by Ruth Hay
“We’ll all pull together,” continued Valerie. Perhaps our next holiday could be in London?
Meanwhile cards, texts, e mail, phone calls, or whatever you like, will keep us up to date. I do not want to lose touch ever again with any of you.”
“Not going to happen, Val.
Now, what about today’s plans? What should we prepare for this time?”
An hour or so later, after a walk around Ambleside’s lanes finding unexpected treasures, they stopped for a break in Esquires Coffee Shop enjoying the variety of drinks, snacks and equally interesting actions on the streets outside the corner windows.
“I didn’t expect a bowling green here,” said Sandra, between mouthfuls of chocolate muffin. “There are so many restaurants and facilities it’s no wonder this is a mecca for visitors.”
“I loved seeing the inside of that church whose spire is so prominent from our balcony when we look down at the town. It was lovely to hear the bells the other evening when the ringers were practising for Sunday services. I guess we will be far away when those bells ring again.”
“Now don’t let’s get maudlin, ladies. We still have hours to enjoy before we head for the station.
Fasten up your climbing boots. We are off to get an overview of the town you have just been seeing at ground level.”
“Another climb?” groaned Corinne.
“You will like this one. It’s much easier than Rydal and very close by.”
A short walk from the café led straight to a huge park hidden from the main road and accessed from a lane between the church of St. Mary’s on one side, and a primary school on the other. At once the outlook changed from the three storey buildings of the town to the distant, expansive views of the surrounding mountains. The trio stood still to take it all in.
“This parkland is so flat. There must be a river here somewhere.”
“You’re right, Sandy. We are heading there now after a pleasant walk across flat ground. Watch out for the giant old rocks in the middle where the trees are, and the standing stones the children from the school have made.”
The path arrived at a quaint humped stone bridge over the river, as promised, and a sharp turn right, over a cattle grid followed by a left onto a wide paved road, soon got their leg muscles warming up.
“Where does this road go?” puffed out Corinne. “I can’t see beyond the next bend. It looks like we are aiming for woods but a wide road like this is not just for climbers.”
“I think it’s an access road for whoever lives up here on the hillside above the park. The fields belong to local farmers. I wonder if we will recognize their homes. We’ve certainly spent hours memorizing the view from our balcony.”
Valerie did not comment. She was looking ahead for the slate steps set into a boundary wall giving right of entry to the upper reaches of Tod Crag. It was years since she had been up here and she did not want to miss the marked track. People could get lost in these linked mountain ranges. She did not intend to be one of those people especially not on this last day of the week.
The road continued to rise steeply, curving again past a house with fine views on three sides and, at last, Valerie spied the steps she had been looking for.
“All right troops! Carefully up here and we will be in the woods for a short distance. Fear not! We have already climbed up half the way to the top.”
“Thank God for that!” murmured Corinne.
Sandra could not wait to get back into the open. She knew by now the scenery would be amazing at this height. “I’ll lead on for a bit, Val.”
The others let her go ahead. If Valerie remembered correctly, there was a short wooden bridge ahead and a sheep gate at its end. They would catch up with Sandy there.
“Be careful, Alexandra! I have to deliver you back to your family today.”
“So that’s how she got the name Sandy! It’s short for Sandra and Alexandra.”
“She’s named after both her father and her grandfather, Alexander Halder. Alexandra was always her ‘Sunday’ name, or the one the family used when she was in trouble. When we were in college together, she was called by her full name as that was the way she was registered. It was weeks before she told me she preferred Sandy.”
“Well, I must say, Sandy has really taken to this climbing lark. She loves it.”
“It seems to remind her of her early years in Mull, I think. That’s not a bad thing. We all need to respect our beginnings as we get older and wiser.”
“How did you get to be so wise, Valerie? I don’t remember you being so confident when we first met so many years ago?”
“Ah, I was a different person then, Corinne. I was worried about my husband and so many other things. Coming back to the UK under those circumstances, leaving children behind, was a bad time for me. I don’t think I am really wise. I have made plenty of mistakes along the way but I hope I have grown from them.”
“You’ve made no mistake with this week, Valerie Westwood. I am so grateful for all you have done for me. I feel renewed and more myself than I have been in years. I have loved being outdoors so much.”
They soon found the bridge and squeezed past the sheep gate onto the foot of a hillside stretching upward.
They were now out of the shady wood and into bright sunshine.
“This is going to be hot work!” proclaimed Corinne. “But I am ready for it!”
“Me too!” echoed Sandra from her perch on a rock a few yards ahead. “Is this the right track? I didn’t want to get too far ahead.”
“Yes, go on. As long as you keep to the well-marked tracks you will get there safely all right. Don’t wander off, even if it looks OK.”
Valerie watched the two scramble up, like a couple of schoolgirls, competing for the pole position with laughter ringing out around them. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment.
Seven days.
