Читать книгу: «A Cure for All Diseases»

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

Volume the First

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Volume the Second

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Volume the Third

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Volume the Fourth

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Volume the Fifth

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Volume the Sixth

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

About the Author

By the Same Author

About the Publisher

Volume the First

Every Neighbourhood should have a great Lady.

1

Hi Cass!

How’s things in darkest Africa? Wierd & wonderful – I bet – but not so w&w as what weve got here at Willingden Farm. Go on – guess! OK – give up?

House-guests!

& I dont mean awful Uncle Ernie on one of his famous surprise visits. These are strangers!

What happened – at last after our awful wet summer Augusts turned hot – not African hot but pretty steamy by Yorkshire standards. Dad & George were working up in Mill Meadow. Mum asked if Id take them a jug of lemon barley – said it would please dad if I showed willing. Weve been in armed truce since I made it clear my plans hadnt changed – ie do a postgrad thesis instead of getting a paid job – or better still – a wellpaid husband – & settling down! But no reason not to show willing – plus it gave me an excuse to drive the quad – so off I went.

Forgot the mugs – but dad didnt say anything – just drank straight out of the jug like he preferred it – so maybe mum was right & he was pleased. In fact we were having a pleasant chat when suddenly old Fang let out a growl. Lost half his teeth & cant keep up with the sheep any more – but still manages a grand growl. Dad looked round to see what had woken him – & his face went into Headbanger configuration.

– whats yon daft bugger playing at? – he demanded.

Youll recall that in dads demography anyone living outside Willingden parish is a daft bugger till proved innocent. In this case I half agreed with him.

The DB in question was driving his car fast up the lane alongside Mill Meadow. How he got through the gate I dont know. The HB had to take his chain & lock off after the Ramblers took him to court last year – but hes fixed a catch like one of them old metal puzzles we used to play with as kids. Maybe the DB just got lucky – he thought!

He was driving one of these new hybrid 4×4s – you know – conscience without inconvenience! – & when he saw how good the surface was – (tractor tyres dont grow on trees! – remember?) – he mustve thought – great! – now for a bit of safe off-roading.

What he didnt reckon on was what George calls dads tank trap – the drainage ditch where the lane bends beyond the top gate & steepens up to the mill ruin.

New tourist map came out last year – with water mill marked – no mention of ruin. Result – a lot of DBs decided this meant Heritage Centre – guided tours & cream teas! After losing out to the Ramblers – dad was forced to accept ‘bearded wierdies’ trekking across his empire – but the sight of cars crawling up his lane drove him crazy. So one day he got to work with the digger – & when hed finished – the drainage ditch extended across the lane – a muddy hollow a hippo could wallow in – the tank trap!

Most drivers flee at the sight of it – but this DB obviously thought his hybrid could ford rivers & climb Alps – & just kept going.

Bad decision.

For 30 secs the wheels sent out glutinous brown jets – like a cow with colic – then the car slipped slowly sideways – finishing at 45 degrees – driver side down.

– now hell expect us to pull him out – said the HB with some satisfaction.

Moment later the passenger door was flung back. First thing out was a floppy brimmed sun hat – sort posh lady gardeners wear in the old Miss Marple movies. Beneath it was a woman who started to drag herself out – followed by a scream from below – suggesting shed stood on some bit of the driver not meant to be stood on.

She looked around in search of help – & there we were – me – dad – George – & Fang – staring back at her from 50 yds.

– help! – she called – please – can you help me? –

George & me looked at the HB – G because he knows his place – me because I was curious what hed do.

If it had been a man I doubt hed have moved – not without serious negotiation. But this was a woman doing what women ought to do – calling for male assistance.

– reckon wed best take a look – he said – we meaning him & George – of course.

He drained the lemon barley – thrust the jug into my hands like I was a docile milkmaid – & set off towards the accident – G close behind – even old Fang got to go.

I dropped the jug on to the grass. Sods Law – hit a stone & cracked. – O shit! – I said. It was that old earthenware one thats been around forever. I knew the HB would reckon bringing out the lemon barley in anything else would be like serving communion wine from a jam jar. O well – from now on hell have to make do with a plastic bottle!

I set off after them. This was the first mildly interesting thing to happen since I came home – & I wasnt going to miss it.

Woman was thin & wispy – bonnet askew – big straw shoulder bag round her neck like a horses feed sack. She looked so worried I thought the driver must be seriously injured – but now I know its just a couple of notches up from her normal expression of unfocused anxiety. Another thing I noticed – words sprayed on the car door – pro job – elegant cursive script –

Sandytown – Home of the Healthy Holiday.

She was saying – please can you get my husband out? I think hes hurt himself –

– no – Im fine – came a mans voice – really – just a sprain – nothing in the world to worry about dear – aargh! –

As he spoke his head had appeared at his wifes waist level. Gingery hair – soft brown eyes in a narrow mobile face – not bad looking even with a bloodied nose & a footprint across his left cheek – mid to late 30s. He was trying a social smile – till presumably he put more weight on his ankle than it could take.

George jumped up on the side of the vehicle – hooked his hands under the womans armpits – & swung her clear of the muddy sump into dads arms. At 18 – G makes Arnie Schwarzenegger look like a hobbit! On our skiing trip last December – (yeah that one – when I hooked up with lousy Liam) – I could have rented G out to my mates by the hour. In fact – if you count free rounds of gluhwein as rental – thats exactly what I did!

The injured man came next & the HB passed the woman on to me – looking relieved to be rid of her. Thought of making some crack about him preferring men – he still thinks gays should be treated surgically – but decided not time or place.

– youre so kind – many thanks – Ill be fine in a minute – Mary my dear are you all right? – burbled the man.

She said – Oh yes. But your nose dear – its bleeding –

– its nothing – must have banged the wheel when we stopped – he said – rubbing at a mark across his bridge.

Looked very like a footprint to me. I gave him a plus for diplomacy. Made a change from dads Old Testament determination to track all bad shit back to females.

The DB now decided to introduce himself. Unfortunately this involved twisting out of the HBs grip to offer his hand with the inevitable result to his ankle.

– Tom Parker – he said – my wife Mary – aargh! – Another plus – in dads eyes anyway. Had to be English – first thing they taught us in psych school was only the English risk pain for the sake of politeness.

– let me have a look – I said – set him down there dad –

Dad obeyed. Must be a first!

– my daughters had St John Ambulance training – he said proudly. Touched me for a moment to hear him bragging about me – then he spoilt it by dragging you into it!

– when she wanted to go to college – he went on – I told her she ought to sign up for training as a nurse like her sister Cassie – but of course it was like banging my head against a brick wall –

1st time the famous phrase had cropped up in a week. Found Id been missing it!

I said – ignore my father. When he dies were going to build him a headstone out of cracked bricks. Now lets get that shoe off while we can –

The DB winced as I removed his shoe & sock – then regarded his enlarged ankle with a kind of complacent pride. I was about to offer my not very expert opinion when he forestalled me – addressing his wife – something like this.

