The next day was a Saturday. May was fast approaching and the weather was turning seasonably warm. Sara stood at their large livingroom bay window, gazing out into the street. Her eyes glanced further down their road until she could just about see Regent's Park. She hadn't ventured down that way yet but knew eventually she would want to. Wandering back into the hall, she called on her maid to fetch her coat. Seconds later, a stout middle aged woman with grey hair appeared before her, holding her coat up for Sara to slide her arms into. Without saying a word, she disappeared off towards the kitchen as Sara stood before the mirror and tied the belt around her waist. She lifted the red cloche hat from the hat stand and placed it on her head, carefully fixing the strands of hair which fell down her cheeks. She studied her reflection in the mirror for a few seconds. Her eyes were powdered dark but her lips remained a natural pink. She had become more aware of what suited her having visited the new make up counters in the nearby department stores. They had become somewhat of a trend in the 20s which they had never been before. A few years ago, Sara would never have dreamed of wearing make up. Before the war, make up was a look reserved only for harlots. No self respecting woman would have been caught dead wearing so much but now, it had become so much more acceptable. Taking one last look, she picked up her purse and walked out the door. The warm air hit her as soon as her foot took one step outside and she closed her eyes to savour the feeling. Looking around, she could see people out walking whether it was with baby carriages or dogs. People smiled at each other, quite a rare occurrence, but the good weather seemed to bring out the best in people, particularly after such a harsh winter. Sara walked down the steps from her front door and took a left. She walked past a few houses, barely paying attention to what was going on when she suddenly felt a bundle around her legs. Startled, she looked down and almost broke into a grin as she took notice of the young boy clinging onto her ankle.
"Hello little man." She smiled, bending down slightly so she was almost at his eye level. "Where did you come from?"
The boy looked up at her, a wide toothy smile playing on his face. Sara could see the mischief radiating from him.
"Karl Thorne!" a womans voice bellowed from a nearby house. Sara looked up to see a woman, not much younger than her, appearing at the doorway. "There you are! Your Uncles would have a fit if you ran off."
"He's quite alright. He had only just appeared." Sara smiled at the woman as she approached cautiously. "My names Sara Lockwood. I just moved in three doors down."
The woman glanced at the hand being held out to her before finally accepting it. "Ada Thorne."
"And this little man is called Karl, is that right?" Sara smiled back down at the little boy who had now detached himself from her. He nodded up at her. "How old is he?"
"He's two, going on twelve." Ada smiled. "Into everything and just won't sit still. Do you have any children?"
Sara shook her head. "Not yet. My husband has been incredibly busy and we just haven't had the time." Not a complete lie, Sara reasoned with herself.
"What does he do?"
Sara stuttered. She wasn't used to people asking questions of her husband. "He's a Doctor. Well a surgeon. He works at St Thomas'"
"Impressive." Ada smiled, although Sara could see that as the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, impressed was the least likely emotion she was feeling. "You're not from around here." It wasn't a question, more than a statement. It wasn't difficult to tell. Sara's American accent stood out like a woman in a coal mine.
"New York." Sara answered. "We just moved here for my husbands work. How about your husband?" She asked, desperately trying to switch the focus from her.
"Dead" Ada answered, rather abruptly, taking Sara aback.
"I apologise." Sara's eyes fell to the little boy at her feet.
Ada shook her head. "Don't worry about it. Come on Karl, you need to be ready for Uncle Tommy." She picked the little boy up from the ground and clung to him. "It was nice to meet you Mrs Lockwood"
Sara watched for a few more seconds as Ada disappeared back into the house. She had whispered a 'goodbye' as they vanished from sight. She started walking again towards the park, her mind suddenly going into overdrive. She realised that she felt incredibly lonely. James was always working, that day was no exception, and Sara was alone a lot of the time. Even when she was at work, Alfie wasn't always there and she spent large parts of the day on her own. She desperately wanted a friend, someone she could talk to, laugh with, go out for the day with, but given her line of work, meeting other women was difficult. She wondered if she and Ada could ever be friends. The woman had been quite distant with her but judging by her admission about her husband, it was hardly surprising.
