The Flyer

by Stuart Harrison

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘She told me not to bother ‘er. Said she’d get the police on me if I kept on.’

  ‘When was this?’ William asked, wondering what had provoked Sophie to such a response.

  ‘A while back.’

  ‘Have you been bothering her?’

  ‘I only wanted to talk to ‘er! I’d just wait outside where she works, that’s all. But she didn’t want to see me after she started goin’ about with that friend of yours.’

  How long had this been going on, William wondered. He suspected Sophie was the reason Arthur had neglected his business.

  ‘I’m worried about ‘er, Will,’ Arthur went on. ‘She’ll lose ‘er position if she’s not careful.’

  ‘What do you mean? Why will she lose her position?’

  ‘She’s late for work sometimes after she’s been out late at those hotels. It’s that friend of yours who’s to blame. I shouldn’t say it ‘cause I know ‘ow you’re staying here and all, but it’s not right Sophie livin’ in that flat of his.’

  ‘How do you know about that? Have you been following her?’

  ‘No, ‘course not,’ Arthur protested, but William didn’t believe him.

  ‘You have to stop this. You have to realise that Sophie has a life of her own,’ William warned.

  ‘I thought if you talk to ‘er, Will, she might listen to you,’ Arthur said as if he hadn’t heard.

  ‘Arthur! Listen to me! Did you hear what I said? You have to forget about Sophie!’

  Arthur stared at him, and then his manner changed. A dull, sullen look of resentment crept into his eyes. ‘I thought you’d understand, Will. But I was wrong about you. You’re different now you’re living ‘ere.’ He gestured contemptuously towards the house. ‘I shouldn’t ‘ave come.’ He turned and went back towards his car.

  ‘Wait!’ William said going after him. He thought there must be something wrong with Arthur. Perhaps it was the strain of the business. He had to persuade him to see somebody, perhaps a doctor who could give him something to calm him down. ‘Wait here a minute while I get my jacket and I’ll come with you. We’ll go back to the garage and talk this through. I’m sure we can sort everything out. You’ll see things differently then.’

  Arthur stared at him wordlessly. As William went back inside he thought this was partly his fault. If he’d kept a better eye on the garage this wouldn’t have happened. He’d become so tied up with his own life that he had just left Arthur to get on with it, even though there had been signs right from the beginning that things weren’t going well. Just then he heard Arthur’s car start, and when William went outside Arthur was already driving off. He called out to him, but Arthur ignored him. Deeply concerned, William got in his own car and drove to the garage, but he found it locked up, an air of abandonment and neglect about the place.

  A few days later, William and Elizabeth drove into Northampton one evening, to the flat where Sophie was now living. The four of them were going to a dance at a hotel on the Wellingborough road. When they arrived, Christopher was already there. Sophie showed them around, clearly very proud and happy, though William thought she seemed distracted. He put it down to nerves. They were the first visitors she’d had to her new home.

  The flat was very spacious, with two large bedrooms and a smaller one for a maid.

  ‘I’ve managed to find a cook who’ll come in to do dinner,’ Sophie said as they returned to the spacious living room where Christopher had made them all a drink. A little later, when Sophie went to the kitchen, William saw a chance to speak to her alone.

  ‘Hello,’ she said when she saw him. ‘Do you need something?’

  ‘I just wanted a glass of water,’ he said. As he filled a glass he mentioned that he’d seen Arthur a few days earlier. Sophie frowned but didn’t say anything. ‘He’s got himself into trouble with the garage. By the sound of it he’s going to lose the business.’

  ‘I’m sorry about that. For Arthur’s sake.’ She sighed heavily. ‘I told him he had to concentrate on his work instead of bothering me all the time.’

  ‘Has he been bothering you?’

  She nodded. ‘He won’t leave me alone. In the end I had to threaten to put the police onto him.’

  ‘He knows you’re living here,’ William said.

  ‘I know, but I didn’t tell him. He must have followed me.’

  ‘Does Christopher know about any of this?’

