ease with them.
Katie took Mark to one side, after a while and asked him. ”Why haven’t you married that lovely girl, what are thinking about?”
Mark grins at his mother and within hear- shot of Sahida says. “She hasn’t asked me, but if she does I will say yes.” Sahida joins them saying. “He will have to ask me first and then I will say yes. Sahida and Mark hug his mum and dad laughing and Mark pulled out a ring and offered it Sahida as he asked. “Will you marry me Sahida darling? I bought this ring in London but had not the opportunity to ask you until now, and as my mother can’t help but interfere, it has had to be a family affair. Mark says as he winks at his mother.
Sahida goes straight to Sarah to show her the ring and they laugh together.
“We are all of us now, part of our two families, isn’t that wonderful?”
Mary and Joe arrived at the same time as Charlie’s friends and the celebrations began. David brought out the champagne, as Simon approached his other grandparents and introduced them to his family. The meeting was emotional because Taj looks exactly like Simon, when he was that age.
“Come on, everyone; lift up your glasses to Charlie on his birthday, to Simon and his family, who we have just regained into our family. To Sahida and Mark who have just announced their engagement, what a wonderful number of celebrations!”
The twelve bottles of bubbly were consumed, along with the food, and the party was a great success. David had arranged for fireworks to go off at midnight that gave a wonderful display.
Chapter 57
The following morning the whole extended family walked around the lake, the children around Charlie’s knees, Simon and Anne catching up on their different lives, Mula and Dan listening to their reminiscences of their growing up.
“Do you remember when we all went to Wales and you fell off that cliff into the sea?” Anne asked Simon.
“Yes, and all you did was laugh.” Simon replied.
“Well, I knew you were a good swimmer and the cliff wasn’t very high.” Anne told him laughing.
“What about the time you were all broody about my friend Ben?” Simon asked. “Hey how is Ben, by the way? He was the reason I found my father’s family in
Pokhara?” Simon continued.
Ben’s has done well. He is a journalist on one of the broadsheet newspapers in London. He is married and has a little girl.” Anne said.
“Oh we have such a lot of catching up to do.” Simon hugged his sister as the chatter went on, as the others joined in with news of Simon’s old friends.
Sahida was impressed by the strangeness of the beauty of the lake and its surrounding landscape as they continued on their walk. Mark was proud to show her the place from where he came and was delighted that she was impressed by it.
Sarah and David found a short -cut home and prepared the Sunday dinner, having put in the beef to roast before they started their walk.
They were so content to have Simon in their lives again and they enjoyed the dinner preparation, making a fancy starter and an elaborate sweet, and setting the table with their best china.
In the five years since finding Simon, Mark and he had become very close as their lives interlocked, and Mula found a great friend and confident in Sahida. Taz and James were also a part of all their lives and there had been many pleasant outings, as the six of them became close friends. Simon and Mula enjoyed having dinner parties and invited the other four to eat with them. Mark and Sahida did the same but Taz and James took the other four to restaurants, to repay their hospitality.
Whilst Simon was on leave, James was working his shifts at the hospital and Taz had had to get a locum to replace James as her assistant as G.P. to the villages. Rashi was a younger man and he was very handsome. He had dark thick hair he wore just over his ears and his eyes were large and luminous. His smile was beguiling and his caring ways took the villagers’ needs to his heart. He was in awe of Taz and the way her patients’ gentle eyes followed her wherever she moved. He saw how efficient she worked and the cheerful way she addressed them. He would go to his room at the end of the day and dream about Taz, he had a serious crush on her. She would meet up with James when they had free time and sometimes, invite Rashi to join them, as he was a stranger to the place. James could see the adoration in Rashi’s eyes when Taz was anywhere about and he wasn’t happy about it. James hadn’t ever committed himself to a lasting relationship with anyone since the loss of his wife. His time in the army had made it difficult to sustain one. Now he was sure that the feelings he had for Taz were strong but he was reticent to do anything about it because he didn’t want to spoil the friendship they had together.
Simon and the party were due to arrive back and Rashi would leave so James would once again be with Taz on her village -clinic rounds. James was waiting for the day, although he had enjoyed his time working in the hospital.
