Free The Runaway by Grace Thompson Page A

called Dorothy from whom she had coldly walked away. It wouldn’t hurt to wait another hour or so before catching a train back to Barry. The runaway, the nickname tortured her, repeating time and again in her head until she thought she would scream.
    Forcing herself to concentrate on something else, she went to Cardiff’s famous market where she bought a few items from thetempting displays of fruit and vegetables. At other stalls she looked at cushions and curtain material and she dreamed of one day having a place of her own.
    Wandering through Howells’s department store, and David Morgan’s she went through the various departments, furnishing rooms in her imagination. Living rooms, kitchen, bedrooms, the dreams continued and it was almost 3.30 when she looked at her watch. Time she was leaving.
    She was startled to see Ian standing looking around at the approaching faces. She had forgotten him in her morbid mood. He smiled widely when he saw her and she responded with a feeling of relief. She knew the mood would have continued if she’d been sitting in a carriage on her own; he was at least a break from her guilty thoughts. The shoppers were beginning to leave and the train quickly filled up. Friends were chattering, others were meeting by chance and comparing their purchases, laughing, making plans for another trip. If she hadn’t met Ian, Faith knew their cheerfulness would have exacerbated her loneliness. They found seats facing each other next to the window and sat with slight uneasiness. They were still strangers and an arranged meeting was at odds with how little they knew about each other.
    At first she didn’t know what to say. He might be alarmed if she explained about her daydreams of having a home of her own; he might think she was man-hunting! And if he knew about the conversation with Winnie, of how she had given birth to a healthy daughter, then walked away from her, he would surely think she was inhuman.
    She did tell him about her job, explaining it was temporary while she considered where she wanted to live and what she wanted to do. ‘I’m a teacher,’ she told him, ‘but I needed a change and some time away to think about what I want to do, so I left the place where I was living, and—’
    ‘You ran away? How daring!’
    She stared at him. ‘That’s the second time today I’ve been called a runaway. It wasn’t like that,’ she lied. ‘I knew I wasn’t happy, so I decided to move right away, consider what I wanted, make a few changes, that’s all.’
    ‘Still brave.’
    ‘Maybe.’
    They were approaching Cogan and he said, ‘Meet me for dinner one evening and we can discuss bravery.’
    She shook her head. ‘I’m a paid companion and that means I’m needed to spend time with my employer.’
    ‘All the time?’
    ‘Not all the time but I don’t have much free time during the day. I cook the meals, besides the companion side of my job.’
    ‘No day off?’
    ‘Sometimes, like today when she went to spend a day with her son.’
    ‘Next time, then? Please?’ He took out a notebook and scribbled furiously as the train squealed huffily to a stop. ‘My address,’ he said as he handed it to her. ‘Please write or telephone and let me know when you’re free. I’d very much like to see you again.’
    She took it and avoided a reply as the train stopped and started then stopped again, making everyone stagger and laugh. She waved until he was out of sight and wondered if they would ever meet again. The thought of confessing how she had abandoned her child, run away without explanation, was like a dark cloud. How could she tell him? And, if they became friends, how could she not tell him?
    Slowly she tore up the paper bearing his name and address and dropped it into a litter bin as she walked from the station.
    The day out had confused her. She had been happy to see Winnie and flattered by Ian’s interest, but for the following few nights sleep evaded her. Memories of how she had