Love Mends

Love Mends

Leslie K. Rose

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

© 2013  Leslie K. Rose, all rights reserved, worldwide. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet or copied without the author's permission.

DISCLAIMER

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or alive, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Chapter 1

“We'd better open the windows. It's a little fusty in here,” Anne said.

“I'm not surprised. How long is it since someone came to stay?” Katherine ran her finger through the dust on the window ledge.

“Ages. It must be at least two years. I think the last person to stay was the school inspector.”

“What was her name? Sarah—that was it.” Katherine smiled. “She was really nice. Do you remember how worried everyone was before she arrived?”

“Mum thought the school would be forced to close.”

The outcome of the inspection wouldn't have affected Anne because it had taken place during her final few months at the school. Even so, she still remembered how concerned every parent on the island had been.

“Sarah's report said the school was one of the best she'd visited that year,” Anne said.

“Do you two actually intend to do any cleaning today?”

They hadn't heard their mother open the door.  

“Sorry Mum,” Anne said. “We were talking about Sarah.”

“The school inspector?”

Anne nodded.

“Don’t remind me. At least we don't have to worry about another inspection for three years.”

“When’s dinner?” Katherine asked.

“The same time as it always is—at seven. There'll be no dinner at all for you if you don't get finished up in here.”

They both knew their mother was joking. Still, the threat was motivation enough for Katherine who enjoyed her food a little too much. Not that anyone would have guessed to look at her slight frame.

“I’ll leave you to get on then,” their mother said. “See you later.”

“What was Grandma like?” Katherine asked, as she lifted the mat.

“Don’t you remember her at all?” Anne was washing the crockery, which had gathered dust since it was last used.

“Not really. I was only five when she died. I can kind of see her face, but I think that’s from the photographs I've seen.”

“She was lovely. She told wonderful stories, and baked the best buns ever.”

“They can't have been as good as Mum’s.”

“Maybe even better. But then, she did teach Mum to bake.”

“What stories did she tell you?”

“She had a million of them. I don’t think she ever told me the same one twice. They were mostly made-up adventure stories set on the island.”

 “Do you think she wrote them down somewhere?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so or we'd have found them when we cleared her things out.”

“What about in the old chests?”

“I suppose there might be something in there.”

“We should ask Mum if we can look.”

“Maybe. I don’t think she likes to look in the chests. She still gets upset.”

“Anne! Katherine! Dinner’s ready!”

By the time David called them, the two girls had worked their way through every room in the cottage.

“I’m starving,” Katherine said, as they followed their younger brother across the yard to the farmhouse.

It seemed to Anne that her sister was always hungry.

“Is the cottage ready for our visitor?” Their father was already seated at the kitchen table.

“All spick and span,” Katherine confirmed.

“Wash your hands girls,” their mother said, without looking up from the stove. “David, fill the water jug please.”

“Who’s coming to stay?” David asked.

“An engineer from the mainland. He'll be here tomorrow.”

“Why’s he coming?”

“To service all the generators on the island.”

“Doesn’t Mr Williams usually do that?” Katherine asked.

“He does, but he hasn’t been well. It could be some time before he’s back on his feet.”

“How long will the engineer be here?” David placed the water jug on the table.

“Probably two weeks. There are a lot of generators on the island for him to look at. It will depend if he finds any problems.”

“Can I watch him working?” David loved nothing better than taking things apart, and then putting them back together again. Unfortunately, he had a habit of having surplus parts at the end of the exercise.

“That’ll be up to the engineer. He might let you watch him work on our generator, but you mustn’t get under his feet.”

“Great!”

“Will he be having his meals with us?” Katherine asked.

“I’ll ask him to join us for dinner on his first night here,” her mother said. “After that, it will be up to him. He may prefer to dine alone in the cottage.”

Chapter 2

“I thought Dad was going to collect him,” Anne said.

“He'd intended to, but he has to help Mrs Davies with her gate. It has come off its hinges. If she doesn’t get it repaired, the sheep will be away. Take David with you.”

“Do I have to? He’ll talk our visitor to death.”

“Better than a journey in silence.” Her mother knew Anne was shy around strangers. “Go and call him—he’s in the barn.”

Anne knew better than to argue.

“David?  Where are you?”

“Up here.” Her brother looked down from the hay loft.

“Come down. We have to go to the quay.”

“Is the engineer here?”

“His boat will be docking soon. Hurry up. We don’t want to keep him waiting.”

David needed no encouragement; he flew down the ladder.

“Can I drive?”

“No. You know what Dad said.”

David had recently been allowed to drive the horse and carriage, but only when under his father’s supervision. Anne was an old hand.

