There is Nothing like a Dame A novel by Bronwen Welsh Copyright© 2017 & 2018 Bronwen Welsh A sequel to 'The Might-Have-Been Girl' and 'All the World's a Stage'

Chapter 41   A problem solved

It's been a while since I mentioned our Aunt Peggy who lives in Australia, but that's not to say that I hadn't been in touch with her quite frequently. When Aunt Peggy came over to England to care for Mum during her final illness, both Emma and I became very close to her. It made a huge difference to Mum, having her sister with her during the final weeks of her life and we will always be grateful to her for that. After she returned to Australia, we exchanged frequent emails and occasional phone calls. I was fortunate enough to meet Aunt Peggy, her husband Ron and her children Ron junior and Flora, when I spent a short time in Melbourne during the ISC's world tour. I mention this because I would hate you to think that I only contacted her when I needed a favour and of course I did need one now.

I didn't want to put her on the spot by ringing her but instead wrote her an email. I explained about Thomas's leukaemia and how he would need to spend some weeks hospitalised in York while receiving treatment. I told her how it would be good for both him and Emma if she could be with him, but there were the other three children who needed caring for while their father was at work, and unfortunately, soon I had to go to America for a month to perform and couldn't get out of my contract. If Ron and the children could spare her for about a month, that would be an enormous help to us. I finished by telling her that I realised that I was asking a great favour of her. Then I pressed 'send' with my finger's crossed. If she couldn't make it I'd have to go to Plan B, except I didn't have a Plan B, since there were no other close relatives that I could ask to step in. I didn't tell Emma and David since I didn't want to raise their hopes and then perhaps dash them.

Two days passed, and I confess I had taken to checking my email 'inbox' about ten times a day. When I finally saw an email from Aunt Peggy, my heart was in my mouth before I clicked to open it.

'Dear Harriet, Emma and David, I was so sorry to hear about young Thomas's illness. It must be a very worrying time for all of you. Harriet, I have talked over your request with Ron and the children and they all agreed that we should do everything we can to help you at this time. If by coming over to England again I can help, then we are happy that I do so. I will have to ask you to make the travel arrangements, just as you did when I came over before, and I will look forward to seeing you all, even though it's such a bad time for you.
With much love, Aunt Peggy, Uncle Ron, Ron jnr and Flora.

I could have wept, I was so grateful. I immediately rang Emma and told her what I had done.

“I hope you don't think I went behind your back, but I didn't want to raise false hopes,” I said.

“Oh Harriet, don't be silly. That's just the best news you could give me,” she said. “Thomas starts his first round of chemotherapy in two days and I was going to ask if you could come over and even stay for a few days if you think Reggie won't mind?”

It was fortunate that as the only boy in the family, Thomas had his own room and an adult-size single bed which had been bought with the thought that he would 'grow into it'.

With Reggie's agreement and support, I packed a suitcase of clothes, toiletries etc and drove over to Bridchester the next day. In the meantime, I had telephoned Aunt Peggy and so had Emma, thanking her for once again helping in our hour of need. She said she could be ready in a week, so I set about booking a flight for her which would land her in Manchester, the nearest international airport. As I had done previously, I purchased a Business Class flight for her with an open-ended return date. This would be a lot more comfortable and help her to get over jetlag.

Early next morning I was off to Bridchester again and arrived just as Emma was getting ready to leave. David was driving her and Thomas to York so that he would have use of the car while she was away, and I settled in to look after the two youngsters. Penny had already left for school. They were pleased to hear that Aunt Peggy would be arriving on Wednesday week and I would be driving to Manchester to pick her up from the airport. David would go to the theatre when he came back as the Apollo Players were in rehearsal for a play starting in two weeks so time was getting short.

I settled in to being a locum housewife for my sister's family. It certainly wasn't what I had anticipated when I drove back to York after 'Camelot' concluded, but then life has a habit of doing these things. What was that saying by John Lennon – something like 'Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans'? Anyway, thanks to Aunt Peggy, I would soon be able to withdraw and get ready for my trip to America. I would also be able to spend more time in my proper rôle as a housewife for Reggie. I didn't resent looking after the children, but I confess that the amount of time we were spending apart was beginning to worry me.

The days passed by. We had daily reports from Emma and she was cautiously optimistic. Thomas was coping with the treatment very well. Children hate needles, and he was being subject to daily blood tests to check his response to the treatment. When Emma described how his lower lip quivered when the blood collector lady arrived in the ward, I could tell that she was on the brink of crying, and I wasn't far off it myself. However, the good news was that the number of bad 'blast' cells in his blood was falling.

