Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
ANDY
‘ T his?’ said Andy, striking a pose to catch Cath’s attention.
Cath turned and looked straight towards his empty hands.
‘What?’ she said, looking confused. Then she spotted the lampshade he’d put on his head and was now wearing as a fetching, tasselled hat.
‘As much as it suits you,’ she said, her face creasing with laughter, ‘it’s got a huge tear down the back, so I think that can go in the dispose pile.’
‘The dispose mountain, you mean?’ said Andy, removing the lampshade and tossing it towards the heap of stuff that would be off to the local tip the minute he could find someone to lend Cath a van for the job.
Andy had noticed that she’d become more decisive and a bit more ruthless with her decisions as they worked their way through box after box. The town had certainly been generous with their donations… but their historical value was rather lacking.
To be fair to Cath though, anything that could be rehomed or recycled had been added to a different pile. Andy had no doubt that she’d make sure it would all find the right homes eventually.
All in all, he was having far more fun than the task warranted. After her initial nervousness about getting stuck in “in case she got it wrong”, Cath had led the way with gusto.
There had been plenty of laughs along the way, especially when they’d come across a suitcase full of comedy sunglasses. They’d spent a good ten minutes trying the stars and heart-shaped frames on for size. That case had made its way into the “display” pile… even though Cath had admitted that she had no idea how she was ever going to use them.
‘What about this?’ said Cath, popping an old naval captain’s hat onto her head.
‘Erm… well… I guess if you plan on doing any nautical-themed displays, it might come in handy. And it might have some history to it,’ said Andy.
‘It’s a keeper, then,’ said Cath.
‘Yeah… though you might want to take it off,’ said Andy, struggling to keep a smile off his face.
‘Why?’ said Cath with an exaggerated pout. ‘Doesn’t it suit me?’
‘Oh, it definitely does,’ said Andy slowly. In fact, she looked decidedly cute in it, but… ‘I just think you might want to wipe that splodge of ancient seagull poop off it before it goes on display… or on your head!’
‘Eww, gross!’ said Cath, grabbing the hat and whipping it off before inspecting it at arm’s length. ‘Nice!’ she laughed, noting the ominous white stain.
‘It could be paint?’ said Andy.
‘Nope, I think you were right with your first guess!’ laughed Cath, popping it on the “display” pile, nonetheless.
Andy checked the bottom of the cardboard box he’d been emptying for any lurking leftovers, and then with a little cheer, he turned it over to slice the tape neatly with a pair of scissors.
‘That’s another empty!’ he said triumphantly.
‘Phew. Well… we’re getting somewhere,’ said Cath, putting her hands on her hips and stretching her back.
‘The joys of teamwork, eh,’ said Andy, dusting his hands together.
‘Yep. And here’s another empty,’ said Cath, bending down and removing an old KitKat tin from the bottom of the box she’d been working on.
‘Chuck it here,’ said Andy, holding out his hand for the box.
Cath tossed it to him and Andy broke it down. Bundling all the cardboard up together, he carted it over to the already impressive stack beside the door.
‘What’s up?’ he said curiously, noticing that Cath was still staring at the floor when he came back.
‘How long have we been at it?’ she said, glancing at him.
Andy shook back his sleeve to look at his watch. ‘About… two hours,’ he said. ‘Why?’
‘Because it’s taken us two hours to make our way down through the layers to our very first patch of newly cleared carpet,’ said Cath.
‘Blimey!’ chuckled Andy, glancing at the spot Cath was pointing at. ‘I always thought the carpet in here was a kind of motheaten grey!’
‘Erm… try dark navy,’ said Cath, scrunching up her nose. ‘That gives us some idea how long that stack of boxes has been sitting there!’
‘And how long it’s been since anyone ran a hoover around this place,’ said Andy.
‘I’ll add it to my to-do list,’ said Cath, running her fingers through her hair. ‘Though I haven’t actually spotted a hoover yet.’
‘You know what this means, right?’ said Andy.
‘That it’s going to take ages to get this place open to the public?’ said Cath, looking like she was slowly deflating.
