Dave awoke with a start. He looked at the alarm clock – eleven o’clock. He heard noises coming from the next bedroom. Intruders, he thought, or an animal’s got in. Then he turned over and saw Katharina lying sleeping beside him, and everything fell into place. He was so used to staying on his own and never hearing anything except the birds outside. Now he realised that his daughter was in the room next to him, and his beautiful girl was in the bed alongside him. He just lay there, gazing at her. Her blonde hair used to be straight and sort of wild, but now it was wavy. Her face was a bit thinner than before, with the signs of ageing by way of lines at the sides of her mouth. Some people might have called them laughter lines, but to Dave they looked more like sadness lines. Lying there sleeping, she had no control over her expression, and to Dave she looked like she had really been through the mill. Well, she is thirty-nine, he told himself, and I’m no spring chicken either – I’m forty-one next week. But he still thought she looked sad. It made him love her even more. Her glasses were carefully folded and placed on the bedside cabinet right beside her, where she could just reach over and feel for them. Dave felt really sorry for her and all she had been through, and vowed that he would love her and care for her as best as he could for the rest of his life. But this wasn’t a pity thing – it was a real love thing.
He reached out and stroked her beautiful hair, then gave her a little kiss on her forehead. She moved a little, smiled, and then snuggled in further under the duvet. He lay for a bit longer just listening to the birds outside, then he got up and dressed. Going through to the kitchen, he could see that Anna had made herself some cereal and coffee, but there was no sign of her. He made himself a coffee and took it out into the morning sunshine. She was sitting on a fallen tree at the other side of the clearing, with her cup of coffee. He walked over to her, thinking that this would be a good chance to get to know her a bit better.
“Can I join you?” he asked.
“Yes, please do,” she said. “It’s such a beautiful morning I thought I would take a cup of coffee outside. I just couldn’t wait to see this place in the daylight – it’s just wonderful! I didn’t want to disturb you or Mama. I think she was so tired. She has done so much for me over the years. She has been a wonderful mother to me – the best mother in the world.”
“She is certainly a very special lady,” he agreed.
She put on a serious look as she said, “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, Papa . . . it feels strange calling you Papa . . . but I really, really hope that you won’t hurt her in any way. I hope you really mean what you say, and you won’t desert her or make her feel sad. You know she has been through a lot of bad times, but good times too, and Rupert has been very good to her and to me also, but I know she doesn’t love him. I know she has thought about you every single day, even without her saying it, I can see it in her eyes. You know she nearly died because of that damned radio station? She was kidnapped, and then managed to escape in an industrial park, and almost bled to death after injuring herself. If it wasn’t for two English workmen who heard her, she would have died. She has always said they saved her life, and she would love to meet them again some day and thank them properly. She has this wonderful job as a Coordinator for the conference centre delegates, and she loves it, but I know she would give it up tomorrow if she thought she had a future with you. Does she?”
The question caught him by surprise. “Anna, everything you have just told me about your mother equally applies to me. I have thought about her every day since I lost her. I have played a record for her every single night on the programme. Lately, it has been eating me up so much that I couldn’t stand not seeing her any longer. I have two weeks holiday due me and I was going to come over to Vienna and try to find her. Anna, I want to spend the rest of my life with her. And you . . . well, you are such a wonderful unexpected bonus that I feel like I’m the luckiest man in the world. I would ask her to marry me today if I thought she would say ‘yes’. Does that answer your question?”
“Yes, Papa, it does,” and she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “And do ask her, please, I know you won’t be disappointed.”
“Thank you, Anna; I’m really glad I’ve had this little chat with you.”
“There’s one more thing I have to ask,” she said, putting the serious look on again. “You know about Rupert, and Mama has been very close to him over the years, but is there another lady in your life, or has there been?”
This is going to be awkward, he thought, but I’d better get it out in the open. It could ruin everything.
“Anna, you are a very intelligent, sensible lady, and I respect you for that very much. I know you appreciate that nineteen years is a long time to have lost someone for. You’ve told me about Rupert, and the way I feel about that is happiness that your mother was lucky enough to find someone to care about her so much. I also feel so grateful and lucky that she never forgot me. I would never grudge anyone happiness in an unusual situation like this, but in the end, real love wins through.
