Stella almost danced up the stairs and into the flat some hours later, holding a warm, fragrant parcel. Celebratory fish and chips. She enjoyed them more than anything she’d eaten in a long time. And there were no marauding seagulls diving at the chips like that time in Berwick-upon-Tweed. She ate every single one.
‘Alice was awake,’ she told Isabel when she got back from her work night out. ‘Dopey, not quite with it, but she was coherent, knew who I was. It’s such a relief!’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Isabel said.
‘She asked after Maddie. I said she was fine but Alice didn’t say any more and I didn’t think she was up to any questions. I don’t know if she remembered that Maddie was in Australia or not.’ Stella sat down next to Isabel on the sofa. ‘So please, Isabel, tell me what’s going on. Who is Charlie?’
Isabel took a deep breath. ‘Charlie is Alice’s brother.’
‘Alice’s brother? Alice’s brother? But she doesn’t have one.’
‘Well, Maddie said she had, that she has, I mean. She has a long-lost brother called Charlie and he lives in Australia.’
Isabel made this sound as if it were something completely normal. But then she was used to dealing with customers, maybe some of them difficult, and, in her role as a first aider, with people who were upset in various ways. And Stella was upset. It still didn’t make sense.
‘Why have we never met him before?’ she wondered aloud. Had there been a family quarrel? What would he be to Maddie and herself? Their great-uncle? For someone who’d never known any blood relatives except her sister, parents and granny it was too much to take in. ‘I’m going to wake up in a minute back in London.’ Stella put her head in her hands. ‘This is like some bizarre dream.’
‘Alice will explain everything I’m sure, when she’s able to,’ said Isabel soothingly. ‘I wish I could tell you more. Actually, I haven’t seen much of Maddie these last couple of weeks; I’ve been out a lot and she was staying late in the workshop with last-minute Christmas orders. But I’m looking forward to hearing all about it too. It sounds like it’s quite a story.’ She yawned and stood up. ‘Time for bed. By the way, talking of Christmas, what are you going to do? You won’t be here on your own, will you? You’re welcome to come with me to my mum and dad’s. Christmas down on the farm.’
‘Oh, that’s lovely of you,’ Stella said. As she had with Skye earlier she tried to sound chirpy when she replied, as if she were going to be spending the day in a normal happy way. ‘But I’ll have as much time as I can with Alice. Eat too much chocolate. Watch Christmas movies. The usual things.’
‘The offer stands if you change your mind,’ Isabel said, not sounding at all convinced.
Since he stopped playing for the county rugby team and for Scotland and after his broken shoulder had healed, Ross had started running. He’d seen other ex-players get out of shape when their competitive days were over, plus he had the temptations of the deli and the restaurant constantly in front of him. So several mornings a week he ran for an hour in the hills above the town. As well as the physical exercise he found it cleared his head.
But not today. He thought he’d got over the shock he’d felt the night of Gav and Carol’s wedding when Stella told him that she was moving to London. Only for two years, she kept repeating, but she might as well have said it was forever. She was very good at her job, he knew that, and part of him was very proud of her, but mostly he was shattered to know that she’d decided to go without discussing it with him, and wouldn’t listen to his desperate attempts to accommodate that decision. He started to say he would go too – frantically, he began to think through the details. But she’d said that wouldn’t work and they’d ended up shouting at each other.
Now he knew that the hurt of that moment was still there. Seeing her again brought it right into the open. Try as he might, as he ran along the path below Mid Hill, he couldn’t forget it.
Even coming up onto the hill reminded him of Stella, all the fun they’d had up here with Gav and the gang, little Maddie trailing behind calling ‘Wait for me!’ At ten or eleven he and Stella had a special friendship, their own imaginary games about Roman legions and Border reivers and Thomas the Rhymer, fuelled by the tales his grandpa and her granny had told them.
Later, in their teens and early twenties, they didn’t see so much of each other, except when they both happened to be home in Melrose at the same time. Rugby. Different universities. Different friends. Relationships. And then that Christmas Eve party of Bette’s when they suddenly looked at each other with new eyes.
