Lola's Secret

by Monica McInerney

  Lola?

  He turned to his daughter. ‘Rosie, is this your writing? Did you take this message?’

  She looked over his shoulder and put her hand to her mouth. ‘Papa, sorry. I meant to tell you. I’ve lost the plot this week. I don’t know what I’ve done or what I need to do. Honestly, next year I’m taking early holidays. It’s impossible to work and prepare for Christmas at the same time.’

  ‘I’m always like that at Christmas, whether I’m working or not,’ her sister-in-law said, starting to laugh. ‘Remember last year? I completely forgot to defrost the turkey and we had to get the hairdryers out —’

  ‘Rosie, the message?’

  ‘Papa, sorry. I got a call last week. This lady’s grandson rang looking for you. Apparently you used to know her years ago? What was it, Lily or Lola?’

  ‘Lola,’ he said. ‘It was Lola. She rang here, do you mean? Lola rang me?’

  ‘You remember her? Sorry. I said to the guy that I’d never heard you mention her.’ She quickly filled him in on her conversation with Luke – that Lola was in a nursing home, hoping to get in touch with people from her past or something like that. She winked at her sister-in-law. ‘An old girlfriend, Papa?’

  He didn’t answer, but kept looking down at the paper with the two phone numbers.

  She reached past him and poured the glass of water. ‘It’s not too late to ring, is it? You can wish her happy Christmas Use the phone in the hall if you like. At least you’ll be able to hear in there.’ She turned back to her sister-in-law and laughed. ‘God, I’d forgotten all about the hairdryers! Is that why we said we’d never do turkey again?’

  In the quiet of the hallway, Alex put on his glasses, picked up the phone and slowly and carefully dialled Lola’s number.

  On the road between Clare and Sevenhill, Lola’s handbag was lying in a clump of dried grass, under the wire fence. Nothing had been taken from it but her purse. The phone and camera were deemed too old, the rest of the contents dismissed as ‘old lady stuff’. The phone started to ring. Once. Twice. Three times. There was no one nearby to hear it or answer it.

  In Clare, Luke and his mother had finished their Christmas dinner, done the washing-up and were now in their airconditioned living room about to watch a movie. They’d been sitting outside on the verandah, but it had got too hot, the gusting wind only adding to the discomfort. Later, once it cooled down a bit, Luke planned to go and visit friends across town. They not only had a great selection of PlayStation games but a swimming pool in their backyard.

  He’d just pressed play on the remote control when his phone rang. ‘Sorry, Mum. Won’t be a sec.’ He answered it. ‘Luke speaking.’

  A hesitant voice spoke. ‘Hello. I hope you can help me. I’m trying to reach Lola Quinlan. My name is Alex Lombardi —’

  ‘Alex? Hello, Alex! This is Luke. God, Lola will be so glad you’ve rung —’

  ‘Is she all right? You told my daughter she’s in a nursing home?’

  Luke gave a sheepish laugh. ‘Actually she’s not, no. Sorry. She’s absolutely fine. Fit as a fiddle still. Amazing, actually. She’s up at the motel today, but I can give you her mobile number if you want to try that first?’

  ‘The motel?’

  ‘The Valley View, here in Clare.’

  ‘I’m sorry, where are you both?’

  ‘The Clare Valley. South Australia. Vines and hills and a lot of heat today. Happy Christmas, by the way.’

  ‘Happy Christmas to you too. I rang her mobile but there was no answer, just voicemail. I rang it three times and still no answer.’

  Luke frowned. ‘That’s not like her. Maybe she’s mislaid it. Alex, I know she really wants to talk to you. Can I try and track her down for you?’ They agreed a plan – Luke would call Lola at the motel and pass on Alex’s number to her again. ‘She’ll call you as soon as she can, I’m sure.’

  ‘What on earth’s going on?’ Patricia asked after he’d hung up. ‘Who was that? What are you and Lola up to now?’

  ‘I can’t answer that, Mum, sorry,’ Luke said. ‘It’s classified Lola information.’ He rang Lola’s mobile himself first. It just rang out, eventually going to voicemail. He left a brief message. He rang the Valley View Motel number next. No answer there, either, just Jim’s recorded message that the motel was closed for renovations and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas.

  ‘That’s weird,’ Luke said. ‘I wonder where she is.’

