The Highwayman

The Highwayman is a crowded pub tied to Blake’s painful memories of her mother and, later, to Don Challenor’s attempt to identify her. Its noisy, watchful public interior contrasts with the private history Blake carries into it: the place is familiar to her through memory, but Don encounters it as an outsider.

Blake’s Memory of the Pub

Blake expects her mother to be at the Highwayman, where she says the woman is a regular who never misses a visit. The pub’s name brings back a sour, threatening atmosphere and the tinny, shrieking laugh her mother reserved for her drinking companions. That memory gives the location a personal weight beyond its role as a place to find someone: Blake recalls it through the sound and menace she associates with her mother’s social world.

Don’s Visit

Don approaches the pub cautiously, waiting for the pedestrian signal before crossing. Though dressed inconspicuously in jeans and fleece, he feels conspicuous among the men outside, who register him as an outsider with a glance. Inside, the contrast continues: the pub is crowded, hot, and noisy, arranged around a U-shaped bar, with football highlights playing on a giant screen. Don orders a pint and scans the drinkers while it pours.

Recognition and Significance

Across the bar, Don identifies Blake’s mother from her brittle dyed-blonde hair, clothes, gum-chewing, and drink. He notices her in the company of four women of similar age and appearance, whose cackling and coughing leave him unsure whether they are enjoying themselves; beneath their makeup and hard voices, he senses desperation. Don lets his gaze linger, and she catches his eye and smiles. The pub thus brings Blake’s recollection into Don’s present-tense investigation: the place she described becomes the scene of a direct encounter, and the woman he came to identify notices him before he can leave.