“Yes, there has been another lady in my life who I care about very much. It is very similar to your mother and Rupert, with one major difference, which I will come to in a minute.”
You’re flying by the seat of your pants here, boy, he thought. You’ve got to tell her about Duncan – she’s a levelheaded girl and you’ve got to trust her and be honest with her. Go for it!
Anna finished the dregs from her coffee cup, and then tilted her head slightly, giving him her full attention.
“This is very difficult, but I’m going to be totally honest with you, and I hope you will guide me with regard to telling your mother this. I have a son to this lady. Anna, you have a half-brother.” He stopped there to judge the reaction.
She just sat in silence, looking at the ground.
“Do you love this woman?”
“Anna, I am going to tell you the honest truth. I know it sounds incredible, but it is the truth, and I respect you far too much to try to fool you over something as important as this. Do you believe me?”
“Well,” she said slowly, “I’ve only known you for less than a day, but I feel I’ve known you for a lot longer, and I know you are a good man because my Mama says so. Tell me about her, and I will believe you.”
“She is a lady called Tammy and she runs the Truck Stop. She used to own it when I first met her, but she had problems and Frank bought it from her. When I first met her, she had three children to two different fathers. Oh hell, this is difficult – you’ve got to believe this. I used to go to her café at one thirty every morning for bacon rolls after the show, and I was missing your mother so much. I honestly thought I had no chance of ever seeing her again, and we were just two lonely people. It just sort of happened. These things do.
“You know, a guy gets lonely, and here was some recreation offered to me on a plate as it were, and I was missing your mother like hell. The baby was born nine months later – a beautiful little boy called Duncan. Well, Anna, I just couldn’t ignore him – I maybe didn’t love his mother, but I certainly cared for her very much. However, I loved him, and I still do. I have seen him every day since he was born, I’ve played with him, read him bedtime stories, gone fishing with him, helped him with his homework, and done everything a dad should do and loved it. I’ve also paid a lot of money towards his keep – so much so that I’m pretty well broke just now. But I think it was worth it. Duncan is a fine, big, strapping lad, and I really am so proud of him. You’ll have to meet him. He’s eighteen and he recently started work with the Forestry Commission. He’s on a training programme where he starts at the bottom doing all the dirty, heavy work, and studies for his forestry exams to become a Forest Officer. Hey – wait a minute – that’s what you’re going to do at university, isn’t it? Well, that’s a coincidence!
“Anyway, back to Tammy. I see her almost every night and we’re very good friends. Sometimes, when the time is right, we . . . well . . . you know! It’s the only recreation around here! Well, Anna, that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Does that make me guilty of being a bad person?”
Anna got up, strolled across the clearing a bit and looked out over the wonderful view. “It’s so beautiful here,” she said. Then she turned around and walked back to behind where Dave was sitting on the tree trunk, out of his sight. Next thing he felt was her hands on his shoulders, then her lips on his cheek. She whispered in his ear, “I think it makes you guilty of being the best Papa anyone could possibly ask for, and I am so proud that you’re mine!”
He turned to face her and looked up into her beautiful eyes. “Stop it – you’re going to make me cry now!”
At that moment, they heard Katharina’s voice as she walked over to them. “Hey, you two, what are you getting up to?”
“Oh, just getting to know each other,” Dave said, “and I’ve found that we have a wonderful, wonderful daughter.”
“But I already know that,” she said.
Then Anna chipped in, “But Mama, I now know for sure that you have a wonderful, wonderful guy here – after all, he is my Papa, so he’s got to be great!”
All three of them hugged together, then Dave turned to Anna and said, “Sweetheart, how about making your Mama and I some coffee while I have a little chat with her?” and he winked at her. Anna smiled knowingly and headed for the caravan.
Dave sat down again and patted the tree trunk beside him for Katharina to sit down.
“I’ve got something to tell you,” he said.
“Oh, you’re putting on ‘Mr Serious’ face. Do I really want to hear this?” she asked, mocking him and putting on a serious face in return.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to have to tell you anyway, then you can decide. I have a son.”
