Life Changes (Hope Springs Eternal)

by secwaters

The third of my stories about the Swallows, Amazons, Ds and Eels as adults - this one is set in the 1980s. Once again to make sense of some of the story it helps to have read my previous two! (Rated T as it is really for adult readers who are familiar with all the S & A books.) I've given this a new title as the original has been used here - apologies!

1. Chapter 1

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

not by the author of Swallow and Amazons

CONTENTS

I ALL TOGETHER

II DOT'S THOUGHTS

III TOGETHER AT BECKFOOT

IV DOT REMEMBERS

V NEWS IN THE POST

VI THE BISCUIT TIN

VII EXPLANATIONS

VIII DICK'S DILEMMA

IX REVENGE

X THE MESSAGE

XI BECKFOOT AGAIN

XII NANCY DELIBERATES

XIII WHAT DO WE DO?

XIV PEGGY'S CONFUSION

XV THE BOATHOUSE

XVI SUSAN ON DUTY

XVII BREAKFAST

VIII JOHN'S CONFUSION

XIX WILD CAT ISLAND

XX TITTY ALONE

XXI ROGER TRIES TO UNDERSTAND

XXII RETURN TO BECKFOOT

XXIII DAISY WORRIES

XXIV IN THE KITCHEN

XXV DICK'S ANSWER

XXVI SUPPER

XXVII BECKFOOT PLUMBING

XXVIII GRAND OPENING

XXIX NEW ARRIVAL

XXX NEW BEGININGS

XXXI TOM'S THOUGHTS

AUTHOR'S NOTE

After 1933 we know nothing of the Swallows, Amazons, Ds and their compatriots. In 'Different Territory' I recounted the gathering of some of them in 1947, and what changes took place in their lives. With 'Vanished and Discovered' I told of what paths their lives took in the nineteen sixties. Now it is the nineteen eighties and the childhood friendships are still maintained.

A resident of Secret Water.

2014

TO

AGAIN J FOR STILL MAKING ALL

MY LIFE WORTH LIVING.

CHAPTER I

ALL TOGETHER

"We only seem to meet at funerals now!" Nancy called out as she approached the church. Susan knew this was not true, but knew all too well that Nancy liked to make exaggerated statements about things, often to cover up her true feelings.

Nancy was unusually attired, not only in black, but in a dress, a dress that actually fitted her, that suited her and clearly had been bought for the occasion.

Nancy ran up to Susan and hugged her in greeting as she stood waiting, she too was dressed in black, the starkness of her clothes broken by the colours of her medal ribbons bar immaculately positioned on the left-hand side of her coat.

The village church, quite near to the lake, was on higher ground and stood out from the surrounding woods and the hills, dry stone walls lead up from the road along side the path to those encompassing the churchyard.

Susan was standing by the metal gateway in the wall that surrounded the churchyard, from there she had a view back down to the narrow road, Nancy and Daisy had only just arrived. Susan then in turn greeted and embraced Daisy, similarly in black, who now nervously stood next to Nancy, knowing all too well that even after all these years there still might be one or two people not actually pleased to see her there, she was never sure so she found it was best to be mentally ready.

"Are you alright?" Susan asked her, noticing, and very aware of her possibly being uncomfortable, Daisy smiled weakly and nodded.

The three of them stood chatting about the awfulness of having to meet in such circumstances as they were awaiting the arrival of the hearse, they were soon joined at the gate to the church by Titty and Dick, holding hands as ever, with Dorothea following a few steps behind them. Dick and Dot were also dressed in black, but Titty was wearing a dark red dress, with no dark coloured coat or scarf to somehow tone it down, she could tell from the look on Susan's face that she did not approve.

"Hello Susan, I know, I know, it's too bright, but you know I just cannot wear black!" Susan said nothing. Titty then turned, waited for Dot to catch up and put her arm through hers and drew her close to herself so they stood next to each other. Nancy, Daisy and Susan greeted the three of them, and Susan was pleased to see, despite the solemn occasion, Titty and Dick seemed as happy as ever, it was only Dot that looked mournful. Titty spoke to her quietly hoping the others would not hear.

"Come on Dot, we'll face this all together!" Dick and Susan just looked on at her sympathetically, they were all feeling sad and knew it was not going to be easy for any of them.

"Are the others here?" asked Dick. Susan having got there early, too early really but prompt as always, had been watching the arrivals of mourners, not that there was as many as she expected, but she had been at the church first of all the friends.

