The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (011) A New Beginning

 

June

When the day came for Danny and Molly to leave Lakeside for Downshire at the end of June, there was a tearful farewell between Molly and Elisa Ghelardoni, the family cook, the housekeeper Rebecca Clarke and gardener handyman husband Ross, and Victoria Pullen who nursed her grandfather to the end.

The other member of the household staff was the gentle giant George Wood, who referred to himself as the chauffeur gofer, who was returning to the UK with them.

 

Their first port of call when they arrived in Downshire was Abbottsford, where they had an appointment at Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield, and Bushe, who were Sir Avery Arnold’s UK solicitors, where they had some documents to sign, and instructions for them to initiate the paperwork for the repatriation.

After which Danny called in at Parsons, his publishers, to drop off the last two chapters the book he effectively wrote with Molly, so the two of them looked at some artwork depicting the new protagonist Sharon Jacques picked out by Max, even though she didn’t say so in as many words, they both agreed it wasn’t quite right, so Max said he would try his regular illustrators again.

 

After spending the night at the Abbottsford Regents Hotel George Wood drove them down the Expressway to Pipershaven in time to catch the 5pm ferry to Beaumont Island.

Once they were out in open water Molly and Danny stood by the rail and got their first proper look at the Pepperstock Bay Islands while George was talking with one of the crew members.

“Do you remember anything from back then?” Danny asked.

“No, I don’t think so” she replied, “But it’s difficult to pin a memory down, we went to a lot of places, Hotels I assume, until we settled at Lakeside, that’s where almost all of my memories are from.”

“Your grandfather would be saying “It’s time for new memories.”

 

Beaumont wasn’t their first port of call, first stop was Cabot Town, on St Giles du Cabot, which was only two miles from Pipershaven, though the round trip via St Pierre and Beaumont Head was nearer 22 miles.

The port of Cabot Town, in the southwest corner, was actually just a hamlet, and was also not really a port, it was just a jetty for the car ferry and a small quayside.

St Giles was a much smaller island than Beaumont, so it was always a short duration to unload and load again.

 

After leaving Cabot Town the ferry passed between Cabot Head and Spaniards Point and shortly before proceeding up the west coast, they passed the mouth of the river and got their first glimpse, albeit distant, of Spaniards Creek.

“How are you feeling?” Danny asked.

“Nervous” she replied, “And a little excited.”

 

As the ferry began its approach to the harbour entrance, Molly suddenly said.

“I’m just going to the bathroom.”

“Nerves or excitement?”

“Neither I just need to pee” she retorted and rushed away laughing.

 

When she returned, the ferry had lined up with the jetty, so they walked briskly back to the car, where George was already behind the wheel waiting for them.

“Who was that you were talking to?” Danny asked him after getting into the back seat.

“A very old friend” he replied.

“Army or school?”

“Both actually, we joined up together, he came out after 3 years I stayed on for 9.”

“Are you going to meet up with him for a catch up?” Danny asked.

“Yes, I’ve got his number, he lives on the mainland now, so I’ll meet up with him next time I’m over there.”

 

As soon as the ramp was lowered, they began disembarking and when their turn came George drove the AUDI RS6 off the ferry and headed straight to the Beaumont Manor Hotel, where they had a suite booked, they would drive down to look at the cottage the next day.

That night Danny and Molly were dining in the Orangery, but George had other plans, he was dining on good home cooking with his sister Sarah Rich and her husband David in Saxvirdan.

 

Gentle Giant George Wood was 47 years old and had worked for Sir Avery Arnold for 20 years after serving 9 years in the Downshire Light Infantry, and the reason Sir Avery choose him out of all the many applications he received, wasn’t his exemplary military record, or the impeccable references, what made him stand out from the crowd was that he was a fellow Beaumont Islander and he had gone to primary school with his daughter Charlotte.

He had no regrets working for Sir Avery for all those years, and had he lived he would have given as many years as was needed to serve the family.

And he would continue to serve for as long as Molly needed him too, but he was happy to be back on the Island again.

His heart soared when the door opened, and his sister’s smiling face greeted him.

“Hello sis”

 

Danny Nightingale was sitting in the lounge when Molly appeared from her room.

“Can we have dinner in the room tonight? Everyone is going to be staring at me.”

“Nobody here knows who you are, but I admit heads will turn when you walk in the restaurant but not for the reason you think.”

