The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (095) Saying it with Flowers

 

Harold Jardine left the Hospital and went straight to the Hotel; he had spoken to them earlier and said he would stay another night.

He walked up to the desk and said

“Hello, I’m Harold Jardine”

“Are yes Mr Jardine, how are you?” Julie Wilman said, “Fully recovered?”

“Just about yes, thanks to my saving angel”

“Is it true you had never met before?” she asked

“Yes, Though technically I still haven’t met her” he said, and Julie looked at him blankly

“I have no recollection of it at all, I only know of it by what the nurses told me, which the paramedics had told them” he clarified

“Didn’t I hear that she visited you at the hospital?” she queried

“Yes, twice” he said “but I was sleeping on both occasions”

“Oh I see” she said

“I am very grateful for everything she did though, perhaps I could leave a note for her” he suggested

“I’m sorry but she checked out” Julie said

“Oh what a shame, I would have really liked to have thanked her, thank you anyway” he said and took his room key off the desk and turned away.

“She’s still on the island though” she said, and he brightened then she added

“She’s staying with friends in Spaniards Creek”

Which deflated him again, it was a small village, but he couldn’t go door to door asking if she was staying with them.

“I have the address” Julie said and smiled

 

The next morning he packed his bag and went down to reception where the tall willowy Julie Willman was standing.

“Good morning, Mr Jardine”

“Good morning” he said “I’d like to check out please”

 

When he had settled his bill, he took an envelope from his pocket and put it on the desk and said

“Can you please make sure this gets to the members of staff who had to clean up after me”

“That really isn’t necessary” Julie said “they were only doing their jobs”

“Nonsense,” he insisted

“I will see that it gets to the right people” Julie said “Thank you”  

 

Harold Jardine owned and ran the Cabot Town General Store/Post Office on St Giles du Cabot Island, but he also owned the shop in Spaniards Creek, which was where he stopped first when he reached the village, but his first port of call was St Pierre.

 

After leaving the General Store he walked up Cliff Top Road to Cliff Haven.

He knocked on the door and as the door opened, he took a deep breath and did a double take when it was opened by author Danny Nightingale.

“Oh erm I was looking for Victoria Pullen” Harold said

“Well you’d better come in than” Danny said stepping aside “She’s in the lounge”

 

“Oh hello” Victoria said “it’s nice to see you fully recovered”

Then added “I almost didn’t recognise you with your clothes on”

There was a peel of laughter and then he said 

“I can’t express how grateful I am”

“It was nothing” she retorted

“I have to disagree on that,” he said almost forcefully “I would just like to give you these flowers as a token of my gratitude”

“Oh” she said “How lovely”

“It’s really quite inadequate under the circumstances” he said.

“Perhaps I could take you to dinner one night, to thank you properly, Saturday perhaps”

“Yes, that would be lovely” she replied

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (094) The Good Samaritan

 

Victoria Pullen was fast approaching 40, and it was she who nursed Sir Avery until the end of his life.

Working as a private nurse in palliative care meant that she led a very nomadic life, but with the lump sum left to her by Sir Avery gave her options, so she had decided she had had enough of being a nomad and had been looking for something more permanent since getting her windfall but hadn’t as yet found somewhere to put down roots.

She was enjoying her time on the island though, and the Hotel was excellent, but on Saturday Night she was on her way back to her room after Dinner with Elisa when they heard someone being violently sick but had no idea where it was coming from.

So they carried on down the hall and the next door they passed was slightly ajar, and they exchanged a look, and Victoria pushed open the door.

“Hello!!” she called “Is everything ok?”

There was no response, but she could hear vomiting coming from the bathroom.

“Hello!!” she called again as the sound got louder and as she looked in the bathroom she asked

“Are you ok?”

There was a naked man slumped over in the bath, who was pale and pasty, covered in vomit and he had soiled himself.

At first glance he looked like a drunk but despite his appearance and his incoherence she was not prepared to take it at face value and after a cursory examination she concluded he was not a drunk.

“I’m just going to clean you up a bit” she said and turned on the shower and he threw up again.

The smell in the bathroom was quite extraordinary and she had to step out into the hall to catch her breath where she asked Elisa to call for an ambulance and call down to reception.

She glanced into the room and saw vomit and Diarrhoea on the bed, then she grabbed a towelling dressing that was laying on a chair.

After she finished hosing him down in the shower and managed to wrap him in the dressing gown and just hoped he wouldn’t soil himself again before the ambulance arrived.

She sat him on the toilet and went back out to the hall just as the manager arrived and Victoria explained the situation, and he told her his name was Harold Jardine.

When the ambulance arrived, she relayed all the symptoms to them and that she suspected seafood poisoning.

“Ok thanks” the paramedic said as they got the man into a wheelchair and took him out to the ambulance.

