Chapter 7
Ed didn’t know how long he’d slept but it felt like only a moment since he’d closed his eyes before he was blinking them open again.
A shaft of bright sunlight all but blinded him from the skylight above his head and he groaned and shoved his head under his pillow.
As yellow and red shadows danced behind his closed eyelids the past twenty-four hours flashed into his addled brain in snapshots.
The departures board at Schiphol airport with every flight marked delayed.
The hustle and bustle of the crowds at Paddington all trying to cram onto their trains.
Laughing with three pretty women as they shared an impromptu train picnic with him.
The bone-chilling cold of the wind whipping down the station platform when he finally alighted at Port Petroc.
Chatting in the taxi. The relief at finally walking through his front door.
That peace abruptly shattered by a screaming alarm.
Frankie wide-eyed with terror as she squirted him with bloody dye.
His hand rose instinctively to the back of his head as he remembered that cold shock of liquid hitting him.
Harry’s exasperation. Harry’s kindness as he took care of Ed in the bathroom and tucked him into bed in the spare room of the flat.
Ed crawled back out from under the pillow as it all fell into place.
He was at Harry’s because Frankie was living in the cottage now.
Where was Matt? The thought was enough to drive Ed up into a sitting position.
He’d been too tired to think straight last night, but concern for his cousin rocketed front and centre into his brain and he pushed the covers aside and clambered out of bed.
The first thing that hit him when he opened the bedroom door was the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and for a moment all other thoughts vanished beneath the sudden desperate, driving need for caffeine.
Ed hurried through the open-plan lounge and down the short hallway to the kitchen to find Harry and Kat deep in conversation.
Harry was at his usual spot in front of the cooker, the counter next to him covered in jars and packets and bowls full of ingredients.
Kat was seated at the little round table underneath the window that overlooked the enclosed yard below.
Paperwork was strewn across the surface of the table and she was busy tapping away at the keyboard of her laptop.
They both stopped to stare at him as he entered and neither of their expressions could be called welcoming.
‘I thought you were going to sleep all day,’ Harry said. Ed glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw it was after ten. It felt like he’d barely closed his eyes, never mind been asleep for over eight hours. ‘There’s coffee in the pot,’ Harry added, his tone a shade softer.
‘Thanks.’ Ed made a beeline for the coffee and was soon clutching a large mug of heaven in his hands. A few mouthfuls and he finally started to feel vaguely human again. ‘Um, sorry about last night.’
‘It’s not really us you should be apologising to though, is it?’ Kat’s voice was unusually sharp and Ed realised he was still in deep shit with her.
He should’ve remained calm, but he adored Kitty and knowing he’d disappointed her put him immediately on the defensive. ‘How was I supposed to know she was living at the cottage? Where the hell is Matt, anyway?’
‘Matt’s living next door in the flat above the cookery school,’ Harry snapped as he pointed the knife he was holding in Ed’s direction.
‘And you’d know that if you hadn’t decided to go dark on us.
Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been about you?
’ He turned away and angrily sliced the onion in front of him.
‘I lost my phone and it seemed like too much hassle trying to replace it over there when I knew I was going to be home in a few weeks.’ The words sounded pathetic even as he spoke.
They were an unpleasant reminder of the immature, feckless person he’d been before he’d left the Quay in the spring, determined to sort himself out and get his life on track.
He’d done a lot of growing up in the past few months, and, honestly, the stuff with his phone had felt logical to him at the time.
He’d been in only sporadic touch with everyone at home anyway and he hadn’t thought they’d notice.
‘No one knew you were coming home though, Ed,’ Kat pointed out.
‘I said I would be back for Christmas,’ he protested.
‘That was before you left!’ Harry had spun around again and the accusing point of his knife was once again arrowing straight at Ed. ‘Why didn’t you at least email your flight details so we knew to expect you?’
‘I meant to but I was in an Internet café and it was so bloody slow I used up most of my time sorting out the flights and printing off the tickets. I was going to borrow someone’s phone and send a text but then we went—’ Ed cut himself off.
Telling them about the epic bar crawl he and the rest of the crew had embarked upon would only reinforce all their worst impressions about what he’d been up to.
