wanted our house to be the first,’ she said.
‘What house is that?’
Anne waited. It took a while. ‘When I left Canada I was only seventeen. The place I went to was a summer camp for photographers. A nice place. Upstate New York. We all wore sailor suits and that kind of thing. One of the girls became very good. Her father had owned a store as well and she loved taking pictures of people. It was a famous place by a lake and we were happy there. That was our lives at the time. We didn’t need men and we were young and it was easy to be happy. You woke up that way. And one of the teachers in the colony had taken a famous picture of horses pulling a carriage through the snow.’
MY LUKE
The young man with the pole stood up. ‘I’m just listening to you,’ he said to Anne. ‘Is your name Mrs Quirk?’
‘It is,’ Maureen answered, leaning forward. ‘Mrs Quirk. And you’re the man from the council, aren’t you?’
‘Aye. My name’s Russell. I’m here to check the smoke alarm.’ It turned out his older brother had gone to the same university as Luke. ‘My big brother did politics at Strathclyde,’ he said, ‘and he knew your grandson, Mrs Quirk.’
‘Luke is in the army,’ Anne said.
‘Jesus,’ the young man said. ‘We had the radio on in the van and they were saying another soldier got killed.’
Maureen looked up. ‘In Afghanistan?’
‘Another one, aye,’ the boy said. ‘It was on West Sound. They say he came from around here.’
Maureen was looking at Anne but it wasn’t clear if the young man’s news had got through to her, then Maureen noticed a spot of colour on each of her friend’s cheeks. ‘My Luke’s over there,’ Anne said. ‘He’s called Luke Campbell but he’s from Glasgow.’
The young man rubbed at his ear and stepped back. ‘Well, obviously they’re talking about somebody else.’
‘Obviously,’ Maureen said.
Anne’s eyes went to the pinboard where some of the cards still remained from Easter. She felt tired suddenly and wished she could lie down on the bed she and Harry had bought that time in Blackpool.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF HARRY BLAKE
The next day a child brought in a tortoise and it sat in Anne’s lap at the breakfast table. She liked the feeling of its paws. ‘He’s all right,’ she said when the boy tried to lift him off. ‘I’ll tell you something, dear. At one time I could’ve run right past this creature. Long ago, I was quick. You wouldn’t have seen me for dust.’
After the toast and marmalade, Jack from flat 19 began talking about the blackout. Anne shuddered when he first used the word. He said it again: ‘You know, the blackout. When they had to board up all the windows.’
‘That’s right,’ Anne said. ‘That was before I came to live in Glasgow with my aunts.’
‘What year was that?’
‘I couldn’t tell you. There was a new war on. They said they wouldn’t let the ships pass through.’
‘Suez.’
Another of the men looked up. ‘So that’s 1956,’ he said.
Anne’s experience at the Memory Club had ignited her curiosity or irritated her, she couldn’t decide. It was odd. There was just so much detail in a person’s life and you did well to get rid of the half of it. If you were any good you protected yourself by holding on to this and forgetting that. And even the bits you keep are best kept in silence.
These foolish things remind me of you.
She used to say it to Luke when he was a boy. ‘You’ve got to live a life proportionate to your nature,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to find out what that means and then stick to it.’ She could still see the boy’s eyes, ready to understand, even if he couldn’t yet. That was Luke. ‘Never worry a jot about what other people are going to say,’ she said to him. When he later decided to join the army it was a shock to many people but she didn’t hesitate to come after him and shake his hand. She remembered the time she got the plane and went all the way to England to see him
‘What house is that?’
Anne waited. It took a while. ‘When I left Canada I was only seventeen. The place I went to was a summer camp for photographers. A nice place. Upstate New York. We all wore sailor suits and that kind of thing. One of the girls became very good. Her father had owned a store as well and she loved taking pictures of people. It was a famous place by a lake and we were happy there. That was our lives at the time. We didn’t need men and we were young and it was easy to be happy. You woke up that way. And one of the teachers in the colony had taken a famous picture of horses pulling a carriage through the snow.’
MY LUKE
The young man with the pole stood up. ‘I’m just listening to you,’ he said to Anne. ‘Is your name Mrs Quirk?’
‘It is,’ Maureen answered, leaning forward. ‘Mrs Quirk. And you’re the man from the council, aren’t you?’
‘Aye. My name’s Russell. I’m here to check the smoke alarm.’ It turned out his older brother had gone to the same university as Luke. ‘My big brother did politics at Strathclyde,’ he said, ‘and he knew your grandson, Mrs Quirk.’
‘Luke is in the army,’ Anne said.
‘Jesus,’ the young man said. ‘We had the radio on in the van and they were saying another soldier got killed.’
Maureen looked up. ‘In Afghanistan?’
‘Another one, aye,’ the boy said. ‘It was on West Sound. They say he came from around here.’
Maureen was looking at Anne but it wasn’t clear if the young man’s news had got through to her, then Maureen noticed a spot of colour on each of her friend’s cheeks. ‘My Luke’s over there,’ Anne said. ‘He’s called Luke Campbell but he’s from Glasgow.’
The young man rubbed at his ear and stepped back. ‘Well, obviously they’re talking about somebody else.’
‘Obviously,’ Maureen said.
Anne’s eyes went to the pinboard where some of the cards still remained from Easter. She felt tired suddenly and wished she could lie down on the bed she and Harry had bought that time in Blackpool.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF HARRY BLAKE
The next day a child brought in a tortoise and it sat in Anne’s lap at the breakfast table. She liked the feeling of its paws. ‘He’s all right,’ she said when the boy tried to lift him off. ‘I’ll tell you something, dear. At one time I could’ve run right past this creature. Long ago, I was quick. You wouldn’t have seen me for dust.’
After the toast and marmalade, Jack from flat 19 began talking about the blackout. Anne shuddered when he first used the word. He said it again: ‘You know, the blackout. When they had to board up all the windows.’
‘That’s right,’ Anne said. ‘That was before I came to live in Glasgow with my aunts.’
‘What year was that?’
‘I couldn’t tell you. There was a new war on. They said they wouldn’t let the ships pass through.’
‘Suez.’
Another of the men looked up. ‘So that’s 1956,’ he said.
Anne’s experience at the Memory Club had ignited her curiosity or irritated her, she couldn’t decide. It was odd. There was just so much detail in a person’s life and you did well to get rid of the half of it. If you were any good you protected yourself by holding on to this and forgetting that. And even the bits you keep are best kept in silence.
These foolish things remind me of you.
She used to say it to Luke when he was a boy. ‘You’ve got to live a life proportionate to your nature,’ she said. ‘You’ve got to find out what that means and then stick to it.’ She could still see the boy’s eyes, ready to understand, even if he couldn’t yet. That was Luke. ‘Never worry a jot about what other people are going to say,’ she said to him. When he later decided to join the army it was a shock to many people but she didn’t hesitate to come after him and shake his hand. She remembered the time she got the plane and went all the way to England to see him
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