Page 39 of The Island Girls

The busyness came from a mixture of styles and colours, Rebekah realised. Removing some of those and picking one main colour and style would have the effect of enlarging the spaces and simplifying what the eye dwelt on. She’d never had her own place to decorate, but loved the way Rose Cottage wassparsely furnished, mostly white with a small splash of new spring green in places, as if the cottage had taken its lead from the woodlands outside. Spending her life looking at what nature had done so marvellously and beautifully well without the help of mankind, gave her a good eye for what worked with interior decorating too.

‘I could show you some ideas if you like,’ she offered. ‘I have a few interior design magazines at home that could help.’

‘That would be super, thank you. I’ve no idea where to start and I’d love your help,’ he said, flashing her that sunny smile she loved.

The next day, he took her on a whistlestop tour of the sights of central London, before they headed to Westminster for the pre-concert rehearsal. Rebekah went alone for a tour of Westminster Abbey, while Paul was rehearsing, then she walked up Horse Guards Road, alongside St James’s Park, passing the Churchill War Rooms, and crossing The Mall on her way to The British Academy for the concert. She couldn’t help thinking again about Peggy, and whatever it was she had been involved in during the war along with so many incredibly brave, ordinary, everyday people who had bought her the freedom she enjoyed today. Rebekah prayed a silent prayer of gratitude for the liberation their efforts had won.

At the British Academy, Rebekah was ushered to the seat Paul had arranged for her in the upstairs Music Room and waited in the distinguished quiet for the concert to start, taking in the splendour of the highly decorated walls and ceiling.

When Paul walked out with the other musicians to take his place, she almost gasped aloud at the effect of a dinner jacketand bow tie on the body she had become very familiar with by this stage. ‘Dashing’ didn’t quite cover it, and she couldn’t help a smile of delight when he spotted her in the audience and winked. But once he took his seat and began to play, all his attention was caught up in the music, and Rebekah soon found herself floating along on the joy of the journey. She was familiar with all the melodies but had never known classical music well enough to name any of the pieces she might have heard. From this night on, at least, she thought, she would always recognise Vivaldi’sFour Seasons, and the programme helped her understand which season was which.

As they walked home from the Tube station that night, he listened shyly as Rebekah told him everything that was wonderful about her evening.

On Sunday, they decided to make the most of the continuing beautiful blue sky summer weather, and Paul packed a picnic hamper, which they took to Hyde Park. He spread the picnic blanket out on the lawn beside the Serpentine and they lay in the sun, soaking up the warm rays.

‘You’d never do this in Brisbane, you know,’ she told him as she collected another round of cheese, smoked salmon, and soft bread from the food laid out beside the hamper. Paul was in the process of pouring them both a glass of wine.

‘Why ever not? Surely you must have more sunny days in Brisbane than we ever do here?’ he asked.

‘Oh, we do – it’s sunny virtually every day of the year. But the sun is so hot, you’d be mad to lie out in it like this. You’d burn in no time – even with plenty of sunblock. Slip, slop, slap – that’s the only way to deal with it if you absolutely have to be outside, or at the beach.’

He frowned, waiting for an explanation.

‘It stands for “slip on a shirt, slop on some sunblock, and slap on a hat!”’ she told him.

‘But you do go out in the sun?’ he asked.

‘Oh yes, all the time! Australians do as much as they can outdoors. But we just choose to be under shade where we can and avoid being out in the direct sun between eleven and three, if possible, particularly in the middle of summer.’

‘And that’s at Christmastime, right? That must be so strange,’ he said.

‘Not strange to me at all. Christmas carols are sung outside, just as they are here, but in the heat of a steamy, sub-tropical night. On Christmas Day, we set up tables and chairs underneath the mango tree in the backyard, cook a barbecue, eat cold cheesecake and pavlova for dessert, and go for a swim in the pool after we’re sure we won’t sink from all the food,’ she said, laughing.

‘All sounds wonderful, Rebekah. Must be hard for you getting used to an English Christmas.’

‘Not really, no. The English Christmas suits England and the English weather. The Aussie Christmas suits Australia.’ She paused for a moment and decided she had found the right time. It was only two weeks since she’d met him, but this felt so right.

‘Actually, Paul, there’s something I wanted to ask you about Christmas.’

‘Hmmm, what’s that?’ he asked casually, lying on his back with one arm under his head.

‘With what we discovered about Peggy, and now we know my mum can’t help at all, I really would love the chance to go to Brisbane to see if I can find this Darrell. Before it’s too late, you know? And, I think I mentioned the other day, I haven’t been home for nearly three years now and it might be nice to have a Christmas in Brisbane.’

‘That sounds lovely. And I can certainly get started on the research to see if we can find where Flight Lieutenant Taylor ended up, after he left Poole – hopefully tracing him to anaddress in Australia. And the holiday sounds like a great plan. You seem to work pretty hard on that island of yours and don’t get to take much time for yourself. A holiday at home would be a good thing for you to look forward to,’ he said, barely opening one eye.

‘Well, I was thinking we could make it something that we could both look forward to,’ she said and waited.

He opened both eyes and turned to look directly at her.

‘How could I look forward to losing you for a month and not being able to see you, knowing you were on the other side of the world from me?’ he asked, reaching out to take her hand.

‘That’s my thought exactly. So why don’t you come with me? To Australia – for a holiday. I could show you Brisbane, and my favourite national parks. We could go to the Great Barrier Reef. Have you ever snorkelled?’ By the time she’d asked him about snorkelling, he was sitting bolt upright and looking at her with the most divine look of excited anticipation in his expression.

‘You’d like us to plan a holiday together? To Brisbane?’ he asked, and she nodded. ‘Rebekah, that is the most wonderful idea you’ve had in the whole fourteen days and…’ he checked his watch, ‘…thirteen and a half hours since I first laid eyes on you. You’re a genius!’ He paused to lean across and kiss her, taking the time to cup her cheek in his hand and stroke her tenderly with his thumb. ‘And yes, please, I’d love to!’

20

POOLE – MARCH 1941

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