The Golden Anklet

by Beverly Hansford

  Bob continued to lead her to the car. ‘We’ll get to the bottom of things. There must be an answer somewhere. We’ve just got to find it.’

  His words were comforting to Jane, but the doubts and anxieties remained. ‘But where do we go from here? I really thought we would get somewhere today.’ She looked at Bob, desperately seeking inspiration.

  ‘It’s certainly a blow, but we can’t let it put us off track. There’s got to be another way of finding out about the real you.’

  He was trying to be as cheerful and optimistic as he could, for Jane’s sake, but deep down he wondered where they could go next.

  ‘And that awful woman,’ said Jane. ‘She wasn’t interested in me, you, or anything we asked.’

  ‘I know,’ agreed Bob. ‘Made it pretty clear as well.’

  They reached the car. Bob led Jane to the passenger door. Neither of them paid any attention to the small Ford that was parked a few cars away, or to the petite, blonde-haired young woman who emerged from it. The woman stared at them for a few seconds and then let out almost a shout.

  ‘Jane! It is you, isn’t it?’

  There was no mistaking who was being addressed. The woman started to walk towards them.

  Chapter 12

  The sound of the voice shook Jane and Bob out of their discussion.

  Jane hesitated for a second and then could not conceal her excitement. She rushed towards the owner of the voice, at the same time almost squealing, ‘Lucy!’

  The two women hugged each other.

  It was Lucy who pulled free first. She looked at Jane, her face beaming. ‘Jane! What are you doing here again?’ she enquired excitedly.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ replied Jane, smiling for the first time. She studied Lucy briefly and then asked the first of the many questions that were bubbling inside her. ‘But what about you? What are YOU doing here?’

  Lucy laughed. ‘I work here,’ she explained.

  Jane suddenly remembered Bob, who had been observing their excitement with amusement. She turned to him. ‘Bob, this is Lucy. We were in the orphanage together. Lucy, this is a friend of mine, Bob.’

  Bob moved forward and was greeted with a handshake and a kiss on the cheek from Lucy. He and Jane had hardly any time to say anything before Lucy piped up again.

  ‘I’m so excited at seeing you again! It’s made my day. But I still want to know what brings you here.’

  ‘Well—’ Jane started to explain, but Lucy interrupted.

  ‘Look, I don’t know how you are for time, but I’ve only called in to collect something I left here yesterday. I’ll only be about five minutes. How about we have a cup of coffee together? Then we can chat. There’s a lovely little tea-shop here now.’ She nodded in the direction of the village and looked hopefully at Jane and Bob.

  Jane turned to Bob. ‘Shall we?’ she asked.

  ‘Sounds a great idea,’ enthused Bob.

  ‘Super,’ said Lucy, clearly pleased.

  ‘Shall we wait for you?’ asked Jane.

  Lucy was full of smiles. ‘I suggest you go on ahead. I’ll follow in five minutes. You should find the tea-shop OK. It’s called The Pop Inn and you can park right opposite.’

  ‘Right. See you there.’ It was Bob who spoke this time. He was already moving towards the driver’s door.

  ‘Great!’ Lucy gave them a huge grin and hurried away on her flip-flops. At one point she turned and gave them a cheery wave.

  Jane waved back and then slipped into the passenger seat. ‘Fancy bumping into Lucy!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’m really quite excited. She’s the first person I’ve met from the orphanage since I left there.’

  Bob started to reverse the car out of the parking place. ‘How long did you know her?’ he asked.

  ‘Almost the whole time I was there. We were quite good friends,’ replied Jane. She suddenly thought of something and smiled. ‘We were a pair. We used to get into all sorts of scrapes together.’

  ‘Who was the leader?’ Bob asked, smiling.

  Jane turned to him. ‘Usually it was Lucy. She’s a year or so younger than me.’

  Bob turned the car out of the drive onto the road and towards the village. Goodmanton appeared to be quite large, with a wide main street and quite a number of shops on both sides; there was even a bank. As they entered the village proper they passed the church, which had an amazing tall steeple.

  ‘That’s the church we used to go to,’ Jane pointed out.

