Chapter 8
Pulling the handbrake up and turning the ignition off, Scarlett scooped Thelma out of the old cage on the passenger seat before walking towards the back of the camper.
The traffic had been a nightmare and had just topped off the rubbish day.
She shook her head. It may have been rubbish in the fact that the craft fair had been small and hadn’t drawn in anything close to a crowd, plus the visit from those kids hadn’t helped, but she’d had a good time chatting and drinking coffee with Rowan so it hadn’t been a complete flop.
‘Let’s get that heating on, shall we?’ Scarlett lowered the cage to the woven rug covering the camper floor. The rain on the way home had been relentless, and now the engine and heating were off the small space was quickly becoming cold. Too cold.
Switching on the small electric heater, she held her hands out towards it expectantly before frowning and reaching forward again. Why wasn’t it working? She switched it off again before turning it back on. Nope, still nothing. Please don’t have broken. Not now winter is truly setting in. Please.
She twisted the temperature gauge before flicking the switch again.
Nothing. Great. Now they had no heating.
She glanced towards Thelma’s cage. How cold could a guinea pig get?
The poor thing might freeze in these temperatures, and if she didn’t get some sort of heating in here soon, she’d be able to see her own breath in the air.
Grabbing her coat from the small sofa she’d fold out into a bed later, Scarlett shrugged into it and pulled the hood over her head before taking the torch she kept hanging on a hook by the door.
‘I won’t be long, Thelma, there’s a small portable fan heater in the cubby at the back of the camper.
We won’t be able to run it for long because it’ll wear the battery down, but it’ll be enough to take the edge off the cold. ’
Pausing by the door, Scarlett looked down at Thelma, who was watching her through the bars of the cage.
Why was she even talking to a guinea pig?
It wasn’t as though she was able to offer some sage advice or anything.
Sighing, Scarlett slid open the door and stepped outside.
The rain was torrential now and quickly soaked through her so-called waterproof coat.
Hurrying around to the back of the van, she pulled her keys from her pocket, found the correct one, and unlocked the small cubby.
Pulling it open, she frowned. There was the small heater hidden amongst the extra blankets, her wellies and a whole host of other paraphernalia she didn’t have space to store inside the van, but they were all soaked.
She reached out and touched one of the blankets; it was wet through. Shining the torch up and down the length of the cubby, she bit down on her bottom lip. Everything was saturated, and the small electric heater, which would have been her and Thelma’s lifeline tonight, sat in a pool of water.
Letting the lid fall back into place, she turned and headed back inside, making sure to close the door as quickly as she could behind her.
Scarlett hung the torch back in place before slipping off her now-drenched coat and boots. ‘I’m sorry, Thelma. No luck in the heater department, I’m afraid. It looks as though we’ll just have to wrap up warm tonight.’
Stepping over the cage, she lowered herself to the rug and pulled the cash box from the box of unsold items. Hopefully, she’d have made enough to get the heater fixed. At least. Or else to buy another cheap one to tide them over until she could make enough.
She wiped the back of her hand across her cheek, drying the rainwater dribbling from her wet hair.
It had got cold quickly in here. Really cold.
Twisting, she pulled the throw she kept on the sofa towards her before wrapping it around her shoulders.
Looking across at Thelma, she opened the cage door.
‘Come on out and have your little wander, Thelma. You might be able to find somewhere warm to settle for the evening.’
Turning back to the cash box, she opened the lid and held it upside down, watching as one single note and a handful of coins fell to the floor.
Well, that wasn’t particularly filling her with confidence.
She’d known she hadn’t made much today, but after accounting for the broken mugs and the cost of the stall, she’d bet anything she’d be at a loss.
Even so, that money was gone now and all she could do was move forward and hope she had enough here to get the heating fixed or buy a cheap heater, or they’d be spending the next few days before the next upcoming craft fair silently freezing.
Picking up a pound coin, she began to count the coins, stacking them as she did so.
‘What a waste of time today has been.’ Scarlett added the final ten pence piece to the pile of takings on the rug.
She’d made exactly fourteen pounds and forty-five pence.
And she wasn’t even sure where the five pence had come from.
Someone must have picked it up from the floor or else given it to her by accident.