  ‘She could be fast asleep. Or out hill-walking. You know Lola. She said she wanted to be left alone today to do exactly what she wanted when she felt like it.’

  ‘But she’d want to know he rang. I know she would.’

  ‘Who is he?’ Patricia asked again.

  ‘I’m sorry, but I really can’t say. It’s Lola’s story, not mine. Mum, do you mind if I drive up to the motel, just to see if she’s okay and give her the message?’

  ‘Of course not.’ She stood up. ‘If you don’t mind if I come with you. I’ve never liked the idea of her being on her own on Christmas Day.’

  On the way they tried to remember which room she was staying in at the moment. Either eleven or twelve, they thought. They knocked on both. No answer. They peered through the windows as best they could. Nothing. They knocked on all the other rooms too. No answer there, either. They looked in through the dining room window, the kitchen window, into Jim and Geraldine’s manager’s house windows. Nothing and no one.

  ‘What if—?’ Luke started to say what they were both thinking. What if something had happened to her? What if she was lying unconscious in her room? What if that was why she wasn’t answering their calls or door knocks?

  ‘We can’t jump to conclusions. I spoke to her this morning. She was in fine form. Where else could she be?’

  Luke rang Emily’s house. Patricia rang Margaret, Kay and Joan. No, none of them had spoken to Lola since their happy Christmas calls that morning.

  ‘She must be in her room. Having a nap or a bath,’ Margaret said. ‘Where else could she be?’

  ‘Could you ring the taxi company? Check if she got a lift anywhere?’ Kay suggested. ‘Maybe she went to visit Anna.’ They all knew that Lola made regular visits to Anna’s grave in the Sevenhill cemetery.

  Luke rang the taxi company. No, they hadn’t collected Lola that day.

  He and his mother were still at the motel, trying to work out how to break into Lola’s room when two other cars arrived. Margaret, Joan and Kay were in one. Emily was in the other.

  ‘You didn’t have to come,’ Patricia said as they walked towards her. ‘I’m sure she’s fine.’

  ‘Of course she is,’ Margaret said, trying to look cheerful. ‘I just wanted to wish her happy Christmas again.’

  It was Emily who noticed that Jim’s car was missing.

  ‘He and Geraldine are on a driving holiday,’ Kay said.

  ‘But they’ve taken Geraldine’s car,’ Emily said. ‘I waved to them both the day before yesterday. Can Lola still drive?’

  ‘When it suits her,’ Margaret said. ‘But where would she have gone?’

  They decided to split up. Kay, Patricia and Margaret would go to the Sevenhill cemetery to see if Lola was visiting Anna’s grave. Luke and Emily would try the charity shop. It was the only other place they could all think of. Margaret gave him her keys. ‘Ring us if she’s there.’

  Luke drove in his old Corolla.

  ‘She’ll be all right, won’t she?’ Emily said.

  ‘Of course. Mum’s probably right, we’re all overreacting.’

  There was silence for a minute and then Emily spoke again. ‘Lola’s great, isn’t she?’

  ‘Brilliant,’ Luke said. ‘She’s the coolest old lady I’ve ever met.’

  ‘Me too,’ Emily said.

  ‘I’m not sure about her clothes, though,’ Luke said.

  ‘I love her clothes!’ Emily said, turning towards him, outraged. ‘Lola without her clothes would be, well, not just without clothes, but not Lola, if you
know what I mean.’ She was now bright red.

  Luke laughed. ‘I’m teasing you. Her clothes are really cool. She’s a whizz on the computer too. Much better than any of the other ladies.’

  ‘She could beat some of the winemakers hands down as well, with her palate,’ Emily said. ‘She’s my number-one tester for any of my new drinks.’

  ‘I love those drinks you do. I’ve got a great palate too,’ Luke said. ‘Can I be your number-two tester?’

  ‘Sure,’ Emily said. If it was possible to turn an even brighter red, she managed it.

  Luke parked right in front of the charity shop. Their car was the only one on the street. ‘She mustn’t be here,’ he said. ‘I guess she’s at the cemetery after all.’

  Emily had gone around the corner to look up the side street. The car was there. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? That green one?’

  It was, Luke agreed. ‘She’ll have her feet up in the back room, watching old musicals on YouTube, you wait and see,’ he said, as they approached the charity shop. He tried the door. It was locked.