  ‘No, I didn’t want to say anything. I was frightened of what Arthur might do if Christopher went to see him. Arthur keeps going on about him, saying it’s wrong for Christopher to make me live here. I keep telling him that I want to be here and that Christopher and I love each other, but Arthur won’t listen. He’s got this idea in his head that he loves me, and if only I could see that we should be together, everything would be alright.’ She looked despairingly at William. ‘What do you think I should do?’

  ‘I think if you see him again you ought to tell Christopher. I don’t think Arthur’s dangerous.’

  ‘I hope you’re right,’ she said.

  ‘We better get back to the others or they’ll wonder what’s going on.’

  Sophie offered a wan smile.

  ‘You are alright, aren’t you?’ he asked. ‘You’re not worried?’

  ‘No, not really.’

  ‘It’s just that you’re not your usual self.’ For a moment he had the feeling she wanted to tell him something, but then she evidently changed her mind.

  ‘I’m fine. Really.’

  Later that evening, as William danced with Elizabeth, she was unusually quiet. ‘What are you thinking about?’ he asked, though he had already guessed what was on her mind.

  She glanced toward their table, where Sophie and Christopher were sitting. ‘They look very happy, don’t they? I thought that earlier when we went to the flat.’

  ‘Does it bother you?’

  She looked into his eyes. ‘No, of course it doesn’t. It’s just that everything is changing and it takes time to get used to the idea.’

  ‘Are you sorry that things are changing?’

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘A bit sad in one way perhaps, but I’m very happy in another way. Be patient with me. Can you do that?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She touched her fingers to his lips. ‘I love you.’

  When the dance ended, Elizabeth went to the powder room and William took the opportunity to get some air. He went outside and walked along the road a little way. When he looked back the windows were all lit up and music drifted on the evening air. A group of people stood in the light by the entrance. One of them laughed and a man lit a cigarette for a woman who put it into the end of a long holder. William watched from the obscurity of the darkness. He felt separate from them, and he thought that in a way he had always felt like that, that he was something of an outsider. Elizabeth came outside, and William knew she was looking for him. When he was with her he felt differently. She made him feel that he wasn’t alone. He decided then that he was going to ask her to marry him.

  He began to go back, and as he did he threw away his cigarette. A movement in the darkness caught his eye. A figure stood a little further along the road concealed beside a tree. It was Arthur. For an instant they looked at one another, and then before William could say anything, Arthur turned and vanished. His footsteps became faint, and then a car started and drove away with its lights off.

  When he went back to the hotel Elizabeth saw him and smiled. ‘Is that you? What are you doing?’

  ‘Just getting some air.’

  ‘I wondered where you were. Come on, I want you to dance with me.’

  She took his arm and they went inside.

  *****

  In the morning, William opened the curtains to his room. A scattering of pale, golden leaves fluttered on the grass beneath the oaks. Elizabeth had come back with him the night before, having made up some story or other for her parents’ benefit, which she was sure they didn’t be
lieve. She was still sleeping, but as he got dressed she stirred.

  ‘Come back to bed,’ she said.

  ‘I’ve got a surprise. Get dressed and I’ll see you downstairs.’

  ‘What sort of surprise?’

  ‘You’ll see. Hurry up.’

  An hour later he led her outside, and when Elizabeth saw the biplane parked on the grass she stopped in her tracks.

  ‘Oh no, William! You’re not suggesting what I think you are?’

  He handed her a pair of goggles and a leather helmet. ‘You’ll need to wear these. Not very glamorous I’m afraid, but necessary.’

  She took them reluctantly. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’

  ‘You needn’t worry. I’ve flown her half a dozen times already.’ He took her hands. ‘There’s a purpose to this, beyond just getting you up in a plane at last. Trust me Elizabeth. Will you do that?’

  She hesitated, but then nodded. ‘Alright. I will.’

  He grinned, then helped her to climb up into the front cockpit and showed her how to buckle her harness.

