Annie's Promise Read Free Page A

weren’t down the mine like Tom, in the jungles like Georgie, in the camps like me. Oh no, you were in the Supply Depot, building up your contacts, lining your pockets, not your face. She clamped her mind shut against these thoughts, put down her mug and answered calmly.
    ‘You’ve had my house for nine years, without charge Don. Please remember that I wrote to you telling you of Georgie’s discharge months ago. I think I made it clear that we would want to come home.’
    Maud put down her tea which she had been drinking left-handed. Annie knew it was because their lips had used the other side. She caught Tom’s eye and grinned – they were back, what did all this matter?
    ‘That’s all very well, Annie,’ Maud said. ‘But we’ve put a lot of work into Sarah Beeston’s house. We’ve hung a chandelier and redecorated you know, got rid of all that dreadful bamboo.’
    Annie breathed deeply as tension clenched every muscle of her face. She forced herself to look steadily at Betsy’s patchwork cushions.
    Think of the stitches, the thread. Please God, let me beangry and not afraid – let the past be over. She felt Georgie’s hand on her thigh, she felt its warmth, his nearness and she waited and could now hardly breathe because she feared so much that she would smell the stench of the camp hospital, the pleading of the patients, the helplessness of the nurses. She feared she would see Lorna’s execution, feel the pain of the guard’s boot thudding into her own body, or the rope around her wrist which had tethered poor mindless Prue.
    She waited, barely breathing, feeling the silence, the grip of Georgie’s hand but there was no pain, no darkness, there was just irritation, just the words ‘Stupid bitch’ in her mind, just a normal reaction to a silly woman. At last she relaxed, even as Tom leaned forward, slopping his tea, banging his mug down.
    ‘You did what, after all Annie went through with those bloody nips. For Christ’s sake, the thought of decorating Sarah’s house kept her going, you bloody knew that. It helped her to actually do it when she returned.’
    Annie reached out to him, shaking her head, relishing her own response but not his. ‘Maud’s right you know, think about it. That design wouldn’t appeal to others, it was personal, it grew out of me, it was therapeutic. Business people have got to produce the goods the market wants, not just what we like, or what comes from our past.’
    She looked from Tom to Georgie but their faces were set. She spoke again. ‘Look, please, all of you stop worrying about me. I’m much better – I keep telling you. Yes, the bamboos might have been a trigger – I was unprepared but I’m fine, Maud’s done us a favour. It’s proved to you that it’s all behind me, just as I’ve been saying all these months.’
    Annie took her husband’s hand in hers and kissed it but though he smiled when she looked into his eyes she saw only anxiety.
    She said softly, ‘I promise you, my darling, it’s over. This just helps to prove it. Please listen.’
    She looked from one to another. Oh God, would they never understand that the past was gone, finished? Yes, she’d had a breakdown in India, where Georgie had taken her after the war. Yes, she’d tried to kill herself there too, but they had come home and slowly she had recovered, couldn’t they accept this? What more proof did they need?
    ‘So, you’re still going ahead with this business idea then?’ Don asked.
    Annie smiled, grateful for once that her brother had no heart. There was no concern in his eyes, or those of his wife. There was only a flicker of interest at the thought of the business they were embarking upon and she replied calmly, holding Georgie’s hand tightly as she did so, willing him to believe.
    ‘Absolutely, Don. It’s the textile business we’ve always talked about, even when we were kids. Tom’s designs, my practical knowledge, Georgie’s management expertise …’
    ‘Cosy,