A Book In A Month - Chapter 28

“Hey Jane, what was the name of Simons girlfriend here?” Asked Keith as they sat in the hotel lobby reading the daily papers and drinking tea.

Jane looked up dreamily and fanned herself with the sports section of her paper, “Hm. Sorry, I was miles away.” A s the dusty, bone dry breeze, wafted in a strong odour of heat and decay through the heavy lobby doors. “What were you saying Keith?”

“Simons girlfriend, what was her name?” He repeated.

Jane leant down and rummaged through her copious hand bag that rested at her feet, eventually she pulled out her notebook. “Let me see,” she said as calmly as she could muster, not daring to look towards Clara who was sitting in the roomy leather sofa next to her. Jane flicked back through her notes, knowing the name perfectly well, but playing for time.. “Erm, Mary. Mary Simpson.” She said.

Simon retorted with an “Hmm, I thought so. Just needed to check before I put my big foot tin it.” He said.

“Go on,” Jane prompted, she knew what was coming, and she suspected Clara did too.

“This last week has been a real eye opener for me. I can't get my head around having 6 siblings. Dead siblings. And they were never mentioned. I'm sure dad had no idea about mums past. Perhaps it's a good thing he died before her. She must have been scared all the time that someone would find out.” Keith said.

“It's hard to bear guilt. I can't imagine how she was able to. Your mum must have been a strong woman.” Jane said reassuringly, in her best psychoanalysts tone.

“What had she to feel guilty about. She did no wrong. Honestly Jane, you do come out with some rot at times.” Keith blurted out.

“She survived and they didn't. People in those circumstances often experience guilt. It's a very common reaction. I didn't mean to upset you Keith.” Janes tone was even and soothing.

“No. It's me. I can't get my head around all this. One minute I had a loving mum who lived in England, married an English man and they had four kids. The next moment my mum's leading a second life. A lie. She's gone through all that trauma and carried on as if nothing ever happened.” He fell silent.

“Many people go through life quite normally, despite having come through horrendous circumstances. We are amazing creatures, we can heal ourselves, or we hide the pain from ourselves and our friends and family. Either way, for these people, life goes on.” Jane stopped and left the words hanging, ready for Keith to step into the void created.

“It's not just that. It's all this other stuff. There have been coincidences piling up on top of coincidences. My grand mother for one. Her name was Mary. Simons partner here in Dhaka went by the name of Mary Simpson. That was a bit of a surprise and it ran on from us,” He looked at Jane and Clara, “discovering that your grand dad spent quite a lot of time here in Dhaka.”

Clara put her newspaper down onto her knees and looked cooly at Keith. “Go on.” She said.

Keith cleared his throat, “I'm only running this past you. I'm in such a muddle at the moment I don't know what to make of anything any more, but I do know there's more to this than coincidence,” He looked at the other two once again and they nodded their approval for him to continue. “We all know that my grandma Mary gave birth to my mum Natasha who found her way to the UK and wound up living very close to you Clara. I know it could be a big coincidence, but to me it's a bit odd.”

“You think that's odd.” Jane cut in, “I got involved in this family history malarkey because Clara was trying to find out about someone called Natasha. She thought she might be something to do with her family. We couldn't find any trace of a Natasha though, could we?”

Clara was frowning, “There was nothing to link Natasha to us, and boy did we try. We gave up on that one.”

“I'm confused, why were you searching for a Natasha in your family history?” Keith asked.

“Because dad and I found something belonging to her in a box in his flat. He didn't recognise the name, so I said I'd look into her.” Clara shrugged, “He thought I was wasting my time and guess he was right.”

“OK then, that was a red herring, but, if you ask me,” Keith addressed his questioning to Clara, “Your dad lied to you about your grand mothers date of death for a reason. Why would your mum and dad go all the way to India to give birth?”

“Who knows? All I know is you're right, there is stuff that doesn't add up and there are coincidences. Trouble is, it doesn't amount to a hill-o-beans.” Was all Clara had to say on the matter. She picked up her tea and took a draught.

“Then there's the Delhi Dhaka connection with both families.” Keith trailed off.

Jane stopped fanning herself for a moment, sat up from her slumped position and said, “I'll tell you what, we've got another day or two here, why don't we double check dates?”

“Dates?” Clara asked.

“Yes dates.” Jane was excited about her inspiration. “Keith, you're fizzing with ideas and Clara, you think there's nothing in it. You think it's all a coincidence. But, what if it isn't. What if Keith's right and there is a link of some kind between the two families? We could compare some of your families dates, Clara, against some of Mary and Natashas.”

Clara looked uncertain, We could, but it would be a lot of work, wouldn't it?”

“We should cherry pick dates that interest us. The key dates in each families lives. Like the dates of birth of Mary and Natasha. The date that Natasha left Dhaka.” She looked at the others for a sign of approval.

Keith nodded slowly, “I was going to say, what harm could it do?” He smiled ruefully.

“Why not. If we don't turn these stones we will always wonder about all this.” Clara chipped in.

*

Dylis has made up her mind, she and John were going to India and not in the dim and distant future. For them, it was to be a journey to meet up with Clara and her friends. No matter how many times John said that he was not keen to go, Dylis steam rollered him towards her goal of agreeing to go.

The chance to see some of the famous sights that India had to offer was exciting to Dylis. To John, they were old hat. He was too old for long haul flight, all those changes and that sitting in a cramped aeroplane seat. The thought filled him with dread. Then there was the insurance, he would never get cover at his age. He would need to be vaccinated and get a visa; so would she. There would be too much to do and too little time. He was old and did not have the energy that Dylis displayed. It was all right for Dylis, she was a spring chicken when compared to him.

None of the misgivings outlined by John deterred Dylis. They could organise the insurances on line, as part of his course. The same for booking the flights. It would be easy. The main thing, she said, was to get the visas and vaccinations organised with out delay. She set about researching her fastest options on the latter two tasks online.

John was still very dubious about the idea, but was unable to convince Dylis that he really did not want to go.

Dylis was a woman who never took no for an answer and this was not an exception.