The Kissing Gate

by Susan Sallis

  She went back to the van, intent on returning to Hartley and the telephone as soon as possible, only to be stopped by Mr Perks as he emerged from the storeroom.

  ‘Glad you haven’t gone yet, Miss Briscoe. Your brother’s out front. I said as how you might not have left. Come on through the shop.’ He led the way as if she didn’t know it, then pointed past the counter. ‘The Ford Consul. See it?’

  As if she could miss their family car. She shot past him and gathered Ned to her. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed him. She felt the old familiar tears in her throat and swallowed them fiercely.

  ‘Just phoned Gussie – very worried about you – you should’ve phoned her yourself.’

  He was grinning as he extricated himself and drew her into the car.

  ‘You don’t change. Still moaning about something!’ He pulled a tissue from the box Gussie always made sure was with the maps. Jannie snatched it from him and bunched it into her hand.

  ‘She’s there on her own. You’d left Bristol—’

  ‘I intended dropping in here anyway. Meet your young man.’ He minced the words comically. ‘Give him the once-over properly – intentions and so forth,’ she punched his arm – ‘and ring Gus from your room. Stop it, Jannie. That hurts.’

  She calmed down suddenly. ‘Sorry. Actually, so glad to see you and I can’t think why when you’ve kept delaying coming home. We thought you’d be with us at Easter.’

  ‘I know. Sorry, Jan. There was a place for me there. It wasn’t simply getting in touch with Victor Gould and my past, it was being there while he painted his last picture. I’ve taken photographs, of course, but I can’t wait for you and Gus to see it in situ. And then – you were right – once I’d seen that into its place there was nothing to stop me coming home. And here I am.’ He looked at her smilingly. ‘And to such a welcome! Oh, Jan, I can see you’re in your own place. Lucky girl. Is it going to work?’

  ‘Yes. It’s going to work. But you’re not going to meet him this morning, Ned. He’s working.’

  Ned made a face, then said, ‘Perhaps it’s as well. I wouldn’t have got away before mid-afternoon, which would mean a late arrival home. I can tell you my news and be off again in an hour. Anywhere we can go for a coffee?’

  They walked across the green to the tearooms run by Mr Perks’ cousin. She was delighted to see them. ‘Dead as a dodo until the school holidays.’ Jannie was not surprised; the small white-painted room was bitterly cold.

  She asked for two coffees in disposable mugs. ‘My brother is on his way to St Ives, Doris.’ She made it sound urgent. It was urgent. She did not want Ned to change his mind and stay until the afternoon.

  Ned was impressed. ‘You sounded so – I don’t know – firm. You sounded like a teacher, for goodness’ sake!’ He laughed delightedly. ‘Who would have thought our baby sister would turn out to be a natural-born teacher!’

  They settled themselves back in the car and Jannie directed him to one of her favourite spots by the river. ‘You can see otters here if you’re lucky,’ she told him. Then added, ‘You sound very pleased with yourself. I’m really glad your trip was so successful, Ned. And in the end you went along with what Mack wanted in the first place! You were a sort of ambassador for the Trust.’

  Ned reversed the car a few yards so that they had a view of the willow-lined river. He wound down his window. ‘This is more like it.’ He took his cup from Jannie and prised off the lid. ‘Considering it is now the merry month of May, that little café must have been refrigerated.’ He sipped and looked at her through the steam. ‘Good to see you, Little Sis. How is Gussie?’

  ‘Not quite the same – perhaps we never will be the same again. She was fine in one way – coped with Bessie Beck when Old Beck died – couple of swims, long walks. But, there is something. Something to do with that Andrew Bellamy. She laughs it off; says that particular fear is dead and buried. Of course, I didn’t realize there was any fear connected with him.’ Jannie sighed sharply. ‘She makes it sound so funny – Zannah acting like a tigress protecting her young. But I don’t think it could have been funny. Not really.’ She looked at him. ‘Can you stay until school breaks up for the summer?’

  ‘Most definitely yes. And then will you be with us?’

  ‘Yes.’ She hesitated looking into her cup. ‘Ned … don’t be shocked. I am bringing Robert with me. His parents are divorced and have new partners and it’s … difficult. He could stay at school and work on this electronic hand, but I think he needs to see … us. Be with us for a while.’