A short time in anyone’s life, but so much had been achieved in this week. In many ways, it had turned out to be much more than she had dared to hope for. Of course, a lot was due to the magic of this glorious part of England. Like Wordsworth wrote, you would have to be dead not to be moved by this grandeur.
She was suddenly overcome with longing for those who were not here to benefit. David and Grace were gone and yet their memories, their essence, had surrounded and encouraged her since she had arrived.
She felt as if Zoe’s letter was proof of their intervention. In some ways she felt guided by them. Certainly, she had to admit she was pleased with the results. If the others felt as imbued with optimism as she now felt, things would be improved in all their lives. She could only hope so.
She hitched her backpack higher on her shoulders and set off up the track to the heights from where they would see the town of Ambleside in miniature on it’s own mountain and valley far below them and, ahead, to their right, the length of Lake Windermere gleaming in the summer sunlight.
The day’s delights were not over for Valerie Westwood. As the three women were relaxing after an alfresco lunch beside the Rothay River in Ambleside, Valerie got a phone message to tell her to return to the apartment as she had a visitor waiting. There was no clue as to the identity of the visitor. The message had come from the Lakelands’ office staff.
“Who do you think it could be?”
“I can’t imagine, but I’d better go and find out.”
“Just as well you didn’t get the call when we were on top of Tod Crag,” laughed Corinne.
“I would have ignored it, for sure. It was so beautiful up there and a fitting end to our holiday.”
Sandra stirred herself from a half-doze resulting from salad, sandwiches and cake consumed with relish and much appreciated after her physical effort on the mountainside. “Val, why don’t you go ahead?
I’m not fit to climb that steep lane yet and I really want to look into the shop with the crystals and rocks for something for my grandkids.”
“I’ll stay with Sandra. We’ll join you in a
while and don’t worry. I’ve got my eye on the clock.”
Valerie set off along the main street and past the bank building to the lane. As she climbed steadily upward for what she realised would be the last time, she looked around her at the quaint houses descending to her right, crowded together on the hillside so she could look into their tiny front door areas and spy through their kitchen windows. Their gardens were on the left of the lane and ascending upward, but still planted with flowering bushes and tall trees at the summit of the view. Not an inch of the precious space was wasted. It was a philosophy she had grown to admire.
These cottages perched on a hillside, couldn’t be more different from her surroundings in Kilworth. She realized she had not given one single thought to her housing dilemma since arriving here. There had been no time with everything happening so fast. A sigh escaped her when she reached the final two steps to the Lakelands’ street and paused to catch her breath.
Tomorrow she would be back in Canada and all of this around her would dissolve into a dream and she would be alone again.
But first, the mysterious visitor!
She headed for the office and was amazed to find a familiar figure there.
“It’s Jean, isn’t it? Jeanette’s mother? What a surprise to see you again. What can I do for you?”
“Valerie, I’m so glad you remember me. I was half afraid you would be gone back to Canada by now but Jeanette checked for me and you won’t believe what has happened. George and the children are here and all of us will be in your apartment for the next week.”
“That’s amazing! But let’s go there now and you can tell me how all this came about.”
They went down the steps together and walked out to the balcony entrance. Jean was astounded at the view and asked if they could stay outside to enjoy the vista. Valerie agreed and waited till Jean was settled comfortably on a chair before she began her explanation.
“Well, Jeanette and I had such a grand time in Grasmere and we talked about it so much that George decided we should all return for a family holiday. Anna Drake’s apartment was not booked for this next week so she suggested we should take it over when your party vacates it tomorrow.
For the last day or so we’ve been staying in the annex of The Gold Rill Hotel where we met, and George has a whole plan of visits for the children. Liam is a Beatrix Potter fan and Annette is just getting into the books although she thinks Miss Potter has something to do with the famous Harry.”
The two women laughed, and Valerie took the chance to ask where Jean’s family were at the moment.
“They are all at a Beatrix Potter Exhibit off the Ambleside market square. They will come and collect me in an hour so we don’t have much time.”
This sounded urgent to Valerie. She asked no more questions and let Jean reveal what was obviously weighing on her mind.
“You see, Valerie, after our brief time together in the hotel, I realized we had a great deal in common.
We are both recent widows who live in Canada and have ties to the UK. I got the sense that your family in Vancouver were not exactly welcoming. Forgive me if I am treading on private matters, but I want to offer you a compromise that might help the situation.”
Valerie’s attention was now totally focussed on the speaker. She had already been astonished at what had developed from a very brief encounter a week before and now she was hearing about an offer of help. She could not guess what might come next.
“When I leave England, I will be alone in my home in English Bay. It’s a beautiful part of the city and I have lived there since Jeanette was born. I won’t be moving to Scotland, despite all Jeanette can say. They have their own lives. I need to be where I am most comfortable and I hope to have them all stay with me sometimes, now that the children are older.”
She stopped for a breath and smiled at her companion.
