The Back of Beyond (48 page)

‘Yes, it was all down to him that Alistair took me back, and I suppose we'll manage to get over things eventually and learn to live in peace together.'

‘Listen, Gwen, and don't take this the wrong way. I'd really like if you could persuade him to come to the wedding. I've asked Nancy Lawrie to be matron-of-honour because I didn't have anyone else, and she's the only one on my side apart from her husband if you two aren't there. I couldn't ask any of my customers, because only a few people are allowed in Aberdeen Register Office, and the ones I didn't ask would be offended, so … please Gwen? Take David and Leila, as well. You're … my family.'

‘I'll see what I can do, although I'm not sure if he's well enough to …'

‘You've been taking him on the bus to Aberdeen for his checkups, haven't you?'

‘It's not the travelling I'm worried about. It's his mental state.'

‘Trust me, Gwen. I'm sure it'll make him see sense and get over everything.'

On her way home, Gwen mulled over Lexie's last statement. Was she right? Would seeing his first girlfriend, the woman he still had a soft spot for if nothing more, being married to another man straighten all the kinks in Alistair's mind? Wasn't it more likely to send him off the rails altogether? But she had better ask him and let him decide whether or not to put himself through this fresh torture.

It had taken some persuasion, but the Ritchie family caught the second bus on Saturday morning to give Gwen and Leila time to buy clothes suitable for a wedding. David, chattering unceasingly, and Alistair, strangely silent all the way to the city, already had decent suits to wear, although as they all trooped into Falconer's store, Gwen detailed her husband to go to the men's department and buy a more presentable tie for each of them.

‘We'll meet you in the restaurant about half past ten,' she instructed. ‘We can have a cup of tea and a scone or something before we go to the Registrar.'

The ties were chosen in less than five minutes, so Alistair suggested that having a look at the harbour would fill in the remaining fifty-five minutes before they had to meet their womenfolk. It was a cold day, but quite pleasant as long as they kept moving, so they stepped smartly down Market Street towards Regent Quay, where there was always some activity going on, the loading or unloading of the large cargo vessels.

David, however, had other things on his mind. ‘Dad,' he began, as they passed the Labour Exchange and rounded the corner, ‘are you going to let Mum stay with us once you're right better?'

Alistair's eyebrows shot up. ‘Do you think I shouldn't?'

‘I think you should! I know what she did wasn't right, but if you love her, you'd be able to forgive her.'

Evading the implied question, Alistair said, ‘Look, there's a Norwegian boat. It's likely brought in some timber – pine, possibly.'

His son wasn't to be sidetracked. ‘Don't change the subject. Is it Mum you love, or Lexie? Why have you come here today? Are you hoping to stop the wedding?'

Alistair felt a sudden spurt of anger. How dare his son say things like that to him? Where on earth had he got the idea that …? God Almighty! How many other folk had got that impression? Had Leila? Worse still, had Gwen?

‘Dad? I'd like an answer.'

‘Leave it, David. I can't think properly just now. We have to get back.'

While they completed the rest of what was a rectangle – along Regent Quay, up the even steeper Marischal Street, along Union Street back to Falconer's – Alistair turned the question of what he felt for his wife over and over in his mind. Gwen probably did know how he felt about Lexie, yet she had almost forced him to attend the wedding. Was she hoping that he would give up on his first love when he saw her marrying the 'ec?

He didn't care about anything these days, so why the hell had he come? He hadn't had the strength, the willpower, to refuse, that was why. Gwen had said she would like to see the wedding, but she wouldn't have gone and left him on his own, so it had been easier to agree. Yet … was that all it had been? He could remember now how he had briefly felt ashamed of himself, not so much for being a burden to her – which he was – but for resenting her getting her own way, when she'd had precious little to be grateful for over the past few months. He'd had everything his way.

He and David had only a few minutes to wait on the store's top floor before Gwen and Leila joined them and they all went into the restaurant. His wife looked at him anxiously as they sat down. ‘Are you all right, Alistair?'

‘Perfect,' he said, sarcastically, because he was absolutely done in. It wasn't just the effect of the physical exercise, it was all the concentrated thinking he was having to do.

He knew that his brain wasn't anything like back to normal – it might never be – but surely he knew what was what? No, even that was debatable. Unable to banish the picture of his wife with that Ken Partridge, he had put her through hell since she came back. Would he ever be able to forgive her?

Unaware that she was watching him, he gave a slight start. Would he
ever
be able to forgive her? He usually thought that he would
never
be able to forgive her. It must be a step forward? He did feel that bit different today. Lexie had apparently sat with him during his first few days in hospital, but it was Gwen who had tended him day and night since he was discharged, Gwen who had comforted him when his darkest demons were tormenting him, Gwen who smiled even when he was shouting for attention. Only a woman whose love was unshakeable could have put up with him.

