Loves Dream

By Anna Rose

It is the 1950's and Fiona McLean a beautiful young woman daughter of Scottish laird Donald McLean and French wife Josephine lives with her parents and young brother.

Newly trained as a teacher although she has a priveleged and relatively happy life she is restless, constrained by the traditions of her heritage and often dreams of more distant horizons.

But it is only a dream and would likely have remained so without the impetus of the tragic loss of both her mother and brother together in a freak sailing acccident. Left heartbroken her father appears unable to cope and Fiona is left to step in and oversee the affairs of both the estate and a fleet of fishing trawlers while she too deals with her own grief and time passes.

Until finally driven by the need to escape her pain and make a new life for herself she, with the encouragement of her beloved Aunt Anne does make the decision to follow her dream. It is not easy and she is beset with guilt when the time comes to step onto the plane and leave her father and all that she knows behind her to go to Australia.

Taking up the position of relief teacher in a small rural country town it is hot and it is challenging in the extreme, in every sense and yet she is determined it will not overwhelm her so much so when she is offered a permanent position she accepts with alacrity.

Much in demand with the local boys she shows little interes that is not until the fun loving David Callahan finally captures her attention and eventually her heart and just as she is beginning to believe she can make a new and happy life for herself in this country when tragedy strikes again.

This time it is her father, another boating accident, or is it, and lying in hospital unconscious and possibly dying she feels torn but compelled to return to be with him. His life while he lays unconscious is under threat from persons yet unknown as the police investigate and Fiona is not averse to becoming involved.
Then there is the devastingly attractive Paul Enright who appears on her doorstep. A sailing afficendo like herself the attraction is immediate but he is married and she loves another, and besides, is he friend or foe.
Then there is Grandmother Nicolette Delacroix haughty, aristocratic and very wealthy never a favorite with her granddaughter nevertheless a trip to Paris, a visit to the family vineyards, the presentation of jewels worth a fortune and the proposition of becoming her heir leaves Fiona breathless and yet oddly reluctant to accept.
She still wants to live her own life, one of her own choosing and so much would have to change and yet what of David. His silence is becoming worrying and then there is Paul whose pursuit of her is becoming quite blatant despite the haughty Charlotte his wife.

Meanwhile her father languishing for months in his twilight state happily begins to show signs of recovery. And it is then Anne confesses she has always loved him and plans to tell him so when he becomes fully cognizant again. Something she has never doubted.

Paul Enright's true colours are finally revealed and the law is very interested. David Callahan arrives unannounced. Donald McLeans recovery is complete and he and Anne marry as do David and Fiona soon after, in the little village church where she and generations of her family before her have been baptized.

Then a honeymoon in Paris, the acceptance finally of her Grandmother's truly amazing proposal and their return to Australia. She to her teaching job and his as headmaster at the nearby high school. Two people in love and just happy to be together no matter where the future may take them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anna Rose
• Release date: Jul 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301020546

Anna Rose

Anna Rose, farmer, business woman, mother and sole parent to her four now adult children and now retired lives on the coast in the beautiful and diverse South West of West Australia. With the time now to seriously pursue her love of writing when she is not doing that she will be found out in her garden or further afield walking on the beach or through the bushland. Someone who feels strongly about inequality, injustice, our environment and being a voice for animals she has always been vocal on these issues and remains so and her first novel Loves Dream quickly followed by the second Where the Heart Is, available shortly, while love stories both draw on these issues. Set in the 1950/60's with rural based settings the first in Scotland and the next in Australia they each tell the story of a young woman's journey of growth and self discovery, of romance, conflict and love.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

A young woman, striking of figure, tall and statuesque, fair of complexion although now lightly tanned by the Australian sun, an unruly mop of richly auburn hair, gold flecked eyes, generous and unassuming of nature unless stirred to passion, she sat now as if a statue.