‘I forgot,’ he settled for, knowing it sounded no less irresponsible.
‘What happened with the cottage? It’s not like I left Matt short of money.
’ Ed had left the monthly direct debit he paid for his share of everything in place.
Harry set down the knife and crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh.
‘It’s a long story, but basically Mrs Jenkins kicked him out.
Well, not her, that snake, Charlie Hicks.
Having ignored her for years, he’s suddenly decided to take an interest in his great-aunt and help her with her finances. ’
‘Probably hoping for something in her will,’ Kat put in, her lip curling in disgust. ‘Can’t think of any other reason for him to start sniffing around her. Anyway, he claimed that Matt was taking advantage of her because he was paying lower than market rent.’
‘Only because Matt was spending the difference – and more – on doing up the place!’ Ed burst out.
Anger stirred deep inside him. Their cousin was one of the kindest and most honourable men Ed knew and the idea of him taking advantage of anyone was an outrageous insult.
Mrs Jenkins was a sweet old thing and it had been a real wrench for her to move out of the cottage.
He and Matt had promised her they’d take good care of the place and they’d both worked hard on the renovations.
Matt had done most of it, but Ed had always been there to provide whatever labour he needed.
‘And such a coincidence that Charlie started taking an interest in the cottage when word got around the production company were coming to the village and keen to rent as many properties as they could lay their hands on for the cast and crew,’ Kat continued, her tone heavy with sarcasm.
Even in his muzzy-headed state, Ed’s ears pricked up. ‘Production crew?’
Once again both Harry and Kat stared at him. ‘Why else did you think Frankie was here?’ Kat asked, her tone incredulous.
Ed frowned back at her. ‘You say that like I’m supposed to know who she is.’
‘Bloody hell, Ed, you’ve been on a ship in the Caribbean, not in a crater on the dark side of the moon!’ Harry said with a shake of his head. ‘Frankie is Frankie Webber from Ton!’
The use of Frankie’s full name finally registered and things started to fall into place.
He’d had a vague feeling he’d recognised her the night before but what with all the screaming and spraying and general vitriol she’d rained down on him it had been hard to concentrate.
‘That nonsense TV show with all the flouncy outfits and the shagging?’
‘It’s not nonsense!’ Kat cut in, a fierce scowl twisting her pretty features. ‘Why do men always dismiss programmes aimed at a female audience as nonsense?’
‘Sorry, sorry.’ Ed held his hands up in surrender.
‘I just meant it wasn’t my sort of thing, that’s all.
’ He hadn’t watched much of anything while he was away.
A few of his crew mates had downloaded favourite shows on their laptops but crowding around a screen at one of the tables in the crew lounge hadn’t been his idea of a fun way to spend his evening.
Ed had spent most of his time up on deck, staring at the stars and listening to a multitude of podcasts.
Part of his efforts to improve himself had been to spend less time caught up in the endless dross of social media, so he’d deleted all his apps apart from WhatsApp.
It had taken a few days of itchy fingers and an even itchier brain wanting its dopamine fix, but once he’d made the break, he’d never thought about any of the platforms he’d spent hours, weeks, probably cumulatively years of his life scrolling.
Now and then one of the crew would show him a meme or clip that had gone viral, but being out of the loop meant he lacked the context to understand the humour.
Ton! had broken through to his consciousness because it had been everywhere.
The cast had been gossiped and swooned over by some of his female crew mates and he’d picked up enough of the chatter for Frankie’s attitude to make more sense.
‘Isn’t she the one they call the Ice Bi—? ’
‘If you say that word in this house, Edward Penrose, I swear to God I’ll bounce you down those stairs myself and you’ll never set foot over my threshold again!’ Kat shot out of her seat and thrust her finger in Ed’s face.
It should’ve been comical, like being threatened by a miniature terrier, given the difference in their sizes, but Kat was scary. ‘I… it’s… I mean it’s not something I would call a woman, ever, only that’s what I heard is her nickname on the socials.’
‘Only if you’re a troll, or a misogynist, or both,’ Kat snapped. ‘Frankie is nothing like the way those idiots portray her. She’s lovely, and more importantly she’s my friend.’