  ‘Every Sunday?’ enquired Bob, without taking his eyes off the road.

  ‘Only on special days.’ Suddenly she thought of something else. ‘They had a Brownie pack there, and Girl Guides. I was in both.’

  Bob laughed. ‘I’d have liked to see you as a Girl Guide,’ he chuckled.

  ‘Hey, I’ll have you know I got all my badges,’ retorted Jane, feigning indignation.

  Bob was pondering a suitable reply when she piped up again. ‘Look. There’s The Pop Inn, and there’s a parking space.’

  Bob glanced in the direction Jane indicated, turned the car and parked neatly between two other cars. They crossed the road and went into the tea-shop. It was larger inside than the outside indicated, but already quite crowded. Jane looked around anxiously, and then she spotted two elderly women getting up from a table in an alcove. In two seconds she was at the table, Bob following at a more leisurely pace.

  They had hardly sat down before a pretty young waitress appeared before them.

  ‘What would you like?’ she asked.

  Jane, menu card already in hand, had a quick glance at a nearby table and then looked at Bob with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  ‘Let’s have a coffee – and let’s be absolutely wicked and have some scones with jam and cream.’

  ‘A good idea,’ replied Bob with an enthusiastic nod.

  Jane put the menu card down and addressed the waitress. ‘Two filter coffees and a plate of scones with jam and cream, please,’ she announced firmly.

  The waitress took their order and disappeared with a flourish.

  ‘I’m glad you met Lucy,’ Bob remarked suddenly. He meant it. He had noticed immediately the change that had come over Jane when she encountered her old friend. She had been quite sad after the negative interview with the manager, but on meeting Lucy she had brightened up considerably.

  ‘So am I,’ replied Jane with a little smile. ‘After that awful woman, it was like a breath of fresh air.’

  ‘Funny that Lucy should be working at the orphanage,’ Bob remarked thoughtfully.

  ‘I couldn’t have done it,’ observed Jane. ‘Once I’d left, I never wanted to see the place again.’

  ‘Was it so bad?’

  Jane did not reply immediately. She seemed to be analysing the question deeply. When she eventually spoke she chose her words carefully.

  ‘Oh, it wasn’t bad in one sense. I mean, we were looked after fine. It was just that…’ she paused for a second, thinking and then continued. ‘It was just that I desperately wanted to be part of a normal family, like some of the girls I met at school. They did things I could never do. Do you understand?’ She looked at Bob appealingly.

  Bob nodded. ‘I think I do,’ he replied.

  Jane was in a reflective mood as she continued to remember her days in the orphanage.

  ‘All I ever knew was living there with lots of other children,’ she explained to an attentive Bob. ‘Sometimes it was the little things you noticed most. I never had a bedroom of my own, with all my own things around me, and I could never invite my friends home like other girls could.’

  She studied Bob, assessing his reaction.

  ‘You must have felt a bit isolated at times,’ he suggested.

  ‘Different, I suppose you could say,’ she replied.

  At that moment the door of the tea-shop opened and Lucy appeared. She obviously knew the staff, because she had a word with the waitress who was passing and then continued towards the table where Jane and Bob sat.

  ‘
Here I am,’ she announced breezily, slipping into a chair opposite them. She looked around the room briefly and then concentrated her gaze on Jane and Bob. ‘I come here quite often for lunch,’ she announced.

  Jane was anxious to know more about Lucy’s past. ‘So what happened to you after you left the orphanage?’ she enquired.

  Lucy responded immediately. ‘Well, soon after you left I was sent to live with a family in Bristol, and then when I left school I did an office course – you know, typing, office management, that sort of thing – and then I got a job with a firm of solicitors.’

  She stopped talking for a few moments, as if to ensure that she had Jane and Bob’s attention, and then with a grin she announced, ‘I ended up marrying one of the younger partners in the practice. We live in the next village and we have a two-year-old daughter. Raymond’s mother lives next door to us and she looks after Patty when I’m working.’

  Jane was enthralled and wanted to know more. ‘But how did you end up working at the orphanage?’ she asked.

  Lucy chuckled. ‘I saw the job advertised and I applied and got it,’ she replied.

