Towards a Dark Horizon (50 page)

Bella, who had been strangely quiet during the story, asked, ‘What about your man, Minnie?’

‘Well, I’ll have to write to him and tell him we’re safe but will he get the letter? That’s the question.’

‘Do you know where he is?’ asked Granny.

She shook her head. ‘His last letter was posted in England but it was censored so much that I don’t know what to think. Reading between the lines, I think he’s maybe overseas now.’ She sighed. ‘What a terrible war this is.’

She then asked about Maddie and Danny and cried when I told her Danny was missing, presumed dead.

‘Oh, that’s terrible for Maddie and Daniel!’ She shook her head as if words failed her and we knew how she was feeling.

She stood up. ‘I’ll have to get more clothes as what we’re wearing is all we have – everything is gone.’

Granny said softly, ‘Oh, I think you’ll find that folk will help you out and you can get Peter into the school.’

I gave them both another hug at the door. Peter was pleased he could take the comics home with him. I walked down to the end of the close with them and watched as they walked away towards the Hawkhill.

Suddenly I didn’t feel sad any more. It was a strange feeling but I felt, from now on, they would be all right.

Rosie was back at work and it was my turn to do the shopping. A large woman stood in front of me in the butcher’s queue. She was bemoaning how hard it was to feed her six children on the measly rations. This sentiment was echoed by the rest of the queue whose members were becoming restless.

The reason for this wait became clear when a tiny elderly woman began to argue with the butcher. ‘Do I have to get all that fat with my bit of meat?’

I couldn’t hear the butcher’s voice but the wee woman’s anger came out loud and clear. ‘Well, I’m not paying good money for all that fat.’

We tried to peer inside and listen to the butcher’s reply, only to see him lift up a large knife. A loud collective scream arose from the women at the head of the queue. To their relief, or maybe disappointment, whichever way you looked at it, he merely trimmed a sliver of fat from the piece of meat.

The wee woman emerged from the shop and we all stared at her. Then someone began to clap and we all joined in with the applause.

The woman had a twinkle in her eye. ‘That’s the first time I’ve had a round of applause for standing up for myself.’

After that, I noticed the butcher trimming more thin slivers of fat from the meat but the woman in front of me wasn’t impressed. ‘He’ll just put it into the mince and the sausages,’ she proclaimed.

I was glad to get home as I was weary and my legs were tired. For the past week, I had been having vivid and upsetting dreams about Danny. I could see him lying in a field and he was pleading with me to help him. He stretched out two arms and, to my horror, I saw they were bandaged almost to his shoulders. When I moved towards him, I could also see a thick white bandage around his head but what upset me most was the fact that he disappeared when I ran to him. One minute he was lying there and the next I was left alone in the field, crying.

I decided not to mention these dreams to Maddie. They were so upsetting to me and I could only guess how distressing they would be to her.

On my day off I went to see her at Perth Road where she had been staying since the baby was born. Daniel was thriving and, although he had her blonde hair, he had the same vivid blue eyes as Danny.

Maddie was restless. Seemingly she had to wait in for a registered letter from the postman. ‘It’s a letter to do with Dad’s business but for some reason it’s being sent here.’ She sounded annoyed.

I could see why she was disgruntled. It was a lovely April day and, although there had been a heavy shower earlier on in the morning, it was now sunny and quite warm. We could have gone for a walk if she hadn’t been tied to the house.

‘Mum and Hattie have had to go into the town – that’s why I’m on my own.’ She gave me a strange look and no doubt she was wondering why I had decided to pay a visit in the late morning but she didn’t say anything.

As it was, I couldn’t have told her why I had decided to come. I didn’t normally visit her so early in the day. My only reason was I simply had to see her and Daniel.

We sat in their sun-filled lounge and I looked at the river flowing, sparkling bright, beyond the garden. Maddie was giving Daniel his bottle and I heard his loud sucking noises mixed up with little roars of rage when he found his feed was finished.

We spoke about the lucky escape Minnie and Peter had. ‘It must have been a terrible experience for them to come out from the shelter and see her entire house demolished,’ said Maddie.

I nodded. ‘Not only her house, Maddie, but the whole area – it’s all gone.’

Maddie shuddered. ‘Somebody’s just walked over my grave,’ she said.

The doorbell sounded, a series of gentle peals floating throughout the house.

‘That will be the postman,’ Maddie said, handing Daniel to me.