The cup of coffee clasped in her hands and long grown cold, remained untouched and forgotten as she stared unseeingly out across the panorama before her. The amazing colors of the bush-land, the tall graceful eucalyptus fringing the river curving around the small township nestled there which she never failed to marvel at, this moment such was her anguish it simply did not register.

She sighed heavily and uncomfortable, moved slightly to adjust her position but other than that she had little inclination to move any further. All she had agonized so long about leaving behind now here she was faced with returning to it and in doing so leaving her without any certainty as to the future she had envisaged for herself in this country. And yet she had known immediately on hearing the dreadful news that there was no alternative, her father needed her and that was where she would be, with him.

Of course she was far too practical of mind to indulge in superstition, but even so she was tempted at this moment to believe that somehow, in daring to cast off her old life and in doing so find a whole new meaning to happiness, she had sorely tempted the fates of good fortune.

Again she moved restlessly, stretching her long legs before her, but still much disinclined yet to start the process she sat on. The thought of leaving was an impossible one to contemplate, of leaving David, her job, her life here, but the thought that she might never see her beloved Da again, that she may already be too late, was equally untenable. It was an impossible situation.

She thought back to that time of her departure from her home, her native Scottish home, to when she had last seen him and the tragic events preceding then. For it had been those which had finally propelled her into the decision to leave the only home she had ever known, to bring the desire to leave into actuality and to take that step into the unknown.

The decision, when she made it. To leave the only life she had ever known, leaving behind those who were left to her had not come easily. To leave it and go and live on the other side of the world, to embrace a way of life entirely unknown to her, no it had not been easy. She remembered how just making the decision had been hard enough, but then once she'd made it finding the courage and determination to bring it into reality that had been a whole other thing altogether.

************

She had always been beset with a restlessness she had never understood, always questioned what everyone around her appeared to accept as normal, saying as they had that that was just the way it was. Something she had never quite been able to accept. That no one seemed to have the same curiosity as she did to find out any different had baffled her for she had an enquiring mind and even as a child she had just known there just had to be a much bigger and broader world out there beyond the narrow and traditional life she inhabited. It wasn't that she was unhappy not really for she had always been surrounded by a loving family, had never known anything other, and she was sure that is how it would have continued had fate not taken a very cruel hand.

Rocking the very foundations of her young life, torn it asunder and thrown her into such a dreadful chaos of pain and loss changing her life for ever thereafter. That one fateful day, the day her mother and brother for no particular reason, probably only because Jamie had wanted to take out his prized ketch for a run, had gone out together and never returned.

A freak sailing accident, they had said, her mother and her brother both lost to her. Taken just like that, gone from her life. Lost at sea, both of them excellent sailors, their bodies picked up days later, it hadn’t seemed conceivable. Her beautiful mother so full of life and her beloved brother, her very best friend in the world, it had been shocking to her in its extreme.

Then as if trying to deal with her own grief, had not been unbearable enough worse and to her dismay had been then having to watch her beloved Da crumble before her eyes. The proud, taciturn Donald McLean, a man known for both his physical prowess and strength of character appeared even to lose the will to live and this had truly terrified her.

Afraid that he too might sail out to sea and never return she had, with a Herculean effort, somehow managing to put aside her own grief became as the parent, watching over him. With an estate and a fleet of fishing trawlers to oversee, neither of which he evinced the slightest interest in, she already familiar with much of what needed to be done at age twenty and just out of teachers college, with the support of her beloved Aunt Anne she had taken on that mantle.

It had been a struggle, an intense one, just getting through each day but at least forced into activity, at times she was almost grateful for it, for it had allowed her neither the time nor energy to think of anything other and mercifully at night to fall exhausted into a dreamless sleep. It dulled her own pain and left scarce room to give credence to any other feelings she may have still harbored had she not, on a particularly low day begun to reminiscence to her aunt on what it was she had one day hoped to do.

Confiding that she had always dreamed of traveling, of seeing more of the world beyond her own small one, they were thoughts she had never ever shared with anyone before and had it not been Anne she was sure she never would have. Or that she would have ever done anything about this restless desire hidden away there and it would have remained just that.

