Chapter 30

They arrived at Dr Melrose’s cottage about 5 minutes before 6 o’clock, the door was standing open, so they walked straight in, to be greeted by the smell of a good beef casserole and freshly baked bread, they followed their noses to find the dining room.

“Ahh, hello ladies, so good of you to accept my invitation,” Dr Melrose said as they walked into the dining room.

“Sorry to come straight in,” Diane said, “the door was open, and the smell was so inviting.”

“Not a problem, the door is open because I’m expecting a few pupils to come by, I’m to sign their report cards, they’re repeat offenders, so they know where to go. One of them will be known to Gabbie, so if you want to embarrass the young chap feel free to join me in my office.”

“I’ll go help Heather in the kitchen, Eric,” Diane said.

“Ahh yes, I’m sure she’d appreciate a hand.”

Lucy and Gabbie followed Dr Melrose to his office, which turned out to be the same room they used last week, with more lights on they could see a cluttered desk against the far wall. Lucy had a look through his bookcase, yes, every single one of her mum’s books, first edition hardbacks, all lined up neatly, she smiled and said “You’ve got all my mum’s books here.”

“Ahh yes, and I’ve read them all, not the type of book I’d usually read, but my granddaughter enjoyed them so much I thought I’d give them a try.”

Lucy joined Gabbie on the sofa and Dr Melrose took a seat at his desk as he waited for the pupils on report to start to arrive.

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked Gabbie.

“I’m feeling ok, this afternoon, what you did for me, getting me to talk, that hurt, you know, some of the memories, but it helped me, brought stuff out. Then with Diane, more came out, those thoughts were horrible, I’m sorry if I upset you with any of them, but it’s cleared more stuff up, I’ve got an overview of who was involved, I’m getting more names together. I’ve also remembered some of the girls, and boys, I’ve got names. So I’m going to write it all down, put it on paper, I can write faster than I can type, so I’ll get some notebooks and I’ll start writing everything down. I think it’s safer for everyone if I do that, because as much as you love me, I can’t imagine you want to be listening to any more of my history”

“I do want to hear...”

“It’s ok, you don’t need to lie to make me feel better, they’re horrible thoughts, I’d rather not be remembering them, but it’s like someone’s popped a hole in a water tank, it can’t be stoppered, the weight of the water will break any attempt to fix the hole, so the tank can’t be repaired until all the water is out. My brain is the same right now, until I’ve remembered everything, and written it all down, I can’t start to fix myself. I might act a bit crazy every now and again for a bit, until it’s all gone, but with you by my side, I just know everything will be ok.”

Lucy was about to reply when there was a knock on the door, so she just took hold of Gabbie’s hand and mouthed, “I love you so much Gabbie.”

“Enter!” Dr Melrose called.

A Year 9 boy walked in, he was wearing jeans, a heavy knitted sweater and dirty trainers.

“Jenkins, what have I told you, when you’re on report you dress smartly when you come to my office, if you do this again I’m going to refuse to sign your card, and you know what that means?”

“A week’s detention sir.”

“Yes, so tomorrow I want to see a shirt and tie. And tomorrow break you can come and clean the carpet of the muddy footprints.”

“Aww Sir! Why?”

“Look behind you, you’ve trailed half the rugby pitch into my office. It’ll be dry by tomorrow, so it’ll be easy to hoover up.”

He pulled a Mont Blanc fountain pen from his jacket pocket and signed Jenkins’ report card with a flourish and sent him on his way.

As soon as he left there was another knock on the door, a Year 13 girl entered, “Ahh Polly, come in.”

Polly looked at Gabbie, smiled as she recognised her, then walked up to Dr Melrose’s desk.

“Did you see the nurse about the nicotine patches Polly?”

“Yes sir, she’s given me a box.”

“Great, so you won’t be caught smoking again.”

“No sir, I won’t.”

“Good, good, appalling habit, ruins your skin you know, your skin will be terribly wrinkled before you’re 30 if you don’t quit.”

He took Polly’s card, signed it and sent her on her way.

Polly paused on her way out, “are you really getting married?” she asked.

“Yes, we are,” Gabbie replied.

“Ahh, amazing, you’re so inspiring, so many girls look up to you Lucy, and you now Gabbie. You’ve given a lot of girls hope.”

Lucy looked at Polly, “what do you mean, girls look up to me?”

“You’re just so cool, and so casual about it, you don’t try to be anything you’re not, it’s a lifestyle choice a lot of girls aspire to, but they don’t have the guts to swim against the tide. Look at me, I started smoking because my friends did, now I can’t stop, you though, you wouldn’t bow to the pressure. You’re amazing, both of you.”

With that Polly left the room.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Dr Melrose said, “but I think she’s right, you’re both role models to a lot of girls, and I have to say, you’re the kind of role models I approve of as well.”

Another knock at the door prevented Lucy from replying, and both girls were blushing from the praise as Joel entered the room.

He saw Gabbie and did a double take, she definitely wasn’t who he expected to see.

“Hi Gabbie, and Lucy, what are you doing here?”

“They’re here as my guests for dinner, unlike you, what have you done this time to put you on report for a week?”

“Err, it says on the card,” Joel answered, clearly not wanting to say it out loud.

“Ahh, yes, well, that’s embarrassing isn’t it, Joel,” he laughed as he signed the card, “off you go, same time tomorrow.”

He pretty much ran out of the room as Dr Melrose stood and put his pen back in his jacket pocket.

“Well, that’s it, just three miscreants this evening, shall we see whether dinner is ready.”

“What had Joel done?” Gabbie asked.

“Ahh, well, I shouldn’t really say, but seeing as he’s let you down in the past, I suppose I can tell you. He was caught in a state of undress, we suspect he was with a girl, but she obviously has better reactions than him and was nowhere to be found when Danny stumbled across Joel.”

“Hahaha, that’s great news, thank you,” Gabbie laughed.

“You wouldn’t happen to know who the girl is do you?” He asked.

“I don’t, but I can tell you three people it isn’t, me, Lucy and Jenna. He left me for Jenna, but she definitely won’t, err, well, put out.”

“Ahh, so with you three off the list that’s only, what, 189 suspects left,” Dr Melrose chuckled as they entered the dining room.

The evening went very well, the beef casserole was rich and warming, served with fresh crusty bread and a very fine Bordeaux. Dr Melrose’s wife is somewhat younger than her husband, a handsome woman in her 40’s, she was funny, telling great stories about life in school and her travels when she was younger.

After the casserole they retired to the sitting room with port and a cheese board. Heather probed the girls and Diane over the wedding arrangements, and took a great interest in Gabbie’s mental health, questioning her about her therapy, how she thought she was progressing.

Gabbie answered Heather patiently and honestly but kept details to a minimum, both from a point of view of not wanting to shock or disgust their hosts, but also because right now she was trying to supress some of the worst memories until she could write them down.