‘Nope,’ said Andy, shaking his head. ‘It means it’s time for us to celebrate.’
‘What—just because we uncovered our first bit of carpet?’ said Cath.
‘Exactly!’ said Andy. ‘Celebrate the small wins. Besides, it’s lunchtime. My treat, if you fancy it?’
He crossed his fingers behind his back and watched as Cath stared around her at the piles of chaos. They were marginally more organised than when they’d started a few hours ago, but in reality, they’d barely scratched the surface. Andy could see that Cath was loathe to take a break, but she also looked tired and overwhelmed.
‘A bite to eat and something to drink, and you’ll be ready to jump straight back in,’ he said, doing his best to sound encouraging. ‘You never know—Heather might have some fruit slices left.’
‘Okay, those were the magic words!’ said Cath, turning to smile at him. ‘You win.’
‘I thought the mention of a fruit slice might sway you,’ he said. ‘Let’s go!’
Andy felt like a bit of an idiot as the pair of them wandered down the high street towards the bakery… mainly because he couldn’t wipe the broad smile off his face.
It was odd. He usually took a while to feel truly comfortable around new people, but Cath was so easy to chat to that he felt like he’d known her for years. They’d worked side-by-side all morning, and there hadn’t been many silences… and the ones there had been had felt friendly.
‘Blimey,’ said Cath, dodging around a family of tourists who’d stopped in the middle of the pavement to take selfies. ‘I had no idea Crumbleton got this busy.’
‘This?’ said Andy. ‘This is nothing. Seriously. There are days when it feels like there must be a music festival happening in town or something. You get elbowed and jostled just wandering down to Bendall’s for a pint of milk. I’ll have to show you where all the shortcuts are—they’ll save your sanity on a busy summer’s day.’
‘Shortcuts?’ said Cath.
‘Yep,’ he nodded. ‘You can pretty much get from the top of town all the way down to the City Gates without having to deal with the high street, as long as you don’t mind navigating dozens of steps!’
‘Good to know,’ said Cath. ‘I’ll take you up on that offer at some point.’
‘Deal. Any time,’ said Andy. ‘But right now… let’s get some lunch!’
He paused to peer through the bakery window and Cath came to stand next to him. The hairs on his arm promptly stood on end.
‘Your poor sister,’ said Cath. ‘She’s rammed in there!’
‘Trust me, she’s in her element,’ said Andy, grinning at Heather through the glass as his sister turned her wide, slightly wild eyes to the pair of them. There were at least a dozen people in the queue, waiting to be served.
‘I’m not sure the fact that she’s mouthing “save me” through the window means she’s in her element!’ chuckled Cath.
‘Okay, you might have a point,’ said Andy.
‘Should we go in and help her?’ said Cath.
‘Hell no!’ said Andy, shaking his head. ‘Seriously. I tried it once. Never again. I just got in her way. She doesn’t really want any help… she’ll have it all under control.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Cath.
‘Come on, let’s leave her to it,’ said Andy. ‘We’ll see if the café’s any quieter. We’ll grab lunch in there and then pop back when Heather’s dealt with that lot.’
Andy led the way a bit further down the hill and then held the café door open for Cath.
‘There’s a table over there,’ she said, pointing towards the back. ‘That family’s just leaving.’
‘Quick, let’s grab it before anyone else beats us to it!’ said Andy. ‘Mabel will come over to us when she’s got a sec.’
The pair of them hurried through the packed café, dodged around the family heading for the exit, and slid straight into the chairs at their newly vacated table.
‘That was a bit of luck,’ said Andy, gathering together the empty cups and plates and stacking them at the edge of the table. ‘Well spotted!’
‘Just in time too,’ said Cath, nodding back towards the door. ‘Look, someone else just came in and there’s nowhere for her to sit.’
Andy glanced over. ‘That’s Caroline Cook!’ he said. ‘You don’t mind if she joins us, do you? We’ve got a couple of spare seats, and it seems a bit mean to hog the extra spaces.’
‘Fine by me,’ said Cath with an easy shrug.
Andy waved vigorously to catch Caroline’s attention and then beckoned her over.
‘Join us?’
