The Last Letter from Juliet - Melanie Hudson Page 0,98
yourself?’
He nodded again.
‘Yes, Ma’am, I did! And it took me a whole ten minutes.’
I laughed. ‘That long? It must be an absolute masterpiece.’
‘Oh, it is.’
I began to read, but soon realised that the poem was a message of love, just in case he didn’t make it home.
‘Oh, Edward,’ I said, resting the card on my knee, ‘it’s lovely, but you mustn’t think that you won’t make it back, in fact you must believe that you will! Promise me – promise you’ll keep believing, promise me you believe that you’ll make it back! Belief is half the battle with this kind of thing – that’s how I feel when I’m flying all the time – that I’m invincible, and somehow, it works. But only if you truly believe. You must believe, Edward.’
He turned to face me.
‘No one wants to survive this war more than me. I want to come back to this little wonderful cove more than anything – anything, Juliet. But this push has to be all or nothing. But I have to tell you – have to be completely honest – that the chance of me making it back, it isn’t great, but what I have to do has to be done. Has to.’
‘But …’
He raised his hand.
‘I want you to promise me three things.’
My tears were flowing freely now.
‘Go on.’
He stroked the dog that sat loyally beside him. ‘First, look after Amber for me. Take her to Lanyon, she loves it there. The guys up at the house have been minding her for me, but it’s not the same as having a proper home.’ He leant down to kiss his beloved dog. ‘She’s probably got two or three good years left in her and I want to know she’ll be loved.’
My heart broke. ‘Oh, Edward. Of course, I will.’
‘Second, always be as you are now.’ He laughed. ‘My brave and daring coddiwompler. Be the woman I met that day on the cliff top, the stunning adventurer who leapt out of her plane, devil may care, travelling with absolute purpose – purpose to be thrilled, to be excited, to live life at the edge of living. That’s the woman I met and that’s the woman I hope you will always be.’
I laughed through the tears.
‘I’ll try my very best.’
A sea breeze had picked up and was playing with my hair, brushing it across my eyes. He gently tucked several strands behind my ear.
‘The third one is easy,’ he said. ‘I want you to promise me you’ll live until you’re a hundred.’
‘What!? A hundred! But that’s crazy! How on earth can I promise that?’
He shrugged, knowingly.
‘It’s like you said, if you believe something will happen, half the battle is over. I’m absolutely certain you will survive this war, Juliet, and I want everyone who survives it to live long and very happy lives, because if not, what did all the others die for?’
He jumped up and held out his hands, looked down at me and smiled a bright and contagious smile.
‘One hundred, ya hear now – promise me!’
I stood and put my hand on my heart the American way,
‘I promise to try to live until one hundred, or at least I’ll do my very best to—’ I decided to lighten the moment ‘—and when I do, I’ll take the old Tiger Moth up for a spin on my birthday and fly around and around the angels until I see you, waving up at me!’
He laughed. ‘It’s a deal!’
He took the poem from my hand, placed it in the envelope and handed it back. The early evening sky was illuminated tangerine red and wispy cirrus clouds kissed the edge of heaven.
‘Keep this safe,’ he said, taking my hand and the letter in both of his. ‘And remember, when you’re one hundred years old exactly, let yourself drift away into Neverland and go to the far side of the island,’ he pointed to the middle angel, ‘to that one, there, the one we went to that day we took old Mermaid for a spin, and I’ll be waiting for you, and it can be our own island, our home, for eternity.’ He looked deep into my eyes. ‘I promise you, Juliet, I’ll be waiting for you.’
I broke down. He was being serious. This was it. The poor, poor man genuinely believed he was going to die. And if Edward was going to die, what on earth was the point of me living?
That evening was the best and worst of my life. We