Page 97 of Little Wing
‘And you’ve been out walking, Dad?’
‘Oh aye – every day.’
‘The weather?’
‘You know how it is here.’
‘Aye – I do.’
‘And all is well with your flat, is it?’
‘Yes,’ said Dougie, ‘everything’s fine here. How’s the house?’
‘Ah, just the same.’
‘And Ben’s well?’
‘Aye – Ben’s well.’
Ask him, you old numpty – ask him about Nell.
‘So!’ said Gordon.
‘So,’ said Dougie.
‘And have you been in touch with Flora’s wee girl?’
Gordon liked the momentary silence that followed. Whatever the answer, his boy was having a think.
‘I haven’t had a reason to,’ said Dougie. ‘I’ve not been able to recall anything else about that time.’
And Gordon wondered, what would Màiri say about that? But the old house was strangely silent.
‘As if you need a reason,’ Gordon chided lightly.
And Dougie thought, Jeez, Dad, you sound just like Mam.
So Dougie photographed medical gadgetry the next week. Every day, he drove to Chelmsford and every day he negotiated road signs for Chelmsford that also had Colchester underneath. And then there was that sign that put Colchester above Chelmsford. And then, soon after, the fork where Chelmsford was one way and Colchester the other. Colchester, Dougie reasoned, was neither on his route to work nor on his way home. But it was on his radar. And when thoughts of Nell came barging into his mind while he was at work, he tried his best to blink them away, to look through his lens and focus on all the shiny lifesaving equipment instead.
You can’t just turn up on someone’s doorstep without phoning first.
You can’t phone unless you have something specific to talk about.
Yes, you can.
* * *
‘What are you doing later?’ Debbie asked Nell.
‘Visiting Frank,’ said Nell.
‘I meanlaterlater.’
‘Oh – you know,’ Nell shrugged.
‘Gazing at the rental cottages in the Outer Humdingers?’
Nell laughed. It wasn’t far off the truth.
