Life Less Lived Ch. 08

"Why your flat and not hers?"

"Mmm, I think it was because they didn't have a telly, or video tape or it was out of action or something. Can't remember, actually. After that we started dating regularly, we seemed to click and we were engaged within about six months. And here we are."

"Yes, here you are, with two lovely daughters."

"Yes, that as well, but no, 'here we are' meaning that here we are at Ginny and Giles' flat. It's that building over there. We just need to find somewhere to park now, and it looks pretty solid all around here."

***

Paul Hammond woke reasonably refreshed from his deep sleep.

'It's great spending time seeing both his and his wife's families,' he thought, 'but on the other hand it was a blessed relief getting back home again and sleeping in your own bed.' His wife Helen didn't drive, she was always far too nervous to get past the practical driving test. So Hammond had borne the brunt of the 14-hour journey from Scotland down to Sussex, running the gauntlet of flooded roads from snow melt, landslips and emergency road and barrier repairs for the damage caused by skidding vehicles.

He had made a quick circuit of the lit areas of the Grange Farm the previous evening, but he had a great deal more to do today. He had seen the boss last night when he went to the stables. The boss had fetched some parcels of presents for them from the kitchen and explained that some of the presents for the kids were from a house guest, which Hammond thought extraordinarily kind. They always were nice people, the Medcalfs ... and, it appears, their friends.

He had gone to the stables to collect some vegetables for their evening meal, while Helen got their kids, Morris and Mandy, bathed and ready for bed with just a light toast tea for them. They had stopped a few times on the motorway and the youngsters had eaten enough fast food to last them until well into the New Year. Although the children had slept part of the way, everyone excepting Hammond was stiff and irritable this morning.

He could smell their breakfast cooking, the bacon, taken from the freezer and defrosted overnight, got him motivated, washed, shaved and dressed.

***

Sir Philip and Lady Barbara rose rather late in the morning on Christmas Eve. How they ended up in Sir Philip's bed together was no real mystery to either of them. The previous evening had been such an enjoyable time and not only had they tried to drink as little as possible to maintain the appearance of perfect hosts, they realised that they had missed each other's company terribly. Their sobriety heightened rather than suppressed their feelings for one another.

In the limo on the way home, after leaving the party at about one in the morning, they were in such good humour that they had started tickling each other, which progressed to cuddling, kissing and, eventually quite serious petting. By the time James the chauffeur had dropped them off at home they were both fit to burst and enjoyed each other in the master bedroom until they were sated and both enjoyed exhausted but dreamless sleep until the morning.

Natalie had started preparing breakfast as soon as she heard the pair getting up, but she had to turn everything off when they failed to come down for another hour and a half.

The bacon was extra crispy and Natalie used up every single egg in the refrigerator. But she was delighted that her parents seemed to be happy together again and that was really all that mattered. She just hoped that it was permanent, thinking of a new maxim, that happy parents shouldn't just be for Christmas.

***

Most of the WWAG team spent Christmas Eve in a bar in Worthing, with Andy for once chipping more than his fair share into the kitty. Lauren was with them and became concerned when the males started challenging each other to a drinking contest, sinking shots one after the other. Lauren didn't join in the drinking contest, declaring that she had designated herself as the driver of the van as everybody else in the group had clearly relinquished the role.

They needed a driver tonight and they would need one on Boxing Day, too. The plan was to drive Mark's van over to the Medcalf residence during the early morning of Boxing Day and release the horses that they expected would be in the stable. Only after they were freed, the plan was to burn the old stable down. No-one owned up to it but Andy announced that one of the party had stolen some high-visibility jackets from one of the motorway depots, when they had a demonstration there the previous summer, knowing they would come in handy at some stage.

The plan was to set the blaze going in the stable block. Then set fire to the jacket sleeves but shake the flames out, so they were still recognisable, dumping them on the gravel path, to make it look like the culprits had spilled petrol on their clothing, had caught them alight and discarded them as they ran away from the scene. The jackets were clearly marked with the SandRock Corporation logos, front and back, making it look like the organisation were trying to warn off Daniel Medcalf from his protest, thus striking a blow at both of them.