“Here. Put this on.” She passed him his coat. A storm was brewing.

“The sea’s rough today,” Anne said as they approached the small dock. “I hope he has his sea legs.”

“I can’t see the boat,” David was shielding his eyes from the rain as he stared at the horizon.

“It might have been cancelled.”

“Wait! There it is!” David pointed.

It took Anne a few seconds to pick out the vessel. The small boat ran between West Isle and the mainland twice a week—less frequently during the winter months.

“Oh dear.” Anne spotted a figure with his head hanging over the side of the boat. She tethered the horse, and then led David down the steps to the quayside where the boat would soon dock.

As the boat came nearer, Anne could see the young man more clearly. His face was ashen, and he appeared unsteady on his feet.

Once the boat had been secured, the young man climbed out. He had a small suitcase and a toolbox.

“Mr Riley?” Anne asked. He was the only passenger, so the question was somewhat redundant.

He nodded. His lips were pressed tightly together as though he feared he might be sick at any moment.

“Can I carry your toolbox?” David asked.

Without warning, the young man dropped his case and tool box on the quayside, and rushed to the end of the quay.

Anne and David exchanged glances, but didn’t speak, as they waited for the young man to finish being sick.

When he made his way back to them, some of the colour had returned to his face.

“Sorry about that.” He attempted a smile. “I haven’t been on a boat before.”

“Can I take your toolbox?” David repeated.

“Sure. Help yourself.”

David grabbed the handle, but couldn’t lift it more than a few inches off the floor.

“It’s too heavy,” he said, as it clattered back to the ground.

“It’s okay.” The young man smiled. “I’ll take it. I’m feeling much better now.”

“Shall I take your suitcase to the carriage, Mr Riley?” Anne offered.

“Call me Tom please. Mr Riley sounds like you're talking to my father.”

“I’m Anne, and this is David.”

“Pleased to meet you both.” He picked up the suitcase and tool box. “Did you say carriage?”

“Yes. It’s just up there.”

“As in horse and carriage? Not a car?”

“There are no cars on West Isle.”

“None?”

“They aren’t allowed on the island.”

“Will it be very bumpy? After that boat journey, I'm not sure...”

“I’ll take it slowly,” Anne promised.

Chapter 3

On the way back, Tom sat up front with Anne.

“Do you do a lot of travelling for your work?” she asked.

“I didn't used to, but recently—yes, quite a bit. I’ve never been anywhere like this before though. I spend most of my time on motorways. This is the first time I’ve travelled to a job on a boat, or ridden in a horse-drawn carriage.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Anne noticed Tom take something out of his pocket.”

“Where’s the best place on the island to get a signal?” he asked.

“Signal?”

“For my mobile.” He held up a small phone.

“There’s no coverage on the island.”

“Nowhere? None at all?”

“No. There are two landlines in the village. One in the general store and one in the doctor’s surgery.”

“Well, I guess I won’t get pestered by my office. I was going to tweet that I’d arrived on the island.”

Anne wondered if she’d heard him correctly. Maybe ‘tweet’ was a colloquialism she hadn’t come across before.

“Is there Internet access on the island?”

“No.”

“What do you do all day? Watch TV?”

“We don’t have television either. My father has a radio.”

“Can I look in your toolbox?” David asked.

“Okay, but don’t take anything out.”

“Great! Thanks.”

“Is the hotel much further?” Tom asked.

“You’re staying with us.”

“There’s no need. A hotel will be fine.”

“There aren’t any hotels or B&Bs.”

“None at all?”

“We get very few visitors to the island. West Isle isn’t a tourist destination.”

“I guess not. It’s very kind of you to put me up. Will I be staying in the house with your family?”

“No. There’s a separate cottage. It used to be my grandma's. You’ll be staying there.”

 “Right. Is it far?”

“We're almost there.”

“I expect you’re used to the boat,” Tom said.

“No. I hate it.”

“Really. Don't you make the crossing regularly?”

“I’ve only been to the mainland twice.”

“I’ve never been,” David said.

“Only twice? Really? How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind. I’m nineteen. Twenty in January. Not many of the islanders travel to the mainland. I had to go to the hospital there once, and another time, I went to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth removed.”

“I don’t imagine there’s a dentist on the island.”

“No, but we do get a visiting dentist—he comes twice a year. The wisdom tooth was a bit of an emergency.”

“You said you have a doctor though.”

“Yes. Doctor Nolan. He moved here from the mainland a few years ago. He’s retired really, but he has a surgery in his house twice a week.  Here we are—that’s Marley—that's where I live.”