Later recalling her surprise at her Aunt’s immediate and succinct response, stating as she had that she understood perfectly what her niece was saying. And further neither was she in the least surprised and that in her opinion she, Fiona McLean, should do something about it. That if she didn't it would be something she would regret, that she would never be entirely happy unless she did and that, emphasizing this as she did, she should not let anyone or anything dissuade her and so it had been that in a few uncompromising sentences, her Aunt had coalesced all those vague yearnings for her. Adding only that one had a long time to live with regrets about the things on which they hadn’t acted and she had enlarged no further.

The subject had been dropped at that point, however its effect had been profound, for once planted the idea had become impossible to dislodge. Had there-on cast her into the most awful conflict given the circumstances of that time but eventually it had come to a point of inevitability.

She'd had to steel herself of course, become almost blinkered in her determination to keep moving forward, to get through the process of bringing it to fruition. How even when the actual time of departure arrived she had been unbelieving still and it had been as much with trepidation as excitement that she had finally after two years stepped onto the plane. The final goodbye to her Da had very nearly undone all her resolve and she had arrived in Australia apprehensive still wondering at what she had done but not quite able to suppress the little bubble of excitement she had felt.

CHAPTER TWO

For such a long time her grief had remained too raw and painful a thing for her to talk about but, and it had taken time, gradually as she begun to forge her new life in this new country she had begun to heal. The painful memories began to lose their sharp edge and she found herself increasingly able to talk of them without undue distress. Even able to go beyond that time and recall all the happy memories before that awful tragedy had overtaken and obliterated everything.

She recalled how guilty she had begun to feel at one time, when in some muddled way she had begun to believe that her new found happiness had come at the cost of the lives of those she loved. Fortunately rational thinking eventually prevailed and she overcame this but for a time she remembered how it had almost come to the point of destroying this happiness.

Now sitting here, midst everything she had come to love about this place, thinking of all these things, of her aunt, of all the things which had been, finally the tears which had remained frozen behind her eyes since learning the news of her Da began to flow. Hot and scalding as they coursed down her cheeks and she made no effort to hold them in check, nor her thoughts as they continued to tumble chaotically around in her head.

How well she remembered the time when she had finally found the courage to tell her Da of her plans to leave and how he hadn’t seemed at all surprised. How in fact he had appeared to be quite accepting of them and how throughout, while she had gone about making her preparations he had neither indicated, nor said anything to dispel that impression. Managing even to give the impression he hadn't really cared, which while it had made it easier for her in a way, she recalled how in some perverse she had felt hurt.

The truth and the degree to which he had gone to hide his true feelings had only become clear to her when it had come time for them to say goodbye and she witnessed the struggle he had trying to hide the pain and bewilderment clearly etched on his face. And it was this which had haunted her for sometime after and now to hear that he right at this moment lay unconscious possibly dying in hospital it was too much.

It just wasn't fair, and now she did dash angrily at the tears, hadn’t he, hadn't they all suffered enough, but it was no use, for even as she silently railed at the injustice of it all, a part of her already knew it changed nothing. And that she, like everyone else affected were ultimately going to have to deal with it as best they could.

She stood, stretched, moved tentatively towards the open doors, and yet still weighted with this unnatural heaviness which had beset her, she turned back and sat down again. There was so much to organize but all she really wanted to do for the moment was sit with her thoughts and let them go where they would. She thought of how so much had changed for her since she had first arrived here in this place.

*********

After leaving in mid winter then traveling half way around the world to step into the searing heat of an Australian summer had been testing in the extreme. Then having to travel a further 60miles inland by train to reach her final destination to take up her post as a relief teacher in the local primary school in the small country town she had felt she might surely die so overwhelmed had she felt.

She had stepped off the train onto an empty platform and on looking around her she had then seriously doubted the wisdom of what she had done. Feeling like an alien in an alien landscape, it was relentlessly hot and the few straggly trees offered minimal shade and there was little to see other than red bare earth in every direction. The twin rails of the railway line shimmering in the heat snaking off into the distance it had been a desolate introduction to this new country.