  ‘I think that’s wonderful,’ he said. ‘I’m not shocked in the least.’ Then he sighed. ‘We’ll miss Old Beck. Things keep changing.’

  Jannie cleared her throat. ‘I know. But listen, Ned, we plan to get married. Probably mid-August time. I would like him to be around for the first anniversary.’ She looked up; her eyes were very bright. ‘I would like him to be the fourth person in our boat, Ned.’

  He was silent, staring at her. He reached for a tissue and she felt in the sleeve of her cardigan. ‘Still got the last one you gave me.’ She held it for a moment then replaced it carefully.

  He said, ‘OK. It is a bit of a shock. I have to admit. But … OK.’

  She did cry then. ‘Oh, Ned. Thank you. You’ll like him, you’ll really like him. I know we’re too young and all that rubbish but, you see, it might be like Mum and Dad. We might not have too long. We have to do this while we can. You do understand, don’t you?’

  ‘Oh my God.’ He skewed awkwardly to take her in his arms. ‘I do. I really do.’ He scrubbed at her back with his knuckles. ‘Perhaps that was why I stayed with Victor longer than intended.’

  She sniffed mightily. ‘And Gussie got on with Zannah.’

  Ned held her away and said, ‘Robert … he isn’t terminally ill or anything, is he?’

  ‘No.’ She met his anxious eyes. ‘He’s got ME. And his parents are both on second marriages.’

  ‘Sounds enough to be going on with.’

  He used his tissue and mopped gently at her eyes just as Gussie used to. And, she noticed, dismissed the ME as so many people did. Which meant, of course, that he didn’t ‘get’ Robert one bit.

  ‘Come on, Jan. Cheer up. I really should be getting on down to Cornwall and I have to tell you my news.’

  She drew back against the passenger door and stared at him anew. ‘You’ve met someone!’ She was horrified and tried to hide it.

  But he laughed. ‘It was practically a hermitage over there – no one for miles! Besides … No, I haven’t “met anyone”, as you put it. But I’m late getting down here because I went into United Chemicals on my way. I needed to see Margaret Scott.’ He saw Jannie’s bewilderment and added, ‘She was the director who went to see Gussie. And she wrote the letter telling me UC would not accept my resignation after all.’

  Jannie nodded. ‘I remember. It was all a bit odd.’ She was enormously relieved and did not know why that should be.

  ‘You can say that again!’ He grinned. ‘I was mad at first – talked to Victor and Con about it. I said I felt used. They both laughed at that. But I felt the same way as when we were in New York together and Mack seemed to be angling for me to see Victor and persuade him to donate his work to The Spirit of America. D’you remember how huffy I got?’

  ‘Of course I do. And in the end, that is exactly what happened.’ She was interested now, hoisting her leg up so that she could twist properly and give him her full attention. He wasn’t going to come back to Hartley and be introduced to Robert. And he hadn’t ‘met anyone’. She smiled. ‘Are you being seduced back to work? You know it’s the right thing to do.’

  He was surprised. ‘Is that how you see it, Jannie? I was fed up with the whole thing – never intended to go back into research again. Quite seriously.’

  ‘I know. Just as Gussie was never going to do any landscape design ever again.’ She paused, thinking back. Some time during their explorations at Easter, Gussie had said som
ething, done something, that had been … significant. Jannie could not remember what it was and finished lamely, ‘She’s still saying no to work – trying to be, just be.’

  ‘You’re worried about her.’

  ‘A bit, yes. I thought she would be the first to – to – find an anchor.’ She sighed sharply. ‘Anyway, go on. Don’t tell me you’re going back to work next week. Please.’

  ‘No. Well, yes. I suppose I am. But from home. I’m writing a paper for the BMA. How’s that for erudition?’

  Jannie stared at him and then rummaged up her sleeve for the tissue. Ned said, ‘Oh, Jan, please don’t. It’s no enormous breakthrough. Just another step along the way, that’s all.’

  She choked, ‘Dad would be so pleased. Oh, dammit, Dad is pleased!’