He increased his pace over the cold hard ground. It was pointless to think of that. But sitting opposite her in the café yesterday had brought it all back, like a film playing on an endless loop in his head.
With lungs at bursting point he came to a stop and bent over, panting, catching his breath. Standing up, he found he was above Hill View.
He would go and see Lilias now. Get it over with, he thought, rather ashamedly. It wasn’t as if he minded helping a neighbour, of course he didn’t. It was a natural thing to do, growing up as he had with a grandfather like Gray and a mother like Bette, ready to volunteer themselves for anything, in a community where everybody knew each other. But it was hard to get away from Lilias. He couldn’t pop in for only a few minutes to fire up the range. She followed him around finding other little jobs for him to do, to detain him so that she needn’t be on her own. Talking endlessly, almost to herself. Talking about Alice. Talking about Stella. What a lovely girl she was. Pretty and so clever. Wouldn’t it be nice if she and Ross could be boyfriend and girlfriend again? Alice would be so pleased …
But the poor soul was worried about being in charge of the house – that wasn’t supposed to happen – and lonely by herself. When Alice was able to have visitors he and Mum could take her up to the Infirmary.
Today, Lilias pointed out a large area of damp she’d found in the kitchen cupboard. There was a mouse caught in a trap to be disposed of, a light bulb to change, and wood to chop to feed that blessed range. Lilias pattered behind him, murmuring about how many eggs the hens had laid, and how she brushed dear Patch’s coat yesterday and …
Ross refused the offer of tea but accepted a glass of water. He was sitting at the table drinking it when the phone rang.
Lilias carried on chatting. ‘And I said to Patch—’
‘Aren’t you going to answer that?’ Ross interrupted.
‘Oh no, dear. I never answer the phone. I don’t like it. It might be bad news.’
‘But what if it’s about … shall I get it?’ He went into the hall. ‘Hello. Hill View.’
‘Who’s that? Ross? Where’s Lilias?’
Stella.
‘She’s here, well, in the kitchen. Doesn’t do phones, apparently.’ Ross raised his eyebrows questioningly although there was no one there to see him.
‘Doesn’t do phones? Maddie’s been ringing, hoping of course to speak to Alice. Why does Lilias not pick up?’
‘Your guess is as good as mine. But how do you know, about Maddie, I mean?’ Could it be that they were having an everyday, friendly conversation?
‘She emailed Gray – he read it out to me. Did he say anything to you?’
‘I haven’t seen him today yet.’
‘Will he be at home now?’
‘I would think so. Oh, by the way, if you’re making a list, of things to be done here I mean, you’ve got a damp problem too, in that big kitchen cupboard.’
‘What?’ Suddenly it wasn’t a friendly conversation any more. ‘Please don’t tell me any more faults you find. It’s … it’s not helpful.’
‘I—’
She’d hung up. Fine. Well, he wouldn’t be helpful. What was the point?
‘That was Stella,’ he told Lilias, realising as he opened his mouth that he hadn’t asked after Alice.
‘Gray? It’s Stella.’
‘How are things?’ His voice was wary, prepared to hear unwelcome news.
‘Much improved. Alice spoke to me when I went in last night – not much but it’s a start. And she had a good night’s sleep, the nurse said this morning.’
‘That’s such a relief.’ Gray sounded quite overcome. ‘And she’ll make a full recovery?’
‘They won’t commit themselves but it’s looking positive. Gray, thanks for telling me about Maddie’s email.’
‘Yes, good to know she got there safely.’ Clearly Gray was trying to concentrate on that aspect of Maddie’s communication but Stella wasn’t going to let the rest of it pass.
‘I didn’t know Alice had a brother, Gray! Why am I the last to know? Isabel told me last night, at least that there was a brother called Charlie, she didn’t know anything else.’
