‘But there are things I need to deal with,’ Lyn said. ‘There’s a pile of stuff here that was his brother’s; I want rid of it. It’s a part of my life I need to get over.’
‘I’ll see what I can arrange,’ Malcolm said.
A week later a firm of contractors sent two men round and Lyn supervised as they packed all of Gavin’s possessions into two crates. Doug’s rucksack had already gone to the hospital and the crates would be stored till he knew what he wanted to do with them. A part of her life was now over and she was glad. Three days later she heard that Doug had been discharged from hospital, had thanked Malcolm and had disappeared.
Now a letter from Borneo. When Ross and she had ten minutes together, she opened it. It came from the bush hospital where Doug had first been treated.
Dear Lyn,
I feel up to writing to you now. After I left hospital I came here, to the hospital where I was treated when I fell. Dr Frank Connor, the Australian doctor who helped me, desperately needed more staff. And I’m it.
I’m enjoying the work, and I hope I’m giving a little bit back. I’ve given up climbing and the wild life; now I get my kicks out of medicine.
I hope you can forgive the way I behaved; it wasn’t me. Malcolm Saville says I wasn’t responsible for what I did, so I shouldn’t feel guilty. But I still do. Perhaps in time the feeling will pass.
In two years I’ll be back in London to take a short course in Tropical Medicine. If we could meet for a quick drink then, I’d be so pleased.
With all good wishes, Doug.
‘It’s a good letter,’ Ross said. ‘I like the man for it. Are you going to write back to him?’
‘We both will,’ she said, ’and all three of us will have that drink in two years.’
Time flew; there was so much to do. After a day touring the shops with Merry she decided on a wedding dress—in fact, the second she had looked at. She met Ross’s brother Peter who was going to be the best man, and asked if his two little daughters would be bridesmaids. The marquee was ordered, caterers booked, local hotels asked to keep rooms for guests who would stay overnight. And all the time she and Ross were working.
March was an evil month. One day even her father panicked and rang her. ‘We’ve just had five inches of snow,’ he said. ‘We’ll never get a great tent up in this.’
It seemed as if winter would never end. But then it did, and April bloomed—a glorious month.
Her wedding day: bright, clear, and unusually warm. She lifted up her dress, walked down the garden, and was helped into an open carriage borrowed from a local farmer. The farmer sat happily, in top hat and frock coat, behind two glossy black mares. The church bells were ringing, and old friends and acquaintances waved as they trotted through the village.
She stepped down outside the grey stone church. Her bridesmaids, helped by their mother Angela, fell in behind her, and she walked towards the church door to meet the smiling rector.
The doors opened to a great fanfare from the organ.
She entered the church, and looked up the aisle. There, in front of the altar, was Ross, waiting for her...
Other Titles by Gill Sanderson
For more information about Gill Sanderson
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Published by Accent Press Ltd – 2015
ISBN 9781783753741
Copyright © Gill Sanderson 2015
The right of Gill Sanderson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers: Accent Press, Ty Cynon House, Navigation Park, Aberycnon,, CF45 4SN
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