Lucy Lockhart: The Awakening

by Bryce THOMAS

  The sense of excitement flowing from their young hostess seemed electric; contagious even. It was quite apparent to Lucy that Loanne’s father had not been the only one looking forward to their arrival.

  Loanne turned slightly and stepped back from the door to let them pass.

  ‘Hi, I’m Lucy and this is my mum,’ Lucy said cheerily.

  ‘Mrs. Lockhart,’ her mother said softly, still taken by the latent beauty of the young hostess, but more so y the confidence of her daughter, who seemed totally unfazed by the whole experience. Going to new places; meeting new people. It seemed second nature to Lucy, but then, she did travel with the local football team, and that would have brought her into contact with people she didn’t know. But she had never noticed her daughter being so outward and friendly with people she hadn’t met before. Of all the football team, Lucy, despite being their star player, had always been the reclusive team member. But now, after her accident, even back at the hospital she had chatted to complete strangers, unfettered by any of the shyness she had normally displayed. Like her mother, Lucy had always had a tendency to be slightly introverted, that shyness only ever evaporating when she was actually out on the playing field.

  As Mrs. Lockhart marvelled at her daughter, Lucy gave her the “What?” look which made her smile lovingly, but was unseen by her daughter who was already turning towards her new friend. The two girls had just clicked as if they were old school pals. Loanne had taken Lucy by her hand and was leading her further into the hallway, chattering excitedly in a manner that vaguely reminded her mother of Nurse Lever back at the hospital; although it was unlikely that Loanne would talk just as much as that.

  The sound of footsteps along the deeply polished, dark oak boards were followed by the appearance of Doctor Murray, still sporting the same blue shadow on his face that Lucy had perceived at the hospital. But now, instead of wearing a white coat and beneath it a neat shirt and tie, he wore a baggy sweat shirt and jeans. Somehow it seemed reassuring. At home, the doctor seemed like any other ordinary man. No official identity badge or uniform of office, just a father who, quite plainly, doted on his little girl.

  ‘Daddy’s told me lots about you,’ Loanne boasted excitedly. ‘He thinks you are quite remarkable, you know.’

  Her father chuckled. ‘She couldn’t wait to meet you when I told her I’d invited you over.’ He let the girls go past him. ‘She’s been up since goodness knows what time,’ he added, shaking his head and smiling at his guests.

  Lucy’s mother smiled back. ‘And that goes for Lucy too!’ she said looking proudly at her daughter. ‘Though I never thought I’d hear myself saying it, she’s actually been looking forward to not just coming here, but to the journey and the countryside and everything. It’s as if, up till now, she’s been a little flower kept in the dark and then, suddenly, she’s been brought out into the sunshine. The change in her is breathtaking.’

  ‘I’m still here Mother,’ Lucy reprimanded. ‘If you’re going to talk all sloppy about me then wait until I’m not standing beside you, will you?’

  Both Doctor Murray and Mrs. Lockhart shrugged at each other and grinned. ‘Perhaps you’d like to take Lucy to see your ponies, Loanne,’ Doctor Murray suggested.

  Without another word, Loanne tugged at Lucy’s hand and together they ran down the hallway and around the corner, leaving her father and Lucy’s mother progressing slowly in the same direction and chatting like old friends.

  Mrs. Lockhart and Doctor Murray watched them as they disappeared. ‘The change in her is amazing!’ said Mrs. Lockhart. ‘She was never so gregarious. She never used to get on all that well with girls at all. In fact most of her friends are boys.’

  ‘It reminds me of the old joke about the patient who’d broken her hand.’ He smiled at her, waiting for the “Oh yes?” look, the normal response for someone proffering a joke. He wasn’t disappointed.

  ‘Go on then, tell me,’ Mrs. Lockhart said, her lips turning up at the edges into a soft smile as she tilted her head inquisitively.

  ‘You know, the one where she asked if she would be able to play the piano when the cast was taken off?’ he questioned in the unlikely event she hadn’t heard it before.

  ‘And?’ She obviously hadn’t heard it before, or at least she wasn’t going to deflate him by saying that she had. Looking at her smile, he wasn’t quite sure which. But he liked the smile. It made him hesitate ever so slightly before continuing.

