‘Welcome to England, Simone. We’ve put you in the main bedroom and we’re camping out in one of the others tonight. Easier to clear up after ourselves without disturbing you all over again.’
‘Thank you, Linda. That’s very thoughtful.’
‘If you don’t mind, Bob and I will move to my sister’s tomorrow morning. She’s offered to come and pick us up to save you a journey. It takes time to get over jet lag.’
Bob brought one of Simone’s suitcases in and dumped it near the foot of the stairs then nipped outside for the other as the taxi drove away. Still holding the second case he said, ‘I’ll show you your bedroom.’
Simone picked up the other suitcase and followed him upstairs to a light, airy room with its own en suite. ‘This 66is lovely! I’m going to enjoy sleeping here.’ Except for the ornaments, of which there were rather a lot: fussy, old-fashioned ladies in long skirts and frills, cute animals whose eyes were too big like those of cartoon characters.
‘I’ll leave you to settle in. I’ll have a cuppa waiting for you downstairs when you’re ready.’
She closed the bedroom door with relief. She’d been dying to use the bathroom, hadn’t dared leave her trolley unattended at the airport.
Afterwards she went downstairs, leaving her unpacking until later because she was hungry and thirsty.
They shared a simple midday meal, all exquisitely polite to one another. She found it hard to maintain a conversation with complete strangers with whom she didn’t seem to have much in common, however nice they were. Or maybe she was just overtired.
‘If you’d like some gentle exercise,’ Bob said, ‘we could take you for a stroll round Penny Lake. It’s about a mile in all and easy going.’
‘I’d love that. I’ve heard that it’s better to try to stay awake and fit into the new time zone after a long flight but I’m finding it hard to keep my eyes open. A walk will keep me going for longer, I’m sure.’
There seemed to be less need to chat while walking and Simone loved the idea that such a pretty little lake was right next to where she was going to live.
After that she went upstairs and unpacked, resisting the temptation to lie down on the bed, still fighting sleepiness.
By the time they went up to the hotel for an early evening meal, the time difference was winning the battle over sleep 67and she could only manage a light meal. She couldn’t stop herself yawning several times as they walked the short distance back. ‘I think I’ll go to bed now if you don’t mind.’
Linda made a sweeping gesture towards the stairs with one hand. ‘Go for it. You’ve done really well to stay awake for so long. I hope you sleep soundly.’
Tired as she was, Simone realised she hadn’t texted her daughters and Libby to say she’d arrived safely. By the time she’d done that she’d woken up again, so it took her longer than she’d expected to fall sleep.
She woke in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep for a couple of hours. At home she’d have made herself a milky drink but she didn’t like to do that here, afraid of disturbing her kind hosts.
The next thing she knew someone was shaking her shoulder gently. She opened her eyes, not knowing where she was for a few seconds, then saw Linda standing beside the bed looking down at her a little anxiously.
‘Are you all right?’
‘What? Oh. Yes. Is it morning already?’
‘More than. It’s nearly eight o’clock and we have a lot to do before my sister arrives. I’d like you to meet her before we leave.’
‘Oh, my goodness! I never normally sleep in past six.’
‘Well, no one would blame you for doing it this time. And eight o’clock isn’t exactly sleeping in. You must have been exhausted. I wouldn’t have woken you yet but I wanted to suggest something.’
‘Oh?’
‘Look, don’t take this wrongly but I was a rather successful 68hairdresser before I retired and I’d like to give you a re-style before we leave, as an extra apology for yesterday.’
‘It’s very kind of you, but I usually just pull my hair back. It’s easy.’
‘I know, but it’s the wrong style for your face. You need it shorter and fluffier. At the moment you’re pulling all the waves out. You’re lucky to have bouncy hair. You should be taking advantage of it.’
‘Oh. Well. All right. If you don’t mind.’
Linda beamed at her. ‘Mind? I shall enjoy it! I like to keep my hand in. Anyway, if you could get up now, we’ll finish it before my sister arrives. I’ll introduce her in case you need to get in touch with her, then we’ll check whether there’s anything else you still want to know before we leave you in peace. There’s plenty of food, so you don’t even need to go out shopping if you want a lazy day or two to get over the jet lag. And we have lots of books and DVDs. Just help yourself.’
Linda was still trailing words as she left the bedroom. ‘Leave your hair wet after your shower.’
Simone got up, had a hurried shower, then went down, desperate for a cup of very strong coffee to finish the job of waking herself up.
Linda got her to sit down in the utility room and set to work on her hair, snipping and muttering and turning Simone’s head, first one way, then the other.
There wasn’t a mirror in here so there was no way of seeing what she was doing, but from the way she worked, Linda seemed to know what she was doing.