“Why? Do I look funny?” she said and got very flustered as she looked in the mirror.

“No, you don’t look funny” he replied and laughed “They will turn to look at you because you’re lovely.”

“Oh” she said and blushed

“So no, we can’t eat in the suite tonight, but you can have a room service breakfast in the morning.”

“Ok Uncle” she said which was what she always called him when she had to do something she didn’t want to do.

 

The next morning Molly devoured a full English, Danny had poached eggs on toast and George declined any breakfast as he was slightly hung over and suffering from indigestion following Sarah’s cooking.

 

The drive from the Hotel took them on the road through Woodside Farm, which was the largest of the five farms on the island covering the whole of the southeast corner, a large wedge-shaped parcel of land bordered by Halfway Lane to the north, Spanish River and the Eagles Crag in the west and the rugged coastline from Manor Cliff Beach to Armada Head to the east.

“I’m not sure this car is entirely suitable for this road” George pointed out.

“I’ve always wanted a Landover” Danny responded absentmindedly.

“And it would be more appropriate.”

They didn’t get as far as Armada Head because the road veered off to the right towards Spaniards Creek.

 

They drove slowly along the quayside attracting inquisitive looks and through the village, continuing up the winding hill, called Cliff Top Road, until they could drive no further and came to a halt outside a wild and overgrown frontage.

They had no idea what state the house was in as it wasn’t possible to see it through the jungle.

“Well, I’m guessing that somewhere in there is Cliff Haven” Danny observed.

“Let’s see if we can get a closer look” George said and then all three of them set about gaining entry.

“Excuse me, excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” A red-faced angry man shouted.

“What does it look like, I’m trying to open the gate” George said.

“This is private property you know” the man said.

“I’m well aware” Danny said as the gate yielded.

“Well, you can’t go any further without the owner’s permission” the angry man persisted.

“The owner is well aware I can assure you” Danny said as he and George forced the gate wide open.

“I’m going to call the owner.” The man barked and turned away.

“Good luck with that.” Molly shouted after him and Danny and George stopped what they were doing and looked at her in surprise.

When she turned around and saw them looking at her, she shrugged, and they all laughed.

“I’m assuming that was the odious Paul Steptoe” Danny said.

George armed himself with a piece of broken tree branch and used it to hack a path through the overgrown nettles, hogweed, and brambles until they’d reached the front door.

Sir Avery Arnold described Cliff Haven as a cottage, but close up and personal Danny thought it looked more like several Cottages knocked into one, Avery also told him that it would need a coat of paint but when he looked up at the flaking paintwork, cracked glass, crumbling render and clogged guttering he thought there was going to be a lot more to do than that.

“So much for Paul Steptoe keeping an eye on the place.” Danny said as George pushed open the front door which creaked in protest.

 

The interior was generally in a better state than the outside but there was the telltale smell of dampness and there was evidence of water penetration probably as a result of leaky guttering.

All the furniture was covered by white dust sheets but there was 17 years’ worth of dust on the covers and floors and all the other surfaces and cobwebs everywhere.

“We won’t be moving in here anytime soon” Molly said glumly.

“We’re going to need help George” Danny said.

“Leave it with me.”

“Let’s use local trades though” Danny added as Molly lifted one of the dustsheets and looked beneath, and then another.

“It’s my mum’s furniture” she said.

“You remember it?” Danny asked.

“No but I’ve seen it in photographs.” Molly replied then she added urgently.

“We have to save the furniture.”

“Add a furniture restorer to the list.” Danny said.

 

Building regulations were very strict on the Island for new buildings but permission to renovate existing buildings was almost always granted.

 

While George got busy with rounding up trades and casual labour, the other two took the AUDI back to the mainland and returned 3 days later, with a Landover and a Campervan.

While they were on the mainland, they went to Abbottsford for a meeting at Parsons to review some more artwork, which they passed on again, and then Hanratty’s Department store so Molly could do some shopping.

On the way back to Pipershaven they also paid a visit to Danny’s flat in Applesford, so he could pick up some more clothes for himself.

 

July

 

Over the following few weeks Molly and Danny were ensconced in the suite at the Beaumont Manor and when they weren’t paying visits to the cottage, they were working on the suggested edits to the book and trawled the internet for ideas for the cover art, while George lived out of the campervan at the cottage supervising the repairs and renovations.