The Lost Sister by Kathleen McGurl (i can read book club .TXT) 📕

She’d rung off before Harriet had a chance to talk about what she’d learned about her grandmother’s family. Of course, it was Sally’s great-grandmother – another generation away, a generation Sally had never met. Unimportant to her, especially when Jerome’s future was so uncertain. But Harriet found the research helped take her mind off other things, so she decided she’d spend the day working on it. She could look for death registrations for her great-aunts. Maybe order copies of their death certificates, to get the full story. To think one had gone down with the Titanic – how horrible that must have been for the rest of the family to cope with! One sister dead, one sister surviving. Why had they not stayed together and got on the same lifeboat? Not for the first time Harriet wished she could go back in time and ask her grandmother these questions. There must have been so many stories.

She set her laptop up on the kitchen table, and made herself a coffee. But just as she sat down to get started on the research, her mobile rang; the number was withheld.

‘Hello?’ As always, she held her breath wondering whether it was a spam call or Davina.

‘Harriet? Hello. Well, you asked me to phone more often, so here I am. I think it’s only been three weeks since my last call. So I’ve kept my promise. Were you marking the days off in a diary?’ Davina laughed, in a teasing, good-natured way.

‘Davina! Lovely to hear from you. Yes, you did say you’d call every three weeks, so thank you. I hadn’t been counting, though, in case you forgot.’

‘If I say I’ll do a thing I do it, Harriet. You should know that. Anyway, how’s Sally’s kid? I’ve been thinking a lot about the poor little fellow. Is he any better?’

Harriet took a sip of her coffee before responding. ‘Well, no, sadly. He looked as though he was doing OK, and then he got ill again, and the latest tests showed he was not responding to the chemotherapy.’

‘Oh no. That’s … that’s awful news. Is there any other treatment possible?’

‘They’re looking at doing a bone marrow transplant. But he has no siblings, who would usually be the best chance for a match. Sally, Charlie, and I have all been tested and we’re no good, so his only chance is an unrelated donor from a registry. If they find someone on the database who’s a match, and who’s prepared to go through with the donation, they’ll then do some treatments to prepare him for the transplant. He’ll be in hospital for a while then. Poor little thing.’

‘Where’s he being treated? Who’s the consultant?’

Harriet gave her the name of the hospital and consultant. ‘They’re among the best in the country. He’s in good hands. But it’s all about finding a donor, now.’

‘Well, I’m sure a match will turn up for Jerome. There are loads on that register, as I understand it.’

‘Yes, we’re all very much hoping so.’ Harriet sipped her coffee. ‘So, how are your girls? Looking forward to the summer holidays?’

‘They’re both fine. And they are, yes. Autumn is showing hints of the type of teenager she’ll be in a couple of years.’

‘Oh? What type?’

‘Stroppy, argumentative, strong-willed, fiercely independent.’

Harriet could not help but laugh. ‘Sounds like she’s a chip off the old block, then. You’ve just described yourself at 15.’

‘Hmm.’ Davina was silent for a moment, as though considering this. ‘I’m going to find out what it was like for you, parenting me, aren’t I? Could be in for a bumpy ride.’

Yes, and maybe you’ll realise just how I felt when you left home with no forwarding address and no way of contacting you, Harriet wanted to say. But she stopped herself in time. So many of their conversations had descended into arguments at this point. Instead, she tried to keep the conversation light-hearted. ‘What about Summer, is she the same?’

‘She’s still at that lovely, sweet, middle-childhood stage. She was hard work as a toddler – she seemed to specialise in having daily tantrums – but now she’s the easiest, sunniest child in the world. Mind you, so was Autumn a year or so ago, so things could all change. James is good with Autumn, thank goodness. He stands for no cheek from her, and she adores him so tries not to upset him in any way. It’s a different story with me, though.’

‘Tricky relationship, mothers and daughters.’ The words slipped out before Harriet could stop herself. Covering up, she quickly asked, ‘Do the girls get on with each other?’

‘Yes, at the moment. Summer still looks up to Autumn, as the big sister who knows it all. I remember feeling like that about Sally when I was little, and then at some point I realised she was just a normal girl, like me, just a bit bossier, and that I didn’t necessarily agree with her on everything. I keep watching for that moment to happen with Summer, wondering if I’ll recognise it when it comes.’

‘If it comes. Some sisters stay friends for life.’ Harriet prayed her words had not sounded judgemental.

‘Hmph. I think siblings always fall out. You hardly ever see your brother. I only remember seeing Uncle Matthew two or three times in my life.’

‘We didn’t fall out. We just … drifted apart, I suppose. We’re still in touch. Still friends.’ Davina was right, though. She and Matthew sent each other Christmas and birthday cards, and occasional letters, but whole years would go by without them meeting up or speaking. ‘I probably should make more of an effort to see him, I guess. Speaking of getting in touch with siblings, what about—’

‘Oh no. Here we go again. Well, we’ve been talking a good ten or fifteen minutes now, so you’ve done well, Harriet, to get this far without nagging me about coming to see you all. So, I’ll say goodbye, and send