The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3369 by Angharad Copyright© 2022 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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James answered his phone on the second ring, "Hello, my goddess, what can I do to you?" he said.

"You can do nothing to me, but you could do something for me."

"That's what I said wasn't it?" he replied.

"James, you know jolly well it wasn't but I have bigger fish to fry. I want you to find George Davidson's wife, she left him years ago. We haven't a clue where she is or even if she's still alive. She may be living under an assumed or different name, but I feel Francesca needs her like never before."

"Usual terms?" he asked.

"Yes, plus a couple of hundred bonus if it's done before we go to trial."

"When is that?"

"We haven't been given a date."

"I'll need as much info as you can give me."

"I'll ask Francesca to call you, if it's okay to give her your number?"

"Yeah, I suppose, you know there is no guarantee of me locating her, and what if she is dead?"

"You can only do your best and I'm sure if anyone can find her, you will."

"Gosh, two compliments in one day, any more and I'll have to lie down."

"Yeah, well if you do, start billing me after your siesta."

"Ooh, you are fickle," he said to me in a silly voice.

"Yeah, and you're idle."

"No, not fickle, vicious, that's the word."

"James, put your phone down so Francesca can call you."

"Oh, okay," and he did.

A little later Francesca rang him and told him all she could remember of her mother and her premature departure. She was on the phone half an hour during which time I saw Danni and told her what was what. She protested a little but it was only token stuff then she accepted what I had said. She told me that Francesca told her that she had outgrown my daughter and wanted to move on, which made Danni feel like child being told off by an adult.

I told her it wasn't as personal as she had taken it and that Francesca had grown in the freedom she had had here and had changed quite a lot and therefore shouldn't reflect on Danielle as she hadn't done anything at all.

"Yeah, but she makes me feel like some sort of kid who's holding her back."

"I don't think it's meant that way but since she has been free of her father and his wet blanket approach to his daughter, her horizons have expanded and she wants to explore on her own. It's not a reflection on you but I suspect she doesn't want to be tied down in a relationship just yet."

"So I get the elbow?"

"I think I understand what she's about."

"Glad somebody does, I was prepared to tie myself up for the rest of my life because I felt that she was the one, now I feel a fool."

"Danni, you are still very young to settle down yet, if she is the one, give her some freedom and if she comes back to you, it was meant, if she doesn't it wasn't meant to be."

"So I'm just supposed to sit around waiting to see if she changes her mind, am I?"

"No because she's given you back your freedom too. You are free to play the field again and perhaps you will find someone more suited, I don't know. As we age we become frightened of being left behind. We're nervous that we won't meet anyone, I suspect girls are more prone to it, but boys get equally worried about it, yet there's no shame in being single as either sex, as things have changed and more people enjoy the freedom to do the things they want to do. So don't worry, I thought I was going to spend the whole of my adult life on my own as I assumed I was undesirable, like I had been the whole of my childhood. The only friend I had was Siân and when we both went to uni, we lost touch. I thought that I was ugly and inadequate, desiring to be wanted as woman but little thinking anyone would do so."

"You were wrong, Mum."

"Only because I ran into Stella."

"I always thought it was the other way around."

"Yes it was, she ran into me and the rest as they say is history."

"But you married the first man you went out with?"

"I was very lucky, Simon and I are soul-mates, many never find there's and have to settle for second best."

"That's how I felt about Fran."

"It needs both of you to feel the same."

"I know that now."

"Haven't you a football match to play?"

"I was suspended, remember?"

"Of course, sorry I'm trying to keep a load of balls in the air simultaneously."

"That just about sums up my situation, a load of balls," she sloped off by herself and although I felt sorry for her, it's a teenage romance, she'll get over it and the next and the next. As they say you have to kiss a few frogs. Thought I never did determine who they were.

I was trying to finish a report, organise some help with the mammal project, deal with my secretary wanting next week as holiday and sort the dinner this evening, David has the evening off. As my report is going nowhere I might as well look what's for dinner. David did say he'd left something.

I had just reached the kitchen when I was ambushed by Fran, although button holed might be a better term. "How old is James?" she asked.

"Too old for you," I responded.

"Oh," she replied.

"What did you tell him?"

"Everything, why?"

"If you did, he'll have more chance of finding her, your mum, I mean."

"You've been the nearest thing I've had to a mum since she left."

"I've tried to meet your need for support."

