T A Williams - What Happens In Tuscany...

‘Teenager?’ Katie smiled at her. ‘I’ve spent the best part of a decade teaching teenagers. There’s nothing particularly unusual in a teenager throwing tantrums and rebelling against authority.’

Victoria nodded. ‘Well, I got to the stage when I decided I had to get out. I couldn’t take it any more. One autumn afternoon I climbed the wall over by the far woods and set off down the valley, hoping to find a train to take me away.’ She managed a small smile. ‘It didn’t occur to me to take money with me. Even if I’d found the station, I wouldn’t have been able to buy a ticket.’

‘So what happened?’

‘It got dark while I was still in the woods. I got hopelessly lost and started to panic. It was freezing cold and I began to shiver. I blundered on until I came to a road.’ She shook her head and sighed as the memories resurfaced. ‘I didn’t know which way to turn, so I headed back uphill, hoping it would lead me home to the manor. Then, about three o’clock in the morning I saw the lights of a car coming towards me. It was Mackintosh. I’ve never been so pleased to see anybody in my life.’

Katie reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘He’s a good, kind man, isn’t he? I felt that the very first time I met him.’

‘He’s a very good man. I hold him in high esteem.’ Victoria looked back and caught Katie’s eye. ‘That’s wrong, isn’t it? Nobody says that any more, do they?’

Katie gave her a smile. ‘Well spotted. I think we just respect people these days or think a lot of them.’

Victoria nodded. ‘Well, I certainly think a lot of him. He wrapped me in a blanket and drove me home. When we got back to the manor, there were cars all over the place, blue lights flashing, even men in frogman suits down by the lake. My father was standing at the front door as we pulled up. I can still see his face now.’ She blinked a few times at the memory. ‘He came running down the steps when he saw me and took me in his arms. He was sobbing his heart out and he just stood there, holding me to him, touching my head, my face, my shoulders, as if he were assuring himself it really was me. He kept repeating over and over again how much he loved me. I’d never seen him cry before. In fact, I’d never really seen anything much in the way of emotion from him before.’

The waitress was hovering, but Katie waved her away. Somehow she knew that the more Victoria talked about her troubled past, the better it would be for her. She sat back and listened, enthralled, as Victoria picked up the story once more.

‘You see, deep down, I’d always known he wasn’t quite right in the head ever since the accident. But up till then, I’d only seen the hard, unbending side of him; the blind refusal to compromise, even when I begged and begged. But seeing him totally distraught like that was a real eye-opener. I think that got through to me more than anything. Anyway, from that time onwards, I knew I had to look after him.’ She caught Katie’s eye. ‘I know it sounds strange, but somehow I realised that it was my duty to look after him in the same way he thought he was looking after me. From then on, I decided to toe the line, for his sake. And, anyway, after the scare I’d given myself in that big, dark, cold wood, maybe I wasn’t ready for the big wide world after all.’

‘It can be a scary place out here.’ Katie found herself thinking about her experiences over the past few months. Life had a way of being both scary and unkind. ‘If I told you all about the year I’ve had, it would make your hair curl.’

Victoria nodded. ‘So I just accepted that things were going to be that way. I suppose part of me liked the idea of being so important to my father and to being protected from all the terrible things you hear about on the radio. And, at the same time, knowing that I was somehow caring for him, gave my life a sense of purpose it had been lacking up till then.’ She paused and caught her breath. ‘And then, a few years later, around the time of my twenty-first birthday, he was diagnosed with cancer.’ She ran the back of her hand across her eyes and looked up at Katie. ‘I couldn’t abandon him then, could I?’

Katie could imagine the conflicting emotions that must have been running through her head. She nodded in agreement. ‘I see the problem. No, of course you couldn’t.’ Determined to cheer the atmosphere up, she gave a broad smile. ‘But think of your life up till now as like being in a cocoon. Now, at last, it’s as if the cocoon’s split open and the butterfly can finally come out. Your butterfly wings are beating, Victoria, can you feel them? Come on, let’s order some food and then hit the shops again. You’ve got a lot of lost shopping time to make up for. Let me show you how retail therapy can be a very real form of therapy. You’ll be amazed at how it cheers you up.’

As they ate their lunch, they chatted, mainly about the people they could see through the window. Katie realised that the experience of observing complete strangers was something new and exciting for Victoria. Women’s fashions, in particular, never ceased to amaze. ‘But that girl there is almost naked.’ Victoria’s tone was incredulous. ‘Her breasts are just hidden by the material, but you can still see everything through it.’ She looked up at Katie, as an idea crossed her mind. ‘Do you think she’s a prostitute?’

‘Ssh, Victoria, keep your voice down. No, she’s definitely not a prostitute. It’s the fashion these days. Look, there are more of them over there.’ Katie indicated a group of holidaymakers wearing tank tops and short shorts. She heard Victoria’s intake of breath.

‘Good lord above. That girl’s trousers are so tight they could have been painted on. I can see her knickers underneath.’

There then ensued a conversation about underwear. In fact, it was more of a monologue by Katie, interspersed by disbelieving oohs and aahs from her employer. Several times Katie had to stop and swear on everything she held dear that she wasn’t making things up. Yes, panties really were that small. Yes, underwear came in other colours apart from white. Yes, that girl’s prominent bust was achieved by the type of bra she was wearing, rather than some freak of nature. Finally, a passing teenager reduced Victoria to incoherent stammering.

‘That boy’s trousers are positively falling down. Look, they’re almost down round his knees. You can see his underpants.’

Katie did her best to explain and clarify where necessary. She found herself doing a lot of explaining.

As the meal progressed, the conversation moved on from clothes to tattoos. The discovery that their waitress had a dolphin tattooed on her bare shoulder sparked off a series of sightings of other tattoos, many far less attractive than the dolphin. ‘That man’s arm is all the colours of the rainbow. It must have hurt awfully, having that done.’

Katie now felt thankful that her mother had steadfastly refused her permission to get any of the tattoos or piercings she had so desired in her teens. And luckily by the time she had got to university she hadn’t been interested any more. As a Goth girl clumped past in black leather boots with a stud in her nose attached to a chain, Victoria was dumbfounded. ‘But, Katie, that must be so unhygienic. Imagine what happens when she gets a cold.’ There was a pause, during which Katie felt relieved to have finished her ice cream. ‘What if she sneezes?’

As they relaxed over a cappuccino after lunch, Victoria remembered what Katie had said earlier. ‘Has this year really been awful for you?’

Katie looked up and nodded. ‘To be honest, it’s been pretty crap the last couple of years, but it all came to a head this spring.’

‘You mean, with your husband…boyfriend?’