 

On Sunday Victoria called in at the hospital to see how Mr Jardine was and explained the circumstances, and she was told it was indeed seafood poisoning and he was already on the ward receiving intravenous fluids and would stay in hospital for 24 hours until his fluids were normalised, and satisfied all was well she went back to the hotel.

 

That afternoon Rebecca and Ross Clarke returned to the states but Elisa and Victoria decided to stay on the island a little longer so Molly said they could stay at Cliff Haven for as long as they liked.

 

On Monday, George picked them up from the Hotel and drove them to Molly’s.

“Do you mind if we stop at the Hospital on the way George?”

“Of course, is everything alright?”

“Yes, I just want to check up on the patient” she replied

 

So George dropped her by the entrance, and she wasn’t gone for long as she managed to speak to the sister and she was told they kept him in for a second night, but he was asleep again, so she thanked the sister and was about to leave when the sister asked.

“If you leave your name, I’ll tell him you stopped by”

“It’s Victoria Pullen” 

“Ok I’ll let him know” She said, and Victoria began to walk away

“It’s a lovely little hospital you have here”

 

Harold Jardine was a Beaumont Islander but living and working on St Giles du Cabot Island where he ran the General Store/Post Office and was only staying at the Beaumont Hotel for the weekend because of a family wedding which was when he started feeling ill.

So he went up to his room for a lay down and that was the last thing he remembered .    

 

As he sat on his hospital bed waiting to be discharged, he felt ashamed, but he was both immensely grateful to the lady who found him but also acutely embarrassed at the circumstances in which she found him.

He was at least thankful that she was a complete stranger, which was embarrassing enough, but he was mortified to have been found by a member of the opposite sex while he was in a state of undress and degradation, had it been someone who knew him it would have increased his embarrassment exponentially.

But he was grateful, firstly for finding him and then for cleaning him up before the ambulance arrived.  

He decided that his gratitude should outweigh his embarrassment and that he should try to find the lady and show his appreciation in some way.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (093) Repatriation

 

Sir Avery Arnold’s coffin arrived at London Heathrow at Midday on Saturday and after being cleared through customs it was released to Hemmings and Son Funeral Directors and driven to Pipershaven.

 

The following day Molly’s visitors flew to the UK and George met them at the airport and delivered them to the Beaumont Manor that afternoon.

So on Sunday night there was a tearful reunion dinner at the Orangery, with Molly, Danny, George and Katie joining, the household staff from Colorado, Elisa Ghelardoni, Rebecca and Ross Clarke and Victoria Pullen.

 

On Monday Sir Avery continued his journey when he was transferred to the Hemmings funeral parlour in St Pierre and then the funeral cortege drove to Spaniards Creek on Tuesday.

 

Sir Avery passed away in the early hours of the morning of May 16th, so the Reinterment was on the first anniversary of his Death and although it had been many years since he was last on the island, there were still a lot of people who knew him and wanted to pay their respects.

It was a very emotional day for Molly, but she was fulfilling  her grandfather’s wishes by laying him to rest with her   parents, Charlotte and John Barrington, and her Grandmother Bella Arnold.

Having her “family” from America with her was a tremendous comfort to her, as much as she loved Danny and as caring as he was, they understood how she was feeling much better than he did. 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (092) Bucklebury and Brandywine

 

Amelia Williamson was in Spaniards Creek on Monday morning, but she was on the eastern side of the Spanish River at Number 1, The Old Mill, which was the newly refurbished offices of Bucklebury and Brandywine Property Management.

She was quite excited setting up the new office from scratch, but she was even more excited because Clive Crossfield from Bramstock, Goodman, Crossfield, and Bushe in Abbottsford, who were the Barrington’s Solicitors, was arriving on the early ferry to help her set up.

They had been in communication since she was first offered the job and had met via Teams calls on many occasions, but they had never met in person, but that was going to change very soon, and she was looking forward to that.

They had officially taken over the building the week before, but there were things to do internally, before she could move in.

 

Since Franci Liebenberg pinned Adam Jandrell down in his office chair and aggressively snogged him, she was no longer his right hand “man”, she was now his assistant project manager and his significant other.

It was Franci who was co-ordinating the floorer’s, electrician’s, Alarm system engineers, phone and internet  installers, CCTV and the signage fitters, for the new tenants.

So for the first week of May Amelia stayed away and let them get on with it.  

 

Clive Crossfield’s first port of call when he arrived in Spaniards Creek was to meet with Molly Barrington.

“Hi Clive” she said when she opened the door “Welcome to the island”

“Hello Molly, thank you”

The reason for the meeting was the impending repatriation of Sir Avery Arnold and he explained that all the arrangements were complete, the disinterment was set for Thursday and all the transportation and flights were booked.