"You've been brill," she said, "There's part of me would like to stay for you to spoil me some more, but I guess it's time to move on."

"Is it?" I asked.

"I think so, I've changed as a person, Danni hasn't. It's a pity because like you she's very generous."

"Danni is very generous, "I agreed.

"I think she felt sorry for me or that she owed me something for saving her from my dad, he was likely to have killed her. He had these rages, if only he'd stopped, it wouldn't have happened. "

"I thought he liked her," I said, "I mean the last I heard he was going to get on to the FA because he thought she was worthy of their consideration."

"He has a friend there who told him about her, about you all. He was furious, in his book you can't change sex. As far as he was concerned, Danni was effeminate male and he wanted me t have nothing to do with her. I told him what had happened to her and about the assault in France. Instead of him understanding he became absolutely dead against her and so when she came with me to try and escape him, he caught her and went berserk, I'd never seen him like it, he was deaf to my protests and so I had to do something and well, you know what happened."

"I do and I'm very grateful to you. We couldn't get in, James got stuck by the door and then we heard the shot and he just smashed his way through the back door."

"That was James, was it?"

"Yes, it wasn't really the time or place for introductions, I'm sorry."

"Oh Cathy, you've all done so much for me."

"Well, I hope he can find your mum, she must have heard about your plight."

"I don't know, it might have been just the local papers who ran the story."

"I assumed it would have been big enough for the nationals as well, it was on the TV news on both channels, so unless she doesn't watch it or read newspapers she must know."

"Isn't that assuming she's in this country, what if she's in Australia or something, although it wouldn't have stopped him getting to her."

"It might well have done so if she disappeared somewhere like that, it's such a big country and she could have gone to ground, be living on some remote cattle station, and the news may not have carried that far," I opined.

"Oh, goodness, will he ever find her?"

"He's pretty good at it but it might take a while if she is abroad. Especially if she did change her name but he has his networks and things, so we just have to give him some time."

"I'm likely to have lots of that before too long, thank you for trying," she said and went back to her room.

I went back to my study where the younger girls found me and I was distracted from all the things I had to do sorting out Cate's dollie's dress, which she had split trying to force it on the wrong doll which was too big. I hadn't given them much attention for a day or so, so I had to sort it.

While I was still up to my eyeballs in doll's clothes when David tracked down to my study. "Cannelloni?" he said shoving a cuppa on my desk.

I just looked at him as if he had said something in Greek, then thanked him for the tea. " He looked oddly at me and said, Cathy, is it still cannelloni for lunch?"

"Oh, that's what you said, I was so distracted by this piece of haute courture I didn't recognise the haute cuisine, sorry."

He just laughed as he usually did, "I can see you're busy so I'll..."

"No, just finished I gave the dress back to Cate and dared her to try and put it on the wrong doll, next time I'd throw it in the dustbin. They both went off squealing.

Lunch was delicious, I'm not overly fond of spinach and ricotta but I ate a small amount in my cannelloni with salad and a baked potato. Neither Danni nor Francesca seemed very hungry but the others, including Stella, wolfed it down.

I was still a bit preoccupied with the search for Francesca's mother to concentrate much on anything else so I let David decide on dinner and I'd try my best to turn up and devour my share, assuming my appetite improved. I went back to my study and tried to finish the report I'd started but it was no good, I just couldn't centre on it. In the end I grabbed Danni and we went for a bike ride together hoping the fresh air would blow away the cobwebs. It was actually more wash away the cobwebs as it chucked it down when we were about ten miles from home. The discomfort of entirely wet cycling kit chaffing on my bum and elsewhere meant I soon forgot about the other things as did Danni and the ride home became almost one of survival.

We arrived about an hour later like two drowned rats and I couldn't converse until I'd had a hot shower, warmed myself up and dressed myself in something warm afterward. I suspect Danni was in a similar position and she was shivering as we came in. Everyone who saw us thought it was hilarious as we squelched to the bathrooms, I said nothing feeling a sense of humour failure so ignored their jibes and laughter. I think Danni followed suit.

Half an hour later with all my kit drying in the airing cupboard and a cup of tea in my hand, body clad in soft warm clothes, I felt ready for anything, even to laugh at myself and think it was the same for Danni. No wonder they used to run prisoners as chain gangs mending the roads in all sorts of weathers as a means of punishing people to break their spirits. It hasn't happened here for many a year but I believe they still do it in parts of the States and other primitive countries or should I say other countries with primitive justice systems.