The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper(81)

I ask once again if you would like to meet, to talk and remember our friendship. If I do not hear from you, then I know your answer is “no” and I shall leave you be. I hope that your family are well and that you have found some peace.

Your friend,

Miriam

Arthur stayed up until two in the morning reading his wife’s letters to Sonny.

He finally reread the first letter in which Miriam told Sonny of her love for him.

After that, he took each letter in turn and tore it into tiny squares. He swept them off the duvet, into his hand, and then wrapped them in a handkerchief ready to deposit in the bin the following day.

He knew his wife well. They had shared their lives for over forty years. It was time to let her past go.





Finders Keepers


Six weeks later

BEFORE HE ENTERED Jeff’s shop in London, Arthur stood for a while and looked at the gold bracelets, necklaces and rings in the window. What stories they could tell of love and happiness and death. And here they were waiting for new people to buy them and to create new stories.

He pushed open the door and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Just a second,” Jeff’s gravelly voice called out. He then pushed through the beaded curtain. He removed his eyeglass. “Oh, hello there. It’s...”

“Arthur.” He held out his hand and Jeff shook it.

“Yes, of course it is. You came in with Mike and brought that incredible gold bracelet, the one with the charms that I fell in love with. It was your wife’s, wasn’t it?”

“You have a good memory.”

“I see a lot of jewelry in my job. Of course I do. I sell the stuff. But that bracelet, well, there was something special about it.”

Arthur swallowed. “I’ve decided to sell it and thought you might be interested.”

“You betcha. Can I take another look?”

Arthur stuck his hand in his backpack and handed over the heart-shaped box. Jeff opened it. “Just beautiful,” he said. “It’s even more magnificent than I remembered.” He picked it out and turned it over in his hands, just as Arthur had done the first time he had found it. “It will be a confident lady who buys this. This won’t be about showing off, or about an investment. She will buy it because she loves the charms and that they have stories to tell. You definitely want to sell?”

“Yes.”

“I know a lady in Bayswater who would love this. She’s a film producer, a real bohemian type. This is right up her street.”

“I’d like it to go to a good home.” Arthur heard his own voice waver.

Jeff rearranged the bracelet back in the heart-shaped box. “Are you sure about this, mate? It’s a big decision.”

“It has no sentimental value for me. It was hidden away and forgotten for years.”

“It’s up to you. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been here for forty years, as was my father before me, so I’m going to be here next week or next month or next year if you want to think about it.”

Arthur swallowed. He pushed the box with one finger back toward Jeff. “No. I want to sell it, but I do want to keep one of the charms. Would you still be interested if I kept the elephant?”

“It’s your bracelet. If you want the elephant, you keep it. I’ll just reposition the other charms to fill the gap.”

“He’s the little fellow that started off my journey.”

Arthur sat on a stool at the counter as Jeff went into the back of the shop. He pulled a magazine toward him. On the back was a jewelry advertisement for a new kind of charm bracelet. Instead of dangling charms there were beads that fed onto a chain. The advert suggested that they should mark occasions, just as Miriam’s bracelet did. It was funny how some things didn’t really change.

Arthur pushed it away and surveyed all the gold and silver surrounding him. There were rings that must have been worn for decades and meant so much in people’s lives, then they were sold or given away. But the jewelry would get a new life, go to a new person who would love and use it. He tried to imagine the film producer that Jeff knew. In his head she wore a red silk turban and a flowing paisley dress. He pictured Miriam’s bracelet dangling from her wrist and it looked good.

“Here he is.” Jeff pressed the elephant in Arthur’s palm. Away from the other charms he looked majestic, as if he was supposed to march alone. Arthur turned the emerald with his finger.

Jeff handed over a roll of money. “It’s what we discussed. It’s worth that even without the elephant.”

“Are you sure?”

Jeff nodded. “Thanks for thinking of me. What have you got planned for today, then? Are you calling in on Mike?”

“I’m going to try and find him. Do you still see him?”

“Only every day.” Jeff rolled his eyes. “He’s such a sweetheart calling in to make sure I’m okay. I had a bit of a heart scare a while back. Mike has taken on the role of my guardian angel, whether I like it not. Every day I get questioned about what I’ve eaten and if I’ve been exercising enough.”

“He’s a caring young man.”

“He is that. Heart of gold, that one. He’ll be back on his feet soon. He just needs to stay away from wrong’uns and he’ll be fine. So, what are you going to do with this money, Arthur?”