Standing there surrounded by all her luggage she had been sorely tempted to simply sit and wait for a train coming the other way and get on it and catch the first plane back home. And likely that is exactly what she would have done if appearing as it had out of a cloud of dust a vehicle hadn't pulled up beside her and a cheery voice had greeted her by name. Said he was awful sorry he was late, had got held up, that his name was Fred and he was here to pick her up and take her into town and that the missus was expecting her.

It had been the friendly tone that decided her she had thought later, and so she had allowed him to take her luggage and followed him back to his vehicle and from then on her perspective had begun to change. Fred Page and his wife Mavis had been kindness itself, fussed over her, saw to it that she was settled comfortably and the town, that had been a big surprise. Sitting as it did on the bank either side of the river which ran through it, for it was tidy and attractive, with plenty of trees and comfortable homes with well tended gardens and green lawns lining its streets. The main street consisting of a variety of eye catching shop fronts and the public buildings many of them old colonial were well maintained and with it's air of pride and prosperity it had been an altogether reassuring sight for a then overwhelmed new chum.

She had stayed with Fred and Mavis in their lovely old homestead on the edge of the town, moving out only after she had accepted the permanent posting offered her some six months later. Their concern for her well being had helped enormously, yet as a new chum it had still been difficult.

She had been homesick and she'd had to learn to adapt in so many ways, and the challenges had been daily, but determined adapt she had. To the climate, to the job, to the people and the way things were done to a point that when her term was up she had accepted the permanent position offered with alacrity. Then finding and moving into a place of her own overlooking the township she had settled in and more and more had begun to think of it as her home.

She'd learned along the way to take the gentle ribbing it seemed all new chums were subjected too in her stride and laugh along with them. Learnt to see behind the words and recognize the kindness and generous spirit of these people and in doing so her sense of isolation had begun to dissipate and a whole new way of life begun to open up to her and three years later she still loved every minute of it.

Loving it all, her work, the people, the easy uncomplicated way of life, everything about it thrilled her and then later with a wonderful partner, oft times she’d had to stop herself and wonder that she were not dreaming. Her future looking to be one so different from anything she could have ever imagined, but so much more than she would have ever hoped for. She enjoyed a freedom hitherto unknown, she was happy, she woke with a smile to each new day, she sang in the shower, reveled in her work and at night as she lay nestled in beside her sleeping partner she would say a silent thanks for it being so.

Now, a phone call later and again she found herself cast into chaos, feeling as if everything, all her dreams, hopes, her happiness were about to be torn asunder. With little idea of what heart rending realities she was likely going to have to confront once again or what was going to be required of her she felt her heart weigh heavily in her chest. But, and she pulled herself up sharply, she simply could not let herself go there.

She thought of her job and how she would miss it so, the school presenting a relaxed and cheerful environment with 200 or so students, most arriving from bus from the outlying districts. Consisting of a series of long loosely grouped brick buildings joined by wide covered walkways and surrounded by shady trees, well tended gardens and lawns it had appealed to her immediately. And how she had delighted in the more relaxed approach and style of teaching and the general amiability of her students towards learning, added to which, right from the outset she had been made to feel welcome by fellow teachers, staff and students alike.

For a time, her broad accent, together with her inability to understand the strange abbreviated Australian way of talking, had been the cause of quite some confusion and hilarity on both sides. Then when she had found herself slipping into the more commonly used Australian vernacular but still spoken in her Scottish brogue how this in itself became a further source of good humored ribbing.

Given first impressions she had been wont to believe that lessons and learning to her students were not a matter of great importance, but this she quickly discovered couldn’t have been further from the truth. There were a few class jokers, and classes did get noisy at times, but there were never any serious disruptions, she had no truancy or behavioral problems and the work her students turned into her, without fail, she found a sheer delight to mark and that had never changed. She was going to miss them all.