When she’d finished, she stepped back and beamed. ‘Marvellous. I was so right. I just know you’re going to be 69pleased. Come into the living room. There’s a big mirror there.’
Simone followed her meekly, more interested in getting something to eat than fussing with hair – until she saw herself.
‘Oh, my goodness!’
‘Suits you, doesn’t it?’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever had a style that suits me more.’
‘Well, get your hair trimmed at Celeste’s salon in Marlbury. It’s on the High Street, you can’t miss it. And tell her I sent you.’
‘Yes. I will.’ She couldn’t help hugging Linda. ‘This is marvellous. Thank you so much.’
‘My pleasure. Now, let’s get you fed. You must be so hungry.’
As Simone was finishing breakfast, Linda’s sister, Jodie, arrived. The resemblance was strong, especially when they smiled. She fixed the best smile she could manage on her own face in return and chatted to them as she ate another piece of toast.
Bob left them to it and loaded the last of their things in Jodie’s car then came in for a final goodbye.
Suddenly they were gone and all was quiet.
Simone let out a long sigh of relief. It felt wonderful to have the house to herself. She did a slow tour of it and that made her even more determined to put away some of the myriad ornaments.
Every mirror that she passed reflected back a stranger’s face, the short, jaw-length hair made so much difference. She kept stopping to beam at her reflection. She’d take a selfie and send it to her daughters. She stopped moving and frowned at herself on that thought. It was they who’d pestered her to keep her hair long.70
Why had she let them dictate to her in so many ways? That was going to stop from now on. Definitely! She sauntered round the rooms carrying out a detailed exploration this time.
The freezer didn’t have much in it and what there was verged on junk food in her opinion. There were a couple of frozen ready meals with so many ingredients listed on the back panel she grimaced. A cocktail of chemicals and artificial flavourings rather than nourishing food.
Since Harvey’s death she’d eaten very healthily and had discovered that she felt better when she ate fewer carbohydrates. She’d always loved fresh vegetables and salads but he’d liked ‘proper’ cooked meals.
‘I might have to go shopping today,’ she said aloud then got annoyed when she realised she was talking to herself again. That had to stop.
Only, where were the shops? She got out the folder that Linda had given her and found to her relief that this had been covered. Oh dear, she hadn’t even thought of doing that for them in her mad scramble to get ready. Still, they’d have their daughter to show them round.
She wished she had someone of her own here. ‘Oh, don’t be such a wimp,’ she muttered and went out to the car, a smallish vehicle, fairly new-looking. She grimaced at the garish yellow colour but remembered reading a few years ago that this was one of the safest colours for cars. After clicking the key tab to unlock it she got into the driver’s seat and adjusted it to suit her longer legs.
Might be worth driving round the hotel car park a few times to get used to it. She closed the door and something immediately started donging loudly at her. Ah, the seatbelt 71sign was blinking at her. When she fastened the belt, the annoying noise stopped and she was allowed to start the car.
She drove across to the hotel, round the nearby car park twice and then back to the house again. Piece of cake. Not a bad little car, actually, except for the colour.
When she got back she saw a man staring at her from the window of the house next door. He raised one hand in a greeting so she did the same. The Dittons said they’d told him about her but she couldn’t remember his name. He didn’t come out, so she didn’t go and introduce herself properly. If he didn’t want to get too friendly with the neighbours, that was all right by her.
She might as well get on with her first proper outing in the car. She wasn’t worried about driving it now that she’d tried it out, but she was more than a little concerned about finding her way around the countryside on her own because the Dittons didn’t have a satnav. She might have to buy one if she was going to do some exploring. Yes, why not?
She checked the boot for shopping bags and found a stash of them, just as she had in her own car in Australia.
When she went to get her handbag, she stopped in the kitchen to check the cupboards and fridge again, making a preliminary shopping list.
She felt distinctly nervous about driving about in a strange country and her heart began beating a little faster than usual. She was able to use her Aussie driving licence here, but it would be prudent to see if there was a set of road rules online, in case there were any significant differences.
Then she realised these cogitations were all delaying tactics and she was still standing there like an idiot at a fair. 72After checking that the house was locked, she got into the car again, took a deep breath and set off.
Linda’s directions were excellent and took her straight to a large shopping centre on the outskirts of town. There you are, you fool! she told herself. What were you so worried about?
Everything, she admitted. She was worried about every single new thing she was going to face here, because she would be facing them alone.
For the first time she was truly glad she’d taken on this house swap, worries or not. She’d needed pushing out of her comfort zone.
Inside the huge complex she strolled round to see what shops there were, watching people, getting her bearings. It wasn’t all that different from the shopping centre she used in Australia.
