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Monday, 4 September 1917
I’ve just been to the dentist again and there was another slight change in my teeth. He doesn’t seem so certain about them now as he did last time; anyway, I told him that it wasn’t right for a girl of fifteen years to be worrying over such things: not unless she wanted people thinking badly of her (if they know about these silly matters!) – which nobody must ever think of me!
But, of course, the truth is that all girls have trouble with their teeth or at least want to get some money off dentists like this man does.
And if anyone knows anything more serious than being frightened when one puts your tongue into what used to look very nice but has recently grown kind of slimy, let them tell me: although, luckily, no real bad effects occurred from it yet!
So you see why we shouldn’t talk too much about our bodies – because that might hurt someone else as well as ourselves. Let’s just say thank God they are getting better every day, eh?…
By the way, after school today Dr. Daubrey called on Mamma who looked surprised and said something about my having promised her ‘not even to mention any ill-health until a week before leaving home next month.
Well, though she thought the doctor would make a fuss over my loose teeth she didn’t ask to be told more about them straight out. After listening rather vacantly for a bit she suddenly got up and went downstairs muttering to herself “If only young men will stop shirking!”
No wonder she couldn’t remember the names of those two big books Mr. Royle asked her about the other evening! Anyway, since Dr. Daubrey’s words seemed unimportant I stayed on the step telling her some secrets about myself to pass away half an hour.
We were chatting very comfortably indeed: only interrupted once by Daphne crying for a drink of water (Mamma brought one for her). In fact, Mrs. Daubrey told us several times how glad she felt to hear all the news from school which I’d managed to bring across on the bus to her. By chance, Dr. Daubrey was standing in front of the window opposite at that moment.
It had become quite late, almost dark when we sat down together again. So he wouldn’t wait much longer Kate started to leave too but Mrs. Daubrey said kindly: “Don’t go till you have seen Peter.” Thereupon Kate hurried over to the window where poor little Peter lay stretched on his pallet.
Although the pain made it hard work for him to lift his eyes, nevertheless as soon as he recognized us both his face brightened a good deal (the same happened when Daphne came close beside him): but, alas! his whole mouth dropped open and revealed swollen and black gums behind them.
The sight reminded Kate of what Miss Kaleen had said about teeth being sore all night, and also of Dr. Daubrey’s visit. She dared not help Daphne, fearing that perhaps such treatment could do harm to the baby, so stood back still watching without moving.
For long she kept silent while praying with her heart to save Peter somehow from further suffering. When finally silence returned Daphne stirred and lifted her head from the pillow: then there followed a piercing cry, deep within Kate’s own soul.
How ghastly the sound was and how terrible! With tears streaming down her cheeks Kate stood shaking quietly to and fro: poor thing – oh, dear Daphne… Yet hearing nothing from Kate but gasps instead, Peter seized hold of her skirt and turned his attention to trying to pull it upwards – as he always does in moments like this, to fetch a fresh breath of air – at all costs!
Poor child, that tore Kate’s heart anew! What she wanted most in the world was to comfort him, to tell him not to mind anymore – except of course if he ought not to feel pain – but no words could come to her lips.
Then presently Daphne sank back again almost lifeless and remained still as death. At that, Kate remembered another detail about teeth that hadn’t reached her till now: and it upset her greatly.
Long ago one friend had gone on laughing until everyone around them noticed what was happening, so others joined in; till the noise gradually became deafening and everyone lost control completely and rolled about helplessly on the floor, unable to speak for giggles.
Yes, exactly so with her last tooth: so strongly had her friend held the handkerchief near her mouth to stifle her laugh! On the bus, it had been the very worst place to sit – where no one dares look at each other lest they burst out laughing too.
Oh, how it hurt Kate, knowing that something so happy had now turned so painful and dangerous… To ease the pain in her body she hardly moved or spoke. Soon afterward Mr. Minto drove up, having already opened the gates; when Kate heard a knock at the door, thinking the noise might mean that Miss Kaleen must be outside waiting for her, she hastily left Daphne and rushed into her room.