I had organised with Reggie to drop a key off to Emma so that she could use our flat to wash her clothes, and take a break from the hospital, rather than come back to Bridchester. She was able to do this while Thomas slept which he usually did after a dose of chemotherapy. I would like to have gone to York to see them, but for the present my place was at Bridchester, looking after the other children. They kept asking when Mummy and Thomas were coming home and all we could tell them was 'soon'. I was glad that David was working as it gave him a distraction from worrying about Thomas. Since I would never have children of my own, looking after Penny, Elizabeth and Stella, gave me an insight into just how much work is involved in caring for children and increased my respect for Emma that she seemed to cope with it so well.

The days passed, and soon Aunt Peggy was on her way to England. She would be landing in Manchester early Wednesday morning and David had arranged to take the day off and stay home while I drove to Manchester to pick her up. Tuesday evening I set my alarm and Wednesday morning got up while it was still dark for my shower and breakfast before dressing. The forecast was for a warm day, so I chose a pretty cotton summer dress to wear with bare legs and sandals. You might wonder why I was dressing up to meet Aunt Peggy. It had been some time since I last saw her and I wanted to look nice. In addition, I was following the example of my mentor, Dame Emily, who is instantly recognisable almost anywhere in the world.

“People expect us to look much as we do on stage or screen and I would hate to disappoint them,” she said. “Besides, the 'paparazzi' always delight in taking a picture of us if we are not looking our best and splashing it all over the tabloids.”

I was nowhere near as recognisable as stars of the big or small screen, since most of the time I performed on stage, but I took her advice to heart.

I arrived at Manchester Airport about thirty minutes before Aunt Peggy's plane was due to land. I knew from past experience that although First Class and Business Class passenger emerge first, it takes the best part of an hour to get through Immigration and Customs, so I found a café with a good view of the doors in the Arrivals Hall, ordered a coffee and sat down to wait. I do find airports interesting places to spend an hour, there are so many people passing by, some wearing exotic garments, not always suitable for the British weather.

Eventually, the doors leading into the Arrivals Hall started to open and people emerged with their trolleys laden with suitcases. Judging by the look of their luggage, they were from First Class, but gradually more and more people appeared, and then suddenly, there was Aunt Peggy! I moved to the front of the barrier and waved, and catching sight of me she waved back. Then we were hugging each other and she held me at arms' length and said: “Goodness me, Harriet, you look amazing! Married life and the stage is definitely agreeing with you.”

Inevitably I blushed and struggled to find something to say in return and came out with: “It's so good to see you again, Aunt Peggy. How was your flight?” Banal I know, but it was the best I could think of on the spur of the moment.

“Excellent, thank you, Harriet, although I feel sorry for everyone packed in at the back of the plane for twenty-four hours with only one break. I hope you realise that I could never face a long-haul Economy flight again thanks to you?”

I laughed. “It's the least I could do in return for you leaving your family for a month to come and help us.”

We walked out of the terminal and over to the carpark, where I loaded Aunt Peggy's big suitcase into 'Bluebird' ad we headed out into Manchester. Thank goodness I had had some experience of driving to the airport and back as the traffic is not for the faint-hearted.

Aunt Peggy sensibly kept quiet while I navigated clear of the city, allowing me to concentrate on driving, but once we were onto the Motorway and north of the city, then I could relax and we could talk. I filled her in on what was happening with Thomas and how Emma was staying with him while I stayed at Bridchester.

“I would have stayed there longer, but I signed a contract to perform in America and my agent told me not to even think of breaking it as I would probably be sued and bankrupted. That really wouldn't help things at present when I need my savings to help out Emma and David.”

“That's very good of you,” said Aunt Peggy. “You've always been a generous person.”

“I know they would do the same for me if our positions were reversed,” I replied. “They're bringing up their three children on one wage, and also Stella, though of course we pay money for her upkeep. Even so, I think it's quite a struggle for them, so it's only right that I help out where I can, and Reggie agrees that I should do it. Believe me, after looking after small children for even a short time, my respect for Emma has increased tenfold.”

Aunt Peggy looked at me and changed the subject: “I'm going to embarrass you again,” she said. “But when I saw you there at the airport, I thought to myself 'That young lady is a star, and anyone seeing her would know that'. It wasn't just the fact that you were beautifully made up and wearing a pretty dress while almost every other woman, myself included was wearing pants (which I should mention is the Australian word for what we call trousers); no, you just have that look about you that says you are special.”

