Luke continued with his work. He was just about to return to the basement to inspect the boarded-up section of wall when he noticed that a window frame in one of the passages was in imminent danger of disintegrating if not attended to, so he began making arrangements to repair that first.
The next day, Orla surprised Luke by saying that she’d try again. Like before, she made it down the steps of the castle and began walking across the driveway to Luke’s van. This time, however, she managed to get inside. Luke had made room in the back for One Ear, who hopped in without any great concern, instantly at home.
‘Right – ready?’ he asked Orla. ‘Belt on?’
Orla nodded. She’d lost the power of speech, it seemed.
Luke had already opened the gates and he slowly put the van into gear and drove through them. But, before he’d managed to turn onto the road into the village, Orla screamed.
‘Stop!’
‘You don’t want to go?’
She shook her head.
‘Okay, no problem.’
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry!’ The tears were coming thick and fast now.
‘It’s all right, Orla. Don’t get upset about it. It’s okay.’
As soon as the van was parked, Orla stumbled out, almost falling up the steps to the front door. As before, her shaking hands wouldn’t allow her to use the key so Luke unlocked the door and, like before, gave her plenty of space to recover.
It was two days later before Orla approached Luke again with the idea of going out. By the look on his face, he was surprised that she’d suggested it, but he quickly cleared away his materials and they were, once again, leaving the castle.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked as the three of them walked down the steps for the third time.
‘Determined,’ she said.
‘Good.’
Orla watched as One Ear jumped into the back of the van, as calm as he was the first time. If only she could feel as relaxed as he did, she thought as she climbed up into the passenger seat.
Having opened the gates, Luke started the engine and the van moved down the drive. She could feel Luke’s eyes upon her as they reached the road. This is where she’d bottled out last time and she could feel her heart was racing as the van left the grounds of her home. They were out! They’d made it. Luke turned and grinned at her.
‘Okay?’
She nodded. ‘Okay.’
So, this was her village, she thought as they drove past the red-brick cottages to enter the market square. She really couldn’t remember much about it at all. She’d only driven through it a couple of times when viewing the castle and making the necessary arrangements for moving. She’d gazed down onto the streets from the top of the castle, of course, but it was quite a different experience seeing it from street level. It really was very pretty. There were people too. Orla felt a little shocked to see them at first and pushed her sunglasses further up her nose, making sure, quite unnecessarily, that they were on securely. But nobody was paying her the slightest attention. These were people simply getting on with their day-to-day living – shopping, walking the dog, waiting for a bus or venturing to their allotment.
‘Bill!’ Luke suddenly called, sounding his horn and waving.
Orla nearly leapt out of her seat.
‘Sorry!’ Luke said quickly as Bill waved back at them.
Orla took a few deep breaths before settling down again.
‘That was Bill,’ Luke said.
‘So I gathered.’
They turned out of the village onto a road that went past the primary school and playing fields. Orla didn’t remember any of this at all and she looked at it now as if for the first time. She had managed to shut herself off from the village, but life still very much went on without her.
The van picked up speed as it left Lorford behind, entering the countryside. It was a hauntingly beautiful landscape of massive fields and ebony-dark pine trees, great expanses of heather and, over everything, the deep blue of the sky.
‘Wonderful day to be outside, isn’t it?’ Luke said. ‘How about parking somewhere and going for a walk?’
One Ear barked from the back.
‘Sounds like he’s on board with the idea.’
‘Okay.’ Orla nodded. A walk sounded safe. She could do a walk. A couple of moments later, Luke pulled into a little car park by one of the heaths. Pushing her glasses up her nose again and making sure her hat was firmly in place, she opened the van door and got out. Luke had the back door open for One Ear and he jumped out with one quick move and trotted to his mistress’s side.
The sky was a peerless blue and Orla could hear the spiralling song of a skylark high above. The heath stretched for miles and she imagined that it would be even lovelier when the purple of the heather coloured the landscape later in the summer. Silver birches dotted the heath, their trunks straight and bright. Luke was right, Orla thought. It was a good day to be out amongst it all. She’d done well and Luke had done well to make her do this.
She watched as One Ear poked his nose into the heather, no doubt picking up the scents of rabbits and other rodents. It was good for him to have a new environment to explore. She felt guilty that he didn’t get to go anywhere other than the beach. Not that there was anything wrong with the beach. It was their own little paradise and she felt very lucky to have it on her doorstep, but perhaps it was unfair that One Ear only ever had that
