Dragon Land (16 page)

Filled with my dreams of travel, I retraced my steps, stopping at a kiosk by the beach and buying an ice cream. I had to fiddle with the cash in my belt, but it was great not to have to carry a handbag.

When I arrived back at Ferryview, Mum had gone to bed with two aspirin and Granny was in the lounge knitting. She held up a ball of blue wool. ‘I found the most wonderful wool shop in the town, so I bought this. Beth’s throat is still sore, so she went for a lie down, but she said she would be down for her tea.’ She stopped knitting and looked at me. ‘I’m really worried about your Mum, Lizzie. She always looks so pale and I don’t think she eats as well as she should.’

I said I was worried as well, but Mum was really stubborn when anyone mentioned going to the doctor. ‘If this sore throat lasts much longer,’ I said, ‘then I’m going to make her get medical help.’

Granny’s needles clicked as she knitted something that resembled a five inch length of blue stitches. ‘It’s a great pity she’s never got over Peter’s death, but I’ve read there are hundreds of families still mourning their lost sons, husband, fathers and sweethearts.’

Up till then I had been engrossed in my studies, but suddenly the spectre of the day we learned Dad was missing came back and I felt a shiver up my spine. I looked over at Granny, but she was now studying a pattern.

She saw me looking and held up the paper. ‘It’s a baby’s matinee jacket.’

I mumbled something like, ‘It’s lovely,’ but the afternoon had been spoiled by bad memories.

Later Mum appeared. Her face was flushed, as if she had a fever, but she managed to eat most of her tea, which was fish and chips with bread and butter and a huge pot of tea.

Mrs Robb said she normally served cocoa and biscuits before bedtime, but I was the only one who went downstairs, as I didn’t want the woman to be left with her pot of cocoa.

The next day wasn’t so hot. Granny said she needed more wool and asked if we wanted to go with her into town. I thought Mum was going to refuse, so I said I would come, but as we were leaving Mum appeared and we set off. A breeze was blowing from the river, and the smell was invigorating as we made our way up the street.

We spent ages in the wool shop with Granny, chatting to the assistant and buying more wool, before deciding to go into a café. It was quite busy, but we found a table and Granny ordered tea and scones while Mum gazed listlessly out of the window. I noticed Granny giving her a concerned look before the waitress brought our order.

Back at the guest house, Mum said she would go for a lie-down and Granny sat at the window of the lounge with her knitting.

‘I’m going for a walk,’ I said, and I made my way back to the dunes and the empty bench. Hordes of seagulls were flying overhead, and I imagined myself on a boat with seabirds swooping and wheeling as the ship ploughed through the ocean waves to some magical faraway land.

I was brought back to earth as I looked at my wristwatch and saw it was time for our midday meal. Mum didn’t come down for that, but she did appear for tea, and Granny and I thought she looked much better.

‘Yes, my sore throat has gone and I feel a bit better,’ she said.

We left after breakfast the next morning, but I was pleased to see Mum had some colour in her cheeks, and she said she was looking forward to going back to work.

When we arrived back at Victoria Road, I was already missing the smell of the salty air, and the noise from the street was so different from the Ferry. Tramcars clanged up and down while carts filled with bales of jute and pulled by huge Clydesdale horses clattered up towards the jute mills on Dens Road.

Before we had left to go away to the Ferry, I had arranged to go to the pictures with Laura and we were to meet at the Plaza. I saw her hurrying up the hill and she arrived all flustered with a red face.

‘I’ve managed to get a wee job in the grocer’s shop downstairs from the house,’ she said as we went in to buy our tickets. ‘It’s just for a few weeks till the start of the new term at college, but it’ll help me out with money.’

I was slightly envious. ‘Oh, that’s great, Laura. I wish I could get a job as well, but there’s so many folk unemployed that I don’t think that will happen.’

She nodded as we headed for our seats. ‘I know I’m lucky, but it’s just for three hours in the afternoon and it’ll only last for the next few weeks.’

Later as we headed home down the hill, her face went red as she said, ‘There’s this super-looking young lad working in the shop and he’s asked me out to the pictures one night.’

I stopped and looked at her. ‘I think you’re blushing, Laura. Are you going to go out with him?’