Over the next hour they went through all the arrangements in fine detail, just to make sure nothing had been overlooked, then Molly said.  

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer I’m sure you’re as eager to see Amelia as she is to see you” Molly said

“Oh, erm I don’t…” he burbled,

“Just go get her and we’ll talk later” Molly said and giggled, because she’d never seen him get flustered before.

 

When Clive had gone Molly picked up her phone and called the Beaumont Manor Hotel and booked 4 rooms for some special visitors to the island, then she rejoined Danny in the conservatory.

 

Clive parked outside the Old Mill and walked into number 1, and found the slender brunette, Amelia, talking to a wiry well-tanned Franci Liebenberg with tousled blonde hair about the positioning of power points. 

“Hi Amelia” he said and when she turned around and saw him, she blushed

“Ccclive” she stammered and then an awkward few moments ensued when they couldn’t decide whether to shake hands, hug, air kiss, or fist bump, in the end they clumsily hugged, and Franci said

“I’ll come back later”

 

Over the next few days they worked very closely to set up the office with the new furniture, shelving and office equipment and then began sorting through the archive boxes that had been stored at Beacon Farm. 

When they weren’t working, they spent time at the Galleon or Philips Folly, but they never managed to express what was on their minds.

 

On Thursday 4,700 miles away from the island, in Colorado Springs, Sir Avery Arnold’s body was disinterment at St Savior’s crypt and placed in a special coffin for transportation by the undertakers and delivered to the airport for shipping.

 

The next day when Amelia arrived at the Old Mill, he found Clive and Franci deep in conversation in the carpark and stopped when they saw her approaching.

When they were on their own inside the building Amelia asked suspiciously

“What was Franci talking to you about?”

“Your friend asked me a question” he replied enigmatically

“What question?” she enquired

“I don’t know that I should tell you, nosey” he replied

“Tell me “She begged

“Well, if you must know” Clive said “She asked me if I loved you”

“And what did you say?” she asked coyly looking at the ground

“I said I couldn’t love you more if my life depended on it” he replied, and she gasped

“I love you too” Amelia said and wrapped her slender arms around his neck and kissed him.

After a few moments she uncoiled herself and said sadly

“But you’re leaving today”

“Ah, I meant to talk to you about that” he replied

“What?” she asked urgently “What?”

“I thought I might stay on for another week” he said and then they kissed again.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (089) Future Plans

 

May

On the first of May, Harry Archer arrived on the island to sign the leases on the Old Grain Store, which was to be the Archers Ornamental premises on the island and one of the two-bedroom flats in the Old Barn conversion.

So his first port of call was the Galleon Coffee Shop where he met with Amelia Williamson where he signed the paperwork and picked up the keys. 

His sister Pandora had already made all the arrangements with the utility companies, and that was all happening the next day.

Once he had finished with Amelia, he had other fish to fry so he hurried towards the quayside.

 

Arielle Nicolas had been standing on the quayside for about ten minutes, she was always early, when she saw Harry approaching and her heart soared.

When he reached her, they embraced and only the sound of

Phil Holgate starting the engines of the Ocean Breeze brought them back to the moment, so they smiled and got aboard, and then the Water Taxi moved off down the Spanish River towards the open water and it was a smooth ride across the dead calm sea.

 

The Shaw Brothers ferry, the Empress Victoria, was on the jetty at Cabot Town, and Phil brought the launch to a halt beside the small quayside.

Cabot Town itself was actually just a hamlet, with a café, and a General Store/Post Office, from there Arielle and Harry went South to the farthest end of Broad Beach Sands, then they walked back up the full length of the beach and back up the rocky path to the lane past the Seaview Hotel which led to the meteorological station and then they walked inland to Hastings Lake to have their picnic lunch.

 

They ate their picnic sat on a tartan rug in the spot beside the Lake where they shared their first kiss.

When they had finished Harry refilled their glasses with champagne and as he raised his glass in a toast he said  

“Arielle Nicholas, will you marry me?”

“You want to marry me?” she asked quietly

“Yes” he said “I love you and I want to marry you”

“I love you too” she said “Of course I’ll marry you”

 

As soon as they returned to Spaniards Creek they went straight to Cliff Haven 

“We wanted you to be the first to know” Arielle said and fidgeted excitedly

 on the spot, then blurted out

“We are engaged”

“That’s wonderful news” Molly said and kissed her

“Congratulations” Danny added

“Are you up for a celebratory dinner?” Molly asked

 

The day after Harry proposed he was nursing a hangover when he was at the new premises and the flat, while amongst other things, carpets were being laid, the phones were being installed and the signage was being affixed, but he was feeling better by the time Arielle joined him for lunch.

