Chapter Twenty One
After a long day at the studio, I return home to find Penny riffling through the recycling bin under the kitchen sink.
‘What are you doing, sweetie?’ I ask dubiously.
‘I’m looking for a bottle for my message.’
Spoken as if it’s the most normal sentence in the world. Just when I think I’ve figured my little Penelope out, she goes and baffles me again.
‘Excuse me?’
With an exasperated sigh, she turns to look at me. ‘You know, like a message in a bottle?’
‘Oh, of course, how silly of me! Well, don’t stick your hands in the bin, you might cut yourself on something.’ Gently, I nudge her out of the way and take her place. ‘Here, I’ll find you one.’
Eight years ago, I never imagined my afternoons would include riffling through rubbish, but I guess these are just the things we do for our children. Right at the bottom of the detritus, I unearth a plastic cola bottle.
‘How about this one?’
My heart lifts as her eyes light up. ‘That will work!’
Once I’ve rinsed out the sticky pop residue, I hand it over to her. ‘There you go. So, what’s the message that’s going inside?’
‘It’s a secret.’ She hastily holds the bottle out of my reach, as if it already contains this oh-so-mysterious message.
‘Ooh, okay!’
Fondly, I roll my eyes and let her get on with her game. I only have an hour to relax before I have to head out for my shift at Kat’s Creams. Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do for childcare when I eventually get enough money together to find a place of our own, it’s been a great help having Mia watch over Penny between her piano lessons here at the house, or picking her up from school when I can’t make it. When I had Elsa on call, things were so much easier, but I doubt I’ll have the budget for an au pair anytime soon. Perhaps I’ll be able to convince my folks to take Penny for a couple of hours when needed, although I’m currently avoiding them. The last thing I need is another lecture from Mum about how marriage is hard and I shouldn’t give up on Jerry so easily, as if I’m the one who’d upped and left for Liverpool with no warning.
The afternoon chugs onward and I’m soon heading out the door for my evening shift. Before I even reach the pier where Kat’s Cream is situated, I’m already beginning to yawn. I guess I’ve got to get used to this now, being in a permanent state of exhaustion from working two jobs to provide for my daughter and I. But it’s worth it, before Cassandra had given me a chance to work for her, I was seriously thinking I might have made the biggest mistake of my life. Now I’m beginning to believe that going with Jerry would have been an even bigger one.
Things aren’t perfect, far from it, but Penny and I are getting along just fine; I’m building up an income of my own, we’re comfortable at Mia’s for now, and on top of everything, I’m pursuing a career I adore. All things considered, I’m not doing too badly.
As I walk through the glass doors of the parlour, Kat wastes no time in telling me exactly what she thinks.
‘Whoa, you look knackered.’ My sister’s signature charm strikes again.
‘Thanks,’ I grumble as I grab my lilac apron from one of the wall hooks. ‘I’ve just done a full eight-hour day at Cassi Queen.’
‘I wish you would have told me,’ she clucks a stern tongue at me. ‘I can try to organise your shifts on days when you’re not at the office, if it would make it easier?’
‘Maybe,’ I murmur, my voice low with uncertainty.
It was fine when Elsa was around, it was her job to pick Penny up from school and take care of her when I had a late shift at the ice cream parlour. But Mia has a career of her own to see to, and a life, I hate asking her to watch Penny when I can’t be there. I’d offer to compensate her for her time, but I already know she’d vehemently refuse my money.
‘We’ll work it out,’ Kat assures me. ‘You know, I haven’t told you, but I’m really proud of you.’
I blink at my sister, our family doesn’t go in for sentiment often, so her comment takes me off guard.
‘I mean it. When you told me it was over between you and Jerry, I have to admit, I thought you’d be driving out to Liverpool within the week to make it up with him. But you’ve really stepped up, and you’re making it work. I know Mum doesn’t get it, and Dad is just as clueless, but I want you to know that I’ve never been prouder of you.’
My eyes well with tears. ‘Thank you,’ I whisper.
Kat gives my hand a quick squeeze. ‘Alright, enough of this sappiness. What have you been up to lately? When you’re not working, I mean.’
‘I’ve been helping a friend with some research.’ I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand and turn them to Kat. ‘Have you ever heard of the siren of Sunny Shore Bay?’
‘’Course I have.’
Dumbfounded, I shake my head in disbelief. ‘How have you heard of it before and I haven’t?’
Kat shrugs. ‘Maybe because you’ve spent too long sunning yourself abroad to pay attention to the town we actually live in?’
I’m about to argue back, but it occurs to me that perhaps she has a point. ‘Yeah, well, those days are long behind me now.’
‘Not necessarily. Instead of booking a holiday on a whim, you’ll just have to save for one, like the rest of us peasants!’
I groan in jest. ‘Great. Anyway, do you think there might be any … truth to the story?’
‘What, you mean do I believe in women with magical voices that lure men to their deaths?’
Embarrassed, I shrink into myself. ‘Well, when you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous.’
Hands on her hips, Kat laughs. ‘It kind of is ridiculous, but it’s a fun, creepy little tale. Mum told me once that an old lighthouse keeper from years ago heard the siren one night and he walked straight out into the sea to his death. No one ever heard from him again.’
I stare at her open-mouthed. ‘Really?’
‘Well, that’s what the eyewitnesses from the legends say. But who knows if any of that is true? They might be making it up, the people from the stories might not even be real.’
But Henry Gills was real. He was Noah’s great great uncle, and he disappeared one night into thin air. Was he snatched by the siren?
Or perhaps something less mystical but even more sinister occurred that fateful night …