Betty thought that Eleanor’s words sounded a little like a threat. “Yes. Of course. I’ll do my best.”
“Well.” Eleanor sniffed. “Only time will tell if that’s good enough.”
When Betty walked down the aisle, Eleanor sat in the front row, her eyes pinned to her son. She didn’t smile and wore a dark gray dress more suited to a funeral.
Throughout the ceremony and reception, Betty swore she could feel her new mother-in-law’s animosity towards her.
Dylan Storm was friendlier. He was an older version of Thomas, but with granite-gray hair and jowls that wobbled. When he talked, he stood with his hands behind his back. The two men talked about the changing world of accountancy, the bible and cricket. Nothing that Betty could relate to.
* * *
“Your parents don’t usually come over to the house,” Betty said. “Is there a special occasion?”
Thomas tutted and shook his head. “Have you forgotten what special month and year this is?”
Betty frowned and could only think of one possibility. “Um, it’s our sixteenth wedding anniversary.”
“Well, of course it is.”
“Lovely,” Betty said, trying not to frown. They never marked their anniversary and didn’t buy cards for each other. Sixteen years wasn’t a traditional celebration.
“Mum and Dad haven’t seen the girls for months. And I’ve invited Trevor, too,” Thomas said.
“Your brother?”
“And his new fiancée. Teresa is training to be a lawyer.”
“Ah.” Betty nodded. She knew there was a brotherly rivalry between Thomas and Trevor, and she wondered if her husband was trying to prove some kind of point.
She also felt a sense of dread creeping over her, as she imagined spending an evening with Thomas’s family. She’d have to do everything, from cooking to being a charming host. “That’s a lot of people to fit around our dining table. Can’t we go to a restaurant instead?”
Thomas laughed. “We’re not made of money. I’m sure we can accommodate eight people.”
Betty imagined the family and sports talk. “Surely there will be nine of us?” she said.
“Nine?”
“Well, we’ll have to invite Mum, too.”
“Zelda?” Thomas said as if her name had a nasty taste. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Why not? If we’re celebrating our wedding anniversary, she should be there.”
“Hmm. I’m worried about the girls. Martha’s getting really disobedient. I think we can blame your mother for that.”
“It’s more likely to be her hormones.”
Thomas’s lips grew thin. “There’s no need for such talk, Betty.”
She stared at him and tried not to sigh. He was squeamish about any changes the girls were going through—periods, buying bras and teenage behavior. He liked to pretend such things didn’t happen.
However, he was right about one thing. Betty had also noticed that Martha was increasingly tricky to handle. Sometimes it felt like she was slipping away and that Betty was losing her.
If Martha announced she was going to a friend’s house to do her homework, Betty knew that she was really sneaking off to see her nana. She’d spotted the two of them in the library together and found Martha’s stash of library books and handwritten stories hidden under her bed. Zelda hadn’t called around to the house for almost two months and she had taken to calling Thomas “the Lord of the Manor.”
The last time Betty bumped into her mum, she had a sparkle in her eye as she gushed about someone called George.
Betty was glad that her mum might have found someone special, after all this time. However, it added to the gulf of separation she felt, as her mother and elder daughter drifted further away from her. But, because of Thomas and his ways, she couldn’t do anything about it.
She smoothed down her dress and rearranged her Friday freesias in a vase. “So, is it okay for me to ask Mum? It will look very odd if we don’t invite her.”
“My parents won’t notice if she’s not there. They only met her once, at our wedding.”
“It won’t look very good to Martha and Lilian, though. Or to my mother.”
Thomas thought for a while then gave her a sideways look that she hadn’t seen him use before. “My boss, Anthony, mentioned your mother to me the other week,” he said.
“He did?”
“He bumped into her recently and hadn’t realized she was my mother-in-law. They went to school together and he had a bit of a thing for her back then.” He screwed up his nose. “Goodness knows why. Since he’s separated from his wife, he’s gone all nostalgic.”
“I think Mum is pretty enamored with her new boyfriend, George,” Betty said.
Thomas folded his arms. “I’m thinking, perhaps I should invite Anthony to our anniversary tea, too. He’s going to retire soon and his job will be available, so it’s a good opportunity to make an impression. And it will even things up. If he and Zelda came, that would make ten guests, a nice round number.”
Even though the idea of hosting Thomas’s mum, dad, brother, brother’s fiancée and boss filled her with dread, Betty’s spirits lifted a little. The tea would offer her the chance to pull Zelda back into the family fold a little. Perhaps Eleanor and Dylan might be charmed by her. “Should I ask Mum if she’s free that evening?” she asked hopefully.
Thomas looked as if he’d swallowed a wasp and was trying to spit it out. “I’ll give it some thought,” he said.
* * *
Betty walked down to the beach that afternoon. In early February, the sand was flecked with snow. The flakes drifted in the air and she remembered how she and Daniel used to stick out their tongues to catch them. It was impossible not to laugh when they did it. She poked her tongue out now and she giggled to herself before her smile faded away.
