The boys saw the taxi arrive and decided to wait where they were, out of sight for the moment. They watched through a porthole window as their father and a slim woman with black hair tied back and dressed in navy trousers and a white top paused at the gangplank. “From here she is alright – but close up she is probably a witch,” Jack spoke in a fearsome voice.
“Oh no,” Jamie said, looking upset again. Jack was cross with himself – he hadn’t meant to frighten his little brother who after all was only a kid of ten.
“I’m pretending Jamie. I suppose she must be okay or Dad wouldn’t have asked her along.” Jamie looked mollified.
Once on board, Liz followed Philip down to the main cabin which was surprisingly spacious with a bank of seating fixed to either side and a central table. Philip showed her the forward cabin. “This is where I sleep, and this,” he indicated, “is a small cabin the boys share, and they have obviously tucked themselves away. Our head, or bathroom, is here, and now let’s show you your quarters at the other end of the ship.”
He collected her holdall, which had been left at the foot of the stairs, and she followed him in to a narrow corridor. The door at the end was open and he walked ahead of her, putting the holdall down before announcing, “This is your cabin Elizabeth, I hope it will suit.” Liz was dumbfounded. A double bed that one could walk around and a cupboard fixed to the wall with coat hangers neatly lined up, with adjacent drawer space. “Now for the pièce de résistance,” said Philip, opening a door within the cabin. “Your own ensuite!”
Liz was amazed. A fully tiled shower and enough space for a washbasin and loo with enough space to actually turn around. It was unlike anything she could have imagined and she was both delighted and relieved.
There was a thumping noise and, in the confined space of the cabin, it sounded like a herd of elephants. “The boys,” Philip laughed. “They don’t actually know the meaning of quiet.” Quite unceremoniously, announced only by their feet, two boys looking to Liz like two of William Compton’s urchins, burst into the cabin.
“Hello Dad,” they chorused in unison, as if they had rehearsed the moment.
“Boys, you are not elephants are you?” Philip asked. They grinned. Both had managed to get ice-cream on their shirts and the smaller of the two, Liz noticed, smiling at them, still had the remains of chocolate ice-cream around his mouth.
“We just wanted to welcome,” there was a pause and the younger of the two added, “the lady on board the Griffin.”
“Hello,” said Liz. “Which is John and which of you is James?”
“I’m actually Jack,” said John.
“And I’m actually Jamie,” said James, aping his brother’s words.
“Well, I’m actually Liz.” She rather liked Philip calling her Elizabeth but that was far too formal for the boys. “Actually,” she said, unconsciously mimicking their turn of phrase, “I brought you something from England.” She hastily unzipped the side pocket of the holdall and produced two books. The latest Harry Potter books, and signed for the boys by J.K. Rowling, who had become a good friend of Liz’s.
“They are a bit hard for Jamie at times,” Jack said a bit uncertainly, “but of course I’ll help him out.” Their father smiled indulgently at his sons. One dark-haired as he used to be, and Jamie fair-haired and fair-skinned like his mother.
Ushering his sons out of the cabin and turning to Liz, Philip said that she could take as long as she wanted to freshen up but that they planned to set sail in about half an hour. Although it was on the late side to set off, he wanted to make a quick sail to a quieter place and get away from the somewhat noisy bustle of Lefkas. “We’re all provisioned up so we’ll leave,” he looked at his watch, “at sixteen hundred hours.”
“Aye-aye, Captain,” Liz responded happily. “I will report to the Captain in twenty minutes.”
“I’m the first mate,” said Jack.
“I’m second,” added Jamie, as their father pushed them out of the cabin ahead of him.
“They are wonderful,” Liz mouthed at Philip. He flashed her a grateful smile, followed by a grimace implying he only partially agreed!
Liz unpacked quickly – putting to one side a pair of shorts, a tee shirt and a baseball cap which she quickly changed into and slipped on a pair of deck shoes before making her way back on deck within the allotted time.
Philip looked at her approvingly. “How is it you always look so good?” She smiled in response, not always quite sure how to deal with his directness, and said a quiet, “Thank you.”
“What is ‘tage’?” Jamie asked looking at the emblem on her baseball hat.
“Taj,” she corrected his pronunciation. “It’s a hotel quite near where I live in Goa, India,” she added. Jack was looking at her closely and she was very aware that she was under scrutiny from both of Philip’s sons.
They motored down the Lefkas Canal and then, finally, in the second hour were able to sail. “Jack is our navigator. Right first mate?” Philip said.
“Yes Sir, Captain,” he gave a mock salute.
“Jamie, would you like to tell Elizabeth about Nidri?”
“There is a hotel where we can swim in the pool if we want to, and there are lots of places to eat, and we can have pizza for supper, and can I call you Liz?” They all laughed and somehow it broke the ice.
“I love swimming in the sea or a pool, I love pizza too, especially on holiday, and I would love for you to call me Liz. I can see we shall get on famously,” Liz replied.
It was as if she had passed some test. They all suddenly seemed more comfortable together and while she was told all about Nidri being a great place to provision up, Jamie said, “It is isn’t it Daddy?” Jamie sounded so young as he forgot, for a moment, to be as “grown-up” as his brother.