'That beautiful stable or barn was possibly six or seven hundred years old, likely even older,' Lauren thought bitterly. And these people, who she had once called friends, wanted to destroy it just to make a point that would hardly affect the road building at all. The Government would simply give the project to another contractor. All because some local politician had stolen the protesters' thunder. All right, Medcalf was only looking after his own back yard, not the rest of the environment, but what a back yard, what a lovely house and barn? Burning it down wouldn't have cost Medcalf anything, his place would be insured, but what would be the cost to the environment? Another beautiful piece of our rich heritage lost forever.

But what Lauren could do about it? Going to the police now would be pointless, no crime had been committed, the worse charge that could be laid against WWAG was conspiracy to commit a crime and it would be her word against theirs. No, she would have to wait until they trespassed Medcalf's property, equipped with accelerant, but prior to the crime of arson. Once she was sure they were ready to do the deed, she could leave them at the Medcalf's and call the police and fire service.

While they were still in the pub, Tina noticed that the gossip column of the national newspaper she was looking at had photographs of Sir Philip and Lady Barbara Sands out on the town together the previous evening, with no sign of Daniel Medcalf.

"Hey Andy, I thought you said that this Lady Barbara was livin' with Medcalf, cos 'cordin' to this paper she,s back togevver with Sir Philip at their posh comp'ny shindig las' night."

"Let's 'ave a look at that," Andy spat, and poured over the paper for a few minutes.

"Looks like their daughter was goin' ta accompany the boss but she got stuck in Scotland, so he 'ad to fall back on the missus. If that's the case then I reckon she's still in with Medcalf, but she's not active so we can leave her out of it."

***

Sophie was awoken by the manoeuvring as the car twisted and turned right angles around the narrow streets trying to find a suitable parking space. Mostly permit parking, there were only few bays available for the general public, so it took a few minutes to find somewhere to leave the car. Once Daniel had manoeuvred into position and parked up, they collected what they needed from the car boot, leaving Marina's presents for her sister's family safely locked away out of sight in the boot of the car.

They were met and greeted at the door of their small second floor flat by Ginny and Giles, after being buzzed in via the intercom at the street door. Naturally Ginny embraced and kissed both Sophie and her father, while Giles gave Marina a big first-time hug in welcome, before hugging Sophie and shaking hands with Daniel.

Marina had already been informed by Sophie that Giles and Ginny had been together for about three years, and living together in this flat for the last year. There had not been any talk of marriage yet, that Sophie was aware of, when she had discussed the couple with Marina.

Then Ginny welcomed Marina for the first time in person as if she were a long-lost friend, giving her a long lingering hug before chivvying everyone through into the warmth of the flat. Giles announced he was off to the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"I have been so looking forward to meeting you, Marina; has Daddy and Sophie been looking after you well during your stay at Underhill?"

"They have been the perfect hosts, considering I arrived on their doorstep like some lost and frozen waif and stray."

"Oh, the snow-storm? We didn't get that much of a fall here at all, and the cars and buses soon churned up what we had. I saw the newsreels and took a particular interest in those from down Sussex way. It must've been awful."

"It was cold and miserable during the blizzard, but your father rescued me like a knight in shining armour."

"And you once knew Daddy from his old bachelor days, didn't you?" Ginny asked, then dropping her voice conspiratorially, "I have been dying to find out what he got up to in his youth."

"Well it was all rather innocent, to be honest. I had only just started working in the snack bar."

"How old were you then and what was it that you did?"

"I was only a girl of 16 at the time and hadn't been working long and your father just happened to be working in the bar alongside the snack bar where I was serving at tables."

"Well, I'm glad you met him then and delighted that you are getting to know him again."

"Yes, it has been quite a pleasure meeting him again."