– look Mary – some typical subcutaneous swelling – the beginnings of what will doubtless be an extensive ecchymosis – tarsal movement restricted but still possible with moderate to acute pain – a strain I would say – certainly no worse than a sprain. Thank heaven I have always mended quickly. What a laugh they will have at home when they ask how I hurt myself – & we tell them I did it looking for a healer! –

This odd bit of self-diagnosis – with its odder conclusion – confirmed dads suspicion he was dealing with a particularly daft DB – & he burst out – what the hell were you playing at? This is a country lane not a public race track! –

Parker replied – youre right of course. But I didnt anticipate even someone as unworldly as a healer would let his driveway fall into such bad repair –

– its worse than bad – its dangerous! – chimed in his wife – The man should be taken to court for letting it get into that condition. How does he expect people to get anywhere near his house? –

& George put his large foot in it by saying with a grin – aye – theres not many get past dads tank trap –

The woman looked at him suspiciously – while dad gave him one of his shut-your-gob glares – then changed the subject by demanding – house? – What house? –

– Mr Godleys house. There – said Parker.

He pointed up the hillside towards the ruins. From below – the alders in full leaf – that one bit of wall still standing does look like there might be a whole building behind.

– you mean the old mill? Well you could have saved yourself the bother – declared dad – Nowt to be seen up there – all the machinery were taken out twenty years ago – you can see some of it along at the Dales Museum – if youve got time to waste. As for the building – roofs fallen in & most of the walls. Id have knocked the rest down years back only some daft bugger got a conservation order put on it –

– but that cant be right – protested the man – darling pass me the magazine –

The woman dived into her bag & produced a copy of Mid-Yorkshire Life. It was folded open at a short piece entitled ‘Healing Hands’ – with a pic of a slightly embarrassed bearded guy holding up what were presumably the hands in question. His name – thisll make you laugh – was Gordon Godley!

– look – said Mr Parker triumphantly – its got the address quite clearly here. The Old Mill – Willingdene. Seeing the village signposted as we drove back from Harrogate – a sadly unproductive visit – once it may have been a serious spa town but now it has given itself over almost completely to commerce & frivolity – I naturally diverted & enquired of a young lad the way to the Old Mill. He gave me most precise directions which brought me here. Are you now telling me that is not the Old Mill? –

Im giving you Tom Parker verbatim – else youd miss the flavour. Its like listening to an old fashioned book come to life!

Dad smiled. You know how much he enjoys putting daft buggers right.

– it were once a mill right enough – & its certainly old. But theres not been anybody living there for half a century or more & Ill tell you why. This here is Willingden – just the one e. Willingdene is way up at the northern end of the dale –

If hed been a footie player – hed have set off running round the meadow – whirling his shirt over his head! He just loves winning – no matter who gets beaten. Remember those games of snap we used to play?

Mr Parker seemed more cast down by this news than by his sprained ankle.

– Im sorry my dear – he said to his wife – I should have taken more notice –

Taking all the blame on himself again – even though she was the one with the mag article. Nice – I thought. His reward was her continued terrier like support.

– it makes no difference – she said – this is marked on the map as a public right of way & someone ought to keep it in a proper condition –

– Charley – said dad quickly – whats the verdict on that ankle? –

I couldnt see any point in disagreeing with the patient.

– I think Mr Parkers right & its just a sprain – I said – a cold compress will help & he certainly shouldnt put any weight on it –

How was that Nurse Heywood?

– right – said dad – Charley bring the quad – lets get Mr & Mrs Parker down to the house – make them a bit more comfortable. George – you stop here & get the car pulled out of that mud. Clean it up & check for damage. Ill get on my mobile – tell your mother to put the kettle on – Im sure these good people are ready for a nice cup of tea –

I caught his eye & let my jaw drop in mock astonishment at this transformation from dedicated xenophobe to Good Samaritan.

He actually blushed! Then he gave me a sheepish grin that invited my complicity.

I grinned back & headed off towards the quad.

Hes not such a bad old sod really – is he? As long as he gets his own way. Bit like you! All right – & like me too. The fruit doesnt fall far from the tree. But you led the way. If you hadnt stood up to him & gone off to nurse – I doubt Id have had the nerve to hold out to go to uni & do psychology – & now after 3 years – whenever he gets close to driving me mad – I try to think of him as a case study!

But Ive still not told you how the Parkers came to be house-guests.

Thing was – when G pulled their car out of the tank trap – he found it wouldnt steer properly. Winstons garage said they could fix it – but theyd have to send away for a part. Tomorrow – they said – but knowing Winstons Im not holding my breath.

When Parker heard this he said – thats fine. No problem whatsoever. Perhaps – Mr Heywood – you could give me the number of the inn I saw in the village? – It looked a comfortable sort of place for us to rest in till the cars ready –

I could see the thoughts running through dads head like hed got a display screen on his brow. Being the most litigious man in the county – in Parkers place hed have been thinking compensation soon as his car hit the tank trap. Locally his views on daft buggers are well known – & he even boasts about his various stratagems for discouraging them. But these days – with tourism rated higher than farming in the rural economy – not everyone approves of him – & the enthusiastic gossips of the Nags Head bar would leave the Parkers in no doubt who to blame for their ‘accident’!

So I wasnt too surprised when I heard him say – Nags Head? – aye – its well enough. But the floors are uneven – stairs narrow – not at all what a man in your state needs. No – youd best stay here. Ill get George to bring your bags up from the car –

The Parkers were overcome by dads generosity. So was mum – with amazement! – but she quickly recovered – & I gave dad a big wink – & got one back!

So there you are. We have house-guests – & its time to go down & have supper with them. Ill keep you posted on how the HB bears up under the strain.

Take care – dont catch anything I wouldnt catch – & if you fall in love with a big handsome black man – e me a pic of you & him – & Ill stick it in dads prayer book so hell see it for the first time at church on Sunday morning!

Lots & lots of love

Charley X

2

Omigod Cass! I must be psychic! OK – you say hes not black – but teaky bronze. Same difference – & is that all over? I mean all all over? & hes a doc too – just like in mums Mills & Boon stories! Means youll probably have trouble with some slinkily gorgeous lady medic – wholl manage to get you blamed when she accidentally offs a patient – but dont worry – itll all come right in the end!

I definitely want a pic. Cross my heart I wont stick it in dads prayer book – not till you give the word! But can I tell mum? Shes desperate for grand-kids. Adam & Kylie show no sign of producing – even if they did Oz is a hell of long way off – can you imagine getting the HB on a plane to fly twelve thousand miles? Rod spends most of his time at sea – & we know what sailors are! She was desolate when I got back early from my camping trip with Liam & Sam & Dot – & told her it was all off – irreconcilable differences – which is what us psychs say to our mums when we catch ex-partner Liam banging ex-best-mate Dot up against a pine tree. So – unless you settle down & start calving – I think she may strap me to my bed – & get to work with an AI straw!

Your news makes my stuff about the Parkers seem v dull – but you say youre interested so here goes with the next instalment.

As house-guests go – they havent! Winstons – as forecast – got let down by their suppliers – again! So 1 nights turned into 3. But its been OK. I like Mary Parker a lot. Doesnt say much around her husband – except in agreement with him – or defence of him! But – get her to herself & shes great.

Tom Parkers v different – thinks silence is for the grave & the living have a duty to resist!

His favourite topic – unless checked his only topic – is Sandytown – as advertised on the side of his car!

Remember Sandytown? I think that was the last Heywood family outing. Me 9 or 10 – you 13 – sea cold & grey – sand gritty – wind so strong it blew our windbreaks away – & Sandytown itself seemed to be shut! To cap it all – on the way back – George was sick – & that set me off – & soon we were all at it! Dad sang all the way home! After 3 years doing psychology I reckon I know why. He clearly saw the whole trip as a successful experiment in aversion therapy!

So when Tom Parker started rattling on about Sandytown at supper that first night – I didnt dare catch Georges eye.

Ill give it you verbatim again – really – this is how he talks!

