Sunlit Shadow Dance (14 page)

Part of them
both wanted to keep driving, with just themselves’ for company,
forever, to postpone the day of the meeting. But it must happen. It
was the only way forward. Vic hoped it was the start of a return to
a life in the open, an end of hiding. But he understood and shared
Jane’s terror of it all coming apart.

Jane had her
hair cut short, almost boyish looking and a bit hippy, with red
blond colors and streaks. Thea had helped her with this, entering
into the spirit of the game of a new Jane. Part of Vic hated to
lose his familiar partner but he knew it was for the best and she
still looked great.

Each new
version of her was like a new girl emerging from the old, Vic told
her it was sexy getting to make love to a different looking her.
Jane was happy that he found her alluring and exciting. The
children complained but within a day they were used to their new
look Mum.

Two days
before Christmas, at the time for lunch, they drove up the road
towards a grand farmhouse, nestled into a hollow in the hills, with
high mountains rising behind, an elegant formal garden i n front.
The road wound through lush green fields with cows, sheep and
horses gazing. The sign of the homestead gate told Vic they had
arrived.

With no one in
sight, as they pulled up, Vic tooted the horn, and then reached
over and squeezed Jane’s hand to feed reassurance to her anxious
eyes. Anne came bounding out, saw her friend sitting in the front
seat and, without pause, ran over to her, pulled open the door and
pulled her out. As she did a light went on in Jane’s eyes, she knew
one person from before. She hugged her friend as tears streamed
down her face.

She said, “I
don’t know how I know you but I do. It is so good to see someone
that I know I know, even if I can’t remember from when. I think
that, maybe, you were my friend when I was little at school though
it seems like such a long time ago.”

Anne nodded,
tears in her eyes too, “Yes, we first became friends at the start
of High School. We were both twelve when we met. It does seem like
a long time since then.”

Following a
few steps behind were three other people, her mother and her father
and her brother. Again Jane did not know how she knew them, she did
not remember them, but she knew them in some way. It was not the
picture they sent her. It was something more primal. She knew,
without knowing why, that they were family, they were of her and
she was of them.

She ran to
them and hugged them, “Mum, Dad, Tim,” she said as she wrapped her
arms round them.

They hugged
her back.“Em, our own dearest daughter, our Susan Emily”

She pulled
back and looked puzzled. “I must be mistaken, I thought I knew you
but my name is Jane. I don’t know any Emily or Susan. She looked
like she might run away, in fear at having made a terrible
mistake.

“
Of course, our daughter’s name is Jane; Susan and Emily are
her pet names from another life,” her father said. “You are our
daughter Jane. You have that same imp smile you did from when you
were a little girl.”

Jane still
looked uncertain, but the fear on her face receded.

Her father
continued, “I remember you when you used to ride on my shoulders,
when just the same size as these two little imps here,” as he
looked to where two small children and a man still sat seated in
the car.

She nodded and
walked back to the car, lifting out the two children and looking
for Vic to come with her. He picked up David and she picked up
Anne. They carried them to where the others were standing.

Now the circle
had been joined by David and his parents.

David took
over and did the formal introductions, saying, “Mr and Mrs
McDonald, I would like you to meet my good friend Vic Campbell and
his partner, Jane Bennet, with her children, David and Anne. They
are visiting for a few days and staying in the cottage down by the
creek.”

Everyone shook
hands and exchanged formal greetings.

David’s father
followed on. “Actually we were about to sit down for lunch. We set
extra places in the hope that you might arrive soon. Why don’t you
come inside and join us. After lunch David will show you to the
cottage where you are staying.”

As they walked
inside, Tim came alongside Jane, linking his arm to hers. He
whispered in her ear. “You may not remember us properly but I sure
as hell remember you. Wait until I start telling all the others of
all the things we used to get up to when we were little together,
Sis.”

Jane found herself grinning back at him and said, “If you
tell on me I will tell on you, Bro. I don’t remember lots but I do
remember some things I am sure you don’t want told.”
If not quite true it would soon
be
, she thought.

A wonderful
week passed. They swam in the dams and creeks; they walked in the
fields and the forests. The children had unlimited attention from
so many others, always willing to play a game or listen to
them.

Despite
initial intentions of secrecy from the staff who worked on the
property it was soon clear this could not be sustained, there was
too much unconscious behaviour and affection between Jane, Anne,
her parents and her children for this to ever work, little David
and Anne were shouting out Grandma and Grandpa each time they saw
them.

So David
talked to the cook, the gardener and the general station hand, who
were working while they were staying over. He explained the
situation to them and the need for no talk of this to leave
here.

They all
readily agreed and he knew he could trust them. They had all worked
here for years and were close family friends as much as employees.
So, after this, they really could be a family together again and
from then on they spent most of their time in each other’s
company.

Jane and Vic
went riding across the farm, helping to move the sheep and cattle
from paddock to paddock. Jane particularly loved this; she found
she had a natural affinity for horses and balance in riding. Even
though she could not remember her lessons as a child the knowledge
had stuck. Typical riding parties were Tim, David, Vic, Anne, Jane,
and the station hand, while the children would do things with their
grandparents. David joked that they had so many horsemen they could
muster a thousand head, not the tens and hundreds in their
paddocks. But the riding gave them time and outdoor space to
discover the world and each other, broken by bursts of wild
galloping up and down mountain trails, the wind whipping their
faces.

Jane confided
in Vic on the second night. “I don’t know why I was scared. It is
so wonderful to be back with my family again and also with Anne. I
only have the occasional memory of being a little girl with my Mum
and Dad and brother, and I remember a few things with Anne in first
year High School. But it is enough. I feel like I have a past and
belong somewhere again.”

