Far From Home

by Anne Bennett

  Kate shrugged, ‘He’s just ordinary, I suppose.’

  ‘Oh, Kate,’ Sally cried in exasperation. ‘Talking to you is like pulling teeth. Is he short or tall? Fat or thin? And what colour are his eyes, his hair? Go on,’ she demanded. ‘Describe him to me.’

  ‘Don’t see why I should,’ Kate said with a smile, ‘or why you are so interested; but I suppose he is quite tall, certainly a head taller than me and on the lean side. His hair is sort of, almost light brown, though he said that it was pure blond when he was a boy and it has darkened since he grew up.’

  ‘And his eyes?’

  ‘Oh, they are really deep brown.’

  ‘And is he a good kisser?’ Sally asked. ‘What are his lips like?’

  ‘Sally, what a question to ask!’ Kate said, clearly shocked.

  ‘Why?’ Sally asked. ‘You did kiss him I suppose?’

  Kate wondered if the chaste peck on the cheek that she allowed David counted and thought not, and so her answer to Sally was, ‘That is none of your business and something we shouldn’t be talking about on our way to Mass on Christmas morning.’

  Sally smiled to herself, but said nothing more. She didn’t want to risk Kate being in a bad mood, because after they’d eaten dinner with Susie and her family she had agreed to meet Phil. And then, after spending the afternoon together, she was having tea at his mother’s house. She wasn’t at all sure how Kate would react to the news.

  Kate wasn’t at all impressed with Sally’s plans and told her so as they walked to Susie’s later. ‘I don’t see what’s the matter with it.’ Sally said, genuinely puzzled. ‘Or why you should be in such a tizzy.’

  ‘I think it is most incredibly rude and I don’t understand why you can’t see that for yourself.’

  ‘Well, I can’t,’ Sally said. ‘And I don’t think Susie will. Or her parents, if they are anything like her. It’s all right for you and Susie. You will have two more days to spend with your boyfriends if you want to. Both Phillip and I are back at work tomorrow.’

  Kate knew that Sally had a point. Because Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had fallen on a Saturday and Sunday, and as they were days they wouldn’t have been at work anyway, they had Monday and Tuesday off in lieu. However, the cinemas were opening again the following day, so Sally was only off work on Christmas Day itself. Ignoring the reference to David being her boyfriend, Kate said, ‘All right, I see that you have a point there. But do you think it sensible to go to Phillip’s for tea and meet his parents and everything? I mean, you don’t know him that well and isn’t it quite a formal thing to do, as if you had some sort of understanding.’

  ‘Phillip wants me to meet his mother,’ Sally said. ‘They only live in Bleak Hill and that leads off Marsh Hill, so it’s no distance from the Masons’.’

  ‘What about Phil’s father?’ Kate snapped. ‘Doesn’t he want to meet you too?’

  ‘Well, he might,’ Sally said with a slight shrug, ‘but that would be difficult because he died when Phillip was only small. Apparently, he had two brothers and a sister and they all died of TB as children – and then his father died of the same thing. It was only Phil, the baby, who survived.’

  ‘Sorry, Sally,’ Kate said. ‘Phil’s mother must have suffered greatly.’

  ‘I’m sure she did,’ Sally said. ‘And Phil is very protective of her because it has been just the two of them for years and he doesn’t want to leave his mother alone all Christmas Day. He has told her all about me and she says she’d like to meet me, so he thought Christmas afternoon might be a good time.’

  ‘Yes, I see all that,’ Kate said. ‘And it is a nice thought, but in a way it does put things on a more formal footing. Surely you can see that? You are really too young for that kind of commitment.’

  Sally shook her head. ‘I don’t think either of them sees any more significance in it than me just going for tea on Christmas Day,’ she said. ‘Maybe it’s different in Birmingham. I mean, Dulcie, who is only a year older than me, is dating a boy from the next street, and the families have known each other for ever. She was in and out of the house all the time anyway as she was best friends with the daughter long before she was of an age to date her older brother.’

  ‘Yes, but it isn’t the same for you, is it?’ Kate said. ‘And his mother could well be possessive with Phillip being her only son and that.’

