Page 13 of The Island in Bramble Bay
‘No problem. Let me know if you two need a hand with the felling, Eric or Megan could help you.’
‘Okay, thanks. See you tomorrow, I guess.’
Maggie walked away from him towards the main path. He took a deep breath. Something was happening. He felt it coursing through him like a bolt of energy and any reservations he’d had about getting close to someone again had evaporated. He just hoped she felt the same way.
As if she could hear his thoughts she turned back, briefly. Their eyes met and he could tell in that couple of seconds that he wasn’t alone in wondering whether something was happening between them.
11
MAGGIE WOKE UP to the sound of heavy rain blowing against the bedroom window. She wrapped a blanket around her and opened the curtains to see rain lashing the island and the sea looking grey and as choppy as it was likely to get in the harbour. She pulled on some woolly socks and still huddled in the blanket, went downstairs to make a cup of tea.
Sat on the windowsill in the lounge, warming her hands on the mug, she thought about how she’d sat there last night, feeling slightly stalkery, watching Charlie untie his boat from the dock, knowing now how his body felt against hers.
Since he’d taken her in his arms, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. That moment of kindness from him had made Maggie feel protected and loved more than she’d ever felt before and she’d had to force herself to pull away sooner than she’d wanted to for fear that she’d stay there forever and then Charlie would have realised that something had changed for her. But after she’d walked away from him in the wood, all she’d wanted to do was to run back to him and have him hold her tight, sweep her into his arms, swing her around and tell her that he loved her and then kiss her, deep and slow.
She smiled at how far-fetched the whole idea was, even for a daydream, finished her tea and went to get dressed. There was nothing to be done because Charlie, she felt sure, didn’t feel the same way.
The morning disappeared in a frenzy of work for the Trust Treks as Maggie had to review all of the leaflets Megan had produced before they were sent to the printers, then meet with Clare over at the visitor centre so she could approve it all from her side as it was a collaboration between them, particularly given that Clare would be providing most of the staff to run the Treks.
The heavy rain had turned into a drizzle that had settled a low cloud over the island and the harbour. As Maggie made her way from the visitor centre back to the office, she marvelled at how different the island felt in this kind of weather and how bleak it must be in the winter when there were fewer visitors. Charlie must be a hardy soul, she thought.
‘Have you seen Charlie and Josh today?’ asked Maggie, pulling off her waterproof coat and hanging it on the back of the door to dry.
‘I saw Josh this morning when he went off with Eric to clear a drainage ditch over by the Scout campsite but I haven’t seen Charlie today,’ Megan said not looking up from the website she was scrolling through.
‘I thought Josh was felling the oak with Charlie today?’
‘He was but then the ditch needed clearing and Eric needed a hand. I think Charlie was getting on with the oak.’
Maggie stopped and looked at Megan. ‘Not by himself? In this weather?’
Megan finally looked up. ‘Well, Charlie would know if he should wait for Josh, wouldn’t he?’
‘I don’t know. I’ll be back.’ Maggie grabbed her coat, pulling it on as she strode along the path towards the woods where she’d met Charlie the day before. She really hoped he wouldn’t be felling that oak tree by himself. Aside from the sheer size of the tree, the weather conditions weren’t ideal for felling. The wood would be slippery and difficult to handle even with two people. She was sure he would be getting on with something else as Josh wasn’t able to help. But she knew that for all Charlie’s intuition about the woodland, he probably lacked any formal training on health and safety issues. Maybe she was wrong, but whatever happened, she would be calling a health and safety briefing for everyone the next day and was berating herself for being remiss in not doing that as soon as she’d arrived on Bramble Island.
Maggie headed into the woods, away from the main path and towards where she hoped she remembered the oak being from the day before. She couldn’t hear a chainsaw which was a good sign. The ground was slippery with wet leaves and huge drips occasionally landed on her head even though she was protected from the persistent drizzle by the tree canopy.
She saw the canopy of the oak tree which was easy to spot with its depleted leaf cover once she was in the right area. And she could see Charlie sitting at the base of the tree, leaning against it.
‘Hi, Charlie!’ she called, losing sight of him temporarily as she weaved in between the trees towards him.
‘Hey, Maggie…I was just going to call you.’
As she got closer to him, she could see that his right arm was covered in blood, his left hand clasped around his forearm. He looked pale but managed a small smile.
‘Christ Charlie, what happened? I knew you’d be trying to fell the bloody tree by yourself. Why didn’t you wait for Josh?’ She crouched down next to him, took her coat off and pulled her long-sleeved t-shirt over her head. She took her penknife from her pocket and used it to rip one of the sleeves off which she then wrapped around Charlie’s arm over the place his hand was gripping.
‘I wasn’t felling… just roping it up ready for tomorrow,’ he said weakly.
‘Okay, it doesn’t matter now,’ said Maggie, softening slightly now that she knew he hadn’t been completely gung-ho about the tree felling. ‘I’m going to wrap this tighter. Take your hand away on three. One, two, three.’
Charlie took his hand away and groaned as Maggie tightened the makeshift bandage around his arm after having a quick look at the extent of the injury. It was a nasty gash; long, deep and jagged. She took her penknife to the rest of her t-shirt and made another couple of strips of bandage which seemed to do the job of stemming the bleeding and then she made a sling to keep his forearm high up across his chest.
‘You’re pretty good at this,’ Charlie said breathlessly, leaning his head back against the trunk of the tree.
‘I’d prefer not to be showing off my skills to you, but thanks.’ Maggie smiled at him, then brushed his wet hair away from his eyes with a gentle stroke across his forehead.
‘Shit Maggie, it really hurts,’ he said, scrunching his eyes closed in pain.