  ‘Oh,’ he said, now rather surprised. ‘Well, her doctor said, “Of course you’ll be able to play the piano once your hand is healed,” and she said, “Well that’s great, Doctor. Fantastic! I’ve always wanted to be able to play the piano!”’

  Mrs. Lockhart chuckled. ‘So how do the children remind you of that?’ she asked, smiling quite relaxed now.

  ‘Well, it’s Lucy I was referring to really. You know. Couldn’t speak Chinese before the…’ He lifted his hands and did the two inverted commas sign with his fingers. ‘The “operation.” You know, we had to relieve the pressure on her brain. Not a particularly difficult procedure, and she never even knew about it, but what I’m saying is that, well…’

  ‘Will I be able to speak Chinese when I have recovered, sort of thing?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Well, Doctor Murray, it…’

  ‘John. Call me John, please. I’m not at work now.’ He gave her a smile that began to make her left leg, wobble.

  ‘I… Oh well, okay. If you insist.’

  ‘I do.’ He still looked at her, smiling in a way that wasn’t helping much.

  ‘Well, Doc… John, I was saying. What was I saying? Oh, yes. Hmm, I was saying…’ She straightened the non existent creases in her skirt. ‘That it has totally baffled me. In fact, referring to your joke, which was very funny by the way…’

  Doctor Murray grinned.

  She caught his smile. ‘Oh, and by the way, you had better call me Mary then.’

  ‘So your name’s Mary? That’s a nice name.’

  ‘No, it’s Daisybell, but call me Mary.’ She giggled. Doctor Murray gave her a questioning look.

  ‘No it’s Mary really. I don’t know what is happening, but you’ve got me acting all silly.’ She flushed slightly and straightened the creases in her skirt again.

  ‘Glad to hear it Mary.’ There went her leg again.

  She looked away, now rather pink. ‘What was I saying? I can’t remember now.’

  ‘Referring to my joke, perhaps?’

  ‘Oh yes, referring to your joke.’

  ‘Very funny joke.’

  She smacked him on the shoulder. By this time they were both giggling like children themselves. ‘Referring to your outrageous joke.’ She held up her finger to indicate that he should desist from interrupting any more. ‘Well, it wouldn’t surprise me one little bit if Lucy couldn’t play the piano now. I just really don’t know what to make of it.’

  ‘I take it that she didn’t play the piano before her accident?’

  She shook her head. ‘Well of course not!’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lucy and Loanne ran through a large country style kitchen, past a huge AGA that seemed to fill a whole wall, in front of a long oak refectory table and through another door that led through the rear vestibule to an open back door. Still holding Lucy’s hand, and without saying a word, she led her across a large concrete-floored yard to a stable block. Breathless with excitement, and now leaving go of Lucy’s hand, Loanne spoke as she struggled with a big bolt on an outer stable door. ‘This is Ebony and Romax,’ she announced proudly as the door opened outwards and revealed two ponies peering over the half-doors that fronted a pair of adjacent stables inside the building.

  Ebony, as her name suggested, was as black as coal with the faintest little white star in the centre of her forehead. Romax was a bay with a dished face, made more prominent by a long white blaze that ran from the top of his forehead and tapered to a point as it trickled lopsidedly onto his soft nose. He made a gen
tle noise to greet his owner as he nodded his head. Loanne went to him and stroked his nose lovingly. ‘They’re my most favourite friends in the world. I ride Ebony most of the time,’ she stated. ‘Romax is still young and is a little spirited. He’s part Arab. Daddy has a trainer come and school him a couple of times a week. I’ve only ridden him once.’

  Lucy gently stroked Romax’s neck and straightened a tousle in his mane. ‘He’s lovely,’ she said and gently squeezed his ear. They both remained silent for a moment and then, ‘Thanks for all this,’ she said, not sure what to say really.

  ‘Oh, I couldn’t believe it when Daddy said he’d invited you over. It’s so boring here on my own. Sometimes I think I talk more to Ebony and Romax than I talk to anyone.’ She giggled. ‘Good job they can keep a secret,’ she said with another of her broad grins. ‘I’m so glad you said you would come.’

