Albert sat at his dining table, a writing pad in front of him and a fountain pen in his hand. When he bought the writing paper he saw the fountain pen in the shop. He normally wrote with a ballpoint pen but looking at the fountain pen he wondered if he had ever used one when he was a child at school. How would it feel to use a different type of pen? He fantasized that filling the pen with ink and using blotting paper might trigger some childhood memory so he had bought the pen and now holding it, hovering over the writing paper, he chuckled to himself as no memories appeared, no magical flashback of him seated in a classroom with a teacher standing before a blackboard. He had chuckled at the thought of memories being recalled to order simply by holding a particular object. He knew it did not work like this, he had tried so many times with different techniques, but he still tried and chuckled when once again he failed.
He had made notes of what he wanted to write, making sure he included everything he needed to say in the correct order not just the ramblings that had preceded the note writing. Reading the notes once again, he was now happy that everything was ready for him to put pen to paper, but how should he start the letter, “Dear Miss Wheatley, Dear Jane, My dearest Jane.” He decided on “Dear Jane,”.
It was now a month since he had met Neville and Marie in the gardens. The thought, that he was once engaged to be married, had never been far from his thoughts and he decided to try to find out who she was and what became of her. The starting point was her sister Jane Wheatley and he had called Neville to find her address. A female voice answered his call, it was Marie, who explained she had taken some holiday and was staying with Neville. Marie thought it was a wonderful idea that Albert should contact Jane and promised to find her address and call him back.
Albert had recently installed a telephone at his house. It was A.J.’s suggestion and they found themselves speaking more regularly than either would have perhaps imagined. The topic usually started with an update on their mother’s health but Albert had so many questions about his past and A.J. was more than willing to provide details whenever he could. One subject Albert did not raise was his engagement to Sarah, for some reason he did not feel able to discuss it with A.J. and he’d come to the conclusion his best approach would be to contact Jane Wheatley.
It was Neville who called Albert with Jane’s address. After providing the address details, and asking about the state of each other’s health, Neville went on to explain that he was looking for another job without too much luck. His real problem was he did not exactly know what he was looking for; he only knew that he wanted to get away from selling. His heart was not in it and the resulting declining sales meant the newspaper might soon be deciding his fate. Albert reminded him that A.J. had suggested that Neville call him.
“I don’t know what he wants to speak to you about,” Albert explained, “but you obviously impressed him. He might be able to offer you some advice. Why don’t you give him a call?”
Neville agreed he would and hoped Albert had some success with his letter to Jane.
Albert wrote a second letter, this one to Ann Bartlett, the woman he believed to be his sister. He felt she needed an explanation and described how the confusion had arisen. It was obvious that the meeting with Albert had upset both Ann and her husband and he was not sure about Ann’s reaction to the letter. However, he enclosed the watch with the letter and hoped this would prove his intentions were genuine. The watch had belonged to the real Albert Hughes and rightly now belonged to Ann, his surviving relative. It was the engraving on the watch that had lead the authorities to believe mistakenly that George Waterson was Albert Hughes and placing the watch and the letter in a small box was in some way drawing a line under that chapter. Albert felt relieved the watch would find its rightful owner and a sense of closure that his action would finally lay the real Albert Hughes to rest. He had an image of a small child placing a dead pet budgerigar in a small cardboard box before burying it in the garden. He was burying Albert Hughes and it was at that moment he finally realised that he must take on his real name of George Waterson. As difficult as this might prove to be, he could no longer present himself to the world as someone who had died in the fields of France. He must become himself, George, the brother of A.J. Waterson and previously engaged to be married to Sarah Wheatley.
He had made notes of what he wanted to write, making sure he included everything he needed to say in the correct order not just the ramblings that had preceded the note writing. Reading the notes once again, he was now happy that everything was ready for him to put pen to paper, but how should he start the letter, “Dear Miss Wheatley, Dear Jane, My dearest Jane.” He decided on “Dear Jane,”.
It was now a month since he had met Neville and Marie in the gardens. The thought, that he was once engaged to be married, had never been far from his thoughts and he decided to try to find out who she was and what became of her. The starting point was her sister Jane Wheatley and he had called Neville to find her address. A female voice answered his call, it was Marie, who explained she had taken some holiday and was staying with Neville. Marie thought it was a wonderful idea that Albert should contact Jane and promised to find her address and call him back.
Albert had recently installed a telephone at his house. It was A.J.’s suggestion and they found themselves speaking more regularly than either would have perhaps imagined. The topic usually started with an update on their mother’s health but Albert had so many questions about his past and A.J. was more than willing to provide details whenever he could. One subject Albert did not raise was his engagement to Sarah, for some reason he did not feel able to discuss it with A.J. and he’d come to the conclusion his best approach would be to contact Jane Wheatley.
It was Neville who called Albert with Jane’s address. After providing the address details, and asking about the state of each other’s health, Neville went on to explain that he was looking for another job without too much luck. His real problem was he did not exactly know what he was looking for; he only knew that he wanted to get away from selling. His heart was not in it and the resulting declining sales meant the newspaper might soon be deciding his fate. Albert reminded him that A.J. had suggested that Neville call him.
“I don’t know what he wants to speak to you about,” Albert explained, “but you obviously impressed him. He might be able to offer you some advice. Why don’t you give him a call?”
Neville agreed he would and hoped Albert had some success with his letter to Jane.
Albert wrote a second letter, this one to Ann Bartlett, the woman he believed to be his sister. He felt she needed an explanation and described how the confusion had arisen. It was obvious that the meeting with Albert had upset both Ann and her husband and he was not sure about Ann’s reaction to the letter. However, he enclosed the watch with the letter and hoped this would prove his intentions were genuine. The watch had belonged to the real Albert Hughes and rightly now belonged to Ann, his surviving relative. It was the engraving on the watch that had lead the authorities to believe mistakenly that George Waterson was Albert Hughes and placing the watch and the letter in a small box was in some way drawing a line under that chapter. Albert felt relieved the watch would find its rightful owner and a sense of closure that his action would finally lay the real Albert Hughes to rest. He had an image of a small child placing a dead pet budgerigar in a small cardboard box before burying it in the garden. He was burying Albert Hughes and it was at that moment he finally realised that he must take on his real name of George Waterson. As difficult as this might prove to be, he could no longer present himself to the world as someone who had died in the fields of France. He must become himself, George, the brother of A.J. Waterson and previously engaged to be married to Sarah Wheatley.