She looked shocked, then surprised, then curious. After almost a minute’s silence, she spoke. “How old is this son, and where is he?”
“His name is Duncan, and he’s eighteen. He lives just out of the village with his mother at the Truck Stop.”
Quite calmly, Katharina said, “Tell me all about it, please.”
Dave went through the whole story, and said how Tammy didn’t want him to have any responsibility, but how he actually did help to bring up the boy and contribute financially, and how Duncan was now a fine young man working for the Forestry Commission. He also said she could meet him that night if she wanted to.
She sat for a long time in silence, playing with a twig in her hands, then she turned to him with a slight smile, and said, “You have told me all this, and I trust you. Without trust, you can’t have love. I know you didn’t do that to cheat on me – you had lost me and we both thought we would never see each other again. I had Rupert and you had . . . what is her name . . . Tammy. But there was no love, not real love, but that doesn’t stop you caring very much for somebody. That doesn’t stop you being with somebody when you feel alone. I have been there; you have been there. I want to tell you this: Dave, I love you even more for you telling me this and being so honest with me, but I do warn you,” and at this point she put on her mock serious face, “as long as I’m around, there will be no more fun and games with this Tammy woman. Is that clear?”
Dave gave her an erect salute, saying, “Yes sir!” Then, while he was on a roll, he threw in, “Katharina, will you marry me?”
Quick as a flash, she saluted him and said, “Yes sir! Yes, yes, of course I will. If you had taken any longer to ask me, I was going to ask you! Oh, I’m all excited now, look at me, I’m shaking!” Then they kissed.
At that point, Anna appeared with two mugs of coffee, saw what was going on and hesitated. Katharina saw her and waved her over, saying, “Darling, how would you like to be my bridesmaid?”
She almost dropped the coffee, and putting the mugs down on the ground, she ran over to her mother, shouting, “Oh Mama, Mama, this is wonderful! This is fantastic!” She hugged and kissed her, then hugged and kissed Dave.
Time was marching on, and Dave had to go down to the studio and prepare his afternoon show. He told Katharina and Anna to make themselves completely at home. They could relax and watch TV, go for a walk further up the hill into the forest to where the transmitter is located or walk down to the village and explore the shops.
“Make sure you’re back at the caravan by six,” he said, “because that’s when my show finishes, and I’m going to take you both to Tammy’s Truck Stop for the best burgers you have ever tasted, home made from finest pure-bred Aberdeen Angus steak. I’m back on-air at midnight till one thirty, and tonight, Katharina, I would love you to take part in the show – just like old times. Anna, I hope you will come too and see how good your mother is on the radio. Then tomorrow, I’ll take you to the university for the open day. OK, girls? See you later.”
Dave walked down to the studio, and Tamara was there when he went in. She told him that Frank was on his way back from Spain and she was off to meet him at the airport. Dave very quickly told her all about the previous night, and asked her to update Frank when she saw him.
“Oh Dave, that’s marvellous. It’s like a fairy story – a dream-come-true,” she said, genuinely pleased for him.
“It certainly is a dream come true for me, Tamara; you’ve no idea how good it feels. And you should see my wonderful daughter!”
“I’d love to, Dave, so why don’t you all come to the farmhouse tomorrow evening for dinner? I am going to cook a Russian speciality for Frank, so please come.”
“That’s great, Tamara, We’ll be there.”
Tamara left in her Volvo V70 Estate, and Dave got down to business getting the show ready. Once it was under way, he thought it was his best show ever – he was walking on air, on-air!
The afternoon show was three hours long, and when he was finished, he just couldn’t wait to see his two precious girls again. Back at the caravan, he found them lounging on the sofa where they had been listening to the last hour of his show and drinking coffee.
“Great show, Dave,” said Katharina, “I could feel that you were having a good time – it came over in your voice – I wonder why!”
“I had a super time, Kat, hey – I haven’t called you that for a long time. What else did you do this afternoon?”
“Well, Anna wanted to go up into the forest, so we climbed the track up behind the caravan, and it’s just beautiful up there. We saw the transmitter mast and it’s a beast! We couldn’t get very near to it, but we saw it has a lot of aerials attached to it. Why is that?”