‘Idiot!’ she told herself.
She hadn’t realised she’d spoken aloud until a woman next to her scowled, clearly thinking this was aimed at her. ‘Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself.’
The woman didn’t reply, merely rolled her eyes and walked away.
Simone found somewhere to buy a satnav, which made her feel better. After that she went back to the food hall and had a good old spend-up in the fresh food section of the supermarket. Frozen ready meals, indeed! She was going to make a luscious plate of salad for tea, with a chunk of the ready-roasted chicken she’d bought for protein and fresh raspberries with ice cream for afters. She’d bought some bottles of white wine too. She’d sip a glass as she watched television afterwards and hopefully 73would manage to stay awake a little longer tonight.
As she arrived back at the leisure village, the words echoing in her mind were: I did it!
But her elation faded because the evening was very quiet and seemed to go on for a long time. It got dark a lot later here, too. Like many of the evenings since she lost Harvey the hours had dragged, but that felt worse here.
She’d have phoned her daughters for a chat only they’d be in bed asleep now, since Western Australia was seven hours ahead timewise.
The following morning Simone phoned her daughters. It was teatime in Australia and she assured them that she was coping just fine. She also had a quick word with her grandchildren. That brought tears to her eyes as she ended the call and it took her a minute or two to calm down afterwards. She was going to miss them dreadfully. They’d have grown so much by the time she got back.
To distract herself she looked through the pile of tourist leaflets the Dittons had left for her. Now that she’d bought a satnav, she could go for outings, first of all to nearby villages to get to know the area, then maybe longer outings staying overnight.
That would keep her busy during the day, but she would need other ways of filling her time during the next few months. She had never been one to merely sit around idling.
She went up to the snack bar at the hotel in the late afternoon, just for a change of scene, and got chatting to the young waitress, who was thinking of working her way round the world with her boyfriend. When she found out that Simone was from Australia, she eagerly asked 74questions until called across to serve another customer.
The lass didn’t seem to have any idea of how big Australia was. Very few Europeans did. Simone had found that before when chatting to tourists in Perth who planned to drive up to the north of the state ‘for a couple of days’, not realising it was a full day or more’s gruelling drive just to get there on roads which were not smooth motorways.
Simone had a very clear idea of how small Britain was in comparison to Australia, but even so it had already offered her a few surprises.
It was going to take time to get used to driving along narrow country roads between high hedges, and she had been surprised at how many huge thundering trucks there were on both major and minor roads. No, they called them lorries here, at least she thought they did.
She would take her time and get used to things gradually. No worries.
And maybe she could join the local library.
The next day Simone got up at six o’clock as usual, in spite of having had another wakeful patch during the night. It was an effort but it made her feel as if she was getting closer to a normal daily schedule.
She went out for a drive round the district at just after eight and was surprised at how crowded the roads leading to the M4 were. The rush hour seemed still to be full on. She’d remember that in future.
When she got back, she didn’t let herself phone her daughters again but did have a quick chat with Libby. Ending it brought tears to her eyes.75
She cried again when she saw a news item about some really bad bushfires in Australia. To her relief, they were in the eastern states, over two thousand miles away from her home and family, but her heart went out to the people who were losing not only their homes but personal treasures like family photographs. Some of them, who’d been taken by surprise, had lost every single possession except for the clothes they stood up in.
Every year some communities were affected but these fires were more widespread than usual. She’d have to contribute to the funds for helping them.
It put the life she was leading and her silly worrying into perspective.
That same evening, just before she went to bed, she at last got a response to her email to her parents who were again in an area with access to the Internet. They were delighted that she’d taken this opportunity to travel. They didn’t add ‘about time too’ but they’d said to her face that she should see something of the world, said it more than once, and she could read the same words behind what they were saying now.
The message ended: We’ve emailed our cousins on both sides of the family to let them know you’re in the UK. They’ll probably be in touch. They were very hospitable when we were over there. We’re just dashing off but will phone you soon to tell you a little about our family there.
She was glad about that – wasn’t she? Her parents had wanted her to travel and meet some new people – and she wanted it too now, didn’t she? Oh hell, she wasn’t even sure what she wanted at the moment.76
She couldn’t remember any of these cousins’ names, so shot off a reply to her parents asking for a list of relatives. Then wondered again if she wanted to bother. These people would probably be her parents’ generation. That was fine but she’d also like to meet some of her own generation, give or take a few years.
She was going to miss Libby most of all, chats on the phone, coffee together at the shops at weekends, a sympathetic ear to life’s little problems.
She was definitely not going to even hint to her daughters that she was dreadfully homesick. No way.