Page 32 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
‘Yes … fine,’ I said and then blurted out, without in the least meaning to, ‘Only … I think that baby might have been me!’
Fortunately, at the critical moment Father had been on one of his lengthy tours of duty with the medical charity I-Cee. An ophthalmic surgeon, he’d taken early retirement when he came into a substantial inheritance, but kept his hand in by working in countries where a simple cataract operation could be a miraculous and life-changing event. People often said how kind and wonderful it was of him to devote his time unpaid to this work, but personally, I think he just enjoyed his god-like power to make the blind see.
15
On the Rocks
The whole family turned as one to stare at me – even Casper momentarily stopped banging his plastic spoon on the tray of his highchair – and then Sheila asked gently, ‘What makes you think it might have been you, Alice?’
‘Because I was a foundling and my adoptive mother told me I was abandoned out on the moors near Haworth. On my birth registration document I was given the surname of Oldstone, so when Nile told me what this house was called, I thought perhaps I’d been left nearby … or even that someone from the family here had found me.’
‘I don’t think so, because I’m sure if that was the case it would have been mentioned when I was first told about it,’ Sheila said.
‘Then it would appear that you were literally called after the place where you were found,’ said Teddy, interested. ‘I must say,I’dnever heard the story before.’
‘The last cleaner told me,andabout the headless ghost dog that Blackdog Moor is named after,’ Geeta said, with a shudder. ‘It has red eyes and brings bad luck.’
‘I don’t see how you’d know if the dog had red eyes if it was headless,’ Nile objected.
‘No, and if that cleaner had spent as much time working as she did gossiping, she’d still be the present one, not the last,’ Sheila put in.
I’d been lost in thought, but now I looked up and found Nile’s light, clear grey eyes fixed on my face. His expression was softer than itusually was when he looked at me, but then, we had managed to get off on the wrong foot right from the start.
‘Didn’t your birth mother ever come forward to claim you?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘Dad said it was extremely likely that she was very young and perhaps hadn’t even realized she was having a baby until she gave birth, so she abandoned me in a panic.’
‘I believe that oftenisthe case,’ Sheila said.
‘I hope your adoptive parents were nice?’ asked Bel.
‘Well, Dad was great, but he died when I was in my late teens and I left home soon after. I never got on with Nessa – my mother – so we didn’t stay in contact.’
‘That’s rather sad,’ Sheila said.
‘And now you’re back where you came from,’ Bel said, looking fascinated. ‘Have you thought that if you take after either of your birth parents in appearance, perhaps someone local will recognize you?’
‘It had crossed my mind,’ I admitted.
‘Light green eyes and long auburn hair,’ Sheila mused. ‘It doesn’t ring any bells … but then, we’ve only lived here for a few years, though of course we used to visit for holidays and long weekends before that.’
‘I think she looks sort of familiar,’ Bel said. ‘I did from the moment I saw her.’
‘That’s because she’s a dead ringer for Lizzie Siddal, the Pre- Raphaelite muse,’ Nile told her. ‘You’ll have seen her in loads of paintings.’
‘I am not!’ I snapped automatically, and he grinned, seeming happy to have got a rise out of me.
‘Actually, I think he’s right, though you’remuchprettier,’ Bel told me. ‘Did you come to live in Haworth in the hope of finding your birth mother, Alice? Are there any clues as to—’
‘Bel, all this is none of our business,’ Sheila chided her gently. ‘Now, would anyone like a second helping of apple pie before I put the coffee on?’
‘Me, but I shouldn’t,’ Bel groaned. ‘My waistline is vanishing since I moved back home.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever had one,’ Teddy said. ‘Maybe we’re just built differently, Bel.’
‘She will be, if she carries on eating so much,’ said Nile.
‘Just because you don’t have a particularly sweet tooth and can resist temptation, it doesn’t mean us lesser mortals can, too,’ she told her brother indignantly. ‘Anyway, it’s better to be a little on the plump side than so skinny the wind rattles your bones.’