Dave tried to explain, “Well, most of these Yagi arrays that you saw all point to Aberdeen because that’s where most of the potential listeners are – right down the Dee valley. Frank kept adding elements onto the mast, and every time he did, we found that we could get into another part of the city that we couldn’t before. There are another three Yagi pointing north, south and west for the local area. The signal does reach Braemar in the west, but struggles to get over the hills to the north and south. You would see some other antennae on the mast, and some microwave dishes too – this is all income for Frank. We lease out space on the mast to the utility companies, taxi firms and mobile phone companies, and we’ve just signed up another courier company who want their radio antenna up there. It’s just as well you didn’t get too near to it as there’s a lot of nasty stuff flying about in the air up there!”
“It was really lovely up there and the view was terrific – like being on top of the world. We also passed a very deep gorge with a waterfall and I wanted to go over to see it, but Anna said it looked too dangerous and she pulled me back. Do you know where I mean?” Katharina asked.
“Yes I do,” Dave said, rather concerned, “It’s called ‘Lover’s Leap’, and rumour has it that long ago, if a boy wanted to marry one of the clan chief’s daughters, he had to prove himself first by jumping across the gorge at its highest point between two rocky promontories, and if he failed, he would be torn to shreds as he fell down and down into the turmoil below, hitting the jagged rocks on both sides as he fell. By the time he reached the bottom, he would be in pieces and his dismembered body would be washed away in the raging torrent, never to be seen again. The clan chief would just accept that this boy was not of suitable material for his daughter, and the amazing thing is that the daughter would accept this too. Fortunately, it’s not used for this purpose any more.”
Katharina and Anna were mesmerised, and Katharina asked Dave, “Would you leap this gorge for me, darling?”
“NO!”
“Oh well, I will let you off this time!”
“Right, the only place we’re going to leap just now is into the truck and down to Tammy’s – I hope you are hungry.”
“We are – all that fresh mountain air did it.”
They set off, down the farm track, onto the main road, through the village then out the two miles to the Truck Stop. As they pulled onto the forecourt, Anna said excitedly, “Just look at this place – it’s surrounded by a forest. It’s like something out of a story book.”
There were four cars and two trucks already parked there, and Dave knew it would get busier later as there was a new Country and Western band from Aberdeen playing live from eight until ten. They went up to the door, and Anna said, “You both go on in; I want to have a look around first and take in the scenery, so I will come in later. Just order me a burger and a Coke please.”
She just stood there, absorbing the atmosphere. This was her idea of heaven, and she thought how lucky people were who lived and worked here. She could hear a chainsaw working somewhere round the back, and she wandered round to investigate. She saw this very good looking chunky guy in torn jeans and a chequered lumberjack shirt sawing up logs on a saw horse. Smoke was drifting upwards in a straight line from a fire beside him, then spreading outwards and just lingering amongst the trees, stationary, like some low cirrus cloud. She moved closer and just stood there watching him. By now, he was aware that he was being watched, and he made a special effort to brandish the chainsaw in the most professional manner that he could muster. When he was finished the log he was working on, he stopped, let the saw’s engine idle, and looked over to Anna. He saw this beautiful girl with a thick mop of gorgeous brown hair pulled tightly back into a pony tail. She had on a flimsy cool white top and a light blue short peasant skirt, with a generous helping of bare tanned midriff in between the two, and very stylish glasses. Never one for being backward, she shouted over to him, “I can do that!”
“Oh you can, can you? Let me see you, then,” he said, beckoning her over.
“Yes I can, I’m going to work in forestry. I’m going to Aberdeen University to study it.”
“Oh you are, are you? Well, they’ll teach you how to count trees there, but you’ll need some practical tuition to work this. Anyway, come on, let’s see you do a log,” and he heaved another tree onto the saw horse. He took off his protective goggles, slipped them over her head, had a bit of bother getting the strap over her thick pony tail, and carefully positioned them over her glasses.
Anna went to pick up the chainsaw and found that it was just a bit too heavy for her. Rather than humiliate her any more, the boy said, “Look, I’ll show you,” and he picked up the chainsaw. “Now, you hold it here while I put my arms around you and get a hold on the other side.”