– Sandytown! – he said – Beautiful Sandytown – the most lustrous pearl in the long necklace of the Yorkshire coast! You see Charlotte – (fixing his eye on me – I think hes decided Im the intellectual epicentre of the Heywood family – or maybe he just likes my boobs!) – a new age of the English holiday is dawning. Compared with it – the old age – which died with the onset of cheap Mediterranean packages – will seem but a trial run. Two practical reasons for the change – global warming & global terrorism! We travel in fear & we travel in discomfort. We have our personal belongings – & indeed our persons – searched by hard-faced – & hard-fingered – strangers. We are prodded into line by armed police. We are forced to eat with implements which – lacking the rigidity necessary to be a threat to soft human flesh – cannot begin to cope with airline food. Nor can we feel safe on arrival. Tourists are everywhere regarded as a soft terrorist target – while global warming – exacerbated by the soaring emission levels of flight – has led to a dramatic increase in the incidence of natural disasters – floods – drought – hurricanes – earthquakes – tsunamis – etc –

By now dad was regarding him with gobsmacked amazement – mum with polite interest – his wife with fond admiration – & the twins were choking back their giggles.

To me it was clear that Parker was reciting some kind of sales pitch – one made so often the record would run to its end unless interrupted.

So when he paused for breath I got in quick with – Why were you looking for a healer Tom? –

– a very perceptive question Charlotte – he replied smiling at me – to which my answer is – health! Let me explain. We live in a sick world – a world suffering from some deep-rooted wasting disease – of which terrorism & warming are but symptoms. To cure the whole we must start with the smallest part – the individual! The English seaside holiday originated in a search for recreation in the strictest sense. Pure ozone-enriched air to cleanse the lungs – surging salty water to refresh the skin & stimulate the circulation – peace & quiet to restore the troubled spirit –

Seeing he was getting back into his groove – I cut in again – Sounds to me like a healers the last thing you need! –

– A good point! – he cried with delight. (Its a great technique this – being delighted with everything anyone says!) – To understand the healer it is of course necessary to understand the history. Some 2 years ago – when Mid-Yorkshire Council began discussion of their Eastern Region Development Plan – naturally Lady Denham & myself took a keen interest in their proposals for the Sandytown area …

– whos Lady Denham? – I asked – reducing him to amazed silence – & dad – always glad to know something I dont – chipped in – This the Denhams of Denham Park?

– you know the family? – said Tom – delighted.

– know of them – grunted dad – & little good – bad landowners – worse landlords – thought theyd gone to the wall long since –

– in a sense they have – agreed Parker – but Lady Denham – now alas a widow for a second time – only bears the name through marriage. Her 2nd incidentally. Before that she was Mrs Hollis – & before that Miss Daphne Brereton – only daughter of the Breretons of Brereton Manor – Sandytowns premier family – well to do – highly respected. Money calls to money – place to place – that is my experience – though I do not suggest that love was absent when she caught the eye of Howard Hollis –

– Hollis? – Dad interrupted – Hog Hollis? – him as got et by his own pigs? –

I saw the twins perk up. Anything grisly really turns them on!

– indeed – there was a tragic accident – said Tom – You knew Mr Hollis? –

– met him a couple of times – said dad unenthusiastically – folk reckoned he kept his pigs in the sea his meat were so salty & watery! Made a fortune but he were a right miserable sod – only time he ever smiled was for yon photo on them Hollis’s Ham freezer packs you see all over the supermarkets – & that were probably wind! –

I caught mums eye & we shared a moment of speculation about when dad had last been inside a supermarket!

Tom said – he was certainly a man who – despite his great success – remained true to his roots. Perhaps it was the contrast offered by the more refined manners of Sir Henry Denham that made the widow look favourably upon his advances. Alas – fate is not sentimental – & within all too short a time Sir Henry was also brought low –

– et by the pigs too? – chimed in David hopefully. Dad gave him a glower. He can say what he wants but he expects his kids to observe the conventions.

– a riding accident – said Tom – & while Daphne Breretons first marriage certainly left her with even more wealth than she brought to it – from her second – it is general knowledge – she derived little more than the respect due to an ancient name –

Pause for applause. Instead – Mary P gave a little gasp – maybe a repressed sneeze – echoed by dads openly incredulous snort.

Parker – unperturbed – went on – She & I – as principal landowners in the area – had already been planning to put Sandytown on the map long before the MYCC proposals. She had led the way by being instrumental in bringing the Avalon Foundation to Sandytown. You have heard of Avalon – of course? –

This time me & dad both nodded. Hardly need to tell you what dad said!

– oh aye – we know all about the Avalon. When I read in the papers – a few years back – the Yanks were building a fancy clinic out on the coast – I said to our Cass – that ud be a grand place for you to work – them Yanks know how to pay nurses & you could get home in an hour – but it were like –

– banging my head against a brick wall! – chorused the twins – then collapsed in giggles.

Dad gave them a glower – & Tom Parker went rattling on.

– Lady Denham & I – in our private discussions – had pre-empted the Councils conclusion that Sandytown was perfectly placed to take advantage of the changes in recreational climate – both meteorologically & intellectually speaking – & formed a loose alliance – & put 1 or 2 projects in train. But now we approached the Councils Development Officer – who was rapidly persuaded by our projections of the increase in local employment – & of tourism – plus our plans for a measure of affordable housing – to join with us in the formation of the Sandytown Development Consortium – a true partnership between the public & private sectors – underpinned – through the good offices of my brother Sidney – by significant investment institutions in the City –

He paused – momentarily lost in the forests of his own verbosity – & his wife came in with a prompt – The Avalon dear – & the healer –

Indeed! – he resumed – the Avalon. The siting of such a famous centre of medical care & recuperation on our doorstep seemed to me a hint almost divine. At the centre of our Development Plan is the conversion of Brereton Manor – Lady Ds childhood home – into a 5 star luxury hotel & recreational health centre. All the conventional attractions – golf – tennis – horseriding – swimming – beauty treatments – saunas – gymnasia – & so on – will be on offer here – & available to all visitors to our town – not just those who can afford the Manors necessarily high prices. However – to place us firmly in the new niche market where Sandytown – I forecast – will rapidly dominate – we are offering a range of complementary therapies for those who find that conventional medicine does not answer their needs –

He paused – for breath not applause – then pressed on – alternative medicine is – you will agree – another great 21st century growth area. We already have several practitioners in residence – an acupuncturist – a reflexologist – a homeopath – a Third Thought counsellor – but spiritual healers are harder to come by. I was hoping to talk to Mr Godley – the gentleman at Willingdene – with a view to persuading him to be – as it were – a visiting consultant –

By now dad had heard enough – indeed too much!

– healers! – he snorted – Load of mumbo-jumbo. Me – Id rather be treated by my vet – even though the bugger charges a fortune –

– then perhaps you should read this article – suggested Parker who seems quite unoffendable – it claims that Mr Godley has had some astonishing results with animals –

A sharp glance from mum made dad choke back his suggestion what Tom could do with the article – but David burst out – Charley thinks its all a load of bollocks too! –

– David! – said mum sternly – Language! –

– but its true – the little gobshite defended himself – You do think its all rubbish – dont you Charley? You were telling us you were going to write a composition about it –

Parker looked at me quizzically – & I said – Ignore him. His ears are bigger than his brain. What he misheard is that Im proposing to do a thesis on the psychology of alternative therapy. The medical establishment says its mostly nonsense – the practitioners point to what they claim are well documented successes. Im not interested in joining in the debate – but in looking at a variety of these therapies – & seeing if I can find any common psychological elements in their practise & their results –

Good – eh? Should be. Parkers not the only one who has a selling line off pat!

