by Ruth Hay
Valerie was glad her attention was on the road ahead and she had to concentrate on her driving. If the two old friends had been face to face, Sandy might not have had the courage to open up as she had just done. It was an important step for her.
“Don’t think you are alone in your feelings, Sandy. I have had very similar thoughts about my own life. David’s death concentrated my mind remarkably. I don’t know how many years I have left but the next list I make will be one that emphasizes the possibilities of my future. It won’t be a future without you in it, Sandy. You can be sure about that, my dear.”
Sandra put her hand gently on the one nearest to her on the steering wheel and squeezed for a second.
“That’s a deal! No more years of separation, I promise.”
“I promise too.”
The train north to Scotland was an express. A rush of air heralded its arrival and no sooner was Sandra seated than it departed again, leaving Valerie standing alone on the platform as the arriving passengers divided to pass her like a stream flowing past a large rock.
She did not want to move. She wanted to clasp to her every word and every sensation of the last week before they vanished like the train speeding on to another destination.
Eventually, she had to walk away. She had to drop off the hired car in the Kendal office and take a leisurely bus ride back to Ambleside with a chance the driver rarely gets, to enjoy the scenery one last time. There was a quiet evening awaiting her with little left to do. She thought she would write a few notes for Jean and the McLennans and leave these at the office.
Her cases were packed.
She would rise very early to take a taxi to Windermere and catch the train to Manchester Airport and her plane ride to Toronto. Brian had said he would meet her at Pearson Airport and take her home with him overnight to break the long journey. She would be happy to see him again. They had much to discuss.
One last evening; on the balcony with a view that was never disappointing. She found a bottle of red with enough left to fill a glass and wrapped her travel coat around her shoulders so she could withstand the cooler sunset breezes until the very last ruddy light had left the sky.
Seagulls flew upward from the tall church tower and circled the town calling their plaintive cries to each other as they searched for another perch. She watched their flight, like a drifting white cloud, and listened to their calls.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but Valerie thought she could hear, ‘Haste Ye Back!’ in their lonely pleas.
She whispered to the gulls, the mountains, the rivers and the towns; those the women had seen together and others as yet unexplored, “I will come back! If God spares me, I will.”
THE END
Now read the sequel! Seven Days Back follows the women’s stories when they return home and face the reactions of the men in their lives.
The week in the Lake District apartment is over. Valerie, Sandra, Corinne and Zoe have shared secret parts of their lives but now they all return home. There are men in their lives who must now adjust to changes they are not expecting.
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