Page 37 of Strangers in Time

P ARALLEL C ONDITIONS

A FARAWAY CLOCK TOWER struck the hour. Charlie looked up at the murky sky as he turned down the familiar alley. He had made up his mind to tell Ignatius Oliver that he was one of the lads who had left Eddie and the policeman dead. He didn’t know if Oliver would call the constables on him or not. He hoped not. But he could not keep this inside himself any longer. And he couldn’t tell his gran. He didn’t want to see the crushing disappointment on her face. Charlie wasn’t sure he could survive that.

He stopped as soon as he saw her. “M-Miss?”

Molly turned to look at him as she stood by The Book Keep’s dirty window.

“Charlie? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to ask Mr. Oliver somethin’. What are you doin’ here?”

“I have some letters I want him to read.”

“How’d you get here?” he asked.

“I took a taxi.”

“You shouldn’t be out alone at night.”

“And you should?” she retorted.

He waved this off. “I can take care of myself. But you’re quite different.”

“Because I’m a girl?”

“No, because you don’t know the ways of the city no more.”

“Well, as you can see, I made it here just fine,” she said with spirit. Then she put her hand in her pocket and held up the half crown. “You’re going to take this.”

“No, Miss.”

“If you don’t, I’ll throw it in the gutter drain over there.”

“You wouldn’t do that!” said a shocked Charlie.

“Watch me!”

Charlie slowly reached out, took the coin, and put it in his pocket. Then he tried the doorknob but it was locked.

“What happened to the door?” asked Molly, suddenly noticing the repaired damage.

“Dunno,” lied Charlie. “And he put the bell on the outside.”

“It says to ring it for service. Even though the closed sign is out the lights are on, so let’s do so.”

Charlie tinkled the bell and waited. Presently, through a crack in the drawn curtains, they saw Oliver come out from behind the counter. He walked quickly over and unlocked the door.

“Molly, Charlie, what an unexpected pleasure. Please, come in.”

They did so.

“It’s quite late. Is anything wrong?”

They shook their heads.

“Would you like some tea?”

They both shook their heads once more.

Oliver looked at his front window and said, “Here I am, an air warden, and I haven’t pulled my blackout curtains all the way. I should give myself a notice-of-light-showing card.” He pulled them fully shut before turning back to the pair. “Now, what can I do for you?”

Molly looked at Charlie. “Would you like to go first?”

“No, you go on ahead,” he replied in haste.

Molly took out the letters and explained to Oliver what they were and her mother’s being in a sanatorium in Cornwall. She glanced nervously at Charlie as she did so, her cheeks turning slightly red with this admission.

“Perhaps you could read them and provide some advice,” suggested Molly.

“If I can be of assistance, but I’m certainly no doctor.”

He put on his specs, took out the letters, arranged them, and read the missives from first to last while Charlie and Molly looked on.

Finished, he put the correspondence back in their respective envelopes and passed them over to Molly. He took off his specs and wiped them on his sleeve.

“It does seem serious, Molly. Again, while I’m not a doctor, my brother is. Thus, I have heard the terms ‘social phobia’ and ‘neurosis.’ They can be quite difficult to overcome. And with any illness of the mind it’s not as simple as taking a teaspoon of castor oil or wrapping one’s hand with a bandage.”

“But she could get better?”

“Oh, certainly. I don’t know exactly what sorts of treatment they are referring to but I’m sure they are taking her best interests into account. Now, what does your father think of all this?”

Molly glanced at Charlie to see him staring earnestly at her.

She looked back at Oliver and said slowly, “He… he is very concerned as well. He has been in constant contact with Dr. Stephens, as you saw from the letters. He went out to Cornwall to take my mother there and has visited her often.”

“Then I’m not sure exactly what it is you want me to help you with. He’s in a far better position to answer all of your questions or take any needed action.”

“The fact is, my father is consumed with work at the Ministry of Food. He sometimes doesn’t come home at night. I felt that if I could relieve him of that burden, then it would make things better.”

Oliver frowned and shook his head. “You’re quite young to be relieving your father of such a responsibility, Molly. For instance, no doctor would take direction from you with regard to your mother’s treatment. I’m not sure they would even discuss the case with you.”

“I am her daughter!” Molly replied heatedly. “And I’m not a child. I’m quite nearly sixteen.”

“And if it were up to me, I would tell you everything about her condition. But, unfortunately, it is not up to me. And if my elder brother is any indication, members of the medical profession can be quite patronizing to members of the fairer sex.”

Molly’s spirits dipped. “But do you think it’s possible that I could visit her?”

“I’m sure if there is a way to do so, your father will arrange it and go with you.”

Molly said slowly, “The thing is, he is very busy. Days go by when I don’t see my father at all. I don’t think that it’s possible that he will be able to get away.”

“Perhaps you can ring them?” suggested Oliver.

“I tried but the line was not working.”

