Page 70 of Right Place, Right Time
‘I wish with all my heart that you have a wonderful life filled with love and happiness, and that one day you can forgive me and know that what I did was the right thing to do, for us all. Your ever-loving mother, Dorothy xx.’
‘It’s from Dotty,’ I say quietly as I stare at the letter. Suddenly this person, who I’ve only ever heard about from others, or seen black-and-white photos of, is real. Her words are real. Her love for her daughter is real. It’s as if she’s here in the room with us, telling us how much she loved her child, and how she didn’t want to leave, but she had to – but why?
‘May I see?’ Adam asks. He prompts me when I don’t reply. ‘Eve?’
‘Sorry, yes, of course,’ I say, passing him the letter.
Adam quickly reads through Dotty’s letter. ‘What’s this bit about giving another mother the chance to love and care for her own child? And righting a terrible wrong?’
‘It sounds like she was trying to put something right – something that she thought she’d caused to happen. I knew she must have gone missing. I knew she hadn’t simply died in some random accident never to be found again. It was all too easy to say that, to make that excuse.’
I can feel myself getting angry now on Dotty’s behalf.
‘I must admit I thought the same thing,’ Adam says. ‘It all sounded a bit dodgy from what you told me. But I didn’t like to say anything. It’s your family.’
‘Yes, it is,’ I say with conviction as I make my mind up about something. ‘And I’m going to find out exactly what happened. I’m going to uncover Dotty’s real story. Instead of all this murkiness surrounding her name, future generations of my family will know exactly what happened to her.’
‘I really admire your determination,’ Adam says. ‘Truly I do. But we’ve still got two more letters to read yet. They might be of more help to us than you charging off on your own personal crusade – as admirable as that is, of course.’
I nod, realising that he’s absolutely right.
‘Why don’t you read the letter addressed to you next?’ Adam says. ‘I wonder who it’s from?’
‘I know who wrote this letter before I even open it,’ I tell him, lifting the second letter up. ‘This is my grandmother’s handwriting.’
Again I carefully prise open the envelope and begin to read out loud.
‘This letter is for Eve. If you are not Eve, and for some reason this letter has fallen into the wrong hands, then please put it back where you found it, for what I have to say next is of no interest to anyone but Eve Sinclair or Adam Darcy.’ I look up from the letter at Adam. ‘She did know you … but how?’
‘I’ve a feeling we’re going to find out,’ Adam says. ‘If you keep reading.’
‘My darling Eve,’ I continue. ‘If you have found this box and matched it with the key, then it’s likely what I’m going to tell you next will make some sense. If, however, you have simply stumbled upon the contents of this copy ofThe Hundred and One Dalmatiansand somehow paired it with the right key, then I suggest you lock the box and wait until the time is right to open this book again. You will know when.
‘What I’m about to tell you has to be written in a sort of code. A code that, if you’re my Eve, you will easily be able to decipher, of that I have no doubt.’ I pause to look at Adam again. ‘Not another code …’
Adam looks equally as disheartened by this news.
‘If everything has gone to plan and you have met Adam, you will by now have many questions. Some of which may have been answered, but I suspect many will not.You may even suspect that your chance meeting with Adam was not chance after all and you would be correct. It was always the plan – you two were always destined to be the ones.’ I glance at Adam again to see how he’s receiving all this.
‘The ones?’ he asks.
‘Let’s find out,’ I say, looking down at the letter again. ‘As you know, I grew up without my mother, your great-grandmother. She disappeared towards the end of the Second World War. In 1945, my father took me to the USA to be with his family and then later decided to settle back here in Cambridge, the area he was stationed in during the war.
‘What you do not know is how my mother disappeared. That I cannot tell you here, in case this is read by someone other than yourself and Adam. This is a secret that once you uncover, you can tell no one else – unless you trust them with your life.
‘What I can tell you now is:
‘Look out for Venus and Mars – they will guide you to what you need to know.
‘Ask Freddy to come and visit.
‘There is someone close who will have many of the answers.
‘The Romans knew their numbers.
‘Hide-and-seek, Eve.
‘Put right the mistakes of others only. You are here to help those that are lost, not yourselves.
