Page 52 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Oh, hang Bernard’s briefing!’
‘Celestine!’ Bella laughed, going back to the mirror to dab at her eye make-up. ‘You can’t say that!’
‘You won’t be missing anything.’
‘I might be missing something important.’
‘There’s only one way to sit in a jeep, isn’t there?’
‘As long as I get in the right jeep, then yes. It’d be my luck to end up in some poor tourist’s car instead of at the parade. Besides, I don’t want to annoy Bernard. If we’re both late, he might not ask me to do it again.’
Celestine raised her eyebrows. ‘I thought you said you felt silly.’
‘Doesn’t mean feeling silly can’t be fun. I think it’s important too. It celebrates something very important to the island, and I’ve realised that I ought to be honoured to be a part of those celebrations.’
‘I’m glad you feel that way.’
Bella looked at the clock again. ‘So how long do I have to fix this lot?’
‘The cab will be here in ten minutes,’ Celestine said. ‘I’m ready to go.’
‘Oh, rub it in, why don’t you? It’s your bloody fault I’ve got to redo my make-up!’
Celestine was laughing as she went back down the landing to her own room. ‘All right, I’ll let you get on with it. If the taxi has to wait for a few minutes, it’s just too bad, isn’t it?’
There was a stiff breeze, but the sun was shining as Bella and Celestine arrived at the rendezvous point. Up and down the road, bunting and flags flapped, buffeted by the wind. Old-fashioned, patriotic-sounding music was already blasting out over a speaker system. Bella stared as she got out of the taxi and took in the sight of old military vehicles and decorated floats, surrounded by a sea of people in all sorts of costumes.
‘There’s one of our displays!’ she said, pointing like an excited kid as she helped Celestine out.
The driver handed her crutches over and then Bella paid him. As Celestine was going to be on a bus for most of the day to form part of what Bella had dubbed the occupation survivor squad, being driven down the parade route with others who’d been alive during the war, they’d decided not to bring her mobility scooter, having nowhere safe to leave it. Bella had marvelled that morning at how fast Celestine seemed to be healing anyway, andalthough she was using her scooter a great deal, over the last few days it was more for convenience than because she needed it.
Celestine tutted. ‘They’ve lost some carnations out of that corner…’
‘Too late to do anything about it now,’ Bella said. ‘And it still looks great. Nobody can tell.’
‘I can tell.’
‘From a distance when it’s whizzing along on the float even you won’t be able to see it. I wouldn’t worry.’
Bernard rushed to greet them. His cheeks were bright red. He’d always looked so pale, Bella had never imagined he could get this flushed. She wondered whether it was stress-related, but when he opened his mouth, it left her in no doubt.
‘Everyone’s turning up all over the place this morning!’ he snapped. ‘Celestine, where—Never mind, no time. Go and join the others over…there…You see Dolly?’
Bella glanced to see Dolly waving at them. She waved back with a grin. Celestine kissed her lightly before going over. ‘Have fun.’
‘You too,’ Bella said.
‘Right!’ Bernard threw a critical eye over Bella. At least it felt a bit too critical. ‘You’ll do,’ he decided finally. Bella was about to ask what she’d got wrong when he cut her off. ‘Over there, please, with the military convoy. Pippa will assign you to a vehicle.’
Bella thought for a moment about asking whether she’d inadvertently joined the real army. Assign her to a vehicle? And who was Pippa? She didn’t recall meeting her at the run-through. But another look at Bernard’s stressed face made her think better of it. She had no idea who Pippa was but decided she’d better try to find her.
She was on her way over to where an array of jeeps, old buses and a tank was parked when she noticed a man taking photos. She smiled as he waved.
‘Good morning!’ she mouthed across.
Rory held up his camera. ‘Say cheese!’ he called back.
Bella put a hand behind her head and pretended to be a model. He snapped once and then grinned as he jogged across.