‘I should have told you that myself,’ Gray said. ‘But it’s a big thing, isn’t it? The story would come so much better from Alice. She hasn’t told me everything – it’s brought back a lot of raw memories I think. I understand that they were separated when they were very little children.’
‘That’s terrible. Poor Granny. But how did she find him?’
‘He found her. I suppose it’s much easier to access official records and so on these days. She got a letter from him completely out of the blue.’
Tears came into Stella’s eyes. ‘I hope I’ll be able to tell her soon that Maddie’s met him and says he’s lovely.’ She felt in her pocket for a tissue. ‘So really and truly you never knew about him before?’
She sensed Gray shaking his head before he replied, ‘No, I’ve known Alice for almost fifty years, ever since she married your grandfather and came to live here. There was an uncle I think that she was fond of but he’d died a few years before. She never said much about her parents and nothing about a brother.’
‘I suppose he is her brother? Not someone else who thinks she’s a soft touch.’
‘Hardly likely, my dear. Not all the way from Australia. I daresay we shall find out all about it when Alice is well enough to tell us. Now, when are we going to see you again?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ll let you know when Alice can have other visitors.’
‘Good,’ said Gray. ‘Skye’s down here as you probably know. But you’ll have Maddie’s other flatmate for company, won’t you? And of course you’ll be with us for Christmas.’ It wasn’t a question.
‘I don’t know about that, Gray. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.’ But it certainly won’t be spending Christmas in Melrose. ‘Love to Bette,’ she said quickly, before he could respond. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
‘Look forward to that and, oh, don’t worry about Lilias and the house. We’ll keep an eye on them. Take care, sweetheart.’
‘Lilias! I never told Ross—’ But Gray had gone.
The flat was empty. As Gray had reminded her, Skye was in Melrose, and Isabel had left to go to work.
For something to do she found a vacuum cleaner and did the hall and Maddie’s room, getting rid of large fluff balls from under the bed. Maddie wouldn’t mind – at least she’d never minded anyone tidying up after her before.
Also under the bed were boxes of jewellery. Earrings in one. Bracelets. Necklaces. Each piece had a little label attached: Maddie Makes. One caught Stella’s eye and she lifted it out. Three little charms, a black Scottie dog, a red-and-white-spotted bow and an ivory coloured bone, were threaded onto a piece of thin ribbon. It was unusual and very effective. She examined the others; they were equally quirky and charming. Clever old Maddie. Isabel was right. She had got serious about her work.
Even though she felt less than festive she could go up to Princes Street and see the Christmas sights, look at the shops. She had bought presents in London for Alice and Maddie but she should get a little gift for Isabel, and for Skye too, and some food for herself. And she must get Alice some new nightclothes.
She made a cup of coffee and sat down to make a list of things but found herself writing Charlie?? She frowned as she tried to recollect what she knew about her grandmother’s early life. Alice never talked about it much, she realised now. Her family came from a town somewhere in the north of England. She had an Uncle Frank who taught her how to paint when she was very small, she’d told her granddaughters. He could do anything with his hands, Uncle Frank could. Make or mend anything. When he died he left her just enough money to fund her going to art college, and she’d named the girls’ father after him. Very occasionally Alice would mention ‘Gran’ or ‘Mam’ or ‘my father’ – but never ‘Charlie’ or ‘my brother’.
Why had Stella not been interested enough to ask questions about Alice’s family – her own family too, after all? It was as if Alice had hardly existed until she went to study art in Edinburgh and met John Greenlaw in her last year there, literally bumping into him one day in a gallery. She loved to tell her granddaughters about that romantic meeting.
But Charlie existed even though Alice never spoke of him.
Stella picked up her phone. Google knew practically everything, didn’t it? The answer to any question at the touch of a few buttons. What was Alice’s maiden name? Something short. Dodds. Alice Dodds.
She typed in ‘Charlie Dodds’. Nothing likely came up. She added ‘Coolharbour Australia’ and waited to find her long-lost great-uncle. Nothing. If there was anyone called Charlie Dodds in Coolharbour he had done nothing to bring himself to the attention of the world wide web.
