The year of the virgins (7 page)

At the head of the stairs there stood his father.

'I was coming for you. Where have you been? Annette's downstairs waiting. What's wrong?'

'Nothing. Nothing.'

Daniel looked along the corridor, then said quietly, 'Your last goodbye?'

Don drew in a long slow breath before he said, 'Yes, Dad, my last goodbye.'

'Well, lad, it's over; the cord's severed. And keep it like that. You understand?'

'Yes, yes, I understand.' They looked at each other as might have two men of similar age and experience. 'Come on then.' Daniel took him by the elbow and led him down the stairs and into the crowded hall, where everyone was talking at once; and then they all spilled out on to the drive.

And now Annette was being hugged by her mother; then her father who, seeming to find difficulty in unbending his stiff body, kissed her first on one cheek then on the other, then characteristically said, 'God go with you, child.'

That there were two people missing from the crowd wasn't noticed in the excitement: the bridegroom's mother and Don's brother, Stephen. Stephen had had another accident, which would not have been generally known; in any case he was now waving from the upper window, and quite happily, because his father had promised him he could come down and watch the dancing on the lawn later on that night. Perhaps only Daniel, Joe, Flo and Don himself were aware of Winifred's absence.

Don and Annette were in the car now. Daniel and Joe were at one window, Flo at the other, all talking together: 'Mind how you go.'

'Make it a good life, lad.' This was from Daniel.

'I'll have the house well warmed for you,' from Joe.

'Thanks,' they both said together, then turned their heads to the other window where Flo, her hand extended, gripped Annette's as she said softly, 'Love each other.'

They were both too full to make any remark on this; and now, as Don turned the ignition key and the car throbbed

into life, Daniel's and Joe's heads disappeared from the window and their place was taken by Father Ramshaw's, crying now above the noise of the engine, 'Being me, I'll have to have the last word. God bless you both.' And with a mock serious expression on his face he now cried, 'If you should drop in on the Pope, give him me kind regards. And look, will you tell him on the quiet that I have a curate that would suit him down to the ground as a first secretary. I'll send him off any time; he's just got to say the word.'

They both laughed loudly and Annette said, 'I'll do that, Father, with pleasure.'

'Goodbye. Goodbye.'

'Goodbye. Goodbye.'

The voices sent the car spurting forward, and with the sound and feeling of a thump on the back of it Don said, T bet they've hung something on there. Anyway, we'll stop along the road and see.'

Annette now turned and looked through the back window, saying, 'They're running down the drive.'

'They can run, darling, they can all run, but they'll never catch us.' He glanced at her, his eyes full of love. 'We're free. Do you realise that, sweetheart? We're free.'

'Oh, yes, yes, and in so many ways. Oh, darling, no more worry, no more fear of what might happen if and when . . .'

He lifted one hand from the wheel and, gripping hers, he pulled it swiftly to his lips.

They were nearing the gates that led into the narrow side road as Annette once more turned and looked through the back window, crying now, 'There's Joe and your Dad. They're running side by side.'

And these were the last words she remembered speaking. She saw the pantechnicon. It was like a tower falling

on top of them, yet not falling but lifting them in the air, and their screams sounded to her ears like those of people on the high-flyer just before the car went over and into the dip, and she knew they were going into the dip, because the car had become a great horse, a flying horse. It mounted the railings bordering the fields, then hurtled into the sky, straight into it. And all was quiet.

It was half-past twelve, early on the Sunday morning. At the hospital, Daniel and Joe were seated at one side of a small table, Flo at the other. At another table sat Janet and James Allison, she leaning forward, her elbows on the table, but he sitting bolt upright, yet with his eyes closed. He could have been dozing, except that every now and again he would look with annoyance towards Winifred, who was pacing the room in the clear area in front of the doorway, sixteen steps each way.

No-one could have said when she had first started pacing, though all could have recounted how she had screamed at Daniel when he attempted to lead her by the arm to a chair, and then almost knocked Flo to the ground with that sharp flick of her forearm, with which she was adept; and again when Joe had said, 'Please, Mother, you're not going to help yourself like this,' that she actually bared her teeth at him.