JAMES
Chapter 58
James grew more and more closer to Taz. He had been hurt in his past by his wife who had stolen his heart and then left him. He had not recovered from that loss for many years and the memories still haunted him.
James left Sandhurst in the early eighties and at the time there was an increase in the numbers recruited for the Army
. He was promoted very quickly because of his education, his personality and his enthusiasm. His parents were tea growers in Sri Lanka his young life had been pampered with a nanny and servants. His friends were the workers’ children and he grew up there until he was eleven years old, living a life in the sun with many friends and doting parents.
When he was eleven, his parents brought him to a boarding school in England. His father’s parents lived in Derbyshire so a school was found in that area. They were his only living grandparents and he would be able to visit them frequently’
James was sad to leave his parents and his friends but it was the only way for him to get a proper education.
James had been taught well at home so he had no difficulties with his lessons. But because he entered the school mid-term, he found difficulties finding friends.
He was lonely at first but because of his skills in sport, he found himself included in various teams, rugby, tennis, hill-walking and climbing. He visited his grandparents whenever he could and met his cousins and was reunited with them through the years of his school days. The long summer holidays he spent in Sri Lanka with his parents.
When James was twenty-one and had just completed his degree he decided to apply to Sandhurst for Army officer training and he passed out as a junior lieutenant at twenty-two years old. He then trained to be a medical doctor in the army as he felt this would be of more use for his men.
He was sent to various trouble zones. He saw things in his early army days he found hard to forget. He was horrified by the regimes he encountered but he hardened himself to the realities of a soldier’s life and found the comradeship of his fellow officers gave a balance to his life.
At Christmas in the middle eighties, when he was home on leave at his grandfather’s house in Derby, he met Susan. She was with his cousin Mary, her friend from Durham university library, where they both worked in the research section.
Susan was beautiful with a confident air and a sweet smile. James was flattered by the attention she gave him.
“Hey! How are you doing?” She said as she gave him her most endearing smile
“I’m fine.” James replied as he looked into her warm blue eyes.
Just then James’s parents arrived for their Christmas break with all the family. By the end of the evening, James had danced and become enchanted by Susan and he made arrangements to see her over his Christmas leave.
“Mary what does James do for a living?” Susan said as she and Mary left the party together.
“He’s an army officer.” Mary told her
“Oh my god.” Susan cried.
“What’s wrong with that?” Mary said.
“Well he’ll always be away,” that means I won’t see much of him.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Mary said.
“He is taking me out on Tuesday, we are dining in Derby.” Susan told her.
Susan and James spent his leave together and they became very close. He wrote to her whilst he was far away in various trouble spots. They both looked forward for their reunion. They met again in three months time and found their feelings had become stronger from the many letters they had exchanged during his absence.
James arranged to meet Susan in Durham so they could spend the full weekend together. She told Mary, with whom she shared a flat and Mary decided to go home for the weekend so that Susan and James could have some time together alone.
Susan was in a tizzy, spent all Thursday evening cleaning the flat. She changed the sheets on Friday morning so the bed would be pristine for James. She arranged candles around the bathroom. She wanted to make the weekend as romantic as possible.
As she came through the library door on Friday after work, she saw James, dressed in casual clothes, and his face lit up with his attractive smile as he stepped forward to kiss and hug her.
“Oh I have missed you so much”, he said
“Me too,” Susan replied. Let’s go home to the flat.”
They linked arms and their steps matched and rhymed as they quickly walked home.
Susan opened the door and James was charmed by the look and the perfume of the place.
They fell into each other’s arms and they spent the whole weekend loving, sleeping and occasionally making meals, when they were starving.
James and Susan married on James’s following leave when they spent their honeymoon on the beautiful island of Kefalonia in a villa on the outskirts of a village. It was an ideal time for the two of them. The couple settled down to married life and were delighted when James got a home posting at a training camp in the North East. Susan was delighted with the accommodation because
James was high up in command, which brought with it many advantages.
Susan and James had a wonderful loving relationship. His parents adored her and her parents opened their arms to James and made him a part of their family. After three years Susan and James decided to start their own family but they were unsuccessful. After using various techniques nothing happened and Susan began to fret. James comforted her and they went to see a doctor for them both to have tests. The hospital found something amiss in Susan’s tests and she was diagnosed with neuron motor disease. James was devastated and he kept the seriousness of her illness from Susan.
