Authors: Linda Kavanagh
As the train passed through station after station, Laura gradually began to take stock of her new life ahead. Despite her fears for the future, she was also excited. She had no doubts about her ability to do the job at Dorrington, and there was a certain buzz in being forced out of her comfort zone and into a whole new way of life.
Later that afternoon, Laura approached the magnificent redbrick Dorrington University buildings with butterflies in her stomach. Finding the Sociology Department proved relatively straightforward, and Laura soon found herself knocking on Bill Maddison’s door.
Bill was a warm, personable bear of a man – Laura’s hand seemed to disappear inside his large one as they shook hands.
‘You’re very welcome, Laura,’ he said, smiling. ‘Thanks for
getting us out of a pickle. Darren tells me you’re a Londoner?’
Laura nodded, feeling immediately at ease. She surmised that Bill was in his late forties. His tousled, dark brown hair was streaked with grey, and his brown eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. She warmed to him immediately.
‘I’m grateful for the job, but I’m sorry to hear about your colleague,’ Laura said, relieved that he didn’t ask her why she’d been able to step into the vacant post at such short notice. She suspected that Darren had explained she had urgent personal reasons for making the move.
‘Thanks. If you like, we can ease you in by getting you to mark some of the students’ papers,’ Bill suggested. ‘Then, when I’ve given you the timetable for first-year Sociology, you can start working out your lecture programme.’
Laura nodded.
‘I doubt if you’ll have much preparation to do, anyway,’ Bill added, smiling. ‘Darren tells me you were the bright spark in his department, and very popular with all the students.’
Laura could feel herself blushing. Darren had always been so supportive, and she was going to miss him terribly.
Bill handed her the keys to her new office down the corridor. ‘Let me know if I can do anything for you. My door is always open.’
As Laura left the college and headed back to her hotel, she felt a sense of peace gradually flowing over her. She was hundreds of miles away from Jeff, and he’d never manage to find her. Only a few trusted people, such as Kerry and Darren, knew where she was, and Jeff would never manage to extract that information from either of them.
D
uring the first week of the summer holidays, Kerry was busy cutting, shaping and planing pieces of wood in the outhouse at Treetops. She’d found an old crate in the woodpile, and had gleefully set to work converting it and several other pieces of wood into a box-cart. It would be perfect for whizzing down the sloping driveways of both Greygates and Treetops.
In the gloom of the outhouse, Laura watched as her friend hammered different pieces of wood together, then planed them to smooth the surface and remove any splinters.
‘Where did you get the wheels?’ Laura asked, mesmerised as she watched her friend’s clever hands at work.
‘I got them off my old baby buggy – Mum had dumped it in the shed. The wheels are exactly the size we need.’ Kerry gestured towards the workbench. ‘Hand me those axle brackets, would you, Laura?’
Laura gazed uncertainly at the various items laid out before her.
‘See those right-angled metal pieces on the left? Yes, that’s them.’
Laura handed her friend the items and watched as Kerry nailed them to each end of a long, narrow piece of wood.
Kerry was delighted to have an appreciative audience, and was eager to explain how she was going to attach the moveable steering bar to the front of the car, making it possible for them to change direction when they needed to.
Laura simply gaped in awe, unable to fully understand, but thrilled and looking forward to the fun they were going to have when it was finished. ‘Are we going to let Pete go on it?’ she asked warily. ‘He’s so rough, he might damage it.’
Kerry grinned. ‘This is going to be very sturdy, so you needn’t worry about him! But I think we’ll make him really jealous before we let him on it. After all, he wouldn’t let us use his skates last summer!’
Laura nodded. She liked the idea of thwarting her older brother.
Finally attaching the front wheels, Kerry spun them to ensure that they moved freely. Satisfied, she turned the box-cart over and both girls surveyed the finished product.
‘What do you think?’
Laura gazed at it in awe. It looked very impressive. ‘It’s amazing,’ she said, smiling excitedly at Kerry.
‘Did you manage to find some kind of rope?’