She tried to look nonchalant but failed. ‘I might.’

When I got home, I suddenly felt bereft. I wondered if our friendship could possibly survive this romantic involvement. I mentioned this to Granny and she gave me a stern look.

‘You’ll probably meet a young man as well, Lizzie. That’s what happens to friends, but hopefully you’ll still have time for each other.’

I decided to spend most of my time before the start of my second year in my studies. I so desperately wanted to do well in order to get a job overseas. I had read somewhere that teachers were needed to teach English to foreign students and I was hoping that would happen.

It was now September and my days of freedom would soon be over. I noticed that Granny appeared to be tired most days. She often had to sit down, and although I did most of the work around the house she would still make an excuse to go to bed early.

Of course, Mum didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but then she was only home in the evenings and didn’t see Granny having to put down her knitting and take deep breaths. One day I told Granny I was worried about her, but she just said she was fine and it was the colder weather that was making her more tired than normal. ‘I’m always like this in the autumn, when the nights begin to draw in.’

I almost said I hadn’t noticed this during all the autumns we had lived with her, but I could see from her expression that the matter was closed.

I hadn’t seen much of Laura during these last few weeks, but on the night before we were due to start our second year’s course, she arrived at the door.

Granny was visiting Maisie and Mum was in her room. ‘Well, it’s back to the training college tomorrow,’ she said. ‘It’ll be great to see Pat again.’

I said it would. Laura then leant forward and whispered, ‘I’ve been seeing Mike, he’s the lad working in the shop for the summer, and we’ve been to the pictures a few times and we sometimes go for a walk on Sunday. He’s gone back to Glasgow University, where he’s training to be an engineer, but we said we would write to each other.’

‘That’s wonderful news, Laura. I’m so pleased for you.’ Although I was sincere, I somehow knew life was changing and we couldn’t stay as we were.

Pat was wearing a new hand-knitted pink jumper when we saw her the next morning. Her cheeks were rosy and she looked full of life, and Laura couldn’t wait to tell her about her new romance. Pat’s eyes were like saucers as she listened, and then she said, ‘I’m glad to be back. It’s been hard work on the farm and in the big house, but maybe Lizzie and I will meet two nice lads this term. What do you think, Lizzie?’

‘I suppose anything’s possible, Pat.’ On that flippant note we joined the rest of the class.

One morning at the end of October, the weather turned very cold and the wind promised the threat of snow. Granny was still in bed when I left, which surprised me, but as she was sleeping I didn’t like to wake her.

It was mid-afternoon when one of the tutors entered the room and asked to see me in her office. I was so taken aback, wondering what misdemeanour I had committed, that I followed her like an automaton. I do remember Laura and Pat staring at me as I went past, but I shook my head at them as if to say I had no idea what was happening.

Mr Robert Ash, the medical officer, was in the office and he asked me to sit down. ‘Miss Flint, I’m sorry to have to tell you that your grandmother has had a heart attack and she’s been taken to the Royal Infirmary.’

I stared at him for what seemed ages. ‘I saw her this morning and she was fine,’ I stuttered.

‘Well, I suggest you make your way to the infirmary right away, and we are all very sorry to have to give you this bad news.’

I rushed to get my coat and bag and was lucky that a tramcar was turning the corner of Tay Street, although it seemed to take ages to travel to the foot of the Hilltown. As I hurried up the road to the infirmary, I hoped that Mum had also been told, but when I arrived she was nowhere to be seen. However, Maisie was sitting in the waiting room and she had been crying.

‘I went to see your granny this morning and I found her lying on the floor. I called the doctor and she’s now in with a consultant. I went out to the telephone box and called the college, as I wasn’t sure what to do.’

I told her she had done the right thing, but I was annoyed at myself for not contacting Mum. ‘I should have stopped at DM Brown’s to tell Mum, but I’ll wait till I speak to the doctor before going.’

The waiting room began to fill up, as it was the afternoon visiting hours, but the doctor appeared at the door and asked me to come with him to his office. My heart was hammering against my ribcage, but I managed to smile weakly at Maisie, who had turned her anxious face towards the man.

