Chapter 8
ADDIE
Susanna was as quiet as Addie as the boat drew in to the harbour at Anchor Island.
Already Addie got the impression that not much would have changed on this island, with little to no traffic, the only transportation allowed being the minibus from the harbour, deliveries or bicycles for residents.
She wasn’t sure why she thought that, she just did.
‘Ready?’ Susanna asked as they joined the queue to get off the boat.
‘Not really.’ It felt so monumental, it felt as if Susanna should be taking her hand so they could leap together.
As her feet stepped onto the solidity of the island, lights twinkled in the darkness from the roadside and from up the hill and beyond. Some of those lights would belong to Bay Street, she was sure of it.
Despite the darkness, Addie could tell the island, the place they’d once called home, had never lost any of its prettiness.
She looked around to take in everything that she possibly could.
A small boat was coming into the visitor moorings marked out with yellow buoys and enough light from the marina to guide them.
A couple of holidaymakers hurried past with their suitcases in a quest to get on the minibus first, while someone else rushed towards them to greet a fellow passenger.
As they reached the road where the minibus waited, a trio of young boys cycled past. Their lights warned of their presence and illuminated their legs going ten to the dozen, in a gear too low for the flat ground after the hill had brought them down to the harbour.
A couple of gulls pecked at something discarded on the ground beside them as they walked, and smiles on faces suggested this wasn’t such a bad place after all.
It was the end of another day on the island. This life could’ve been theirs if they’d wanted it to be, and the thought made Addie sad that things hadn’t turned out differently.
She had a sudden thought as a man called out from the boat that had come into the marina. ‘I wonder if Mateo is over there.’
Susanna made a face and didn’t turn her gaze in the direction of the boatyard. ‘Who knows. He left, remember? I’ve no idea if he came back. He always used to talk about sailing boats across the world. He could be in France, Italy, America, the Canaries, the Caribbean… anywhere.’
Addie wondered whether Susanna really believed that. His family were here, or at least they had been, and it was quite likely that would’ve drawn him back.
‘I’d rather walk than get the minibus,’ said Susanna.
‘Me too. It’s packed already,’ she said, watching another holidaymaker squeeze on board. The doors would soon close and everyone else would have to fend for themselves unless they had a second minibus these days.
‘Actually, would you mind if we went and sat down near the fish and chip place? I don’t think I’m ready for this either. I just want to grab something to eat after the crossing.’
‘Good idea.’ They started to walk. ‘Hope it’s still as good as it used to be.’ They could see it was still there, like a beacon for anyone arriving by sea or for locals coming down from the surrounding streets.
The girls both ordered grilled fish with large chips and sat for a good hour or so while they ate, as they adjusted to how it felt to be back here.
They chatted, remembering some of the little bays around the island they’d visited during their summers here.
They also began to ponder who else would be at the funeral.
‘We’ve been away so long we might not recognise anyone,’ said Addie.
‘I’m kind of dreading it.’
‘Nobody likes funerals.’
Susanna gathered up their rubbish. ‘Come on, we can’t put it off any longer.’
As they deposited their trays and wrappings in the nearby bin Addie at least felt a bit better for eating. She’d needed the food but also coming for something to eat first had helped her adjust a bit to being on the island. In a way it felt almost normal to be here.
They began the walk back past the harbour to the foot of the hill and turned left to make their way up to Bay Street.
Addie stopped midway up the hill out of puff.
Susanna stopped briefly too before they both picked up their luggage and carried on. ‘We’ll rest at the top,’ she called out as Addie trailed behind her.
Addie had quite forgotten the steepness of the hill.
Had they really cycled up and down this as young girls?
She didn’t have the money or the time for a gym in London, but she walked a lot, and she ran around with Isaac in the park whenever she could.
But, here on the island, you’d be in training every time you set off from your front door.
They paused at the far end of Bay Street, catching their breath, knowing the Sweet Life Café was about to come into view. And then, the mouth of Evergreen Close would be in sight too.
‘Are you sure going to the cottage is the best idea?’ Addie quizzed.
‘I know we’re almost there but I’m worried.
What if a neighbour thinks we’re breaking in?
The neighbours must know she’s gone.’ She also wasn’t sure how she felt about staying in their dead aunt’s house.
What if Gayle had died in the kitchen where they would make their breakfast, or on the sofa in the lounge where they might sit and talk about what happened next?
The thought made her shudder. And it was dark, which really didn’t help.
As they drew closer to the Sweet Life Café, they stopped again.
‘Closed,’ said Susanna, as if either of them might have expected the lights to be on and a crowd to be gathered on the balcony, laughter and chatter carrying on the wind the way it once had.
‘It’s late,’ said Addie. ‘And…’ She didn’t finish her sentence. Gayle was gone. And perhaps the Sweet Life Café would never open again.
‘It doesn’t look much different,’ said Susanna.
‘The sign has been redone.’
‘Has it?’
