Ghosts
by Moira
Brown
Email: Shellwing40@aol.com
They trudged across the wet
grass of the machair, Alison deep in sombre thought, her head held down
against the steady drizzle that hung in the air like a dismal, all-enveloping
shroud. The children, in scarlet anoraks and yellow wellingtons, cut
a colourful gash through the greyness, but their cheerful chatter and
shrieks of delight as they approached the bay did nothing to lighten
Alison’s mood.
It
hadn’t been her idea to come back to the island, and if she’d had any
say in the matter, she’d have put her foot down. But Ian had arranged
this surprise holiday, and she couldn’t disappoint Ben and Kirstie
How
long ago had it been? About twenty-five years – and as she heard the
mournful soughing of the waves, and smelt the salty tang of the sea,
all the old childhood feelings came flooding back – sadness, anger,
regret, and a gnawing sense of loss. Ian had insisted it was time to
lay old ghosts to rest, but still they haunted her, their voices a seductive
and insistent echo in her head.
‘There’s
the sea,’ Ben shouted excitedly. ‘Come on, Kirstie, I’ll race you.’
As
the children scrunched through the wet pebbles towards a leaden ocean,
Ian moved closer and put an encouraging arm around her shoulders.
‘Come
on, Alison, you’d think you were going to the scaffold. It’s only a
beach.’
‘You
don’t understand how I feel.’
Her
tears mingled with the soft rain in a warm trickle down her cheeks.
A familiar feeling of panic surged up, making her feel as if the grey
waves of the Atlantic were closing over her head... pouring into her
lungs and cutting off her breath.
‘Are
you all right?’ Ian’s voice was anxious.
‘Just
let me stay here for a moment,’ she gasped.
He
led her to a large flat rock and she sat down. Gradually, her breathing
relaxed. She raised her head and took a mistrustful look at the scene,
as though expecting the past to come rolling in towards her on the crest
of the next wave. To the left of the bay, the small headland was a brooding
shadow behind a misty curtain. The nearer rocks seemed to waver in and
out with the rise and fall of the waves, their dim shapes ghostly sentinels.
Somewhere in the gloom of the sky, a curlew wailed, its plaintive, lost
call a sharp contrast to the laughter of the children. Oblivious to
the rain and wind, they were splashing about in the shallows – exactly
as she had done on a day like this all those years ago...
*
*
‘Ali – don’t wade out too far. The tide’s coming in.’
Ten-year
old Alison waved happily to her father as she continued splashing over
the small waves creeping past the tide line. He had taken her to the
bay for a last picnic, but the sunny morning weather, with its customary
Scottish fickleness, had given way to a bleak, drizzly afternoon. Alison
didn’t care. They were at the end of their two weeks’ holiday and she
wasn’t going to miss a trip to her favourite spot, whatever the weather.
She’d already found three more green pebbles to add to her growing
collection. This bay was the only place where the marble stones could
be found and they were supposed to be lucky. Maybe they’d bring her
luck today. Perhaps Mum would decide to join them after all. Dad had
said she was feeling ‘sad’ and needed to be on her own for a few days,
but ‘sad’ was a strange choice of word and made Alison feel uneasy.
Had she done something to make her mother feel sad?
‘Come
on, Ali – we’re going to pack up now. The rain’s settled in for the
afternoon.’ Her father came down to the water’s edge and took hold of
her hand. ‘There’s something I need to tell you before we leave here.’
His
face was serious. Alison began to get that uneasy feeling again in the
pit of her stomach.
‘There’s
no easy way to tell you this, so I’ll simply say it straight off. Mum’s
decided to go. She’s not coming back... ever.’
‘Go?
Why? What do you mean, Dad? What have we done?’ A suffocating panic
knifed through her, cutting off her breath. Her voice struggled out
in a strangled gasp. ‘Have I done something wrong?’
He
smiled sadly, but couldn’t keep the anger from his voice. ‘No, Ali,
neither of us has done anything wrong. Your mum has decided she loves
someone else better than she loves us. She’s gone to live in America
with him.’
‘Can’t
I go and visit her?’ she whispered hoarsely, unable to take in the enormity
of the news.
‘No.’
The
vehemence of his tone startled her.
‘You’ll
never see her again and you’re never to mention her name again, either.
Do you understand that, Ali?’
Bewildered
and scared, she nodded. As her father led her away, she pulled the smooth
green pebbles out of her anorak pocket and flung them angrily into the
sea. The waves opened greedy mouths and gobbled them up.
‘Why
did you do that, Ali? I thought you were collecting them.’
‘Not
now,’ she screamed. ‘I hate them. I hate this place. I don’t ever want
to come here again.’
And
she never had. Not until now...