As she predicted, my face was glowing.

“There's just one thing that bothers me, and I hope you don't mind me mentioning it. As you become more and more well known, what if someone in the gutter press decides to go digging into your past and finds out your origins. How will you handle that?”

“I'm prepared for the fact that it might happen,” I replied. “The business that I'm in, it's always a possibility, but everyone who needs to know, like Dame Emily, and Duncan Morgan, my boss at Stratford, already know and it doesn't bother them. Even the general public understand a bit more now and realise that there's a difference between a transgender woman and a drag queen. We have to thank those brave souls who were prepared to 'come out' as it were and reveal who they really are. I might hit the headlines for a day, but then it would be old news and soon forgotten. I don't think it would affect my career.”

“Well I hope you are right,” said Aunt Peggy. “I would hate to see you get hurt.”

Now it was my turn to change the subject: “How's Ron, Ron junior and Flora?” I asked.

Aunt Peggy laughed. “Ron's the same as he always was, he really doesn't change, he just gets a bit more grey hair; Ron junior is determined to be a farmer like his Dad and Flora wants to be a nurse.”

“That's good to hear. They are both well-grounded, which doesn't surprise me a bit, having parents like you. With my job I meet a lot of young people, girls mostly, who want to be professional actresses. It's a bit hard to dissuade them without sounding like a hypocrite, but I know that only a few will ever make it professionally. Nurses are always in demand, and I have not doubt that Flora will be a very good one, she's such a caring person”

We stopped off at a Services about half-way to York and had a 'cuppa' and a sandwich. We had agreed that it would be good to visit Emma and Thomas at the hospital first before going on to Bridchester. I had sent Emma a text with our estimated time of arrival and checked that it was alright with her. About an hour later we pulled into the hospital car park.

Hospitals, especially the big ones, can be scary places if you're not used to them. The corridors seem to go forever, like a rabbit warren. Notices indicate departments with long names mostly derived from Greek or Latin; nurses in their crisp uniforms hurry past and so do doctors in their white coats with the obligatory stethoscope around their necks like a badge of office.

Aunt Peggy and I made our way to a sign that said 'Enquiries' and enquired where we would find Thomas and Emma. In reply to the question, I said that I was his aunt and Peggy was his 'great aunt'. We were directed to 'Paediatric Oncology' on the fourth floor. As we took the lift, Aunt Peggy said to me: “Please don't call me a 'great aunt', it makes me sound positively prehistoric.” She did say it with a smile. We agreed that she would be 'Aunt Peggy' to both generations.

We found the ward and the Nurses' Station from where we were directed to a single room and told we must wash our hands and don a gown and a mask to reduce the chance of infection since Thomas's immune system was compromised by the chemotherapy he was on. We did as we were told and tapped on the window of Thomas's room. Emma was sitting by his bed and looking up, smiled when she saw us.

Opening the door she whispered “Thomas is asleep. It usually happens after a dose of chemo. Come in and hae a look at him.”

We stepped inside the room. It was hard not to let the tears flow seeing the small fragile figure asleep in the bed. He had lost most of his hair and looked very pale.

“How is he going?” Aunt Peggy whispered.

“Quite well, but it's going to be a long haul for the poor mite,” whispered Emma back.”The blood tests are showing promise.”

“I can come and sit here to give you a break until I have to go to America,” I said. “I'll take Aunt Peggy to Brid now and she can settle in.”

Emma hugged Aunt Peggy: “Thank you so much for coming over and please pass on my thanks to your family for sparing you for a month. We really didn't know how we were going to cope.”

Thomas stirred and opened his eyes. He didn't seem in the least alarmed at seeing two more figures in gowns and masks, perhaps because there was no sign of the blood-collecting trolley.

“Thomas, your Aunty Harriet is here to see you, and this is Aunt Peggy who has come all the way from Australia to look after your Daddy and sisters until we can both go home. Wasn't that kind of her?”

Thomas nodded solemnly.

“Aunt Peggy is going to Bridchester now, but Aunty Harriet will come in and see you sometimes now she's coming back to York.”

Thomas seemed to take all this in. I said we had better be going. I could see that Aunt Peggy was having trouble holding back the tears and I wasn't far off them myself. We didn't touch Thomas, but we hugged Emma again and left the room, putting our gowns in a laundry basket and our masks in a bin. Aunt Peggy's eyes were brimming with tears.

“He'll pull through, he has to,” I said with a note of determination in my voice that I did not feel.

Then we walked back to the car and drove to Bridchester.

To be continued.