  ‘Are you sure it’s safe?’ she asked, looking doubtfully at the maze of wires and struts between the wings.

  ‘Perfectly. And with any luck she’s going to make my fortune.’

  She laughed. ‘I’ve never heard you sound so confident before. Do you really think it will?

  ‘Well, I expect it will set me along the path anyway. And then your parents will approve of me.’

  He kissed her before she had time to think about what he meant, and then he jumped down and gave the prop a turn to prime the engine.

  ‘Ready?’

  Elizabeth nodded gamely, and he went back to switch on then, gave the prop another turn and the engine caught and fired. The plane was already moving as he climbed into his seat and opened the throttle. Elizabeth held on tightly to the sides of her cockpit as the noise of the engine grew louder. They bumped quickly across the field, and then as William pulled back on the control stick they rose smoothly into the air.

  The plane climbed quickly, and within a few minutes they were flying at three thousand feet. Far below them, the woods and fields were spread out in a collage of greens and browns and gold, and threaded through it all were silvery threads of rivers and streams. As they passed over a small village Elizabeth found the courage to look down. Once she got over her initial terror, she stopped holding on so tightly, mesmerised instead by this new perspective of the world. William flew them above Pistford House so that she could see something she knew well, and from there he flew to Earls Barton and her own house. He made a pass over the roof at a hundred feet and then came back a second time. Elizabeth’s mother and one of her sisters had come out into the garden and were looking up at them and Elizabeth waved and then turned to him, grinning in delight. He pushed the stick from side to side to waggle the wings and turning east he began to climb again.

  At ten thousand feet the clouds looked solid enough to walk on. Elizabeth gazed all around at the landscape of billowing, cotton-like mountains. Towering cumulus rose far above them, and beyond was the never ending cerulean blue. The slanting rays of the sun cast shadows that raced like vast armies across the earth far below.

  They began to descend, and the shadow of the plane crossed the fields like a cross carried before crusaders of old. And then they were following the course of the river Nene along the valley floor, past the mill at Barnwell. William turned to take them over Oundle. He looked down on the buildings of the school where he had spent so much of his childhood, and the market square where he first saw Emmaline, and the churchyard where he had sat with her. Leaving the town behind he followed the path that crossed the water meadow and ran beside the river, until he saw Fotheringhay Castle, no more than a mound of earth where once he’d seen a ghostly figure in the mist. He remembered the air of melancholy that enveloped the place and the aura of loneliness he’d identified with. Eventually he changed direction again.

  When they reached Scaldwell, he flew over the village and landed the plane in a grassy field. As they came to a stop he switched off the engine, and the sudden quiet after the constant roar of the engine was almost startling. He climbed out of his cockpit and helped Elizabeth down. She took off her helmet and goggles and shook her hair free.

  ‘Why did you wait so long before you took me flying? I’ve never experienced anything like it.’ She laughed in delight and then she threw her arms about him and kissed him.

  William thought she was beautiful, with her long hair swept back and her smiling face upturned to the sun, her sea green eyes.

  ‘Where are we?’ she asked looking around. ‘I know that was Oundle we flew over before, but what was the other place?’

  ‘It’s all that’s left of Fotheringhay Castle. When I was at school I used to run there to make my leg strong again.’

  She heard something in his voice and then she looked around again. ‘This is where you grew up, isn’t it?’

  He took her hand. ‘I’ll show you.’

  The cottage was exactly as he remembered it, though the forge was empty. He told Elizabeth everything about himself, beginning with how his parents met and ran away. He told her about his mother dying, and about the accident in the wheat field that almost cost him a leg, and as they walked into the village he tried to explain what it had been like for him when he was sent to Oundle. When they reached the church he showed her where his parents were buried.

  ‘At my father’s funeral I stood here surrounded by people I had grown up with, and I realised I didn’t belong here anymore.’

  ‘Is that when you went to Northampton?’

