The Lost Sister, Kathleen McGurl [best desktop ebook reader txt] 📗

‘What happened then?’

‘The lifeboat rowed to the island of Kea where the injured were treated. Gran helped nurse some of the wounded. Imagine that – having just lost your sister but still trying to help other people.’ Matthew stared out of the window for a moment then turned back to Harriet. ‘I went there, you know. To Kea, and then to Piraeus on the Greek mainland where Emma was buried in a British naval cemetery along with other casualties of the Britannic. I was on holiday in Greece, doing a bit of island hopping and I decided to take a trip there and see if I could find Emma’s grave. There’s a small plot with a gravestone. I bought flowers and laid them on her grave.’

‘That’s lovely. I’m glad you went, and that she’s not entirely forgotten. I suppose we wouldn’t exist if not for her heroism. That’s a sobering thought.’

‘Yes. Remember Gran had been sickly as a child, with tuberculosis. That’s why she never learned to swim, she always said. I always found it amazing that she went back to sea after losing her sister in that way. Even more remarkable now that we know she thought she’d lost two sisters.’

‘What a story,’ Harriet said. ‘Thank you for telling me all you remember. I can update it all on the Ancestry website, and make sure it’s all captured for future generations. Maybe I’ll even pull together a little book and self-publish it. Just for the family, I mean.’ She was thinking of Davina’s daughters. If she never got to meet them, having their family history written down might be something they could treasure, in time.

She’d been in the bungalow two days when the next phone call from Davina came.

‘Harriet? Hi. Just calling to see how things are going. You’re due to be moving house around this time, aren’t you?’

‘Davina! Moved in a couple of days ago. More or less unpacked now – Sally and Charlie helped me with it all. It’s been a busy few days.’ She told Davina about her meeting with Matthew – cautiously as she didn’t want it to sound as though she was pushing Davina into meeting up. She knew that would serve only to push her daughter away.

‘That’s lovely news,’ Davina replied, and Harriet wondered if she could detect a slight wistful tone in her voice.

‘He’s staying in Bournemouth for a few days, and I think he might come to my little house-warming party on Saturday. He’s lovely. I’m just sorry …’ She’d been going to say she was sorry they hadn’t met up often when Sally and Davina were children, but stopped herself in time. It would come across as though she was criticising Davina for keeping away. Sometimes it was very difficult to avoid stepping on all the eggshells that lay strewn between them.

‘Sorry we didn’t get to see more of him years ago?’ Davina said, as though she’d read Harriet’s mind.

‘Well, yes. That’s what I was thinking. Oh, and someone else interesting is coming on Saturday.’ Harriet told Davina about Robert and his forthcoming visit to England.

‘Quite a reunion,’ Davina commented. ‘Well, I hope the party goes well. So, how’s Jerome?’

‘So far so good, as I told you by text. He hasn’t rejected the transplant, which is good news, and seems to be responding well. He’s stronger every day. It’s all very hopeful now, at last.’

‘Good … I’m so glad.’

There was something about the way she said this, the hesitation, the little catch in her voice, that made Harriet frown. ‘What is it, Davina? Is there something you’re not telling me?’ Fears of news that Autumn or Summer were suffering from the same as Jerome flooded through her mind while she waited for her daughter to answer.

Davina let out a long sigh. ‘OK, so I suppose I should come clean. Hadn’t quite decided but … James thinks I should. I … I became a bone marrow donor.’

‘You signed up for the registry? That’s great. So did Sally.’

‘Um, more than that. I donated. I … well, I contacted Jerome’s consultant, got myself tested, and it turns out I was a match. It’s rare for an auntie to be a match but somehow luckily I was, and … I donated bone marrow. To Jerome. It was … a bit painful if I’m honest, and took me longer to recover than I’d thought, but all worth it, of course, if it’s given him a chance.’

‘Davina, that’s … oh my God. That’s marvellous.’ Harriet found tears pouring down her face. ‘Can I … can I tell Sally it was you? She’s been asking the consultant if she could be told who the donor was.’

‘I know. He forwarded her letter to me. And a photo of Jerome.’ There was a catch in Davina’s voice as though she too was holding back tears. ‘It was a beautiful letter, Mum. Made me … cry a little. I’d forgotten Sally could be so … lovely. Warm. Yes, you can tell her. Probably better if you do, before I … see her again.’

‘Before you see her?’ Harriet whispered, as though repeating the words too loudly might make them disappear and Davina would deny they’d ever been said.

‘James thinks, and I guess I do too – it’s time – that we should … pay you a visit. All of us. See if we can … start again.’ She sniffed, loudly, and Harriet heard sounds of her pulling a tissue out of a box.

‘A visit! Oh Davina!’

‘Would we be welcome? I mean, after everything …’

‘Oh love, do you even have to ask?’ Harriet felt as though her heart was stopping. Davina, and the girls, visiting; a new start – it had been her dream for so long. ‘When were you thinking?’

‘Don’t know, soon, I need to make arrangements. So, yeah, tell Sally, and love to Jerome, and … tell her I forgive her. For that day in Weymouth.’ She sniffed loudly. ‘And you, of