Splintered Lives by Carol Holden Read Free Book Online

Sarah answer in unison “They have the local knowledge and they also need the work.”
     
    The boys are energetic and I am feeling languid so Taj and I return to the cottage where we can spend our last few hours together, and the lads can climb the higher slopes as a practice for their longer trek.
     
    We have a last meal together before Taj has to set off for Kathmandu and the rest of our time is spent gently making love.   I see him off, waving until the motor is out of sight and then I turn into my cottage and busy myself preparing something to eat for Mark and the boys when they return from their trek.
     
    The week soon passes and then I am seeing Mark and his friends off on their long trek.   I know I won’t see them again until I get home to England because the treks are designed to cover new ground and they will end in a different village.   I will miss Mark because we have always been close and his sense of humour and his cheeky grin have always pulled at my heartstrings.   After their trek, arranged transport will take them directly to Kathmandu.
     
    I feel sad when I return from waving off the lads and I decide I will write to Ann, my college friend, in Dublin.   Her last letter was full of news about our mutual friends at the teacher training college.   David had become Head of Department of Maths at a college in Ruthin.   John was seeing his children again and his wife was giving him a chance to start again.   Ann was back in Dublin teaching Business Studies to mature students such as bankers and accountants.   
     
    The three of them had met up as we had all promised to do but as I was a long way away I missed the first meeting.   They had all met in Manchester and had a lovely time going to the theatre and having dinner afterwards.   I know Ann has a soft spot for David as he is the quiet one, and I suspect, the most caring.   His father is rather lonely and David lives close to him in Ruthin.
     
    John is teaching Marketing at the University of Edinburgh and is living near his old home where his wife and children still live.   He is also involved with the Open University and this extra work brings in the money that is needed to keep two homes going.   The separation had been bitter but now he is hoping that the marriage will eventually mend and that the family will be together again.  
     
    I have told Ann about my meeting with Taj but not how close we have become, as I haven’t written to her for quite a few weeks.   It is not a secret but I feel so excited and sure about it all that I don’t want to mention it yet as I feel that I am in a dream and that I shall wake up.
     
    I tell her about the festivals and the party for Mark and his friends and that I am feeling a bit lonely now Mark is on his way and Taj is busy at the hospital.   I invite her to come in her holidays if she can and I say that I shall be able to book her in at the Fishtail Hotel.   It’s just a pipe dream but I am missing my friends and family at the moment.
     
    She told me that she has met someone in Dublin but is not very sure how it will work out.   I hope that she finds someone to live the rest of her life with and that she will have a happy one.  
     
    I write to my sister to tell her what a lovely lad Mark has turned into and how he and his friends brightened up our quiet lives.   How I am now missing his laughter and his music.   The villagers still smile and wave when I am about and thank me for the party.
    Life is back to normal and Taj is hoping to come over this weekend.   He plans to get the airplane from Kathmandu and be here earlier than if he travelled by road.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8
     
     
     
    Taj has decided to come by plane and I am waiting in the tiny airport lounge.   It is so small that the man behind the desk is close to the form where I am sitting.   He looks at me curiously.
    I smile at him and tell him that I am waiting for a friend, who will be on the plane from