I have lost track of time as I sit therestaring at my unwanted delivery. It feels as though the initial thoughts I hadabout whether I wanted to choose to delve into my past and revisit whathappened were being snatched away. There was no choice here. George had seen tothat. He was forcing me into action. Simply burying my head in the sand was notan option.
I hear the crunch of gravel on thedriveway, and it stirs me into action. I hastily shove the postcard into mytrouser pocket and ready myself to greet Janey and Michael.
My two favourite people in the worldmanage to lift my mood somewhat. I get walked through the highlights ofMichael’s game where he (naturally) excelled, making great passes at opportunemoments, and of course scored the penultimate goal in the last five minutes ofthe game.
“Dad, after the game the coach asked tosee me. He thinks I should be trying out for Edinburgh United Junior team!”
“He said, ‘it’s time’, Dad!”
Icouldn’t let the force of those words impact on the reaction my only son waswaiting for. I congratulated him and told him how proud I was whilst those twohaunting words rang in my ears – ‘it’s time …’
CHAPTER 3
George
I
take in my surroundings. This is the first time I haveever visited the Scottish Borders. It is in stark contrast to the landscape ofSkye. It certainly has a beauty of its own that’s for sure and this beauty ismagnified as the pale sun sets over the horizon. Everything Jack Frost hastouched starts to sparkle in the half light. I retreat inside into the warmthof my rental house. A coal fire tempts me in; the flames licking up the chimneyflu. This at least reminds me of home.
I imagine Thomas will have finished hisdays’ work and will be sat down as I am, mulling over the events of the pasttwenty-four hours. I recall the look of horror on his face when he saw me stoodon his doorstep in the middle of the night. There was really no need to pay hima visit at that ungodly hour, but I simply had to get his attention. I wonderif he has received my delivery. What does he make of it?
He will surely be wondering how I trackedhim down after all these years. I am quite sure he thought his old life wasdead and buried. I know he hasn’t been back to Skye since he left school. Butbelieve me I have kept a close eye on the life and times of Thomas Taylor. Ithas been a hobby of mine tracking his comings and goings (always from afar). Itwas unbelievably easy I have to say. If Thomas was trying to stay hidden, hehadn’t made a very good job of it.
He started his studies at the Universityof Edinburgh, graduating with honours gaining a Master’s in Finance. (Localsources told me he’d left Skye to go study at Edinburgh University). From therehe simply wasn’t hard to track down at all. His name often appeared on theirwebsite when he’d gained his next accolade.
Social media was alsoa vast source of information. Thomas himself didn’t have a very active profilebut you can still tell a lot from someone’s friends list. You simply researcheach of the friends listed and slowly begin to form a picture. He was ‘in arelationship’ with a Janey McVie. A beautiful girl who had a vibrancy about herand, it seems, a very driven quality. She was an environmental activist andactive member of the debating team at Edinburgh University. Beauty andintellect, Thomas, how well you have done for yourself! She was an intriguinggirl and yet there was something familiar about her…
Yes, the world wide web is yourone-stop-shop for finding out everything you need to know about someone. Youonly have to type in the person’s name then narrow the search criteria to thecountry you think they live in and the area of their work. ‘Taylor’ is a fairlycommon surname, but ‘Taylor’ combined with ‘Scotland’, ‘Edinburgh University’,and ‘finance’ led me straight to you in no time Thomas. It directed me towardsyour Facebook profile and, whilst I hadn’t seen you for many years, there wasno denying who was staring back at me from the computer screen.
My online searches also allowed me totrack your career progression over the years. You started off as a traineefinancial adviser at Standard Life headquarters in Edinburgh. It didn’t takelong for you to climb the ranks and make a name for yourself. You wereheadhunted and went to work for a prestigious financial advisory office in thecity centre. The website for this company had a lovely photo of you, Thomas; asection devoted to you headed ‘all about me.’ Wonderful reading, I must say;hearing about all your achievements and what an outstanding and well-respectedfinancial adviser you had become. You did not stop there, oh no, the sky’s thelimit with you, Thomas! You made a name for yourself and built up a devotedclient bank and settled in the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders.There you took the helm as Area Director and lead financial adviser (coveringthe Borders region) for a large financial advisory service with officesthroughout Scotland. And this leads us to present day …
You see, Thomas, you may think you leftSkye and you left it all behind but there’s a paper trail which led me straightto your front door. I have patiently waited over the years for just the righttime to approach you and that time is now. If you were trying to cover yourtracks, you did not make a very good job of it. Yes, to the onlooker, youreally