Ha, maybe the delightful Declan had taken pity on her and slipped it into the cash box before he’d smashed her mugs.
Leaning her back heavily against the edge of the sofa, she hugged her legs to her chest. It would be fine.
Spending a few nights in the cold wouldn’t kill her.
And she could cover Thelma’s cage with a thick blanket, which should help keep the heat in.
Plus, she could take a good look on the internet at Laura’s tomorrow and see if there was an easy fix for the heating she could try.
She might only need a cheap part. Hopefully.
She pulled her mobile from her pocket and checked it. Nope, just as she’d thought, there suddenly hadn’t been a mobile phone mast erected in the field next to the lay-by so she could get the internet. She barely had one bar of signal.
She pulled the blanket together around her shoulders and tucked her hands inside.
It couldn’t be that cold. There hadn’t been a frost when she’d first stepped outside the van this morning, so they should be fine tonight.
She’d have to get some food in a bit, but for now all she wanted to do was stay under the blanket for another few minutes, just to warm herself up from the rain.
Scarlett jerked her head up as a tap on the door filled the small space. ‘Hello?’
‘Scarlett, it’s me, Laura.’ Her cousin’s voice sounded through the door.
Letting the blanket fall from her shoulders, Scarlett pushed herself to standing and opened the door, ushering Laura inside. ‘Hi, Laura.’
Stepping inside, Laura glanced around the small space as Scarlett made sure the door was closed tight. ‘Wow, you’ve done loads of work in here since I had a peek at the wedding.’
‘Yes, do you like it?’ Looking around, Scarlett felt the warmth of pride fill her chest. Once she’d discovered Tyler had been leading a double life, she’d doubled down on her efforts to make the van habitable.
When she’d bought it, she’d only intended to use it for the odd weekend here and there or a holiday or two a year; she’d had no intention of living in it full time.
But after she’d called things off with Tyler, she’d known she’d have to move out of the flat and with nowhere to turn, she’d decided to embrace life living on the road.
Or in the car park behind Devon’s Wine Bar until travelling down here.
‘I do. It’s gorgeous.’ Laura placed the Tupperware tub she was carrying on the small work surface space before circling the camper.
She trailed her fingers across the patchwork sofa upholstery Scarlett had painstakingly handsewn and ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the multi-coloured tiles Scarlett had painted by hand to cover up the grease stains she hadn’t been able to shift after finding them in a skip.
‘Thanks. I’ve still got some bits I want to do to it. Like the front seats have a few marks on and I need to take a look at the water pressure for the shower as it comes out as a dribble.’ Scarlett waved her hand towards the back of the van.
‘You have a shower?’ Laura widened her eyes as she pivoted on the spot, her eyes searching for where Scarlett had hidden the shower.
Scarlett laughed as she took the few short steps towards the back of the van and pulled open the curtains covering the back doors and unhooked the showerhead to hold it up. ‘Here it is.’
Tilting her head, Laura frowned. ‘I’m so confused. You just shower in here, with everything like this? Doesn’t it all get wet?’
‘No, I open the back doors and pull a curtain around and shower out the back.’ Scarlett laughed as an expression of horror covered her cousin’s face. ‘No one can see anything.’
‘Right, okay.’ Perching on the edge of the sofa, Laura glanced around again. ‘You’ve taken this renovation seriously, haven’t you? I mean, someone could almost live in here long term quite comfortably.’
‘Yes.’ Scarlett nodded. She hadn’t planned on telling Laura she’d moved out of the flat to live in the van, but she seemed as though she’d understand. ‘It is. It’s super comfy.’
‘So you are living in here then.’ It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, almost as if Laura had known all along and had just been biding time until she could confirm her suspicions.
‘You knew?’ Sitting down beside her, Scarlett picked at the hem of her jumper. How had she guessed? Had it been because Scarlett told her she was going to stay in Meadowfield for the month, and she’d just assumed?
Nodding, Laura twisted on the sofa so she was facing her. ‘I had a call from Tyler this morning.’
‘Tyler?’ Scarlett widened her eyes. Why on earth would he be ringing Laura? How had he even got her phone number? He’d met her a couple of times over the years, but Scarlett hadn’t realised they’d exchanged numbers. ‘I didn’t even know he had your number.’