One night, when the scientist has gone, it occurs to Veronica that Morag is probably long dead.
Her head is full of songs that won’t go away. As You Like. You Picked A Fine Time To Leave Me, Lucille. Old songs. Old words. The Story of My Life … will start and end with you. Only her life isn’t going to start and end with anyone, or no one, in particular. She begins, very tentatively, to write some poems. She starts:
Once in a green time
I began …
The poems will take her far back inside memory. A short history of love or a long history of innocence? She writes on.
She learns that her daughter is about to have a baby and this interests her as much as love.
Copyright
Acknowledgement is made to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: ‘Delta Dawn’, United Artists Music (Aust) Pty Ltd;
‘Pretend’, J. Albert & Son Pty Ltd; ‘Twilight Time’, Castle Music Pty Ltd.
A VINTAGE BOOK
published by
Random House New Zealand
18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand
© 1998 Fiona Kidman
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN 978 1 86941 350 7
eISBN 978 1 77553 190 6
Cover photograph: Robert Cross
Cover design: Christine Hansen
Printed in New Zealand