CHAPTER 9
April dragged its feet, May was even slower, and the following month seemed to take forever. Beth wondered why her usually even tempered, albeit high powered employer was in such an odd mood. Privately, she thought he ought to get married and settle down, not knowing how closely her opinion might have matched with his if he had ever taken time to think about it.
At last, the time came for David to leave. He had done all the work he felt like doing. For once, his employees could take care of the rest. In truth, there was little to do over the height of the summer, when so much was operating at less than full capacity because of holidays.
Once again he found himself in Heathrow, shuffling forward in the seemingly eternal queues, simply to get rid of a case he wished he hadn’t bothered with. Hand luggage containing only the bare essentials would have been more than enough. Anything else could be bought in Finland, and even discarded if necessary. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t afford it. Heaven only knew he spent little enough on himself.
At last. Most of the formalities were over, and he had time to wander around the departure lounge shops. On impulse, he bought a brooch studded with blue stones, a familiar blue, a well appreciated blue. He wondered if Laura would like it. He rather hoped she would.
The flight was called, on time for once, and he boarded, settled back in his seat and gave less than half an ear to the flight deck announcements. He glanced briefly at the magazines in the seat pocket in front of him, but put them back immediately. There was nothing there he hadn’t seen several times already. There came a sudden lurch as the aircraft was pushed back. Soon, it was rolling under its own power, making its way to the runway. A rapid acceleration followed, and David was pressed back in his seat as the pilot took off.
Time passed in a well rehearsed way. Food and drinks were served, announcements made at intervals, then a descent, a series of thumps and they were down. A quick transfer to the domestic terminal, and David continued northwards. Only a few hours after leaving home, he was installed in the company flat, staring out at the lake with a sense of mild frustration.
The view was beautiful, but he would have enjoyed it more if he had only realised to get Laura’s address. She lived somewhere close, near to the church, that much he remembered, but exactly where was a mystery. There was a change of employee serving hamburgers, and she didn’t seem to understand David’s question. Nor could he ask any of his colleagues, since it was late evening already, and they had a right to a private life without being asked foolish questions from a man who couldn’t remember when it was Sunday. Besides, it may be too embarrassing to ask. He sighed. He knew all about computer addresses, but that knowledge, although it had made him wealthy indeed, was of no practical use to him in this situation. He went to bed, slightly depressed and giving himself a mental kick at intervals.
For most of the following day, he walked around the town, hoping to catch sight of Laura, but to no avail. He hadn’t really expected otherwise. He took a short nap during the early evening, waking up unaccountably refreshed. Opening the door to the balcony, he saw a small fire at the broad end of the lake. Two, three of them he could count. And yet others on one or more of the small islands that dotted the water.
Intrigued, David closed the door against the mosquitoes he had already learned to avoid, then putting a light jacket on over his sweater, left the flat, closing, but not locking it. There was still no key, nor did he expect to need one. Slowly he walked along the shoreline, followed by a friendly fox faced dog with hair that could only be described as red. He bent down at intervals and scratched the dog’s head, being rewarded by a furious licking of his hands. Now he could see what the flames were. At intervals, people had lit bonfires, some sort of local custom he supposed, though what it represented, he couldn’t begin to guess. He received a friendly greeting from most groups as he passed, nodding and saying something in return, hoping that somebody would understand something. A young woman broke away from one group and came closer.
’Hello,’ she said. ’I didn’t know you were here now.’
David stumbled in surprise. ’Hello Laura,’ he said. ’I arrived yesterday. I’ve been looking for you, in fact.’ The admission left him feeling slightly foolish.
’So now you’ve found me. Why didn’t you call?’
David felt more foolish than ever. ’I didn’t know your address. I forgot to ask you what it was.’
’You could have asked someone. Everybody knows everybody else in this town.’
’Yes. Well, you see, there’s a problem with that.’
’Problem?’ she asked, surprised.
’Yes. I can’t pronounce your last name. I only know you as Laura, and even that is pronounced in an English style.’
’Like your piano playing,’ Laura laughed.
With the sound, David’s tension was relieved. He laughed with her.
’Well, I’ve found you now. I didn’t recognise you without your sweater.’
’Good,’ said Laura. ’Come and join the party. Don’t worry, it’s only my parents and one or two friends. And Musti.’
’Musti?’
’Our dog. I see you’ve become acquainted already. How do you like the bonfires?’
’Most unusual. What are they in aid of? I’ve never seen so many in one place.’