"Well, I think you've made a big difference to him, he seems so much more alive. Anyway, since we last spoke on the phone, there's been a change of plan on the working front. Giles has swapped shifts so he is on duty at the hospital all tonight from six until six on the morning, rather than just be on call, while I have tonight off so I can catch up on news with Sis, leaving Daddy free to take you to your sister's."

"Well, I have been thinking about that in the last twenty minutes getting here, the traffic is horrendous. There's really no need for your father to drive me there through all this traffic, I can just walk down to the nearest Tube station and find my way from there."

"Well, that's actually just what I was planning to do," Daniel chipped in at that point, "escort you and your parcels safely through the Underground to your sister's. You've got three full bags, which you can't manage all on your own, not in the crush in the Underground on Christmas Eve."

"But -"

"I really can't let you go on your own, Marina. Besides, I've told you that I would like to meet your family. We have visited your home in Portsmouth, so it is only right I meet your niece Tracey in person, we've heard so much about her."

'Not everything,' Marina thought, 'I couldn't tell Daniel everything about Tracey, about her expecting a baby, it is too close to what I had experienced all those years ago.'

"Well, that's settled then," said Ginny, taking Marina's silence as acceptance of Daniel's offer, "Giles must've made the tea by now, let's all go into the sitting room."

The sitting room was quite large, with high ceilings. Marina hadn't really noticed the outside of the building on the way in, but inside it looked like it must've been Regency or early Victorian, the ceilings were covered in ornate plasterwork and the two tall windows to the front looked to be of Georgian design. The walls were covered in a slightly faded William Morris wallpaper. She wondered if it was the genuine article. The Medcalfs seemed to have the knack of living in the most fantastic places.

"Put the presents under the tree, would you?" Ginny said to her three guests, "or around the tree, there's not much room under."

The tree was a small, natural one set up in the corner on a table, one of a nest of three. Daniel and Sophie took the presents out of their carrier bags and arranged them in piles by name under and around the tree. Marina handed over the bag she had carried from the car and Daniel took each present individually from it and stacked them up in piles where required.

Marina couldn't help but notice that there were five piles of presents under that tree, so one of them must have been for her. It felt a little strange, being accepted like this into a family that had known nothing of her existence only a couple of days ago, as she had known nothing of them. She also noticed, with a smile, that when Daniel pulled the present intended for him from Marina, he hesitated momentarily but declined the opportunity to rattle or feel it before putting it on the top of his pile.

She turned to sit in one of the two settees arranged around a roaring fire. There were five small empty stockings hanging from the magnificently carved mantelpiece. For a moment, Marina felt a little uncomfortable. She hadn't brought up any small gifts to put in a stocking. She comforted herself thinking that maybe they were more symbolic than anything else. But it was further affirmation that she was being drawn closer into this small but loving family. For a moment, she examined how she felt about that. Again, she was a little uncomfortable, uncertain of her ground, but she caught sight of Sophie smiling at her and she returned the smile before sitting in the middle of one of the sofas. Ginny sat next to her and Sophie joined them with Marina sandwiched in the middle.

Soon Giles and Daniel were stood in the kitchen, catching up, while the three girls sat in the living room. Sophie was quiet, but Marina knew that once she had Ginny on her own she wanted to tell her about what happened to her in Cambridge. There were bound to be tears, which Daniel couldn't have ignored if he was also in the flat.

That must be why Marina agreed more readily, than she would normally have, to Daniel's offer to accompany her on the Underground. Her subconscious must have recognised a need before it became apparent that Marina should get Daniel away for a couple of hours at least.

Ginny meanwhile tried to persuade Marina to return to their flat after having dinner with her sister and stay with them overnight, but Marina insisted that she had to visit her sister, taking the presents over to their house and was fully expected to stay with her niece's family overnight.

Ginny had prepared a light lunch for her guests of sandwiches, salad and crisps, with a choice of fruit to follow, saying she wanted to keep it light as they will probably be overindulging the following day. All five sat around chatting, with Marina answering Ginny's questions, revealing more details of her family history. Sophie recounted a heavily-edited version of her first term at Cambridge. Daniel completed the catching up exercise with an account of some of the book signing evenings he had had with his book about their mother. This brought a few moist eyes to the young girls and they embraced each other around Marina, which then made her cry along with them.

