Free A Dream Rides By by Tania Anne Crosse

of the senior attendant put paid to that! Ling met Fanny’s sparkling gaze and tipped her head towards the other women and girls who were attempting the strokes with varying degrees of success.
    ‘Come on, let’s try.’
    But the water immediately closed over Ling’s head, gurgling in her ears. She stood up, spluttering and gasping for breath, as she searched for Fanny.
    ‘I’s all right!’
    Ling realized that Fanny was coughing beside her, her little face streaming as she spat water from her mouth.
    ‘Can I help?’
    Ling looked up into the smiling face of the lady who had been swimming with ease in the deep end. ‘Oh, yes, please, ma’am. We haven’t the remotest idea.’
    The stranger’s smile broadened at Ling’s politeness. ‘Hold on to the side and I’ll show you the leg action.’
    They forgot the coldness of the water as they obeyed the lady’s instruction. She was extremely patient and soon they could each swim two whole strokes before they sank.
    ‘There. It’s just practice now.’ Their teacher winked and lowered her voice. ‘Pity that dragon’s on duty. With the other one, you can play. Build up your confidence in the water. You will come again, won’t you? You’ve both done so well.’
    ‘We’d like to, but we come from a long way and we can’t afford it,’ Ling somehow didn’t feel ashamed to say. ‘And usually we have to help our mother on Saturdays. This was just a special treat.’
    ‘Oh, well, never mind. Perhaps you can save up during the winter, and I’ll see you again in the spring. But I really must be going. My coachman will be waiting.’
    Ling had to snap her jaw shut. This kind lady who had helped them, who had held them up in the water, must be . . . well, certainly wealthy and maybe even gentry!
    ‘Oh,’ Ling stammered. ‘Oh, why, thank you so much, ma’am, for helping us. It was so good of you. We’re really grateful.’
    ‘Not at all. Physical exercise is so important. Get yourselves thoroughly dry. You don’t want to catch a chill.’
    Back in the cubicle, they vigorously rubbed each other dry. They felt bold and invigorated by their adventure, and they had learnt to swim! Well, almost. What a tale they would have to relate to their parents and their friends, and Ling couldn’t wait to tell Barney all about it. They spent some time in the town, gazing in shop windows at beautiful objects they could never afford, but all too soon it was time to make their way back to the station, for they must not miss the evening train back up to Princetown.
    As they crossed the station foyer, Ling’s attention was drawn by a finely dressed lady who was addressing the man in the ticket office in a high and imperious voice.
    ‘Do make sure you reserve our seats in first class, my man, or you’ll have me to answer to. I have no intention of standing all the way to London!’
    ‘I assure you, Mrs Franfield, that all will be in order. I shall take care of it personally.’
    Ling stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth instantly dry. She hardly thought of Elliott nowadays, and now here she was – face to face as the woman turned round – with his mother. She looked into Mrs Franfield’s eyes, a totally different shape from Elliott’s but coloured the same green-hued blue.
    There was no time to consider as the memory of the exquisite, dreamlike hours she had spent with Elliott flashed across her mind. Her heart rose on the crest of some reckless hope, bearing her along on a tide of confusion that was stronger and greater than she was. She didn’t flinch as she stood squarely in front of the startled woman. ‘Please forgive me, ma’am,’ she said boldly, though with a little dip of her knees, ‘but are you Mrs Franfield? Elliott’s mother?’
    The expression on the elegant, sophisticated face turned from surprise to disapproval, and the woman nodded cautiously, her eyes cold.
    But Ling would not be daunted. ‘I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance,’ she