  Sally nodded. ‘I worked that out too and in a way it’s understandable,’ she said. ‘And it will still be nice to meet her because Phillip talks about her a lot. Anyway, I’ve told Phil I would go and so I am going, Kate, whether you approve or not, and regardless too of how Susie feels about it.’ She hesitated for a moment and then added, ‘I bet she won’t mind, though, but to tell you the truth I am a bit nervous of having dinner with the Masons because I don’t know any of them except Susie. I know she has two brothers, but I’ve never seen them – not that I know of, anyway.’

  ‘Yes, she has,’ Kate said. ‘They’re called Derek and Martin and they came to Ireland when they were young, but you’d not remember that. I only have vague recollections of them then. In fact, I only took more notice of Susie when she came home to live, the time her mother was so sick.’

  ‘So what are they like?’

  Kate smiled, ‘Oh, all right, you know. They tease a bit, like most lads seem to. There’ll probably leave you alone, but I am considered fair game now they know me so well. And Susie’s parents, Frank and Mary, are just great – so kind and generous and just … well, just lovely. Tell you, Sally, it would have been far harder for me to settle down in Birmingham if I hadn’t had the Masons to rely on.’

  ‘Do you call them Frank and Mary?’

  Kate nodded her head. ‘They insisted on it,’ she said. ‘Wouldn’t have any truck with Mr and Mrs Mason. Anyway, we’re nearly here now, so you will see the set-up for yourself.’

  Kate turned into a drive from the tree-lined road as she spoke and Sally looked at the semi-detached house with bay windows set behind a neat hedge. Susie was in the doorway waiting to welcome them.

  The whole family made much of Sally, particularly Mary and Frank, and Kate guessed that Susie had told them about the circumstances that had led to Sally arriving in Birmingham in the first place, and their mother’s reaction to it. This was their way of making Christmas slightly better for her, and Kate warmed to them even more as she saw Sally relax.

  As usual, the dinner at the Masons’ house was sumptuous, and the talk and banter around the table as much fun and as riotous as ever. As they were tucking into the plum pudding and brandy sauce, Sally told the Mason family of her plans for that afternoon. No one seemed to mind.

  ‘Christmas afternoon is getting more flexible as we all get older,’ Susie said later as she and Kate washed the dishes in the kitchen. ‘My brothers are doing their own thing too, and, as my mother said, she would never like it said that she got in the way of true love.’

  ‘It’s hardly that at Sally’s age,’ Kate said.

  ‘Can’t tell with matters of the heart,’ Susie said. ‘Just how old were you when you found that you loved Tim Munroe?’

  ‘That was totally different,’ Kate protested. ‘I had known Tim all my life.’

  ‘I don’t see that that has got anything to do with it,’ Susie said. ‘All I know is that, whether it was the real thing or imagined, that love was strong enough to stop you looking for anyone else. Look how you were with David Burton.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Kate demanded. ‘I was very nice to him.’

  ‘Not nice enough to agree to go to the New Year’s Eve Ball with him, though?’

  ‘Well, no.’

  ‘Yeah, well, that has put me in a very delicate position,’ Susie said.

  Kate raised her eyebrows. ‘I can’t see how it could have done.’

  ‘Well, because I thought you would agree. I mean, you seemed to be getting on very well at the pantomime,’ Susie said. ‘Anyway, when Nick asked me to go with him, I said yes.’

 
; A cold feeling of loneliness stole over Kate suddenly. ‘Is it serious between you?’ she asked in a bleak-sounding tone.

  Susie shrugged. ‘Serious enough, I suppose. We are meeting up tomorrow as a matter of fact.’ And then she caught sight of Kate’s face and said quite sharply, ‘It isn’t a crime, Kate, and I do like him well enough. Anyway, I was just telling you about the ball because we have always gone together. I mean, there’s nothing to stop you walking up with us, but you’ll have to be sort of prepared that we might not be coming back the same time.’

  Kate looked at her friend’s shining face and saw that, though she was a little embarrassed telling Kate this, she was as determined as Sally had been. She faced the prospect that someone was becoming more important in Susie’s life than her; there was someone she would rather spend time with. It was Nick now, but if not him it would be someone else. Kate found that it was with little enthusiasm that she looked forward to 1939.