Across the table I could see the Headbangers eyes starting to roll & Id hardly finished before he broke out – There you have it Mr Parker. My clever daughters already spent three years with her nose in a pile of musty books – learning a lot of nowt about a lot of nowt just to get some letters after her name – & now she wants to spend another God knows how long doing much the same just to get some more. She can go on till shes got the whole damn alphabet – but wheres it going to lead? thats what Id like to know. Ive tried talking sense into her but its like –

Here he glared at the twins – daring them to finish his sentence again. I think David would have – but Freddie kicked him under the table. Bet she wants to wheedle some more spending money out of him for her school trip this autumn! Since G & me went skiing – she thinks shes owed a month in a 5 star in Miami!

Tom Parker endeared himself to me by saying – But that is marvellous Charlotte – understanding the mind is the first step to restoring the body – we need more young people like you to put this sick world of ours to rights! –

See – you dont have to go shogging off to Africa to be a saint!

Later – as Mary helped Tom limp from the room – he said to mum – A delicious meal Amy – best Ive had – outside of Sandytown – & Mary added – Yes – thank you both for your kindness. Youve got a lovely family Amy –

Well you know how much dad loves to hear mum being praised – so he hardly moaned at all about our guests when theyd gone upstairs – though I thought hed explode when we heard next morning the car wouldnt be ready for at least 3 days!

I did my bit – keeping them from getting under his feet. No problem – like I say – I really got to like them – & they seemed to like me too. Tom showed real interest in my thesis proposal – & today he said – Charlotte – (they both call me Charlotte – which is nice) – you know we intend calling on Mr Godley the healer on our way home – why dont you come with us? You could talk to him about his patients – for your thesis –

I said – but youd be well on your way home by the time you got to Willingdene & you wouldnt want to turn round & come all the way back here –

& Mary said – actually we did wonder if youd like to come all the way to Sandytown & spend a few days with us at Kyoto House –

I said – Kyoto? – thinking Id misheard.

Tom said – yes – perhaps I was hasty – the Kyoto Protocol has proved pretty toothless hasnt it? If Id waited I think Al Gore House might have been more appropriate –

Mary didnt look as if she agreed – but she nodded vigorously as Tom went on – please come – you could meet our other therapists – give us the benefit of your take on our great experiment – & most importantly – wed get more of your company! –

Well its always nice to be wanted – even so Id probably have said thanks but no thanks – only dad had come into the room at some point – & suddenly he spoke in that Wiz of Oz voice he uses when hes really laying down the law.

– nay – he declared – shes not been back home 2 minutes – shell not want to be gallivanting off afore shes needed her sheets changed –

Maybe I should have been touched at his desire to keep me close. All I actually felt was the usual irritation that – even at 22 – he still wanted to treat me like a kid.

I said – no reflection on your own personal hygiene dad – but Ive changed my sheets at least twice since I came home. Now getting back to the matter in hand – thank you very much Tom & Mary for your kind invitation. Id be really delighted to accept –

So there you have it. Heres me – a rational being – with a degree certifying Ive spent 3 years studying what makes people tick – & what do I end up doing?

Going to visit a place Ive no reason to like – in the company of people I hardly know – just to prove Im not a kid anymore!

Now thats really mature – eh?

Watch this space for my next exciting adventure in darkest Mid-Yorkshire.

& I look forward to some truly madly steamy revelations from darkest Africa!

Lots of love

Charley xx

3

Ho’d on. How the fuck do I know this bloody thing’s working?

HELLO! HELLO! DALZIEL SPEAKING! LOOK ON MY WORKS, YOU MUGWUMPS, AND DESPAIR!

Now, let the dog see the rabbit … I’ll try pressing this, like the bishop said to

Christ, do I really sound like that? No wonder the buggers jump!

So it works. So what? Hears everything I say and plays it back word for fucking word. What’s so clever about that? Old Auntie Mildred could do exactly the same – plus good advice! So that’s you christened, right? Mildred!

But listen, Mildred, you start telling me to wear my woolly vest and it’s straight out of the window for you!

Yon Festerwhanger were right, but. Nice bit of kit this.

Jesus, Andy, listen to yourself! Nice bit of kit! You be careful, lad, else you’ll end up like all these kids with their p-pods, walking around with idiot grins on their faces and their heads nodding like them daffs in the poem.

Keep a record of little thoughts you might lose, Fester said, and mebbe some big questions you normally don’t have time to ask yourself.

Right, Dalziel, sod the little thoughts, let’s start with the biggest question of them all.

How the fuck did I end up here in Sandytown talking to meself like the village loony?

Let’s try and build it up bit by bit like Ed Wield ’ud build up a case file.

Back to the big bang in Mill Street that set it all rolling.

That were the Bank Holiday, end of May.

Don’t recall much of June, mebbe ’cos I spent most of it in a coma.

Good thing about a coma, they told me, was it gave my cracked bones time to start mending. Bad thing was it didn’t do much for my muscle tone.

Never knew I had muscle tone before.

Found out the hard way.

First time I tried getting out of bed by myself, I fell over.

Let a week go by, then tried again. But this time I made sure there was a nice fat nurse to fall on to.

Third time I took three steps towards the door and fell into Pete Pascoe’s arms.

‘Where are you going?’ he asks.

‘Home,’ sez I. ‘Soon as I bloody well can.’

‘How do you propose doing that?’ sez he in that prissy voice he puts on.

‘I’ll bloody well walk if I have to,’ sez I.

He let go of me and stepped back.

I fell over.

I lay there and looked up at him with pride.

When I first met him he were a detective constable, soft as shit and so wet behind the ears you could have used him to clean windows.

Now he were my DCI, and he were hard enough to let me fall and leave me lying.

He’d come a long way and ought to go a lot further.

‘OK, clever clogs,’ I sez. ‘You’ve made your point. Now get me back into bed.’

Soon it were getting on for August, and I were still the only one talking about going home. Cap made encouraging remarks, but changed the subject when we got on to dates. I thought, sod this for a lark, they can’t keep me here when I want to be off!

I said as much to Pete and the bugger sent in the heavy squad.

His missus, Ellie.

From the first time I met her, I saw she were already hard enough to let me fall and leave me lying. In fact back in them early days I reckon she’d have been happy to give me a helping push.

She said, ‘I hear you’re talking of discharging yourself, Andy. So who’s going to look after you when you get home?’

‘I’ll look after myself. Always have done,’ I said.

She sighed. Women have two kinds of sighs. Long-suffering and ooh-I’m-really-enjoying-that. Lot of men never learn the difference.

She said, Andy, you got blown up in a terrorist explosion, you suffered multiple injuries, you lay in a coma for weeks …’

‘Aye, and most of the time since I came out of it I’ve spent on this bloody bed,’ I said. ‘So where’s the difference?’

‘Don’t exaggerate,’ she said. ‘You’re on a carefully planned course of supervised physiotherapy. They say you’re doing well, but it will be ages before you can look after yourself.’

‘So I’ll get help from Social Services. That’s why I pay my bloody taxes, isn’t it?’

‘How long do you think that’ll last?’ she asked.

‘Till I get fed up wi’ them? Couple of weeks mebbe. By then I should be fine.’

‘I meant, till they get fed up of you! Who’ll look after you then?’

