Clouds Below the Mountains (28 page)

“Si, si, Senor Baker. See, I've remembered your name. You will be made very welcome, I'm sure. I must go, as I want to supervise the corkage in the wine cellar. These young waiters,” Andreas shrugged, “ you know how it is?”

“Yes, yes of course,” said Fred. “ Must keep them on their toes, as it were. I say Andreas, did that young woman from somewhere up near Barcelona keep on working here? Eh, she was a lovely girl, what was her name now, Mavis? Do yer know, I can't remember now.”

“Isabella, I think you are talking about Senor. No, she left us soon after your departure. She married and now I think she will be expecting a baby. There's no one left now, who was working when you were here.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, we would have liked to have seen them all again. Never mind, we've seen you and we'll look forward to seeing you in the Autumn.”

“Si, adios, my friend, I will see you then.”

***

“Kate, Sonya, will you look at those two over there trying to get out of the harbour,” cried Greg, as he stood behind Evan's push chair, watching an old couple trying to row their small yacht, out of a line of similar vessels by the harbour wall, although the wind had got up and the vessel was rocking quite dangerously on the choppy water.

“Oh no, they've banged into the side of that one. Let's hope the owner doesn't see what they've done to the paint.”

“Oh, Dad, how can you stand and watch them? Couldn't you go over and give them a push with a pole?”

“Do you think I'm mental, Sonya? If I did that I could end up in the boat beside them and it's a hell of a drop from that harbour wall.”

“Well someone ought to help them,” said Kate, sympathetically. “ They look ninety if they're a day

and one of them might have a heart attack.”

“It's their own fault for choosing a choppy day to go out in,” remarked a bystander, part of a group of people who had come to have a look. “ It looks like two steps forward and one step back to me.”

The crowd got bigger, as the two hapless sailors scrabbled about, first putting up the small mast, in case they could blow themselves out of their predicament. Then the woman of the duo, dressed in black oilskins and a yellow souwester hat, fell against the side of the yacht and nearly tipped herself out!

“Obviously not taken a course in tacking,” said a smart alec nearby, but continued standing where he was, instead of shouting his advice.

“This is like watching Mick, Mac and Morency,” said someone else who had come to ogle.

“My, you're showing your age, aren't yer? Weren't they going before the War?” said another.

“Look, look they're out,” shouted Kate. “ Come on, go for it, swing to your right, swing to your right!”

“Hush Kate, you're showing us up. Move to your left now, watch the boom!” shouted Greg. The crowd sighed en masse, as the little boat smacked into a bigger boat, where the outraged owner leapt up from where he had been working in his galley.

“Get your pole and give them a push!” the crowd began shouting at the startled owner, which he did immediately, adding a few oaths in Spanish as he did so.

“Give it up, give it up,” the crowd started chanting, when the little yacht smashed into another boat, not much bigger than itself and it began to list to one side. “ Oh no, I can't look,” said Sonya, burying her head in her father's shoulder. “ They're going to capsize their boat, the way they're carrying on.”

At last the two would be sailors decided to call it a day and try to daddy their little yacht back into its berth, but not without difficulty, as the crowd looked on. They tied up, mounted the steps and looked sheepishly at all and sundry, while a ripple of applause from the spectators began.

***

“I've got my own news to tell you,” said Lucy, as she and Jenni sat on sun loungers after they'd had an early lunch, Lucy having completed her laundry and now had a pile of ironing and Jenni, after buying her sparkly sandals, had spent ten minutes looking out to sea and then had come back again.

“Well, I hope it's good news,” said Jenni, peering at her new sandals that she had worn as soon as she'd bought them, wondering if she was going to see a blister on her little toe.

“I don't know if it is actually. I got this call on my mobile last night from a chap who works on one of the travel desks. I didn't know I had an admirer, but it seems he has had his eye on me, whilst I've been tooing and froing from the airport and he asked one of my colleagues for my mobile number.”

“And are you going on a date with him?” asked Jenni, brightening up at the thought of her footloose and fancy free friend, actually deciding to meet a bloke.

