Josephine Cox: Songbird

As Raymond so rightly said, May he rot in hell.

Before they left, Maddy told Nora that she wanted no part of Grandad Bob’s money, and that she would instruct the solicitor to make it over to Nora, at the first opportunity.

The old lady could hardly believe it. “I need a new three-piece suite,” she confided with embarrassment. “I’ve had this one for thirty years; it sinks, you know, when you sit on it. And I could do with a new set of teeth!”

Both Brad and Maddy had quietly noticed these things, but thoughtfully kept the revelation to themselves!

Maddy was hopeful that the money would more than replace Nora’s sagging three-piece suite. In fact, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if Nora wasn’t able to get a whole new houseful of furniture, a new car and go on a well-deserved holiday into the bargain.

As for herself, in the years when she worked night shift at the hospital, she had saved most of her wages, using only a small portion for her own modest needs. So she had plenty of cash.

On their way out of Blackpool, Maddy and Brad stopped and bought a bunch of carnations, which they took to the small churchyard where Bob Maitland had been buried; at his grave, Maddy felt the sense of a life chapter closing. “Thank you for being a good friend when I needed one,” she told him, blew him a kiss, and said her goodbyes.

Though she would write to Nora and make sure she was all right, Maddy knew that she would never come this way again.

Maddy wondered if Brad needed to go back home before they set off on the second leg of their journey, to Southampton and the Isle of Wight. “I need to be wherever you are,” he told her lovingly.

Sue and her family were taking care of things, along with the other staff at Brighill Farm, and the veterinary practices all had their own teams running them, so the “Fielding empire,” as Maddy called it, could manage without him for a few days, Brad said. Although he wasn’t sure about Roxy, who was just as silly a four-legged creature as dear old Donald had been.

“Are you sure you’re up to making this trip, sweetheart?” Brad asked, as they settled themselves in the café-lounge on the ferry. He had watched Maddy slowly recover over the past weeks, and though she was truly well now, he was worried that the unsettling batch of news Nora had passed on might prove to be too much for her.

Maddy put his mind at rest. “I’ve been out of it for so long,” she reminded him. “I won’t rest, until all the pieces are back together.”

“I can’t wait to meet your son.” Brad had been told everything, and to his dying day he would regret not being there when she most needed him.

As they drove off the ferry, Maddy noticed a garage and shop at the end of the street. “If you pull over, I’ll go and get a map,” she suggested to Brad. “We need to find the way to Ryde. It can’t be too hard, as the island isn’t very big.”

Brad did as she asked, and drew in and parked.

As Maddy came out with her map, she was almost knocked flying by a burly figure of a man. “Sorry, missus. Born clumsy, that’s me,” he apologized. He was a cheery sort. “Ah! Bought yourself a map then?” he inquired. He pointed to it. “You could ’ave saved your money and asked me,” he said. “There’s not a place or a road on this island that I don’t know about.”

Maddy showed him the address. “I know the place well,” he informed her proudly. “Intending to stay there, are you?”

Maddy shook her head. “I’m looking for my friend. She moved here a while back.” She took her leave, anxious for them to be on their way, now that they were so close to her son. Wishing him well, she made her way back to the car.

Brad was just pulling out when he reached over to squeeze Maddy’s hand. “Somebody up there must be watching over you,” he said warmly.

Maddy was certain of it. “I know that.” She leaned over to kiss him. “Because we found each other again.” She loved him so much it frightened her.

When they reached the address on Ellen’s letter, they found a tidy little bungalow with a garden full of flowers. Shaking like a leaf, Maddy knocked at the door, but there was no reply.

The lady next door was busy clipping her front hedge. She gestured to Maddy, who went over to her, and saw that her garden was overflowing with gnomes.

“Is it Mrs. Drew you want, love? You’ll not find her in at this time o’ day. She’s at work.”

She told Maddy exactly where to find Ellen. “Down on the esplanade, there’s a café called The Beach Place. You’ll find her there most days. She works from seven of a morning right through till six at night, sometimes. It’s no wonder she had a bad spell in hospital a few months back – run right down, she was. But she was soon up and on her feet, and now that the boss is retiring, she’s made him an offer.”

She rolled her eyes to heaven. “God knows what makes her want to be in debt like that. But in a few years, she’ll be able to sit back and let others do the hard graft.”

A born gossip, the neighbor gave Maddy a true picture of what life was like for Ellen, and Maddy could not help but feel compassionate. “She came here long ago, as a divorcée, she told me, and she doesn’t appear to be interested in meeting anyone else. Her only real joy in life is that lad of hers. She worships the ground he walks on! As for young Michael, he would do anything for his mum. Every day after sixth-form college, he’s down there, helping her out, and in the morning he does a paper round to earn his pocket money. Ah, but there’ll come a day when his mother’s debt is paid and he’ll be looking to build up a business of his own. The lad is ambitious enough, that’s for sure.”

Having thanked her, Maddy and Brad strolled down the steep road toward the café. Maddy felt as though her heart would burst with the tension.

Staying far enough away to get the lie of the land, she soon spotted her old friend Ellen. She was thinner than Maddy remembered, and slightly stooped from all the bending and carrying. She seemed well enough though, tanned and pretty, chatting to the customers and taking their orders. But there was a terrible fatigue about her.

Suddenly, a tall young man appeared. He was wearing a school blazer and carrying a bag full of books.

“Look, Brad!” Breathless with emotion, she drew his attention to the young man. “My head tells me not to leap to conclusions, but my heart tells me this is my son, lost to me all those years ago.” There was an odd mingling of pride and awe in her voice which now shook with emotion.

Brad could make no response. He felt like an intruder, at the scene of this drama, yet unable to tear himself away. With his immediate concern for Maddy, he gazed down on Ellen and the teenager, and he was deeply touched by the affection that flowed between them; just like the bond between a mother and her son.

Maddy saw it too. She saw how Ellen’s face lit up at the sight of this young man; the coveted baby who had been stolen all those years ago. Her heart was sore when she saw how he hugged his “mother” and chatted to her, each of them so content in the other’s company. There was no denying it. Ellen had seemed like a woman at the end of a long road, tired and weary, going about her work like a robot. Yet, when the boy appeared, it was as though she had suddenly come alive.

A great feeling of longing came over Maddy. She wanted to run and hold her son, and tell him who she was, and how desperately she had missed him. But then she watched them a while longer, these two; Ellen, who had no other love than that for the boy she had cared for from the beginning as if he was her own. And the young man, so easy in Ellen’s company; to all intents and purposes, she was his mother. It was painfully obvious to Maddy that he loved her deeply, in that very special way that a boy can love his mother.