The only one who hadn't approached her as yet was Harvey. It was he who now entered the room with a tray of tea, which he placed on a table, then handed a cup to

each person. And when there were two cups left on the tray he picked one up, turned and, walking slowly towards Winifred, he blocked her pacing by standing in front of her and holding the cup towards her. For a moment he thought she was going to dash it from his hand. Then surprisingly she not only took the cup from him, but sat down in the nearest chair as if a crisis had been passed.

The tension seemed to seep from the room. But only for a moment, for they had barely started to drink their tea when the door opened and a night nurse appeared and, looking towards Mr and Mrs Allison and mentioning them by name, she said, 'Would you like to come and see your daughter now? She has come round. But you may stay only a moment or so.'

They both sprang from their chairs as if activated by the same wires, and as the nurse held open the door for them, Winifred caught at her arm, saying, 'My son?' And to this the nurse replied, 'He is still in the theatre, Mrs Coulson. The doctor will see you as soon as the operation is over. Don't worry.'

After the door had closed on the nurse, Winifred's pacing began again. But now she was muttering, 'Don't worry. Don't worry. Stupid individuals! Don't worry. Don't worry.' The words were emerging through closed teeth, and as her voice rose Daniel got swiftly up from the seat and, confronting her, gripped her by the shoulders and hissed at her, 'That's enough, woman! Stop it! And try to forget for a moment that you're the only one concerned.' And with a none too gentle push he thrust her down into a chair, stood over her, his face almost touching hers, and growled, 'You start any of your tantrums here and by God! I'll slap your face until you can't see. Do you hear me?'

This was the second time within a week that he had threatened to slap her face, and as she glared back into his eyes, so deep was her hatred of him he could almost smell it and he straightened up and gasped as if he had just been throttled, then turned to where Joe and Harvey were standing side by side as if they had been ready to intervene and prevent him from doing her an injury.

After a moment they all sat down again and Flo, looking from one to the other, said quietly, 'Here, drink your tea. It's getting cold.' And like obedient children, the men took up their cups and drank from them.

Ten minutes or so later, the door opened and two men entered the room and introduced themselves as Mr Richardson, the surgeon and Doctor Walters. Both men looked exhausted, particularly the surgeon, a man with a natural tan which, at that moment, looked as if it had faded.

Winifred sprang from her seat and ran towards them, and he patted her arm, saying, Tt's all right. It's all right.'

'How is he? My son, how is he?'

'Sit down. Sit down.'

She shook her head impatiently and remained standing, and Mr Richardson looked from her to the other woman and the three men and, his eyes resting on Daniel, he said quietly, Tt's been rather a long job.'

'Will . . . will he be all right?'

T have to say that remains to be seen; he's badly injured.'

'Will he live?' It was a demand from Winifred.

And now looking her straight in the face, he said, 'That too remains to be seen, Mrs Coulson.' His voice was terse now. 'One thing I must make clear' - he was again looking at Daniel - 'he has lost the use of his legs. The spine is injured in the lumbar region. But that might not have been so serious except that one lung was crushed and his

liver damaged. The latter, I'm afraid, could have serious consequences. However, it is very early days yet. Now, I would advise you all to go home and rest. There'll be time enough later on to . . .'

'I'm not going home. I must see him. I will sit with him.'

'I'm afraid you won't, not tonight, Mrs Coulson.' The surgeon's tone was definite. 'This is a very crucial time. Come back in the morning and we'll take it from there. But at the moment it's imperative that he is not disturbed in any way.'

It appeared as if Winifred's body was about to expand to bursting point: her breasts heaved and her cheeks swelled as if she was holding her breath.

It was Flo's voice that seemed to prick the balloon, as she asked, 'How is Annette ... his wife?'

It was Doctor Walters who answered Flo. 'Oh, she's been very, very lucky,' he said; 'a broken arm, bruised ribs and slight concussion. It's amazing how she escaped so lightly. She'll be all right. Of course she too needs rest and quiet. So, as Mr Richardson has said, it would be wise if you all went home and got a little rest yourselves. As for us,' he inclined his head towards his colleague, 'we'll be glad to get to bed too. I'm sure you understand that.'