 

Harry’s brother Sam arrived on Wednesday in a Luton van loaded to the gunwales with equipment and Matt Deighton was in the passenger seat.

All of the staff in Sharpington were canvassed to see if any of them wanted to transfer to the new building but only Matt was interested.

Which suited Harry because he liked Matt, and they worked well together.

Sam returned to Sharpington that night, but Matt stayed on the island, then he returned the next day with another load, and repeated the cycle on Friday but brought Pandora with him who then returned to the mainland with the empty van and Sam stayed on.

 

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (088) Civil Engineering

 

The civil engineer, recommended by Carolyn Livingston, Sam Richardson, had done his part and Adam Jandrell had submitted the plans for the foot bridge to the parish council and on the last Monday of April the council were meeting, and the foot bridge plans were on the agenda.

 

The committee was comprised of Church Warden Howard Nelson who was Chair, the Vicar Arielle Nicholas, Primary School Headmistress Margaret Johnson, Katie Harrison from Beacon Farm, and Rachel Hanson from the Galleon Coffee shop, who was also the Verger.

“Do we really think we need a foot bridge?” Margaret asked

“It’s been at least 20 years since the last one was struck by lightning, and we’ve managed without it”

“Well I think as there is no cost to us, we’d be foolish not to take advantage of it” Rachel responded “And I remember as kids we used the old bridge as a short cut to the beach”

“I agree,” said Katie. “What about you Vicar?”

“Well, Acts 20:35 says a person is more blessed by giving, but in order for this to happen, someone must be willing to be blessed by receiving, so let’s allow ourselves to be blessed” 

“We’re not used to investment in Spaniards Creek” Howard said “So I’m in favour, but we should put it to the vote”

 

After the Parish Council voted unanimously in favour of the bridge proposal the night before, it ticked another box for Molly and put another task on the list for Adam and his team.

 

They were on the final push to finish on the East side of the Spanish River and the nerves were fraying with the long hours and the fast-approaching deadline.

So on Friday when Franci Liebenberg walked into the site cabin and heard Adam Jandrell talking on the phone.

“Of course” Adam said “My right hand “man” will take care of that”

Something inside Franci snapped and she snatched the phone from his hand and ended the call, then she pushed his chair back, so the headrest was touching the wall and barked

“I don’t want to be your bloody right-hand “man”, I am not your right-hand “man” I am a woman, and do you know why I do not want to be your right-hand “man”?” she asked

“NNNNo” he stammered

“I want to be your woman” she replied and then she kissed him very aggressively

 

It was a mixed bag of weather over the last weekend in April with a very wet Saturday and a glorious Sunday, and it was Deborah Woodward’s weekend off, so she and Stuart Cameron got to go shopping on the wet day and walked together in the sunshine, but they still hadn’t progressed any further than friendship.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (087) Holy Weekend

 

Maundy Thursday is the day when Christians remember the Last Supper, when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples before being betrayed and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.

When Molly last met with the solicitors, she discussed the good causes fund that her grandfather set up on her behalf and she thought it was appropriate to make her first donations on Maundy Thursday. 

 

To commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, a special service was held throughout the Christian World on Good Friday, and St Clara’s was no exception, and it was a special day for Arielle, and Molly was ever present. 

 

Molly had a difficult and emotional week as she had been completing the paperwork on her grandfather’s repatriation, so on Holy Saturday Molly attended the vigil and spent the time in God’s presence to clear her mind.

 

Easter Sunday or Easter Day is the most important day of the year for Christians  when they celebrate “the Resurrection”, when after being killed on the cross, Jesus rose from the dead, and defeated evil forever, there are no bigger days in the Christian calendar.

Arielle captivated the large congregation on her most important service of the year with a spellbinding sermon.

 

Spiritually refreshed after the Holy weekend Danny and Molly spent a miserably wet Easter Monday enjoying a movie marathon.

Because on Tuesday it was “putting pen to paper” time again.

 

After their lazy and vegetative Bank Holiday Monday they rose bright and early on Tuesday morning and after breakfast they started work.

Since they completed the last book, they had both been making independent notes and suggestions for the new Sharon Jacques book, so first on the agenda was comparing notes.

They had both had similar thoughts on plot, but they had also both gone off on different tangents and the whole process of bouncing off each other, meant that before they knew it, it was the weekend again. 

 

Kevin Holland and Marion Monaghan had put a stop to their respective cradle snatching relationships and put their hopes in something more age appropriate and eventually their wishes were answered.

That weekend was the first one Kevin had off since January and now he had found Marion he was going to make the most of it.

 

Also making the most of the weekend were fifty-three-year-old Audiologist Anna Turnbull and fifty-five-year-old farmer Duncan Wilson who were sharing an intimate time on Roman Water Farm, before his parents returned from their holiday and his children arrived home from university.