From the window, she saw the dustman sweeping her doorstep clean, and Mrs. Leach holding the door open for him, meanwhile shouting something behind him about someone going round saying no street should remain uncleaned; which meant that the city authorities had done their job well enough by themselves!
When the bell rang just as the van disappeared up the road, Mamma put down her paper and peeped through the crack in the curtains to see who was visiting, as usual before letting in Daphne. No sooner did Kate appear than Daphne’s brother ran up to her exclaiming anxiously: “Are you sure you’re not coming to stay?”
She reassured him gently telling him she’d better see to dinner first, so went off to the kitchen where she found her mother asking her to rework yet another plan of action: namely to go back home early in order to avoid a possible fall on icy pavements if she waited too long.
Having warned the servants they were set free; and though quite willing herself to spend the night away from St. Louis Park, Kate simply couldn’t persuade Daphne to carry on living there alone under the circumstances.
Besides she would surely start weeping again when they took off – just because she didn’t want to think of leaving her baby and still hoping so fervently the dentist’s medicine would keep doing its job overnight.
They finally managed to get rid of the children, getting them downtown and safe back here before dawn arrived. However, it was obvious that it wasn’t going to snow again. Therefore, after some negotiation between Kate and her parents they decided they must take things calmly and travel back safely too even though it might delay matters; then leave all sorts of instructions in case they weren’t back by Tuesday evening.
In the meantime Daphne needed the rest best for healing her fast-growing pains: Kate promised not to let herself worry unnecessarily either; however it seemed impossible to maintain a state of complete peace and quietness, especially during this last phase; not so much because Kate wanted to recall anything unpleasant in particular about St. Louis Park since her thoughts constantly wandered elsewhere: yet mainly due to the strange and queer incidents she encountered every now and then, on account of this place’s repute as a haunted house…
By way of a conclusion it’s perhaps worthwhile to mention only those which concerned Kate herself, although doubtless many were involved in common to both her and Mr. Spennie, whose family also lived close to hers: but whatever the extent of each specific occurrence, all contributed largely towards making it certain that Kate’s husband, now firmly established, couldn’t have chosen a less fitting spot to settle for good, should ever he consider taking up residence anywhere else hereafter.
All of this however is merely touching the surface, and we won’t know till later how deeply and widely it stretches!
***
In spite of everything that happened that weekend in December 1940 when two grown adults came crashing unexpectedly and out of the blue into each other’s lives, the following day found all three persons actually looking forward to returning once again to their ordinary everyday existence.
It really wouldn’t surprise me if these were the happiest and most normal people anyone has met over the course of the past century, for otherwise how could they possibly go through life without losing sight of each other forever?
Even old Kate who’s often suspected to be rather sharp-tongued (if not downright cynical!) seemed utterly transformed by this remarkable encounter. Whereas the events that occurred throughout the days proceeding appeared more and more like something one might expect from an entirely different world – a sort of ‘other side’ from whence apparently neither time nor space are important factors any longer – only pure love is concerned!
When Miss Kate kindly said farewell to her newfound cousin during his return journey northwards, Daphne thought it unlikely they would see each other again ever so soon. However, it turned out differently; for they arranged that if their families should decide to come south next summer to visit her father and mother, they ought to meet again and keep each other posted concerning future happenings.
If however, Mr. Spennie felt inclined to pay a brief stopover in New York on his way east again, all three of them would certainly meet up whenever opportunity provided the right moment for it! Whatever transpires I don’t suppose anybody in our little family can ever forget the year 1941… or should wish to!
For it brought us a whole lot of ‘unusual events’; almost enough to make everyone lose count… which probably explains why we had such difficulty keeping track of what followed afterward!
Anyway, my dear Aunt Polly, nothing extraordinary did happen around here until Christmas 1942, when we suddenly began receiving calls from people wanting to invite ourselves along for a couple of weeks in London, at least temporarily; the more so since most of them seem to have made the acquaintance of strangers who supposedly knew nobody personally in any part of the city except the immediate neighborhood round the famous Abbey Road studios, where several stars frequently stayed while working abroad – especially over the weekend with plenty of work and no studio to go to… but none of them would dare to ask advice regarding accommodation, since they realized we’ve been known to know all kinds of places to stay that few people realize still exist in the heart of England itself, especially given the present situation of hotels!