She stood in front of the mermaid statue, read the list of the lost men and trailed her fingers over their names. Some had been so young, only her age. It was difficult to believe that the accident was over sixteen years ago now. Time had passed so quickly. Glancing at her watch, she saw that time had gone quicker than she anticipated. She brushed away the snow that had settled on the plaque, then set off to the baker’s shop. Thomas wouldn’t be happy if she returned late from buying the bread.
* * *
Unusually, Betty found Martha and Thomas in the sitting room together. Thomas flicked through his newspaper and Martha lay on the floor scribbling in her notepad. Betty was pleased that she couldn’t detect any atmosphere. Everything felt, well, normal, and it was a welcome relief.
“I’ve been thinking,” Thomas said, as Betty showed him the bread she’d bought. “We’ll invite your mother over for the tea. I spoke to Anthony just now and he’s definitely a bit misty-eyed over her. You’ll have to warn Zelda, firmly, beforehand. I don’t want any drama. No weird stories or mentions of her new boyfriend. And can she wear something other than a bloody turquoise nightie?”
From her spot on the carpet, Martha lifted her head. “What’s this for?”
“It’s for our anniversary tea, darling,” Betty said. “Your dad’s boss will be joining us. It turns out that he went to school with your nana.”
“That sounds ace,” Martha said.
And Thomas and Betty shared a small, rare, smile.
* * *
“Why should I do what the Lord of the Manor wants?” Zelda asked when Betty phoned her. “I’m guessing this is all for his benefit, and no one else’s. Does he want to show off or something?”
“It’s for both of us,” Betty pleaded, even if there was truth in her mother’s words. “I know he has certain ways, but it’s our wedding anniversary, Mum. I know you’ll want to see Martha and Lilian. Anthony is looking forward to seeing you again, too. Please come.”
“I’m not sure. George and I may have plans
.”
Betty closed her eyes. She dug a hand into her hair and massaged her scalp. “Can’t you can rethink them? It’s been too long since we saw you.”
“And whose fault is that? Not mine.”
“Please don’t make things difficult for me, Mum.”
“But he’s controlling you.”
“It’s not like that, honestly. Thomas looks after me and the girls and, well, if we have to do things his way, maybe it’s worth it.”
Zelda fell silent for a while. “When those girls get older, you’ll be left on your own with him. He’s the type who can’t cope alone.”
“He’s not as bad as you make out. Thomas and Lilian get on. It’s just Martha...”
“And me, too. He hates me.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Humph. Well, I’ve noticed Martha is changing. She doesn’t write as many stories as she used to.”
“She’s a teenage girl, Mum...”
“She’s picking it up from you, Betty. The way you are. How can she grow into a confident young woman when she sees you kowtowing to Thomas? You’re always making your lists of things to do, to keep him happy. She’ll end up like you.”
Betty felt a tidal wave of upset rising inside her. She tried to put a stop to it before it broke to the surface. “Don’t say that, Mum. Martha’s nothing like me. She’ll leave home and meet someone. She can be something I’m not.” Her last words rose upward. She needed to believe that her daughters would make different decisions to her own. “All you have to do is come around for tea. Be friendly with Anthony and civil with Thomas’s parents. It will help to fix things between us all.”
“I’m not the one who’s broken them.”
“Please, Mum. Just show up on time and behave. Is that really too much to ask?”
“Hmm.” Zelda hesitated. “I’ll try my best. Do you remember that story Martha told us, about a tiger and a unicorn?”
Betty smoothed a hand over her hair, relieved that things were agreed. “Not really. She shares them with you more than me.”
“I’ll tell it you now,” Zelda said. “I think it’s relevant.”
The Tiger and the Unicorn
A girl lived in a house at the edge of a forest. She had two best friends, a tiger and a unicorn. The tiger was fierce and strong. Though other people found him scary, he made the girl feel safe and protected.
Her other friend was a unicorn. She was magical and fun. They rode through the forest together with the wind in the girl’s hair. The unicorn was mischievous and liked to play pranks.
The girl loved them both but found it exhausting, to keep her friends separate all the time. She thought how wonderful it would be if the three of them could learn how to be content together.
However, the tiger sniffed when she suggested this. “I am a beast. I have my own ways. If I eat the unicorn, I cannot be held responsible because it’s in my nature to do it.”
The unicorn shook her mane and whinnied. “The tiger is no fun,” she told the girl. “I’ll be bored in his company. He always tries to be in charge, and we won’t be able to do what we want.”
The girl was torn, because she loved them both. She didn’t want to offend either of her friends so she continued to spend time with them individually. However, when she was with the tiger she acted in one way, changing to suit him. And when she was with the unicorn, she acted in a different way.
Soon she began to feel that her personality was being split in two, and she just wanted to be herself.
One day, as she walked through the forest, she met a third creature, a bear. He lay on the ground and lazily scratched behind his ear. “You look troubled,” he said to the girl. “What’s wrong?”
