Albert Porter's Law

Anna sighed at the mess of accounts spread out on her desk, and shivered. The sun was falling on a bitterly cold afternoon, but the way things were, turning up the heating was out of the question.

Ray, the senior partner, put his head round her door. ‘You okay?’

She found a smile for him. Wrestling with the accounts was pretty bad, but at least she didn’t have to give half the staff redundancy notices. Not on the 23rd of December.

‘Are you?’ 

He shrugged. ‘I’ve tried talking to Richard again, but –‘ Ray held up his hands hopelessly.

She looked again at the paperwork. Normally the accountants would do the job, but right now the firm needed all the cash it could get.

She couldn’t really blame Richard for leaving. After all, he was a clever, ambitious lawyer, out of place in a small provincial firm. They had never made a fortune, never really tried to. But when Richard left, he took a lot of clients with him; a lot of income. The bank had not been impressed.

And Ray was devastated. He had built this practice up, it was his life.

She tallied up a row, staring in dismay as the columns refused to balance. She was probably going to be here late again tonight, and even then she’d likely have to take the work home. She was counting up the column again when the phone rang. It was Bernice on reception.

‘Sorry, Mrs Scott. There’s a lady here has had a bereavement. Can you spare a minute?’

Anna sighed. No I can’t, she thought desperately. She was about to tell Bernice to make an appointment for the lady, when the church bells across town began to ring. They spoke to her of loss, of a future of loneliness.

‘I’ll be down in a minute,’ she said.

The old lady smiled brightly at Anna as she introduced herself.

‘I’m sorry to trouble you,’ she said, sitting down with the carefulness of age, ‘But I went to Grabbitz and Runn, and they couldn’t see me, so I went to Leavieux Short, and they told me to make an appointment. You see, I really need to speak to someone today –‘

‘It’s quite all right,’ Anna said softly. ‘Why don’t you tell me about it?’

The old lady took a deep breath. She had bright dark eyes, as sharp and clever as a bird’s. She was tiny, and in her tartan coat and fake fur hat she looked like a child in adult clothes.

‘It’s my Albert,’ she said. ‘He died, you see.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Oh, it’s all right. It was just as well. He was in such pain.’

Anna winced, but the old lady only smiled. ‘Albert Porter. He was a big strong man. I recall at our wedding, when we danced, he lifted me clean off the floor, he did. We danced the whole night, and my feet barely touched the ground –‘ She gazed out of the window.

Anna hid an impatient sigh. The sun was setting now, and the sky was the startling orange only the winter sun could paint. The accounts nudged anxiously at the back of her mind. Bernice knocked at the door and brought in a tea tray.

‘Oh goodness, thank you so much!’ Mrs Porter beamed up at Bernice.

Anna could see from the receptionist’s face that rumours of tonight’s announcement had already spread. If only they could get some more work! All week Ray had struggled in vain to land new contracts, while she had tried everything she could think of to persuade their clients not to defect. Her department had never made a huge amount of money, but up till now that hadn’t been a problem.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she said, realising that the old lady had spoken.

‘I said, would you like sugar?’

‘Oh, no thanks, Mrs Porter. Here, I’ll do that.’

‘Call me Molly,’ the old lady said.

Anna poured the tea, noticing that her hand was shaking.

‘Are you all right, my dear?’

Anna gave a bright laugh. ‘I’m fine! Now, Mrs Porter, let’s get on.’

The old lady looked at Anna carefully, slowly sipping her tea.

‘He was the pit head foreman, you know.’

Anna opened her mouth to speak, but Molly Porter had travelled way beyond her into the land of memory.

‘All the men thought the world of him. He would do anything for anyone. He used to say: ‘if you can help, you must. That’s my law.’ Of course it was emphysema got him in the end. All that coal dust. There he was behind that oxygen mask, and I took his hand and squeezed it, and he just smiled.’

She sighed, and Anna waited for her to continue. She hadn’t the heart to interrupt.

‘I’d have gone with him then like a shot, you know.’

The old lady smiled, and Anna was surprised to see that her eyes held no trace of sadness. ‘I loved him that much.’

Anna nodded. All the company’s problems sat silent in her head. They had nothing to say.

‘Old Reverend Dixon did the funeral service. He did all the pit men’s of course-‘

‘Reverend Dixon?’ Anna said, ‘but he died two years ago.’