“Yes, that does happen very often now. But I’m not sure what I can do.”

“Is it such a long trip to Cornwall?” said Molly.

“Fairly long, yes. Oh, it’s the most beautiful country. People often go there for their health and to take in the sea air. Now, there are trains that leave from Paddington, but there are several transfers along the way, at least there were. But what with the war, I have no idea how long it would take or if it’s even possible right now. The last I heard, all rail lines south were out of commission. Whether that strictly includes Cornwall or not, I’m not certain.”

“So you’ve been there?” asked Molly excitedly.

“Well, in Plymouth in Devon, very near Cornwall. My wife and I honeymooned there.”

“You might have stayed near where the Institute is located,” said Molly.

“We might have done, but I don’t recall any such place. I don’t know how long it’s been there, either. And our honeymoon was fifteen years ago.” His face fell as he said this. “Fifteen years ago… yesterday. We had always planned to go back, but…”

“I’m so sorry for bringing this all up,” said Molly, noting his despair.

“Please. You couldn’t possibly have known.”

“Then I guess I won’t be able to see my mother,” said Molly.

“You really should speak to your father about this,” urged Oliver. “I’m certain that even though he is terribly busy, he would perhaps make a call to the Institute and let you talk to the doctor, or even your mother, if she is able to. Or he could possibly arrange a trip there with his government contacts.”

“Yes, yes,” said Molly dully. “I… I will talk to… Father.”

“Good,” said Oliver, although he looked puzzled by Molly’s clear lack of enthusiasm at his quite sensible suggestion.

“Mr. Oliver?” she said. “There’s one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“I know this will sound quite silly, but it seems that, what I mean to say is, there might be people watching my house. And following me.”

“Following you?” he exclaimed.

“Yes. When I first came here to see you, two men in a car followed me. I’m sure of it. And I’ve seen another man watching my house. And so has my nanny.”

“And don’t forget ’bout the bloke that took your picture at the park and then run off,” interjected Charlie.

“Took your picture?” parroted Oliver.

“Well, at least I think he did,” said Molly.

“Have you told your father about this?”

“I… No, but I suppose I should.”

“Yes, Molly, you absolutely must. It might be nothing but, then again, one can never be too careful. Particularly these days.”

“Of course, yes, I will tell him straightaway.”

“Good.” He turned to Charlie. “And how are you, Charlie?”

“I’m fine, guv.”

“And what brings you here?”

“I… saw your door was all banged up.”

“Yes, it seems that someone tried to break in. I didn’t see who. It was a group of boys, I think. It turned quite tragic. You might have heard about it? Two people died after being hit out on the street by a passing lorry.”

Molly exclaimed, “Oh dear, do you mean the constable and the boy? Charlie and I did read about that in the paper.”

He glanced at Charlie. “I have no idea why out of all the shops around here they would choose mine.”

“Maybe they weren’t all that smart,” said Charlie, while looking away. “Or maybe they might have wanted books, you reckon?”

“Perhaps,” said Oliver. “But surely you didn’t come here for that. You would have only seen the state of my door when you got here. What was the reason for coming in the first place?”

“I… I…” Charlie glanced at Molly. “I was wondering if you had a pencil.”

“A pencil?”

“Yeah, so’s I can write in the book you give me.”

“But don’t you have a pencil for school?” asked Molly.

“Yeah, but you have to leave it there. They won’t let you take it home.”

“But don’t you have schoolwork to do at home?” she persisted.

Charlie looked at her crossly. “Readin’ and such. But not writin’.”

“I have something better than a pencil.” Oliver walked over to the counter, opened a drawer, and withdrew from it a pen. “This was the pen that my wife used to write with before I bought her a new one for our first anniversary.”

“You don’t want to give that away, surely,” said Molly.

“Let’s just call it a loan , shall we, Charlie? When you’re done with it, or have acquired another writing instrument, you can simply bring it back.”

He held it out to Charlie, who did not reach for it.

“It’s okay, Charlie, really. I would like you to have it.”

Slowly, Charlie took the pen and curled his dirty fingers around its glistening skin. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

“I’m sure that whatever you write down will be important,” said Oliver.

“I doubt that,” said Charlie.

“Even if it is only important to you,” amended Oliver. “Which is often the most important thing of all.”

“Very fine thoughts,” said Molly.

“It was Imogen who said them.”

“I’m sure you miss her terribly,” she said.

“Something more than terribly, actually,” replied Oliver, looking away.

“Was it the bombin’s?” said Charlie. “How she died?”

“Charlie!” said Molly in an admonishing tone. “That’s none of our business.” Of course she had previously asked Oliver the very same question.

“No, no, that’s all right. What I will say is, it was the bombings, but it also wasn’t the bombings. And more than that, I just can’t… reveal. I feel like it’s as much as I know, frankly.”

In a lighter tone, Oliver added, “Anyone care for a cup of tea now?”