The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (006) The Morning After the Night Before

 

The next morning Ben was woken by a loud knocking on the driver’s door window.

He and Tanya were asleep under the blanket, and she was cuddled up close to him with her head on his shoulder.

On opening his eyes, in the half light, his eyes and brain were struggling to make sense of what they were seeing.

The problem is that the brain processes what you can see and then fills in the blanks with things from your memory bank.

I.e. when your eyes become more accustomed to the darkness a sleeping dog on the floor becomes a dressing gown discarded the night before, or a sleeping child on the chair becomes a sweater dropped haphazardly.

In this case he was looking at a six-foot chicken, but after a few blinks he realized it was a firefighter, so he opened the window.

“Morning” he said, “I think.”

“Hello, sir, is everything alright?” the firefighter asked.

“Yes, all good”

“No injuries? Damage? Mechanical problems?”

 “No, everything is fine.”

“And the horse?”

“Yes, he’s fine too” he said, “It’s just trees in the way.” 

“Well, we’ll have the road open again very soon” The firefighter reassured him.

“Do you know where the driver of the MG is?”

“Yes, she’s here” Ben replied.

“Really?” he retorted with admiration.

“We’ll let you know when it’s safe for you to leave.”

“Ok thanks” Ben said and closed the window.

However, the chilly morning air flooding the cab caused Tanya to stir, and when her eyes opened, she said.

“What time is it?”

“Just after 5” he replied and then she became aware that she was cuddled up to him and apologized.

“I’m sorry”

“Don’t be silly” he reassured her.

“The Fire Service are here by the way.”

“How long will they be?” she asked with a yawn.

“At least an hour” he replied, “So plenty of time for coffee.”

“I thought we’d finished the coffee” Tanya retorted.

“I have a kettle in the back?” he replied.

“You’re a wonderful man” she retorted grinning broadly.

 

By the time they had said hello to Trojan and made and drank their coffee and he had easily towed the MG off the verge they were told the road was reopened.

“Well, thank you for sharing your coffee and blanket.

and of course, for your company” she said and kissed his cheek.

“My pleasure” he said as she got into the Midget.

“Don’t forget you have an open invitation.”

“I won’t,” she said as she started the engine and after flashing him a smile Tanya said, “Bye Ben” and drove off, muttering under her breath over and over,

“Why did I kiss him on the cheek?”

 

Tanya went straight home to quickly shower and change so she could get back to Pipershaven in time to take out the 8am Ferry and Ben finally got to the Starlight Café where he made use of the facilities and got two sausage and egg baps to go before heading back to the port.

 

The Queen Eleanor wasn’t slated for the 8am sailing but due to the Empress Victoria having to sit out the storm in St Pierre Port Tanya needed to take the Eleanor out early and she was conscious of the fact that she was uncharacteristically late.

However, when Tanya got to the port office, she found that everything was in hand and loading was in progress.

 

At the Beaumont Manor Hotel the next morning began for Josh and Liv with a shared shower and some over enthusiastic mutual drying, which resulted in them having to skip breakfast and Joshua having to drive her to the port at speed where they shared a farewell kiss outside the Shaw Brothers Office before he went off in search of a full English.

 

Olivia watched Joshua drive away, feeling that she had made the right choice to forgo a hotel breakfast and she was grinning from ear to ear as she opened the door and walked in.

“Good morning, Lisa”

“I think it was a good night judging by the smile on your face” Lisa Stokes said.

“A great night” she agreed with a gleam in her eye.

“It was a success then?” Lisa asked.

“Very much so” Olivia replied, “I owe you one.”

“Well, it’s funny you should mention that” Lisa said with a wicked smile.

 

After exchanging pleasantries and doing twenty minutes of essential admin Tanya left the office and made her way to the Queen Eleanor, and when she was about halfway there her phone rang and she saw it was her sister Olivia, so she accepted the call.

“Something amazing happened” they both said simultaneously and burst out laughing.

 

After sharing all the details of their amazing happenings Tanya was left feeling a little jealous, not that she begrudged Olivia’s good fortune, but she only had a coffee and a peck on the cheek for breakfast whereas Olivia had the full English, twice last night and once again that morning.

Olivia though had the benefit of a hotel room Tanya was less fortunate and she wasn’t about to do it in a horsebox, she had more class than that, if it had been a camper van it might have been different.

 

After navigating her way past the breakwater and into open water she could relax, so she took in the scenery and enjoyed the warm spring sunshine.

Halfway across the bay she saw the Empress Victoria coming the other way, it was unusual for both Ferries to be out in the bay at the same time, so as they passed each other the two sisters waved to each other from the navigational bridge.

 

When they had passed by, she cast her eyes around the ship, and she caught sight of a burgundy-coloured Horsebox on the deck and her heart skipped a beat.

So, she left the first mate, David Leggett, at the helm and went down to the car deck to look for Ben, but she couldn’t see him anywhere.

Tanya was just about to give up and return to the bridge when she caught sight of him standing by the rail looking out to sea, so she made a beeline for him. 

“Good morning, Mr. Beaumont” she said, and he turned to look at her.

“Hello” he said and did a double take when he saw her white uniform shirt and epaulettes on the shoulders.

“When you said it was your ferry, I didn’t realize you were literally in charge.”

“I am the Captain.” she said proudly.

“Well having seen what you can do with an MG Midget I would just like to ask where I can find the lifejackets?” 

“That’s not fair, it wasn’t my driving, it was God throwing trees at me” she said indignantly, and they both laughed.

“You do realize that as Captain, I can have you clapped in irons and make you walk the plank.”

“In which case I will definitely need a life jacket” he retorted, and they both laughed again.

But their joviality was brought to an abrupt end by the blast of a claxon.

“Sorry I have to go and do important maritime stuff now” she said and kissed his cheek and climbed the companionway to the bridge.

“Why did I kiss his cheek again? I should have snogged his face off” She muttered.

“Next time he’s mine.”