*
*
Alison stood up, remembering the intervening years. They had been difficult.
Her father, turned in on his own bitterness, had been blind to her confusion
and sorrow. She’d scoured the house for letters, scribbled phone messages,
scraps of paper - anything that could give her a clue to her mother’s
whereabouts, but found nothing. He had eliminated all trace of her –
clothes, jewellery, knick-knacks – even a cheap little watch Alison
had given her mother as a birthday present – every last vestige of her
was gone. Her mother was a wraith, a treacherous ghost, consigned to
a dim region of dangerous thoughts and dark memories.
Once,
in her search, Alison found, stuck down the back of a drawer, a flowered
blouse her mother had often worn. She’d taken it to bed with her for
several nights, burying her face in it in a desperate effort to evoke
her mother’s scent, but her father, tight-lipped, had found and burnt
it. In the end, the longing for her mother had turned first to anger,
and then to a complete denial of her existence.
Marriage,
and the birth of her own two children, had brought some much needed
love and stability into her life, but, every now and then, something
would happen to cause a crack in her walled-up emotions. Her father’s
death five years ago had been one such occasion. Her marriage had caused
a rift between them, for he’d accused her of abandoning him, the same
as his wife had done.
And then, three years ago, the Christmas cards from her mother had
begun to arrive, the first one re-directed from her old home; the others
sent directly to her, begging forgiveness and asking her to make contact.
She’d ignored them, but, for some inexplicable reason, had kept them
safely in a drawer.
*
*
‘Feeling better?’ Ian put an arm around her and kissed her cheek.
Alison,
lost in memories, started at his touch. ‘A little. But I really don’t
see the point of coming back here. It’s not going to change anything,
Ian.’
‘I
don’t know about that, love. Look – the rain’s stopped, and I think
that’s a blink of blue sky over there.’
She
smiled weakly. Dear Ian. He tried so hard, so very hard – and sometimes
she was terrified he’d lose patience with her and leave. She walked
to the water’s edge, suddenly making up her mind to try and share the
children’s happiness and excitement for their and Ian’s sake. It was
the least she could do.
Gradually
the weather cleared up enough for them to have their picnic on the sand,
now sparkling white in the midday sun. The sea, brushed by a magic wand,
had cast off its grey cloak, and was now clad in brilliant turquoise
and sapphire blue. Below the water, transparent as glass, swaying fronds
of seaweed cast purple shadows on the sand beneath.
Gradually,
a sense of calm crept over Alison. She had forgotten how beautiful this
mystic island could be. It was beginning to weave its old magic spell
over her. A ripple of memories flowed through her mind, bright as the
sea – images of happy days she’d spent here with both her parents.
Suddenly she knew – without any doubt – that her mother had never
stopped loving her. She might not understand why she had abandoned
her, but Alison now felt ready to give her a chance to explain.
She
picked up her anorak to shake the sand from it. An envelope fell from
the pocket and she realised instantly what it was - her mother’s last
Christmas card. Ian must have put it there. She ought to be angry, but,
taking one look at his anxious face, smiled at him reassuringly.
‘You
don’t give up easily, do you? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve got
writing paper and a stamped envelope with you as well.’
He
laughed, relieved. ‘Not quite, but I do have those back at the
hotel if you need them.’
‘Come
here, you. I want to show you something.’ She hauled him to his feet
and, arm round his waist, pointed towards the ocean. ‘Tell me what you
see, Ian.’
He
looked puzzled. ‘See? Nothing but sky and the Atlantic, stretching right
from here ... to America, I suppose. What do you mean?’
‘The
story goes that when St Columba was exiled from Ireland, he decided
to land here on Iona, because, when he looked back, he could no longer
see his homeland.
‘What
are you trying to tell me?’
She
smiled at his puzzled face.
‘He
was starting a new life... leaving old problems behind him... going
on to new challenges. Perhaps it’s about time I did the same. Please
forgive me for giving you such a hard time for so many years.’
He
swept her into his arms and kissed her hard. ‘Nothing to forgive, love.’
‘Mum
– ‘Ben was tugging at Alison’s trousers. ‘Look what Kirstie’s found.’
Kirstie
opened her clenched palm carefully. In it lay a round, shiny green pebble
of Iona marble.
‘I
found this in the sea, Mum. Isn’t it pretty? Do you think it’s magic?’
‘I
think it probably is, Kirstie, and I know it brings good luck.’
The
pebbles were very rare nowadays, and found only higher up the shore,
never in the sea. Alison’s imagination took flight. Perhaps it was one
of the same stones she’d thrown in the ocean all those years ago. On
a day like this, anything was possible.
‘Come
on, kids – race you to the water.’
Laughing,
and hand in hand with Ian, she ran down through the white sand towards
the sea.