“He wanted to meet me today, said he would travel to wherever I suggested, but that's not my style, Jenni. I said I had a lot to do today and I would have a look at him on Tuesday, when I'm on the next airport run.”

“You didn't say you'd have a look at him first, did you?”, asked Jenni, unbelievingly. “Oh, I'll be able to look at him too, because I'll be at the airport with you.”

“I actually said we could have a look at each other and see if we suit. He might be ugly. He might be smaller than me and then I wouldn't be able to wear high heels. He might have blackheads and I would want to keep squeezing them for him. He might be going bald and eventually want to wear a toupee. I couldn't begin a relationship with a man I didn't fancy.”

“Oh, Lucy,” Jenni laughed, “ I bet he's good looking. If he's working on a travel desk and representing a company, they're not going to employ someone who puts the customers off.”

“Well, we'll see. He'll have to be really handsome for me to bother to have a date with him. Men can be so time consuming, can't they?”

***

“I think we'll wander back now,” said Greg, after Evan had waved the pirate ship off from its moorings, on its way out to sea. “Evan looks a bit sleepy and I think we've had enough excitement for one day. We might just manage to get back to the hotel for a late lunch.”

“It's a good job we went to the children's play area on our way here,” said Kate. “I bet Evan will have dropped off by the time we pass the place again. What do you want to do this afternoon, Sonya?” she asked, as they fell into step with one another after Greg had negotiated the very steep ramp. “Do you fancy a swim and a bit more time on the sun loungers?”

“Actually, I thought I might go in search of Mikey,” she said, deciding to tell her mother her plan, though she could see her father frowning beside her. “ You know I told you last night when I caught up with you, that he wants me to be part of his show on Tuesday night? Well I actually told him that I didn't think I was up to it. But, that was because I'd feel shown up in front of that Cheryl, but seeing as she said hello to me this morning, I've changed my mind.”

“And what will you be doing exactly?” asked Greg, slowing down so that he could talk to his daughter. “Never mind showing yourself up, you should be thinking of me and your mother.”

“I'll be taking the part of Freida in his Tribute to Abba production,” she said indignantly. “ What's up, Dad, did you think he had asked me to be a stripper?”

Greg laughed and started walking on, shaking his head in amusement.

“Anyway, Mum,” she continued, “ you know I've been singing all their songs since I was a baby and I have a look of her, except my hair is longer and I'm younger, but it's the clothes I've been worrying about, because Mikey has only got stuff suitable for Susanne who's taking the part of Agnetha. So, I've decided on that long sleeved tan blouse I brought with me and that cream skirt with the frill on the bottom and if you can lend me your black T' bar shoes, I know they'll be a bit tight, but no matter, I think I might look quite convincing. What do you think?”

“Well it sounds as if you've thought everything out, though if you haven't told Mikey yet that you will take the part, you're making plans for nothing. Is there a rehearsal?”

“Yes, tomorrow afternoon. Though you may be right and he could be looking around, as we speak, for someone else who's suitable.”

“I doubt it,” said Greg, quite proudly, stopping in his tracks to face his daughter. “ No one could sing their songs as well as you can.”

***

“Excuse me, Sir,” interrupted a young man, whose name badge said “Jonathan”, as he stood in their path before the promenade restaurants. “Are you and your family on holiday here?”

“Yes,” replied Greg, regarding him suspiciously. “ We are going back a week on Tuesday.”

“Are you in an hotel or an apartment?”

“What on earth has that got to do with you?”

“Oh sorry, I'm only trying to do my job, Sir. Would you like one of these scratch cards?”

“Why would I want a scratch card?”

“Oh go on, Dad,” said Sonya, quite taken by the smart appearance of the guy with his brown short back and sides haircut, wearing a white short sleeved shirt and black chinos and with a hint of sun burn on his quite handsome face. “ Humour him, you've got nothing to lose.”

“Well, nobody gets anything for nothing,” Greg replied, not accepting the card that the young man held out to him. “Isn't that right, young man?”

“Oh, give one here,” said Sonya, taking one of the scratch cards from Jonathan. “ Have you got a coin for me to scratch with?”

Sonya scratched off two blank squares, then the third one revealed a picture of a wad of currency.

