The Beachcomber

Fumbling for the light-switch, Kathy groaned when there was no response. ‘Maybe the bulb’s gone,’ she said hopefully.

‘I wouldn’t like to say.’ The driver also tried the switch, to no avail. ‘The house has been empty a long time. They’ve probably cut off the electric. Water, too, I should imagine.’

Going back to the car for a torch, he tried every switch downstairs and still there was nothing. ‘There’s a guest-house back down the road a bit,’ he suggested. ‘If you ask me, you’d be better off booking in there, at least until you can get the electric back on.’ He shivered as the damp took a hold of him. ‘You can’t stay here,’ he said, ‘you’ll catch your death o’ cold.’

Kathy was torn: she wanted so much to stay in the house, yet she knew the driver was right. It was chilly, even in July, and the electric was definitely off. Even if she stayed the night, she wouldn’t be able to sleep for the cold, and in the morning there would be no hot bath. Besides, she didn’t know if there were clothes on the bed, or clean sheets anywhere; if there were, would they be damp and mouldy? ‘I should have travelled overnight,’ she muttered. ‘At least I could have got things sorted out in daylight.’

Checking in at a guest-house was the only solution as far as she could see, but it was not what she wanted; anyway, she didn’t have money to throw away on such luxuries. It was a dilemma and, the more she thought about it, the more she was tempted to stay in the house, however cold and uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Maggie’s remark came into her mind. ‘It’s the seaside, ain’t it? There’s bound to be caravans.’

Excited, she asked the driver, ‘Is there a caravan site round here?’

He nodded. ‘As a matter of fact, yes, there is …’ He realised her line of thinking and approved. ‘I’ll take you there. It’s just the other side of the harbour.’

He was about to trundle the portmanteau back to the car when Kathy had an idea. ‘If you’ll lend me your torch for a minute, I’ll take only what I need for tonight.’

So, while he went to turn the car round, Kathy opened the portmanteau. She took out a clean set of undies, which she thrust into her bag, and grabbed the toiletries bag. Then she shut the portmanteau and was hurrying down the path in no time.

Passing the harbour, with the boats shifting about and the water making patterns in the moonlight, Kathy thought how beautiful it all was. ‘I can see why you were happy here, Dad,’ she murmured.

‘What did you say?’ The driver strained his ears.

‘Nothing,’ Kathy answered. ‘I was just thinking out loud.’

‘First sign of madness,’ he said, making her smile.

Turning into the caravan park, he asked if she wanted him to wait. ‘If they’ve got nothing for you, I can take you on to the guest-house?’ Thinking it was a sensible idea, Kathy readily agreed.

As it happened, the clerk at the desk was most helpful. ‘We’ve a cancelled booking,’ she told Kathy, ‘but I’m not sure if the manager will let the van out for just one night … in case we have a last-minute request for a long booking.’ All the same, she went away to find him, and when she returned a few minutes later her quick smile and easy manner told Kathy she was in luck. ‘He says we’re not likely to get any other customers tonight, so he’ll take your booking.’

While the clerk got the necessary information together, Kathy went out to the driver and paid him. ‘You’ve been a great help, thank you.’

He wished her well. ‘I know a few useful blokes,’ he told her. ‘Painters, plumbers and such.’ He scribbled down his name and address. ‘Jack of all trades, that’s me,’ he said, before he drove off into the night.

The clerk gave her the keys, a long form to sign and a small cardboard box, sealed over with a length of sticky tape. ‘You’ll find everything you need in there,’ she advised. ‘One night … leaving tomorrow at ten a.m.’ She laboriously scribbled it all into her ledger. ‘You’ll have to pay in advance, I’m afraid,’ she said apologetically.

Kathy handed over the money, thanked her.

‘I’ll take you down there,’ the girl said, ‘seeing as it’s dark.’ Grabbing a torch, she led Kathy out of the office, along a lamp-lit, meandering path, through rows of caravans. There, right at the top, stood number eighteen; the number clearly highlighted by the two gas lamps either side of the door.

Once inside the caravan, the girl bustled around, lighting the gas mantels. Staring round at what she could see, Kathy was delighted. In front of her was a tiny kitchen with cooker, and to her left there was a comfortable living area, with seats all round the bay window, and a little table jutting out from the wall. The curtains were bright and cheerful; candy stripes on white in the kitchen; and splashes of flowers against a yellow background elsewhere. To the right a door led into a cosy bedroom. In here, too, the curtains were of a bright, colourful fabric, the same, exactly, as the corner of the eiderdown peeping out. ‘Oh, it’s lovely!’ Kathy exclaimed. ‘Thank you,’ she said to the clerk.

‘My pleasure,’ the girl replied. ‘I’ll leave you to it, then.’ She hurried out, back into the night.

Kathy gazed around once more, thrilled with her good fortune. Suddenly realising she’d had little to eat since early morning, she felt her stomach turning somersaults. Dropping her toiletries and undies onto the bed, she went out, clicking shut the door behind her. ‘There must be a chip shop,’ she mused. ‘It can’t be proper seaside without a fish-and-chip shop.’ After all, there were all those fishing-boats in the harbour.

The clerk put her mind at rest. ‘Go down this road –’ she pointed to the road on the right – ‘you’ll find a chip shop on your left.’ As Kathy walked out the door, she called out, ‘Or you can get a roll at the bar here.’

Kathy declined with thanks. ‘I really fancy fish and chips.’ With mushy peas and a few bits of pork crackling, she thought, licking her lips in anticipation.

As she rounded the corner, she saw a telephone box. ‘I wonder if Maggie’s back from the Palais?’ That was where she planned to spend this evening, Kathy recalled.

