A Week in Winter(55)

‘Please?’ he asked.

‘Why are you really here?’ Her face was crumpling.

‘Because they haven’t come to meals, and so I was afraid they might be seasick.’

‘Nobody told you anything?’ Her voice was fearful.

‘No, no.’ Henry was very definite. ‘Just routine. Part of my job.’ He smiled at her and prepared to be invited in.

Helen looked at him for thirty seconds, her eyes raking his face. Eventually she made her decision.

‘Come in, Doctor,’ she said, and opened the cabin door wide.

Henry saw an old man in an armchair listening on headphones and tapping his foot to whatever he heard. His sightless eyes faced across the cabin. Outside, spectacular scenery of the Norwegian fjords passed by slowly, unseen. His wife sat on the bed holding a doll in her arms. ‘Little Helen, little Helen,’ she said over and over, and rocked the doll to sleep.

Henry swallowed. He had no idea that it was going to be like this. ‘Just routine, as I said.’ He cleared his throat.

‘Do you have to tell?’ Her eyes were red-rimmed and beseeching.

‘Yes, I do,’ he said simply.

‘But why, Doctor? I’ve managed fine for four days. There are only nine days left.’

‘It’s not as simple as that. You see, there’s a very clear policy.’

‘There’s no policy that’s going to help me to give them a holiday, some fresh air, a change from the flat in Hammersmith with flights of stairs up and down . . . it was my only chance, Doctor.’

‘But you didn’t tell us the full story.’

‘I couldn’t tell you the whole story. You wouldn’t have let us come.’

He was silent.

‘Listen, Doctor. I am sure you’ve had a happy life with nothing going wrong, and I’m glad for you, but not everyone gets that deal. I am an only child. My parents have nobody else. They were so good to me. They got me educated as a teacher. I can’t abandon them now.’ She paused as if to collect herself. Then she spoke again. ‘I work from home correcting and marking papers from a correspondence course. It’s endless and back-breaking but at least I can look after them. And they ask so little . . . So is it really some sort of a crime to take them on a little holiday? And have a rest myself, and see such lovely places?’

Henry felt humbled.

Helen was twisting her hands in her lap. Her father smiled, listening to his music; her mother cradled the baby doll in her arms, cooing and chuckling and calling it Helen.

‘I do understand, really I do,’ he said, feeling useless.

‘But you still must tell, and then they’ll put us off the ship?’

‘They won’t want to take the risk . . .’ he began.

‘But could you take the risk, Doctor? You, who have had all the good luck in the world, a great education, a lovely wife. I’ve seen you together. You have a dream job where it’s all a holiday. You haven’t known anything like this. Your life has been easy. Could you find the kindness somewhere to take a risk for us? I’ll be so careful, believe me, I will.’

Henry contemplated telling her that his life had not been easy. They had failed to have the children they both wanted. They had seen at close quarters two violent deaths, which they still felt that, if they had been more quick-witted, they might have prevented. They were vaguely unsettled and slightly guilty about the lifestyle on board ship. But what was this compared to the life of the woman in front of him?

‘How were you able to afford . . .?’ he began.

‘Dad’s brother died. He left him ten thousand pounds. It seemed like an opportunity that might never come again, so I ran with it.’

‘I see.’

‘And up to now it’s been great. Just great. Better than I even dreamed.’ She was full of hope.

‘It won’t be easy,’ he said.

Her smile was his reward. He wondered if there was anyone at all in her life able to share the burden of care and the sheer determination that kept her going.

‘I’ll ask Nicola to join us,’ Henry said, and the deal was done.

In the end, it was not too arduous. Nicola would sit in the cabin each day while Helen took her father for a walk and even a swim. Then Henry would take his paperwork and sit with the old man while Helen and her mother took the doll for a walk on deck.

Helen was adept at managing to avoid chatting to other passengers. She was looking stronger and more relaxed every day.

Henry said nothing to Beata about the arrangement but he knew she was aware of it, and that it was appreciated.

There were a few near misses. At the daily cruise conference, the Cruise Director mentioned that someone had reported an elderly man who stumbled on deck. Was Dr Henry aware of him? Was there any problem there?

Henry lied smoothly. Yes, the old chap was a bit frail but his daughter seemed very much in control.

One day when Nicola was looking after the old lady, there was a spot check by the Cabin Supervisor. She arrived at the door unexpectedly with Beata in tow.

Nicola swallowed. She had to keep her nerve. ‘I’m just doing a one-to-one computer lesson,’ she explained with a big smile. Mercifully Helen’s mother did not choose that moment to sing a lullaby to the doll. The Supervisor moved on to the next cabin, saying that a one-to-one computer lesson was what everyone over forty needed.