Between Friends
Page 18
Love, Ag
P.S. Mrs Cartwright also said please don’t feel tempted to buy Oliver a dog …
From: percynmadge@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Back Home
Date: 25 May
Dear Babe
We’re back from Whitby – lovely weather, only a bit of rain. Bad news on the metal detecting front, I’m afraid. The farmer who owns the field near Holmfirth doesn’t have any time for us metal detecting types and he’s refused access. It’s a blow. I’d have loved to get my hands on that field. Ah well, I’ll find that pot of gold one day, babe. Your old dad hasn’t given up yet. Back to Whitby day after tomorrow probably. Loveyababe and don’t become complacent – remember what I’ve told you,
KYHD!
MumnDad x
‘E’ Bluey
From: Oliver
To: Polly
Date: 26 May
Dear, Polly
I’m getting adopted by a couple who live in Darlington. I’m pleased but I do mind a little bit because I will have had to leave school in a couple of weeks and that means I can’t write to you and I want to write to you until you come home safe. I hear you’re getting me a laptop. Thank you. I’m going to come to school early every morning and sit with Mrs Cartwright and she’s going to teach me how to type (she’s doing it right now). What does Basra look like? Mrs Cartwright said it is a place from the bible and that the river was important. Do you believe in Jesus? I’m more of a big boom boom person myself. I don’t think it’s possible for there to be a man with a beard looking down on us and knowing what every single person is doing every minute of the day. This is a Christian school so we have to learn about the bible. Mrs Cartwright says to say she’s told me that even if I don’t believe in God and stuff I can still learn from the bible stories. I told her I would try. Matt is nicer to me now because I told him I’m getting a laptop and he wants to have a go on it.
Oliver
From: igambini@hotmail.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
CC: gethynofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Agatha
Date: 27 May
Dear, Gethyn and Polly
My name is Isabella and I’m a friend of Agatha’s. I’ve accessed Aggie’s emails so that I can contact her friends and family to pass on the unfortunate news that poor Aggie has had quite a serious fall from a horse. Her injuries are not as bad as first suspected, but she has a broken wrist, broken ribs and a cut and bruised face and concussion. She is expected out of hospital tomorrow and is returning to the café, insisting we do not inform Casey of the fall. Agatha wanted you both to know that you are not forgotten and she will return to letter writing duties as soon as possible. I have emailed Agatha’s mother but received only a curt response. I’m sure Agatha will email you with all the details as soon as she is fit.
With very best wishes,
Isabella
From: gethynofarabia@yahoo.com
To: igambini@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Agatha
Date: 28 May
Dear, Isabella
Thank you for your email. Please give Agatha my best wishes and tell her I hope for a speedy recovery. Out of interest, and please don’t think I’m interfering as I’m sure you will have everything organised, but as Agatha has suffered concussion, will someone be on hand to keep an eye on her during the day? Also, speaking as a doctor, please can you pass on my advice to Agatha that she does not resume duties at the café for a little while – she needs bed rest. The reason I say this is because I am aware that she is waiting for a food critic to arrive and I fear she will exert herself ensuring the café is at constant readiness.
Kind regards,
Gethyn
From: igambini@hotmail.com
To: gethynofarabia@yahoo.com
CC: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Re: Agatha
Date: 28 May
Dear, Gethyn
I completely understand your concern, but rest assured, Agatha will not be baking up a storm this week but has been informed she must tolerate bed rest. The food critic’s first day at Appledart was, in fact, the day Agatha had her fall. Our spies had failed to inform us of his arrival because he was not travelling alone. In fact, Nathan and his assistant (who seems to have taken more than a shine to Agatha), have decided to stay on in Appledart for a week or so for a holiday, which means I have plenty of help at the café and Agatha has a companion waiting on her every need (his assistant). I’m sure Agatha will fill you in on the bizarre events of the day in question once she is up to emailing again.
Best wishes,
Isabella
Bluey
From: Polly
To: Oliver
Date: 29 May
Dear, Oliver.
You’re welcome. I hope it helps. Be sure to keep up with your spelling and handwriting practise or you’ll get me into trouble! I have email now. If Mrs Cartwright doesn’t mind you can email me at: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
I’ll probably leave Iraq in early July. Maybe we can keep in touch when I get home? You’ll have to ask your new parents though (how completely exciting!).
Polly
From: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
To: aggieb@yahoo.com
Subject: Are you OK?