One by one, she dropped the coins into the box. The operator took the number, but eventually told her there was no answer. ‘She’s probably still on the town with her new fella,’ Kathy mused, disappointed, as she pressed button ‘B’ to get her coins back.

The further she got down the street, the more Kathy could smell the fish and chips. ‘That’ll do for me,’ she muttered, quickening her steps. At that minute, for many reasons, she wished with all her heart that Maggie was here.

There was a queue in the shop. ‘It’s a ten-minute wait if you want cod,’ the woman told her as she came in the door. ‘Dabs and fish-cakes are quicker.’

Kathy assured her she was willing to wait. ‘I’m in no rush.’

From some way behind in the queue, Tom studied her for a minute. With her face turned slightly away it was difficult to see her features clearly, but he suspected she was very pretty, with that handsome profile and thick, shoulder-length hair. In the short time he’d been in West Bay, Jasper had managed to introduce him to quite a number of people, despite his efforts to keep himself to himself, but he could not recall this particular young woman. His suspicion that she was a new arrival was confirmed when the woman in front of her asked, ‘You’re visiting West Bay, are you?’ Only, I saw you getting out of the taxi earlier.’

Kathy told her that, yes, she was a stranger in West Bay. ‘But I hope I’ll be staying for a while.’ In fact, once she was settled, it was Kathy’s intention to seek work. It was the only way she would be able to pay for the many repairs the house obviously needed.

The queue moved swiftly on. Kathy got her fish and chips and walked away. Dipping into the bag, she wolfed down a chip, which was so hot it nearly burned her mouth out. ‘Be careful,’ Tom warned her with a disarming smile. ‘The chips are always straight out of the fat and scalding hot.’

Kathy laughed, a wonderful free laugh that made others turn round. ‘Serves me right,’ she answered. ‘It’ll teach me not to be so greedy.’ When his dark eyes smiled down on her, she felt a rush of embarrassment. Lord, he’s handsome, she thought. Maggie would be chatting him up if she was here.

As she walked on by, Tom was shocked to his roots. ‘My God!’ Swinging round to watch her leave, he realised he had seen her twice before. This was the same woman who had risked life and limb when she ran out in the street to hail a taxi. The second time he had seen her had been in the churchyard. He could hardly believe it. ‘It can’t be!’ It was inconceivable. And yet here she was again, passing so close to him he could have touched her.

It was unnerving, to say the least.

Deciding to take a walk along the harbour, Kathy was unaware that she had caused such chaos in Tom’s mind, though she was inevitably curious about him. Once or twice she glanced back, smiling. ‘What’s wrong with you, Kathy Wilson?’ she chided herself. ‘Anyone would think you’d never seen a good-looking bloke before.’

Munching on her chips, she sauntered over the bridge and on towards the house, where she sat on the garden wall, legs dangling, her quiet eyes taking note of everything: the peeling window-sills, the beautiful solid wood door with its deep-etched panels, and the garden in the foreground with its cavalcade of weeds and giant thistles. ‘So much work!’ she groaned. ‘So much money!’

She must decide how to tackle it, what was urgent, and what could wait until she could afford to get it done.

For a long time she sat there, thinking and calculating and trying desperately to draw a picture in her mind of her father and the woman, Liz. ‘A shy little thing,’ the taxi-driver said, ‘… waved him goodbye from the door.’

Kathy was glad her father had found love and contentment, even if it was only from time to time. ‘I don’t blame you, Dad, for wanting to get away from Mother,’ she whispered. ‘I’m glad you found someone who treated you right … somebody who loved you the way you deserved to be loved.’

A sense of peace took hold of her and for a long minute she was quiet, contemplating her own future. ‘I know why you gave me this house,’ she murmured. ‘You wanted me to be happy here … and maybe, just maybe, to find love.’ She smiled. ‘Already, London seems a long way off. That day, when I took flowers to the churchyard, I had no idea what was in store. I knew nothing about what you’d done … this house, and the fact that you had left it to me in your will.’

She chuckled. ‘You should have seen Mother’s face when she handed the deeds over … I think she’d rather have been handing me a poisoned chalice. And Samantha! What a terrible fuss she made. In the end she got what she wanted – they both have. Mother’s getting wed, secretly hoping he’ll pop his clogs and leave her a rich widow, and Samantha’s been promised the house, and all Mother’s jewellery. What do you think to that, eh?’

A quietness came over her, a kind of resignation. ‘I might be divorced and nearly broke, and you’ve left me a house that needs money spent on it, but I’m richer than either of those two will ever be.’ Kathy truly believed that. ‘Thank you for this lovely house, Daddy,’ she murmured. ‘I’ll look after it, I promise. I’ll get it done up and make it my home.’ With a sense of abandonment, she threw out her arms. ‘I’ll probably stay here for the rest of my life.’

Overwhelmed, she gave vent to her emotions, the tears rolling down her face. ‘I feel close to you here, but, oh, I do miss you so. I don’t suppose you’ll ever know how much.’

From a distance, Tom heard the tail end of her words. Listening to her emotional, one-way conversation he recognised a kindred spirit. ‘She’s just a lost soul … much like yourself,’ he muttered.

Quietly, not wishing to be seen, he went away, back to his cottage and his own company.

That was the way he preferred it.

Not yet ready to return to the caravan, Kathy took a leisurely stroll round the harbour. Leaning on the railings, she finished off her fish and chips and watched the boats in the water. There was something incredibly soothing about watching the water, and here it was like she had never seen before. Where the harbour outlet tapered down to a narrow funnel, the trapped water thrashed against the high walls, moaning and fighting as if trying to escape.