Susan began to feel muscle weakness and she was always dropping things that she could not retrieve. When she walked any distance, perspiration poured off her and she felt very weak. She tried to keep her weaknesses from James but he knew they had not much time together. He tried to give Susan a good life whilst she was able to do things. They would holiday in the sun and they would dance together to slow dreamy music, holding each other close. He would float her in the warm sea and see her delight, the tension flowing out of her lovely face as she enjoyed the warmth of the sun on her body. James suffered as he watched her deteriorate, although she was fighting with all her will to stay.
After her great fight for her life she died at the age of thirty-two and James never wanted another relationship. His love for her sustained him and he volunteered for overseas battlefield hospital time. He had not felt anything for any other woman for fifteen years. When his army time was over and he was given a pension after twenty-five years, he volunteered for work in the third world thus bringing him to work in Pokhara.
TAZ
Chapter 59
Taz was the youngest of the Menon family. She was teased and spoilt by her two siblings, Taj and Sahida, and adored by her parents. She was quite a handful of mischief and assertiveness in her teens but was devastated when her favourite sibling died in the plane crash. She had thought she would make a good lawyer but when she saw the grief of her parents, she decided to become a doctor like her father and her dead brother.
Taz attended university in Delhi’s Medical school. It was not easy then for females to become doctors but the training she had with her father held her in good stead. She was a popular student and made many friends. She was also flirty with the boys, feeling her freedom from home and loving the attention.
Liam was a fellow student but older, a post-graduate, studying a Ph.D. in tropical diseases. He was Irish, very handsome with fair hair and green eyes. Taz fell for him. He was part of her lecture team and seemed exotic to her.
Liam was a happy-go – lucky guy who had lots of his students falling for him. Taz was determined to catch his eye and she did all she could to be near to him. It was a girlish crush but she had never met anyone like him before and she did all she could to be near to him. She maneuvered a seat beside him in the canteen and a friendship flowered from his sense of humour and her easy wit. He asked her out on a date and things heated up as an attraction sprung up between them.
Liam had many friends amongst the post-graduate minority and made them his priority. He had more in common with them than the larger majority of younger students.
Taz attended Liam’s every lecture, trying every time to catch his eye. They began to date regularly at her instigation. She had serious feelings for
him, but for Liam, it was just a bit of fun.
He arranged a weekend away in one of the better hotels in Delhi and wined and dined Taz. He took her sightseeing, visiting the garden where Ghandi’s light still burns at his remembrance sight. They strolled around, hand in hand, and Taz felt engrossed by the attractive, lovely Irishman. When, however, they returned to the hotel, Taz found that only one room had been booked. She was very nervous and she had no intention of sleeping with Liam. She had never been with a man before. She was eighteen and he was twenty-eight, she had trusted him. He took her to the room whilst she protested, shoving her roughly on to the bed. He took her quickly without any foreplay and ripped her causing her to scream out in pain. He dressed quickly and left her crying in fear as she saw the blood on the sheets and felt a rush of shame. She had been raped. What could she do? She lay on the bed feeling torn apart and wondering what had happened to her. She knew she had made moves towards him but in her innocence she had not expected what had happened, his lack of care for her, his quick and angry display of disdain as he left her crying on the rumpled bed.
She had no close friend she could turn to. She knew she would have to get back to her classes and hide her feelings of her utter lack of self-esteem. She would have to face up to seeing Liam in class, and live with the contempt he had for her. She made a secret of her rape and decided she would live a life without a man in it.
She survived the rest of her university days by working hard and when she became a doctor, she returned to her parents and worked with her father.
Until she met James
Chapter 60
Rashi left and James was back on his rounds with Taz, who had missed James’s easy-going ways and had felt uncomfortable with Rashi’s adoration of her. He was like a puppy, showing her how pleased he was when she was around. James’s time was up but he volunteered for another spell. He decided to move into a flat in Kathmandu where he could settle and feel at home, for the time he would be working there. Taz was pleased because she trusted him with her patients. She did not have to check his treatment of the villagers as she had to do with Rashi.