A Debt of Honour – Episode 11
A Debt Of Honour
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- 11. A Debt of Honour – Episode 11
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In theory, it was simplicity itself: plot a route from Stirling to Blantyre on the road map; then use her local knowledge of the town where she had once known almost every street.
In practice, the drive was a nightmare.
By the time Shauna had signed for her small rental car, the drizzle had degenerated into heavy rain and gusty wind.
This “welcome home” weather was wearing thin, she thought grimly. I’m an Aussie now, so give me a blink of sunshine.
A haze of road spray hung over the busy motorway.
To make matters worse, the nippy car she had chosen leapt like a startled gazelle whenever she touched either the accelerator or the brake.
She was used to a big slow-revving car which gave its owner plenty time to make up her mind where she was going and how quickly she wanted to get there.
She stuck nervously to the slow lane, drenched in spray from the heavy lorries in front of her and the endless stream of cars and vans flowing past.
With her route memorised, she followed the signs for Carlisle.
Her plan was to come off at Hamilton and drive back to Blantyre along familiar roads.
On impulse, she exited when she saw a sign for East Kilbride and Blantyre.
Then everything went wrong. Completely lost in road spray and fast-moving traffic, she missed her exit for Blantyre.
Braking and then dithering, she drew a chorus of horn blasts from the rear, and was braking again to avoid someone cutting in on her when she missed the right exit.
Fighting to control her panic, she decided to drive on until she could rejoin the road, then retrace her steps.
Lost in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hostile traffic, a lesser person might have given up, but Shauna was made of Scottish stock and, with each new setback grew stronger still.
She reached Low Blantyre only to find that the village she had known had simply disappeared into new buildings, new roads, leisure centres and supermarkets.
Grimly she crawled along what was left of the old main road, then – more by luck than navigation – found the street she was looking for beyond yet another major store.
With her legs aching from tension, Shauna drove along a road she had walked thousands of times, and now barely recognised.
She had passed Morris Crescent before she even recognised the sturdy old 1930s houses.
A quick three-point turn and she went back to enter the street where she had grown up.
It seemed so quiet and narrow.
The rain had eased, so she slipped out of the car door and drew on her jacket, turning up its collar.
With legs still trembling from the drive, she walked slowly up the line of old houses towards the bend in the Crescent.
They were familiar – but quite different, too.
The house where she had been born and raised had changed so much she walked past it.
She stared at it. She had gone to school from here, and had brought her first boyfriend back to meet her mum and dad.
Everything was so different, it failed to trigger any sadness. Besides, it was too late now to put right what had happened.
Shauna turned away and retraced her steps into Small Crescent, walking round the bend of the Crescent until she reached the house where Neil had lived. Her heart stuttered.
What would happen if she rang the doorbell and he was standing there?
Instead, it was a total stranger.
“Oh!” Shauna said. “Do the Caldwells live here any more?”
“No,” the woman replied. “Only us.”
“Do you know when they left here?” Shauna asked.
The woman shook her head.
“We’ve been here five years. The lot in front of us were only here for a year or so.”
“So the Caldwells must have gone before that,” Shauna said. “Will anybody round here remember them?”
“Maybe aye, maybe no. Sorry I can’t help.”
The door was already closing. Shauna stepped back as it clicked shut. She stared at it.
Was this a sign that her whole trip was a wasted effort before she had properly started searching?