Both boys, now far more relaxed, were calling Philip “Daddy”, which Liz found endearing – they obviously tried so hard to be older than they were and she could tell how important they and Philip were to each other.
By the time they arrived in Nidri the wind was blowing quite hard. The sails had been taken down for the last mile or so and now Philip was looking to drop anchor reasonably near the shore. He found the spot and, with Jack holding the wheel, he went “forward” to drop the anchor. The sound of the chain being released seemed to go on for ages, but, as suddenly as it started, it stopped when Philip jammed the winch off. “We’ll have to wait for a while to see if she’s settled,” Philip explained to Liz. “So how about a gin and tonic? Boys, you can break out the cola.”
Liz found the family atmosphere quite overwhelming. It had been a long time since she had been in a family group. She suddenly felt terribly tired – emotionally, mentally and physically. It seemed ages ago since she’d said goodbye to Kathy at Gatwick and now here she was, only a few hours later, in the middle of nowhere with two boys she had never met before and a man she hardly knew.
As if reading her thoughts, Philip brought up a gin and tonic from below and sat beside her. The boys were below sorting out their drinks and she could hear them arguing about who had the most. Philip sighed and called down for them to stop arguing and read their new books or something, promising them that they would all be going ashore before long for pizza. There was immediate silence below.
Liz, glass in hand, looked about her. The boat was swinging gently in the breeze and other boats, far enough away for safety but near enough for company, swung as they did, all of the prows facing the way they had come. The boats swung again and now the shoreline was in view, every movement a slightly different vista. “It’s so peaceful,” she said almost to herself. Philip nodded.
“It’s what I like about this sort of holiday. It’s good for the boys too.” They sat in companionable silence. The boat had settled and now Philip was happy to go ashore. As Liz watched, he fitted a small outboard motor to the dingy they had towed behind them.
The boys were told to clean up and put clean tee shirts and shorts on. “And,” Philip added, “something sensible on your feet! I have to add that,” he explained to Liz. “Or I find them wandering around Nidri barefooted.”
Liz stood in the shower, very aware that she must be careful with the water. By turning the tap on and then off several times, she finished up feeling pretty refreshed, deciding that the gin and tonic had definitely helped!
She pulled on a new pair of blue capris and a recently purchased shirt. She brushed her hair thoroughly and, after a touch of moisturiser and lipstick, a quick look in the mirror assured her she looked okay.
Liz thought she had been very quick, but not quick enough for the boys who were already in the dinghy. Philip helped her over the rail and as she stepped off the boat and into the dinghy it wobbled seriously. The boys loved the wobbles. “It’s like stepping on a waterbed,” she shrieked, laughing as she made an ineffectual attempt to move. “What’s a waterbed?” Jamie wanted to know.
“Not now,” Philip was laughing too as he stepped into the dinghy, making it wobble even more perilously. “Elizabeth will tell you later.” He started the engine and it spluttered into life making the whole dinghy feel much safer.
Now they were all settled and the dinghy glided over the water, it seemed safer than Liz had thought it would. After only two hundred yards or thereabouts, they drew alongside a simple wooden jetty. Climbing out was as wobbly as getting in, but this time Liz was prepared and managed to be a little more dignified.
“That’s the hotel,” Jack pointed out. “We swim there sometimes.”
“Not in the sea,” Liz wondered aloud.
“Not here, I never feel it is as clean as it should be,” Philip said by way of explanation.
chapter 19
Liz lay in her firm, comfortable bed. It should have been a lovely first evening. They were all relaxed enjoying their pizzas, which Liz found were surprisingly excellent. Nidri was quite a big town and they had wandered around for a while before choosing the restaurant. “We always do this,” Philip confided as the boys made a firm choice of venue. “We look at all the restaurants along here on the front and then finish up at the same one every time!”
“You’ve been coming here a long time?”
“Really since the boys could walk. Helen was a great sailor, though she always said she wasn’t strong enough to pull the ropes. She was very petite, but I used to tease her and call her lazy bones.” A shadow crossed his face. It was, thought Liz, the first time he had mentioned her name and it was as if for a moment her memory, like a ghost, came between them.
The second jolt of the evening was as they came to the end of their meal. As they were about to leave, a woman at the next table called to them. She was French and spoke beautiful English with the accent the English adore – very Maurice Chevalier. “Oh what a charming family Monsieur. Two handsome sons and a beautiful maman.” Philip gave a tight smile and Liz realised he didn’t want to go into explanations, perhaps distressing Jack and Jamie. Jamie had not heard but Jack had. He stood up and moved to the small space between the two tables. “That,” he said, pointing at Liz, “is not my mother, just a friend.” His tone was aggressive.
“Jack,” his father said. “That is enough.”
“She is not my mother,” Jack repeated, this time loud enough for several heads to turn and for Jamie to look distressed. Jamie stood up and Liz instinctively put an arm around him to guide him out of the restaurant. “Leave my brother alone,” Jack snapped. Liz dropped her arm like a stone and looked helplessly at Philip who had, by now, shepherded the boys and Liz out of the restaurant. They were all upset in different ways and for different reasons.
