DEEP IN THE VALLEY

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE OTHERS

The evening drags slow through the seconds, minutes and hours. Mum's yoga class is particularly busy so me and Winter are drafted in to pass her lentil and broad bean salad around to the ladies after the class while she brews pot after pot of Camomile tea.

They chat about their kids, their husbands and their hippy politics. Seems most of the ladies had actual lives in places like Swansea and London before they retreated to the Valleys to 'get away from it all'. How crazy is that when all I want to do is get away from the Valleys so I can experience 'it all', do they not realise how deathly boring this place is?

Some of the women stay late for wine and Mum eventually closes the door on the last of them at eleven by which time I am laying on my bed wondering if I am about to make a big mistake?

Maybe I shouldn't go? 

Winter comes into my room in his Pyjamas holding his nearly blind and threadbare teddy called Scruffy. He's had Scruffy since he was a baby. Dad brought it back from Afganistan for him when he completed his first tour. I remind Winter of this as often as I can but he doesn't seem to care that much. I guess he didn't see dad that much so there wasn't time to build up a relationship with him like I did. 

"I can't sleep" he says rubbing one eye with his free hand.

He hops into my bed and I know that he's trying to sleep in my bed so I sweep him up in my arms and bring him back into his bedroom. I tell him the story that he likes, about how dragons used to fly around the Black Mountain protecting the precious gold within and how a small boy named Winter was the only one who could talk to them and how he saved the people of the valley's from the dragons attacks.

Soon he's asleep and I slink back into my room.

Mother comes in to say goodnight and although we are at war it's good to see her happy. I know it's been tough on her since dad left us. I know she's trying to be strong, for us and I'm glad that the hippy ladies are some company for her. She notices the necklace around my neck, sits on my bed and and takes it gently in her hand.

"I'm so glad you have this. I was very jealous when your aunt got it all those years ago, we all were, me and your aunts. But now it's yours and that seem to make things better".

She kisses me on the forehead and leaves. It's eleven thirty.

My heart is pounding as I take my backpack, lock my bedroom door quietly from the inside and open my window. It's a clear night with a full moon and although I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea, it's also very exciting.

Holding onto the drainpipe I climb out the window and onto the roof of the old extension. From there it's an easy clamber down to the garden wall where I lower myself quietly onto the wet grass. I open the garden gate, creep along the narrow alleyway and slip silently into the night.

I feel completely alive as I pass the clock tower in the town square. This dreary and dead-end town suddenly seems exciting as I pass the old Statue of Queen Victoria who seems to look down on me from her regal perch with a disapproving glare.

It will take fifteen minutes to get to Winston's house and I have decided that I will get there early and observe the terrain before midnight. I exit the square and walk along quiet streets of terraced houses built of stone from the valley. The iridescent street lights guide my way to who knows what and although every part of my being is screaming that this is a bad idea the thought of seeing David again moves me forward.

I edge along the darker side of Cardiff Drive and take my position in the trees. Every light in Winston's house is ablaze and from the shadows moving behind the curtains and the music drifting from the house it would seem like there is a party going on. Considering how busy it looks inside there are no cars parked in the drive.

I look at my field watch and on the stroke of midnight the front door opens and David steps into the night. He looks dashing in a black dinner jacket and I suddenly feel very under dressed. I could run back home, it's still not too late, I could disappear into the darkness and follow the train tracks to the station and then home from there so he wouldn't see me.

He looks at his watch and then at the drive, he looks anxious, like he thinks I won't show up. Taking a deep breath I step out of the trees and walk towards the house. I turn into the drive. He sees me and smiles.

"You came" he says as I reach him. 'I shouldn't have' I say and he takes my hand, kisses it and bows.

"Don't be silly. I have some people for you to meet" he says and gestures towards the door with that killer smile.

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to meet people" I say "I'm not very good with people"

"I find that very difficult to believe" he says "Come on, they're friends and are all dying to meet you".

The door opens and Winston bows to me. "Good evening madam" he says and sounds like a butler in one of my mother's old black and white films.

He stands aside revealing a hall that looks very different from two days ago. Candlelight now dances on the walls making everything look romantic but as I step towards the threshold  twenty people stop their conversations, turn to look at me with mixed expressions of delight and intrigue and I stop in my tracks. A lot of the women have chosen a Victorian themed costume of dark lace with high necks and the men wear various cuts of velvet dinner jackets.

"Wow, you never said there was a dress code" I say and as people whisper to one another David puts his hand on my shoulder and guides me towards the door.

"Don't worry, you are our guest of honor" the tone of his voice mesmerise' me, drawing me into the house.  

I am about to step onto the raised stone mantel leading into the hall, when a flash of golden light surrounds me and instead of the hallway I am now looking at a beautiful range of snow-capped mountains lit by a heavy silvery moon.