“I’m sorry my husband and your own son haven’t taken care of arranging things well ahead,” a very respectable woman told Alice and myself recently, “because we’d both like you to come and join our party, at least for the duration; however there seems to be a great shortage of suitable apartments for rent these days in central London. But there’s bound to be at least a handful available in Marylebone; isn’t that correct Mrs. Fowdy?”
Alice smiled agreeably enough, mentioning her friend’s name several times before finally declaring:
“That will do just fine dear lady!” As she put down the receiver. “Because we’re heading for Linder’s Gate Hotel instead!” Then turning to me she added:
“Dear Bertram, with our new acquaintances arriving by early Saturday next week we’ll have no reason to refuse. They sound like a proper family! And it doesn’t hurt a bit that they are undoubtedly the latest members of our extended family as well…” Which was quite true too, for according to Jane, not to say Jane herself, their names were Erna, Werner, Hilke, and Arthur – exactly four months older than Jane; whilst Peter arrived some eight years earlier from somewhere to the west of Vienna, where, unusually enough, even though it’s almost always occupied by families in transit, the Austrian government insisted upon officially issuing a refugee registration card for him.
After coming to England under British sponsorship he traveled alone via North America to Canada before reaching California first, then lastly back home in time for his parents and brother to get reunited once again.
As to what other people got to hear about my impending departure next week, very nearly everybody I met wanted to congratulate me and offer their best wishes anyway: “For you certainly deserve a rest now, after all the running around you must be doing day and night for months on end”; “You know there’s nothing wrong at all with your wife going out every once in a while and leaving you at peace for a change.” At least until a certain neighbor decided to get sarcastic:
“Even when everything else seems quiet on the outside, does anybody really know what’s happening underneath the surface all the time these days? The fact remains that in this ‘New World Order only those who find it convenient are left standing!” As he winked at his young daughter, barely eighteen months old. In case anyone was thinking I hadn’t heard that remark for the umpteenth time already, I turned to him indignantly and remarked:
“Surely your opinion may not necessarily coincide with that of millions of others and although it would indeed take someone stronger than myself to undertake an attack against what is currently going on all around us, nevertheless one man who happens to bear responsibility for another person’s actions shall never lay claim to acting outside of his conscience as long as such activities cause harm no matter how insignificant! So kindly mind your own business and concentrate upon yourselves without interfering whatsoever with ours! Or perhaps you might suggest some suitable words of encouragement – or correction!”
It wasn’t exactly intended to shock him into submission, merely to demonstrate to Jane and his innocent child just what kind of idiotic remark he had uttered that morning; yet, unknown to me, a similar exchange took place between my closest confidant (a rather good looking girl) and his partner less than half an hour ago, albeit far away from here!
A conversation that probably consisted of more bluster than anything else because her fiancé obviously hasn’t realized just which lines his behavior has pushed a very able-minded and forthright lady to tread! It certainly didn’t help him when the girl in question said bluntly to him:
“Yes I am a good friend of yours but it certainly doesn’t mean I love you like one! You don’t really think I’ll ever forgive you if something dreadful should occur simply due to the fact that I neglected to warn you beforehand, do you?
Good God, do any of us still have the time to spare for meaningless conversations let alone the money to spend on them these days?! Our financial situation hardly allows us to be interested in whether one of our so-called colleagues actually has the decency to explain matters properly or not – and definitely not for letting those types make free with their ‘suggestions!’
So please excuse me for stating the obvious, dear partner, but perhaps one ought to ponder over the following facts which apply to everyone concerned when contemplating getting involved with politicians in general and ministers particularly:
Firstly, your chances of succeeding are practically nil! Secondly, your decisions cannot be reversed even after everything else is lost! Thirdly, whatever little favors or privileges are granted to you during the course of your career in the office usually only last for the duration of that particular task and nobody ever asks after your welfare or tries to protect you once you leave the office!
Therefore if the issue at hand really bothers you, try going and looking for solutions within the present structure of things where even your distinguished predecessor found himself facing impossible challenges a mere five or six years into his reign…
The End