  ‘Yes.’ He told her how he’d run out of money and ended up wandering the streets until eventually he went to work at Ballantynes. She listened in silence to his description of his life there, and he could see in her eyes that it was so far removed from her experience that she could barely comprehend it.

  ‘Do you think it matters to me where you came from? Is that why you brought me here?’ she asked at last.

  ‘I wanted you to know who I am.’

  He’d planned to ask her to marry him at that point, but suddenly he changed his mind and he decided he would wait until they got back to Pitsford. Scaldwell was his past, whereas his future lay elsewhere.

  *****

  As they flew over Pitsford House, William saw Christopher’s car in the yard, and as soon as they landed, Christopher strode towards them.

  ‘Where the hell have you been all this time?’ he said, sounding agitated. ‘We’ve been waiting here for absolutely ages.’ He glanced at Elizabeth with a sort of mute appeal. ‘Sophie’s inside. She’s rather upset.’

  ‘What is it? Is something wrong?’ Elizabeth asked.

  ‘Yes. Christ, it’s such a bloody mess. Liz, will you talk to her for me? Please. She’ll listen to another woman.’

  Elizabeth glanced worriedly at William. ‘I’d better go and see her.’

  As she went off towards the garage, William turned to Christopher. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘I’m sorry about this, old man. I suppose I’m a bit on edge to tell the truth. I was looking for Liz, you see, and when I telephoned her house I heard she was with you. Where have you been anyway?’

  ‘I took her up for a bit a joyride.’

  ‘Oh, I see.’ Christopher took out his cigarette case and offered one to William. ‘You did well getting her to go up with you. I could never persuade her.’

  ‘Why did you want to see her in such a hurry anyway?’

  ‘Because I couldn’t think what else to do. It’s Sophie. She’s going to have a child.’

  William was too taken aback to say anything. Christopher walked off a little way and stood smoking his cigarette.

  ‘What will you do?’ William asked eventually.

  ‘I really don’t know. What do you think I ought to do?’

  ‘I’m not sure I feel qualified to offer advice. I’ve no experience in these things.’

  ‘I hope
you don’t think that I have,’ Christopher said defensively.

  ‘No, of course not. That isn’t what I meant.’

  ‘I’m sorry, it’s shock that’s making me like this.’

  ‘It’s alright.’

  ‘You are a good fellow, you know.’ Christopher managed a brief smile, a flicker of his old self. ‘To make matters worse, I telephoned the place where she works,’ he went on. ‘Obviously she wasn’t in a state to go in, so I told them she wasn’t feeling well. The woman I spoke to took quite a sniffy line with me. Put me on to the chap who runs the place. Walker, I think. The solicitor. Anyway, the bloody fellow made it clear that I could tell Sophie that she would no longer be required. I tell you, if I could have, I think I would have hit him.’

  ‘Did you tell Sophie?’

  ‘Yes. I told her that she needn’t worry of course. I was going to ask her to leave anyway. I said she’d be too busy looking after me, or something like that. She brightened up a bit then. The trouble is she misunderstood. She thought I meant we’d get married.’

  ‘You never got around to explaining things to her then?’ William guessed.

  ‘No, not exactly. Anyway, I thought she understood. She seemed happy when I bought the flat. I mean, why else would I have bought the bloody thing? I’ve tried to explain to her that marriage isn’t possible, but she became hysterical. I’m afraid I’ve made an absolute hash of everything. Perhaps I should go and see how she is. She was very upset.’

  ‘What will you say to her?’

  ‘I’ve no idea.’

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ William said.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Has this changed the way you feel about her? I mean, do you still love her?’

  ‘Yes, of course I do. What sort of chap do you think I am?’

  ‘I’m sorry, I just feel that if you love Sophie I don’t really see why you can’t marry her. Is it really out of the question?’

  Christopher was astonished at the suggestion. ‘You have to understand my position, William. My personal feelings don’t enter into this at all. Unfortunately, being born into a family like mine means I have certain obligations. In many ways my life isn’t my own. It’s one of the things I envy about you.’