Page 27 of Secrets and Seashells at Rainbow Bay
I felt a bit guilty letting Arthur look after Charlie again, but both of them seemed to enjoy spending time with each other. When I’d confessed to Dorothy that I thought I might be burdening Arthur with this role, she’d told me not to worry. Apparently, they’d never been blessed with any children, so Arthur was revelling in his new role of teacher and guardian to the young Earl.
I’d tried not to wince too visibly when she’d called Charlie that. I was beginning to understand they couldn’t help it. Dorothy and Arthur had lived in this castle all their lives; they were programmed to be subservient to their bosses. They simply didn’t know a different way.
‘It’s a relief, I must say,’ I tell Tom as we walk together towards Tom’s latest job. He was to clean all the castle’s silverware, beginning in the Great Hall with the suits of armour and all the weaponry.
I’m pretty sure this wasn’t exactly what Dorothy had meant when she’d asked Tom to clean the silver, but Arthur had insisted that this needed doing first.
‘After that first day in the tower, I’d wondered how I was going to keep an eye on him all the time. It won’t be too bad once he starts at his new school next week, but until then, I need eyes like a hawk!’
‘Boys will be boys,’ Tom says, pulling open one of the two heavy wooden doors that lead into the Great Hall. ‘Madam,’ he says, pretending to bow as he stands back to let me pass.
‘Thank you, kind sir,’ I say, playing along. Tom is one of the few people here who treats me like a regular person. I never need to reprimand him for being over-formal with me, and that makes me like him all the more.
The Great Hall is eerily quiet as the door closes behind us and we stand looking up at our stately surroundings. ‘At least you haven’t got to fight your way through the crowds to get to everything,’ I say. ‘We’ve only had about eight visitors in total today.’
‘It can’t be that bad, can it?’
‘I think it can. But hopefully things will get better as the season moves on. We’ve only just had Easter; it’s early days.’
‘It is indeed, and with all your new ideas, those awful reviews will soon become things of the past!’
‘What awful reviews?’ I ask, staring at him.
‘Oh . . . er . . . I assumed you’d seen them.’
‘No, where? Oh, let me guess, on TripAdvisor, right?’
Tom nods apologetically.
‘I guess I’d better take a look. Oh, I don’t have my phone on me,’ I lie, feeling towards my pocket. The truth is I’d only just got around to ordering myself a better phone; I’d quickly found my basic model just isn’t suitable for running this place. People need to get hold of me all the time, and I need to keep up to date on emails and messages. Arthur offered me a walkie-talkie to keep in touch, but I turned it down, saying that as soon as my phone arrived, we could just all text each other when we needed someone, or perhaps we could have a castle WhatsApp group?
Arthur hadn’t even dignified this suggestion with a reply.
‘Here, use mine,’ Tom says, passing me his iPhone. ‘There’s pretty good 4G here, the castle doesn’t have Wi-Fi in the public rooms yet, does it?’
‘Thank you,’ I say, taking it from him. ‘No, only in the offices and some of the private rooms. But it’s definitely something we should think about for the future. It’s what people want these days.’
I open the internet via the 4G on Tom’s phone and find TripAdvisor, then I search for Chesterford Castle. The results are not pretty.
‘Tired, dated (and I don’t just mean the castle!) and very, very dull.’ 3 stars.
‘My kids were bored stiff, and there were not enough toilets.’ 2 stars.
‘No tour guide to speak of – unless you count the grumpy old man we met while wandering around, who told us to keep off the grass! And nowhere to get refreshments.’ 1 star.
‘No free Wi-Fi & no interactive experiences.’ 1 star.
And so it goes on. Review after bad review. There are a few good ones scattered in amongst the poor ones, but even they’re bad in their own way.
‘Loved how basic everything was. A true historical experience.’ 5 stars.
‘No fuss. No frills. Just history.’ 5 stars.
‘Cheer up!’ Tom says from the window where he’s been attempting to dismantle one of the suits of armour. ‘Things can only get better – as the song says.’
‘I do hope you’re right,’ I say, still staring at the phone. ‘Oh, you have a call.’ I hurriedly pass Tom back his phone, as I see the letter J flash on the display.
‘Do you mind if I take this?’ Tom says, glancing at the screen.