  They both knocked. ‘Lola?’ Emily called. ‘Are you in there?’

  They tried to peer in, but all the thankyou notices made it impossible to see more than a few shadowy outlines.

  Luke knocked again. ‘Lola? Are you there?’

  ‘Didn’t Margaret give you her keys?’

  It was Luke’s turn to go red. He opened the door and let Emily go in first. She fanned her face. ‘It’s like a sauna in here.’

  ‘It’s like a sauna everywhere,’ Luke said. ‘Lola?’

  No answer.

  ‘Don’t say we’ve just missed her,’ Emily said. ‘Could she have gone out the back door?’

  They reached the curtain separating the shop from the computer area. Luke pulled it back. Lola wasn’t there. Nothing was there, except a bare table and one chair.

  ‘Bloody hell,’ he said. ‘Where’s the computer gone?’

  Emily stopped short behind him, just as shocked. ‘No one took it home for Christmas? For safekeeping?’

  Luke shook his head. ‘We’ve always left it here. Every weekend. It was as safe here as anywhere else, we always thought. Right on the main street.’

  ‘Maybe Lola’s borrowed it?’ Emily said. ‘That could be why she’s here?’

  ‘She wouldn’t know how to unplug it all. And where is she?’ He called her name again, going out into the shop, looking behind the racks, the counter, in the changing room. ‘Nothing else is taken. Just the computer stuff.’ He called her name again. No answer.

  Emily was checking under the table, as if she would find all the equipment there. ‘Who would steal from a charity shop? At Christmas?’

  Luke came back out into the shop, his phone to his ear. ‘Mum, we’re at the shop. Lola’s not here and nor is the computer, the printer, none of it … Stolen. I’ll call the police in a sec, yep. No, the front door was locked, nothing forced. The back door’s locked again too.’ He tried to open it. It was shut fast. ‘I’ll check the gate. They must have got in that way.’

  He asked Emily to hold the phone while he fumbled with the bunch of keys Margaret had given him. After three false tries, he found one that fitted into the back door lock. It turned but the door didn’t open. ‘Something’s wrong with it,’ he said.

  ‘Something’s wrong with the back door,’ Emily reported to Patricia. ‘Hold on. Luke’s going to give it a kick.’

  It took him three heavy kicks to loosen it. On the fourth kick, there was a crashing sound as the door flung open, smashing against the wall outside. The heat streamed in. Emily dropped the phone as she and Luke saw the same thing at once.

  Lola huddled in a corner of the yard, her face and body covered by a silver scarf.

  As they rushed to her side, she lifted it up and gave them a weak smile.

  ‘Luke and Emily. I’m so glad to see you both.’

  Between them, they helped Lola to Luke’s car. She insisted she was fine, just hot and thirsty. The scarf had saved her, she kept saying. But she could barely stand, they could both see that. She was talking too quickly, not making complete sense, telling them about Ellen and photographs and two men and the computer being taken, how sorry she was, how she could have tried to stop them, but there were two of them, so she’d hidden, and her bag was gone, her phone – they took her camera too, she thought … She suddenly broke off and gazed at them both. ‘How did you know I was here? How did you find me?’

  ‘It was Luke,’ Emily said. ‘He rang everyone.’

  ‘But why? How?’

  ‘Later, Lola,’ Luke said, with a glance at Emily. ‘I’ll explain it all later.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Lola,’ Emily said. ‘We’re here now. We’ll take care of you.’

  ‘Emily’s right, Lola,’ Luke said. ‘You’re safe now.’ His voice was calm, but his expression was as concerned as Emily’s. ‘Heatstroke?’ he mouthed to her.

  ‘I think so,’ Emily mouthed back.

  Despite Lola’s protests, Luke told her gently and firmly that they were taking her to the hospital.

  Emily knew the sister in charge of the emergency room. While Luke helped Lola with her admission details, Emily filled her in on what had happened.

  ‘Nearly three hours out in that heat? At eighty-four? She’s lucky she’s alive.’

  ‘She’ll be fine, won’t she?’

  They glanced over, in time to see Luke and the admissions clerk laugh at something Lola said. She’d rallied since they’d brought her into the cool of the hospital. ‘It’s some kind of miracle, but yes, I think she will be. How on earth did you know she was there?’

