‘She must have taken it when we visited.’ Those visits were few and far between. Jean always refused to stay the night at Ruth’s house because she thought the stairs were unsafe.
‘It was taken before I moved here. On the back it said, “Dawn 1963”.’
There’s a silence. Then Arthur says, ‘1963. That’s before you were born.’
‘Yes.’
‘You were born in 1968. Simon in 1966.’
‘I know, Dad.’
‘Then why would Jean have a picture taken in 1963?’
‘I don’t know. That’s why I was asking you.’
‘Well, I don’t know.’ Arthur sounds confused and rather upset.
Ruth decides to change the subject: ‘I went to a school reunion while I was in Eltham. Alison invited me. You remember Ali?’
‘Of course I do.’ Arthur sounds relieved to be on firmer ground. ‘Funny little thing. But she had a good heart. I’ll always remember her coming to Mum’s funeral.’
‘Me too. Well, Alison told me that there was an Eltham Park reunion at the Black Lion in Blackheath.’
‘Nice pub.’
‘Yes. Daniel Breakspeare was there. Do you remember him?’
‘Yes. Your mum always liked Daniel.’
‘She did. Dad, did you ever think of sending me to another school?’
Another pause. ‘Why would we have done that? Simon went to Eltham Park. Everyone went there.’
‘I don’t know. I suppose I was just thinking about secondary schools because of Kate.’
They talk about Kate for a comfortable few minutes, then say goodnight. Ruth suddenly feels the need for a drink. She goes to the kitchen and pours herself a glass of red before sitting down at her laptop.
There are three new emails. The first is something of a surprise.
To:Ruth Galloway
From:Daniel Breakspeare
It was great to see you on Saturday. Maybe it’s old age (!) but I’ve been thinking a lot about school. And about you. Do you ever come to London? It would be good to have lunch one day. And you can tell me more about the mysterious box.
All best
Dxx
Ruth looks at this missive for some time, sipping her wine. Why does Daniel want to see her? Is he just feeling nostalgic? Is it a symptom of age, with or without the jaunty exclamation mark? Is it surprising that he has remembered Ruth’s half-finished tale of the box marked ‘private’? And which should she believe: the more formal ‘all best’ or the D followed by two kisses?
The second email is from Alison.
It was good on Saturday, wasn’t it? So strange to see everyone again. Some people I wouldn’t have recognised but Kelly was unchanged! Daniel seemed very pleased to see you. Asked for your email address afterwards. What would your mum have said??
Hope to see you soon. Maybe next time we could get together with Fatty? Have a Three Amigas reunion??
Lots of love