Eventually she reached the edge of the park. As she made her way along one of the many winding paths, she was surprised at the number of people who had ventured out. The hill tops were shrouded with families having picnics and children playing together. Eventually finding a empty bench, Sara sat down, crossing her ankles, as she continued to watch the scenes play out in front of her. The sun was beating down on her face, her style of hat providing very limited protection from it, and a warm breeze flicked the ends of her hair up so they tickled her ears. The afternoon slowly disappeared from her as she sat doing not much else but observing and before she knew it, the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees. Grasping onto her purse, she stood from the bench and began walking back in the direction she had come from. She was almost at the edge of the park when a young boy, no older than thirteen, came barrelling around the gate, almost knocking her down.
"I'm sorry Miss!" He exclaimed, reaching his hand out to steady her. She looked down at him, her eyes only just peaking out from below the rim of her hat.
"It's alright. Just be careful next time." She straightened her jacket and went to take a step when she saw a small boy clinging to the older ones legs. "I know you. You're Karl aren't you?"
The youngest boy smiled up at her, his toothy grin back on show.
"He's my nephew, Karl Miss." The older boy answered.
"And what is your name young man?"
"Finn. Finn Shelby Miss."
She nodded, scanning over his attire, which seemed very formal for their activities. "And what are you both doing running around the edge of the park?"
He shrugged. "We were with my brother Tommy, but I was playing with Karl and now I can't find him. I'm not sure where my sister's house is. That's Karl's mother"
"Your sisters Ada?" She asked, remembering Ada's mentioning this Tommy character.
Finn nodded. "I can take you there. She lives near me." Sara held her hand out to Karl who happily took it, seemingly trusting the woman. Finn followed alongside her, continuously glancing behind him.
"Is everything alright?"
"I just don't want Tommy to be angry at me." Finn admitted, still looking behind him. "He'll be mad that we ran off."
"I'm sure he'll just be happy that you're safe." They walked for a bit longer before they arrived outside Ada's door. Sara gently knocked the door, passing a smile to Finn and Karl. After a minute, the door slowly opened and Ada cautiously peeked outside, only opening the door fully when she saw who was standing there.
"What are you doing here? Where's Tommy?" She asked them, not acknowledging Sara.
"They got separated but Finn didn't know which house was yours so I brought them back." Sara responded despite not being asked.
Ada glanced up at her, her original hard stare now softening. "Thank you Mrs Lockwood."
"Sara, please." She smiled. She gently pulled her hand, motioning for Karl to come to his mother. "I just didn't want them getting lost. I'm not sure where your brother is."
"We ran away from Tommy, Ada." Finn confessed. "I'm sorry."
Ada tilted her head back and moved out of the way to allow Finn to go inside. She held her hand out for Karl to take it. He released Sara's and hobbled towards his mother. "Thanks again Sara."
Sara smiled to her, turned on her heel and begun making her way back to her house. Just as she was reaching her gate, she heard commotion behind her. Turning her head briefly, she saw a young man running towards Ada's door and banging hard on it. He was hard to make out. His black coat covered most of his body but Sara could see he was well dressed underneath. His peaked cap was pulled down over his eyes and she could see something attached to it, something which glinted in the sunlight but she couldn't make out what it was. Her instincts told her this was Tommy. She watched as Ada finally opened the door. The man was becoming animated as he talked and kept pointed towards the park. She watched as Ada begun pointing up towards her and was suddenly caught off guard as the mans attention drifted from his sister up to her. Realising interest was now on her she pushed the key into her door and stepped inside.
Thank you to everyone who has favourited/followed this story, I really appreciate it! I'd love to hear from you though so please leave a review! Thank you!
