Page 31 of New Beginnings At Pencarrow Bay
Peggy froze. She hated having her photograph taken.Do I really want to be on Sienna’s Instagram feed?But by the time she realized this meant she had the job– although the terms of employment or exactly what her teaching would entailhad barely been touched upon– Sienna had clicked and the photo was taken.
I got the job. Yippee! xxxPeggy texted Ted, as she left the hotel and walked past the crab shack on the quay– run by the lovely Tina during the summer months, selling crab sandwiches that were hugely popular with tourists. But today it was not Tina in the hatch of the white van. Peggy waved and called, ‘Hi,’ anyway, but Emerald, Tina’s perennially sulky partner, did not respond, although she glanced up briefly from the bread she was spreading. Peggy, though, still feeling exhilarated by her interview with Sienna, was not in the mood to take offence.
Sienna is certainly on the strange side, she thought, as she began to climb the hill out of the centre of the village. But she was also intelligent and interesting.Not to mention focused and wilful.They had exchanged emails. She’d said she’d be in touch. Peggy was thrilled.
Raising her head from her phone– Ted hadn’t yet replied– she noticed Joe Dixon, Gen’s father, walking slowly towards her, supporting himself, at intervals, with a gnarled hand on the stone sea wall. As usual, he wore shabby shorts and a T-shirt, his face so tanned from his wanderings along the sea front he looked almost healthy– although Peggy knew he could not be. She smiled and gave a little wave, slowed her pace a bit. She was dying to get to Ted, to tell him about Sienna, but so many of the locals swerved to avoid Joe. Captain Jack from the sailing club looked after him when things got bad and he had to be supported home.
‘Morning,’ Joe said, his voice raspy and deep– Peggywas never sure if he remembered her name. He waved a vague hand towards the water below. ‘Feeble southerly today. No chance of a run.’ He gave a half-laugh, his startling light blue eyes coming alive for a second as he stared at her.
He must have been very attractive in his youth, Peggy thought. She knew he no longer sailed, but he still spoke in baffling sailing terms that she seldom fully understood.
‘Certainly can’t,’ she said, with a smile.
But Joe had lost interest in the conversation. He turned his back on her, resting his forearms on the wall, and gazed out to sea. She said goodbye and hurried on up the hill.
When she reached the castle, she noticed Pam– plump and middle-aged, who baked for the stall– was behind the hatch, unusually, serving a couple of older ladies, their dogs making friends with Bolt.
‘Hello, my lovely,’ Pam greeted her over the heads of her customers, looking red-faced and somewhat harassed.
‘Where’s Ted?’ Peggy asked. Bolt was there, so he couldn’t be far away.
‘Gone off with Mrs McDonald in her car.’ Pam cleaned for Lindy, as well as baking for Ted, but obviously hadn’t got around to calling her ‘Lindy’.
‘Really? Where were they going?’ Peggy asked, a little anxiously.
Pam took payment for the drinks, struggling a bit with the terminal, then replied, ‘Didn’t say. They were over there having coffee,’ she pointed to a corner table, ‘and suddenly Mrs McDonald got upset like, raising her voice, and running off towards her car. And Ted got in with her. Called out he’d be back in a minute… but that was half an hourago.’ She looked as baffled as Peggy felt, grabbed the metal milk jug and began to rinse it out. Peggy could see there was a certain amount of chaos around her in the van.
‘Listen, I can take over if you like,’ Peggy offered.What on earth has happened?she wondered, worrying that things must have escalated with Felix.
Pam hesitated. ‘Oh, would you? I have to get Mum to the doctor’s by twelve and she takes an age to sort herself out at the minute.’
Before she climbed the drop-down steps into Henri, Peggy shot off an enquiring text to Ted, asking where he was and if Lindy was all right. But with midday approaching and the weather so good, she was too busy to check whether he’d replied or not, a steady stream of customers taking up her undivided attention. It was nearly two when there was finally a lull. Taking the opportunity to tidy the van, she looked up to see Lindy’s bronze Audi e-tron glide to a stop on the edge of the car park. Ted got out; Lindy drove swiftly away.
15
That morning, Lindy had arrived at the stall before nine. Ted had watched her approach. Even from a distance she seemed wound up and his heart sank.Oh, God, what’s going on now?He braced himself, wishing, selfishly, that Lindy would listen to him, for once. Wishing she’d take his advice and call a helpline– or maybe speak to Kim or Chris Jenks, not put all this pressure on his shoulders. But he immediately felt bad for his ungenerous thoughts as Lindy neared and he saw the pain in her eyes. It touched him deeply.
‘Please, I really need to talk,’ she said, her voice low, as if anyone else was listening, which they weren’t. Only one table, in the far corner, was occupied, with a tourist couple, deep in their own conversation.
What could he say? ‘I don’t have long, I’m afraid, Lindy. It’ll get busy soon, on a beautiful day like this.’
She didn’t seem to hear him, just blinked up at him anxiously.
‘Go and sit down,’ he urged. ‘I’ll bring you a coffee.’
Her face relaxed and she found herself a seat, as far away from the tourists as possible, in the limited space around the van.
‘What’s up, Lindy?’ Ted asked, when they were both seated. He was jumpy, watching the car park for any new customers.
‘It’s getting worse,’ Lindy began, her voice wobbling indistress. ‘Felix cornered me in the kitchen last night, when Kim and Ada had gone to bed. He was all sweetness and light on the surface, speaking softly, smiling in a concerned way. But what he said was chilling. “This is obviously a very sensitive issue, Lindy,” were his exact words, “but Kim and I think it’s time for us to consider getting a power-of-attorney in place. For your own protection.”’ She took a gasping breath and stared at Ted. ‘He actually said that.’
‘For God’s sake… How did you respond?’
‘I was shocked into silence at first, to be honest. I didn’t believe for a second he’d talked to Kim– although it’s hard to get through to my daughter, these days. I hope the new medication works better, poor girl.’ Lindy sighed. ‘But she would never have gone behind my back about something so treacherous.’
Ted saw her give a small shudder before she continued.
‘Then, when I found my voice and point-blank refused to give in to his ludicrous bullying, Felix did something he’s never done before, Ted. He came up to me, really close– he’s twice my size, of course– and put his finger just here.’ She indicated a place above her breastbone. ‘Then he pressed and whispered, “Come on, Lindy. Stop this.”’ She broke off and took a number of sharp, shallow breaths as if she were having trouble getting air into her lungs. ‘It doesn’t sound very scary now I’m telling you, but it felt incredibly threatening last night. The look in his eye was so calculating, so…angry. I’m honestly frightened. I don’t know what he’s going to do next.’