Laura explained. ’It’s midsummer eve, and on midsummer eve we always light bonfires. It’s a way of saying goodbye to the summer and hello to the winter which is closer than you might believe. It’s also a good way of getting rid of a lot of household rubbish, only I’m not allowed to confess that, so you’ll have to pretend you never heard me say it.’
She led him to the water’s edge, where she introduced him to her parents, and more casually to her friends, who accepted his presence without surprise and without fuss.
’I’m afraid you won’t get much in the way of conversation,’ said Laura. ’Finns are renowned for their ability to be silent in two languages. It’s not totally true, but it’s not totally false, either. But in any case, nobody here knows much English, apart from myself.’
It was true, David found, yet the friendliness was evident without a common language. Laura’s father held out a piece of fish he had been grilling over the fire and offered it to David, opening the foil it had been wrapped in and placing a sprig of parsley on top. It was hot, and burned his fingers, but after cooling a little tasted delicious.
’Thank you,’ he said. ’Thank you very much.’
The older man said nothing, but smiled and nodded. He took several small fish from a plastic bucket, wrapped them expertly in foil and placed them on sticks over the fire. He said something. David shook his head and raised his hands in a gesture of incomprehension. Laura translated.
’He was asking if you would like some more. Just help yourself .’
’That’s very kind, but I can’t take somebody else’s food. Are you sure there will be enough?’
’Quite sure,’ said Laura. ’The lake is full of fish. We haven’t bought these, you understand. Look there. We have several lines out.’
She smiled impishly. ’If we do run short, we’ll charge you an inflated price for what you’ve eaten and use your money to buy some more at the local supermarket.’
As David watched, one of the lines jerked. Laura took the rod and pulled the line in. Sure enough, there was a small, red finned fish wriggling on the hook. With a series of quick movements she unhooked it, hit it on the head with a stout stick, then gutted it, throwing the body into the bucket.
’You see?’ she said. ’There’s plenty for everyone. Do you fish, yourself?’
’I have done, a long time ago.’
’Well, here’s a spare rod. Would you like to try again?’
It was a pleasurable sensation, sitting on a log of wood and holding a motionless line in the water, waiting for something to happen, not being troubled in the slightest if it didn’t. The flow of conversation washed over David’s head. He couldn’t understand any of it, and had no need to pretend otherwise. He watched covertly as Laura tended the fire and grilled more and more fish, bringing him one at regular intervals. The dog settled at his feet, looking up appealingly with one paw raised, curly tail drooping slowly in direct proportion to the length of time it had to wait before being fed. David dropped the occasional crumb which the animal ate with evident relish. It all looked very natural. Somehow, the idea of Stella under these rather basic circumstances was beyond imagination.
Basic, yet in a way, David had never felt more comfortable or more at his ease. There was nothing he could do to alter or control the situation, a thought he found strangely relieving. At least, it might be comfortable if only the mosquitoes would leave him alone. By shifting position several times, he found that the woodsmoke was a powerful deterrent. He could still hear the high pitched whine of blood sucking hunger, but nothing settled on him. The smoke he could tolerate, even if it did make his eyes water as though in the grip of some powerful emotion. It even had a pleasant smell. He stared into the flames, trying without success to see pictures in them. A log burned with a curious high pitched sound, like someone squealing.
There came a touch on his arm. Laura’s father stood at his side, offering a selection of drinks. David shook his head, looking slightly helplessly at Laura.
’It is beer, I suppose?’
’It is,’ she answered. ’Perhaps you’d like some coffee?’
’Yes please. I’m not much of a drinker at best.’
Laura showed her teeth in a broad grin. ’Neither are we. The beer is there because that’s a tradition too. We never drink it. It must be years old by now. You might have heard that Finns drink to excess, but it’s not altogether true, you know. How is the fishing going?’
David lifted his line. The bait was gone, the hook empty.
’Not so good, I’m afraid. I doubt if I’d make a living at it.’
’You’re too impatient. You have to learn to relax and slow down a little.’
’The trouble is,’ he said. ’The trouble is, this country has an excess of insects all intent on doing the blood transfusion service out of a job. If I don’t move, I get attacked. If I do move, they seem to think I’m simply another target, and they attack again. They’re getting more bites than I am. Anyway, I’m stuffed with fish. I don’t think I could eat another if I was paid.’
’Poor Mr. Howard,’ Laura said, her eyes belying her sympathetic tone of voice. She came across and took a sharp look at his wrists. ’Fresh blood, and a tender skin. They like that. Would you like to go out in the boat? There are no mosquitoes out there.’