"Roger's not here, I thought he was probably not up to it, he understands what's happened but tends to get over-emotional about such things and then panic sets in, then he becomes much more difficult to deal with so I thought it best he stayed at home." Titty was disappointed he was not there but not at all surprised.

"Things are much same with him then." She commiserated with Susan. "I don't suppose you have heard anything from Bridget?"

"Yes, I had a letter in response to mine telling her the news, she's sorry she can't be here, it is a long way, she's fine and still doing well, works too hard, and she hopes to be home for Christmas." Nancy spoke across her.

"Are Peggy and John here yet?" Susan answered her.

"Yes, they arrived just after me, they went straight in to the church. Peggy didn't want to stand around out here, she actually said she would rather not be here at all, which was a bit harsh."

"What about their brats!" Grinning as she asked, Nancy was seemingly enjoying being rude about her only niece and nephew. Susan was always surprised by this, with no children of her own they were a joy to her, but she supposed Nancy was not going to change now.

"No, no, John told them not to come and it would have been difficult for them both to get here from their universities."

At that moment they could see way back down at the lane a slow moving black hearse followed by a black limousine, both polished to an unbelievable shine, eventually the two vehicles pulled up at the start of the path to the church.

The church was not far from the fells where many, many years before all of them had mined for gold, they had found copper but, more importantly, for those who lived there, they had saved a number of farms from a serious fire, something that had been an ever-present danger during that remarkably hot summer. The funeral, as it turned out, was also one of the few occasions they were all together, Swallows, Amazon's and Ds. Daisy, one of the Eels, being no part of the mining adventure years ago was there because of the great love of her life and companion, Nancy.

Over the years it had come about that none of them had married or made any kind of romantic relationship outside the circle of friends, something that had just seemed to have happened by chance. So now they were all gathered once more, fifty-odd years on from those early days, and their childhood-forged allegiances were still as strong. As many old friends did of their age when they gathered together, what brought them closer most often, as now, was the death of one of their number, so it was on this warm but gloomy afternoon in the autumn of nineteen eighty-two.

As they watched the hearse they could see the undertaker's men begin to remove the coffin ready to be borne by them on their shoulders in to the church, as they did the mourners got out of the limousine ready to file in after it.

"Time we went inside!" Commanded Nancy, taking Daisy's hand in her own and then strode, almost pulling her, towards the church door, the others following, yet again almost meekly just obeying the captain's orders.

Almost three-quarters of an hour later, the service was over and they all left the church, there was not a dry eye amongst the women, even Nancy. The friends followed the procession behind the coffin from church to the graveyard, and they ended up standing around the graveside along with a few family members as the vicar carried out the committal. At the appropriate moment the undertaker's men slowly lowered the pale wood coffin, using broad webbing straps through its handles, in to the grave. The vicar intoned the words of the service as many had done before him.

"Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother Timothy Stedding..."

Titty soon stopped listening to the vicar's actual words as she thought of the wooden hutch garlanded with flowers and cut-out letters to make the word 'WELCOME' they had made for Timothy, they had all imagined he was an armadillo shipped to Beckfoot by Nancy and Peggy's Uncle Jim, Captain Flint from South America and who had told them by telegram to give 'Timothy', the run of his study. Dick, similarly distracted, was thinking of how he helped 'Squashy Hat', as they had named the stranger who followed their mining activities in the fells, with the analysis of what had been mined a year later. By then they knew he was Captain Flint's young protégé, and not a rival prospector trying to 'jump' their claim and he certainly was not an armadillo! Nancy too stopped listening and thought of the fells not so far away from where they stood, and how the gold she so wanted to find to impress Uncle Jim with had eluded them.

Nancy's reminiscing was then broken by the sound of a gentle sobbing, not loud but loud enough that she knew it had to be of someone near to her. She looked across to her left to see Dot crying, Titty standing next to Dot delved in to her handbag and after a moment's rummaging passed to her a freshly laundered handkerchief, then continued to look down at the coffin in the grave, its brass plaque the only brightness in the gloom.

Of all of them Titty knew she was the only one who fully understood Dot's grief over Timothy's death.

Nowadays seventy was no longer considered that old, most people of seventy still had much to do with their lives and some, like Timothy, had made plans. But his plans did not allow for his death.

Once the committal was over and the family moved away from the grave, the friends all lined up with the other mourners and paid the necessary, but fleeting, respects to Timothy's widow. They all politely declined the almost obligatory invitation to tea from her, knowing that she and her family would not really want to converse with any of those having a connection of any kind with the late Jim Turner.