CHAPTER THREE

She recalled how those early days the attention and scrutiny she had received as a single, unattached and attractive female, this particularly from the male fraternity. It had been intense and the invitations to date had been numerous and constant but because she hadn't particularly wanted to date any one person she'd had to devise ways to decline without giving offence. But then neither had she wanted to become isolated and so she'd come to a compromise, joining in community activities or going out with a group and eventually the message had become clear and individual invitations had dwindled and eventually stopped.

It wasn't that she didn't like the young men who asked her out for they seemed nice enough, it was just that entanglement was something she'd had little inclination for right then; finding for the most part she enjoyed her times of solitude and the reflection it afforded her. That was until purely by chance she met David Callahan, well that was how it had seemed to her at the time, only later had she come to think that perhaps it hadn't been quite so much by chance after all. Not to say though that first impressions there had been at all favorable, for they hadn't, not from her point of view anyway.

She thought then on that first time they had met and despite herself found herself smiling. Everyone gathered at the local swimming pool seeking respite from the heat of the summer months and she more than most had soon found her way there. A strong swimmer, a requirement of survival when one spent a good deal of time on a fishing trawler, but grey and mostly freezing waters, gave one very little inclination for voluntary immersion and so to be able to swim in the still water warmed by the sun she found an entirely new and pleasurable experience. Preferring to go to the pool in the early morning when no one else was about it had been then on one such morning they’d had their first encounter.

As she recounted it later, after he had sneaked in so she wouldn't see him and then jumping off the high diving board, letting out a blood curdling yell as he did, he had not only scared her half witless, but had nearly drowned her as well. Something to which he always countered she exaggerated but even so she had left the pool that morning, after dressing him down in no uncertain manner, declaring that if she never saw him again would be fine by her. Further infuriated by the fact that he had appeared not in any way the least apologetic, had simply grinned up at her from the water throughout her whole tirade delivered hands on hips from the edge of the pool.

Even after discovering that he was in fact the Principal at the nearby senior high school and that she would hardly be able to avoid him, she hadn’t been about to change her opinion, and those inevitable times when they did meet for some time had remained determinedly cool on her part.

For his part however, he had been persistent and eventually his overtures finally succeeded in breaking her down and she had agreed to date him. As she said later and here she likened him to a friendly and gregarious St Bernard, he had simply worn her out, she’d had to give in so as he would just stop pestering her. But very soon they were spending all their free time together and then a year later it had seemed the most perfectly normal thing for him to move in with her and with no regrets on either side he was still there two years later on.

He'd had a house provided for him with his job but even though it was the early sixties and things had been changing, unmarried couples living together still wasn't a readily acceptable arrangement and it would never have been allowed for her to move in with him. Not that she had wanted to anyway, for she liked her own place and it hadn't bothered David in the least where they lived. People she remembered had talked at first, but they hadn't let it bother them and eventually the whispering had stopped and it was just accepted.

She knew she hadn’t been in love with him then, but that hadn’t seemed to matter. A tall, athletically lithe man, with a mop of hair bleached fair by the sun which he was constantly pushing off his forehead and a big cheeky smile and with soft brown eyes, she liked him a lot. He was easy going and fun to be around and different from anyone she’d ever known before and he’d made her feel happier than she had for a long time.

At his insistence, quite early on into their relationship despite her protestations she had been taken to meet his parents who lived in the city. His mother a headmistress of a prestigious girls college, his father a Professor of Physics at one of the city's University’s and his brother and sister both still at University, one studying law and the other architecture, she had been fully expecting it to be a daunting experience. However it hadn't been.

Entirely the opposite in fact for they proved to be an entirely unpretentious and naturally friendly people and his parents Eloise and David snr and his siblings had warmly welcomed her and gone out of their way to make her feel at ease. If they didn't approve of their son's living arrangements there was certainly no hint of it, ever. Obvious from the outset that they were a very close knit family, it had not been difficult to see why David was the friendly and open natured person he was. Seeing them altogether and watching the familiar interchange between David and his siblings Peter and Andrea and their parents had initially stirred up painful memories.

