Joey

Jack watched with some degree of amusement as his wife flitted to and fro across the pretty little room that they had, jointly, decided was to be the Entwistle family's sitting room, frantically rearranging pictures, flowers, ornaments -- anything rather than being still. "Joey, for Heaven's sake, stop," he finally said. "You're exhausting to watch."

She paused, mid pose. "Jack -- are we doing the right thing?"

"By having Reg and Maddy to stay with us? Of course." Jack paused. "You're not still fretting about the words you and Reg exchanged, are you?"

Joey's head dipped. "I suppose I am. A little. It's one thing to apologise by phone and to exchange Christmas cards...it's quite another to be under the same roof."

Jack moved further into the room to envelop his wife in a hug. "It will be fine. Time heals all wounds, old girl." He dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Besides, Reg is a sensible chap -- he wouldn't have agreed to stay with us if he thought there would be a real problem."

"I suppose." Joey sighed. "And...I suppose he wouldn't have been coming at all if he thought that."

"No -- he wouldn't."

It had all, Jack reflected, been a complete mess. The loss of a daughter, particularly in the way Len had died, was hard, and Joey had taken it very hard indeed. With Con away in London and Margot away on a mission to some far-flung corner of the world, Joey and Len had grown closer. They'd been more like sisters than mother and daughter in the end. The pregnancy had drawn them even closer, particularly after Len first started having problems. It was only natural.

Then the accident had happened. For a few days, Joey had actually blamed Reg for it -- not that Reg was ever aware of that fact, Jack had made sure of that. She had only released that when Eugene Courvoisier had point-blank described what he'd seen from the window of the San.

"Reg was trying to avoid the tree," Eugene had stated. "He skidded on the ice and the car span. There was but little else he could have done. Had he not done what he did, Len would have still died, but so would her daughter, and so, in all likeliness, would Reg himself, for they would have been crushed beneath the tree."

After that had come the torrent of grief, and Joey had determined that she would cling to the one piece of Len remaining in this world: Baby Mary Helena.

When Mary Helena had been judged strong enough to leave the San, there had been an unspoken agreement that Reg and the baby would stay at Freudesheim, at least until after Len's funeral. Jack had suspected even then that Reg was going to request the transfer to the English branch of the San, but as he'd driven the little family across the Platz to Freudesheim, he'd hoped he'd be able to talk the younger man out of it. But he'd reckoned without Joey.

When Reg entered Freudesheim, Joey had simply seized on Mary Helena and had immediately called her Len.

Reg had said nothing, perhaps too shell-shocked to start off with, but the expression on his face told more than a thousand words. And Jack knew he wouldn't be able to talk Reg out of leaving -- and would even have difficulty in persuading him to stay for Len's funeral.

As it had proved, Reg had put up with Joey's interference and comments for nearly six months. Jack had done his best to curb Joey, but she could be as immovable as a mountain when she set her mind on something and the atmosphere in Freudesheim became gradually more and more strained. He had never been entirely sure what the straw that broke the camel's back had been, all he knew was that on the first day of the summer holidays, Phil had phoned the San in a considerable state, begging him to come home. When he'd arrived, he'd found Erica and Cecil doing their best to talk Joey into putting Mary Helena down while Felicity and a still tearful Phil had Reg in another room, trying to calm him down.

The one thing that had become immediately apparent was that Joey had finally had some form of breakdown -- something Jack had seen coming but had been unable to prevent. Beyond that, she hadn't been in a fit state to interrogate, and nor had Reg. None of the girls had known what had happened either.

It had taken all of his persuasive powers to settle things that afternoon. By nightfall, Reg and Mary Helena were on their way to England, to Plas Gwyn and to the care of the Russells, while Joey had been installed in the San to begin the treatment she needed.

"Jack?"

Joey's voice brought Jack back to the present. "Sorry, old girl. Just thinking."