He was behind her with his thighs pressing into her bottom, his arms tightly around her, and a firm grip on the saw while she also held it on top of his hands. He positioned it on the tree and revved it up. The vibration from it went right through both of their arms and from his body into hers, and the saw tore through the tree like it was butter.
“There, easy isn’t it,” he said, smiling. “How did you like that?”
“It’s a bit more difficult than I thought,” she said while he was still holding her. Her face was very close to his and she could smell a mixture of perspiration from him, and resin from the freshly sawn wood, mixed in with the two-stroke exhaust fumes from the saw. It was nice. For a fleeting moment, she thought he was going to make a move on her and kiss her, not that she would have minded, but suddenly he relaxed his grip on her and carefully brought the chainsaw safely down to the ground.
“Right, if you don’t mind, I’ve got a lot to do,” he suddenly said, and turned towards the job in hand.
“OK,” said Anna, “I better go inside. My parents will have ordered my meal. Thank you.” He gave her a friendly wave and she smiled at him as she turned to go round to the front entrance.
Inside, Dave had already introduced Katharina to Tammy, who seemed to take it all in her stride. She had told him that she really was genuinely happy for him, and he really deserved some good luck like this, and she wished them both all the very best for the future.
“Now, I want to meet this daughter of yours,” she said to Dave.
“She’s outside just now,” Dave said. “She should be in any minute.”
“And I want to meet this son of yours, Dave,” said Katharina.
“He’s out the back sawing up logs, “Tammy chipped in. “I’ll give him a shout in a minute.”
At that moment, Anna came in and joined them at their table, looking very pleased with herself. “What have you been up to, darling, you look very happy?” her mother asked.
“It’s just this place, Mama. It feels so right. And I have just met the most gorgeous guy. He was sawing logs round the back and he held me while I tried a shot of the chainsaw. I thought he was going to kiss me, Mama. Now I wish he had.”
“Shall I tell her or will you?” Dave asked Katharina.
Katharina spoke softly. “Anna, darling, you can’t kiss that boy, or even think of him like that. That was Duncan, your half brother.”
Anna turned scarlet, feeling very foolish, and said, “Oh Mama, I knew there was something special between us. I could feel it as soon as I saw him. I want to meet him properly now.”
“You will, darling, he is coming in soon.”
When Duncan eventually appeared and was introduced to them, he seemed quite shy and almost ignored Anna. Tammy served up a meal for him at another table and Anna, feeling bad about her behaviour, asked him if she could sit at his table and chat to him. He pointed to the seat and she sat opposite him. After a few awkward moments, they became more at ease as they talked about trees and forests, and eventually they were laughing and joking.
The evening had been a great success, and as they left, Tammy made sure they all knew they were welcome any time, and said she hoped she would see them regularly. As they drove back to Mains of Clarty with the truck radio playing, they were singing along to the records, changing the words of the songs to anything they liked. Dave was singing ‘I’m getting married to the most wonderful girl in the world’ over and over again to any record that was playing, while Anna was singing ‘I’ve got the best Papa in the world’ to anything she could fit it to.
“You’re all mad!” shouted Katharina over the din.
“We’re all mad, mad about each other,” sung Dave along to the next record. Katharina gave him a friendly thump and looked up to the sky, shaking her head.
Back at the caravan, they all just lounged around for the rest of the evening, chatting, watching TV and relaxing with a bottle of wine. At eleven o’clock, Dave said he had better go down to the studio to get ready for the programme, and he asked if they still wanted to come.
“You bet!” squealed Katharina. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”
Dave gave her a concerned look. “Don’t get any naughty ideas – we’ve got to behave ourselves on this station. This is a legally licensed radio station, and if we did any of the stuff that we did on the ship, well, we would be shut down!”
“I will behave myself,” Katharina said, putting on a ‘little girl hurt’ look.
“I’d love to come too,” said Anna. “I’ve never been in a radio studio before and I’m really interested.”
They walked down to the studio in the still night air. It was pitch dark and totally quiet except for an owl hooting somewhere up in the forest. They all got a fright when they heard a twig break and some scuffling sounds in the undergrowth beside the track.