Family around her was what she had missed most, but it hadn’t been long before she began to feel as if she had found herself another family as they often went to the city of a weekend and stayed with his parents in their beautiful riverside home. Sleeping in separate rooms, an arrangement, not that it was foisted upon them, which they had agreed was for the best while in his parent's house.

Occasionally going with them to various events or ‘do’s’ as David's father called them and all of them mad keen sailors they always managed to get some sailing in. Impressing all with her sailing prowess and for all that sailing had been an integral part of her life, came to her naturally, she nevertheless felt very pleased with herself and basked in the warmth of the praise heaped upon her. What she could have told them though was that in comparison to the heavy lumbering fishing trawler on which she’d learnt, sailing such a pretty and beautifully responsive craft as theirs presented her with little difficulty.

CHAPTER FOUR

She began to think back on how her day today had started…………

Starting like any other rolling out of bed on the alarm with a sense of pleasurable expectation thinking of nothing other than her full and riotous day ahead of her. Never having been an enthusiastic morning person ever since deciding that an early morning jog was something she wanted to do, waking early to her had become second nature. Surprising even herself at how quickly she had adapted to this new regime, at how she had come to enjoy the challenge of it, in the way it pushed her both mentally and physically.

It never took her more than a few minutes to pull on track pants, don a light tee shirt, shove her feet into her joggers, draw her hair back catching it up with an elastic band and be out the door. This morning a slight chill in the air and an early morning mist had been reason to brace herself but after slipping easily into a steady rhythmic pace she was soon warm.

The feeling that the world alone belonged to her as she slipped through the shadowy half light world of the early morning, her breathe, the occasional bird call and her footfall on the ground passing under her feet the only sounds. It was exhilarating and this morning had been no different, leaving her as it always did with a wonderful feeling of well being. She could now think of no better way to start her day.

Not one given particularly to thoughts of God or the like, even so, as she moved through this sleeping shadowy world, she was often aware of the sensation, a feeling, as if somehow she were a part of something much bigger than herself. It was an oddly reassuring feeling that stayed with her.

As she did every morning, she nudged her sleeping partner awake before setting out and he had, as he did every morning rolled over and pulled the bedclothes back over himself while muttering incoherently. Nevertheless she knew he would eventually stumble out of bed, be showered and have breakfast ready by the time she got back.

At first she had hassled him about coming out with her, but he had remained adamant in his refusal and eventually she had given up, was now in fact rather glad that he hadn’t wanted to, not that she would have told him that though. It was just that he liked to talk and this now she knew was something she would have found annoying in the extreme.

While she knew he still considered her early morning jog all a bit of a mental aberration and one that would eventually pass it had been his idea however to have her wake him before she went out. Making it by way of a grand declaration he had stated that this would ensure the bathroom was clear for her and that she started off the day with a good breakfast. That this would be his contribution to the cause, that and the fact that someone had to see it she kept her strength up for those other extra-curricular activities as well. She knew what he was alluding too.

This latter always said with a suggestive wink and she would know he was teasing and should ignore him but as often as not she would pick up something and throw at him before stalking off. To which he only ever responded to by laughing uproariously. That her enthusiasm in this area of their relationship remained markedly less than his was the only thing on which they differed. She liked, enjoyed sex as much anyone she always told herself, was perfectly happy with the way things were and besides for all his teasing she didn’t think it troubled him all that much anyway.

From her point of view they got on well together but their differing points of view in relation to the intimate side of their relationship was something she remained disinclined to discuss. Fortunately David was a considerate lover and other than the occasional tease he didn't press her on her reticence.

A social animal, he liked to talk and was unfailingly cheerful no matter the time of day, whereas, she definitely was not, stating as she had from the outset that she infinitely preferred silence in those hours between rising and nine in the morning. Claiming by way of explanation she felt she did enough talking through the rest of the day to make up for any lack then.