  The next day, after Sally had left for work, sporting the beautiful brooch Phillip had bought her for Christmas, Kate found that she was at a loose end. Normally, she would have wandered up to the Masons’, but she couldn’t do that when Susie had told her that she was meeting Nick.

  She busied herself at first, tidying and cleaning a flat that wasn’t really dirty, and eventually sat down with a cup of tea and one of the mince pies Mary had insisted she take home. Alone with her thoughts, she surveyed her future and didn’t really like what she saw.

  She suddenly felt more achingly lonely than she thought it was possible to be. She knew that she could no longer continue to count on the Mason family and Susie in the way she had been doing since she had moved to Birmingham. She knew she would always be immensely fond of all of them, and between her and Susie there was a special bond, but it had become almost too easy to rely on them.

  Then she thought about David Burton, whom she did like immensely. She didn’t feel for him the way she still felt about Tim, but Susie was right: it was time for her to grow up and face facts. She decided she would tell Susie the very next day and make arrangements to go with David to the New Year’s Eve Ball after all.

  Susie was very pleased to see her friend standing on the doorstep the following day and she pulled her inside quickly out of the cold as she said, ‘Oh, Kate, I am so glad to see you. I have lots to tell you, but the first thing is that Nick took me to meet his family yesterday.’

  ‘Oh,’ Kate said, genuinely shocked. ‘I had no idea that things were as serious as that.’

  ‘They’re not,’ Susie said. ‘Well, I mean, the more I see of Nick, the more I like him and that, but these days just because you meet a chap’s parents doesn’t mean you will be getting engaged the next minute or anything.’

  Kate remembered her younger sister had said something similar about how things were arranged in Birmingham, but she still said, ‘It signifies far more than that in Ireland.’

  ‘Maybe it does here in some rural backwaters,’ Susie conceded. ‘But such ideas are very outdated in today’s world. Anyway, his family were very nice and welcoming, his mother in particular. She said she had thought that Nick would never settle down and nothing would please her more than to see me and Nick together.’

  ‘Sally seemed to really get on with Phil’s mother as well,’ Kate said. ‘Seems like everyone is getting fixed up.’

  ‘And how about you, Kate?’ Susie said gently. ‘Did you think any more about what I said on Christmas Day?’

  Kate nodded her head. ‘I did a lot of mind-searching yesterday and let’s just say I have come to my senses at last,’ she said. ‘You were right. Tim is part of my past and I must leave him there and move on.’

  ‘So, you will go out with David?’

  Kate nodded. ‘If he still wants to, I will.’

  Susie shook her head. ‘I think I can guarantee that he will,’ she said. ‘Tell you something else. I didn’t think I loved Nick, not at first anyway, but it has sort of grown on me. I was asking my mother about this love business the other day and she said that liking someone was just as important as loving them. She said that you can love a person to distraction but if you don’t like them as well you are setting yourself up for a life of misery.’

  ‘So I suppose if we like them in the first place we are in for a life of happiness?’ Kate said with a grin.

  ‘Something like that,’ Susie said. ‘And how about putting this to the test straight away? Nick wants to take me to the pictures tonight.’

  ‘Well, Having a Wonderful Time is on at the Plaza,’ Kate said. ‘Sally says it’s just great.’

  ‘She says that about everything.’

  Kate gave a short laugh for she had to agree with Susie. ‘I suppose she does,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t exactly call her the discerning type, but it has got Ginger Rogers in it?’

  ‘Yes, and Douglas Fairbanks,’ Susie said with a sigh.

  ‘Ooh, yes – isn’t he just so handsome?’

  ‘I’ll say,’ Susie said. ‘So, are you up for it then? Will you go out with David tonight?’

  Kate hesitated, but only for a moment or two before she said, ‘Yes, I will.’

  ‘Oh, good for you,’ Susie cried, throwing her arms around her friend. ‘I am so happy for you and I know David will be too.’

  David was so happy that Kate felt humbled and she did have a truly wonderful time. Sally was right for once – the film was well worth seeing – and they came out on a high. When David saw Kate home and she asked him in for a drink before he went on his way, he didn’t hesitate.

