Page 47 of The Promise of Tomorrow
Gayle came in, carrying a tray. Rory jumped up and placed it on the red and cream marble-effect coffee table, and Gayle made herself comfortable in one of the armchairs. After insisting they help themselves to the lemon slices, Gayle sipped her drink and gave a contented sigh. ‘Tell me about work. Are Bingley Biscuits bringing out any new lines? I do love their chocolate-covered oatie ones.’
They told her about the broken biscuits pitch, before Elena asked, ‘How are you doing, Gayle?’ She looked around. ‘Aren’t you putting up your Christmas tree? You and Alf always used to decorate your lounge at the end of November.’ Elena would have grimaced, but not this year.
‘It’s too much bother. I can’t get it down from the loft, on my own, any more. In any case, Christmas isn’t the same without Alf. My sister’s very good. I’m going to hers again in a couple of days.’
‘How about I get it down?’ asked Rory. ‘Elena and I could help you decorate it before we go, right?’
He glanced at Elena. A wave of warmth broke inside her chest. What a kind suggestion. Gayle didn’t want to take up their time, but they both insisted.
‘That would be lovely,’ she said, eyes shining. ‘Thank you. Have to admit, I do miss seeing Alf’s favourite baubles. I bought him a gingerbread man one years ago and had his name painted on. Alf laughed at it every Christmas, complaining how the ornament kept its waistline but he didn’t. He used to call it Skinny Gingy.’ She smiled at Elena. ‘But first… why have you come around, love? How can I help?’
Elena put down her mug and plate. Took a deep breath. How to start?
‘That evening, twenty years ago, you were babysitting, Mum had been rushed into hospital, and… It must seem weird, me bringing this up all these years later but?—’
Gayle held up her hand. ‘I wondered how long it would take. I’ll tell you everything I know.’
30
ELENA
Gayle gave a small laugh. ‘Don’t look at me like that, love. It was only matter of time…’ They sat in silence for a moment and her face became more serious. ‘You… you changed, subtly, after that night. You were subdued and started checking that things were safe, more closely than ever.’
Rory frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
Gayle talked about how Don and Mel were very proud of the fact that Elena was such a sensible child. Even before that night, she’d check her windows at bedtime and never once let a bath or sink overflow. Her alarm was always set to the right time. Her parents never had to wake her up for school. ‘If we baked together, it was Elena who checked that the hob was turned off. That’s why I’d been so surprised to discover a careful child like that had snuck out at night. In the weeks following the accident, your parents and I became concerned about the checking. Sometimes you were late for school, because you’d nip back home to check you’d turned off the taps in the bathroom, and you’d check the hob more than once when you were around at mine.’
‘I snuck out to the common often, in the summer,’ Elena said, and a sheepish look crossed her face. ‘I loved reading adventure stories and thought I’d have one too – as well as lots of fun with Bumper. Although that night it was because I could hardly breathe, what with Mum. I’d hoped the chilly air would help.’
‘You stopped playing with Bumper after what happened though. I asked you about it once. You said black cats were bad luck. Then around at mine, one time, you were playing with my make-up and dropped my hand mirror. You were inconsolable when it cracked and said that meant seven years bad luck. It was as if spending time with that fortune teller had made you very superstitious. You told your parents it was bad luck that your house number was thirteen and tried to persuade them to move.’
Rory listened intently.
Elena’s ears burned. ‘A silly childhood phase.’
‘And…’ Gayle swallowed. ‘Things were never quite the same between us.’
‘You felt it too?’ Elena raised her eyebrows. ‘I… I think I wanted to simply forget everything about that night.’
‘I always wondered, as you got older, you’ – her voice became unsteady – ‘you must have lost respect for me, not telling your mum and dad that you’d slipped out whilst I was supposed to be looking after you.’
‘Elena told me what happened,’ said Rory in a gentle voice. ‘Sounds as if you did what you could to protect Elena’s parents from even more upset at the time.’
‘That’s what I’ve always thought,’ said Elena. She reached forwards and squeezed Gayle’s arm.
‘I did mention you slipping out for a wander a couple of months later on, you know. It did worry me. Once your mum’s health scare settled right down, I told your parents that I’d seenyou, out the back, near the common one night. I kept it vague. Your mum’s health was still a little fragile.’
That explained why, six months or so after making the promise, Mum and Dad had adopted a new policy of setting the burglar alarm after dinner, so that if an outside door was opened it would go off. Elena hadn’t realised that was to do with her.
‘What happened that night, love?’
Elena glanced at Rory and he gave her an encouraging smile. ‘The woman who brought me to the door, the fortune teller… I met her on the common. She was sleeping there, in a tent, after the last night of the fair, and… and…’
‘Go on,’ murmured Gayle, gently.
‘She had her crystal ball and… we…’ Elena clenched her hands together. ‘I made a pact so that Mum would live. Then that night Mum made a miracle recovery, at midnight too,’ she continued. ‘I remember that particular time on the clock as being important. No idea why.’
Elena hardly dared meet Gayle’s eyes, aware of how ludicrous it must have sounded. The guilt flooded back around how Elena had been selfish, risking dark forces causing consequences. As a little girl, she’d fret that meant her mum would go to some hellish place when she eventually passed, penance for going against the laws of nature and not dying when she should have – simply because Elena had been too weak to let her go. A hell with devils and demons, with fire and thunder, with torture and screaming… On a good day, she dismissed this theory, telling herself she’d done the right thing; that the only sacrifice would be Elena dying at thirty; that her mum was safe.
