A Debt of Honour – Episode 08

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By Mark Neilson - July 13, 2024

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“How did your mum settle in?” Calum asked over a coffee in the Stirling train station café.

Ellie smiled.

“She was out like a light for almost twenty-four hours, probably as soon as her head touched the pillow.

“Now she’s over the worst of the jet-lag.”

Calum fidgeted, glancing at his watch.

“Relax,” Ellie said. “Your train’s in fifteen minutes.”

“But . . .”

“You have your ticket. It will take two minutes to walk through the ticket gates from here, and two more minutes to cross the bridge to your platform.

“How much is that in total? And how much time have you left?”

“I’m too nervous to do sums,” Calum said. He looked up wryly.

“Why get into such an uproar when it’s only an interview that I’m going to mess up?”

“I don’t get into an uproar.” Ellie smiled. “You do. A bit of positive thinking wouldn’t hurt.”

Calum pushed aside his mug.

“What’s the point of me thinking positive?”

Ellie felt sorry for him. Calum didn’t interview well: he got tongue-tied, his mind froze and he did himself no favours.

This was his fourth job interview and he was hugely over-qualified – but then most applicants would be.

“Shall I come through and do the interview for you?” Ellie asked.

“Give them the real Aussie in-your-face treatment? Then you could come in and take the bow.”

Calum grinned.

“They would offer you the job,” he said.

Ellie checked the clock above the café counter.

“Let’s go,” she said. “I’ll see you to the gate.”

“To make sure I don’t run away?” Calum chuckled.

“That, too.” Ellie smiled.

They walked to the ticket gates, and Calum slid his ticket into the machine and caught it as it came out on the other side.

He hesitated as the barrier opened.

“Get through before it closes on you!” Ellie urged. “Good luck.”

Calum smiled, slipped through the gate and headed for the steps to the bridge. Pausing, he waved self-consciously.

Ellie waved back, swallowing the stupid lump which rose in her throat.

Back at the gate, she’d had to fight down a sudden crazy urge to reach up and kiss him goodbye.

“Watch it,” she warned herself. “Don’t even think of going there!”

There was a good old-fashioned Scottish drizzle as Shauna walked from her hotel to Ellie’s flat.

Lifting her face, she savoured the light rain. It felt almost as if Scotland was reaching out to welcome her home.

She climbed the stairs to the first floor and knocked on the door. It opened, and her daughter waved her in.

“A cup of good strong Aussie tea?” Ellie asked.

“Yes, please. The tea in the hotel was undrinkable,” Shauna complained. She glanced around the flat.

“Well, did you see that nice young man off for his train?”

“He’s not a ‘nice young man’. He’s Calum, and he’s heading to Edinburgh for an interview where he will barely manage to tell them his name.

“He’s such a bright guy. I can’t understand it.”

“Maybe he’s shy?” Shauna smiled.

Like Neil had been, she thought.

Still waters run deep, her mother had always said.

Her mother liked Neil. The two of them had always got on so well.

“Sorry?” Shauna asked. “My head’s gone walkabout.”

“I said – do you want some stale biscuits with your tea?” Ellie repeated.

“Just black tea. Strong.”

Shauna sipped with relish, her travel weariness a distant memory.

“Your flatmates still away? When will I get to meet them?”

“Soon enough. If I buy another packet of chocolate biscuits, they’ll come scampering out of the bushes.” Ellie looked at her mother.

“So what are you doing today?” she asked.

“I’m going to rent a car for a couple of days,” Shauna replied.

“Why?” Ellie asked, surprised.

She saw her mother blush and take a big gulp.

“I’m going to start the search,” Shauna said.

“For your mystery benefactor?”

“No mystery about him.” Shauna sighed. “Apart from where he is right now.”

To be continued…