Chance meeting with lady who my Mum saved from drowning many years earlier, when she came back to England from Canada for one last visit

In 1939, my Mum and her family lived at Bindon, near Bindon Mill and Abbey Dorset which is near Wool in Dorset, they used to swim in the river at Bindon Mill, their neighbours and a cousin of their neighbours were at the Mill one day, their cousin, a young yet 'very bossy' 9 year old fell into the water and began struggling, she could not swim my Mum was very athletic and a really good swimmer aged just 5 at the time, Mum jumped in and pulled the girl to safety, aided by her older sister, they both dragged the girl out of the water to dry land, the girl was taken back to her cousin's house, a doctor was called and she then went back to Dorchester, my Mum and aunt often spoke about the bossy girl who they saved from drowning. </p> <p>In 2014, my Mum and her siblings were having a get together at Wool, I was invited to join them, I thought that I'd surprise them all with having an album of photos restored which had some of their old family photos from their time at Bindon and of their friends at School in Wool. I went to Bournemouth Station in order to catch the train to Wool, the train passes Bindon Mill on the way. </p> <p>As I purchased my ticket at Bournemouth, an elderly lady with a Canadian/English accent came bursting into the ticket office and out of all the people standing there, she asked me if I could help her with her suitcase and with purchasing her ticket, she was rather abrupt, but I thought little of it, after I helped her, she stood on the platform alone, we both boarded the train entering separate carriages. I sat down, and a few moments later the woman entered the carriage in which I was sitting, without really looking at me, she decided to sit in the seat opposite/facing me. Yet again spoke to me rather abruptly, asked me to put her suitcase on the rack above us, she mentioned that she had been travelling for 72 hours from Canada, so I put her rude and abrupt manner down to fatigue, it was a small suitcase considering, she then commented that her cousin in Dorchester always loaned her her clothes when she visited, the last time that she had visited England was 10 years ago, she was a bit slimmer to what she had previously been and this was going to be her last ever visit as she was now in her 80s. She asked me if I had a mobile phone, I said yes and she then TOLD me to ring her sister in Weymouth to tell her cousin in Dorchester that she was on her way. She then went on to tell me that she had emigrated to Canada in 1951, having married the son of a Canadian soldier who was stationed in England during WW1 and married a Dorset girl. Then she said, as we passed through Wareham Dorset, "where are you going, will you be getting off at Dorchester?" I told her that I was going to Wool and meeting my Mum and her siblings there, I mentioned that they used to live at Bindon, she then said, "my cousins, named ***** used to live in the cottages near Bindon Farm" (my Mum and her siblings lived at the farm) , "In a minute we will pass Bindon Mill, where I nearly drowned, there were two little girls who saved me, one was called ****, it's a shame that you aren't getting off at Dorchester as I will need to get someone to get my suitcase down from the rack!" </p> <p>I was amazed, and said "That was my Mum, how strange, I have heard the tell of how my Mum and her sister saved a girl from drowning, what a coincidence, my Mum's name is **** and her sister is *****, so you must be ****** and ***'s cousin then, I have a photo of them here!" </p> <p>I showed her the photo, she said yes that's my cousins. She then looked at me in horror as though she'd seen a ghost, the train approached Wool station and I stood up and mentioned how pleased I was to meet her, I couldn't wait to tell my Mum and her siblings about our chance meeting, and I wished her well, saying that I'd ring her sister later in order to pass on the photos that I had of her family. The lady did not comment any further, did not say good bye, or anything, instead she turned her back on me and stared out of the window. It was almost as though she was being rude, but in hindsight she probably thought that she'd gone mad and was seeing and hearing things and that I was just a figment of her imagination. Two days after my encounter with this woman, I attempted to phone her sister in Weymouth, but I never did manage to get an answer when I called, eventually my mobile phone broke, so I don't have the number any more sadly. I have to agree with my Mum and her sister, the little girl that they saved from drowning was indeed very, very bossy!