It had been some time after he was home before he started wondering about his accident, and why he'd been coming down from the tower so early that morning. It had been like trying to dig up an irremovable stone, however. Maybe it was better for him not to know, just to accept things as they were. He should praise Leila and David for coping so well in the shop without him, instead of resenting that, too. Life would be much easier for all of them, himself included, if he mended his ways. He stood in danger of losing his wife if he carried on the way he was doing.

Testing his feelings further, he decided that he could live quite happily without Lexie in the background, but he couldn't visualize spending the rest of his life without Gwen. The question he should be asking himself was,
Would she ever forgive him?

In the Register Office, part of a row of granite buildings with shops at street level, the wedding party was shown into a drab, uninspiring room, where sat an elderly gentleman with a high, Victorian-type collar. He gave them a weary, harassed smile as he motioned to the main participants – bride and groom and their attendants – to come forward, and to the Ritchies and the only other man to take a seat.

Noticing how drawn Alistair was looking, Gwen wished that she hadn't made him come. Was he stable enough to watch Lexie Fraser marrying Roddy Liddell? Was he planning to do something to stop the wedding? He was obviously deep in thought, and she primed herself for the explosion she was almost sure would come, but everything went smoothly. The vows were affirmed, the ring placed on the third finger of the bride's left hand, and the ceremony was being brought to a close.

‘I now pronounce you man and wife,' the registrar intoned, constant repetition of the words over many years depriving them of any real meaning. ‘You may kiss the bride.'

It was then that Alistair jumped to his feet, taking everyone by surprise, even his own wife, but it was nothing like she had feared. ‘I love you, Gwen,' he said, articulating each word in a loud clear voice that rang round the room, ‘and I always will!'

The registrar's head jerked up, Lexie and Roddy whipped round grinning; Nancy Fleming was beaming when she turned; Leila, although scarlet with embarrassment, wore a beatific smile of sheer happiness. The best man, another police inspector, and Greig Fleming, Nancy's husband, not understanding the poignancy of the statement, were both staring at Alistair as if he had taken leave of his senses.

David seemed to be the only one to have retained the power of speech. Barely able to contain his excitement, he chortled, ‘Atta boy, Dad! Close your mouth, Mum, so he can kiss you, and all.'

ALSO AVAILABLE FROM BIRLINN

BY DORIS DAVIDSON

The Back of Beyond

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VIGXQDS

Two young men from a remote Scottish village decide to make their fortunes in London, but can't escape their close ties to home or the girl they leave behind…

Alistair Ritchie and Dougal Finnie have grown up in one of the most scenic villages in Scotland, but as they now have a desire to see the world, there is nothing to keep them there – not even Lexie Fraser, who's been chasing Ally since they were fourteen. Lexie has troubles of her own: a sick mother and a missing father, his disappearance a complete mystery. She'd like nothing better than to cling to Ally, which just makes him more determined to break free.

But the lads aren't destined to stay away forever. Marriage and babies follow – and so does war. London is no place for young wives and children, and where could be safer than the north of Scotland, the Back of Beyond? But what will their city-raised families make of it – and the folks they left behind?

Brow of the Gallowgate

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‘Absorbing and fascinating' - Christine Marion Fraser

‘It's a dismal day that doesn't include a dose of Doris' -
Press and Journal

The brow of the Gallowgate is where Albert Ogilvie buys his property in 1890 - the shop he has dreamed of for years, and above it, a house with nine rooms to accommodate the large family he and his beloved wife, Bathie, desire. As their babies are born - there will be eight in all - Albert employs three sisters, one after another, as nursemaids. Bathie finds Mary and Jeannie Wyness more than satisfactory, but Bella, the youngest, is troublesome and sly, and creates a set of distressing circumstances resulting in her dismissal. The years go by, with their joys and sorrows, and war splits up the close-knit Ogilvies, some of whem eventually emigrate to New Zealand. And it is there that Bella Wyness, her resentment of the family grown to black hatred, will wreak her terrible revenge...

Cousins at War

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The sequel to her novel ‘Brow of the Gallowgate', Doris Davidson's latest novel follows the fortunes of the Ogilvie family through the World War II.

Olive is determined to have her cousin Neil as her husband and won't allow anything or anyone to get in her way. So when her younger cousin Queenie is evacuated from London and begins to attract Neil's attention, Olive does all she can to avert the relationship. When warnings and threats fail, Olive concocts a web of lies to blacken Queenie's character and destroy her cousins' love. Despite Olive's success, her actions fail to secure Neil, who finds himself involved with other girls, finally meeting and falling for Freda. After this Olive will stop at nothing, no matter how despicable, to make sure Neil is hers forever. The consequences of her actions shock everyone and send the extended Potter and Ogilvie families into turmoil.