I said, ‘I’ve got friends.’

‘Arse-licking friends maybe,’ she said. ‘But arse-wiping ones are a bit thinner on the ground.’

Sometimes she takes my breath away! Mebbe I were taking too much credit for putting the steel into Pascoe’s backbone. Should have known that all them years the bugger were getting home tuition!

‘For you mebbe,’ I said. ‘Treat folk right and they’ll treat you right, that’s my motto. There’ll be folk queuing up to give me a hand.’

‘Takes two to make a queue,’ she said. ‘You’re talking about Cap, aren’t you?’

Of course I were talking about Cap. Cap Marvell. My girlfriend … partner … bint … tottie … none of them fits. Or all of them. Cap bloody marvellous in my book, ’cos that’s what she’s been.

‘So I mean Cap. She won’t let me down. She’ll be there when I need her.’

I let it out a bit pathetic. Could see I were getting nowhere slogging it out punch for punch, but even the really hard ones are often suckers for a bit of pathos. Vulnerability they call it. Make ’em feel you need help. Stood me in good stead many a time back in my Jack-the-ladding days.

Didn’t take long to realize it weren’t going to get me anywhere now.

‘Boo hoo,’ said Ellie. ‘You’ve been together a good few years now, you and Cap. But you never set up shop together, you’ve both kept your own places. Why’s that?’

She knew bloody well why it was. We’ve got our own lives, our own interests, our own timetables. There’s stuff in my pack I don’t want her getting touched by. And there’s definitely stuff in hers I don’t want to know about. Every time there’s an animal rights raid, I find myself checking her alibi! But the real big thing is lots of little things, like the way we feel about muddy boots, setting tables, using cutlery, eating pickles straight out of the jar, watching rugby on the telly, playing music dead loud, what kind of music we want to play dead loud, and so bloody on.

I said, ‘A n emergency’s different.’

‘So this is an emergency now? Right. Whose place will you set up the emergency centre at? Your house or Cap’s flat? And how long will you indenture Cap as your body servant before you set her free?’

‘Don’t go metaphysical on me, luv,’ I said. ‘What’s that mean?’

‘You’re not thick, Andy, so don’t pretend to be,’ she said. ‘Cap’s life has been on hold since you got blown up. You know she’s got a very full independent existence – that’s one of the reasons you’ve never shacked up together, right? She’s not one of those ground-you-walk-on worshippers that only live for their man.’

‘I know what she is a bloody sight better than thee, Ellie Pascoe!’ I declared, getting angry. ‘And I know she’d be ready and willing to put in a bit of time taking care of me if that’s what I need!’

‘Of course she would,’ said Ellie with that smug look they get when they’ve made you lose your rag. ‘Question is, Andy. Do you really want her to?’

No answer to that, at least not one I wanted to give her the satisfaction of hearing. And I didn’t say much either when she started talking about the Cedars out at Filey, the convalescent home provided by our Welfare Association for old, mad, blind and generally knackered cops. Alcatraz, we call it, ’cos the only way out is in a box.

What I did say, all grumpy, was, ‘Were it Cap that put you up to this then?’

She grabbed hold of a bedpan and said, ‘That’s the daftest thing I’ve ever heard you say, Andy Dalziel. And if you let out so much as a hint to Cap what I’ve been talking to you about, I’ll stick this thing so far up your behind, they’ll need a tow truck to haul it out! You just lie here and think about what I’ve said.’

‘Yes, miss,’ I said meekly. ‘Tha knows, lass, Pete Pascoe’s a very lucky man.’

‘You think so?’ she said, looking a bit embarrassed.

‘Aye,’ I said. ‘It’s not every husband’s got a big strapping wife he can send up on the roof if ever a tile comes off in a high wind.’

She laughed out loud. That’s one of the things I like about Ellie Pascoe. No girlish giggles there. She enjoys a real good laugh.

‘You old sod,’ she said. ‘I’m off now. I’ve got my own life too. Peter sends his love. Says to tell you that he’s got things running so smooth down at the Factory that he can’t understand how they ever managed with you. Take care now.’

She bent over me and kissed me. Bright, brave, and bonny. Pete Pascoe really was a lucky man.

And she’s got lovely knockers.

Any road, I did think about what she’d said and a couple of days later when I were talking to Cap, I said I were thinking of going to the Cedars.

She said, ‘But you hate that place. You once went to visit someone there and you said it was like a temperance hotel without the wild parties.’

That’s the trouble with words, they come back to haunt you.

‘Mebbe that’s what I need now,’ I lied. ‘Couple of weeks’ peace and quiet and a breath of sea air. Me mind’s made up.’

I should have known, men make up their minds like they make up their beds – if there’s a woman around she’ll pull all the bedding off and start again.

Next time she came she had a bunch of brochures.

She said, ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said, Andy, and I reckon you’re right about the sea air. But I don’t think the Cedars is the place for you. You’d be surrounded by other cops there with nothing to do but talk about crooks and cases and getting back on the job. No, this is the place for you. The Avalon.’

‘You mean that Yankee clinic place?’ I said, glancing at the brochures.

‘The Avalon Foundation is originally American, yes, but it’s been so successful it now has clinics worldwide. There’s one in Australia, one in Switzerland …’

‘I’m not going to Switzerland,’ I said. ‘All them cuckoo clocks, I’d never sleep.’

‘Of course you’re not. You are going to the one in Sandytown, where as well as the clinic and its attendant nursing home, there’s an old house that’s been converted into a convalescent home. My old headmistress, Kitty Bagnold, you may recall, is seeing out her days in the nursing home. I visit her from time to time, so it will be very convenient for me to have both my broken eggs in one basket.’

That were the clincher, of course, her managing to make it sound like I’d be doing her a favour by coming here. I asked who’d be paying. She said my insurance would cover most of it and in any case hadn’t I always said that if you ended up with life left over at the end of your money, the state would take care of you, but if you ended up with money left over at the end of your life, you were an idiot!

There’s them bloody haunting words again!

Any road, I blustered a bit for the show of things but soon caved in. When I told Ellie Pascoe I thought she’d have been dead chuffed, but she seemed right disappointed I weren’t going to the Cedars. Even when I assured her I wouldn’t let Cap be out of pocket here, she still didn’t seem too pleased.

Women, eh? You can fuck ’em but you can’t fathom them.

But Cap were happy and that meant I felt pretty pleased with myself when a couple of weeks later she drove me here to Sandytown.

I soon stopped being pleased, but. Cap had hardly set off back to the car park to drive home afore it was being made clear to me that the Avalon weren’t like a 5-star hotel with the guests’ wishes being law.

‘Convalescence is a carefully monitored progression from illness to complete health,’ explained the matron. (Name of Sheldon – calls herself Chief Nurse, but with tits a randy vicar could rest a bible on while he preached the gospel according to St Dick, she were a shoo-in for the role of matron in one of them Carry On movies!)

‘Oh aye,’ I said, taking the piss. ‘And visiting hours from three to quarter past every third Sunday!’

‘Ha ha,’ she said. ‘In fact no visitors at all to start with until we’ve had time to observe you and assess your needs and draw up your personal programme – diet sheet, exercise schedule, medication plan, therapy timetable – that sort of thing.’

‘Bloody hell,’ I said. ‘Schedules, timetables – makes me feel like a railway train.’

She smiled – I’ve seen more convincing smiles in a massage parlour – and said, ‘Indeed. And our aim is to get you puffing out of the station as quickly as possible.’

I could see she liked her little joke. But I didn’t argue. I just wanted to sleep!