‘Lifesavers!’ breathed Caroline as she slid into one of the empty seats. ‘You guys sure you don’t mind? I don’t want to be a gooseberry!’
Andy snorted and then noticed that Cath had just turned that remarkably pretty shade of pink again.
‘We’re not…’ she stuttered.
‘You’re grand!’ said Andy quickly, wanting to cover Cath’s discomfort. ‘Caroline, this is Cath Walker—she’s our new curator.’
‘Cath!’ said Caroline, her face splitting into a wide smile. ‘I was hoping we’d bump into each other sooner rather than later. I gave the museum a little mention in the paper last week—just to let everyone know it’s due to reopen soon, now that we’ve got you in town!’
‘You did?’ said Cath, sounding slightly panicked.
Andy smiled at her, doing his best to look reassuring. Now that he’d seen the state the museum was in, he couldn’t blame her for looking worried. The idea of reopening to the public anytime soon was almost laughable at this point.
‘I have to say,’ said Caroline, ploughing on as her eyes skimmed down the laminated café menu, ‘I think you’re really brave to take on the job.’
‘I’m not sure about brave,’ said Cath. ‘I mean, the place is in a bit of a state, and there’s loads of rubbish to get rid of, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.’
‘Good for you!’ said Caroline, with an approving nod. ‘To be honest, I’m surprised it hasn’t been closed for good by this point.’
‘Ah now, don’t say that,’ said Andy uncomfortably.
‘Well, haven’t you thought exactly the same thing?’ said Caroline. ‘It doesn’t get many visitors… though maybe that’s a good thing considering it’s a giant health and safety disaster waiting to happen.’
‘Well, it’s not had proper staff for a long time,’ said Andy.
He was aware that he was starting to sound a bit defensive, just like he always did when anyone dared to criticise his beloved town. Caroline did have a point though.
‘No,’ said Caroline. ‘That’s true, Cath’s post was vacant for donkey’s yonks. Problem is, there’s not much in the way of budget for the council to keep it open, is there? And if it doesn’t prove itself…’ she trailed off.
‘Wait,’ said Cath. ‘What do you mean, there’s not much in the budget? I mean, they’ve hired me…’
Caroline bit her lip and glanced uncomfortably at Andy. He let out a long sigh. This was the last thing poor Cath needed to hear. She’d only just started, and there was a vast mountain of work for her to do before she even had a hope of reopening. Still, maybe it was better that she knew what she was up against.
‘The council’s broke,’ said Andy steadily.
‘Yeah,’ Caroline nodded, ‘very. The only reason the curator role was still being advertised is because they’ve still got the money available from last year’s pot. It’s ringfenced, you see? They couldn’t use it for anything else. I’m betting they would have if they could have, though!’
Andy winced as he watched the bad news land, one blow at a time. He could almost see the weight of what they were telling her landing on Cath’s shoulders.
‘I’m… I’m, erm… guessing this is all news to you?’ said Caroline.
Cath nodded silently.
‘Well, it’s better that you know,’ she said, her face serious. ‘As far as I’ve been told, they’ve got enough in the pot to cover your salary for a year, but there’s only about six months’ worth of finances left to run the place. We’re just talking about the basics like keeping the lights on—not all the repairs that need seeing to.’
‘I had no idea things were this bad,’ said Andy, shaking his head. ‘I mean I knew things at the council were tight, but…’
‘The only reason you still have a job is that you cover so many different roles, they can’t work out which bits they can afford to cut!’ said Caroline, trying to catch Mabel’s eye as she zoomed around, serving the heaving tables.
‘Well, that’s comforting,’ muttered Andy. He was only half-listening. Cath was now looking pale and deflated across from him as she pretended to peruse her menu.
‘So,’ she said slowly, not lifting her eyes, ‘you’re saying I might be out of a job in six months—a year, tops?’
‘Don’t quote me on it,’ said Caroline nodding. ‘If you want my advice, you might want to put a rocket under Ruth and make her give you the actual figures. At least then you’ll know exactly what you’ve got to work with… or not, as the case may be.’
‘I will,’ said Cath quietly. ‘Thanks.’