"You're nervous," she observed, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'm a lot of things," he replied. "But mostly, I'm anxious to meet my first granddaughter. And so are you, I should think." He dropped a tender kiss on the top of her head. "Let's leave the past where it should be. It's time to start afresh."

~*~

Heathrow was a seething mass of people. Reg had been there before on a couple of occasions, but this was Maddy's first visit. The hustle and bustle of people hurrying for flights was overawing. For someone who'd never been to a big city, it was all a little much and Maddy found herself clinging tightly to her father lest they become separated.

For his part, Reg found it trying. So many business people and holidaymakers, and the terminal building was hot and sticky as they queued for check in. He wished he'd opted to take the trans-continental train, but while Maddy was alarmed by the noise of this, at least this would be over soon, whereas the rail journey would be a good two days of travelling and Maddy was not an experienced traveller.

Finally it was their turn. Reg hefted their case onto the scales and answered the check in clerk's questions. Maddy watched, wide-eyed as the clerk deftly applied a label to the case and then transferred the case to the waiting baggage cart. She wondered where the case would be taken.

"Come on, Maddy -- this way," Reg instructed, breaking her reverie.

She trotted after him. "Daddy, what're they going to do with our case?"

"They'll load it onto the plane," Reg answered. "Air travel isn't like rail travel -- there's only a limited amount of space in the cabin, so all the cases have to go in the baggage hold."

Maddy blinked. Not like rail travel? Up until that point, she'd half been imagining flying to be like a train with wings. She was now left to wonder exactly what it would be like.

The next event was going through passport control -- which, as far as Maddy was concerned, was thoroughly boring. Queuing and more queuing. But once they were through that, she found herself standing in a wonderland of expensive looking shops.

"This is duty free," Reg explained before she could say a word. "They sell everything here."

Maddy's gaze shifted from a shop selling leather handbags to a shop with giant bottles of amber whiskey in the window. "Wow."

Reg chuckled a little. "This way." He led her to a book shop.

"Oooh!" Maddy's eyes widened even further. "Daddy can I have a book?"

"You can -- pick two if you like."

Maddy made a beeline for the children's section of the store, then gave a soft whoop as she realised her two favourite authors had published new books. Then her face fell.

"What's the matter?" Reg asked.

"The two I want are only in hardback," she replied. She normally had to wait until they were published in paperback before she was permitted to buy them.

"As this is a special occasion," Reg decided, "you can have them both in hardback."

"Can I?" Maddy's eyes were like saucers.

Reg smiled. "Yes -- go on."

Almost in case her father changed his mind, Maddy jumped forward and selected a copy of Cart and Cwidder by Dianna Wynn Jones and Morag of the Hunt which, according to the fly-leaf, was a collection of Celtic myths and legends gathered together by Josephine M. Bettany.

Both books were bought. Then, after Reg had bought a couple of oddments from a nearby sweet shop, he led Maddy across to a small café for elevenses.

"Is she really my grandmother?" Maddy asked as she admired the cover of Morag of the Hunt.

Reg chuckled. "You can ask her when you see her this evening, if you like."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Maddy asked.

Reg looked down into his coffee cup as if the answers were to be found therein. "I..." But what could he tell her?

"Don't you and she get on?"

Reg winced. "It's not exactly that, Maddy." He sighed. "Your grandmother and I had a...a difference of opinion when you were born. We -- I -- found out later that really, your grandmother was grieving for your mother and wasn't well. She's better now," he continued, "but for a time she was...very unwell. Then, when you first started reading her books, you were so very young. Only six or seven." He looked up to see Maddy regarding him sympathetically. "It's a complicated situation."

Maddy nodded gravely. "I understand."

In that one second, Maddy truly became her mother's daughter. She wore an expression that looked so reminiscent of Len. So serious, so understanding...

"Now boarding, flight BA19 for Zurich."

The announcement broke Reg's train of thought. "That's us," he said. "Drink up -- we have to be going."