The office was small, but he ushered me towards a chair and I sat with my hands in my lap, desperately trying not to twist and turn them in my anxiety. The doctor was medium height and middle-aged with a round, cheery-looking expression, which changed when he looked at me. Alarm bells began to ring in my brain, but I fought hard to keep composed.

‘I’m afraid I have to tell you that your grandmother is very ill. She suffered a heart attack, but I hope she’ll recover with rest and medication.’

A feeling of relief washed over me. ‘Can I see her?’

‘No, not at the moment, but she was asking about your mother and yourself, so I’ve told her it might be possible for you both to visit tonight.’

I was feeling better by now, and back in the waiting room I told Maisie what the doctor had said. She dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief and said simply, ‘Thank goodness.’

As it was coming up for five o’clock, I decided to wait till Mum came home before telling her the news, but I couldn’t sit at peace and kept going to the window to look out for her arrival. At five thirty I couldn’t stay in the house any longer, so I wrapped up warmly in my winter coat and went downstairs to wait for Mum. I spotted Maisie also looking out of the window and I gave her a wave.

It was nearly six o’clock when I spotted Mum hurrying up the road, and she looked at me in surprise when I ran to meet her. ‘Granny’s been taken to hospital, Mum, and we’ve to go and see her.’

Mum was confused, as anyone who had been suddenly accosted on the pavement would be. ‘What’s wrong with her, Lizzie? Has she had an accident? She was perfectly all right this morning when I left for work.’

I told her about Maisie finding her lying on the floor.

Mum seemed exasperated. ‘I’ve noticed she has got a bit shaky on her feet recently. I bet she tripped over something.’ She gave me an accusing glance. ‘Have you left something lying on the floor? You always have these binders with notes and you put them on the floor.’

I said I hadn’t left anything, but I was afraid to mention the heart attack in case Mum panicked, as she often did. By this time we were on our way to the infirmary. The wind was bitingly cold and it whipped against our faces as we made our way along Garland Place. Mum gave a long glance at our old house, but she didn’t say anything.

When we reached the front door of the infirmary, the porter, who had a small office right beside it, asked us what we wanted.

‘We’ve come to see Mrs Mary Flint, who was admitted this morning,’ I said.

The porter said there were no evening visiting hours today as there had been afternoon visiting earlier.

‘The doctor told us to come back tonight to see Mrs Flint,’ I said, getting slightly annoyed by this obstacle of a man at the entrance.

‘What doctor was that?’

I suddenly realised I hadn’t registered the doctor’s name. ‘I’m sorry, but I don’t know it. But my granny was admitted with a heart attack.’

Mum heard the word ‘heart’ and she began to cry. ‘You never said anything about Mary’s heart. I thought she had tripped.’

The porter, now that I had given him some information, said, ‘That’ll be Dr McNab. I’ll give him a buzz and get him to come down.’

I said to Mum that we should have a seat in the waiting room, but she was still annoyed at me for withholding information. Thankfully, the doctor arrived within a few minutes and we went back to his office. Mum was trying to dry her tears as we walked along the corridor.

When we were seated, the doctor took off his glasses and I knew at once the news wasn’t good. ‘I’m afraid to have to tell you that Mrs Flint died at five thirty this evening. I’m so sorry.’

I grasped Mum’s hand, hoping she wouldn’t become hysterical, but she looked shell-shocked at this sad news.

‘But you said you thought she would get better with rest and medication, doctor,’ I said, my voice coming out all squeaky with shock.

‘Yes, that was my diagnosis this afternoon, but your grandmother took another heart attack at five thirty this evening that proved fatal.’ He gave us a kindly look. ‘I’m so very sorry. We were going to get in touch with you as soon as we could.’

He began to tell us about getting a death certificate, but I didn’t take it all in. His words seemed to come from a distance, as if I was somewhere else listening to an echo.

Afterwards, I’ll never forget trying to get Mum home. The rain had come on and I had to support her, as I felt she was about to collapse on me, but somehow we made it back to Victoria Road.

Maisie must have noticed our approach from her window because she was waiting at our door. She opened her mouth to speak, but when she saw my expression she remained silent and she quietly followed us into the sitting room, where she had lit the fire.