Duplicity and Other Stories

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A novella and collection of short stories by Scotland's favourite novelist.

Two men sit petrified on Christmas Eve at the thought of spending it in supernatural company; a young family makes a tense Cross-channel trip in fear of some unspecified threat; an old man contemplates jumping to his death at the thought of being evicted from the house in which he has lived all his life. In this book, Doris Davidson looks back over an immensely successful writing career in a collection of twenty short stories, which also includes her eagerly awaited latest work, the novella “Duplicity”. Covering a wide range of themes and moods, these stories are a wonderful tribute to the skill and imagination of one of Scotland's best-loved authors.

A Gift from the Gallowgate

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This is the extraordinary story of a remarkable woman. Doris Davidson was born in Aberdeen in 1922, the daughter of a master butcher and country lass. Her idyllic childhood was shattered in 1934 with the death of her father, after which, in order to make ends meet, her mother was forced to take in lodgers. In part due to her father's sudden death, Doris left school at fifteen and went to work in an office, gradually rising through the ranks until she became book-keeper. Marriage to an officer in the Merchant Navy followed in 1942, then divorce, then her second marriage. Her life took the first of two major changes in direction at the age of 41, when she went back to college to study for O and A levels, followed by three years at Teacher Training College. In 1967 she became a primary school teacher, and subsequently taught in schools in Aberdeen until she retired in 1982. Not content with a quiet retirement Doris embarked on a new ‘career' and became a writer, publishing her first work in 1990. Eight books later (and another one nearly finished), she is one of the country's best-loved romantic novelists and has sold well in excess of 200,000 copies of her books. In this engaging and candid autobiography, Doris Davidson recounts her growing up in Aberdeen in the '20s and '30's, the war years, her marriage and the unexpected paths her career has followed. With her novelist's skill, she brings into vivid focus a life of rich experience in a book every bit as riveting as her works of fiction.

The Girl with the Creel

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VIGXQCY

‘Compelling' –
Aberdeen Evening Express

‘Absorbing' –
Manchester Evening News

Lizann Jappy is the daughter of a fisherman from the close community of Buckie. Having led a sheltered girlhood, her life is turned upside-down when it is discovered that the man she loves is married – for divorce is an unthinkable disgrace and her family lives by the traditions that have guided the local folk for generations.

But Lizann finds that, when the need arises, she can be every bit as proud and resourceful as the people of her home town. Forced to flee by a series of misunderstandings and tragedies, she must leave behind almost everything. Yet as long as she can carry her creel on her back, she hopes she will not starve.

Against the background of the herring fleets, small-time farming and the bombing of Aberdeen in the Second World War, this heartwarming tale brims with adventure, humour and passion as Lizann searches for happiness.

The House of Lyall

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Marion Cheyne is young, poor and ambitious. Her humble village roots and poorly paid job offer few opportunities and Marion feels trapped in a dead-end existence. So when an unexpected chance to escape presents itself, Marion grabs it, ignoring the moral implications of her actions, and sets out on a new life far away in Aberdeen. Years later and the struggling servant girl Marion has been transformed into Marianne, wife of the heir to Castle Lyall, and every inch the lady of the glen. More a business arrangement than a love match, Marianne's commitment to her role and to the name of Lyall is total, and as family, friends and world wars come and go, she will stop at nothing to protect her hard-won position. But the many secrets of her past refuse to stay safely buried. Nothing in the small community of the glen can remain hidden forever...

Jam and Jeopardy

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‘It's a dismal day that doesn't include a dose of Doris' - Press and Journal

89-year-old spinster, Janet Stouter, takes pleasure in raking up scandals, old and new, about her neighbours. She also relishes refusing her two nephews the money they seek to bolster their businesses. When a retired glass worker gives her some arsenic to kill the rats in her garden, she hatches a plan to test them. She tells them about the arsenic and waits for them to prove themselves worthy of inheriting when she dies. Whoever attempts to kill her will be her sole heir; if both do, of course, they will each get half share of her substantial amount of savings. She does, however, make sure that her life will be in no danger. Unfortunately, the old lady spreads word of her newly acquired poison around the village, thus laying the seeds of murderous intent in several people. She had not foreseen that several other would-be assassins will come into the frame or that one will succeed in silencing her vicious tongue forever. This is a whodunnit in the classic style of Agatha Chrisite.

Monday Girl

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After the death of her father, 10-year-old Renee and her mother are forced to open up their Aberdeen home to two lodgers. An impressionable and romantic child, Renee grows up weaving romantic fantasies around both men, firstly the dependable Jack and later the charming Fergus, who cements her obsession with him by seducing her, then breaking her heart. With the advent of the Second World War, Renee is thrown into further turmoil as the two men of her life are sent into action, leaving her to a whirlwind of RAF sergeants stationed in the area. It is during this period that she meets and falls in love with Glynn, and the pair decide to marry. However, something remains wrong in Renee's world... could her secret fear of Mondays be the reason for her inability to find lasting happiness?