  ‘Yes, so am I.’ Lucy paused while she stroked Romax gently on the nose. ‘Although I wasn’t sure what to expect. My mother didn’t help much in that respect either. Seemed to think we were visiting royalty or something.’

  ‘What you see is what you get,’ Loanne announced, holding out her arms demonstratively. She looked at Lucy enthusiastically. ‘You don’t happen ride by any chance do you?’

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  Loanne rolled her eyes and put one hand on Lucy’s shoulder. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry! I forgot! Daddy told me you had amnesia. But I was so excited…’

  ‘You haven’t forgotten half as much as me,’ Lucy stated and it triggered them both into a fit of laughter.

  ‘But from what my mother tells me, I’m what people call a townie.’

  ‘Do you want to give it a go? I have a spare riding hat.’

  ‘Why not? That is,’ she added with a shrug, ‘if your father won’t mind.’

  ‘Oh, he just lets me get on with it,’ she said as she went over to a door that led into the tack room. There were two hangers each with a saddle over them. Alongside were several hooks from which hung bridles and girth straps and various other things. And on a bench were stacked several saddle blankets or numnahs. She delved under the bench and brought out a cardboard box. Opening it she took out a new hat and handed it to Lucy as she spoke. ‘We’ll take it in turns on Ebony.’ Reaching for her own hat from a hook and putting it on, she took hold of a saddle and hooked it over one arm then scooped up a soft blanket with her other hand.

  ‘Can’t we try both?’ Lucy asked seriously. She, too, took hold of a saddle and hooked it on her forearm and then she picked up a saddle blanket and looked at Loanne.

  ‘Well, Daddy doesn’t like me riding Romax without the trainer here. He’s a bit young and bouncy.’

  ‘I don’t mind having a go on him,’ Lucy stated as she carefully considered the gear hanging on the wall. Without waiting for a response, she put on her hat, which fitted perfectly, scooped a bridle off one of the wall hooks, slung it over the saddle and headed straight back to the stalls.

  Loanne just watched. She was sure she would soon have to turn teacher. Saddling a horse is not all that easy if you haven’t done it before, and putting a bridle on a horse’s head the right way around is an acquired art. Silently she watched as Lucy placed the saddle and blanket over the door of the pen and unbolted it. Confidently, she went inside the stall and closed the door behind her. She stroked the horse’s withers and gently ran her hand along his back; then without so much as a glance towards Loanne, she threw the blanket over the horse’s withers, slung the saddle on top of it and bent beneath him and drew up the girth strap to the buckles at her side of the saddle. Once buckled, she waited until Romax breathed out and then tightened the girth strap another notch. Then, once again, without looking back at her friend, she took the bridle, gently placed the bit in Romax’s mouth, put the rest of the straps over his head and finally fastened the strap behind his chin. She glanced at Loanne, who stood silently watching and then she shrugged. ‘Must have had a rocking horse or something,’ she said seriously.

  While Lucy straightened Romax’s mane and generally fussed about him, Loanne busied herself saddling up Ebony. A few minutes later she stood beside her pony and said, ‘Right then.’ She shrugged, opened the stable door and led the way into the yard. Lucy and Romax followed. She stopped in the yard and checked the girth strap once again, waiting while Lucy did the same and then asked, ‘I presume you know how to get on him?’

  Lucy nodded, put her left foot in the stirrup and, holding onto the saddle with her left hand, pulled herself up onto Romax’s back, swinging her leg over and placing her right foot in the other stirrup. The pony fidgeted a moment but Lucy, as if used to the whole experience, steadied him with the reins and then gently turned his head, squeezed her legs and walked him around in a circle.

  ‘Golly, you have ridden a horse before!’

  Lucy shook her head ever so slightly, keeping her eyes ahead of the animal. ‘Not according to my mother,’ she said flatly. She walked Romax around the yard a few more times and then waited while Loanne mounted Ebony. Smiling at each other, they rode their horses towards the open gate and out into a large field.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  ‘So, where’s Loanne’s mother?’ Mrs. Lockhart asked. It was an inevitable question. There hadn’t been any visible signs of a woman about the house. As she leaned against the kitchen table her eyes had scanned for clues. There weren’t any. No aprons hung on the back of the door; no cups with His and Hers on; no women’s clothes, no shoes, no slippers; no woman.