’That would be a relief,’ said David, breathing out heavily. ’And by the way, I’m David to my friends. Believe me, anyone who offers to take me to where there are no mosquitoes is very definitely a friend.’
She made no reply, but smiled happily.
Laura spoke to her parents briefly. They said something in return and laughed good naturedly as she led the way to the landing stage where her boat was tied up. David got in first, and settled in the back, followed by Laura. The dog David had been petting jumped in behind her and stood in the prow, barking at everything it saw. Laura spoke sharply to the animal, which subsided, then pushed off from the landing stage and sitting on the centre bench, hitched her skirt high over her legs with a practiced movement before taking up the oars and plying them through the still water.
’Is that your own dog?’ asked David.
’Not really. My parents have that dubious pleasure, although I think she really belongs to anyone who makes a fuss of her. Noisy thing, isn’t she? I hope you like animals. I saw you feeding her.’
’Yes, I do. In fact, we’re old friends already, as you noticed. We must have known each other for at least a couple of hours. You don’t think she’s an American, do you? My brother in law is, and he makes friends with anyone as quickly as he sees them.’
Laura laughed. ’No, she’s a pure Finn, only not as quiet as some. She does take to strangers, especially those with food in their hands.’
As the boat moved through the water, David admired her sun bronzed legs, trying not to seem as though he was looking. Lifting his eyes to a higher plane, he discovered that Laura was well aware of what he was doing, and didn’t appear to object at all. He kept his eyes on her face, studying it with interest. She was no raving beauty, but was well worth a second look. And a third, as well as a few more after that. He tried to remember what she had said the first time they had been in a boat together. Ah yes, that was it. He looked without seeing. Now he tried to see. There was character in that face, and a good one at that. She was clearly a young woman who knew what she wanted. An image of Stella came unbidden to his mind. She had known what she wanted as well. This girl seemed different, was different. He got the uneasy and not unpleasant feeling that all his money would mean less than nothing to her. He put Stella away. He had been a fool there, and had made a fool of himself in the eyes of others during the process. All that was behind him. Better to leave it where it was.
The boat’s progress through the water slowly ceased. David tore his gaze away from Laura’s face and looked around. They were roughly equidistant from the shore and a sizeable island as far as he could judge. Distances across water were deceptive, he knew, and he had had no practice in that sort of measuring.
’Are we sinking again?’ he asked pleasantly.
Laura put her head on one side and regarded him gravely. ’I don’t think so. If we are, it’s not intentional, though I hope you can swim.’
’We’ve stopped.’
’The boat has stopped,’ she said. ’You are still moving. Why did you come here just at this time?’
David’s thoughts became confused. ’Well, I have to at intervals, in order to see to the business.’ He paused. ’I’m sorry. That wasn’t very tactful. Is it too late to change my mind and say I came to see you?’
’No, it’s not too late.’ Her head went further to the side. ’After all, you did promise to do that, even though you were in a terrible rush to go somewhere else at the time.’
’As always,’ David confessed. ’Well, I’ve stopped for the moment. Now what?’
’You want to know ”now what?” ,’ mocked Laura gently. ’You see, you haven’t really stopped at all. Now nothing. Just look around you. Or close your eyes. Don’t look at anything. Let nothingness soak in. There’s plenty of it. We can spare a little for you. Take as much as you want. Better still, take as much as you need, although I’m not at all certain that we have that amount.’
He closed his eyes obediently, opening them again a few minutes later as a motor boat passed, sending their frail craft rocking in a way he found less than soothing.
’Tell me about your time in England,’ he said. ’Did you enjoy it?’
’Yes, I did. Well, most of it, anyway.’
’I remember you already told me you left earlier than intended. Presumably there was a good reason for that.’
’That’s right. I simply couldn’t stay there any more.’
’You went as an au pair, I think you said.’
’Yes. I was looking after twin boys. They were lovely. They were really only babies, just learning to walk and talk. It was quite a good job in its own way. I had two rooms of my own in a very large house, plenty of time off, and even had the use of a car, although I didn’t like to use that very often. English traffic is a bit frightening. It’s much more disciplined than Finnish driving, but frightening just the same. There’s so much more of it. My employers were very generous people. It was the sort of place I could have stayed in for ever, if I didn’t love my own town more. But I had to leave.’
David waited with unaccustomed patience. There was more to come, he could see.
’There was a friend of the family I worked for, who used to call quite often. He frightened me more than the traffic did. I didn’t like him very much. Maybe the fault was partly mine, though I don’t really think so.’
Laura’s voice trailed off, as she sat in recollection.