Laura nodded, producing a length of nylon washing line from her pocket. She’d no idea what Kerry wanted it for but, when asked to find some, she’d rushed to do her friend’s bidding.
‘Perfect!’ Kerry said, unwinding it and cutting off a segment. Then she tied a knot in one end and threaded the length of clothesline through one of the holes she’d drilled at either end of the front axle.
Urging Laura to sit in the cart, and placing the washing line in her hands, Kerry threaded the other end of the length of the line through the second hole in the steering bar. She then cut off the surplus washing line, and then turned and grinned at Laura. ‘Let’s take it over to your place for its maiden voyage, shall we?’
Laura nodded, grinning back. She was so excited, and so proud of her clever friend.
As Kerry pulled the go-cart behind her, the two girls headed out of Treetops’s driveway and walked alongside the road. As they reached Greygates and hauled the cart up the driveway to the top, Kerry handed the washing-line steering-handle to Laura. ‘Go on – you can have first go,’ she said generously.
Laura’s face lit up. ‘Really? I mean –’
‘Get into the bloody thing, Laura, and let’s start having fun!’ Kerry said gruffly. ‘Anyway, you’re going to be the guinea pig. If anything is wrong with it, you’ll be the one to discover it. Ready?’
Laura nodded, grinning happily as Kerry gave the go-cart a shove, and she found herself flying down the driveway. She gripped the washing line, steering herself as she built up speed. ‘
Wheeeee!’
she cried, loving every second of the experience. The wind was making a whooshing sound in her ears as she hurtled past the flowerbeds, barely missing the grocer’s delivery boy who was cycling up the driveway. Laura just had time to register his horrified face before his bike wobbled and he fell into the hedge.
Chuckling to herself, Laura continued on, pulling on one side of the washing line to ease the cart around the bend in the driveway – just as her father’s car was coming towards her.
Now there was a problem – Kerry hadn’t shown her how to stop.
‘Aaaaaargh!’
Laura tried to avoid the car, but she clipped the edge of its front bumper as she flew past. The cart zigzagged and overturned, and Laura was thrown out onto the driveway. She skinned both her knees and the pain was excruciating, but she screwed up her eyes in an attempt not to cry.
‘Laura, are you okay?’ Her father came running back towards her, having abandoned his car in the middle of the driveway. He was followed shortly afterwards by Kerry, who was out of breath from running down its entire length.
Having ascertained that she hadn’t broken anything, Alan eyed Laura sternly. ‘Why on earth weren’t you being more careful? You could have seriously injured yourself!’
‘Sorry,’ Laura mumbled, but then she turned on him accusingly. ‘But you’re home early! If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have had any problem!’
‘That’s because I’m going to collect Pete – he wants to come with me while I pick up my new car from the showroom,’ he said mildly. ‘Just as well this one is leased, isn’t it? Otherwise, you’d be paying for the repairs to the bumper out of your pocket money for a very long time!’
By now, Alan had turned his attention to the box-cart, which was lying on its side.
‘Did you make this?’ he asked Kerry, who was standing by Laura’s side.
Kerry nodded, blushing.
Examining the go-cart, Alan was impressed by the well-designed axles that turned the buggy wheels; the washers and locking nuts that enabled the steering column to move freely, all perfectly in place; and the wood pale and smooth from being carefully planed.
‘Well, if you can turn out something this good at your age, you’ve clearly got a great career ahead of you!’ he said admiringly. ‘There’s just a little damage to the bracket on the steering bar, but I’m sure a bright girl like you will sort that out in no time.’
Kerry blushed again. She was thrilled that Mr Thornton had found a reason to praise her.
‘What are you going to be when you grow up, Kerry?’
‘I’ll probably become an engineer,’ she told him shyly.
‘Really?’ Alan was pleased. ‘That’s great! You’ve certainly got the flair for it.’
Kerry blushed again, lapping up the praise. ‘I’m interested in how things work,’ she continued. ‘I want to designs things and find ways to make them work better. That’s what an engineer does, isn’t it?’
