“It was wonderful. Mining is really fascinating.”
Half an hour later, Margaret happened to glance out the window. Kate was on the ground wrestling with the son of one of the gardeners.
The following year, Kate’s letters from school were cautiously optimistic. She had been made captain of the hockey and lacrosse teams, and was at the head of her class scholastically. The school was not really all that bad, she wrote, and there were even a few girls in her classes who were reasonably nice. She asked permission to bring two of her friends home for the summer vacation, and Margaret was delighted. The house would be alive again with the sound of youthful laughter. She could not wait for her daughter to come home. Her dreams were all for Kate now. Jamie and I are the past, Maggie thought. Kate is the future. And what a wonderful, bright future it will be!
When Kate was home during her vacation, all the eligible young men of Klipdrift flocked around besieging her for dates, but Kate was not interested in any of them. David was in America, and she impatiently awaited his return. When he came to the house, Kate greeted him at the door. She wore a white dress circled in by a black velvet belt that accentuated her lovely bosom. When David embraced her, he was astonished by the warmth of her response. He drew back and looked at her. There was something different about her, something knowing. There was an expression in her eyes he could not define, and it made him vaguely uneasy.
The few times David saw Kate during that vacation she was surrounded by boys, and he found himself wondering which would be the lucky one. David was called back to Australia on business, and when he returned to Klipdrift, Kate was on her way to England.
In Kate’s last year of school, David appeared unexpectedly one evening. Usually his visits were preceded by a letter or a telephone call. This time there had been no warning.
“David! What a wonderful surprise!” Kate hugged him. “You should have told me you were coming. I would have—”
“Kate, I’ve come to take you home.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m afraid your mother is very ill.”
Kate stood stark still for a moment. “I’ll get ready.”
Kate was shocked by her mother’s appearance. She had seen her only a few months earlier, and Margaret had seemed to be in robust health. Now she was pale and emaciated, and the bright spirit had gone out of her eyes. It was as though the cancer that was eating at her flesh had also eaten at her soul.
Kate sat at the side of the bed and held her mother’s hand in hers. “Oh, Mother,” she said. “I’m so bloody sorry.”
Margaret squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I’m ready, darling. I suppose I’ve been ready ever since your father died.” She looked up at Kate. “Do you want to hear something silly? I’ve never told this to a living soul before.” She hesitated, then went on. “I’ve always been worried that there was no one to take proper care of your father. Now I can do it.”
Margaret was buried three days later. Her mother’s death shook Kate deeply. She had lost her father and a brother, but she had never known them; they were only storied figments of the past. Her mother’s death was real and painful. Kate was eighteen years old and suddenly alone in the world, and the thought of that was frightening.
David watched her standing at her mother’s graveside, bravely fighting not to cry. But when they returned to the house, Kate broke down, unable to stop sobbing. “She was always so w-wonderful to me, David, and I was such a r-rotten daughter.”
David tried to console her. “You’ve been a wonderful daughter, Kate.”
“I was n-nothing b-but trouble. I’d give anything if I could m-make it up to her. I didn’t want her to die, David! Why did God do this to her?”
He waited, letting Kate cry herself out. When she was calmer, David said, “I know it’s hard to believe now, but one day this pain will go away. And you know what you’ll be left with, Kate? Happy memories. You’ll remember all the good things you and your mother had.”