‘That’s right, dear.’

Anna looked at the old lady, and felt her heart sinking fast.

‘When did Albert die, Mrs Porter?’

‘It was ten years ago this very morning. You see, that’s why I had to talk to you today.’ Molly finished her tea and put the cup down carefully.

Anna closed her eyes. The last twenty minutes might have seen the end of those accounts. She might have cracked it and not had to take it all home to poor Jim.

‘I’m sorry, dear,’ the old lady whispered.

Anna sighed. ‘It’s all right.’ She smiled resignedly.

Molly gave her an anxious look, then smiled back.

‘Afterwards, I went down the old pit. You know they’ve landscaped it now? There’s a lake, with an island where the old shaft wheel stands. Albert used to take me down there, while he was still able. We’d sit and feed the swans. ‘Molly,’ he used to say, ‘We must take care of these creatures. They pair up for life, you know, just like us.’

She stared past Anna, her eyes filled with light.

‘I went and sat on our bench, and you know, I was never more content than at that moment.’

Anna squeezed Molly Porter’s arm. The old lady looked at her, still smiling.

‘You’re a kind soul, busy as you are, to let an old biddy like me rabbit on.’

Anna shook her head. ‘You can always come and talk to me,’ she said, and she meant it. The old lady nodded once to herself and took hold of Anna’s hands.

Anna felt as if a bright golden sun had come out to shine exclusively on her heart. She felt as if all her problems were pebbles in a stream, and one by one the rushing water was wearing them away. She looked at the old lady, who was gazing at her levelly.

‘Thank you, Mrs Scott,’ she said.

Anna blinked. The sky outside was darkening, and the old lady looked blurred. Anna reached up and wiped her eyes, and when she opened them, Molly Porter had gone.

She stood up quickly. The old lady couldn’t have moved that fast, could she? She opened the door and looked out at reception. Bernice looked back quizzically.

‘Did you see Mrs Porter leave?’

Bernice shook her head. Anna looked back at the tea tray. The two cups sat there, untouched. Her heart was pounding, her thoughts racing. She couldn’t explain what had just happened, but she could still feel the edge of the curious warmth. She returned to her office, looking at the accounts. They weren’t important any more, though she couldn’t think why. She picked up the phone and dialled home.

‘Jim, it’s me.’

‘Hello love.’ He sounded resigned. ‘You’re working late, I take it?’

‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘I’m coming home, and listen, how about we go out for a drink or something tonight? We’ve hardly seen each other lately-‘

‘Are you serious? I’ll get myself spruced up!’

She smiled as she put the phone down, thinking again about the old lady and her poor beloved husband. She hadn’t imagined it, she was sure, but-

She went through to Ray’s office. He had his head in his hands. 

She sat down quietly, and he looked up. But instead of the anticipated gloom on his face, she saw his eyes were gleaming.

‘You’re not going to believe it,’ he said softly.

‘What?’

‘The Wiley contract. We got it!’

‘We did?’

Ray leaped up and let out a yell. Wiley’s were the biggest housebuilders in the county. Years of contracts to buy land and sell houses lay ahead, years in which the bank could have no quarrel with them.

‘Have you rung the bank?’

‘No need. They’ve already heard on the grapevine. You know what this means?’

She nodded. Ray was on the edge of tears. ‘No one has to lose their job.’

‘Come on, Anna, I’ll take you for a drink to celebrate. Take all of us for a drink!’

She laughed. ‘Not me, I’ve got a date.’

She stood up, and saw Richard standing in the doorway.

‘Um, you two, can I have a quick word?’ he said sheepishly.

On the drive home, Anna thought about Molly Porter and her sad love story, and the fact that she was not sad in the telling of it. She didn’t understand the feeling of contentment the old lady had somehow placed in her heart, or whether Molly had anything to do with the company’s eleventh-hour redemption. As she passed the old colliery, on an impulse she drove in. The wind was biting as she got out and walked to the lakeside, but inside, she still felt strangely warm. In the moonlight she could see the silhouette of the old shaft wheel, a memory of times gone.

If you can help someone, you must, she recalled. It was an old-fashioned concept from a world long gone, yet one she had always tried to hold true in her own heart.

As she turned to go, something caught her eye, something pale moving in the darkness.

The two swans watched her quietly, their dark eyes fixed on hers. She had the feeling they were smiling.