All too soon
the last day came before Vic and Jane packed up to drive home. The
others were leaving the next day too, David needed to return to
Sydney for work, Jane’s parents’ flight back to England went the
day after tomorrow and they would drive back to Sydney with David
and Anne.

It was a very
poignant day and they all wanted to slow down. But trying to make
the clock run slow only seemed to make it run faster.

Anne was
conscious of an elephant in the room. She needed to tell Vic and
Janes’ parents the news from Alan about a possible pardon and the
steps involved. So far she had made no mention of it except to
David, not wanting to spoil the wonderful holiday mood. But she
must do it today. It was difficult for her to get the others on
their own without Jane being there.

It was funny
how, in the space of ten days, Susan or Emily had become Jane in
her mind, along with everyone else’s it seemed. Perhaps it had been
that almost disaster on the first day when Jane’s Dad had used the
wrong name in an unconscious display of affection, and then had
expertly retrieved the situation, turning Susan and Emily into
childhood pet names. So after that, everyone was very careful with
the name they used, but it had only taken a couple days until the
difficulty passed.

Anne wondered
how she could get the others together, without Jane. It seemed rude
to deliberately exclude Jane from a family meeting which was about
her. But they could not discuss the legal options with her present,
not without telling her the truth Jane’s mind was hiding.

Then it came
to her, Jane had been talking about learning new recipes to cook
for Vic and the cook had offered to teach her a couple. That would
be the excuse, she would ask the cook to spend an hour or two this
afternoon teaching Jane as part of preparing their final night
family dinner. It promised to be a special occasion, fitting such a
goodbye, a roast leg of lamb, salmon entrees and a selection of
wonderful deserts. She went and asked the cook, a lady in her
middle years, if she would take Jane under her wing for a couple
hours this afternoon, get her to help with the dinner and teach her
some new dishes along the way. Once Jane was occupied she would ask
David’s Mum and Dad to take little Davie and Annie out for a walk
and occupy them while the rest gathered in the living room.

Five minutes
later Jane came bubbling excitedly up to her. “Cook has asked me to
help her in the kitchen, to teach me some new dishes, so I have
left the children with Vic. I am really looking forward to
this.”

Anne asked
David to run down to the cottage to gather Vic and the children
while she went and found Jane’s parents who were chatting over a
cup of tea with David’s parents. She quickly explained to them all
what she needed to do, to talk with Vic and the others about the
options to get the murder conviction removed from Jane. David’s
parents gladly agreed to take the children for a walk in the
garden.

David kept
watch to ensure Jane stayed in the kitchen while Anne spent five
minutes repeating what Alan had told her, the pardon option
appearing the most promising, but with it the need for Jane’s to
have a psychological assessment to confirm her lack of memory.

Anne could
feel resistance in Vic, he was the one who had given up his other
life to be with and care for this girl, and he had already lost her
once. He said he did not want to take any chances with her
wellbeing when he felt she was making good progress in her life
with him and they had decided to get married; it was Jane that had
decided. He had always wanted this but wanted it to be a deliberate
choice on her part, which it now was.

Jane’s parents
had said little to this point; they now said the marriage was
wonderful news. They had no words to express their gratitude to Vic
for all he had done and knew he would make a wonderful husband for
their daughter. So while they wanted to get the legal situation
resolved they did would trust Vic’s judgement about what was best
for Jane.

At this point
that David, who had been silently watching from the door, spoke.
“Vic, for Jane to get married you will need to resolve her
identity. To issue a marriage certificate the registrar or church
will need to confirm her identity. As she is an English citizen,
the UK government will have to have a role. I am not saying that
you should tell her what her real name is, but you need identity
documents which match her name to a passport or birth certificate
in order to get married.

“
If she can get a pardon, then at the same time her parents
could seek for her name to be changed to match the name she knows
herself by. But to do this, without her requesting it, you some
form of authority for her parents to act on her behalf. It sounds
to me like this will need an evaluation which confirms that she
believes she is Jane Bennet and does not know her other identity
and therefore her name should be changed accordingly.

“
It is a job for a lawyer in England to figure out how to do
this name change. But at a minimum, I think it will need a parental
request along with a medical document which confirms her lack of
memory.

“
So, to get married, as you both want, you need a way to do
this. I can see no way without something like the psychological
assessment that Anne is talking about. However at the same time we
must ensure this examination does not cause further
damage.

I have a lot
of contacts in the medical field from my work. How about I start by
inquiring who has the best expertise in this area. Then I can
arrange for you to have a private meeting with whoever seems best
so as to inform you about how such an examination is done. When you
understand this you can make an informed decision as to whether it
is worth the risk.

“
The risk of trying to maintain the life you have now is
equally great, if the children or Jane get seriously ill people
will seek an identity for her, the same in another year or two when
it is time for the children to go to school. So we need to find a
way forward, and this is the best I can see.”

Vic nodded
reluctantly. “OK, I can see that now. I hate it but I could not
bear to get into the situation you are talking about where her
identity comes out anyway and she is arrested and taken to jail. So
I agree to you trying to find a good medical person to do this and
meeting with them.”

After this
they worked out the details for another half an hour before all
agreed that this day was too precious to waste sitting around and
talking.

So they had an
afternoon picnic in a hollow in the hills, sitting amongst
screeching parrots and kangaroos, then a wonderful evening dinner,
with the two children in pride of place, as if it was a party
particularly for them, the family birthday party they had never
had.