Chapter 6

Robert Bethune:

Callie suggested she walk to the hotel with me, but I discouraged her, not wanting her to have to walk back alone. Maldon may not be as risky as a city, and Callie had, of course, survived on the streets of Sheffield, but even so it seemed better to leave her in a safe place. I considered and rejected the idea of beer before bed, went back to the hotel, went to bed and slept through.

A nearby cafe provided me with coffee and a cooked breakfast before I walked along to the Rectory. I didn’t even have to ring the bell, as Callie must have been watching for me and shot out of the door just as I got there. She wrapped me up tightly and tilted her head up for a kiss. I didn’t hurry the kiss, or the next. After, well, several more, she grabbed my hand.

“Come on, Robert! That’ll hold me for a while. Rebecca suggested a little cafe just off the High Street.”

Maldon is a medieval town with a few nooks and crannies, though the buildings have been largely disguised as modern. The little cafe was at the end of an alleyway looking onto a small, paved open space opposite a couple of other shops. Clearly their wares were baked ‘in house’ and of the highest quality, as was the coffee. We sat and nibbled and sipped and looked at each other.

“I will miss you,” Callie stated, quietly.

I sighed. “And I will miss you, too. I think this is for the best, though, don’t you?”

“I suppose so. I will ring you a lot?”

“I hope so. And we can FaceTime, too. I will come down whenever I can.”

She sniffed. My eyes were somehow prickling rather, too. We parted just after eleven o’clock, not without a couple of prolonged kisses, Callie to make her way back to the Rectory and myself to tog up for the ride north. Initially, I didn’t get far, just to a cafe/restaurant off the back road to Witham, where I enjoyed a substantial meal. I was back on the road by one o’clock, taking my time. Through Witham, eventually finding the A120 at Braintree. A straightforward if not exciting ride on the A120 to the M11 at Bishops Stortford.

I reluctantly passed by the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, plodding on at fifty-five to sixty until I reached the services north of Cambridge for a break and a stretch. Then the A14 to the A1 at Huntingdon, north to Newark on to the A616 heading north west to Sheffield, arriving home just after six o’clock. My house seemed very empty and chilly, despite the opinion of the thermometer.

Callie McPherson:

No matter that I’d agreed that the arrangement was for the best, there was a gaping space in my life. I suppose I hadn’t really thought how deeply Robert had penetrated my heart. I walked away without looking back. Had I looked back I might have begged him to stay and that would hardly have been fair.

I settled in to the routine of the Rectory. Dulcie arranged for me to attend the local high school and although I was older than other young people at the same level, I sat the GCSE exams with them and did quite well. At the same time I was working on ‘A’ levels. I helped out in the kitchen – Rebecca wasn’t a full-time servant, rather she was a part-time ‘Pastoral Assistant’. I found that she, too, was studying to become a priest by distance learning and was married to Joe Hancock. He split his time between sailing the heritage vessels of the area and, in the winter, working as a Registered Nurse. I got the full story, a bit at a time, over several weeks.

The school gave me structure to my day. I began to join with Dulcie, or whoever was taking the evening service, at evening prayer, and at the weekend matins in the morning. I enjoyed taking Peter and Sara to the park, too, and began to learn the names of the people I met. I spoke to Robert on the phone, or FaceTime, most evenings before settling to sleep, each time a renewed ache, though I can’t say I was actually unhappy.

The summer holidays gave me time to explore, sometimes with Rebecca, sometimes with one or other of the younger ladies of the congregation. I had a few outings on one of the sailing barges which are so emblematic of Maldon life. That way I got to know others not directly associated with the church, and found that I loved the process of working the old vessels. Also, that I was close to wildlife which was untroubled by the quiet progress of the boats. But even though the school was closed for the summer, I continued to study. English, Mathematics that I intended to sit at ‘A’ level. I even spent some time with Dulcie working on ancient Greek. It was interesting to see how that fitted in to the study of English language, and the Greek letters weren’t intimidating since I used a lot of them in Maths.