It seemed like no time at all before Giles got up saying he had to get changed for work at the hospital. It was quite dark outside by then and Marina took the opportunity to say that it was about time she had to leave to go to her sister's. The Bakers were expecting her for their evening meal and they tended to eat early, a habit from having younger children at home.

Daniel and Marina took their leave to go to the car, the girls promising that they would pick her up from her sister's house on the way through home to Sussex after Christmas lunch, as by that time on Christmas Day there would be virtually no traffic on the road.

They collected the three bags of presents from Daniel's car. He insisted on carrying the two bulkiest bags of the three. Then they set out walking to the Tube station.

"You really could stay with us tonight," Daniel said. "You know that Ginny would love to chat all evening to you. I think she might even have changed her shifts specifically for that. Or we could still go visit your sister early in the morning to drop off your presents."

"Going to my sister's house tonight is more to do with a little 'Favourite Aunt' problem I have to sort out, which I will tell you all about later. It is something I really must do and at the earliest opportunity. It's been hanging around Tracey's neck for far too long. As for Ginny, well, this evening gives her a chance to catch up with her sister, I know Sophie has missed her. I'm sure Ginny and I'll get a chance to speak tomorrow and Boxing Day."

"Yes, Ginny and Soph are very close, they've always been."

Daniel must have been thinking about the girls' mother Jenny, rather than what Marina had said about the purpose of her early visit being to do with her niece Tracey, during the rest of the walk. He obtained the tickets from the automatic dispenser for the journey, which he insisted on paying for, and together they took the escalator down to the platform.

The station platform was crowded with heavily encumbered commuters, some singly, others in groups, jostling to get on the next train in. The couple only had to travel a few stops on this train. The seats were almost fully occupied, so Marina and Daniel decided to stand together, holding the straps for the short journey, rather than sit separately. All the Underground trains were packed with last-minute shoppers making their way home, or to visit relatives like Marina was doing, plus party going revellers dressed to the nines or in fancy dress, were out to enjoy the last evening out on the tiles before the relative sobriety of Christmas Day.

They were pressed together by the crush for several stations, with Daniel's protective arm wrapped around her. It was stifling hot, the air stale and Marina felt a little faint. His closeness to her really didn't help, she thought. They barely spoke at first during the journey, surrounded as they were by the teeming masses, most ladened down with shopping and wrapped presents, as indeed Daniel and Marina were. There were presents for Marina's sister, brother-in-law and their three children. Daniel finally leaned even closer into her as the train rolled and swayed down the track.

"Is Tracey pregnant?" he whispered, close to her ear, close enough that she could breathe in the scent of his aftershave, the hint of his own warm smell. She could feel the heat of his breath on her ear, that quickened her pulse.

"Yes," she nodded to emphasise the affirmation. "She wants me to break the news to her mother. She has been back there for nearly a week and must be pretty frantic by now, she left several messages for me that first night I stayed with you at Underhill. Did you guess what it was about or did Sophie tell you anything?"

"No, Sophie hasn't broken any confidences with you that I am aware of. Obviously Sophie and I have discussed you and your situation but, I assure you, not in any way that you could take offence."

She smiled at his little confession, without saying anything. For the father and daughter to discuss their unexpected guest was natural. He continued talking in her ear, without making eye contact.

"You said it was a 'favourite aunt' talk with your sister and, thinking through the options, I decided this one came to the top of the pile of possibilities."

Marina nodded in understanding his logical thought process. He was, she thought, she had always thought, a remarkably intelligent man.

"Do you think that your sister will be angry when she hears the news?" he continued.

"Yes, she will be upset ... and disappointed somewhat as well. She will rem ... well, remember friends who fell foul of similar fates and who suffered by them. So she will be upset and she may well shout and scream for a while before she eventually settles down, and gives her eldest daughter the comforting cuddle that she needs. She will, I'm certain, gladly support her through this."