  Doctor Murray was busy filling the kettle with water and lifting the AGA lid. He placed the kettle on the hot plate and turned to her. ‘She died,’ he said in a soft voice. There was obviously some emotion still very deeply embedded in his soul.

  ‘Oh, I’m so sorry!’ Mrs. Lockhart didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t really considered that the doctor was single. ‘I didn’t mean to pry. I thought… Well I don’t know what I thought really.’

  The doctor just smiled.

  ‘I have been rather caught up in thinking about Lucy,’

  she continued, suddenly realizing she was starting to prattle on a bit. But talking seemed good at this moment.

  He nodded and continued to smile.

  She pulled out a beech kitchen chair and sat down. Her leg couldn’t stand any more of this.

  ‘And me with Loanne.’ His face became serious. ‘I thought it would be good for her. Like Lucy, she hasn’t been well. Nothing Like Lucy’s illness of course. But she has spent quite a lot of time in hospital, getting treatment.’

  ‘Oh dear.’

  ‘She’s in full remission now thank goodness.’ His face brightened a little as he said it.

  ‘Oh well, that’s good news. I think you are probably right. Our girls could well be good for each other.’

  His smile returned. ‘I’m sure they will.’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Loanne pulled her horse up, facing a fence, and Lucy came along side. Loanne seemed to be concentrating hard on an old farmhouse that lay fifty or so yards beyond the next paddock. It was slightly below their level, in a dip behind some post and rail fencing. The top of a silver coloured car could be seen as it stood below the fence in a space beside the house. The curtain at a downstairs window fluttered but Lucy didn’t see anybody behind it.

  ‘Looking for your neighbour?’ Lucy asked, urging her horse forward to walk on another circuit of the paddock. Loanne moved her horse alongside.

  ‘In a way.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Well I’m not sure really. I often stop to see if I can see the man again.’ She steadied the horse as it fidgeted.

  ‘Again?’

  ‘A while ago I saw a strange man standing in the yard of the farm next door just watching me. I waved to him and he smiled and waved back, but a woman came out and shooed him back into the house as if he shouldn’t have ventured out and, as she looked back at me, she gave me a really dirty look.’

  ‘What sort of dirt
y look?’

  ‘Well it was a look as if I should mind my own business, but more than that, it was like she thought I was going to hurt him or something.’

  ‘Sounds peculiar to me.’

  ‘It was.’ Loanne shook her head. ‘I’ve never seen the man again outside, but I sometimes still catch sight of him watching me through the window, although now, he seems to try to conceal himself. He’s never waved or acknowledged me again.’

  ‘How long has this been going on?’ asked Lucy.

  ‘I saw him for the first time five weeks ago. I asked my father who they were and he seemed to think that they were holidaymakers. He says that he thinks the people that own the farmstead live in France or somewhere. He’s never met them.’

  ‘So who’s the woman? Is she a holidaymaker as well?’

  ‘Must be. Daddy says that the wife of the man who owns the farm is rather short and plump but the woman I’ve seen is tall and as thin as a garden cane.’

  ‘So you’ve seen her more than once then?’

  ‘At least a dozen times. She drives that silver Mondeo,’ Loanne said, pointing at the car in the yard. ‘I only see her normally when she is setting off. I am usually riding around the fields when she appears. I’ve waved a couple of times but she looks straight through me.’ She paused and thought for a moment. ‘I sometimes wonder if I were riding down the lane if she would drive straight into me. She’s creepy.’ With that, Loanne gave a little shiver and dug her heels into her horse’s sides to walk him on.

  ‘Seems like you watch that house quite a lot,’ Lucy said. She could see how little incidents could draw a bigger picture in Loanne’s mind, but there wasn’t much really to indicate why she had taken such an interest in the farmhouse next door.

  Loanne looked at Lucy and smiled awkwardly. ‘Oh, it’s nothing really. I suppose I’m so used to riding around here on my own, I just get bored.’ She smiled again, but this time with genuine affection. ‘You’re the first friend I’ve actually ridden with. I’ve spent so much time off school that I’ve not made many friends. Daddy’s been having me tutored privately, with having been in hospital and all.’