Everything We Keep, Di Walker [best pdf reader for ebooks txt] 📗

think I would be hearing that – must be some great school!’ Nell drummed her fingers on the table, signalling she was done and stood up. ‘Do you want me to take you tomorrow Agatha?’

‘No, I will take her,’ Katherine answered, then quickly added, ‘if that’s okay with you, Agatha?’

‘Why don’t we both take her,’ Lawson said.

‘What about your flight?’

‘It’s not until later in the day.’

They all waited for a response from Agatha. She sat back in the chair and shrugged.

‘Right. I will take all non-answers as a yes,’ Lawson said, with a grin on his face. Agatha looked at him.

‘Courage and Honesty. What are the other ones?’ she asked.

‘All in good time,’ he said.

37

‘Eleven . . . twelve . . . thirteen. . . fourteen . . . are you going to stop?’ Katherine stood at the top of the stairs, watching her husband and Agatha race each other up and down, neither wanting to be the first one to stop. ‘Fifteen . . . sixteen . . . seventeen . . . I’m calling a halt at twenty.’

‘Aye, aye Admiral,’ Lawson puffed.

‘Nineteen . . . twenty. All done.’

Agatha and Lawson stood at the base of the stairs, both hunched over and out of breath.

‘I’m. . . going . . . to come here . . . every . . . day,’ Agatha said, stretching her arms above her head and breathing deeply to recover.

‘And I’m . . . going to get one . . . of the . . . fitness instructors . . . at Base . . . to train me . . . every. . . day,’ Lawson replied as he too stretched his arms above his head.

‘Not everything has to be a competition—’ Katherine commented.

‘Why not?’ ‘Yes, it does—’ Lawson and Agatha said, simultaneously.

Katherine laughed and threw up her hands in pretend frustration. ‘I give up!’ She walked down the steps and headed to the water’s edge. Chief was running back and forward, chasing a seagull who were teasing him by pretending to land and then taking off again. Lawson and Agatha caught up to her. The three walked along together, Lawson on one side, Agatha on the other.

‘Why do you call Katherine the Admiral when she’s not in the Navy and you told me Vice- Admiral is the highest rank?’ Agatha asked.

‘You don’t miss a trick, do you,’ Lawson said.

‘She’s certainly observant,’ Katherine said, lightly tapping Agatha’s cap with her hand.

‘Wouldn’t it be great if every day was like this,’ Agatha said.

‘We need to make the most of them, when we can,’ Katherine replied, holding her hand out to Agatha who didn’t hesitate in taking it.

‘I think we should leave here at ten hundred. Am I correct?’ Lawson asked Katherine.

‘I think so. Nell says it takes just under an hour.’

‘Well, let’s make it zero nine five zero, just to be sure.’

‘I think you’re saying 9:50am?’ said Agatha.

‘That’s right,’ chuckled Katherine, ‘After all these years, it’s hard for Lawson, or me for that matter, not to think in Navy time, but I have a feeling you’ll pick it up quickly.’

‘Who knows, maybe after a few years of retirement, I might start using civilian time,’ Lawson said.

At 0945 Agatha found Chief asleep on the sofa. She knelt and gave him a pat. ‘I’ll be back later, Chief,’ she whispered to him.

‘Ready?’ Katherine was standing at the front door; Lawson had backed the car out of the carport and was waiting in the driveway. When Katherine and Agatha got in, he said, ‘Zero nine four eight. A few minutes ahead of schedule. Excellent work team.’

The drive to Greensward was mainly via the freeways and tunnels that snaked their way around the bay and under the city. Agatha sat in the back, watching the suburbs pass. She could hear Katherine and Lawson talking quietly in the front but couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Maybe it was the sun coming through the back window, or the exercise that morning, but for whatever reason, as they drove closer to the city, she closed her eyes and let her head lean back onto the head rest. She soon tuned out to everything except the drone of the car.

‘You can’t take her . . . you’re scaring her . . . don’t take my baby . . . not my baby . . . ’ She could hear her mother’s voice, see her wild hair flying around her head as she tried to get past the policewoman holding her back. Behind her she could see her father, his hands running through his hair, his head shaking, ‘No . . . no . . . no . . . ’ he was saying.

‘Don’t take Aggie from me . . . don’t . . . I need her . . . she needs me . . . ’

Her mother had escaped from the restraint that had held her back and was now at the car door, trying to open it. Someone was holding Agatha, she could see the hands, hear the voice, ‘Go. Just drive. Go.’ The voice was harsh, frustrated.

‘Let me go! Let me go!’ Agatha could hear her own younger voice, feel her teeth bite down on the forearm that was holding her.

‘Arghh! She bit me!’

‘You okay?’ Another voice.

‘Keep driving. I can’t believe she bit me.’

It was the change from light to dark, as they entered the Burnley Tunnel that made Agatha open her eyes. Her eyes soon adjusted to the underground yellow lights that streamed overhead.

‘Agatha?’ Lawson was looking at her in the rear-view mirror. ‘What do you think?

‘About what? I didn’t hear you?’

‘A mobile phone. I just said to Katherine that I think we should get you one. What do you think?’

She smiled at him, as he glanced from the road to her. ‘That would be great, Lawson, really great. All the kids at school have one.’

‘Okay. Well, after the visit, we’ll go to The Vale on the way back and get one.’

Just before 11am Lawson