Listen to me child! I shouted, you are to stay where I tell you
to stay! Don’t you dare interfere with my dogs! The child began to cry, the
dogs began to howl which woke up the baby, which then woke up the mother. The
mother had the gall to get angry with me! Telling me that if I had allowed them
to come inside the house the child
would not have troubled the dogs. Just as I
was about to answer her with a few ‘choice’ words Maud came and held on to my
arms. Don’t worry, said Maud, I’ll deal with it. Remember that the Reverend is
here. I told her okay, as long as she kept them outside in the yard. I waited
until Maud went and checked that the locks on the kennel were fully secured and
the children were all under the tree before I went back into the den. When Maud
came back I noted that she seemed as if she had a burning question to ask me.
What is it? I asked. Can we take the two smaller children inside? She asked.
They are sneezing, I think they are allergic to the dogs. I gave her a
withering look and turned to the Reverend and told him to continue his story. I
guess he knew better than to say anything pertaining to the woman and her
children. Reverend Julian continued what I had now dubbed in my mind, "The
Saga of Charles and Charlotte". The Pastor married Charles and Charlotte,
with the Midwife acting as Charlotte’s Maid of Honour and Charles’ cousin
Rudolph as his Best Man. Charlotte was very weak and struggled to say the vows.
Before she died she hugged her little girl tightly and told Charles that she
was to be named Charmaine. That was my grandmother’s name I interjected!
Reverend Julian did not even spare me a glance as he continued. Charlotte
handed the baby to Charles and told him that he was to give the baby all the
love that he had for her. Charles was overcome with grief at Charlotte’s death
and was inconsolable for days. On the day of the funeral he begged the
Undertaker to put him in the coffin with Charlotte. The Pastor had to talk to
Charles strongly. He told Charles that he had to live for his baby girl and he
was to remember the promises that he had made to his dying wife. The days after
the funeral were hard for Charles. Every time he looked at his daughter he
cried. Baby Charmaine was the splitting image of her late mother and it was
clear that she had the same bubbling personality that Charlotte had. Miss
Verna, the Midwife, had offered to take care of Charmaine while Charles went to
work and every evening when he came home she had a different story to tell him
about Charmaine and her antics. Six months after Charlotte’s death Charles
finally found the strength to pack up Charlotte’s personal belongings. He had
decided to give them to Miss Verna. He was clearing out the bottom drawer of
the dresser when he saw a thick envelope underneath a scarf. He opened the
envelope and found a ten-paged letter enclosed. Ten pages written in
Charlotte’s neat handwriting, that he always admired. Also enclosed in the
envelope was her gold necklace that she always wore around her neck. The
pendant was a locket that she said had a bit of her grandmother’s hair inside.
Charles opened the locket and saw where Charlotte had placed a bit of her own
hair inside the locket. He wept and wept and wept. It seemed as if Charlotte
had known she was going to die. He closed the locket and noted the crest that
was etched on it. It was a symbol of a lion defeating a dragon. I clutched my
throat and looked at Maud as she opened her eyes wide at me. I had a necklace
just like that! My grandmother Charmaine had bequeathed it to me but I had
never opened the locket to see what was inside it. I was about to say something
about it to Reverend Julian but I kept quiet as he continued. I was now
squirming in my seat and could hardly keep still as I awaited the rest of the
story. I wanted to hear what was in the letter. I heard a sound on the roof and
thought that the ‘migrants’ were throwing stones at the mangoes and they were
falling on the housetop. Oh my God, I said, as I looked out the window, rain
was falling! Maud with a smirk on her face asked me if I was going to let them
all get wet. There goes my border! I screamed in my head.
SadaBlue…..
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