The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (098) Doctor, Doctor

 

Dr Stewart Cameron was in his car, halfway between Manor Row and the hospital when it started to rain, and about fifty yards ahead of him he spotted the distinctive figure of Deborah Woodward walking without a coat.

He pulled up beside her and wound down the window.

“Can I give you a lift Doctor?” he said

“Oh yes please” she said and got in

“It was such a nice morning, I decided to walk, and then this happened”

“That’s April showers for you” he said

“Indeed” she agreed “But its May”

“Comme ci Comme ça” he retorted

That pretty much set the tone of the conversation and for the duration of the short trip to the hospital, they discussed the inclemency of the weather.

“Thank you, Stuart,” she said as they pulled up outside the entrance “Are you not coming in?”

“No I’m going to the Saxvirdan surgery” he replied

“Ok, see you later” she said “Bye”

Before he pulled away, he called after her

“If it’s raining when you finish give a call and I’ll pick you up”

“Bless you Stuart”

 

Despite their best efforts for their meal in St Pierre not to be a date, they enjoyed each other’s company enough to want to do it again.

However on Monday afternoon Victoria and Elisa left the island as George and Katie were taking them on a sightseeing tour for a week, so dinner at the Gondolier would have to wait a while.

 

It was raining when Deborah finished her shift, so she took Stuart up on his offer and phoned him and then after he picked her up, they had supper together.

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (097) The Beaumont’s BBQ

 

Victoria Pullen had more to drink than she really should have the night after dinner with Harold and decided to forgo breakfast, she’d just have to double up the next day when she wouldn’t be hung over.

Harold on the other hand rose bright and early to open the shop, although the brightness was turned down a bit.

 

At St Clara’s the Banns were read for Arielle and Harry’s wedding.

Banns need to be read in the parish where each of them lives as well as the Church in which you are to be married, in their case both locations were the same, and Banns must be read out in Church for three Sundays during the three months before the wedding.

 

The Beaumont family had once owned the whole island but after three successive heirs were killed in action during the Great War the accumulated death duties forced the only surviving Beamont, George, to sell off the estate in 1920, auctioning off the buildings, the port, and parcels of land.

Fortunately, the sale managed to raise enough to pay off the taxman, while being able to keep Woodside Farm and retain a Beaumont family presence on the island.

 

It was that event that was celebrated on the last weekend in May every year.

There was a dinner party on Saturday night with a few houseguests and a BBQ on the Sunday for about twenty additional guests and amongst those were Molly and Danny, who took along Victoria and Elisa.

 

Woodside 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.

 

During the BBQ Elisa Ghelardoni chatted with one of the stable girls, Lisa Scott, and expressed her love of horses and Lisa kindly offered to give her a tour of the stables.

While Victoria struck up a conversation with Deborah Woodward and the conversation inevitably turned toward medical matters.

Although she was working in Colorado Springs when she began caring for Sir Avery Arnold she was born in Denver, and had nursed all over the state, and she talked at length about her Nursing career.

“We could really use someone with your skill set  at Bellevue”  Deborah said

“I’ve never worked outside the States” Victoria said

“That’s not a problem”

“Do you think I’d have a chance?” Victoria asked

“Well speaking as Chief of Medicine” she replied “I think you might, pop in and see me and I’ll show you around”

“It sounds interesting, but where would I live? I can’t impose on Molly indefinitely” she said

“Well there is accommodation available for staff who need it” Deborah replied

“That’s food for thought” she said “But I’m going to be away for the next week”

“Well think about it while you’re away and if you’re interested give me a call” she said and wrote her number on a scrap of paper from her bag.

“Thank you” Victoria said

 

“What was that all about?” Molly asked

“I think she just offered me a job” Victoria replied

“Wow that’s great”

“I didn’t come here looking for a job” She said “And I don’t live here, I don’t have anywhere to live here, it’s a nonstarter”

“Somewhere to live isn’t an issue” Molly pointed out

“I can’t be living with you and getting in yours and Danny’s way” Victoria said forcefully

“I was thinking of one of the newly renovated places” Molly explained

The Islands in the Bay – Chapter (096) Solution’s and Thank You’s

 

On Thursday Molly got word from Adam Jandrell that work would begin on the Church Lane Cottages at the end of June and St Clara's the first week in July and the scaffolding would go up the week before and the work was expected to be finished before Christmas but that was dependent on what the found once they got started.

Molly then phoned Arielle because she knew that the news might affect her personal plans, and she was right because the moment she hung up the call with Molly she phoned Harry and told him the news and then she started crying.

Harry rushed straight round to the vicarage and found her sitting in her armchair sobbing.

“What’s the matter?”

“The photos will be ruined” she replied and broke down again.

The gist of the problem was that they had been talking about a September wedding, and now the Church was going to covered with scaffolding and the grounds would look like a building site.

“Well the solution is perfectly simple” he said

“What is it?”

“We get married before the scaff goes up”

“And you would be ok with that?” she asked “Getting married before September”

“Of course” he replied “I'd marry you today if it was possible”

Arielle threw her arms around him a cried happy tear.

 

On Friday Molly and Elisa went to St Pierre to get Victorias hair done.

“I don’t need my hair doing” she protested

“You need to look your best for your date” Elisa said

“It’s not a date”

“It really is” Molly retorted

“It’s just a thank you dinner” Victoria insisted

“Date” Molly retorted

“She might have a point” Elisa said

“How’s that?”

“Well I know it’s been a while for me, but aren’t you supposed to have the date first and then see them naked?”

 

The Vicar meanwhile was in the Church checking the diary for a suitable date in June for the wedding, but the only available Saturday was the 24^th and that could be cutting it a little fine, so she left the Church and made her way down to the Spanish River and had a conversation with Adam Jandrell, and he reassured her that the scaffolding would not be erected before Monday the 26^th.

 

Victoria was walking along the quayside on Saturday afternoon just as the passengers were disembarking from the Water Taxi and one of them was Harold Jardine she said

“Hello Mr Jardine”

“Oh hello” he said as he met her gaze,

“But we should be on first name terms, after all you’ve seen me naked”

“Well I’ve seen a lot of men naked” she said

“Oh dear, that didn’t come out right”

They both laughed and agreed on Harold and Victoria before they went their separate ways.

 

Victoria made her way back to Cliff Haven and thought they would have a very pleasant evening, but she was not thinking it was a date.

She wasn’t looking for a relationship because she didn’t know if she’d be on the island in a weeks’ time, but she was happy enough to have dinner with someone with a sense of humour.

 

Harrold was also looking forward to the evening and he didn’t think of it as anything more than dinner to show his gratitude to a good Samaritan.

He certainly had no thought of dating, he was in his early forties and thought of his dating days well and truly in the past, but he had no other expectations than that.       

 

Later that evening he knocked on the door of Cliff Haven and then he and Victoria got in the waiting taxi and travelled to St Pierre, and once they got out, he asked

“The Cherry Blossom or The Gondolier?”

“Is that some sort of code?” she asked

“Chinese or Italian?”

“Well I like both” she replied “But I’m really in the mood for Chinese”

“Chinese it is then” he said and smiled

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.