“Just an animal hunting its supper,” Dave said, although he never could get used to the wildlife around here.
They reached the farmyard, and Dave used his key to let them all into the studio. Fiona Campbell, a local girl, was on-air right now. She did the nine to midnight slot, and she was one of the many volunteer presenters who worked on the station. During the day, she was a dental receptionist in the village, and at night she presented a very popular show aimed at teens and early twenties. She did this every week night, and she loved it.
As Dave walked into the studio, she gave him her usual greeting: “Hi there, my great big gorgeous hunk of masculinity!” Then she pulled him down towards her and gave him a big kiss before he could stop her.
A very flustered Dave spluttered out, “Fiona, Fiona, behave yourself!” He looked up at Katharina and said, “It’s OK – she’s like this with everyone. Fiona, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Katharina, and my daughter, Anna.”
“Well, Dave, you certainly are a dark horse! Where have you been hiding them? Oh well, I suppose it’s better that she meets ‘the other woman’ sooner rather than later! I’m only joking – honest!” and she reached up and shook their hands.
The record that was playing came to an end, and it was time for her to speak on-air. “Right then, that’s a good oldie for you there from Roxy Music. I’ll bet Dave Buckingham remembers when that one was in the charts! Dave has just walked into the studio, and he’s not alone tonight. He’s got two lovely ladies with him, so I’m not going to hang around and play gooseberry, I’m out of here in twenty minutes. Here’s the latest one from the Scissor Sisters for you now, and I hope you feel like dancing, because they don’t.”
She started the track, and slipped the headphones down around her neck, smiling up at the visitors.
“You’re very good,” Katharina complemented her.
“Oh no, I’m awful. I can’t do any of that slick DJ stuff. I just try to be myself and make the show sound like it’s just me and a few friends round, playing our favourite records and having a bit of fun. I’ve had a few friends here tonight already.”
“That’s why you’re very good,” Katharina said. “You are creating a very atmospheric show without really trying, and it works.”
“Well, thanks for the compliments. I don’t get too heavy about it, and I don’t try to analyse it. Heck, I’m only here to have a bit of fun – I don’t even get paid for it. At least it keeps me off the street corners!”
Another couple of records, and it was time for Dave to take over. After Fiona said her goodbyes and started her last track, she vacated the swivel chair and handed the headphones over to Dave. Before he sat down, Dave got another set of headphones down from a hook on the wall and handed them to Katharina. He pulled another chair up beside him for her, and took her hand as she sat down. “Just like old times, eh?” he said, “but remember, behave!” Anna sat on a sofa on the opposite wall and could hear the programme through the studio monitors.
They didn’t take the news feed at midnight, so when Fiona’s last track ended, Dave played a station jingle then went straight into three tracks in a row to get everyone settled into the show. He started with three rockers: ‘Just Like Paradise’ by David Lee Roth, then ‘China Grove’ by the Doobie Brothers, and finally, ‘The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You’ by Bryan Adams. By the time the last track was fading out, Katharina was actually on him, literally, sitting on his lap with her arm around his neck. He opened the microphone fader with great difficulty and spoke. “Hi folks, it’s Dave Buckingham here welcoming you along to the Midnight Show from now until one thirty when Clive Johnson comes along to take you through to breakfast time at six. I have two very special guests in the studio this morning – two lovely ladies, one of whom is sitting on my lap right now, doing everything she can to put me off and distract me from the job in hand, and she’s not going to succeed. This is Katharina, who used to be the ‘Mermaid Radio Girl’, on another radio station on the North Sea many years ago, and now she’s going to be my wife. Say hello, Kat.”
Katharina spoke, “Yes . . . um . . . it’s a long time since I have done this, but hello everyone. As you may guess from my accent I am not a local lady, but from Austria where we have some very nice scenery just like you have here. That is one of the reasons I want to stay here, but the main reason is this wonderful guy who has asked me to be his wife. I hope you will all be happy for him as he really deserves it – my lovely Dave!”
“Thanks Kat – you really know how to embarrass me in one sentence! But