Chapter 17
Seventeen
Painter, print maker and portrait artist, especially of courtesans and actors. Discussion point: art beyond western Europe, thinking beyond cultural boundaries. There’s a big world out there to be celebrated!
(Taken from Calliope Thorne’s teaching notes.)
The pub was crowded and, as the evening was still warm, they took their drinks outside to sit by the water’s edge. The pub commanded the best position in town, being right by the harbour. As Callie squeezed onto the bench next to Jamie, she thought how wonderful it all was.
The lights festooned along the harbour building danced in the water.
A slight breeze took the edge off the sultry heat and made the halyards on the yachts clink.
And the sky merged, inky, into the calm sea beyond the harbour wall.
Looking to the east, white lights led the eye along the prom to the shops inching up the steep main street in town.
She inhaled. Salt and a subtle salty, fishy odour.
Worcester had a lot to offer and, up to now, she’d been happy there, but to live so close to the ever-changing shades of a coastal sea and sky would be inspiring.
Her fingers ached for her paints; she longed to capture the velvety purple and indigo.
‘Lullbury Bay must be a fabulous place to live,’ she said to Jamie, Lucie being deep in discussion with Johnny on the opposite side of the bench.
‘It is. I’m born and bred, as they say. As is Lucie. We’re both from local families, although Lucie’s is far bigger than mine. You can’t throw a pebble without hitting a Wiscombe.’
‘And you obviously love living here.’
He nodded. ‘We do.’ He spread a hand to where a fingernail moon lit a silvery path on the sea.
‘We’ve got all we need here. Family, friends, jobs.
I work at the local council, Lucie’s at uni in Exeter, which can be a bit of a drive but she only has to go in twice a week.
’ He shrugged. ‘We don’t have much money and I doubt we’ll ever get a foot on the property ladder but it suits us. ’
‘And volunteering with the lifeboat must put you right at the heart of the community.’
‘Oh yes. Any seaside town needs its RNLI crew and the lifeboat needs the town.’ Jamie’s lips twisted.
‘We get the odd really serious shout, like a couple of Christmasses ago when we had to rescue a stricken yacht in a storm but a lot of my time is spent picking up stranded tourists who haven’t read the tide table.
I do a lot of fundraising too, of course. ’
‘Like the sandcastle competition?’
He took a swig of cider. ‘Like the sandcastle comp. It’s always popular. There’s a raft race on next week if you fancy it. That’s always good fun. And don’t forget to buy your town quiz sheet and raffle tickets. Lucie’s put loads of work into the quiz questions.’
‘Do you ever wonder what’s beyond Lullbury Bay?’ Callie asked, envying his rock-solid sense of his place in his community.
‘Oh yeah. Wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. Lucie gets a bit fidgety sometimes. Wants to do stuff we don’t have the money or the time for but mostly she loves it here as much as I do. And of course, come winter the place’ll be completely different.’
‘In what way?’ Callie tore open a bag of nuts and put them between them to share.
‘Thanks.’ He took a handful. ‘Fewer tourists.’ He nodded back to the pub with a grin. ‘More lock-ins. Place goes quiet, comes back to its own. And, when you get a warm sunny day in February, it’s a gift.’
‘A gift?’
‘Light’s so clear it’s like a jewel. You can see to Portland and beyond, and to Berry Head down west. You have the beach to yourself.
The winter storms will have brought in sea glass and the odd fossil and the tide stretches out so far, the sand is like a mirror.
’ He stopped, looking embarrassed at how much he was revealing. ‘Wouldn’t live anywhere else.’
Callie pictured herself in front of her easel painting that wonderful light, so clear it was like a jewel. ‘People keep saying that to me. That they’d never live anywhere else.’
‘Well,’ he admitted, flicking back a lock of hair, ‘the place can be a pain in high summer. Crowded, nowhere to park. Bank Holidays are a nightmare. If I’m not on a shift at the lifeboat, I hunker down and don’t go anywhere.
But, give the town another month and it’ll all calm down, give a sigh, shake its feathers and rest up until the new season.
Christmas is really good fun. We have a carol singsong down here on the harbour, the beach huts get decorated and everyone troops up to St Winifred’s in the old town for the Christmas Eve service.
I mean, I’m not religious or anything but it’s something I never miss.