  Emily told her all she knew. ‘Luke got a call. An old friend of Lola’s was looking for her. When she didn’t answer her phone we all went searching.’

  ‘She’s a lucky lady. That old friend might have saved her life.’

  The reception area in the hospital was soon crowded with Lola’s friends. They divided the phone calls between them. Margaret rang Bett, Kay rang Jim, Patricia rang Carrie.

  Margaret went into Lola’s room to share the news. All of her family were on their way back home.

  Lola wasn’t happy. ‘No. I’m fine. I’m fine. Please, tell them to stay where they are. They need a holiday.’

  ‘I said that’s what you’d say. But they insisted.’

  ‘And I insist even more insistently that they don’t come back. Please, Margaret, call them again.’

  ‘You’re not supposed to use mobile phones in a hospital.’

  Lola gave her a glare. Margaret passed over her phone.

  Lola spoke to Jim first.

  He was adamant. ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Lola. We’re on our way back already.’

  ‘No. Jim, please, don’t. I’m better off here than I was even in the motel. People everywhere, even if some of them are dressed as nurses and doctors. I’m fine. I really am fine.’

  ‘We’re only two hours away. We’ll see for ourselves and then if we really think you’re fine, we’ll go away again.’

  ‘But you won’t. You’ll get in a fuss. And Geraldine will be cross.’

  ‘Geraldine won’t be cross. We’ll see you tonight.’

  Bett had already started packing up the car. ‘Oh, sure, Lola. As if we can carry on with our holiday and forget you’re in hospital.’

  ‘I’ll be out of here within an hour. Your parents are already on their way. If you come back too, I won’t talk to you. I mean it, Bett. I’m fine. Nothing bad happened.’

  ‘It could have.’

  ‘It didn’t. Darling, please, be practical about it. I’m surrounded by friends. If anything does happen to me over the next few days, which it won’t, I’m in the best possible company. Everywhere I look there is someone staring back at me as if they’re willing me to drop dead.’

  Around her bed, Margaret, Kay, Joan and Patricia all looked at their feet.

  Lola winked at them and kept talking. ‘You’d only have to join a queue to come a
nd gaze at me in a worried way, Bett. I’m fine, darling. F. I. N. E. Old, but fine. See you in three days’ time, as we arranged, okay?’

  Carrie was more matter-of-fact. ‘Lola, Dad says you sound pretty good, all things considered, and he and Mum are on their way back already. Do you want us there as well?’

  ‘No, darling. I really don‘t.’

  ‘Thank God for that. That car trip here was a nightmare. I’d hate to turn around and do it again already.’

  ‘That’s my girl,’ Lola said. ‘See you next week.’

  After a series of tests and examinations, Lola was pronounced well enough to go home that night, once the doctor gave her a final check. He was due to call to her room before six p.m. There was a discussion that almost turned into an argument about where she should go after that – to Margaret’s, Kay’s, Joan’s or Patricia’s. Lola put a stop to it herself.

  ‘I’m going to my home. The motel. You can all please visit me tomorrow but I will be very happy in my own room tonight. Jim and Geraldine will be there too, remember.’

  ‘But won’t you be scared in your room on your own?’ Kay asked. ‘After what happened?’

  Lola was refusing to dwell on what had happened, or what might have happened. She was fine. She was safe. She was well. She was also already too conscious of spoiling all her friends’ Christmas Day celebrations. ‘It takes more than that to scare me. Please, all of you, off you go home. My friends Luke and Emily will take me home, won’t you, dears?’ Two nods. ‘Tomorrow I’d adore some company, so I insist you all come and have a game of cards or bridge or a large glass of gin with me. Tonight, however, I will go back to my own room, lock my door, hop into bed and sleep, perchance to dream. That’s a quote from Hamlet, by the way. I’m demonstrating my mental agility with the spontaneous quoting of Shakespeare.’

  She finally convinced her friends to leave. Only Luke and Emily remained in her room. Was this the moment she’d been waiting for? she wondered. She’d already noticed the two of them talking and laughing with each other that afternoon. Every cloud – in this case, their rescue mission – had a silver lining indeed. Perhaps, just perhaps, she didn’t need to say anything more. Perhaps, if it was meant to be between them, it would unfold in its own good time.