'Yes, yes of course.' It was Joe speaking. 'We'll. . . we'll do as you suggest, Doctor. And . . . and thank you very much.'

'Oh, yes, yes.' It was as if Joe's words had reminded Daniel of the courtesy expected of him, and his voice was hesitant as he went on. 'I . . . we're all a little dazed. It ... it was so sudden. The wedding. They had just left the house. It seems impossible.'

Mr Richardson nodded before coming out with the platitude: 'These things happen. We don't know why. But

there's always hope. I'll say good-night now.' He inclined his head to Daniel, then went out, followed by Doctor Walters.

With the exception of Winifred, they all made ready to go; she remained standing, stiffly staring straight ahead. After glancing at her, Daniel walked past her and out of the room. Flo too glanced at her; she even paused in front of her before walking on.

It was Joe who stopped and said quietly, 'Come on, Mother; I'll drive you back first thing in the morning.' For a moment it looked as if she was determined to remain standing where she was, but when she glanced behind her at the black man standing a few feet from her and seemingly not intending to move until she did, she thrust her body forward, at the same time throwing off Joe's hand from her elbow.

Joe exchanged a glance with Harvey; then together, they followed her out of the room.

It was two o'clock in the morning when they reached home, and Winifred, still without speaking a word, made straight for her room. And a stunned feeling seemed to have descended upon the others too as they sipped at the hot drinks supplied by Maggie who, without complaint at the late hour, had set about preparing rooms for Flo and Harvey.

With the exception of Stephen, everyone was astir before eight o'clock that morning. Stephen had been heavily sedated the night before. Apparently he had witnessed the accident from his attic room and he had screamed and wailed and had become so obstreperous that the doctor had to be called to attend to him.

Maggie had been up since six o'clock. She had cooked a breakfast which no-one wanted. She was now in her sitting-room facing Daniel. Her eyes were red and swollen, her voice broken, as she said, 'He didn't escape after all, did he?'

Daniel swallowed deeply before he replied, 'No, he didn't escape.'

'But if he's as bad as you say, she could lose him yet. We could all lose him, but I think I'd rather see him dead than helpless, because then he'd be back to square one, or even beyond that.'

'Oh no! by God, he won't. They've got their own house, and, as I understand it, Annette hasn't been injured much, and she'll look after him. And there's always nurses. No, by God! Maggie, that's one thing I'll see to: in some way they've got to be on their own. She might never be off their doorstep but at least they'll be in their own home. And he'll have a wife.'

She stared at him before turning away and going to the chest of drawers, from which she took out a clean apron. Putting it on, she said, 'Will you all be back for lunch?'

'I doubt it,' he answered.

'Will Flo and Mr Rochester be staying on?'

'I don't know . . . What do you think of him? Were you surprised to see who she had become engaged to?'

'Perhaps at first, but later, no. I should imagine there's many a woman would be glad to link up with a fellow like that, an educated one an' all, and he so good looking. But then aren't they all? I've never seen an ugly black man. Have you?'

'Come to think of it, no, not really. Anyway, we're both of the same mind: I think she's done well for herself, no matter what his colour is. Now, I must be off.' He

stood for a moment gazing at her; then, taking a step forward, he thrust his arms about her, and hers went around him, and they held each other close; and with his head buried in her shoulder, he muttered, 'Oh, Maggie, I'm heart-broken, not only for meself but for him. I dread to think what's in the future.'

Pressing him from her, she rubbed the tears from her cheeks with the side of her finger before saying, 'You can do nothing about that. Yesterday should prove that. Man proposes but God disposes. Go on now; and phone me from the hospital, will you?'

He nodded at her but said nothing more and went out.

In the hall Flo and Harvey were already standing waiting with Joe, and on seeing him, Flo walked quickly towards him, saying, 'I've tried to speak to her but she won't open her mouth.'

'Where is she?'

'In the breakfast-room drinking a cup of tea; she hasn't eaten a thing.'

'Well, that won't hurt her.' His voice was grim. 'She's got plenty of fat to live on. Go and fetch her. Tell her we're ready and waiting.'