Something Wonderful by Jo Lloyd

Author:Jo Lloyd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tin House Books
Published: 2021-06-25T00:00:00+00:00

*

The Land of Britain was mud and swamp, life compressed into fuel. I passed by, knowing my father would not linger there, and pushed on through the arrival of farming, the growth of towns, steam, industry, production, until I reached transport. Gleaming motorcycles and cars primed to spring from their plinths and out onto roads not yet imagined. Crowds of men stood reverent, but he was not among them.

I moved on to the Dome of Discovery. It was like stepping into a giant spacecraft that interplanetary visitors or our future time-travelling selves had docked beside the Thames. The exhibits celebrated Britain’s mastery over mountain, sea, desert, ice, sky, outer space. In the polar section, a team of bored huskies turned cold eyes on the throng. And there, gazing right back at them, was Father.

He was hatless, his hair noticeably longer, curling about his head in an eccentric fashion, and he wore not his brown suit but a darker one, without a tie. It struck me as odd that he would have left his family to go out shopping for clothes, but then I thought perhaps the suit was Uncle Walter’s—it did have the look of something made for a taller man.

He did not seem surprised to see me, nor sorry, nor pleased. We shook hands like old acquaintances and went to the nearest of the cafés for a cup of tea.

It’s most impressive, all this, he said, once we were seated. Quite a show. He sounded like his usual self.

For several minutes, we talked of trivia—the festival, the weather, my officers and fellow recruits, the shocking price of everything in London—until I interrupted an anecdote about mint sauce to ask him to explain himself. He was my father and it was not my habit to confront him, so I was nervous, and perhaps I fluffed my line. At any rate, he looked at me, then laughed, not unkindly, but with a fleeting puzzlement, as if he did not understand my question but did not mind too much.

How is your mother? he asked. It was his first mention of her.

She is well, I replied, but very anxious. And emotional.

Is she? This was news to him, it seemed.

She baked three candles in the oven last week, I said. She had to scrape the wax out with a knife.

It’s a difficult time for her, he said, both of us leaving at once.

I stared for a moment or two, but he showed no trace of discomfort.

I was called up, I reminded him. I had no choice.

And how is your sister?

Alice is anxious too.

I hope she is doing well at school?

Yes. Top of her class.

He nodded. I believe that the neglect of women’s education is among the most significant challenges facing our country.

He offered this as revelation, but I had heard him on the theme many times before. I tried to reel the conversation back towards more immediate problems.

In situations like these, I said, girls are often forced to leave school.

He switched abruptly to another

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