Are there Dopplegangers?

As Samantha began clearing the effects of Mr Johnson's library , she thought kindly of the old man who had become her neighbour only 2 short years ago . She suddenly looked down and found at her feet a big box of photographs she had not noticed before …

She had arrived in the village of Hilton in the South African Drakensberg foothills to settle into her new life, back in South Africa. Mr Johnson had greeted her with open arms and a dry but tasty stew for her first night. He was obviously lonely and often stopped by to talk , together they had cooked some better stews and many , many desserts, which he loved . She being newly divorced and starting a new life had really enjoyed the much older man’s company .He quickly became a father figure she had never had .

He was a tall rather gaunt, self reliant man but very friendly, at least towards her. Some in the village did not seem too keen on him. He never spoke of family .There was no sight of family photographs or albums in his little cottage.

He lived tidily and his passion was his rose garden to which he tended almost every waking hour . It was there that Samantha had found him collapsed only 5 weeks ago . He was barely breathing; she had sat with him whilst the ambulance arrived to take him down to the Hospital in Durban. He did not say anything at all, just held her hand tight and smiled fondly at her.

He never came home .

However, when she visited him twice, although he was weak, he kept talking to her as if she were someone named Sally .

Sam had gone home each time and looked through his desk, and some cupboards to look for evidence of Sally .She asked in the village , but no one seemed to know.

Then on the Friday before he passed away , one of the farmers from over the hills had knocked on her door . As Samantha opened the door to him , he took a sharp intake of breath and she thought she heard him call her Sally. She introduced herself and he greeted her, saying 'there's talk in the village that you are looking for Sally'

'Yes, Mr Johnson is asking for her' Samantha replied .

'Well if she is anywhere, she'll be down in Cape Town , but I don’t have any number for her anymore . I could find her for you , through a few people '

' Would it take you long do you think?' I asked realising I did not know the man's name . We established he was Graham Symington whose wife was actually Lilly, the village  librarian, 'Let me give it a try' he said . 'In the meantime, let us hope old Rob holds out before he sees his granddaughter!'

Sadly, Rob had not held out and so far, there was no word of finding Sally.

Samantha returned to the intriguing box of photos  . She opened it and sat on the floor  beside it , fascinated at finding some people Rob was connected to.

The box was filled with lovely family memories and Sally wondered why they had been boxed up. There were several large enough to have once been in frames . She slowly worked her way through them, many had notes and dates written meticulously on the back of them. She laid them out on the floor in a type of family tree , as she discovered more.

It seems Rob’s father  was a man named Cynon who married Elizabeth , known mostly as Bets according to the scribbles on the back of each photo. Rob was one of three children , his two siblings both being girls .

Rob married a beautiful woman by the name of Fiona Anne .It seemed they were childless as Samantha worked her way through a myriad of photos of Rob’s nieces and nephews.

Suddenly a large photo which had not been on top with the others was in her hand.  Samantha was staring at a photograph of two young girls , looking about 5 or 6 years old that looked exactly like herself, about 25 years earlier! On the back was a note that said ‘The girls…. Sally and Penny’.

It was no wonder  Mr Symington had looked at her so oddly .It was no wonder Rob had spoken to her as if she were Sally ! Searching through the box Samantha found a few more pictures of the girls, some when they were together and some when each was alone , but never much older than the original photo she had found . Sam was extremely curious.

She had grown up only remembering when her mother and she had arrived in England. She had been told her father had been killed in a tragic accident  and that they were to live in London where her mother would find work .

Sam drove through to the Symington’s farm where she was warmly greeted and offered tea. She brought out the photos of the girls. Mr Symington smiled and said . ‘I wondered when you would find those …’

‘But who are they ?’ I asked

‘Sally and Penny were the twin granddaughters of Rob and Fiona Kate .  His only  daughter left with Penny when the girl was about 5 after a terribly tragic tractor accident in which  Mary Jane’s husband had died . His daughter Mary Jane had blamed Sally for the accident. She left after a terrific family fight about how Mary Jane couldn’t keep punishing Sally .’ 'Mary Jane claimed she couldnt live with her husband's killer ', 'It has been a wet night and noone knows for sure but Sally had run infront of the tractor that was on a slight slope and it just did not have traction and it had tipped right over . A tragic tragic accident '

‘The family never knew where the two of them went …Sally was brought up by Rob and Fiona Anne. She was the apple of his eye, she moved to Cape Town to study about 7 years back and married down there .’

‘She hasn’t visited Rob much in the last few years’ Rob had been terribly upset at her visiting so much less . He had sat and labelled and packed the photographs just after Fiona Anne died 3 years back and did not ever speak much about his family any more

‘I have a feeling you may be Penny !’…. said Graham quietly.

Sam wondered why she had been so drawn to the village of Hilton. It must have been a name in the back of her mind . She had family ! She has a sister and a twin at that .

Several days later Graham Symington drove up to Sam’s cottage with an excited grin on his face .

‘We spoke to Sally last night. She is on her way home to meet you.!’ ‘She’ll be here by tonight as she is flying up and old  Randal, the butcher, is picking her up at the airport after fetching supplies  down in Durban’     Graham and his wife had organised everything . Samantha was to be reunited with a sister she never remembered she had.

Randal’s old butcher’s van with the red insignia on its side pulled up at the farmhouse . Graham and Lilly had insisted Sally and Sam  meet and have supper with them there .

Sam’s heart was pounding in her chest . She walked into the courtyard as the van came to a stop.

Graham said, ‘ If you are not Sally’s twin you are her doppelganger!’ look how alike you are .

The girls knew immediately they were sisters and hugged each other deeply ...