‘It used to be faded pink, remember?’ Now it was a lovely shade of sea-blue which they could see despite the fading light. Addie wondered whether the leather seats in the booths and on the other chairs and stools were still the same turquoise blue as before.
‘Wonder if the leather seats are still there,’ said Susanna, almost reading Addie’s mind.
‘I bet they still stick to your bare legs when you’re wearing shorts.’
Susanna let out a gentle laugh. ‘I remember.’
‘It’ll be weird going inside, won’t it?’ Addie didn’t need to add that she meant when they went inside to attend the funeral due to be held in eleven more days.
It wasn’t like they were going to go in there before then.
They’d be busy sorting the attic and any formalities, unless someone else had been named as responsible for that now.
They wondered whether Nancy had been named as Gayle’s next of kin since they’d been gone.
As they carried on towards the cottage, Addie turned once more to look over her shoulder, back at the Sweet Life Café, back at what might have been.
And then suddenly there they were, in front of Gayle’s cottage, and the sight of it swept Addie back in time. Her gaze went straight to the upper dormer windows, one beside the other, her and Susanna’s rooms beyond the glass.
‘Maybe we should go to the inn for the night,’ she suggested quickly.
Now they were here she really didn’t want to go inside.
It gave her the heebie-jeebies. If Gayle had died in her home, what if her ghost was still hanging around?
She shuddered, overthinking it all. She didn’t believe in ghosts, not really, and yet…
‘No point,’ Susanna said decisively. ‘We need to be here, we need to sort through things in the attic and Gayle’s things too, now she’s gone. No point being elsewhere.’
‘I might knock on the neighbour’s door,’ said Addie.
‘Don’t be chicken, we’ll see if we can find the key. No burglar is going to put all the lights on and move in, so if someone sees us doing that, they can come ask whatever questions they like.’ Susanna took the lead down the front path and to the side.
Addie reluctantly followed her past the front windows and to the gate which wasn’t locked.
She couldn’t remember it ever having been.
The cottage was achingly familiar, with the ivy that she could see creeping up the wall even in the dark, and the stone pavers that lined the way.
When they reached the back, however, as well as the little lawn and borders that Addie remembered, the shed had been moved to one side and at the rear there was now a fancy garden room like the sort some people installed as a home office.
Now there was an industry that had probably done well since the pandemic, when people’s work arrangements had changed.
She wondered why Aunt Gayle had needed one, though.
Susanna bent down near the rockery and stood up with a stone in her hand. On closer focus Addie could see it was the tortoise, mostly unaffected by the passing years, with a little coating of moss, and gleefully Susanna undid the bottom of it to reveal a key.
Addie shivered. She thought she’d heard something rustling in the bush. ‘Let us in, then, I’m getting cold.’
Susanna tried the key in the back door and smiled when it clicked to open up. ‘Hey presto, we’re in.’
They took themselves and their luggage inside.
Addie hadn’t been prepared for seeing the cottage from the outside, but that was nothing to the nostalgia that flooded her as they passed through the narrow utility room and into the kitchen.
They were met with a sweet aroma that had always hovered in the air the whole time they’d lived here.
It was unlikely to really be the same and yet somehow it was.
Susanna grimaced. ‘I meant to grab some milk and tea and coffee at least so we’d have provisions for the morning.’
‘I didn’t think of that. And I don’t suppose we can do an online order around here.’
‘Better check nothing has gone rancid inside.’ Susanna opened the fridge but quickly turned to Addie. ‘That’s odd… It’s really well stocked.’
Addie peered inside for herself and sniffed. ‘I’m surprised it doesn’t smell. It must have been a while since—’
She was silenced when they heard the back door open and a voice yell out, ‘I’ve called the police! Get out unless you want to be hurt!’
‘I told you we should’ve informed the neighbours!
’ Addie hissed in a panic, grabbing Susanna’s arm as she yelled back, ‘We’re not burglars, I promise!
We are family. Gayle’s family.’ She wasn’t about to confront the person – who was female, given the voice – because if they had a weapon, she didn’t want either of them to get injured.
Footsteps drew closer. Clumpy boots, bronzed legs and then the face of a young woman with the craziest blonde curls all the way down her back appeared. ‘You must be Addie and Susanna.’
Addie nodded, relieved this person seemed more friend than foe. ‘I’m Addie, this is Susanna.’ She pointed at herself then her sister. ‘You must be a neighbour?’
But the woman didn’t answer because they heard movement from another part of the cottage.
What was going on?
‘Louisa, is that you?’ came a voice.
Addie shook her head. She was hearing things. It sounded so much like Aunt Gayle it was uncanny.
And when the owner of the voice came into the room Susanna spoke first, with a word beginning with ‘f’ that she’d never been allowed to utter under this roof.
Addie stumbled back into a chair at the shock. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but she didn’t believe in people coming back from the dead either.
She looked at Aunt Gayle and her eyes filled with tears. ‘What is this?’ Her voice trembled. ‘Is this some kind of sick joke?’
Susanna fixed their aunt with a stare that could have turned a person to stone. ‘You’d better have one hell of an explanation.’