That were a couple of days ago. Spent most of the time since then sleeping ’cos every time I woke up there were some bugger ready to pinch and prod and poke things into me. Assessment they call it. More like harassment to me!

Third day, matron appeared all coy and girlish, straightened my sheets, plumped my pillows and said, ‘Big day, today, Mr Dalziel. Dr Feldenhammer himself is coming to see you.’

And that’s when I first set eyes on Lester Feldenhammer, head quack at the Avalon. I could tell he were a Yank soon as he opened his gob. Not the accent but the teeth! It were like looking down an old-fashioned bog, all vitreous china gleaming white. Bet he gargles with Harpic twice a day.

‘Mr Dalziel,’ he said. ‘Welcome to the Avalon, sir. Your fame has preceded you. I’m honoured to shake the hand of a man who got injured in the front line of the great fight against terrorism.’

I thought he were taking the piss, but when I looked at him I could see he were sincere. They’re the worst kind. Never trust a man who believes his own crap.

I thought, I’ll have to watch this one.

He shook my hand like he wanted to make sure it were properly attached and he said, ‘I’m Lester Feldenhammer, Director of the Avalon, also Head of Clinical Psychology. I think we’ve just about got your programme sorted, but the greatest aid to speedy recovery must come from within. I’ve taken the liberty of putting a little self-help book I’ve written in your bedside locker. It may help you to a fuller understanding of what’s happening to you here.’

‘Gideon Bible usually does the trick,’ I said.

‘We like to think of them as complementary,’ he said. ‘I’m really looking forward to monitoring your progress, Mr Dalziel. On matters physiological you will, of course, have access to our specialized medical staff. On all other matters, I’m your man. Anything you want to know, you have only to ask.’

‘Is that right?’ I said. ‘So what’s for dinner?’

He decided this were a joke and laughed like an accordion.

‘I can see we’re going to get on famously,’ he said. ‘Now, there’s something I’d like you to do for me.’

He pulled out this little shiny metal thing.

‘I’m not swallowing that,’ I said. ‘And if tha’s thinking of getting it into me by some other route, tha’d best think again.’

This time, mebbe because it were a joke, he didn’t laugh.

‘It’s a digital recorder,’ he said. ‘State of the art, practically works itself. What I’d like you to do, Mr Dalziel, is keep a sort of audio-diary. Make a record of your feelings, your experiences, anything that comes into your mind.’

‘You mean, you want me to start talking to myself?’ I said. ‘Like the nutters do?’

‘No, no,’ he said. ‘Not to yourself. Just talk as if you’re speaking to someone who knows absolutely nothing about you.’

‘Like you, for instance?’ I said.

He gave me a smile I could’ve played ‘Chopsticks’ on and said, ‘I do in fact know a little about you. And I shouldn’t like you to think you’re addressing me specifically. In fact, let me assure you, Mr Dalziel, I shall never listen to any part of it without your permission.’

‘So if you’re not going to hear it, what’s the point?’ I asked.

‘The point is you saying things, not me hearing them,’ he said. ‘You can keep a record of all those interesting little thoughts we so easily lose track of. Also you can ask yourself some of the really Big Questions. Think of it as part journal, part self-interrogation. I’m sure a man with your skills will be able to detect truth through no matter how cunningly woven a web of evasion and deceit. Will you do that for me?’

I said, ‘Mebbe. But if I don’t get some grub soon, I may just swallow it anyway.’

He went off, laughing. And that’s how I come to be lying here, talking to myself like a loony. Took another couple of days afore I dug Fester’s little toy out. Man in bed’s got to play with something. Nowt else to do. Newspapers these days aren’t fit to wrap chips in. Telly’s worse, and they don’t feed me enough grub to enjoy a good crap!

Can’t even do a runner. First, I’ve got no clothes. Spoke to Cap on the phone and she says she’ll bring me some soon as they let her visit me. Second, got to face it, my leg’s getting there, but I’m not back to running mode yet. I dumped them poncy elbow crutches they gave me at the hospital and got Cap to buy me a stout walking stick. I’m OK for short bursts, but after a couple of minutes, I’m ready for a sit-down.

Got to keep reminding myself, there’s a world out there, a real world with people in it, and pubs, and it’s likely full of scrotes pissing themselves laughing ’cos I’m stuck in here, talking to a machine.

Let them laugh.

I’ll be back.

Sure as eggs.

4

Hi!

Nothing from you – maybe your teaky bronzy doc is keeping you busy – nudge nudge.

Ive made it to Sandytown – just finished unpacking in Kyoto House – built on a cliff top to catch all them healthy breezes – very eco-friendly – solar panels – wind driven generator – etc etc. Lovely room – looking out over the North Sea – all blue & sparkly just now – but I hope we get a storm before I go. Funny that – only other time I was here I prayed for warm sunshine – this time I want thunder & lightning!

The journey first – we stopped off at Willingdene as planned – to meet Gordon Godley – the healer.

I quite liked him – nutty as a fruit-cake – but sort of nice with it.

Hard to say how old – 45? – 55? – not helped by a mad black beard threaded with silver – like a bramble bush on an autumn morning – but v young v gentle grey eyes – a nose like a flying buttress in a dolls cathedral & a lovely smile. I could see the unclaimed treasures of the area queuing up to have his hands laid on their aching joints.

Dont think he took to me though. Tom didnt help – introducing me with a version of my thesis proposal that made me sound like the witch-finder general – out on the rampage! Mr Godley wouldnt meet my eye – answered my questions with monosyllabic grunts – so I soon gave up.

However – he listened to Toms pitch with great courtesy – tho I got the impression – using my finely honed analytical powers – that in fact he already knew a lot more about the Sandytown project than he was letting on. In the end – to shut him up I think! – he accepted Toms invite to make a visit to see if he felt called to bring his ministry there – Toms dead keen to get him on board for what he calls the Festival of Health – scheduled for Bank Holiday weekend – Ill be long gone – thank heaven! –

Finally – at Marys request – Gord laid his healing hands on the sprained ankle.

As we left Tom claimed his injury was much improved.

– I felt a warmth – he asserted – A definite warmth as from a powerful sun-lamp –

Back in the car – out of earshot of Mr Godley – I observed that – in veiw of the nature of the injury – I would have been more impressed if hed felt a definite coldness.

He turned in his seat – hed wanted me to sit in the front – but I insisted he needed the space because of his ankle – & gave me a delighted smile & said – see Mary how good Charlotte will be for us. Scientific objectivity – thats what we want. No chance of charlatanism ruining the good name of Sandytown with her keen eye upon us! –

Im not sure what lasting effect the healers hands might have on the sprained ankle – but one thing I feel certain of – Tom Parkers optimism is incurable!

Mary drove well & very carefully. If shed been at the wheel I doubt theyd have ended in the tank trap. On the other hand I couldnt regret that they had. My acceptance of their invitation might have been made in pique – but now I found I was really looking forward to the visit. Dont know if Ill get much useful thesis fodder out of it – after my start with Godly Gordon I guess Ill need to brush up my interviewing techniques – but being cast in the role of detached scientific observer tickled my fancy.

Like a camera – I will record – & not judge.

Or maybe Ill judge just a little! I am after all Steve Heywoods daughter.

Difference being – Ill keep my judgments to myself!

& you – of course!

Short break there.