She put the place name in on its own. A small town south of Sydney, as Pete had said, ‘renowned for the number of artists and craft workers who live there’. It looked as though Charlie had the artistic gene too. But how had he ended up so far away, out of touch with his own family?
When she clicked on ‘images’ Coolharbour sprang into view. It was a quaint little place, with narrow streets leading down to the eponymous harbour. How odd to think that Maddie was there, getting to know it and Charlie and his family. His family! That meant they had cousins too – whether second cousins, or cousins once or twice removed she wasn’t sure how to work out. It wasn’t a subject that had ever cropped up in her life before.
Her phone rang, startling her away from the subject of faraway relatives to one close to home. The hospital. ‘Yes?’ She waited with dread to hear what they had to say. Surely they wouldn’t contact her if everything was fine.
It was a different nurse this time. ‘Your grandmother’s become a little agitated and the doctor says it would probably help if you could speak to her. She’s actually asking for someone called Charlie but we have no contact details for that name. Do you know him?’
There wasn’t an easy answer to that question. ‘He lives abroad. Shall I come in now?’
‘Yes. Come to the nursing bay first.’
Forty-five minutes later the nurse led her to Alice’s room. ‘Here’s your granddaughter, Alice. Here’s Stella come to see you.’
Alice lay with her top half slightly elevated. Her hands clutched the bedcover and her eyes darted over to the door. ‘Is Charlie with you? Is Charlie coming?’
Stella sat down and took Alice’s hands between her own.
‘Charlie is in Australia. Do you remember that Maddie’s gone out to see him? She arrived safely and she says Charlie is well and happy.’ Not strictly true perhaps but surely ‘brilliant’ implied that.
‘Well and happy.’ Alice focused her eyes on Stella as she repeated her words. ‘Well and happy.’ Her face relaxed with relief.
‘Why …’ Stella started to ask. Why didn’t you tell us about Charlie? What happened in your family? And why did Maddie go out to Australia? But all these and a thousand more questions were going to have to wait until Alice was strong enough to answer them.
‘The place Charlie lives in, Coolharbour; it’s lovely. I looked it up online,’ she said instead. ‘Down from Sydney, on the coast. Full of painters and glassmakers and silversmiths and people doing all manner of different things. Maddie will love it.’ She wondered about getting out her phone to show her granny the images but Alice was murmuring something she didn’t catch.
She leaned in closer. ‘What did you say, darling?’
‘Did I fall?’
‘Yes. You were on a ladder trying to hang a picture.’
Alice tried to nod. ‘Lilias’s picture. What day was that? I was going to phone you.’
‘That was Monday. It’s Thursday now.’
‘It had to be Maddie.’ Alice sounded drowsy. ‘Sorry to be such a nuisance.’
Stella rubbed her grandmother’s hands gently. ‘Ssh. Don’t say that.’
Alice was right about one thing though. There would have been no question of Stella going to Coolharbour even if she’d been told about Charlie. Her one experience of flying, on a school trip to France, had ended in tears – she’d never been in an aeroplane since, never wanted to. A legacy from the childhood memory of hearing how her parents died was how she’d diagnosed it herself.
But Maddie’s so trusting, she thought. It should have been me going out to see this Charlie. Who knew what sort of person he might have turned into? Maddie would be seeing the situation through rosy spectacles, loving the drama and adventure of it all.
‘You look worried, snooky-pie.’ The childhood endearment brought tears to Stella’s eyes. ‘You were always such a worrier.’ Alice’s eyes flickered. ‘Well and happy. My baby brother. Sleep now.’
Stella stayed until Alice’s grip slackened. ‘She calmed down and now she’s sleeping,’ she said to the nurse. ‘I’ll come back tonight. When can she have other visitors?’
‘Let’s see. Today’s Thursday. If all goes well, I would say Saturday. Not a crowd, mind. One at a time.’