Songbird

“All the time,” she said. “And if I’m honest, I still miss her too. She was such good company, always smiling and helpful; she was a special person. I can’t believe she was only here for such a short time. But how cruel of her, to disappear like that, leaving you and the boy so worried and upset! We’ve never found out what happened, have we?” Sue shivered. It had been a mystery as total as the vanishing of the Marie Celeste. Sheelagh’s clothes and few possessions had been left behind… Sue sometimes secretly wondered if the poor young woman had died – or some such inexplicable thing.

Encouraged by Sue’s comments, Brad opened his heart. “You know how much I loved Penny,” he started. “When I lost her, I thought the world had come to an end. I could never see myself with anyone else.”

He leaned back in his chair, his thoughts returning to the lonely years before Sheelagh had arrived in his life. “Then Sheelagh came along, and wham! Almost without me realizing it, she crept into my heart. She gave me hope for the future.”

“Why do you think you never found her?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I did my best – inquired at all the hospitals, and put notices up, and ads in the papers, but she just vanished without a trace. Someone said they’d seen her making calls from the phone box in the village, so perhaps she had a private life I knew nothing about. She may even have used a false name. I suppose after I asked her to marry me, she took fright and scarpered, which, if I’m honest, was probably for the best. She obviously didn’t feel the same way about me as I did about her. She went, and I had no right to stop her.”

He gave a weary smile. “It was Sheelagh who made me pull myself together,” he confided. “She really wanted me to succeed. She told me I must never let go of my dreams.”

“And after she’d gone, you never did.”

He lapsed into silence for a moment, before saying softly, “I wish she was here now, to share it with me.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I still think you should have gone after her with more determination – searched the four corners of the earth if you had to! After all, what did you have to lose?”

“Maybe you’re right, Sue. Maybe I should have made more of an effort to find her. But she obviously didn’t want me to find her, or she would never have gone off like that in the first place, without so much as a goodbye.” That was the part that really hurt. Remembering what it had done to his young son, he felt angry, too.

Grabbing his coat, he threw it on and thanked her for the tea and apple pie. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, and I’d better get back home to my husband. He’ll be wanting his supper. Pass on my love to Robin then, and don’t forget to give him the benefit of doubt, both as far as his career is concerned, and the girl he’s chosen to be with. Try not to be too critical.”

He laughed. “Critical? Who – me? Shame on you, Sue. When have I ever been critical?”

Sue remained at the window, watching Brad until he was out of sight. Next to her was Roxy, the red setter bitch who had replaced the much-loved Donald when his big doggy heart had given out, years ago. “You’re a proud, unhappy man,” she said to the taillights of Brad’s car. “You should have gone after her.”

It was just after six p.m. when Brad arrived at North Park Road.

When he knocked on the door, it was Dave who answered it.

“Hi, there, Mr. Fielding. They’re next door, Rob and Betsy,” Dave informed him. “Our neighbor collapsed and was taken to hospital. Rob and Betsy have been clearing up for her. I think you’ll find your son replacing a window he broke in the back door when getting into the house.”

He sniggered. “It’s his second attempt – the first one didn’t fit properly. I don’t suppose he took the right measurements, but then again, he’s not all that hot at taking measurements – unless it’s of a girl’s vital statistics.”

Choosing to ignore Dave’s lighthearted banter, Brad clapped him on the shoulder and set off down the path. “Okay, thanks. I’d best go and find him then. See you later, Dave. Your mum’s looking forward to having you at home next weekend. I think she’s planning to fatten you up, so I wouldn’t bother to eat till then, if I were you.” Chuckling to himself, he went round the back of next door, and found his son struggling to get the windowpane to fit.

“Oh, Dad!” Robin’s face lit up on seeing Brad. “I didn’t think you’d be here for at least another hour.”

“Got my work done early,” Brad winked. “Thought I’d catch you unawares.” He rolled up his sleeves, and together the two of them had the pane fitted and sealed in record time.

“Thanks, Dad. I had the blessed thing in once, only it wouldn’t fit properly.”

“So, where’s your girl? Young Dave told me she was round here with you.”

“Betsy’s upstairs, putting the net curtains back up. She’s washed and dried them – got a ton of dirt out of them.”

Brad found her as Robin had said, climbing down from a ladder, and looking flushed and rather disheveled.

“Ah! And you’re Betsy, are you?” Brad said. He thought her to be an attractive young woman.

He went to shake hands, but when she kissed him on the cheek, he was taken aback. “Does your young lady greet all your friends like this?” he chuckled as Robin walked in the door.

“No. Only my dad – I hope?” He gave her a mock severe glance, before introducing them properly.

Brad was interested in the woman who had collapsed and was now in hospital. He wanted to know if she was all right.

Betsy told him how their mate Darren had called her the “Shadow-Thing” because, “You hardly ever see her during the day, and when she’s out at night, she scurries about, hiding her face and avoiding any eye contact.”

