do you mean?’ She caught a glimpse of Woodham’s motor repair yard. They weren’t far from the college now.
‘You didn’t look how I remembered, I suppose. You looked like one of those women you were with, actually. You both did.’
‘I’m really not a part of that set.’
And nor is that likely to ever happen. Artistic poppycock! What a thing to say.
‘Your hair looks different, you’re wearing make-up, but actually…’ he nodded his head ‘…yes, that’s it. I think it was the shorts that threw me.’
She supposed she did take more care over her appearance these days.
‘What I’m really saying is that I had no idea you had such great legs.’
He laughed as he said it and lifted an arm from the steering wheel to defend himself from the blow she launched at his head. America had done nothing to quell his confidence, or his flirting.
‘And what about me?’
‘What about you?’ She turned her head away from him to feel the heat on her cheeks with the back of her hand.
‘Did you recognise me?’ he asked.
‘Of course. You haven’t changed a bit.’
‘Oh.’ He sounded disappointed and she wished she’d told him the truth – that she’d been struck by how handsome he looked, and how his shoulders had filled out, and his eyes, well he’d always had those eyes. But she didn’t trust how those words would sound coming from her mouth.
‘Delphi told me about your girl,’ she said instead. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Oh that.’ He shrugged. With no warning he pulled the steering wheel to the left, fast. She held on to the side of her seat as they took the bend far too quickly and watched the intense darkness through the windscreen for oncoming lights. ‘Mother says I rushed in.’ With a subtle twitch of her head she looked at his face. His jaw was set. ‘But she’s happy now of course. She’s got her boy home.’ She held on to her seat again as this time he forced the car to lurch to the right.
‘Do you think your mother will let Delphi train as an instructor?’
He shrugged. ‘You’re closest to her and you’ve seen how controlling Mother is. I think someone needs to be honest with my sister about her prospects.’
‘You think that should be me?’
‘Well the two of you discuss everything, don’t you? I’ve seen the letters arriving since I’ve been back. What do the two of you find to say?’
‘All sorts. Education, fitness, new teaching methods, female emancipation in sport, what is happening around the world… The thing is, Jack, she has a brilliant mind, and she can’t stay hidden at home her whole life. She needs to be allowed to work around her illness.’
‘Mother always thought Delphi was a bad influence on you before she got sent down from the college. Perhaps they had it the wrong way around.’
Had Delphi told him how Natalie had refused the idea of them sharing a flat together? Even Mrs Mulberry had hinted that she might approve of it. She trusted Natalie with her daughter it seemed. But even though Delphi had sulked, she hadn’t been swayed. Lots of women did share a home together these days, but she couldn’t be certain that she’d be comfortable as one of them.
‘We’re friends, friends with similar interests – that’s all.’ She hated to think their friendship had been subject to dissection and speculation, that they stood out simply because they understood one another. Her cheeks were hot once more.
‘It’s all right. I’m not prying.’ Jack held up his hand. ‘For what it’s worth, I agree. Delphi needs her own life and I’m working on something actually; let’s call it Jack’s escape plan.’ He brushed his lips to zip them together.
‘Are you still dreaming of becoming an Olympic diver?’ she asked.
‘Always,’ he said, ‘always.’
*
It had been raining in Kent. The air was damp and chilled for so close to May. Jack slid a packet of Navy Cut cigarettes from his back pocket. He offered one to Natalie – she shook her head – and then he slotted one between his teeth and lit it, his spare hand slouched in his baggy trouser pocket. Then came the sweet tobacco as it burnt in the night air and drifted away.
She removed her own bag from the boot, thanked him for driving her back. He took her by surprise; moving in to embrace her, his hands spread on her back, and she closed her eyes for a second or two before she jerked away and pulled herself free.
‘So what’s next for you?’ She held her satchel in front of her and backed away from him.
‘Training and trying to make the team for the Berlin games next year.’ He smoothed his fringe back with his fingers. ‘And I’m on the job hunt. The less time spent with Mother, the better.’
‘It will be good for Delphi to have you home. If you’re feeling miserable already, think what it’s like for her.’
‘Over there…’ he gestured in the dark towards America ‘…it was easy to forget what was going on at home, but now I’m back here, well…’ He trailed away.
‘It’s not so easy to ignore?’ she offered as he pulled on his cigarette.
He nodded in the darkness. ‘We’ll see if my escape plan leads us anywhere.’
A branch snapped behind a shadowy rhododendron bush at the border of the driveway. A fox or a badger perhaps. Then a rustling of leaves. She strained her eyes towards the dark mass and approached it. Then the night returned to the deep silence of the countryside.
‘You’d better be on your way, or I’ll be in trouble.’
He climbed back into the driver’s seat. ‘Let’s not leave it another seven years,’ he said as he tipped his hat and snapped the door shut.
She listened to his tyres crunching back down the gravel until the sound of the engine faded away, the residue of Olympia’s cacophony still playing faintly in her ears. It had been so nice to escape for a few hours, to feel the pulse of life beyond the grounds, but she was back where she belonged now and there was no use her being down in the dumps about it.
What does Jack have planned? She wandered back towards the house, hoping he might do a better job of helping Delphi, perhaps undo the damage she’d done tonight with Prunella Stack.
In the darkness, the mansion house felt more like a stranger than the old friend she’d left behind earlier that afternoon. There was a disconcerting feeling of not knowing where the college ended and the night began. Several rectangles of yellow light were beacons in the night. Beacons that should have been long extinguished. Lights out was hours ago. But then the Principal, Miss Lott, was unwell and so she was awake through the night more and more often. Natalie fought to ignore the sense she had here of being hemmed in, as if she lived on a tiny island that afforded no variety, no change of company.
Then
