Strange Sally Diamond

Epilogue Amanda, May 2022, Auckland Town Hall

I am happy. New Zealand is finally coming out of lockdown and I’m performing in public for the first time. God knows I have practised so hard for the last two and a half years, but my rapid antigen test is negative, the hall is fully booked, and Mum and Dad are here from Christchurch.

My two new uncles have come from Rotorua. I am nervous about meeting them, but we have had Zoom calls and they seem like pretty decent blokes. Mum and Dad are keen to meet them too. Kate is not coming. She is annoyed that I withdrew from her podcast series after all the work she put into it, but my backstory is so ghastly that I would rather keep it private. I never wanted to know the gory details. If I’m going to make it in life, I want to be known as a composer, not as the daughter of an abductee and a kidnapper. It’s all in the past.

The police have confirmed all of Kate’s research. I don’t know where my father is but I’m certainly not going to go chasing him. I’m not his victim, I never was. Kate can tell the story if she wants but she cannot use my name. The last thing I need is drama. To be a composer, I need peace and a piano. And that old teddy bear that randomly arrived in the post a couple of years back. He has become my lucky charm.

The house lights go down. I hear a hush descend in the auditorium. The spotlight appears on the piano. I step out on to the stage. No nerves. I place my bear on the lid of the piano. He smiles at me with his one eye. I smile back and nod to him, and there is a ripple of applause and laughter from the audience. I settle myself on the velvet-covered seat and raise my hands. It is time.