The Nickum

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‘It's a dismal day that doesn't include a dose of Doris' - Press and Journal

Willie Fowlie's grandmother calls him a ‘nickum' - he is a mischievous Aberdeenshire boy who often acts instinctively, bearing little or no consideration for the consequences of his actions. When he is eleven, his playful antics lead to a full-blown murder enquiry, but it is soon recognised that the hunt is based on nothing more material than Willie's imagination. Four years later, however, Willie witnesses a real murder, but believing that his eye-witness testimony is simply another fabrication, the police wind down the investigation. It is not until five years later, during World War II, that Willie is able to prove the sincerity of his account and the murderer is apprehended. Despite his errant ways, Willie's headmaster recognises his potential and finances his matriculation at University along with his own daughter, Millie, in late September 1939. Free from the constraints of their childhood, the blossoming of their love begins to unfold. However, within weeks of the outbreak of war, Willie's best friend from childhood enlists in the army, but Willie feels duty-bound to his sponsor to obtain his degree. Two years later, however, in 1941, Willie is confronted with the news that his friend has been killed in action. Racked with guilt, blaming himself for not being there to protect him, Willie abandons his education and volunteers for the Gordon Highlanders. The course of his life is now completely changed, the troubled boy that he was now a distant memory, but can the ‘nickum' ever atone for the decisions that he has made?

The Road to Rowanbrae

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A tender, uplifting family story set in Aberdeenshire, sweeping from the early years of this century to the present day. Mysie Lonie was only sixteen when her drunken father sold her for thirty pounds as wife to ugly, middle aged Jeems Duncan. Taken to live on his croft, Rowanbrae, she tried hard to make the best of her lot and, in time, bore Jeems two sons – Jamie, the light of her life, and unhappy, difficult Sandy. In 1913, as the storm clouds of war gather, love comes with unexpected force and brightness into Mysie's life. But the conflict of loyalties it brings sets off a chain of terrible events that eventually leaves her bereaved, homeless and marked by a secret she can never betray. Nearly destitute, Mysie is forced out into the world to scrape a living for herself and Sandy. Her path will bring her further trials – also many joys – but finally she is given the chance to leave her tragic past behind and enjoy true happiness ...

The Shadow of the Sycamores

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VIGXQG0

The Shadow of the Sycamores
traces the fortunes of the Rae family, from Henry Rae's birth in 1871, when his drunken father, a blacksmith, forgets the name chosen for him, to his old age in the 1940s. We follow Henry's story as he leaves home at 13 to work as orra loon at a farm and eventually meets his beloved future wife, Fay, when he finds a new job at The Sycamores, a nursing home for the mentally disordered and the elderly. Events take a dramatic turn when their son, Jerry, under-gardener at The Sycamores, falls in love with a 16-year-old inmate. When they marry, another inmate a much older man becomes insanely jealous and the scene is set for tragedy, with three mysterious deaths. Jerry enlists in 1917 and is killed in action. Years later, the family find unfamiliar marriage and birth certificates amongst his personal effects and start to unravel the mystery surrounding his second wife and child. This leads to a shocking discovery and there are many twists and turns before the final resolution. This epic tale, from one of north-east Scotland's most renowned novelists, is romantic and heartrendingly tragic.

The Three Kings

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The three huge rocks rose from the bay of the tiny Scottish fishing village of Cullen. The locals called them ‘The Three Kings', but to orphaned Katie Mair they were ‘The Three Wise Men', her trusted friends and the only ones to whom she could tell her troubles. And as she leaves her childhood behind, her troubles can only increase. At fourteen, she is old enough to go into service, and her formidable grandmother has already found her a position. But the household, bleak and cut off at the Howe of Denty, is not as respectable as it first appears. And one desperate act of defence from Katie is to a start a chain of despair, passion and revenge.

Time Shall Reap

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It is 1915, and Elspeth Gray is young, unmarried, heavily pregnant and destitute in a strange city. Having no one else to turn to, she throws herself on the mercy of a compassionate woman she once met briefly on a train. Helen Watson and her husband, themselves expecting a baby, gladly give the desperate girl a home. After Elspeth's son is born, however, Helen tragically loses her own child, and in her traumatised state transposes the two births in her mind. With the neighbours also believing that little John is Helen's baby, rather than the single girl's, Elspeth gradually finds herself deprived of her own child. A second chance for happiness comes along for Elspeth through marriage to David, a soldier badly scarred by the war. But her children must survive the calamities of another war, and the tangle of secrets overshadowing her youth causes misunderstandings that eventually lead to disaster. Only when the full truth becomes clear can she and her family find happiness and freedom from guilt...