  ‘I’ve nothing stronger than tea, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Tea will do me fine,’ David said.

  ‘And you can help me share that second box of chocolates you bought me,’ Kate said. ‘You must stop spoiling me like this. If I was to eat all the chocolates you bought I would soon be the size of a house.’

  ‘Ah, but you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to spoil you,’ David said, and Kate was surprised at the lump that lodged in her throat at the sincerity in David’s voice.

  They were still sitting talking, mainly discussing the film, when Sally came home. Phillip Reynard took her as far as the door of the flat. Hearing them bid each other goodnight, Kate suddenly realized that she should at least meet the young man her younger sister was so fond of, so she invited him in. She could see how pleased her sister was by the big beam plastered across her face as she took Phillip’s hand and drew him into the room.

  Kate told Susie all about it on her way to work the following morning. She also admitted that she had seldom had such a good time as she’d had with David at the cinema.

  ‘And did you ask David in this time?’ Susie wanted to know.

  ‘I did,’ Kate said. ‘In fact, I went further than that, because when Phillip brought Sally home a little later I asked him in as well.’

  ‘Golly,’ Susie said. ‘That is a turn-up for the book. I thought you didn’t really approve.’

  Kate shrugged. ‘I haven’t any right to try and control Sally’s life. On the whole I think she has turned out far better than I thought she would when she first arrived, and really they are doing no harm. As he is her choice, I thought I ought to get to know him better.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He is a very kindly young man,’ Kate said. ‘And one who is extremely caring towards his mother. Apart from that, he had an open face. You know the sort of thing I mean?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Susie said. ‘So, he looks quite honest and genuine?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Kate said. ‘And he’s got dark blond hair, these lovely dark brown eyes and full lips.’ And here she smiled and said, ‘Sally would probably describe them as kissable.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Well, she asked me if David had kissable lips the first time I went out with him.’

  ‘Oh, did she?’ Susie said and asked coyly. ‘And what was your answer?’

  ‘I told her that it was none of her business and I’m telling you the same. We are discussing Phil
Reynard, not me and David. All I can say is that he is a personable young man and quite handsome without being cocky and I can quite see the attraction.’

  ‘And, how is he with Sally?’

  ‘He appears to love her to distraction,’ Kate said ruefully.

  ‘So, has that laid some of your worries to rest?’

  ‘In a way, because it pleases me that she has chosen a decent man for herself,’ Kate said. ‘David got on with him very well too, because he was asking him all about his job and it was interesting. I just made more tea and we sat on until the early hours. I tell you, I didn’t want to get up this morning. Lucky Sally, who can have a lie-in.’

  ‘Doesn’t hurt to go to bed late once in a while.’

  ‘Suppose not,’ Kate said. ‘Tell you what surprised me about David, though. When Sally and I went to wash out the cups and make more tea, he got talking with Phil about what he would do in the event of a war. I ask you. I mean, what war? Anyway, David told Phil that he and Nick will be going for the Air Force.’

  ‘God,’ Susie said with a slight shiver. ‘You would never get me up in one of those planes.’

  ‘Nor me,’ Kate said in agreement. ‘My mother used to say that if God had wanted us to fly he would have fitted us with wings.’

  ‘She might have a point, but anyway, I don’t cross bridges before I come to them,’ Susie said. ‘Let’s talk about more important things, like you and David and how much you enjoyed the evening.’

  ‘I had a truly terrific time,’ Kate said. ‘David was really good company and later I was pleased that he got on so well with Sally and Phil.’

  ‘Oh, David would get on with anyone – he’s so accommodating,’ Susie said.

  Kate nodded. ‘He is that,’ she said. ‘He’s a lovely person.’

  Susie heard the gentle tone in Kate’s voice and she smiled as she said, ‘Did you reward this lovely person and give him a proper kiss goodnight?’

  ‘That’s none of your business,’ Kate said, and she was very glad the next stop was theirs as she was able to hide the telltale flush that flooded her cheeks at the memory of those kisses that had taken her a little by surprise. She knew that if Sally was to ask her now the same question she had asked her on Christmas Day, she would be able to tell her that David’s lips were very kissable, very sweet altogether. But that news was not for sharing.