Oh, and the New Year’s Day Dip is a right laugh, although I’m normally on duty then. ’
‘The what?’
He took another handful of nuts and said, through a mouthful, ‘You get sponsored, get up in fancy dress and go for a swim in the sea.’
‘In January?’ Callie couldn’t keep the disbelief from her voice.
Jamie laughed at her horrified expression.
‘It’s okay if you’re swimming, not that most do, all they tend to do is run in and then run straight out again.
Shrieking. Think of me, standing thigh deep, making sure no one gets out of their depth or has had one too many in here beforehand.
It’s brilliant fun and raises shedloads for the lifeboat.
Claud here puts on food afterwards. You can’t count yourself a true Lullbury Bay local until you’ve done at least one New Year’s Day Dip. ’
Looking round at the packed beer garden, it was hard to imagine Lullbury Bay in a quieter season.
But Christmas in a seaside town appealed.
She loved the sense of community that shone through Jamie’s words.
Most of what she did was school based; she hadn’t had time to do much more beyond her weekly rock choir.
The idea of throwing herself wholeheartedly into wider community life was seductive.
After all, as Donna had pointed out, Frida wouldn’t be around for much longer.
Staring at Jamie’s handsome face and at the goodness that emanated from it, she fervently hoped her daughter would find a man as kind. If that’s what she wanted.
She was jolted out of her reverie by Avril appearing at her shoulder.
‘Callie! Hi. Thought it was you I saw up at the castle. Wasn’t it good? Let me introduce you to Brenda, another blow-in and a fellow Shakespeare nut.’
Callie said hello to an immaculately groomed older woman with a pin-sharp silver bob and long dangly earrings. A little girl of about ten stood with her.
Jamie stood up. ‘Room for you two if you don’t mind a squeeze.
If you’ll excuse me, I’ll pop back inside and have a chat with a couple of crewmen.
Hope Jago and Honor are having a good holiday, Avril?
’ He ruffled the little girl’s luxurious curls.
‘Hey, Merryn, are you allowed a Coke? And can I get you and Brenda a drink too?’
‘She is,’ Avril replied, ‘but just the one or she’ll never sleep.
Two white wines if you don’t mind. Thanks, my lovely.
That’s ever so kind of you, Jamie. Crowded down here tonight.
I was dreading going up to the bar. It’s a right ruckus in there.
And, yes, Jago and Honor are having a wonderful time.
Honor’s nearly exhausted her Kindle and Jago hasn’t stopped painting.
Had a postcard this morning. Don’t you just love an old-fashioned postcard?
’ She lifted a leg over the picnic bench, surprisingly niftily and plopped herself down next to Callie.
‘Here you go, Mer, you can sit on my lap.’
The girl eyed her loftily. ‘Not a chance. I’m happy to stand, thanks, Mum.’
‘This is my daughter, Merryn,’ Avril said to Callie, with a grin. ‘Once met never forgotten. This is Callie, Merryn, who is staying at Sea Haven House up the hill from us. She’s an artist.’
‘Cool.’ The girl’s eyes gleamed. ‘My big brother’s an artist. He’s a glass artist. Makes big panels and they go into a posh gallery in Islington. That’s in London. His name’s Jago Pengethley.’
‘But I know his work,’ Callie answered, surprised. She remembered Avril mentioning a Jago. ‘It’s beautiful. I love the colours he uses. So your son is Jago Pengethley, Avril? I hadn’t realised. He’s getting really well known.’
‘He is. He has a studio over at the Art School. We’re very proud of him, aren’t we, Merryn?’
Merryn nodded vigorously. ‘He makes little light-catchers too. I like them the most. I’ve got one of a yacht on a stormy sea.
Like the storm in the play. It was good how they lit that material blue and grey and made it wave up and down to show the storm, wasn’t it?
And it was all sequin-y. Caught the light.
’ She nodded again. ‘Although I think King Lear is my favourite play.’
Callie suppressed a smile. It was a surprising statement from one so young.
‘Yes, I like how Lear goes mad. It’s a theme, you know,’ Merryn continued.
‘Is it? I’m afraid I don’t know King Lear very well.’
‘And the theme of Twelfth Night is love.’ Merryn said it scornfully.
‘Far too slushy in my opinion. I don’t want a boyfriend.
Me and my best friend Holly agree boys are stupid.
