Who Was Angela Zendalic Read Online Free PDF
Author: Mary Cavanagh
sister.â
âWell? Didnât you ask where I came from?â I snapped.
âOf course we didnât. Forty years ago it was like being on another planet. We were much more innocent than children of today, and we accepted what grown-ups told us as the truth. We wouldnât have known anything about how babies came along, or what adoption was, and certainly nothing about marital cheating. I suppose we assumed you came asâ¦â
âAs what?â I snapped. âAs an act of charity?â
âI was going to say a big surprise present,â Carrie said, sighing.
âBut didnât you ever talk about me? With Mummy and Pa, I mean. When you grew up.â
They all shook their heads. âNever,â said Cass. âAnd not with each other either. It was ...well ...something we all knew we knew, but pretended we didnât.â
I wiped my eyes while my sisters kept up a mantra of reassuring words. Why did I have to be the one to find the wretched thing? Why couldnât it have been one of them who would doubtless show it to the others, gape with amazement and destroy it to keep the status quo ? It was obvious Pa was never going to tell me the truth so why didnât he throw it away. But he didnât expect to die, did he. He thought he was as fit as a flea, and so did everyone else. Most likely he meant to set his things in order, but put it off until tomorrow, like we all do, and tomorrow never came.
âItâs really strange youâve never seen it before,â Cally said. âYou must have needed it for your passport and stuff.â
âOh, Iâve got a birth certificate,â I replied. âThe short version. No details other than my full name, gender as girl, date of birth, and place of birth as Oxford. It never crossed my mind to be bothered about a long one.â
âWell, weâve no idea who this Angela Zendalic was,â said Carrie, âbut, whatever happened, Mummy must have forgiven him. Itâs a real muddle of a story because Pa wasnât the unfaithful type.â
âOh, Carrie, get real,â I snapped, raising my eyebrows. âAll men are randy buggers.â
âNow stop it!â Cass snapped. âThis isnât the time to have a row or slag off Pa as heâs not here to defend himself. Mummy adored him and he adored her. Good God, how he struggled with her before he had to give in, and we all know how it messed up his life.â
âOh, Iâm sorry,â I blubbered. âIâm just shell-shocked.â They all nodded their heads with understanding smiles, and muttered more words of comfort, but all four of us remained in a state of trauma, unable to even think about the job weâd mustered to do.
With resigned grace an eerie cloak engulfed us, each wishing that we could put the clock back; that the secret remained hidden in the outer reaches of our fatherâs past, and the frail, destroyed mind of our motherâs.
P ART T WO
Early September 1953
Jericho
I t was ten days after Josephâs departure when Peggy received a short standard airmail letter, written in his distinctive copperplate handwriting. Although his father had survived his illness, circumstances dictated it wasnât possible to return to England until he was fully fit again. He loved her very much, he was thinking about her every day and couldnât wait to get back to England so they could make arrangements for their marriage.
In the three months since then nothing more had arrived.
It was a Friday evening, and sheâd just got in from work, when a sharp knock on the front door alerted her to Edieâs distinctive rat-a-tat. âI took in a parcel for you, Peg. Look. Lovely foreign stamps.â Recognising the stamps of Ankanda, Peggy wanted to snatch it out of her hands and run indoors, but was obliged to restrain herself. âItâll be a present from one of my students,â she said casually.
âWell? Didnât you ask where I came from?â I snapped.
âOf course we didnât. Forty years ago it was like being on another planet. We were much more innocent than children of today, and we accepted what grown-ups told us as the truth. We wouldnât have known anything about how babies came along, or what adoption was, and certainly nothing about marital cheating. I suppose we assumed you came asâ¦â
âAs what?â I snapped. âAs an act of charity?â
âI was going to say a big surprise present,â Carrie said, sighing.
âBut didnât you ever talk about me? With Mummy and Pa, I mean. When you grew up.â
They all shook their heads. âNever,â said Cass. âAnd not with each other either. It was ...well ...something we all knew we knew, but pretended we didnât.â
I wiped my eyes while my sisters kept up a mantra of reassuring words. Why did I have to be the one to find the wretched thing? Why couldnât it have been one of them who would doubtless show it to the others, gape with amazement and destroy it to keep the status quo ? It was obvious Pa was never going to tell me the truth so why didnât he throw it away. But he didnât expect to die, did he. He thought he was as fit as a flea, and so did everyone else. Most likely he meant to set his things in order, but put it off until tomorrow, like we all do, and tomorrow never came.
âItâs really strange youâve never seen it before,â Cally said. âYou must have needed it for your passport and stuff.â
âOh, Iâve got a birth certificate,â I replied. âThe short version. No details other than my full name, gender as girl, date of birth, and place of birth as Oxford. It never crossed my mind to be bothered about a long one.â
âWell, weâve no idea who this Angela Zendalic was,â said Carrie, âbut, whatever happened, Mummy must have forgiven him. Itâs a real muddle of a story because Pa wasnât the unfaithful type.â
âOh, Carrie, get real,â I snapped, raising my eyebrows. âAll men are randy buggers.â
âNow stop it!â Cass snapped. âThis isnât the time to have a row or slag off Pa as heâs not here to defend himself. Mummy adored him and he adored her. Good God, how he struggled with her before he had to give in, and we all know how it messed up his life.â
âOh, Iâm sorry,â I blubbered. âIâm just shell-shocked.â They all nodded their heads with understanding smiles, and muttered more words of comfort, but all four of us remained in a state of trauma, unable to even think about the job weâd mustered to do.
With resigned grace an eerie cloak engulfed us, each wishing that we could put the clock back; that the secret remained hidden in the outer reaches of our fatherâs past, and the frail, destroyed mind of our motherâs.
P ART T WO
Early September 1953
Jericho
I t was ten days after Josephâs departure when Peggy received a short standard airmail letter, written in his distinctive copperplate handwriting. Although his father had survived his illness, circumstances dictated it wasnât possible to return to England until he was fully fit again. He loved her very much, he was thinking about her every day and couldnât wait to get back to England so they could make arrangements for their marriage.
In the three months since then nothing more had arrived.
It was a Friday evening, and sheâd just got in from work, when a sharp knock on the front door alerted her to Edieâs distinctive rat-a-tat. âI took in a parcel for you, Peg. Look. Lovely foreign stamps.â Recognising the stamps of Ankanda, Peggy wanted to snatch it out of her hands and run indoors, but was obliged to restrain herself. âItâll be a present from one of my students,â she said casually.