Page 35 of A Fresh Start on Crumcarey
‘Sorry!’ he said in horror, realising too late that McGregor had hold of the ends of her shoelaces and was tugging at them with all his might.
‘Don’t worry about him!’ chuckled the woman. ‘He seems to be having fun…’
Luke smiled uneasily at that. As long as the little monster’s fun didn’t head towards the slightly more vicious kind! Luke had witnessed a good few ankles being savaged in McGregor’s youth, though he did seem to have mellowed a bit in his old age.
‘I just wanted to ask,’ said the woman, ‘you’re local, right?’
‘Erm…’ Luke thought about explaining his complex relationship with the island he’d always thought of as home… and then he shrugged. ‘Yep. Local,’ he agreed.
‘Well, I was just wondering if you could tell me where the art gallery is?’
‘Art gallery?’ he said raising his eyebrows.
‘Yes – one that sells paintings like the ones in this!’ she pulled a copy of the new Crumcarey guidebook out of her pocket, and Luke caught a glimpse of one of Rowan’s beautiful paintings on the front cover.
‘I don’t think there’s a gallery on Crumcarey,’ said Luke.
‘Oh,’ said the woman, wilting slightly. ‘That’s a shame, I would have loved to buy an original while we’re here. I thought the artist was local.’
‘She is – but she’s off painting around the world at the moment,’ said Luke. ‘Why don’t you ask Olive at The Tallyaff? If Rowan’s got any paintings for sale, she’ll know all about it. I’m sure she’ll be happy to put you in touch.’
‘Oh, perfect,’ said the woman. ‘Thank you!’
Luke smiled, and then gave McGregor’s lead a surreptitious tug, just as the little dog started to nibble at the bottom of the woman’s jeans. McGregor gave him a look as if to sayspoilsport.
It didn’t take too long for Stella and Frank to make their way through the queue. As the crowd dispersed, Luke ambled up to the window and Stella greeted him with a broad smile.
‘How’s it going?’ he said.
‘Mad,’ said Frank, grinning at him from over Stella’s shoulder.
‘Good,’ added Stella.
‘Unexpected!’ they said together, and then started laughing.
Luke smiled at the pair of them. Stella was Olive’s daughter, and she’d moved back to Crumcarey not that long ago, bringing with her both her true loves – Ruby and Frank.
The pair of them were mad about the cold weather and isolation Crumcarey offered, so he could only imagine this unprecedented influx of visitors was a little bit unsettling for them.
‘It’s all good,’ said Stella. ‘We’re making the most of the visitors now and looking forward to a peaceful winter.’
‘Good call,’ said Luke. ‘On that note… can I have a 99 with a flake please.’
‘Fudge sauce?’ said Frank. ‘I’ve just made a new batch.’
‘Oh yes!’ breathed Luke, lifting his nose and catching the hot, sweet caramel scent in the air. Maybe he should bring Maggie down here when she was done with her shift…
‘Why don’t you grab a seat. I’ll bring it over to you,’ said Stella.
Luke grinned. There weren’t any seats in sight, but he was more than happy to plonk his bum down onto one of the wide, flat stones at the top of the beach while he waited.
Now that the rest of the visitors had disappeared, he decided it would be safe to let McGregor off his lead. The little dog promptly pottered off to do a circuit of the van, licking up patches of spilt ice cream as he went, before ambling down ontothe beach to chase bits of seaweed as they fluttered in the fresh sea breeze.
Luke rested Maggie’s box of drawings on his lap and took the lid off. Then, carefully taking hold of the bundle of pages, he began to look through them.
They were just as beautiful as he remembered – and even more detailed. So – it hadn’t just been his first impression then – Maggie was seriously skilled. As for the materials she’d used, they really were well-considered.
Obviously, this being an island without any trees, new timber wasn’t exactly easy to come by. But therewereplenty of abandoned buildings with roofs that had caved in. That meant there were old rafters and sarking boards that could easily be re-purposed with a bit of extra work. There was any amount of stone available, too - and the thick roof slates from the ancient buildings made beautiful flagstones.