The girl sighed and told him her problem, that she had two friends and they were making her choose between them. “Real friends wouldn’t do that,” he said. “They might be different, they might not mix, but they would never make you choose.”
The girl nodded. The bear was right, so the next day she spoke to the unicorn, and then the tiger. She told them the same thing. “We must find a way to all get along, so I can be myself. Or else we’ll have to go our separate ways.”
The unicorn tried her best. She tried to be friendly to the tiger and was there when the girl wanted to play. But the tiger could not change. He sulked and wanted the girl to himself.
One day, the tiger ate the unicorn up whole. As he sat smacking his lips, the girl broke down in tears and asked him why he couldn’t respect her wishes. “Because I couldn’t help it,” he said. “Because I am a tiger.”
25
House
On Saturday, Rose and Will wandered into the library without their mother. They stood in front of the desk, both wearing bewildered expressions. “Mum made us walk here on our own,” Will said to Martha. “She said she didn’t want to see anyone, and we had to pack our own bags.”
Martha wondered if the anyone she wanted to avoid was Zelda.
“She’s in a weird mood,” Rose added. “She said you were lurking in our back garden at night.”
As she stored their overnight bags under the desk, Martha’s neck grew a little hot.
“I was merely returning Will’s trousers. Next time, I’ll teach the pair of you how to sew, so you can do it yourselves,” she teased. “Then I won’t have to visit your house at midnight.”
Rose and Will stared at her.
“I can’t do sewing,” Will said.
“I’m scared of needles. And pins.” Rose narrowed her eyes. “Are you wearing makeup?”
“A little bit...”
“It looks nice. Your lips are all pinky.”
“What are we doing this afternoon?” Will asked.
Martha wasn’t sure what to tell them. Lilian had forbidden her from introducing the kids to their great-grandmother, but she didn’t have a choice. “A, um, family friend is joining us,” she said. “We might all have a nice, quiet afternoon, down at the beach.”
* * *
While Will and Rose squabbled over which letter the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone DVD should be filed under, H or P, Martha took the job application form out of the drawer. She read through it again, refreshing her memory of the headings and what she had to complete.
“Are you finally going to fill that in?” Suki peered over her shoulder. “There’s only a few days left.”
Martha nodded. She wrote down her name and address then set down her pen. She wanted to share her story of what the library, and doing things for others, meant to her, but her discussion with Lilian made it difficult to concentrate.
“Just think of your Cumulus Vitae,” Suki prompted.
“Cumulus is a type of cloud,” Martha replied. “It’s a Curriculum Vitae, and I don’t have one.”
“Right.” Suki laughed. “I usually write notes down first. Then I copy them into the form. I make sure my passion shimmies through.”
Martha agreed this was a most proactive approach. She mused for a while, then took up a blank piece of paper. She picked up her pen again and waited to see if her words would start to flow.
* * *
The library started to fill with parents and children. Most of the Saturday morning crowd were usually well behaved, but some rolling about on the floor always took place, mostly by children and occasionally some adults, too. Martha smiled with encouragement as Will stepped in to separate two young boys who were hitting each other over the head with the beanbags.
Three mothers brought a rug, which they spread on the floor, and proceeded to lay out a picnic of carrot sticks, hummus, sausage rolls and crisps in the fiction section.
“Can they do that in here?” Rose asked Martha. “It is allowed?”
“It’s never happened before,” Martha said. “Please ask them to move to the edge. And tell them not to leave any rubbish b
ehind.”
Rose shrugged and meandered over to the group. She pointed towards the other side of the room and the mothers nodded and gathered their things together.
Later in the morning, Clive strolled through the door. He carried a coffee in a large cardboard cup, from a posh coffee shop in Maltsborough. He sipped at it rhythmically with loud slurps. “Everything under control, Martha?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
It was the first time she’d encountered him since she fled from the reading group. She was determined not to show any weakness and sat up a little taller in her chair. “Yes. All is fine,” she smiled. “I’m taking a look at my application form. It’s all looking very, very positive.”
She watched Clive’s Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed his coffee. “Fantastic,” he said flatly. “I, um, look forward to reading it.”
* * *
After the library closed, Martha walked back to her house with Will and Rose. She made cheese sandwiches for their lunches, served with crisps and big mugs of tea. Then she explained that an old friend was going to be joining them that afternoon. “Her name is Zelda and I think you’ll like her.”
Rose gave a small wrinkle of her nose. “But me and Will thought we’d go for a mess around on the beach.”
Martha looked out of the window. The sun shone on the waves, making them sparkle. Perhaps it might be better if her niece and nephew were out of the way when Zelda arrived. “That’s fine. The two of you can go there now, if you like,” she said. “I’ll wait in for my, um, friend. Be back here in forty-five minutes.”
“Okay.” Will nodded, then paused with his hand in his pocket. “There is Wi-Fi down there, isn’t there?”
* * *
The Library of Lost and Found Page 20
