Secrets in Pelican Crossing (Pelican Crossing #2)

Four

‘Grandy!

Finn was awakened by Sandy pulling at his arm. He blinked, realising he’d fallen asleep on the sofa when he was supposed to be minding the small boy.

‘Hey, little man. Did I go to sleep?’ Finn rubbed his eyes and blinked again. ‘Mum not back yet?’

Sandy shook his head, his eyes clouding.

Finn frowned checking his watch. He could only have been asleep for a few moments but had no excuse. He’d picked Sandy up again today because Adele had her first appointment with the counsellor. He’d set the little boy up with his milk and biscuit and dropped into an armchair intending to check the emails on his phone. He must have closed his eyes. ‘Okay, champ. Just give me a minute.’

Sandy chuckled, his eyes twinkling. He loved it when Finn called him champ. It had started when the little boy had beaten him in a game of Go Fish when he was only four. Finn told him he was a champ, and the name had stuck. ‘Okay.’

Finn quickly sluiced his face with cold water, slipped his feet into a pair of sandals and took his and Sandy’s hats from the hook by the door. Even though it was late afternoon, the February sun had a bite in it and the UV index was still high.

‘No swimming,’ Sandy said, his eyes clouding over again, as he took Finn’s hand.

‘No swimming,’ Finn agreed. Sandy had suffered another nightmare the previous night, his loud scream at two a.m. wakening Finn who had taken him into bed with him. It had been difficult to get back to sleep with the small, hot, wriggling body beside him, probably why he’d fallen asleep in the chair. ‘How about we take your bucket and spade? I bet we can build a great sandcastle. I’ll just let your mum know where we’re going,’ he said, taking out his phone to send a quick text. ‘Maybe she can meet us there.’

At the beach there were a few teenagers messing around in the sea, enjoying the release after a day in the classroom, several surfers who never seemed to have anything else to do but spend their days searching for the best wave, and an elderly woman with long, white hair and wearing an ankle-length skirt which trailed in the water was walking with her dog at the edge of the ocean.

‘It’s the pelican lady,’ Sandy said, clinging to Finn’s hand as they made their way across the sand.

Old Agnes was sometimes called the pelican lady because she cared for rescued and injured pelicans and other seabirds. It was said she cared more for her wild creatures than she did for people, living as she did on a piece of land by the river and looking like an aging hippie. Finn had met her soon after he arrived in Pelican Crossing and had been impressed by her knowledge of the birds and her apparent fitness for someone of her years, though no one seemed to know exactly how old she was.

‘Would you like to talk to her dog?’ Finn asked. It might be a way to help Sandy overcome his fear of the sea. But the little boy recoiled as if he’d been stung.

‘Can we get a dog?’ he asked, watching the spaniel sniffing around in the shallow water.

‘Maybe.’ It was something Finn hadn’t considered, but perhaps having a dog would help Sandy’s nightmares… or perhaps not. ‘Shall we build that castle?’

‘Yes, please.’ Finn noticed how Sandy ensured they were some distance from the edge of the ocean before he set down his bucket and spade.

*

‘Wow, that’s quite a castle. Did you build it all by yourself?’

Finn stood up at the sound of Adele’s voice.

‘Grandy helped, but I did the turret,’ Sandy said beaming with pride.

‘A castle needs a turret,’ Finn said seriously.

‘It certainly does.’ Adele smiled.

‘How was it?’ Finn asked his daughter.

‘Good. I’ll tell you later. Hungry, Sandy?’

‘Yes. Will my castle still be here tomorrow?’ he asked Finn, his forehead creasing with worry.

‘It may be, but we can always build another one.’

Sandy didn’t look happy but picked up his bucket and spade. ‘Can we have fish and chips for dinner?’ he asked hopefully.

Finn glanced at Adele who nodded. ‘I think we can manage that,’ he said, ‘but home first to wash off the sand.’

As Sandy ran ahead to the car, Finn drew Adele aside. ‘Was the counsellor any help? Will you go to him again?’

‘Yes, to both, and she’s a woman, Olivia Grace. She’s nice, easy to talk to. She thinks Sandy should see her too.’

‘Sandy?’ Finn frowned. ‘Isn’t he too young?’

‘She suggested he could be suffering from PTSD, and it might help to have counselling. She treats children too.’

‘PTSD?’ Finn knew what it was but had only heard of it in relation to soldiers returning from a war zone, or more recently police or those who’d experienced some form of terrorism. Sandy was a five-year-old child. Then he remembered the boy’s nightmares, how he woke up screaming and in a cold sweat. He was reliving his experience in the surf over and over again. He had suffered a traumatic event. ‘If you think it would help.’

‘Talk later,’ Adele mouthed as they drew near to the car where Sandy was waiting.

‘Grandy says we can get a dog,’ Sandy announced as Finn started up the car.

Adele turned to look at him, eyebrows raised.

‘I said maybe,’ Finn said, but he knew he’d be unable to disappoint his grandson.

‘I think I’d like one like the one the pelican lady has,’ Sandy decided. ‘What’s it called? ’

Adele looked at Finn again.

‘A spaniel.’ Maybe a spaniel would be okay. From what he knew, they were a friendly breed and good with children.

‘A spaniel,’ Sandy repeated happily. ‘Can we get a boy? I’m going to call him Bluey.’

Finn and Adele exchanged glances. As far as Sandy was concerned it was a done deal; he’d already decided on a name for the dog, calling him after his favourite cartoon character.

‘I’ll check out if there are any spaniel puppies available,’ Finn said, giving in to the inevitable. He’d never been able to deny his grandson anything, and maybe having a puppy to love and care for would help ease his trauma.