Page 25 of Summer at Harbour View House
Jago coughed. ‘Nah, she’s an old gas-bagger. Her old man drove the minibus what picked us all up.’
‘We’ll pay you back,’ Natasha said, but Jago flapped a hand at her. ‘Don’t you’s worry. She’ll let it go after we ‘ave a word over a brew. Right, I’d better get a move on. Gotta run to St. Austell and pick me lad up off the train.’
‘Your son?’
‘Yeah, me boy’s back from overseas this morning. I’ll bring ‘e down to meet you’s later if you’s gonna be about.’
Figuring it was the least they could do after Jago had saved their belongings from Lizzie Hawkins, Natasha nodded. ‘That would be great. We’re staying at 14B, just up there on Juliot Lane.’
‘Ah,’ Jago said, laughing. ‘The tumbledown.’
Natasha winced. ‘Yeah … that’s it.’
‘Owned by some rich old mare, supposedly,’ Jago said. ‘Don’t know that she’s ever been down ‘ere.’
‘It … ah, doesn’t look like it.’
‘Well, let me know if you’s need to borrow a strimmer.’
‘Will do.’
‘Right, better get on.’ Jago poked a thumb back over his shoulder. ‘And you’s might want to go rescue your drawers before they float out to sea.’
Natasha found herself blushing on Hannah’s behalf. Hannah herself just let out a nervous titter.
‘Thanks, will do.’
Jago nodded. ‘By the way, have either of you’s seen a chicken?’
9
A bit of DIY and a Taste of Local
‘You didn’t haveto tell him you’d given Charlie a name,’ Natasha said, watching the chicken as he strutted around the improvised coop they’d made on the front patio out of a circle of old crates, having first cleared the space of weeds. ‘We’re struggling enough to look after ourselves.’
‘Jago said he’d be a good luck charm,’ Hannah said. ‘You know, I was wrong about him, wasn’t I?’
‘I’m pretty sure he wasn’t planning to chainsaw us in our beds.’
‘You can never be too careful. Do you think there are any normal people around here?’
Natasha shrugged. ‘No idea. Let’s just unpack a little, see if we can fix the front door, and then go and have a wander about.’
It ended up that Hannah, who didn’t appear to have any practical skills, was left to see what remained in the kitchen, while Natasha had to figure out the front door. She found a box of tools in the shed, but removing and replacing an old set of rusted hinges proved beyond her DIY skills. In the end, she just propped the door up in the entrance with a piece of paper pinned to the front with the message UNSTABLE – PLEASE USE BACK DOOR written on it in felt tip pen. She then set about trying to cut a path to the back door, in order that prospective callers could actually use it.
She was still toiling in the garden, hacking away at brambles and weeds with the scythe, when Hannah opened the back door. She had showered and changed into a skimpy one-piece floral dress, and was barefoot, her skin glistening with moisturiser, toes separated by sponge pads. Her hair shimmered and she had redone her makeup. She held up a wine glass filled with a clear liquid.
‘It’s break time,’ she said.
Natasha put down the scythe, pulled a piece of bramble off her shirt, then wiped her muddy hands on her jeans. ‘Please tell me that’s wine,’ she said.
Hannah grinned. ‘No, it’s water. But I did find some lemon juice to spice it up a little.’
Natasha couldn’t help but smile. ‘Better than nothing.’
‘Oh, wow,’ Hannah said. ‘I didn’t know there was a path there.’
‘Nor did I,’ Natasha said. ‘The surprises just keep on coming, don’t they?’
