The chance encounter
Mum, Harrys been in another fight! Ive taken him to the headteacher, but theyre calling for you! Today! my eldest daughter, Emma, reported with a guilty tone, then hurried off to her lesson.
How long must this go on? As if on purpose! Im late for work and the childs caused trouble again! Linda snapped, waving the phone in her hand. The handset slipped, fell onto the road and splashed into a puddle.
It seemed the day could not possibly get any worse, yet it managed it perfectly. After pulling the phone from the mud, Linda tried to power it up, but the screen stayed black. No call to the school could be made, no warning that she would be late. That interview, the one shed been waiting for, was now out of reach. It was already her fifth interview since shed become a mother of three. The first four had gone badly after she mentioned she was raising three children on her own.
Emma, in her final year at secondary school, was the main help around the house. Harry, in Year 4, seemed unable to spend a single day without a scuffle, a bruise or some other mishap. Little Felicity was in nursery, but she fell ill so often that Linda had to change jobs constantly; no employer wanted to keep a worker who was perpetually on sick leave.
That morning everything spun out of control. The whole family had overslept. Fortunately, Emma managed to get Harry dressed and off to school in a hurry. Linda rushed Felicity to the nursery and then sprinted to the bus stop. Missing the interview was not an option; this job meant everything now. The state benefits she received were dwindling, and Emmas upcoming exams and university place loomed large. She dreamed of a medal, of a bright future at university, though her mother could barely stretch the last penny. No one seemed to know that husbands often fled at the first sign of hardship, leaving a young woman to fend for herself. Harrys father had walked out a few years earlier; Felicity barely remembered him, Emma refused any contact, and Harry had become almost ungovernable after the divorce.
Frustrated with the broken phone, Linda lifted her eyes, hoping to spot a bus. Being late was still better than not arriving at all. But that day she never reached the destination she needed.
When she reached the stop, she found an elderly woman, pale and trembling, sitting on a bench. Linda tried to bring her back to herself. Realising she couldnt manage alone, the woman dashed to a nearby shop and asked someone to call an ambulance. Linda accompanied her to the hospital.
At the hospital the old lady regained consciousness and begged to be taken home. It turned out they lived in the same block. The doctor, forced to accede to the womans wishes, asked Linda to promise to look after her.
If shes your neighbour, please try not to leave her alone today. Shes had a heatstroke, and at her age thats dangerous.
Doctor, Ill do my utmost, but could you write down exactly what she needs and when, in case her condition worsens?
Linda escorted the neighbour, Mrs. Ethel Harper, home and decided to stay with her for a few hours. By then she was already late for work, and she couldnt call the nursery or leave the elderly lady unattended. Thankfully, the nursery was just across the street.
Dont worry about me, dear, Im feeling fine, Ethel reassured her. Yet when the woman returned with her younger daughter, Ethels condition deteriorated again. Linda had to stay and prepare dinner. In the fridge she found only a scant supply of food. Ethel lived modestly, not from lack of money but from lack of strength to carry heavy parcels up the stairs. Her son had died, and she had no relatives left.
All week Linda tore herself between her flat and Ethels, unable to choose otherwise. Ethel cooked at home and then carried the prepared lunch to the elderly neighbour. By weeks end the woman had noticeably regained strength, so much so that she asked Linda to become her paid carer, offering a rather generous sum.
I have a decent pension and nowhere else to spend it. Youve literally pulled me out of the grave. I didnt even think Id make it home alive; the bus made me sick, the conductor dropped me off and left me at the stop. If you hadnt passed by
Ethel turned out to have been a primaryschool teacher. She delighted in looking after Felicity while Linda cooked or tidied up. With a steady salary, Linda grew calmer, stopped fretting over every little thing, and this steadiness seeped into the children. Felicity became less fussy and stopped clinging to her mother when Linda dropped her at nursery each morning. Even Harry, the little rascal, behaved better. When he learned that Ethel owned a country cottage, he begged to go there every day after school.
Usually, after school finished, Linda faced the toughest part of her month: sending the children to a countryside camp was beyond her means, she owned no holiday home, and the cramped flat became a stifling summer for the kids.
Ethels cottage was in a state of neglect, but Linda tackled it with resolve. For several days she and Emma drove out to scrub the house, tidy the garden and clear the overgrown hedges. Fortunately, a neighbour on the same plot offered to mow the lawn and haul away rubbish for free. With the cottage rendered habitable, Linda moved Ethel there so she, too, could escape the oppressive city.
Linda, Im over the moon to be back here! Its been ten years since I could visit. At first the neighbour looked after the house and the garden, picking berries and tending the flowers. Then she sold her own cottage and left, and my plot fell into ruin. Thanks to you, Im here again!
The whole summer the family spent weeks in the country. Emma passed her exams with flying colours and secured a place at university, moving into a dormitory. After she left, Harry declared he was now the oldest and would behave like an adult a promise he kept. Felicity, no longer going to nursery but running on the grass and listening to bedtime stories her grandma read aloud, grew healthier and less prone to tantrums.
Linda looked at her family and felt grateful that the broken phone and the cascade of delays had led her to that remarkable woman whose arrival turned their lives upside down. The children never left Ethels side, having never known any other relatives. Lindas own mother never lived to see Emmas birth, and her own motherinlaw lived far away, never reaching out to her sons family.
Years later, Ethel passed away peacefully. When Linda sorted through her papers she discovered deeds for a flat and the cottage, transferred to a new acquaintance. It turned out Ethel had asked Emma to handle the paperwork at a solicitors office, keeping it a secret from her own mother until the right moment.
You have given happiness to my final days on this earth. Let me return the favour to you and your children. I have no heirs, so I wish to bequeath my flat and cottage to you, read the note tucked among the documents.
Linda brushed away a tear and smiled. At that moment a pigeon alighted on the windowsill, regarded her, and she felt as if Ethel were saying goodbye from above.
Thank you, Mrs. Harper. My family will always remember you she whispered, and the pigeon flew off.
Dedicated to our grandmothers and all those who are no longer with us.