Eldest kid – Minnie (= little Mary) – burst in to say lunch would be ready in 20 mins – & see if Id got everything I needed. Gave the impression shed been sent – but I suspect it was mainly her own idea – to check out the new fish! She talked non-stop – while her eyes gobbled everything up – especially my laptop. Shes 9 going on 90 – reminds me of me at that age. Havent been bothering much with security – but now I may reactivate my password!

Got rid of her – by main force! – after a couple of minutes – so now I can get to the really exciting bit of the journey here – so pay attention!

Even at Marys steady pace it wasnt a long drive – but long enough for me to learn a little more about the Parkers. Old Yorkshire family – made their money in building – Tom trained as an architect – offices in Scarborough but siezed the opportunity offered by mod tech to work from home – 4 kids – Minnie 9 – Paul 8 – Lucy 6 – Lewis 5 – apples of his eye – Marys too – but Tom comes first. I get the impression she doesnt like letting him take off alone – not cos she dont trust him sexually – but cos she worries what scrapes his enthusiasm might get him into! Like driving into the tank trap – I suppose!

He talked – with great affection – of his financier brother Sidney – younger – & invalid sister Diana – older. Without saying much – Mary gave the impression she has a few reservations about Sid in the City – & a whole bucketful about sister Di!

More to Mary than meets the eye. When Tom started rattling on about Kyoto House – inviting her agreement that it was in every way superior to the old Parker family home theyd swapped it for – she replied dutifully – I suppose youre right dear – but the old place did have such a pleasant garden – & so sheltered –

– yes – thats it entirely – he declared – as if shed confirmed everything hed said – It was indeed sheltered – from the benefits of the sea breeze – & sheltered from the veiw too – no outlook save for fields & trees! Now – from Kyoto up on North Cliff – on a clear day you can see halfway across to Holland – & when Im working out ideas for the Development Scheme I dont need to sit at my drawing board – I just go into my garden & look down & there it all is at my feet – as it were! –

– did you design Kyoto yourself? – I asked.

– naturally! – marvellous feeling – not having anyone looking over your shoulder at the drawing board – do you follow? The opportunity afforded me by the Consortium – of getting involved in planning & building on a large scale – was not the least of its attractions. Its going to be something new – I promise you – nothing piecemeal or accidental – every step carefully thought out – every detail pertinent & planned! – & a carbon footprint no bigger than a cats! –

The quality of light ahead was now giving promise of the sea. Against the intense blue sky I could see the rather sinister silhouette of a large house – more than a house – a mansion – with enough towers & turrets to give the impression it had had youthful ambitions to grow into a castle!

– Denham Park – said Tom.

– where Lady Denham lives? – I guessed.

– oh no. She lives at Sandytown Hall – he replied – which her first husband – Hollis – acquired – along with the Lordship of the Sandytown Hundreds – an ancient traditional rank – acquired by purchase – unlike her subsequent title –

It sounded to me like shed got that by purchase too – & I think I detected a little twitch from Mary. Us psychologists are v sensitive to twitches!

– the Denham property – Tom went on – & the baronetcy of course – went to her nephew-in-law – Edward –

Here our conversation was interrupted – wed been driving with the sun-roof open – to get the full benefit of the invigorating Sandytown air I presume – & suddenly – in an instant – the car filled with the most disgusting smell imaginable.

Pig shit! – on a huge scale – it made our slurry lagoon seem like a rose-bowl!

Mary hit the button to close the sun-roof – apologizing profusely.

– the Hollis pig farm – she said – except calling it a farm is an insult to real farmers! –

– now now my dear – said Tom mildly – its a natural smell – & nothing natural is harmful to man –

– nothing natural about the way they keep those poor animals – said Mary.

– intensive farming is the price we pay for not wanting to pay the price we would have to pay without it – said Tom – & its very rare that the wind is in a quarter which wafts the aroma into Sandytown –

– indeed no! – said Mary – which is why Daphne Brereton spent most of her time at her first husbands house – even after shed married her second! –

Yes – I know – mysterious! – but all will be explained later. Meanwhile we drove for a mile or more alongside a high wired fence through which I could see rows & rows of concrete buildings with all the charm of a concentration camp. Finally we reached the main entrance to the site – with a huge double gate – & a sign reading HOLLIS’S HAM – the Taste of Yorkshire – except that someone had been at work with a spray can – & it now read – the Taste of Death.

There was a man up a ladder with a bucket & scrubbing brush. He paused in his work as we passed & gave a wave. Tom wound down the window & called – Morning Ollie! More trouble, eh? – but Mary didnt slow down enough to give the man time to reply – & Tom closed the window again but not before wed got another near fatal dose of the porky pong!

A few minutes later Mary signalled to turn seawards as we approached a sign saying Sandytown via North Cliff.

Tom said – my dear – why dont you takes us round by South Cliff – & through the town – so Charlotte can give us her reactions – first impressions are so important –

Obediently Mary switched off the signal & drove on.

I didnt correct Tom about first impressions. Diplomatically I hadnt mentioned the famous excursion. Now I began to see for myself what Tom – of course – had already told me – that Sandytown – originally just a fishing village – is situated in a broad bay between two lofty headlands – North Cliff & South Cliff.

A loop of road runs down from North Cliff – through the village – then up to the coastal road again – via South Cliff.

Got that? – or do you need a diagram! –

As we approached the South Cliff turn off – I could see the headland here was dominated by a complex of buildings. One of them looked like an old mansion house – green with ivy – with a long extension – in keeping but definitely recent. A couple of hundred yards away was a modern two storeyed building – the stonework brilliant white – broad reflective glass windows catching the drift of small white clouds across the bright blue sky. Alongside that – a long single storeyed building – in the same style.

We turned off the coast road – but before we began the descent proper – at Toms request Mary pulled in by a gilded entrance gate – set in a dense thorn boundary hedge – bit like the entrance to heaven in that Pilgrims Progress you got for a Sunday School prize – remember? – we used to tear pages out to roll our ciggies!

A large elegantly designed sign board was inscribed Welcome to THE AVALON FOUNDATION. There was a small gatehouse from which a man emerged – his face breaking into a smile when he recognized the car.

– Morning Mrs Parker – Mr Parker – he called.

– Morning Stan – replied Parker – How are things? Family well? –

– Yes thank you – all middling well. Yourself? –

– in the pink Stan – said Parker – which was either a bit of an exaggeration – or Mr Godleys healing hands really had done the business.

As they talked – I studied a site diagram beneath the welcome sign. It indicated that the main two storeyed modern block was the Avalon Clinic – the long single storey was the Avalon Nursing Home – & the old house was the Avalon Convalescent Home.

A phone attached to the gate-mans belt bleeped. He excused himself & turned away to answer it.

I said to Tom – how do the locals like having the clinic on thier doorstep? –

– some initial unease – lots of loose talk about lunatics & lepers – Tom replied – country folk are ready to believe the worst of strangers – but they also have an innate trust in authority. Round here that means Lady D & – to a lesser extent – myself. Once we showed the way – they followed – & suspicion has long been replaced by pride –

– the jobs & the extra income helped – observed Mary dryly.

The gate-man was saying into his phone – no definitely not – nobody in the last hour – yes – Ill keep an eye out – dont imagine hell go far dressed like that! –

He switched off – turned back to the car & said – sorry Mr Parker – one of our convies has gone walkabout – elderly gent – might be a bit confused – Id best bring his photo up on the computer. See you soon I hope –

– you too Stan – said Parker.

Mary set the car forward. Ahead the road began its descent to the village.

– Convies? – I said – thinking convicts!