Date: 29 May
Hi, Ag
Not sure when you’ll read this but I’m so worried - are you OK? It’s supposed to be me in the wars, not you. Please get well soon and email as soon as you can to let us know you’re OK.
Love, Pol
From: percynmadge@hotmail.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Whitby
Date: 30 May
Dear Babe
We’re going back to Whitby the day after tomorrow. Your mother has a hair appointment in the morning but if we went straight back after that we'd have to contend with the problem of the racket from the disco which defies description so we’ll miss a day.
Everything's OK at this end. One slight hiccough is that Aunty Joan’s got to go back to the hospital and have a knee scan, but her mind's being taken off it to some extent because she's just won £500 on Radio Sheffield - jammy bugger.
KYHD.
Luvyababe
Mumndad xxx.
From: fletch71@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Shells and Stuff
Date: 31 May
Hi, Polly
I went into your box of special things today and I found a shoe box full of our shells. I had no idea you’d written the date and location on each one and saved them. The shell with the seaweed attached to it we found at Findhorn still has the seaweed attached! You drew a frowning face on it and said it looked like my mother. Do you mind if I keep it? I love the photo of the two of us sat on the ferry to Appledart, too – you always came up with such great places to go. I’ve left the lamp in the box. It’s yours and I should never have asked for it back.
Our divorce is finalised tomorrow. I hope you find great joy in the future, where ever life takes you.
Take care.
Josh
From: simonday14@hotmail.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: What a nag!
Date: 31 May
Hi, Pol
… and this is why I don’t tell you anything. What a nag!
Anyhow, thanks a gazzilion for the offer, sis, but I can’t take your money. Don’t worry, your ‘ol brother will sort himself out before too long, and I’ll have enough cash to come home and take you and that chesty mate of yours up town to get pissed like the old days and then leg it into Huddersfield for a kebab and a new tattoo.
Gotta go. Got a shift at the club.
Stay safe kiddo. Si x
P.S. Shame things didn’t work out between you and Josh. That guy really loved you. Is there no hope?
From: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
To: fletch71@yahoo.com
Subject: No Subject
Date: 31 May
Dear Josh
I’m about to do something in this letter that is more frightening than going to war, but if I can face jumping into a trench and drive around Basra without body armour then I can do this.
For the past few years my every waking thought has been occupied with Angelica. Next time it’s raining, sit and look at the window – not out of the window, but at the window pane itself - and follow the slow pattern the rain makes as it works its way down the glass. That slow trickle of water is the best way I can think of to describe my previous feelings, a never ending supply of tears that just kept falling, except the tears fell on the inside because I just couldn’t cry. When I closed my eyes I would imagine Angelica clinging to me, or crying for me in the night or (my favourite image of selfharm) I would imagine her as a toddler, looking up at me with her arms outstretched and a great big smile on her face. I’ve brought this sorrow onto myself every day in a kind of masochistic ritual. But now that I’ve had my whole life stripped away to nothing – no possessions, no freedom and no guarantee of waking up tomorrow – I realise how much I have to be thankful for and, most of all, as melodramatic as it sounds, I realise that I lost the most precious gift of all – you. I’m sorry if this sounds as if I’ve had a clichéd epiphany, but I have, truly. That fortune teller told me I’d find peace in the desert, and I have.
But although I may have found peace, I’ve lost my future. I’ve tried to imagine myself – my life - ten years from now, but it’s impossible, not without you. Can we please try again? We once told each other we were two little soul mates that had found each other, and that we would always find each other, from one life to the next, for eternity – remember? We – you and I – are enough for me. I don’t want to try for another baby. I accept my life as it is. Please don’t say goodbye. I understand everything now. I love you, and that love, I promise, is enough.
With all of my love, always.
Polly
From: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
To: percynmadge@yahoo.com
Subject: Coming Home
Date: 1 June
Hi Mum and Dad
Not sure when you’ll get this as you’re probably at the coast but I’m coming home on July 2nd, which is a good thing as Basra is turning a bit nasty. I’ll probably have spoken to you on the phone by the time you read this.
Love, Pol x
From: acartwright1@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Best Friend
Date: 2 June
Dear Polly
I’ve got a best friend. It’s Matt. I went round to his house. We played in the garden but I had to leave when his dad came home from work because he was tired and didn’t want the noise in the house but we were in the garden so I didn’t understand. His mum took me back to my foster house. He says I can have a go on his XBox next week. Miss Cartwright thought you’d want to know.
