12
Olive
Even with a quilt on the bed and her padded coat draped over the top, Olive was still cold. Perhaps it wasn’t the wisest move to sleep away from the warmth of the fire. It certainly had trouble reaching her end of the boat. Her toes were frozen, her limbs tight, and her bladder full.
It was no good, she couldn’t sleep. At least the lack of heat had numbed her cheek a touch. She sat up and removed the green pad from the porthole window to peer outside. It was pitch black and eerily quiet.
The tall blue portable toilet that sat between the house and boat was her next journey, and not one she cared to take.
Olive wrapped herself in her coat, pushed her feet into sheepskin boots, and fumbled through the darkness, heading for the other end of the boat.
Zach was curled on his makeshift bed, a dressing gown and blanket as his bedding. The fire in the burner was dying out but still warm enough for Olive to place her hands close by to defrost for a moment.
She smiled as her fingers came back to life, then she examined Zach.
He looks good asleep. I wonder what I look like sleeping .
She gathered her wayward curls into a messy bun, thinking her hair no doubt made her look dishevelled in bed. The memory of Emilio suggesting she woke before him to put some makeup on sprung to mind. Apparently women did that, he had told her. He said he would appreciate the effort.
Olive touched her face, wondering how bad she looked naturally, then flinched as she caught her injured cheekbone.
Zach stirred, groaned, then settled again.
Her bladder couldn’t wait much longer, so she plodded outside, gasping as the bitter chill immediately took her breath away.
‘Goodness, what the…’
She stumbled, kicking something in the process, and swore under her breath.
‘I can’t see any…’
The item by her foot caught her attention as she stepped onto the grassy verge. Lowering for closer inspection, she noticed it was a portable lantern.
‘Yes!’ she whispered, feeling her way around its base for a switch.
The lamp came on just enough to light a foot in front, but it was better than nothing, and she soon found the toilet. After a moment of scrabbling with the lock, she was inside the unpleasant booth.
‘Oh, wow, what is that smell?’
It was a now or never moment, and her bladder told her to just get the job done and scarper back to bed. Weird noises were coming from the surrounding trees, and she was sure the box she was huddled in moved when the wind blew.
Olive placed the lamp on the floor, sorted herself, used the hand sanitiser on the side, not feeling much in the way of sanitised, then left as quickly as she could, making a mental note to tell Zach to buy an air freshener for the loo.
Maybe I can persuade him to buy a toilet for the boat tomorrow. It’s not too much to ask. I’m sure he’d like a proper loo as well. Ooh, do they have proper toilets on narrowboats? We had a rather nice bathroom on our yacht. Don’t see why this boat has to be any different. I wonder where the waste goes .
‘Who’s there?’ came a deep voice.
Olive screamed, swinging the lantern from left to right, hoping to whack the intruder.
‘Jeez, Olive!’ yelled Zach.
She raised the light to see him wiggling a finger in one ear. ‘Oh, Zach, it’s you.’
‘Yeah, it’s me. What the heck are you doing wandering around out here?’ He stumbled forward, tripping as she moved the lamp.
‘I had to use the bathroom.’ Her teeth started chattering on the last word.
‘Come on, let’s get back inside before we catch our death.’
Olive was way ahead of him. Perhaps some more woodchips in the burner wouldn’t be a bad idea. She quickly clambered back inside the boat and huddled on his bed. ‘Shall we have some tea?’ She touched her mouth, as her lips felt numb.
Zach added some wood to the burner, poking the ashes to shift things around. ‘Anything to help us defrost would be good.’
Olive jumped up and grabbed the green camping kettle. It was empty so she used the bottle of water on the side to fill it halfway, then turned to the stove. Having never switched on any type of oven in her life, she took a moment to figure it out, but Zach came behind her, turned a dial, pressed a button that made a clicking noise, and stayed close to her back until a ring lit up.
‘Put the kettle on top. It’ll whistle when hot.’
She did as she was instructed, then reached for two mugs. ‘I never thought I’d miss having a tap.’
Zach moved the lamp and pointed at the small sink. ‘There is one but it’s broken, and the boiler is broken as well, otherwise it would heat the water from the tank.’
‘There’s a water tank?’
‘Yeah, but it needs filling. I wasn’t fussed about having much here, as I knew I wouldn’t be on here long.’
Olive turned, offering a warm smile as best she could with numb lips. ‘I guess the time will fly by. It normally does.’
He smiled back. ‘I’m sorry I brought you here. I don’t know what to say.’
‘Don’t be sorry. I can adapt.’ At least she thought she could. After all, Gio was doing just fine living by the river, and he had less space than her.
‘If it makes you feel any better, I’m adapting too.’
‘Oh, I didn’t think this was a big change for you. Isn’t this where you grew up?’
‘Yes, but it’s been years since I lived here.’
Olive went to the fridge to get the milk. ‘Are you missing London already?’
‘No. I’m just missing all the mod cons.’
Olive laughed. ‘I bet you thought this would be a breeze.’
‘It would be if—’
‘I weren’t here?’
Zach shook his head. ‘I was going to say, if the boat was up and running properly.’ He grinned as he gestured to a door. ‘You know, some of these things have very nice showers.’