“She peeks at us from behind the curtains,” Robin offered. “Betsy feels sorry for her and, to tell you the truth, so do I.”

Brad was sympathetic. “Poor thing. Sounds to me like she’s had a rough deal in life. Otherwise, why would she hide away like that?”

His son told him how Betsy had a theory that she had been a famous singer, fallen on hard times.

Brad smiled. “And what makes you think that, young lady?”

Betsy herself could not altogether explain it, apart from the evidence of the photos but, “The woman in hospital has let herself get into a pitiful state, but even through the layers of clothes and the way she hides under that long scarf, she has a look about her… There’s something really special about her, I can just sense it. It’s as though she’s in mourning or something… but,” she shrugged, “Oh, I don’t know. It’s just that I feel she’s so sad!”

Growing excited, she grabbed him by the hand. “Look, Mr. Fielding – here.” She took him to the wardrobe. “I know we shouldn’t be snooping like this, and Robin thinks I’m mad, but I think this is who she really is.”

When she threw open the doors, Brad stepped forward and as he looked on Maddy’s face, he felt the blood drain from his own face. “Oh, my God!” He couldn’t breathe. “It’s Sheelagh! ROBIN, look – don’t you recognize her? It’s really her!”

When he spun round to look at his son, his voice broke and he was in pieces, laughing and crying all at the same time. “My God, son! That’s Sheelagh, that’s who she must have been before she came to us. Didn’t you know? Couldn’t you tell?”

“It can’t be.” White and shaking, the young man came to see. And when he looked closer, he knew it must be her. “I thought she was f-familiar,” he stammered. “But wearing those clothes, that stage… I didn’t connect her with us.” He looked now, and he could see Sheelagh there, smiling and lovely as he remembered her from a boy. How could he be expected to equate this glamorous woman, with the sorry being who lived here?

He saw the joy in his father’s eyes and his heart went out to him. “She’s not the same, Dad,” he warned. “The Sheelagh we knew is vastly different.”

But Brad wasn’t listening. He was running down the stairs two at a time. “Where is she?” he was shouting. “Which hospital did she go to?”

Nurse Cathy had finished making Maddy comfortable, after a savory supper, followed by a shower and shampoo. “There!” With her long hair combed out and twisted into a plait, and her face glowing, Maddy was sitting up, feeling a whole lot better.

“You look like a different woman,” her old friend was telling her. “With your hair done in that pretty style, we can get a good look at you. You don’t want to hide yourself, dear – not with those cheekbones and those eyes.”

Having grown quite plump, and having acquired a few gray hairs of her own, she leaned forward to smile into Maddy’s face. “I bet you feel much stronger now that you’ve had a little nap and some decent food. With the iron treatment, you’ll be back on your feet in no time at all.”

Maddy merely nodded. “Thank you, Cathy.” She had been silent for so many years, she had forgotten how to converse.

On hearing the doors swing open at the other end of the ward, Maddy glanced up. She recognized the girl, and the young man, as her student neighbors. But who was that with them? That big, broad-shouldered man with the graying hair, almost running up the ward… was he making for her? For one wonderful moment, she thought it was Brad.

But this man couldn’t be Brad, could he? This man was older, slightly heavier. And yet… A strange sensation came over her. She tried to swallow, but the lump in her throat got in the way. And now he was in front of her, and he was crying. Brad was crying! And try as she might, she couldn’t even open her mouth to speak.

Suddenly he reached out and she was in his arms, and all the sorrow and trials of these long years simply melted away in the warmth of his love. “Oh, my darling! I’ve watched for you every day,” he sobbed, and there was desperation in his voice. “You went away, and you never came back. Oh Sheelagh, why did you never come back to us? We missed you so much.” He laughed tearfully. “Donald missed you too!”

Then he held her at arm’s length, reaching up to wipe away her tears; he looked long and hard at her; into those melting brown eyes that had stolen his heart, and the face he had cherished in his dreams. And he could hardly believe that she was here, in his arms. He pressed her close to him.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I’ve loved you since that first day at the garage, and I’ve loved you every minute since!”

“And I’ve loved you,” she whispered brokenly. Hold me.” With both arms she clung to him, as though someone might come and drag her away. “Brad, please… never let me go.”

Watching this amazing, tender scene, the young couple were made to wonder at the pain these two had suffered apart; and they were deeply moved, so much so that for a long time they stood and watched, holding hands, and loving each other all the more.

Gradually, loath to intrude, Robin came forward. “Hello, Sheelagh,” he said shyly, a little boy again and asking for a birthday cake.

Maddy looked up, her eyes alight with recognition. “Hello, Robin.” She hugged this fine young man, then held out her hand to Betsy, who came to sit beside her. “I’ve seen you two,” she said softly. “I’ve watched you from my window, not knowing who you were. But I know, like me and Brad… you two belong together.”