  Jane would have asked more questions, but the pattern of conversation was broken by the arrival of a cup of coffee for Lucy. She immediately gave it a stir and then took a sip. Replacing the cup in its saucer, she looked straight at Jane. ‘And now I want to hear what brings you to Goodmanton,’ she said firmly. ‘The last I saw of you, you disappeared to this couple in Bristol. I want to know everything that has happened to you since.’

  Jane started to relate the events of her life since leaving the orphanage. She touched briefly on her life before university, her marriage and Graham’s death, her job and her current quest to find her identity.

  Lucy listened intently, and when Jane had finished she let out a gasp of astonishment. ‘Gosh, that’s quite a story,’ she commented thoughtfully, but almost in the same breath she announced with a grin, ‘Well, as far as I’m concerned you are Jane Carroll.’

  Jane gave a little forced smile before she responded. ‘But unfortunately not on my official records.’

  Lucy appeared to be deep in thought for a few seconds; suddenly she looked directly at Jane. ‘Who did you talk to today?’ she asked. ‘Laura Brompton?’

  ‘Yes,’ Jane replied, wondering why she had asked.

  ‘She wasn’t very helpful,’ butted in Bob, making his first contribution to the conversation.

  Lucy received the comment with a confirmatory nod. ‘Hmm… I thought so,’ she said. She leaned towards Jane and Bob and lowered her voice. ‘She’s only been in the job six months and she’s completely useless as a manager. She’s leaving at the end of next month, thank goodness.’

  ‘Perhaps that’s why she was so offhand,’ suggested Bob, ‘and unhelpful.’

  Lucy shook her head. ‘No. She’s always like that. She’s upset a lot of people. If she hadn’t been leaving, I would have done. I really can’t stand working under her,’ she added most emphatically.

  ‘I expect lots of things have changed since we were there,’ Jane suggested.

  Lucy nodded again. ‘Absolutely. A lot more changed when it came under the umbrella of the local authority. It’s very different now from when we were there. Even the name has changed,’ she added with a grin.

  Jane was going to ask another question but was stopped by Lucy, who suddenly grinned at her. ‘Do you remember when we used to be naughty and got sent to bed without any supper?’ she asked, still smiling.

  ‘Yes, I do,’ replied Jane.

  Lucy continued with her reminiscing. ‘And then if we were really naughty we used to have to stand in a corner in the dining room in our nighties as well while the others had supper.’

  Jane made a face. ‘I remember that. I had to do it once. It was awful.’

  ‘I did it three times,’ Lucy remarked gaily.

  Before Jane or Bob could answer, Lucy piped up again. ‘They aren’t allowed to do it now,’ she observed thoughtfully.

  ‘Perhaps something to do with human rights,’ suggested Bob. He had been amused by the friends’ confessions and the different reaction each had to her punishment. He was waiting for more reminiscences, when Lucy posed her next question.

  ‘So where does all this leave you now?’ she asked. ‘I mean, with finding out who you are.’

  ‘Stuck,’ Jane replied glumly. ‘I really hoped I might find something out today, here at Goodmanton.’ She sighed. ‘But it hasn’t happened.’

  There was a few seconds’ silence between the three of them. Lucy appeared to be thinking. Suddenly she looked at Jane and Bob. ‘Look. I can’t promise anything, but there are some old documents in the store room. They are in a pretty awful state, because they were damaged by fire and then water, but I’ll try and look at them and see if I can find anything relating to you.’

  ‘Oh, would you please? I’m quite desperate now,’ Jane answered quickly. Then she had a thought. ‘But Laura Brompton may have looked there already,’ she suggested, a bit concerned.

  Lucy made a face and shook her head. ‘I doubt it. She wouldn’t get her fingers dirty.’

  Her reply prompted a smile from her companions.

  The three of them chatted for a while longer; most of the conversation was between the two friends remembering and reliving their past life at the orphanage. Bob listened politely, making a comment or observation here and there.

  It was Lucy who broke up the party. Suddenly she drained the last of her coffee from her cup and looked at her watch.

  ‘Heavens! The time! I must get back to Patty. I said I’d only be half an hour.’ She was already getting up from the table.