“Look, we've won fifty quid!”, she shouted, hopping up and down with delight.

“I said before, no one gets anything for nothing,” Greg said dourly, taking the winning card off his daughter and handing it back to the young man. “ Now tell me what your game is?”

“Honestly, Sir, if you come with me up to that new apart-hotel, you can see peeping out of those palm trees, you will be given fifty pounds and I'll get 10% commission.”

“But?”

“But you have to listen to an hour long presentation, on a share in a holiday home.”

“Well, thank you for your honesty,” Greg said hastily, noticing the interest on his wife and daughter's faces. “Come on you two, we'll be late for our lunch. Have a nice day, young man.”

***

“This is nice, Fred,” said Mavis, as they studied the menu whilst they sat at a table in one of the sea front cafe's. “We used to come here for our lunch occasionally, if we didn't go up the other end.”

“I know, love. I remembered they did all day breakfasts cheaper than the other places, but didn't skimp on the quantity. I'm not saying yer have to have an all day breakfast, Mavis. You can choose what yer like, I don't mind.”

“Well, seeing it's Sunday and we're missing the carvery at the Valia, why don't we have the roast beef dinner? Are you sure you want to shell out for a meal here, Fred, when we've already paid for it at our hotel?”

“I told yer I was going to treat yer today, Mavis. It'll make up fer a couple of things you've been on about lately.”

“Like what, Fred?”, Mavis put on an innocent face.

“Oh, yer know, things. Look are yer going to pick summat off that list, or not?”

***

Lucy popped back to her apartment for a short while to get a bit of ironing done. It had been pleasant sitting with Jenni, but she really needed some “me time”, a little time when she didn't need to think about what she was saying to anyone. She began to iron her blouses, sipping on a glass of orange that she had brought with her from the pool bar.

Her mobile rang and she uttered a curse. If that was that Adam Bradshaw she'd tell him in no uncertain terms… but it wasn't Adam, it was Kath.

“Oh, hello, Kath,” she said in a surprised voice. “ I didn't think you'd be ringing me today, is there a problem about tonight?”

“No, I'm still on for courier duties, Lucy, but there might be a problem with one of the guests,” she said. “I know it's your day off and I'm sorry for disturbing you, but you know that young couple, Mr. and Mrs. Greenfield? Well he's just been onto the office and said his wife is hysterical. He's so worried that he thinks that he should call a doctor out.”

“Oh heck. Well can't you come over and sort it out, I'm rather busy at the moment?”

“I would Lucy, but I have to start getting ready to leave soon. I've still got to have a shower and wash my hair, then change for my evening out at Raffles. If I come round I might get too involved and then I'll miss the coach there.”

“Oh Kath, I've no experience with hysterical women…”

“Well neither have I, but you're on the spot and I'm not!” Kath's voice became more authoritative, as she tried to instill a sense of duty into her subordinate, due to detecting a note of unwillingness in Lucy's voice. “If you have too much trouble with her, say she starts becoming a nuisance, get Reception to call Mr. Sanchez at home. He'll sort her out, as he won't want her upsetting the other guests.”

“Where is she now?” asked Lucy, her spirits plummeting at the thought of facing Tracy Greenwood.

“I suppose she's in her room, her husband didn't say where he was ‘phoning from. Ask Reception for their room number when you go in. Must dash now, good luck……” The ‘phone went dead in Lucy's hand.

***

“Well Jean, I must say you've chosen a delightful location for us to enjoy afternoon tea,” said Harry, looking out of the cafe window appreciatively, at the sun dappled waves that were crashing on the shore.

“It is lovely, isn't it?”, she replied, looking happily at her guests and the chintzy furnishings,

“Anyway, you can choose any cake you want from the display over there, I'm going to have a slice of that sickly looking coffee cake, with the chocolate chips on top.”

“ I must say you're all looking quite the ladies today,” said Harry, continuing with his charm offensive. “ There's you looking splendid in your floral dress, Milly, Dorothy equally delightful in your pretty two piece and Jean, last but not least, Jean. Lilac was my dear wife's favourite colour and your twin set brings a different hue to your lovely eyes.”