Oliver
From: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
To: fletch71@yahoo.com
Subject: ???
Date: 3 June
Hi, Josh
You haven’t answered?
Love, Pol x
From: fletch71@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com Subject: Re: ???
Date: 3 June
Sorry, but I need some time to think.
From: percynmadge@hotmail.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Coming Home
Date: 5 June
Dear Babe
We got back from the coast late last night. There were a few messages on the phone, including your quickie from Tuesday. All we could make out was 'mum, it's me', the rest was broken up by static or whatever.
So you’re finally coming home – fabulous news! Basra doesn’t seem to be as friendly as you first thought? What a bloody awful state of affairs this lot is developing into. Josh came round this afternoon to bring all my tools back. He’s taken a couple of week’s ad hoc leave – not like him? Such a shame about you two. Nice lad, but it’s your life, love. I told the dog when I took her for her walk this morning, I said I knew in my soul you’d be home soon. Just keep your head down in this final few weeks, that's the only pathetic bit of advice I can give.
The dog spent the afternoon with me cutting the hedges and tidying the garden in readiness for our next trip off. If the forecast is good we'll probably push off back after tea tomorrow; it all depends on how your mother feels.
Nothing else to report right now. News on the school is grim. Looks like they won’t rebuild. Such a shame.
Talk to you soon. Don't forget, KYHD
Luvya - MumnDad. x
From: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
To: aggieb@yahoo.com
Subject: On Tenterhooks
Date: 5 June
Hi, Ag
How are you? I know your wrist is broken but could you get Isabella to write a letter for you, just so we know you’re ok?
Guess what? I’ve asked Josh if we can start again. He’s taking his time to think about it. At least he didn’t say no, which can only be a good thing, can’t it?
Life in Basra is the pits. I took a foreign diplomat out into the city yesterday with his close protection (CP) team to look at a house that might be suitable as an embassy. We drove into this street and the diplomat and the CP team went into the house leaving me sitting in a Land Rover with two TA guys.
All of a sudden, all these Iraqi men carrying rifles started coming out of their houses and stood on the street, watching us. It was horrible. I honestly thought I was a gonna. Anyway, the CP guys and the diplomat came out of the house, jumped into their vehicle and we all shot off, but I genuinely thought the Iraqis were brewing for a kick off and I may well be the luckiest woman on the planet today. To sum up, I can’t wait to get out of this stifling hell hole and back to England. I will never ever complain about the rain or my country again. I was a naïve fool (again) to think that being Visits Officer would be enjoyable. Yet another life lesson for silly Pollyanna.
Thanks for the brownies by the way – you must have sent them before your accident. Gethyn devoured them.
Again, what’s this about an admirer?
Lots of love,
Pol
From: aggieb@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com; gethynofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Miss Me?
Date: 6 June
Hello! And how are my two heroes today?
I’m typing this email one-handed on a laptop balanced across my knee while lying on the settee in front of the fire with a crocheted rug draped over my bruised and battered body. But don’t worry, I have at least five people calling in at regular intervals acting as my personal Punkah Wallahs – fabulous! Poor Anya was most upset at my accident. And so she should be! What’s the use of having a fortune teller as your best buddy if she can’t prevent you from falling off a horse? She looked horrified and said, ‘And that, Agatha, is why I don’t read the cards of friends!’ but I think she was a bit shaken.
I know you’ll be desperate to know what happened on the day Nathan arrived, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a bit longer as I can barely keep my eyes open (must be the painkillers) but I’m sure I’ll be back to normal soon and able to tell you everything. But please do both write and tell me your news as I’m keen to hear that you are both safe and well. Lots of love,
The Queen of Sheba (I may drag this out a bit).
From: aggieb@yahoo.com
To: pollyofarabia@yahoo.com
Subject: Proud of You!
Date: 6 June
Hi, Polly
I’ve just written a combined email to you and Gethyn but having just read your email about Josh, I wanted to make the effort to write straight back because I wanted to say how proud I am of you for putting your heart on the line. I really hope he decides to take you up on your offer and have another stab at marriage. Let me kno
w what he decides. Whatever the decision, you deserve to be happy and I’m sure, either way, you’ll find oodles of love and joy when you come home. We must have celebratory night out when you get back. Do you think you could come and see me in Appledart for a few days?
Love, Ag