  ‘I hope we haven’t made you late,’ exclaimed a concerned Jane.

  ‘It was worth it. It’s fantastic meeting you again.’ Lucy was delving into her bag. She produced a scrap of paper, placed it on the table in front of her, rummaged for a pen and then started to write.

  ‘Look. Here’s my address and phone number. Give me yours so that I can get back to you.’

  She gave Jane the piece of paper. Jane was already extracting a card from her file. She handed it to Lucy. ‘Actually, it’s time we were getting back, too. I’ll walk over to your car with you.’

  *

  The two old friends left the café, leaving Bob to settle the bill. He had already volunteered for that task, thinking that perhaps they might like a few minutes alone together. There was a small queue at the counter, and it was a good three or four minutes before he joined them at Lucy’s car.

  Their goodbyes were brief. Lucy hugged Jane and Bob and hurried into her car. She wound down the window.

  ‘I’ll do my best for you,’ she called out as she started the engine and gave a final wave of her hand.

  ‘Thanks a million,’ Jane called out, waving as Lucy drove off.

  She turned to Bob, smiling. ‘And that’, she remarked gaily, ‘was Lucy.’

  Bob grinned. ‘Quite a live wire,’ he said.

  ‘She hasn’t changed a bit. She comes over as being a bit scatterbrained, but actually she is quite clever.’ Jane was moving towards their car as she spoke.

  Bob was making for the driver’s side of the car, but she stopped him. ‘No. I’m going to drive. You drove all the way here.’

  ‘Agreed.’ He laughed and handed her the car key.

  Jane settled herself into the driving seat and had the usual search for her shoes, helped by Bob, who found one of the sought-after items under his seat.

  As she was changing footwear, Jane turned to Bob. ‘What do you think? Shall we have lunch somewhere, or do you want to go straight back?’

  Clicking his seat belt into place, Bob was quick to reply. ‘How about if we go back now? After all, we’ve had those scones and cream – and we are going out tonight.’

  ‘My sentiments exactly,’ said Jane, adding, ‘I don’t want to put on weight.’ She turned to Bob with a coy smile. ‘You wouldn’t like me fat.’

  ‘No. Stay as you.
Slim and trim.’ He gave a little laugh.

  Jane eased the car out onto the main road again. She giggled. ‘Graham threatened to put me in a corset if I put on a lot of weight.’

  ‘Good for him. I must keep that in mind,’ Bob quipped, faking a serious note.

  ‘Pig,’ retorted Jane, not taking her eyes off the road, but letting a slight grin escape.

  *

  It was late in the afternoon when Jane turned the car into the drive of Bob’s house. Bob was already out of the car and opening the front door by the time Jane had changed shoes and locked the car. She followed him into the hall. He had just picked up the post and was glancing through it. He stopped and looked up as soon as she appeared.

  ‘How about a cup of tea?’ he suggested.

  The thought of a cup of tea was inviting. ‘Great,’ replied Jane. ‘Shall I make it?’

  Bob shook his head. ‘No. You’re a guest. You go into the lounge and leave it all to me.’

  Jane was pleased to carry out his suggestion. She had driven all the way back and she was feeling just that little bit tired. She wandered into the lounge. It was a pleasant room, now amply lit by the late-afternoon sun. Sparsely furnished, it was functional rather than homely. A three-piece suite dominated the seating area, and in one corner stood a dining table and chairs. Several well-stocked bookcases, and that was it.

  Jane was intrigued by the various framed photographs that adorned the walls. These were clearly examples of Bob’s handiwork. Some were still life photographs; others were landscapes. There was even a head-and-shoulders study of a young woman. Jane wondered whether she was Bob’s ex-wife. She was still looking at the photographs when he appeared with the tea.

  ‘Some of my early work,’ he observed, putting his loaded tray down on the coffee table.

  ‘I like that one,’ Jane commented, pointing to the photograph of the young woman.

  ‘That’s Janice,’ Bob responded hurriedly, almost as if he would like to change the subject.

  Jane, however, was impressed by the photograph and wanted to know more. ‘I like it very much,’ she said. ‘Particularly the way the lighting is used.’