Alan nodded. ‘There are lots of different careers in engineering,’ he explained, ‘but you’re right – designing and perfecting products is a big part of it.’ He smiled over his shoulder at her. ‘You’ve certainly made a great start with this box-cart of yours – it’s just a pity that Laura couldn’t keep control of it!’
‘It’s fine – it’s only minor damage,’ Kerry said dismissively. ‘And it’s quite strong, so it can cope with a few knocks.’
Laura smiled at her friend, grateful again for not being made to feel guilty.
‘You’re an engineer yourself, aren’t you, Mr Thornton?’ Kerry asked, keen to take advantage of this thawing in their relationship.
Alan nodded. ‘Yes, I qualified as a mechanical engineer. Of course, our factory manager, Tony Coleman, takes care of the day-to-day running of the machinery and the timing of production lines. I mainly do the paperwork now, but my knowledge of engineering is a great help to me in understanding what’s going on, and in making major decisions.’ As Alan began walking back to his car, he suddenly turned around. ‘Kerry, would you like to come to the car showroom with me and Pete? They have a big repair department there as well – you might be interested in having a look around while I’m dealing with the finance department.’
Kerry nodded, her heart almost bursting with joy.
‘Can I come too?’ Laura piped up.
‘Okay, come on, both of you,’ Alan said, grinning.
The three children stared in admiration at Alan’s new car as it stood on the garage forecourt. Its chrome glistened, and its dark red body gleamed with such a sheen that it made them all want to run their hands over it.
Inside, the cream leather seats smelled new and luxurious, and the children smiled at each other as they tumbled inside. They were all chattering nineteen to the dozen, and Alan had to beg for silence so that he could work out which switches had been moved or altered on the newer model.
Eventually, they drove back to Greygates, and found Sylvia waiting on the doorstep to see the new car.
‘It’s lovely, Alan,’ she told him, smiling. ‘What do you think, children?’
They all nodded enthusiastically as they stepped out of the car.
‘Thank you, Mr Thornton,’ Kerry said solemnly. ‘I’ve had a brilliant time today!’
Alan felt a stab of guilt as he patted the child’s arm affectionately. ‘You’re more than welcome, Kerry,’ he said softly, aware that she got so much less than his other two children, yet she was pathetically grateful for the little she got.
Sylvia herded them all inside. ‘You’ll stay for dinner, won’t you, Kerry? Maybe you three children can help me peel the potatoes? I’m making chips, since I know you all like them.’
The child nodded shyly. She loved the Thorntons’ house, and she wished more than anything that she could have a father like Mr Thornton.
H
aving settled into a routine at the university, and into her new apartment in Bayside, Laura was relieved to discover that life in Dorrington was proving relatively stress-free. It was great being so far from Jeff, and it looked as though her troubles were finally over.
By her third week Laura had assumed full responsibility for the previous lecturer’s schedule. Bill was happy with her work and the students were welcoming and seemed invigorated by the new and different approaches she brought to her lectures and tutorials.
Darren kept in touch by texts and with occasional phone calls, and Laura was always pleased when she saw his number showing up on her phone, or when she opened a text from him. She hadn’t realised she could miss him so much, but they had been good friends for a long time and although Bill was an easy-going boss, it just wasn’t the same as working for Darren.
As the weeks went by, Laura began to feel secure again, and by the time she’d been in Dorrington for two months, she was feeling confident that Jeff and his antics were now firmly in the past. She was making friends with other lecturers, and before long she was joining them for occasional nights at the pub or theatre, something she hadn’t been able to do for ages.
One evening, after an enjoyable night of stand-up comedy in a small city-centre theatre, Laura was still smiling as she
bade her colleagues goodnight. She had an early start the following morning, so she’d reluctantly decided against joining them for a nightcap. Living in Bayside meant she had to leave early in order to arrive at work on time, but the coastal location made up for the slight inconvenience. She loved its esplanade, and she’d been fitting in a brisk walk every morning before leaving for work.