Long Remembered

Obviously well-used over the years, this locked door in my Grandparents’ house always intrigued me. Why was the room always locked? Why wasn’t I allowed to see what was inside? What mysteries did it conceal?

Peeking through the keyhole, a single narrow beam of sunlight gave little indication of what the room contained. No matter how much I squinted or turned my head, the most I could distinguish was some sort of blurred white object.

The lock was obviously very old, but so were my grandparents, however, many of the scratches around the keyhole seemed to be recent and looked to have been made by a shaking hand.

I was determined to unravel the mystery, so I searched high and low for the key, but without success. Throughout the kitchen and the drawing room, there were many drawers which contained assorted keys but obviously many of them were too small, too large or too new.

But something else assumed far greater importance and drove all thoughts of solving the mystery from my head. My mother told me that she was soon going to have a baby. Having been an only child for almost seven years, this thrilled me as I’d longed for a young brother. Excitement was felt throughout the family and early one morning my father bundled me up and put me in the car and drove to Grandma’s where I was told that Mum had gone to collect the baby. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to go with her, but Dad said that I would be allowed to see Mum and the baby in a day or so and that he’d come and let me know as soon as the baby was delivered.

Late the next afternoon, he arrived with a great smile and told me that I had a new baby brother. Well that was no great surprise, that was what I’d asked for! He only stayed for a short while and then left to see my mother, with the promise that he’d collect me the next afternoon to see the baby. After dinner that evening, Grandma disappeared as she often did, and shortly afterwards I heard a soft sobbing coming from the locked room. Concerned, I stooped to peer through the keyhole but suddenly felt my Grandfather’s hand rest gently on my shoulder.

In his Scottish brogue, he whispered, "Come away, laddie. Come wi’ me." and hand in hand we went outside to his shed where we often sat and talked.

"Why is Grandma crying?" I asked because she’d seemed so happy when told that Mum had a new baby.

Grandad paused as though choosing his words carefully and then explained, "When we were in the Old Country, we had three more bairns and we lived just outside Glasgow. One winter there was a terrible illness went through the town and first we lost one lassie who was you’re Uncle Dan’s twin sister, then we had twin baby girls only a few months old and they caught the same disease and died. They were so young that they hadn’t even started to crawl aboot the hoose."

He stopped to light his pipe, then continued, "Your Granmaither and I decided to leave Scotland for a warmer place, so I came out to Australia by sailing ship with your Uncle Jamie and Uncle Joe so that we could get jobs. Your Granmaither came out a year later with your Uncle Dan and we settled here in Abermain so that we could work in the mine."

"How about my Mum? Where was she?" I interjected.

"Well, y’r maither was nay born in Scotland. She was born here about a year and a half after y’r Granmaither arrived."

"Oh. But why is Grandma crying now and why does she keep the door locked?" I asked.

"Whist now laddie. I told you that we lost the twin girls. Y’r Granmaither nearly broke her heart when they died and then I was nay there to help her. When she came out here she brought their little cots and their claithes and she’s kept them locked up in that room all these years. With y’r maither having a baby has made her happy for her, but it’s made y’r Granmaither grieve again for our lost bairns."

So even though I was so young, I understood that this room had special meaning for my Grandmother and never again did I seek to find out what lay behind the locked door.