  He put a hand on hers and looked away and then said, ‘Oh look, Jan, it’s a kingfisher! Can you see? Where the willow branch is dipping – he’s there!’

  She couldn’t focus but she said hoarsely, ‘Yes, yes, I can see. Oh, Ned!’

  They watched and Ned said, ‘Nothing to do with science. But everything to do with life.’ His voice dropped. ‘I wish Gus was here.’

  ‘You’ll see her later,’ Jannie said quickly. ‘You can tell her.’

  ‘Of course.’ He turned almost briskly. ‘I’ll be there all summer, Jan. All the computer stuff has to be collated and shown in every possible way – text, graphs, photographic images.’

  ‘Oh Lord …’

  ‘I can’t wait, actually. Just to make sense of all that endless testing.’ He released her hand, swigged the dregs of his coffee and squashed the cup flat. ‘The thing was – is – the Swedes are working along the same lines as we are. It so often happens that way and becomes a race for results. But this is an opportunity for collaboration and we have both been offered a joint prize to develop our work together. A man called Svensson is in charge of the Stockholm organization and, apparently, I am in charge of the Bristol one. The prize is called the Svensson-Briscoe Award.’ He laughed at her expression. ‘What it could mean, Jannie, is that there could be severe complications if I was no longer heading the British team. Like, no Briscoe, no cash!’ He shook his head. ‘As Con said, “You’ll have to go back. They’ve got you over a barrel.” And Victor said, “Give in gracefully.” So I decided to do that.’

  Jannie continued to stare incredulously at her brother for what seemed like ages. Then she said tritely, ‘This is the best thing since sliced bread. And if it leads to something wonderful … Oh, Ned.’

  He nodded. She could tell he was near tears himself. He said, ‘Sven and I have talked on the phone often. We get on well. When the BMA wanted this paper he was all for it. Reckoned it would be like an archive and help the two of us to make plans.’ He paused then said, ‘I’m really excited, Jan. Does it make any kind of sense for you?’

  ‘Of course. Especially the excitement. I feel like that about Robert’s electronic hand. And the end-of-term production of The Tempest.’

  ‘I’d better come with you and see the hand. It’s important stuff. I can phone Gus from the school. Don’t want to get too wrapped up in this award thing – tunnel vision and all that sort of thing.’

  ‘No.’ Jannie used what she supposed was her teacher’s voice. ‘Let’s say goodbye now. You go on down to Gus. Please. And I’ll drive back to Hartley with the groceries.’ She grinned. ‘When we did the funeral feast for Bessie, we got very emotional and Gussie said, “Cheer up, there’s always some washing-up somewhere to be done!” In this case, for washing-up read delivering groceries!’ She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. ‘So long as you’re all right to be at my wedding, I can live with the Svensson-Briscoe Award and just get on with delivering groceries!’

  He hugged her to him. ‘Jan, I love you. When you arrived we were a proper family. You linked us all. Do you realize that?’

  She held on to him as if she were drowning. ‘Thank you, Big Brud,’ was all she could manage.

  Jannie spoke to Gussie after she and Elizabeth had stored the following week’s supplies. Gussie had telephoned Aunt Rosemary, who had alleviated her fears about Ned’s delayed arrival; Jannie was able to add her own reassurances.

  ‘I can’t tell you his news, darling. That would be stealing his thunder. But it’s terrific in all ways. And he’s so much stronger. Spending the last few weeks with his father must have been the right thing to do.’

  ‘Few weeks? I suppose that’s all it was. I haven’t seen him since I left here in January – nearly four months.’

  Jannie frowned; Gussie was surely not sounding … dreary?

  ‘Well, I think you’ll recognize him. He still can’t control his hair. How did Mum used to describe it?’

  ‘A là flop.’

  Jannie thought she could have been smiling.

  ‘And I think he’ll need to catch up on all the local news. So you’d better start thinking up something exciting. Any more pink cauliflowers this year?’

  Gussie’s laugh came over the wires; Jannie grinned, pleased.

  Gussie said, ‘How is Robert?’

  Jannie took a deep breath. ‘I’m bringing him home for most of the summer holidays, Gus. We’re going to have a very quiet wedding. I want him to know us. I want you to be able to … accept him. I want him to be one of us.’

