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

his hand. ‘It is a great pleasure to meet you. What a fine young girl Agatha is. You must be very proud.’

Agatha watched as her mother stood taller, her shoulders back. ‘Yes. Always proud of Agatha, proud of both our daughters. This is my husband, Karl.’

Karl looked over but did not get out of his chair. ‘Karl,’ Edith snapped.

Lawson didn’t wait. He stepped over to Karl’s chair, standing almost in front of him and held out his hand. ‘Karl, I’m Lawson. I am pleased to meet you.’ Karl looked at Lawson and at his hand and after what seemed like minutes, finally took the outstretched hand and shook it.

Nell stepped forward, ‘Right, now that everyone has been introduced, I wonder, Edith, like we agreed, if we could step down from this veranda and sit at those benches we have placed on the back lawn.’ Nell moved towards the back steps as she spoke. Agatha followed and noticed that Katherine who was still linked to her mum, was gently moving from the veranda to the back lawn. Lawson stepped down and stopped halfway, turning back to Karl. ‘Are you going to join us Karl?’

‘Later. Maybe later,’ came the mumbled response.

Four benches had been placed facing each other. Edith and Katherine sat together on one, Nell and Agatha on another and Lawson on a third. Agatha looked at the fourth which remained empty, hoping her father would change his mind and join them. He showed no signs of moving from his chair on the veranda.

‘Agatha let’s swap places, so you can sit with your mum,’ Katherine stood as she spoke, and Agatha moved as suggested. Once she sat down, Agatha could feel the warmth of her mother’s hand on hers. She quickly took it and their fingers entwined.

‘So, this is the first visit, of many to come,’ Nell started, ‘and I was hoping that we could come to an arrangement about times, especially now that Agatha is going to school.’

‘Are you Aggie? Good girl,’ Edith’s hand came up and gently cupped the side of Agatha’s face. Without taking her eyes off Agatha Edith said, ‘She’s very smart, you know Katherine, always has been. She could read before she started school and she knew all of her numbers.’

‘I have no doubt. You have done a great job with her. She is very smart indeed. Especially Science.’

‘Yes, yes. Science.’

‘And I’m learning French.’

‘Très bon,’ Edith whispered, again touching the side of Agatha’s surprised face, her hand gentle and comforting.

‘I didn’t know you. . . ’ Agatha started, but stopped and gently taking a strand of Edith’s hair, pushing it back behind her mother’s ear.

‘What do you think about weekend visits, Edith? Either day,’ Nell asked.

‘Anytime. We don’t go out often. She can come anytime. You know that, don’t you Aggie. You can come home anytime.’

‘Yes Mum, I know that.’

‘But you can’t come back here to live anymore Aggie. Did Nell tell you?’

‘Yes. I’m sorry Mum,’ Agatha couldn’t hold it back anymore. She threw her arms around her mother as the tears ran down her cheeks. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘What are you sorry for Aggie? What?’ Edith’s face showed her confusion.

‘For not holding Nora’s hand, Mum. For not stopping her. This is all my fault. For the people who come, for everything . . . ’ The tears were unstoppable, they flowed like streams, fast flowing unstoppable streams.

‘It wasn’t your fault Agatha.’ The small group had become so engrossed in what was before them that none of them had noticed Karl leave his chair and approach them.

‘It was, Dad. I should have been holding her hand. You know it was my fault.’ Agatha lowered her head into her mother’s lap. Edith covered her with her arms and cooed softly.

Her father knelt in front of her and pushed the hair from her face. ‘She was running to me Agatha. I was on the other side of the street. She was running to me.’

Agatha looked at her father, her eyes blinking from the tears as she replayed her memory of that day. She couldn’t see him. She couldn’t see her father. She saw Nora running, her mother talking, a woman putting her kids into a car and then . . .

She sat up and stared into her father’s dark, dull eyes. ‘You were there. I remember. You called out. Why were you there?’

‘It was a hot day. I wanted to surprise you all, so I left work early. I thought we could drive to Williamstown, go for a swim, get an ice cream. It was really hot. I wanted to surprise my girls.’ Karl stood up, ‘She was running to me.’

Lawson got up and came to Karl’s side. He put his hand on his shoulder. ‘It was an accident.’ Karl nodded but he didn’t move. He let Lawson put his arm around his shoulder, the first time Agatha had seen him let someone touch him in years. Whether it was the gesture or the declaration, soon Karl let out a deep sob, as Lawson helped him to a bench and then sat there still with his arm on his shoulder.

‘She wasn’t running away from you Agatha,’ Edith said. ‘It wasn’t your fault. It was an accident, wasn’t it Katherine?’

‘Yes. A tragic accident.’

Agatha turned to her mother and hugged her. ‘I can’t stay here, you know that don’t you,’ she whispered.

‘Yes. I’ve known it for a long time. But it’s okay Aggie. You must go to school. Katherine will look after you. You can always come back. Anytime.’

Agatha nodded and hugged her even tighter. The small group sat in silence, absorbing what had just happened, what had just been said, knowing that now, things could begin to change.

38

The visit had lasted for over an hour. By the time they got back into the car, Agatha was exhausted. As Lawson pulled the car away from the front of the house, Agatha looked, hoping to see her parents wave her goodbye. But their veranda was empty, the front door closed.

The