Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Barbara had barely slept. She’d spent most of the night with a pillow clamped around her ears, trying in vain to block out Kenny’s pacing and wailing, before finally succumbing and taking something to knock herself out.
As a result, she’d overslept and was bleary-eyed when she went to guest services mid-morning to ask if there were any messages.
There weren’t. Rats! She’d been hoping for a hint from the captain that he might be up for a little diversion, but she reasoned, the day was young.
Bundled in her furs and boots, Barbara decided to get some fresh air and clear her head by taking a walk around ?lesund.
Anything to get away from her husband whom she was still refusing to speak to.
Kenny, meanwhile, was beside himself with anguish.
First the horror of discovering that his toupee was missing, then the devastation of finding out that it had been hurled into the sea along with his backup, toupee-two.
‘You should have realised that your little stunt at the captain’s table would have consequences,’ Barbara had snapped, reluctantly breaking her vow of silence when Kenny threatened to fling himself into the sea after his hairpieces. ‘Now man up and sort yourself out.’
To add to her embarrassment, as though making a point, the previous evening he’d pasted the biggest sticking plaster he could find over a measly bump on his forehead and when a Hawaiian dancer threw a lei into the audience, Kenny insisted on fashioning it in a ridiculous covering over his bald head.
‘He really is the limit!’ Barbara huffed as she thrust her hands into her pockets, kicking at the snow, and made her way through the charming streets of the art nouveau town.
‘Well Kenny, can entertain himself,’ she mumbled and imagined her husband prostrate on their bed all day. ‘I’m going to have a little me-time.’
Boxing Day in ?lesund was calm and with many shops and businesses closed, the streets were quiet except for a few locals.
One or two touristy shops were open to entice cruise passengers but as church bells chimed in the distance, Barbara was oblivious.
She’d heard that a former chemist shop would be open, serving coffee and cakes.
Having hardly eaten a morsel at dinner as she sat beside the captain, she would treat herself to the largest slice of cake she could find.
Glancing at her watch, Barbara reckoned she had at least two hours to spare.
She’d booked an anti-ageing facial in the ship’s Atlantis Spa that afternoon and fully intended to relax and pamper herself.
Noting that she was near the waterfront, she stood and looked around.
Within seconds she’d located the building described by guest services.
With its graceful curves and intricate stonework, carved swan motifs stood proudly above the door.
‘Perfect!’ Barbara murmured, and placing each fur-clad foot deliberately on the path, made her way inside.
Joy’s cheeks were pink, and her fingers cold as she held a guidebook and stood with Leticia at the summit of the Fjellstua Viewpoint.
Having tackled the four hundred and eighteen steps to reach the top, they were rewarded with a panoramic view of ?lesund’s islands and fjords, scattered like a necklace on the dark, glassy water.
‘Wow,’ Leticia exclaimed, puffing out a breath, and enjoying the few hours of daylight that the journey now allowed. ‘It was worth every single step to witness this.’ She raised her phone and began to take photos. ‘I must send these to Jim.’
‘A terrible fire in 1904 destroyed the town, and twelve thousand people lost their homes,’ Joy read from the book. ‘Apparently Kaiser Wilhelm II sent the first recovery ship with supplies and followed this with humanitarian aid, including materials and money.’
‘Good old Kaiser Bill, but how did the fire start?’
‘It started in the herring factory, although no one seems to know how.’
‘Hmm, lots of fishy products and oil might have sparked it.’
‘It says here that there was a gale-force storm which whipped flames across the rooftops and into the wooden buildings, and at that time all the town’s buildings were made of wood.’
‘How devastating.’ Leticia drew in her breath as she stared at the buildings spread out below.
Joy read on. ‘The fire brigade couldn’t manoeuvre through the narrow streets, and it soon got out of control.’
‘Many people must have lost their lives.’ Leticia shook her head.
‘Well, despite everyone losing their homes, only one person died.’
‘But that’s a miracle.’
‘Absolutely,’ Joy agreed and placed her book in her bag. ‘But as you can see, it was rebuilt in stone and plaster, which gives the art nouveau feel to all the buildings.’
‘Shall we head down and have a look at some of them?’ Leticia tightened the scarf at her neck and tugged on her bobble hat.
‘And perhaps find somewhere for a coffee.’
As they’d made their way up the steps, Leticia had spoken quietly about Jim’s illness, how the couple coped and how they had prepared themselves for what was to come.
As they descended, Joy asked Leticia how the couple had met and when Leticia explained how she’d nursed Jim’s sick child, Joy paused and reached out to touch Leticia’s arm.
‘Grace died?’ Joy was shocked.
Leticia nodded, her expression softening.
‘Yes. Her mother died during childbirth, and Grace … well, she never really recovered. There were complications. The doctors tried everything, including surgery and round-the-clock care. Still, it was too much for her tiny body.’ She tucked Joy’s arm through her own and began to walk again.
‘I was a surgical nurse on the NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit.’
‘Leticia, how on earth did you cope?’ Joy’s voice was hushed.
‘I coped because in a job like that you have to,’ she said with a small, knowing smile.
‘You’re trained to hold yourself together.
And maybe … maybe because I was never blessed with children of my own in my first, very difficult marriage.
Caring for them, those fragile little lives, became my blessing from God. ’
‘And Jim?’
‘Oh, my goodness, he was a mess.’ Leticia shook her head at the memory. ‘That clever, capable man had lost his wife and child, his world and his faith, and I’m afraid he fell apart.’
‘But you helped him?’ Joy asked gently.
‘Yes,’ Leticia said, pausing. ‘And he helped me. Learning to love again wasn’t easy for either of us, but when it came, it grew into something we couldn’t stop. Despite all the grief and loss, we found our path to happiness once more.’
Joy nodded, falling into step beside Leticia. ‘But learning about Jim’s illness must have been shocking.’
Leticia gazed out over the water, where the sunlight caught the clouds and reflected them onto the surface like a perfect mirror beneath a brilliant blue sky.
‘The Beast takes no prisoners,’ she said quietly.
‘I often wondered if the pain of his loss trigged his symptoms and they lay dormant. I know doctors who say stress of such a tragedy, can eventually, many years later, trigger the terrible disease.’
‘I’ve heard that can happen.’
‘But my clever man kept his business going, and when we learned of what he was facing with the diagnosis, he sold it for a considerable sum. We made a promise to each other that we’d make the most of the time we had left.’
Leticia gave her slow smile and thought of the large amount that Jim had anonymously donated to the hospital where Grace and his wife had died, in the hope that future research would help families and no parent or child would be lost in the way they had been.
They’d reached the foot of the steps and walked briskly through the prettily painted storybook buildings and into the town.
‘Oh, look,’ Joy said and pointed to a stone building ‘That must be the old chemist shop. According to the guidebook the carved swan motifs above the door are a symbol of healing.’
‘And now it’s a museum and coffee shop.’ Leticia grinned. ‘Let’s hope they have lots of cake!’