‘I’m sure we can manage with a quick wash for a few days.’
Zach burst out laughing. ‘You’ve changed your tune.’
‘After using that germ bucket out there at two in the morning in the middle of winter, I think I could be on one of those survival shows.’
‘Yeah, you might change your mind after a few more days living like this.’
She stabbed a finger at his chest. ‘Ha! I think you’re the one who has already changed your mind. Thought roughing it would be a piece of cake, did you?’
Zach put teabags into the mugs. ‘I’ve got this. I used to be in the Scouts, I’ll have you know. I’ve got badges for all sorts of skills.’
Olive chuckled. ‘I feel so much better knowing you can sing songs around a camp fire.’
‘See, there you go. Tomorrow night, we’ll have a singsong.’
‘No offence, but I’m looking forward to the fire part.’
He glanced to the wood burner. ‘We’ll warm up in a jiffy.’
The kettle whistled, and Zach took over making the tea, with Olive watching his every move.
She felt a slight skip in her step as her positivity levels lifted. Perhaps she was stronger than she thought. And maybe, purely from observation, as she didn’t want to let Zach know she had no Scouts badges of her own, she too could learn how to look after herself. How hard could it be to make some toast or light the fire or have a wash with a bowl of water?
She had endured the hotel she had been dumped in by Emilio, so life on a narrowboat shouldn’t be too bad.
‘I know something that might help,’ said Zach, gesturing for her to sit on his bed. He handed her a mug of tea and joined her side. ‘We have the leccy running from the house, so we could plug in an electric heater up the other end of the boat. I can see if anyone’s got one we can use.’
‘What about a shower?’ she asked, filled with hope.
‘Not sure about that one.’
Olive shrugged one shoulder, realising her arm was resting on his. ‘I guess we could swim in the river,’ she joked.
He raised his mug to chink with hers. ‘Here’s to the windows going in soon.’
She smiled, then sipped her drink, feeling her body start to come back to life. ‘If we get any electric heaters we can use them in the house, yes?’
‘Once I get everything installed and switched on, we’ll have gas central heating, hot water, comfy beds.’
‘Mine’s comfortable.’
‘Hmm, well…’ He sipped his tea.
‘We can take turns,’ she said sheepishly, knowing full well she had taken his bed.
‘Let’s see how things go.’
Olive breathed out a small laugh. ‘You do like to save money, don’t you?’
‘It took me a long time to raise what I needed to rebuild here, so, yeah, I’m careful about that sort of thing. I mostly learned to budget when my mum passed away. I had to keep everything stable and secure for my brother.’ Zach shifted back a little. ‘It’s just who I am now.’
‘At least you know who you are. I haven’t a clue anymore.’
He looked her way. ‘You’re still you, Olive.’
She locked eyes with him for a moment, then stared into her mug. ‘Maybe I don’t want to be me anymore.’
‘So change then.’
‘You make it sound easy.’
Zach gave her a slight nudge. ‘All you’ve got to do is work on the things you don’t like about yourself.’
That would be being poor .
She twisted her mouth to one side. ‘It’s strange knowing my life will never be the same again.’
‘I felt that way when my mum died.’
‘I just felt abandoned when my mum passed away.’ She slowly bobbed her head. ‘My dad wasn’t really a full-time parent. What about yours?’
Zach shrugged the shoulder touching hers. ‘Never met him. He left my mum when she was pregnant.’
‘What about your brother’s dad? Was he a good step-father to you?’
‘Same thing happened with Cody’s father. Mum used to say she must be cursed.’ He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.
‘Lightning doesn’t strike twice, eh? I definitely know that’s not true. I have, or rather had, a friend who has been run over by a car three times in her life. All by red cars too. Strange.’
‘That is odd.’
Olive shuffled off the bed and placed her cup by the sink. She glanced over her shoulder, adding a small wave. ‘I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. Best to head back to bed.’ It was a total fib. She was feeling way too comfortable sitting by his side, sharing snippets of their lives. She had to focus on herself now, and as she was feeling a touch more confident, she figured she’d better get on with it whilst she could.
‘Goodnight, Olive,’ he said softly.
‘Goodnight,’ she replied, and darted off to the colder end of the boat.
What the hell am I going to do to make the money I need to get out of here? I know lots of people with money. How did they do it?
She closed her eyes, snuggling deeper beneath the quilt, going over all the possible ways to get rich quick that didn’t involve anything corrupt. There was no way she wanted to be like her father. Zach had a better head. Perhaps if she studied him she could pick up some tips on how to find success. After all, he seemed happy enough being a hotel manager and now the owner of a boating business. Maybe she could start small like him, then build her way back up to where she used to be.
Wasn’t mine though. It was his .
She used to think her father a great man. Someone who had a rags to riches story. Gained respect and millions within a few short years. He was smart, assertive, fearless. Now all she could see was a selfish man who cared little for anyone or anything except the next big pay day.
Olive’s lip trembled, and she tensed, fighting off the pain, the heartache. She didn’t want to cry anymore. She was tired of her old life, so why did she still crave it so badly? Trying to analyse herself helped her drift off into a deep sleep, where she had a dream about being rescued from pirates by a man with piercing blue eyes.