I could hear muffled voices in the hall. I carried Daniel to the window to let him see the flowers and the river. He gazed at me with his bright blue eyes and gave me a smile. A smile so wide that milk started to dribble from his mouth. My heart turned over in emotion and I almost burst into tears as I wished with all my heart that Danny could be here to see his lovely son.

Maddie didn’t reappear and I became worried. Surely it didn’t take as long as this to sign for a letter? I sat down and jiggled Daniel on my knee but there was still no sign of Maddie. I was really worried by now so we went out into the hall. There was a padded seat beside the telephone and Maddie was sitting on it, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I suddenly felt very cold. ‘What is it Maddie?’ I couldn’t say, ‘Is it bad news?’

Maddie gave another huge sob and, as if catching the emotion, Daniel began to cry loudly. To be honest, I wasn’t far away from tears myself.

Then she looked at me and I suddenly realised she was crying with joy. ‘It’s Danny,’ she said, ‘he’s alive!’

I moved quickly towards her and she held out a sheet of paper. I then saw the registered letter on the hall table.

‘This letter has come from the Red Cross!’ She handed the letter to me and scooped Daniel up in her arms. ‘Your daddy is alive! Your daddy is alive!’

I quickly read the letter. It said, ‘Private Daniel Ryan is a patient in a hospital in Germany.’

I looked at her. ‘He’s in hospital, Maddie.’

She nodded, tears still streaming down her face.

I read on. ‘He was very badly injured in France. He has two broken arms, a broken leg and a fractured skull and he’ll stay in hospital until he’s fully recovered.’ It went on to say how pleased they were to send this news. There was another sentence. ‘Another soldier was also injured at the time but he has recovered. He will be taken to a prisoner of war camp. His name is Private Sam Malloy who we believe is a relative of D. Ryan.’

The signature wasn’t very clear but the message was. Danny was alive and so was Sammy. Danny was badly injured but alive.

Then Mrs Pringle and Hattie arrived back to a scene of utter happiness and, when she heard the news, Hattie burst into tears. I had only ever seen her cry once before and I realised then the awful strain she had been under, over her only son. Although she had never put it into words, Hattie, along with everyone else apart from Ma and me, believed he was dead – killed during the chaos of Dunkirk.

Well, the news spread like wildfire around the Hilltown, the Overgate and Lochee. My grandparents were overjoyed, as was the whole family. I went to Lochee to see Kit but I really wanted to see Ma Ryan. Maggie was there and she was over the moon to hear of the two men’s survival – especially when so many soldiers had died.

Kit said to me on the quiet, ‘Kathleen’s not going back to live with Sammy when this war is over. She plans to make a new life for herself and Kitty and, although the Catholic faith doesn’t believe in divorce, I think that’s what’ll happen.’ She looked over at Maggie and smiled. ‘Mind you, although I don’t want him back as a son-in-law, I’m really pleased the wee sod isn’t dead for his mum’s sake. As for Danny …’ Her eyes filled with tears.

In the middle of this commotion, I noticed Ma sitting by the fire. ‘It’s great news, isn’t it Ma?’

She nodded wisely and her dark eyes sparkled. ‘You and I knew he wasn’t dead, didn’t we?’

I nodded happily.

‘He’s in a strange place and he’s very badly injured,’ she said.

‘And our dark horizons, Ma, what about them?’ I asked.

She patted my shoulder. ‘One step at a time, lassie.’

I left them all rejoicing and went home to our own elation. Rosie and Dad were trying to help Lily with her homework. A large pile of books and annuals lay on the table beside her school jotters.

Lily’s face lit up when she saw me. ‘I’m giving Peter all my books, Ann, because he lost all his toys when his house was bombed.’

Darling wee Lily.

Rosie caught my glance and gave me a secret little smile.

Oh, I hoped with all my heart that our dark horizons had cleared slightly and surely life would get better as we all moved towards the unknown future.

Voices in the Street

Teatime Tales from Dundee

The Sunday Girls

The Sun Will Shine Tomorrow

McQueen’s Agency

A Private Sorrow

Indian Summer

First published 2008

by Black & White Publishing Ltd

29 Ocean Drive, Edinburgh EH6 6JL

www.blackandwhitepublishing.com

This electronic edition published in 2013

ISBN: 978 1 84502 669 1 in EPub format

ISBN: 978 1 84502 670 7 in Mobipocket format

ISBN: 978 1 84502 143 6 in paperback format

Copyright © Maureen Reynolds 2008

The right of Maureen Reynolds to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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