  Gussie said instantly, ‘It sounds great. But, darling, I hate to say this – you’re both so young and you’ve hardly—’

  Jannie finished for her, ‘ – got to know each other.’ She took a breath. ‘We know each other. As if we’d lived together all our lives.’ She took another breath. ‘Gussie, I’m going to say something and then put the phone down so that you don’t have to think of a reply. Robert has ME. He uses a wheelchair.’

  She replaced the receiver and left her hand on it, closing her eyes. At least she had given up on any so-called deals. Whatever secret Gussie may or may not be holding, it was still hers. She turned to leave her room and find Robert.

  The phone rang.

  ‘Darling? It’s me again.’ Gussie’s precious warmth and understanding filled Jannie’s head. ‘I do understand. Sorry to be an idiot. Would you like me to mention a wedding to Father Martin?’

  Jannie said, ‘Oh, Gussie. I love you. Listen to Ned. We’ll see you in six weeks’ time.’ She paused. ‘Dad would like him. I promise.’

  Gussie laughed. It sounded like music and Jannie held the receiver high so that it would fill her room.

  Gussie’s laughter sustained her for some time to come. Robert was cast down because, after all the electrodes from the hand had been carefully aligned with nerve endings in Derek’s right-arm stump, he had been unable to move it. That would not have worried him too much because he needed a neurosurgeon to work on that side of things. What had ‘rattled his cage’, as he put it to Jannie, was that Derek had broken down completely.

  ‘I had no conception – none at all, idiot that I am – that this meant so much to him. He has always been a willing helper. That is how I have seen him. Perhaps he had no idea himself how much it might mean to him. It was awful, Jan. Awful. Poor kid. And it’s my fault.’

  ‘Rubbish!’ What else could she say? ‘He’ll bounce back. Wait till supper tonight, he’ll be the one who will want to try again after the next adjustments.’

  But Derek did not appear for supper, and Elizabeth took him sandwiches and cocoa to his room and stayed for some time.

  It was the night the storms began. The rain and wind hit at the same time and within an hour there was news of flooding on the north coast of Cornwall. Jannie slept through it all and felt guilty when she found Robert glued to his television set as the breakfast news brought pictures of devastation up and down the coast. She telephoned Zion Cottage immediately and was thankful to hear that St Ives had escaped the worst of the storms.

  Even so, there was a constant roar from the other end of the phone and Ned shouted against it. ‘Gussie and I went to the Sloop before the weather arrived – just to
say hello to everyone and get some chips for supper. A Russian ship had made it into the bay and decanted half the crew on to West Pier. They couldn’t get back on board, of course, so the churches and chapels are full of them.’ He still sounded like the old Ned: buoyant, excited. He bellowed, ‘What about you? We can’t get a picture on the television and the radio is full of static.’

  ‘We’re all right. No damage. The garden furniture is all over the place. We’re sheltered here. The Georgians knew what they were doing when they built Hartley House.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Robert didn’t have good results from his test drive.’

  ‘Tell him about me. The years of sheer drudgery. And more to come. Tell him to bring all his paperwork when he comes to us. We’ll go through it together. I’m no engineer but another eye might make all the difference.’

  She could have wept. ‘Ned, I just love you,’ she said.

  She told Robert and was surprised at his lack of enthusiasm.

  ‘Darling, Ned is not a genius,’ she said. ‘He’s like you – he’s a worker. That’s why they are making this funding into a prize – to honour all of you who spend hours isolating problems, examining them, starting again. He’ll do that with you. It’s not competitive, Robert. He wants you to take him where you are going. If you are interested he will take you to where he hopes to go. I’ll ask him to let you read his thesis.’ She could feel herself being carried away.

  He said, ‘Take it easy, Jannie. Let’s get to know each other first. You are setting such store on us becoming instant colleagues. We’re working in completely different fields.’

  ‘Not really – not when it boils down to the essence. Research is research is research—’

  ‘Darling. Shut up.’ He pulled her down to his level and kissed her, and she looked into his green eyes and said, ‘That’s the first smile for twenty-four hours. Thank you, Robert.’