A Fresh Start on Crumcarey (Crumcarey Island #5)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

LUKE

‘ I ’m telling you, I’d be raking it in with all these visitors!’

Luke grinned and nodded along. He knew it was best just to agree with his uncle when he was on one of his rants.

‘I’ve never seen this road so busy,’ continued Mr Harris with a tut. ‘It was never like this back in my day. These visitors are a menace!’

Luke raised an eyebrow as he hit the brakes of his uncle’s old truck. He didn’t say anything, but right now, he had to agree… at least when it came to the visitors just ahead of them. They’d been filling in the paperwork for the Cow Taxi just as he and his uncle had left The Tallyaff. Thirty seconds into their trip home, the ancient hire car had appeared behind them – practically climbing into the back of the truck before overtaking them on the dodgiest of blind bends.

Now they were busy weaving across the road ahead of them, slamming the brakes on every so often so that the passenger could hang out of the window to take photos. Then they’d zoom off again – completely oblivious to the fact that there was another vehicle on the road behind them.

‘You do know the roads would be even worse if you had opened a petting zoo, don’t you?’ said Luke lightly.

‘Aye,’ said Mr Harris, cocking his head. ‘That’d be Ray and Anna’s problem though, wouldn’t it? I was planning to have it up at Crum House, so they’d have to deal with all the extra traffic!’

Luke huffed out a laugh. ‘Lucky for them they’re too busy then, eh? Sounds like Ray’s getting on well with the dive school!’

‘Aye,’ said his uncle again. ‘Though he’s half the problem – encouraging all these visitors.’

‘I know you don’t really mean that,’ Luke grinned.

‘Do too,’ muttered Mr Harris, ruffling the ears of the sleeping dog in his lap. ‘You know, McGregor hates the tourists too. He’s exhausted. Lots more barking to be done with all these extra people around. I’ve never known the poor lad to sleep so much!’

Luke grunted at that. He didn’t want to be the one to point out that the feisty little terrier was simply getting on a bit.

‘More visitors means more money on the island,’ said Luke. ‘And it means the places you love – places like The Tallyaff - will not just survive but thrive.’

‘True,’ said Mr Harris. ‘Olive’s thriving alright. She’s booked solid for weeks. All the rooms are full, and the shop’s busier than ever too – that’s why she’s had to go and bring in the new girl!’

Luke gripped the steering wheel tightly. He’d been hoping to swing the conversation around to the mysterious Maggie at some point – preferably in a way that wouldn’t alert Uncle Harris to the fact that he had anything other than a passing curiosity in the beautiful new barmaid. Unfortunately – if the look his uncle was now giving him was anything to go by – Mr Harris had already clocked that he’d spent a bit too much time staring at the way her dark hair came alive with thousands of tiny golden lights under the lamps of The Tallyaff.

‘Bonnie lass, mind…’ said his uncle with a decidedly roguish grin.

‘I hadn’t noticed,’ said Luke flatly, slamming on his brakes again. The Cow Taxi had just swerved across the road ahead of them to give the photographer a better angle of a crumbling cottage.

‘Hadn’t noticed, eh?’ chuckled Mr Harris. ‘Be off with you lad, your eyes were out on stalks!’

Alarm bells started ringing somewhere inside Luke’s head, and he glanced at his Uncle. ‘They weren’t… were they? I mean… she wouldn’t have noticed… I mean, she wouldn’t have thought that…’

‘Calm down, lad!’ said Mr Harris kindly. ‘It’s just that I know you well enough to see the signs. You might get a bit of a ribbing from Olive, mind!’

‘I can handle Olive,’ said Luke tightly. ‘But… you don’t think Maggie—’

‘Your Maggie won’t have noticed a thing,’ said Mr Harris calmly. ‘I’d say she had enough on her mind to keep her distracted.’

‘She’s not my Maggie,’ said Luke. ‘I’ve never met her before… though she seems to know who I am…’

‘Course she does,’ said Mr Harris with a shrug. ‘She’s a local, and we locals know everything.’

‘I guessed she must be – working at the Tallyaff and all,’ said Luke. ‘But… I don’t even know where she lives.’

‘Right there,’ said Mr Harris, pointing at the sad, broken-down little cottage just ahead of them.

‘You’re not serious?’ gasped Luke, watching as the tourists swerved in a great arc before speeding away from the cottage after taking their fill of photos. ‘Someone lives in that?!’