– what? – Oh thats what the staff call those staying at the convalescent home. Patients at the clinic are clinnies – & residents of the nursing home are rezzies. What they call the staff I dont know – Mary – take care! –

Mary Parker – as I have said – drove very carefully – & shed stayed in low gear for the descent – so we werent doing much more than twenty miles an hour when she slammed the brakes on.

All the same – the sudden stop threw me forward – & I was glad for once Id obeyed the law & fastened my rear seat belt.

As they say – it all happened so quickly – but I still had time to glimpse a man rolling down the embankment rising steeply on the left to the Clinics boundary hedge.

Then he bounced into the road & vanished under our wheels.

Everything stood still. The car – time – our hearts. We were all convinced wed run him over. But surely there would have been a bump? – I told myself.

Then there was one. Or at least the car shuddered.

For a moment this felt like a delayed confirmation of our worst fears.

But that didnt make sense. You cant run over someone after youve stopped!

Even as I reached this logical conclusion – a broad-domed almost bald head began to rise like a full moon over the horizon of the bonnet – & I realized that the shudder had been caused by the man gripping the front of the car to pull himself up.

He leaned on the bonnet. Heavily. There was enough of him to suggest that – if there had been a bump – it would have been a big one!

He stared at us unblinkingly – out of the kind of face movie animators dream up for ogres.

His mouth twisted in a snarl – & he spoke.

It took a moment to register that in fact the snarl was a smile – & the words he spoke werent a threat – but a greeting.

He said – how do folks – what fettle? –

Now he moved round the side of the car. He walked slowly – like a bear that would have preferred to be on all fours – rather than upright. He gave Tom & Mary – still paralysed by the shock – a friendly nod in passing. Then he took hold of the rear door – & pulled it open – & looked in at me.

– how do lass – he said – heading for the village? –

I nodded – not trusting myself to speak.

– grand – he said – room for a little un? –

& – without waiting for an answer – he pulled himself in alongside me.

Up to this point – Id thought he was wearing a garishly striped summer shirt & a casual woollen jacket – but now I saw him clearly – & I thought – oh shit!

He was dressed in pyjamas & a dressing gown. On his left foot was a leather slipper. His right foot was bare. There were leaves clinging to him & thorns sticking into him. His face bled through a few light scratches.

But looking at him more closely – as I had no choice but to do – I realized hed suffered more physical damage than could be explained merely by pushing through a hedge – & rolling down the bank into the road.

There was a lot of him – but a kind of pallor & the looseness of the skin on that broad face suggested that there used to be a lot more. Your nurses eye would probably have done a full diagnosis in half a sec – but even I could see enough to work out hed recently been very ill.

An escaped loony – I thought! Then I recalled the gate-mans phone call. This had to be the convie whod gone missing – a bit of a relief – though not much!

He said – youll know me again luv –

I realized Id been staring.

I said – yes – sorry – hello – Im Charlotte Heywood –

Automatically I offered my hand. Good manners never hurt anyone – remember dad drumming that into us? Then hed head out across the fields – to chase some daft bugger off his land – with his shot gun!

The escaped convie took it – & held it in a surprisingly gentle grip.

– glad to meet you – he said – Andy Deal –

– Tom Parker. My wife Mary – said Tom – are you all right? –

– grand – he replied – nifty bit of driving that luv. Lot of women I know would have run me over – while they were still looking for the brake –

Somehow it came out as a genuine compliment.

Mary – reassured – gave him a smile & started the car again.

I realized the man was still holding my hand. He peered into my face & said – Heywood – thas not one of Stompy Heywoods brood out at Willingden – are you? –

– Steve Heywoods my father – I said – but Ive never heard him called Stompy –

– thats likely cos tha never got in his way at the bottom of a loose scrum. Aye – I thought I could see a likeness –

Being told I resembled dad wasnt the biggest compliment Id ever had! I dont – do I? Answer yes – & Ill publish details of your steamy affair all over the internet!

I snatched my hand free – & gave him a glower – & he grinned as if this confirmed his identification.

Ahead of us a banner stretched high across the road – & inscribed Welcome to Sandytown – Home of the Healthy Holiday – told us we were now entering the village. Except it wasnt a village – more a small town. Usually when you go back to places you recall as a kid – everything seems to have shrunk – could impress you with the physiological explanation for this phenomenon – but I wont! Sandytown was different – very much bigger than I recalled – looking prosperous too – our route took us past several shops – a small supermarket doing good business – an art & craft gallery – a working pottery – a jolly café – a Thai takeaway – & a sea food restaurant called Mobys!

The cobbled streets were clean & litter-free – the buildings freshly painted & well kept. Distantly I could see bathers sporting in the dark blue waves of the sea – & holidaymakers taking thier ease in deck chairs set on the golden sand. Posters everywhere showing an outline map of Yorkshire – with a big cross on the coast – & the legend – SANDYTOWN IS OUR TOWN – LETS PUT IT ON THE MAP! – while across the main street hung a banner reading FESTIVAL OF HEALTH – August Bank Holiday.

Maybe the Headbanger didnt bring us here at all – but found some run-down shanty town to put us off family trips forever!

Tom Parker – clearly delighted at these signs of activity – gave a running commentary on each individual attraction – & occasionally leant out of the open window to greet pedestrians – as Mary drove us slowly along.

– right luv – this ull do me – said Mr Deal suddenly.

I looked out & saw an old freshly whitewashed building displaying a sign which read The Hope & Anchor – licensee A. Hollis. One of the pig family? – I wondered. Mary pulled in. Deal leaned forward & said – Thanks for the lift luv. Sorry if I scared you back there. Lost me footing. Lost me bloody slipper too. Not to worry. I dont doubt Prince bloody Charming ull come looking for me. Tom – tha seems to be a local lad in good standing. I daresay tha gets on well with them up at the Avalon? –

– yes indeed – said Tom – I know Dr Feldenhammer very well – often visit –

Wrong answer – I thought. You cant survive as a student for 3 years without getting a nose for a touch!

– grand. Thing is – Im staying up there for a couple of nights – & I seem to have come out without me wallet. So if you could sub me a fiver – better still 10 – Ill leave it with old Fester for you to collect next time you call in – right? –

It would have taken a lot harder man than Tom Parker to refuse.

The money was passed over – 20 in the end I noticed – & Mr Deal got out.

He turned & said – thanks for the lift – missus – & for the loan – Tom –

For the first time Tom Parker got a real look at him – full length – standing by the open door – in his pyjamas – with one bare foot. It was clearly a shock – & I think that inside he was bidding a fond farewell to his 20 quid – but he still managed that beaming smile as he said – our pleasure – our very great pleasure – goodbye –

Now the man turned his gaze on me.

– bye luv – he said – remember me to your dad –

– bye Mr Deal – I said.

He moistened his lips & leaned forward. For a dreadful second I thought he was going to kiss me!

– Dee Ell – he said very distinctly – get that straight – else thall niver go to heaven. Dee Ell. Cheers –

He turned & limped into the pub.

– oh dear – said Tom – I doubt if theyll serve him – looking like that –

I said – would you refuse to serve him Tom? – He glanced round at me – then he smiled.

– you know – I dont believe I would! – he said – but the further adventures of Mr Dee Ell are no concern of ours! Mary – drive on. Lets get home & see the children! –

Which is what we did.

Minnie has just burst in again to tell me lunch is ready – knocking at doors must come late on the Parker curriculum! Better go. Watch this space for more exciting news from sunny Sandytown!

& dont forget that pic!

Love

Charley xx