Chapter 19. Looking glass
Finn took the same short cut from the St.Ives railway station that
he'd taken since he was a school boy. When the train arrived,
he jumped off the platform and crossed the train lines.
He climbed the embankment on the other side and walked along a
paddock fence until it came to a cross road.
As he walked uphill towards home he looked back over the town.
The beaches and port hadn't been blighted yet with the defences
that other coastlines had.
Outwardly St.Ives hadn't changed much - but there was different feel to it.
The town's population had swelled with soldiers billeted throughout the
area. Some of the buildings and open communal spaces had been taken
over for military training. The feeling of a sleepy seaside holiday town
was gone.
Finn came into the house yard through a gate at the bottom of the property.
He smiled when he saw Nain Joan hanging out laundry. There was a
chance that some of the sheets on the line may of hidden his approach.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As children it was a game that he and his sisters played - trying to sneak up
on Nain Joan, it was nearly impossible. Maybe just this once he thought.
He slowed his steps and tried to be as quiet as he could.
''Look who's grown taller and even more handsome."
Finn smiled, Nain Joan was now standing behind him.
He turned and hugged her.
"How long will you be staying for?"
"Three or four days then I have to report for training."
Nain Joan sighed. ''Your Father's gone away to London for the week."
Finn was annoyed with himself. "I should of told him I was coming,
but it was a last minute decision."
"At least you sent word that you'd enlisted." Nain Joan went back to her
washing basket. "He'll be disappointed that he missed you, but he'll
understand. It's just the two of us for dinner tonight."
"Is that rabbit stew I can smell?" Finn said.
Nain Joan smiled. "Peg out the rest of the washing for me and I'll go
and get dinner sorted."
*
Finn unpacked his bag in his old room. Everything was just as he
remembered it. There was no mustiness or dust - the room had been
aired and there was fresh linen on the bed.
Nain Joan set a small table in the kitchen. As they ate dinner and talked,
Finn remembered the marble in his pocket.
"What have you got there?" Nain Joan asked.
He held it up to his eye for a moment then passed it to her.
"It's some sort of crystal charm. A fortune teller in Oxford gave it to me.
She said it would keep me safe from harm and bring safe travels."
"A fortune teller you say." Nain Joan traced the outline of the dove
that was etched on it with her finger.
"It's not crystal, it's soft desert glass. My Mother's family came
from near Damascus, on the edge of the great desert. She had a collection
of these stones that her Uncles had found on their travels."
Nain Joan held the marble to her eye.
"None of hers were carved or as clear as this though."
Finn dipped bread in his stew. ''Can you see anything in it?''
Through the marble Nain Joan saw Eurides walking the fortune teller into
a river and drowning her.
She smiled in agreement and gave it back to Finn. "What it has shown me
is that you are in need of two things."
Nain Joan picked up a napkin and wiped some butter from Finn's face.
Finn lifted his chin, enjoying the feeling that he was a boy again sitting up
at the dinner table.
"Number one is a full beard - I've always been vaguely suspicious of clean
shaven men."
Finn laughed. '' And number two?"
''A young lady on your arm."
''The War is going to get in the way of both things for awhile I think."
Finn kept eating as Nain Joan started to clear the table.
She kissed him on the top of his head as she went into the kitchen.
"Then we shall just have to wait and see."
*