Luke had barely even glanced at the place before. It was a complete wreck – little more than a ruin. He couldn’t remember anyone living there in all the years he’d been coming to Crumcarey.

‘I’m dead serious,’ said Mr Harris, nodding. ‘Take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me.’

Luke put the truck back in gear and crawled forward so that he could take a closer look. The cottage looked even worse up close. There were tattered tarpaulins strung together everywhere – mostly across different parts of the roof, though it was clear that Crumcarey’s ever-present wind had been playing havoc with them.

Here and there, he could see the tell-tale spots of what looked like bright orange fungus mushrooming from the walls. It was clear someone had been busy with a can or ten of expanding foam – doing their best to fill in some of the gaps. Where the holes were too large for the foam to be of any help, square fenceposts the locals called “stabs” were wedged into the ground – their pointy, tapered ends holding sheets of hardboard in place against the walls.

One or two of the windows were missing panes of glass. In the gaps, he could see bits of cardboard, plastic and tin. One of the frames was being held in place with a piece of wood so flimsy, it looked like it might give way at any moment.

‘I’m guessing she’s only just moved in?’ said Luke.

‘Then you’re guessing wrong,’ said Mr Harris. ‘Our Maggie’s been in there coming up to two years.’

‘In that mess?!’ gasped Luke.

‘Aye,’ said Mr Harris. ‘And we’re all pretty impressed with her staying power, I can tell you.’

‘Is she… erm…’ Luke paused. He wanted to know if she was on her own in the crumbling cottage, but he knew if he asked that particular question, his uncle would be on it like a dog with a bone.

‘Tarpaulin Girl – that’s what we call her,’ chuckled Mr Harris fondly, seemingly unaware of Luke’s conundrum. ‘She’s one of those special people who arrives on the island – and stays.’

‘What a name!’ laughed Luke. ‘She sounds like some kind of superhero.’

‘Living like that?’ said Mr Harris. ‘I’d say she is. Even superheroes need a hand sometimes, though. We all want to help her out… but we don’t want to intrude. You know how it is. She’s got to make the first move. Maybe now she’s working for Olive, we’ll all get the chance to know her a bit better… and then we’ll see what we can do.’

‘Well… she’s definitely brave,’ said Luke seriously. ‘I’m not sure I’d be up for staying a single night in that place!’

‘Strange what people will do for love, isn’t it?’ said Mr Harris thoughtfully.

Luke felt a lead weight settle in his stomach. Love? So there was a Mr Tarpaulin Girl, then? He didn’t know why that should bother him so much… maybe because there was no way he’d have put up with his Maggie living in that state for so long.

If she was his.

Which she wasn’t.

Of course.

‘Love?’ said Luke, wanting his uncle to go on, but not really sure what else to say to prompt him.

‘Moved here with her man,’ said Mr Harris, a frown marring his usually placid features. ‘He’s long-gone now, though. I don’t know all the details…’

Luke raised his eyebrows at that. He’d never known a time when his uncle didn’t have all the details! He stayed quiet, waiting for him to fill the silence.

‘The idiot said he’d be back. Never has been, though,’ he added.

‘Back from where?’ said Luke.

‘Here, there and everywhere, from what I gather,’ said Mr Harris. ‘That card she had this morning? That would have been from him. He took a job on the mainland, and they started sending him all over the world.’

‘And he just left her here… waiting for him?’ said Luke.

‘That’s how I understand it,’ said Mr Harris. ‘I’m surprised she’s still here – and good for her. She does her best, and she’s done quite a lot of work on her own…’

‘It’s not going to last another winter,’ said Luke, staring back at the sad little cottage. ‘That roof’s going to disappear at the slightest bit of wind. Those tarps aren’t going to help if the cross beam goes…’

Honk!

The obnoxious blaring of a car horn made the pair of them jump. McGregor – rudely awoken from his nap – jumped to his feet and started barking and snarling at the window. His wiry fur stood on end as he glared at a campervan as it shot past them, overtaking at speed on the narrow road.

‘You know, I swear he’d have two fingers up at them if he had fingers,’ chuckled Luke, glancing at the little dog.

‘Well deserved,’ huffed Mr Harris.

‘To be fair, we are stationary in the middle of the road,’ said Luke, putting the truck in gear. With one last look at Maggie’s cottage, he put his foot down. He needed to get back to the farm… he had some serious thinking to do.