eyes. 'Oh yes, well,
it's very easy to get things cleared with Mr Southwest, isn't it? Particularly
if you're a woman.'
Now
she had formed an estimation of Reginald
Flowers's
character, Carole was unsurprised to find there was friction between him and
Kelvin Southwest. Two control freaks for a single beach is probably one too
many.
'He
was very reasonable about it,' she said.
That
prompted a sardonic chuckle. 'Oh yes, I'm sure he was. Always ready to do
little favours for people, our Kelvin, isn't he? Provided of course that the
people are prepared to do little favours for him.' Carole didn't think any
comment was appropriate; she mustn't be seen to be taking sides in what was
clearly an ongoing conflict. 'One day,' Reginald Flowers continued ominously,
'one day our Kelvin is going to take one favour too many . . .'
'Oh?'
'There's
a very fine line, Mrs Seddon, between co-operation and corruption, you know.
Still, it wouldn't be the first time a local government officer has taken a
backhander, would it?'
Once
again Carole decided not to comment. She moved the subject on. 'If you let me
know how much I owe you for the subscription, I'll write you a cheque straight
away.'
'The
subscription is twenty pounds per annum.'
'Oh
well, I think I've probably got that in cash. I'm just going for a little walk,
but when I get back to my hut I'll find my handbag and bring the money over to
you.' Carole suddenly realized that, in spite of Reginald Flowers's
reassurances about the security of the Smalting Beach, she had been very
foolish to leave her bag in the hut. She looked over to Fowey, but was
relieved to see that Jude, still dressed only in her bikini, was sprawled in
one of the director's chairs.
'There
is a form for you to fill in,' announced Reginald Flowers. Oh yes, of course there
would be. Carole somehow got the feeling that becoming a member of any
organization run by him would involve a lot of form-filling. He bustled about
inside his naval museum and emerged holding a badly printed form covered with
lots of boxes that Carole could see would be too small for the information they
were meant to contain. And the form was three pages long.
But
she took it with appropriate gratitude and said she'd bring it back with the
money when she'd filled it in. 'I'll do it the moment I get back to the hut,'
she said, gesturing in the direction of Fowey.
Reginald
Flowers looked puzzled. 'I understood that you were taking over Miss Rose's
hut. That's over there.'
So he
doesn't know everything that goes on in the beach huts, does he? Carole guessed
he didn't know about the fire under Quiet Harbour, and for some reason
she didn't feel inclined to tell him about it. All she said was, 'There was a
bit of a problem with that one, so while it's being sorted out, Kelvin
Southwest's let me use Fowey.'
'Has
he?' said Reginald Flowers, as if hearing of another example in the long list
of the Council official's transgressions.
Carole
continued her walk. The hut adjacent to Quiet Harbour was still being
ruled by the poisonous matriarch whom Carole had seen on her previous visit.
The downtrodden glumness on the faces of her son Gavin, his wife Nell, and
their children Tristram and Hermione, showed that their stay with Granny was
proving to be a very long week indeed. Carole once again made all kinds of vows
to herself about the way she was going to behave to Lily.
And
then she was once again outside Quiet Harbour. She didn't want to make a
show of inspecting it, so she walked on past. But there was still something
intriguing about the place, oddities that needed explanation, a sense of
unfinished business.
----
Chapter Nine
The
picnic lunch that Jude had prepared was very good. A chicken salad with some
nice crusty bread, suitably light for the hot weather. And, needless to say,
being
it's very easy to get things cleared with Mr Southwest, isn't it? Particularly
if you're a woman.'
Now
she had formed an estimation of Reginald
Flowers's
character, Carole was unsurprised to find there was friction between him and
Kelvin Southwest. Two control freaks for a single beach is probably one too
many.
'He
was very reasonable about it,' she said.
That
prompted a sardonic chuckle. 'Oh yes, I'm sure he was. Always ready to do
little favours for people, our Kelvin, isn't he? Provided of course that the
people are prepared to do little favours for him.' Carole didn't think any
comment was appropriate; she mustn't be seen to be taking sides in what was
clearly an ongoing conflict. 'One day,' Reginald Flowers continued ominously,
'one day our Kelvin is going to take one favour too many . . .'
'Oh?'
'There's
a very fine line, Mrs Seddon, between co-operation and corruption, you know.
Still, it wouldn't be the first time a local government officer has taken a
backhander, would it?'
Once
again Carole decided not to comment. She moved the subject on. 'If you let me
know how much I owe you for the subscription, I'll write you a cheque straight
away.'
'The
subscription is twenty pounds per annum.'
'Oh
well, I think I've probably got that in cash. I'm just going for a little walk,
but when I get back to my hut I'll find my handbag and bring the money over to
you.' Carole suddenly realized that, in spite of Reginald Flowers's
reassurances about the security of the Smalting Beach, she had been very
foolish to leave her bag in the hut. She looked over to Fowey, but was
relieved to see that Jude, still dressed only in her bikini, was sprawled in
one of the director's chairs.
'There
is a form for you to fill in,' announced Reginald Flowers. Oh yes, of course there
would be. Carole somehow got the feeling that becoming a member of any
organization run by him would involve a lot of form-filling. He bustled about
inside his naval museum and emerged holding a badly printed form covered with
lots of boxes that Carole could see would be too small for the information they
were meant to contain. And the form was three pages long.
But
she took it with appropriate gratitude and said she'd bring it back with the
money when she'd filled it in. 'I'll do it the moment I get back to the hut,'
she said, gesturing in the direction of Fowey.
Reginald
Flowers looked puzzled. 'I understood that you were taking over Miss Rose's
hut. That's over there.'
So he
doesn't know everything that goes on in the beach huts, does he? Carole guessed
he didn't know about the fire under Quiet Harbour, and for some reason
she didn't feel inclined to tell him about it. All she said was, 'There was a
bit of a problem with that one, so while it's being sorted out, Kelvin
Southwest's let me use Fowey.'
'Has
he?' said Reginald Flowers, as if hearing of another example in the long list
of the Council official's transgressions.
Carole
continued her walk. The hut adjacent to Quiet Harbour was still being
ruled by the poisonous matriarch whom Carole had seen on her previous visit.
The downtrodden glumness on the faces of her son Gavin, his wife Nell, and
their children Tristram and Hermione, showed that their stay with Granny was
proving to be a very long week indeed. Carole once again made all kinds of vows
to herself about the way she was going to behave to Lily.
And
then she was once again outside Quiet Harbour. She didn't want to make a
show of inspecting it, so she walked on past. But there was still something
intriguing about the place, oddities that needed explanation, a sense of
unfinished business.
----
Chapter Nine
The
picnic lunch that Jude had prepared was very good. A chicken salad with some
nice crusty bread, suitably light for the hot weather. And, needless to say,
being
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