Not that this stopped him and he talked on regardless which oft times made her feel a little mean spirited and so by way of compromise she'd learned to listen. Besides she liked listening to his voice, there was a certain quality to it, a lovely warm resonance which she found pleasing. Not that she would own this to him but more and more she had come to see that he was good for her, begun to wonder if in fact she were not in love with him.

Nearly home, her long legs moving rhythmically, effortlessly covering the ground, the steady pulsing of her heartbeat in her ears, feeling such a surge of happiness she had found it impossible not to whoop out loud. Startling as it had several kookaburra's nearby their indignant response setting her off into a fit of laughter she'd had to stop for a moment to catch her breathe.

*********

Morning Miss McLean, an assorted chorus of cheery voices greeted her as she entered the classroom.

Good morning everyone, she responded in kind looking around the roomful of smiling faces, now let me see, Jeremy, you can call the roll this morning. And with that the said Jeremy shot to front of the class and amid the usual chorus that always greeted the so chosen each morning proceeded with some exaggerated posturing to read out and tick off the names. Thus her school day began.

Right now I want you to get your reading books out, they were currently reading White Fang, an old favorite of hers, and Jenny you can be the first to read, I want you to turn to page twenty four and when you’re ready; thank you. About to admonish the class to be quiet there was a knock on the door and the head of one of her colleagues appeared around the door.

Fiona the head wants to see you in her office now, I’m to stay until you get back. No sorry, haven’t a clue, she didn’t say, she shrugged in response to Fiona’s questioning look.

Ooh Miss you’re in for it now, a chorus of voices chortled around the room. Miss Emily Brede the headmistress was well known as a person not to be trifled with.

Quiet now, Miss Johnson will listen to your reading until I get back, and behave yourselves. No one wants to stop in at lunchtime do they?

No Miss. A unison of the most innocent sounding voices responded and suppressing a smile she left and yet she had not quite been able to ignore a faint anxiety, a sense of uneasiness as she hurriedly made her way to the Head’s office.

This was not usual practice. Emily Brede was not given to calling her teachers out midway through their classes and this in itself was reason enough to feel uneasy. She got on well with Emily and was certain she hadn’t done anything serious enough to warrant such attention, but that hadn't helped allay her anxiety.

Ahh Fiona, there you are, do come in, sit down. Emily’s pleasant and smiling greeting gave no indication there was any cause for alarm, yet her growing sense of uneasiness did not diminish as she sat where indicated. In one of the group of large easy chairs grouped around a low round table reserved for meetings with parents and visitors, not staff members. Interviews with staff were always conducted across Emily’s huge desk and always in a strictly formal manner.

Coffee, tea, the Head asked her. Fiona shook here head, neither were they offered coffee was her thought as she waited while the head took the chair across from her. Her expression she noted then settled into a more serious expression.

You’re of course wondering the reason for your being here and so my dear I shan’t keep you guessing. I have just received a phone call, from your Aunt Anne. Now her heart plummeted, her immediate thought dear God what now. The head mistress wasted no time and continued.

Your aunt asked me to tell you that while she hadn’t really wanted to have to call you with such news, she had felt it important you should know. It seems my dear, here the other paused for a moment, there has been some kind of accident. She didn’t go into details, only that your father is in hospital and I do believe she said is presently unconscious. That is all I can tell you, other than for you to give your Aunt a call as soon as you can. My dear this is most distressing news, and I am ever so sorry. She reached over and patted Fiona on the hand, and of course you must take the rest of the day off and do what you have to. Just let me know though as soon as you can what is happening and what you decide to do.

Fiona sensed immediately her headmistress was already thinking that she would be needing time off. Reeling from the suddenness of the news and yet not able to fully comprehend what she’d just heard, in her head she heard herself screaming, no, no, no, not again. So clearly for a moment she thought she must have uttered them but no sound had escaped her lips.

