Thornton - Wing and a Prayer, A

CAST THE FIRST STONE

FAMILIES AND FRIENDSHIPS

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

LOVE AND MARRIAGE

OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS

ONE WEEK IN AUGUST

PASTURES NEW

A WING AND A PRAYER

1990

T he phone rang just as Helen was putting on her jacket, ready to dash out to the car and drive to the pub where she worked a few evenings each week. She was often last minute; a few more seconds and she would have gone. She was tempted to ignore it, but it might be important. It might even be Alex but that was very unlikely.

Hello, she said, somewhat impatiently, as she picked up the phone from the small table in the hall.

Hello, Helen Its Mum.

Im just on my way to work, Mum, and Im running late. What is it? Cant it wait?

Im sorry, love. I knew youd be dashing off about this time, but Im afraid I have some bad news.

Helen felt the blood drain from her face. What is it?

Its Aunt Alice. Shes had a heart attack. Im sorry, love Im afraid shes gone. It was so very sudden.

Helen felt her eyes fill with tears, and she sat down on the chair at the side of the table. Oh, no! How dreadful! But she wasnt ill. She was perfectly all right the last time I saw her, about ten days ago. Does Gran know?

Yes, it was your gran who phoned to tell me. Alices next-door neighbour was concerned because there were two bottles of milk on the doorstep and Trixie was miaowing outside. The back door was open so Nora was able to get in and she found her; in the fireside chair, just as though she was asleep.

Helen felt the tears running down her cheeks. Oh how very sad. I cant believe it. You say shed had a heart attack?

Yes, apparently so, but there will have to be a post-mortem. She hadnt been ill well, not ill enough to go to the doctor. Nora rang for the doctor at once, of course, and that was what he diagnosed: a sudden massive heart attack. He called for an ambulance, and its all under control. But your gran and I will be going over there tomorrow. Your grans her next of kin shes her only sister so well have to go and see to things; the funeral and everything, you know.

She wasnt very old, was she?

No, only seventy-one. Not old by todays standards. Your grans seven years older than Alice, and still hale and hearty, but you just never know Anyway, Im sorry to give you such bad news. You were always Alices favourite, you know. And, of course, she never had any children of her own.

Never even got married, did she? I often wondered why that was, Mum?

Oh, lots of reasons I suppose, love. Your gran would never say much about her. There was something of a rift between them after Aunt Alice went back to live in Yorkshire. But, like I say, shes her next of kin.

Would you like me to drive you over there, Mum? I could get some time off work.

No thanks, love. Im quite a capable driver, and Im my own boss; I dont have to ask for time off work. And your dad will be fine on his own for a few days.

Look, Mum, Id better go, Helen said. Im late already. Ring me when you get to Yorkshire and let me know whats happening. I cant take it in yet about Aunt Alice I shall miss her so much.

We all will, love, but I know how close you were to her. Bye for now. Drive carefully or might it be better if you didnt go to the pub tonight?

No, Ill have to go. Dont worry; Ill be careful. Bye, Mum, and take care of Gran.

Will do. Bye, love

Helen brushed the tears from her cheeks, picked up her car keys and went out to where her red Volkswagen was parked outside her ground-floor flat. Not a new car, but not very old either. It was a 1987 model, three years old, that she had bought a few months ago when she'd received a pay rise. She was saving up for a deposit to buy a flat of her own, but she felt that the car was a small luxury that she deserved. She would have her own place all in good time, and she was quite happy where she was at the moment, in a tree-lined avenue near Stanley Park. It wasnt too far from the estate agency where she worked during the day, on Whitegate Drive, one of the main roads leading out of Blackpool.

Helen Burnside was thirty-three years old, unmarried although she had not been short of boyfriends, one or two of whom she had thought might even be the one. She was on her own again now, having parted from Alex Barker two weeks previously. It had not been working out, and they had decided to call it a day. Helen was now having slight regrets, but she was damned if she was going to admit it. He must make the first move if he was so inclined. If not, then she would move forward. In the paraphrased words of a song from one of her favourite musicals, Oklahoma!, many a new day would dawn before she looked back at the romance behind her.

It was only a few minutes drive to the Wayside Inn in nearby Marton, where she worked three nights a week and occasional weekends, to supplement her savings towards a home of her own.

Sorry Im late, she called after parking her car in the car park, which was not too busy early in the evening. Mum rang just as I was coming out. It was bad news, actually, so I had to stop and talk to her for a few minutes. She was talking to Betty Ainsworth as she was taking off her jacket in the family room behind the bar.

Dont rush, said Betty. I can see youre upset, and were not busy at the moment. Sit down and tell me about it. Has has someone died?

Helen sat down on the settee and Betty sat beside her. Yes, answered Helen. My Aunt Alice has died, very suddenly; it was a heart attack. Shes my great-aunt, actually, my mothers aunt, but Ive been very close to her, especially these last few years. She had a hip replacement about three years ago, and I went over to Yorkshire to look after her for a while. I was between jobs at the time, and it seemed to be the obvious solution for me to go and stay there. She insisted that she should pay me, because she would have needed a carer otherwise. And it worked very well. I was sorry, in a way, to leave Yorkshire to come back home, but weve been in close contact ever since.

You say this happened suddenly? She hadnt been ill?

Apparently not. She recovered well after the hip operation. She lived on her own, but she was very independent and very fit, so its a tremendous shock.

Whereabouts in Yorkshire did she live? I know its a very big county.

She lives lived in a little village called Thornbeck, on the road between Pickering and Scarborough. Shed lived in Yorkshire since the early fifties, a few years before I was born. It was a bit of a mystery why she left Blackpool. No one seems to want to talk about it. My mother never says much, but maybe she doesnt know much about it. Aunt Alice made a life for herself over there. She had her own little cottage that she rented at first and then managed to buy

Helens reminiscences were cut short when Jeff Ainsworth, the landlord, put his head round the door. Were getting busy out here. We could do with a hand when you two have finished your nattering, he said, but with a grin on his face.

Oh Im sorry, Jeff, said Helen, jumping up at once.

Helen has suffered a bereavement, said Betty quietly. An aunt she was very fond of.

I didnt realize, said Jeff. Take your time, of course, Helen. Betty and I can cope; Bobs gone down to the cellar but he wont be long. Just come when youre ready.

Im OK, said Helen. Really I am. Anyway, Ill be better keeping busy tonight instead of sitting around and moping.

And, indeed, she was busy throughout the evening, serving drinks and simple bar snacks crisps, sandwiches, meat pies and sausage rolls. No cooked meals here; it was a small, homely place, popular mainly with the locals, and didnt try to compete with the larger establishments that were opening up in the area.