Holly says she’d rather have her pony and her dogs.
She’s got dachshunds. They’re little with long bodies.
Ever so cute. Sausage dogs – although Holly hates them being called that.
We’ve got Ivy. She’s a spaniel. We rescued her.
And I’ve got guinea pigs too. Have you got a boyfriend, Callie? ’
Callie shook her head in response, blinking at this barrage of information.
‘Mum hasn’t either. And Twelfth Night should be put on in January not in the middle of the summer.
It’s meant to be performed after Christmas.
And of course, in Shakespeare’s time, the girls’ parts were played by boys.
So, you got a boy playing a girl like Viola who was pretending to be a man.
Confusing.’ Merryn pulled a face. ‘Don’t you think it was unfair not to let girls be actors? ’
‘Extremely unfair.’ Callie was bemused. ‘And, actually, I often find Shakespeare confusing.’
Lucie broke off her conversation with Johnny to accept the pint of cider Jamie had brought out. ‘Is that my favourite Shakespeare expert?’ she called over. ‘Come round here and tell me what you thought of tonight’s performance.’
‘Lucie!’ Merryn scampered round the table to her and hugged her around the neck. Squeezing onto the woman’s lap they began an animated critique about the play.
Avril took her wine off the tray Jamie held. ‘Thanks, my lovely. Oh, and here’s one for you, Brenda.’ Twisting to Callie, she added, ‘I’m so sorry. Merryn can get intense.’
‘She’s obviously very clever.’
‘Too sharp for a box of knives, as my mother would say. She gets obsessed with things, but this Shakespeare craze has lasted a couple of years now.’
‘Is that what she wants to do? Act?’
Brenda leaned in from her position perched on the edge of the bench and giggled. ‘We all say Merryn can and will do anything she takes a fancy to.’ Pausing to sip wine, she added, ‘Avril tells me you’re on holiday, Callie?’
‘I am. And it’s going by so fast.’
‘Make sure you get to the food festival tomorrow. Lots of local produce on offer plus crafty stuff.’ Brenda swung her impressive earrings. ‘I always get a few more pairs of these. Made by a local jeweller.’ She eased one off. ‘Have a closer look. They’re silver and glass.’
Callie took it. She dangled the exquisite object into the light from the white lights strung along the beer garden wall. Glimmering swirling blue and green it was a miniature work of art. ‘It’s beautiful. I’d love some.’
‘Made by Dipti,’ Avril supplied. ‘She’s a friend of Jago’s.
Has the next studio along from him in the art studio.
She’ll no doubt have a stall at the market tomorrow.
Do come along. As my son is off enjoying himself on the Isle of Skye, I’m doing him a favour and manning his stall in his absence.
And I know August is far too early to mention the C-Word but Jago’s light-catchers make fabulous presents. ’
Callie laughed. ‘Then I will. I could do with getting a few souvenirs and I’m definitely coveting these earrings.’
‘And you’ll be supporting local craft makers at the same time.’ Brenda lifted her glass. ‘Cheers!’
As Callie lifted hers in a return toast, she watched Lucie nodding at something Merryn said.
Johnny leaned in, listening intently to the little girl.
With her teacher’s eye, she could see Merryn might be considered a little challenging by some, but Lucie, Jamie, Brenda and now Johnny accepted her without question. And with love.
Perhaps, if Frida had had a wider found family around her like this she would have blossomed in the same way?
Not for the first time, Callie felt her single mother status keenly.
She’d tried to do as good a job as she could but had had to do it alone.
No parents, no grandparents. She was lucky to have Donna and Graham but they had their own family and were often busy.
The guilt returned and lay heavy. Had she done the right thing by going non-contact with her parents?
Taking a glug of wine she tried to shake some common sense into herself.
Of course it had been better with just her and Frida and one or two carefully chosen people in their lives rather than her parents with their poisonous philosophy.
Her parents’ racism alone was enough reason to go non-contact.
How could she have exposed Frida to that?
Soaking up the easy chatter, listening to Avril and Brenda tell a gossipy story about someone called Marion and watching Lucie with Merryn, a great wave of something like love engulfed. Maybe it was contentment? There was something about this little town by the sea that soothed her.
Johnny lifted his head up and laughed uproariously at Merryn and the girl giggled back. Or maybe the feeling was growing love for the man sitting opposite?