Her only coherent thought was it just couldn’t be happening all over again, wasn’t it enough that she’d had both her mother and brother taken from her, now her father. An accident, unconscious, in hospital, what did that mean? She mustn’t over react, she told herself. She needed to speak to Anne. Maybe it wasn’t so serious and that Anne had just thought that she should know.

Her head whirling, she was conscious of getting up out of the chair, heard herself thanking the head, saying that yes the moment she knew more she would let everyone know. She was aware of leaving the building, of driving home, but all she could think of was her beloved Da, that after all he had been through, he could even right now be dying and here she was twelve thousand miles from him on the other side of the world.

Vaguely she recalled it would be the middle of the night in Scotland as the phone began to ring. Imaging her aunt reaching for her gown, pushing her feet into her slippers, stumbling to find the light switch on her way to the phone she was startled when she answered almost immediately. Of course she would have been waiting for Fiona to call. It was serious then.

Hello Fe darling, on hearing the soft calm voice with it’s rich Scottish burr, it was too much and all her good resolve to remain calm fled, and tears welled up.

Come now there is no need to greet so lassie, Anne wasn’t one given to displays of emotion, but even despite the calm voice she wasn't entirely able to conceal an underlying note of anxiety from her niece.

Tell me how bad is it, what happened. Is my Da going to die, the words tumbled out.

There was a momentary silence. Fe your father has had a bad accident, and he is in hospital and right now he is still in a coma, but he is not going to die. He’s far too tough for that and besides, she paused, you know how he wants to see you married, with a whole gaggle of kiddies and be a granddaddy. So you see it can't possibly happen yet. Despite herself she felt her mouth curl up into a smile. Anne was always able to do this for her.

A conventional man, it was a point on which she and her Da had always vehemently disagreed, to him a woman's place was in the home. That she married, she had children and stayed at home to raise them and look after her husband and that she didn't need a university education to do this. This despite the fact that his own wife, her mother came and went as she pleased as she pursued her passion for competition sailing, didn't seem to occur to him.

Oh darling Aunt, you make me smile, but it is serious with Dadda isn’t it. Do you know what happened, and do you think I should be there. I should be shouldn’t I? This was a rhetorical question for she had already made her mind up.

Fe dear, I don’t have all the details, but the police are saying it was an accident, some kind of explosion on the boat and Donald was thrown into the water. Would have drowned if Lochie Sutherland and his son Gav hadn’t been nearby and able to get to him quickly and drag him out and resuscitate him. Her aunt's words came quickly as if she needed to get them all out at once.

"They had called up the coast guards immediately it happened so they were able to get there soon after and took him on into the hospital and then came back for the Lady Jean later and towed her in. I will speak to Lochie in the morning and then perhaps will know a little more. I have seen Donald and while he does have some bruising on his body it is not visible and other than he remains in an unconscious state one would think he was perfectly alright.

Our Dr here and the specialist from Edinburgh are both of the same mind, that he should be transferred to Edinburgh General once they consider him stable enough to be moved. Anne sounded breathless but she clearly wasn't done yet and so she made no attempt to interrupt her.

I know he would be dreadfully cross with me for saying this, for he wouldn’t want to be upsetting everything thing for you, having you traveling all that way just for him. I know that's what he'd say, but what I feel and strongly so lass, is that yes if you were here, it would be the verra best thing possible. Anne rarely ever lapsed into the native brogue, only when she was stressed.

Expect me soon then. I shall be on the first flight available to London and come straight on through on the train. I’ll let you know when to expect me. I will ring regularly anyway and you must let me know if anything changes, either way. Dear Aunt, thank you and I know it must be hard for you too.

She had an inkling of just how much Anne cared for her father, something she heartily approved of, had even hoped might develop into something much more.

Tish and nonsense, the response was immediate and sharp but just as quickly the voice softened, don’t you be going worrying about me now, I be fine. We’ll all be fine and we'll be expecting you soon then. Now I best be saying goodbye lass, and say hello to that young man of yours and mind be gentle about how you tell him you’re leaving him so sudden like. And without further preamble she ended