“Don’t worry! I’m getting to the part that concerns you. You see, Valerie, I have plenty of room for you if you come to see your son and his family. I know, from friends who travel to see their relatives, that living in crowded conditions in homes where there are children and busy lives on the go all the time, can be wearisome to say the least. Jeanette and George have been marvellous but I know it’s a strain coping with an older person’s diet and sleep requirements. I can see already the accommodations in this apartment will give me some privacy. Anna Drake said it sleeps six comfortably.”
Valerie nodded to confirm Jean’s last statement but her head was swimming with so much information.
“Let me see if I am following you, Jean. Do you mean,” she began hesitantly, “you want me to stay with you in Vancouver?”
“That’s right! I guess I’ve gone the long way around the main point but I feel we can be friends and having a place to stay could help the situation with your daughter-in-law. My travelling friends have told me that is the trickiest relationship and so many families in Canada are separated by the distances between where they used to live and where they now work. It is difficult to remain close when you are so far apart from loved ones most of the time.”
Valerie was beginning to understand where Jeanette got her voluble style. The two women were alike in many ways, their generosity of spirit being one of them. She knew she had to respond before an uncomfortable silence developed.
“I am truly overwhelmed by your offer, Jean. I can’t believe you have spent time thinking about my issues and come up with such a wonderful solution. Of course, I am delighted to accept your kindness.
I have to agree that having a place to retreat to would make things easier when I visit Vancouver. We’ll exchange information so we can keep in touch when you return home, and thank you so much. I am so pleased we met that night.”
Jean was rummaging in a capacious handbag for her notebook and pen but she looked up to remark how unexpected meetings can be life changing.
Valerie thought about how Sandra and Corinne had first come into her life and here was another encounter that looked as if it would be equally beneficial.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Valerie went to the door and found her companions, laden with more shopping, and eager to get their final packing done. She quickly filled them in about her visitor and all four had a few minutes to meet and talk before Jean’s family arrived to collect her.
Valerie invited the McLennans inside to inspect their accommodations, the extent of which seemed to please them greatly.
Liam and Annette headed immediately to the balcony and exclaimed at the birds flying past so close to them. Liam spotted a small black cat roaming along the path below and was all for going down to pet it. His mother dissuaded him with a promise to do that very thing if the cat appeared again.
George tried the Murphy-style bed that folded down from a large closet in the lounge while Jeanette looked to confirm there was a bath in one of the bathrooms for the children to bathe in.
The family then exited quickly after handshakes all round. The considered opinion of the three women was that the McLennans were an exceptionally nice family and when Valerie shared her conversation with Jeanette’s mother, they were vocal about her good luck in meeting the ladies at the hotel.
Sandra and Corinne were keen to ask more questions but Valerie pointed to her watch and urged them to complete their packing. They had trains to catch.
The hired car was full of luggage, parcels and bags. Corinne had Valerie’s old case as well as the one she had arrived with and Sandra seemed to have bought out a shop or two judging from the extra items she had jammed into carrier bags. Valerie realized the women were fortunate not to have to abide by the restrictions now in place on air travel. Her two new leather cases from Zoe were almost packed and nothing else could be added. She had exchanged photographs with Sandra before they left the apartment. Both of them had forgotten their intentions to share them together but exchanging seemed to be a good substitute. They would phone or e mail each other with comments and questions.
Corinne was delivere
d to Windermere Station for her train south in good time. It was a tearful goodbye although her farewells had already been said.
Sandra and Valerie waited until the train pulled away, then jumped back into the car for the downhill drive to Kendal and the Oxenholme Station.
“What a fine day we had with Zoe in Kendal,” said Sandra as Valerie negotiated the fast winding race track that was the main road to the town at the lowest point of the Lake District. “I can’t remember such an all-round good time as that day. Food, friends and beautiful gifts, it was truly memorable and the meal in The Daffodil Hotel was the perfect ending, don’t you think?”
“I do agree with you, Sandy, but the best part of all for me was seeing Zoe emerge from her hard shell and become the daughter Grace had always wanted her to be. That is a true transformation and we were all privileged to be there at the start of it. She will be an amazing woman when she gets to grips with the problems that have been holding her back from happiness.”
There were a few moments of silent contemplation in the speeding car until Valerie asked, “What about you, Sandy? What has the week meant to you?”
“I am not sure I am able to explain it properly, yet, Val, but you have known me long enough to be aware that I had moved far away from the girl I used to be. I was confident as a mother with my girls clustered around my knees but when that part of my life was over, I seemed to lose my way, or maybe I lost my husband. I don’t know. I have a lot of thinking to do and fences to mend but without the kick start of this week with you, I am afraid the impetus to examine my life would never have happened and I dread to think what I was becoming. All I can say for sure is, I am determined not to sink back into the creature I was. Grace’s death has taught me life is too short for wasting one moment of it. Zoe taught me changes are possible.”