Philip was angry with Jack, yet equally cross with himself for not realising this might happen. Jack was angry that anyone could think Liz was his mother. No one could be his mother. Jamie was sad and feeling something he couldn’t quite understand. He sort of wished she was his mother and then felt sadder because he didn’t think he should think like that. And finally Liz. Unwittingly she knew she was the cause of the evening’s disastrous end and was upset for them all.
Jack said nothing as they climbed back into the dinghy then, once back on board the Griffin, turned on Philip and said angrily, “Why did you bring her here? We don’t want another mother – we have a mother, she’s just dead that’s all.”
Liz tried to say she didn’t want to be their mother but Philip, with a look that said, “Don’t say anything”, stopped her short. Quietly, and with as much dignity as she could manage, she said goodnight to each of them and went thankfully to her cabin.
Now, as she lay in bed, she wondered how she was to get through the next week. Never had seven days seemed so long.
Liz never knew what Philip said to his sons that night, but whatever it was, the next morning although Jack was quiet he was respectful when he spoke to her. After a few awkward moments, Jamie was his sunny self again and there seemed to be a slight bonding between him and Liz.
Philip found a moment when the boys were swabbing the deck to apologise for the previous evening’s episode. It seemed to Liz that the comfortable atmosphere that had developed between them had returned to a more formal one again.
Jamie liked Liz – Jack was disgusted and felt betrayed but Jamie didn’t care. Liz was kind and beautiful and during the sailing on the previous afternoon, she had told him lovely stories about Goa, and about the mother cat and kittens she had befriended, and the little girls who shared her home because they didn’t have a mummy or daddy.
Later that day, as Liz and Jamie sat together on the front deck, they shared a magical few minutes as dolphins leapt and leapt again in front of the yacht as it sailed along. Liz looked around and Philip and Jack were deep in conversation in the cockpit as Philip steadily held the wheel in the light wind. Liz tried to attract their attention but the wind didn’t carry her voice and so she just hugged Jamie as they continued to enjoy the spectacle, leaving Philip and Jack to what looked like quite a serious conversation.
“Wouldn’t it be lovely to swim with them?” Liz commented.
“Let’s do it.” Jamie was already on his feet. She pulled him down beside her.
“It would be dangerous here Jamie, but there are places where one can swim with them.”
“I’d love to go there,” he said, snuggling up to her. “I wish you were my mummy,” he said, snuggling even closer. Liz smiled, he was such a warm bundle of love that needed nurturing.
“I’ll be your special friend if you will have me,” she replied.
“That’s nice, but can’t you marry Dad?”
“Well, Jamie that is quite a question. One, he hasn’t asked me and two, I really don’t know your father very well, he is just a special friend. And the other thing Jamie is that no one can take the place of your very own mummy.”
“I suppose not,” the boy said slowly, “but you could try couldn’t you Liz, you could really try.” He sounded so forlorn and she wanted to say the words he wanted to hear but, of course, she couldn’t.
“I know,” she said finally. “We’ll have a secret you and I – when we are alone like this, I’ll pretend you are my little boy.”
“Big,” he corrected.
“Big,” she repeated. “And you can pretend, just like a game, that I am your mummy. But, it must only be when we are quite alone. You understand that is the rule of the game.”
“I understand…Mummy.” He seemed to savour the word and it sent a shiver up her spine. What was she doing? She consoled herself by remembering it was only a game.
As Jamie got easier, Jack seemed to get more difficult. He couldn’t help noticing how close his brother was to Liz. He found himself feeling threatened. Mummy had died and now Jamie was leaving him for Liz.
Philip too noticed how close Liz was getting to his youngest son. It pleased him and he t
hought Liz was wonderful with the boy. He worried about Jack and had several serious conversations with him, pulling him up on his attitude towards Liz.
“I hate her,” said Jack more than once. Philip felt helpless, he was more and more drawn to her but realised that perhaps the yacht was not the happy relaxed space he had hoped for. They had had such happy times sailing, he and Helen. He looked surreptitiously at Liz. She was chatting again to Jamie. They seemed to have developed a closeness he almost envied. She suddenly threw back her head and laughed and Jamie looked at her with adoring eyes. “Share the joke,” Philip asked.
Jamie looked at his father with a mixture of sadness and respect. “Sorry Dad, it’s private.” Philip felt left out. Liz felt concerned that Jamie had inadvertently caused a chasm between the adults.
She moved along the cockpit and sat next to Philip. He looked fit and bronzed in his shorts. “Would you like to take the wheel, Liz?” She had felt nervous when she first held the wheel, but now she took it with confidence, enjoying feeling the wind in the sails and the lean of the craft as it skimmed across the deep, almost navy-blue sea. Jamie went forward to look out for more dolphins. Jack turned his back on Liz and then went below.
Philip sighed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Jack,” he said. “I have never known him so difficult.”
Liz bit her lip. “I think I may unwittingly be the problem,” she said, trying hard to keep any emotion out of her voice. She didn’t want him to know how frustrated she felt about Jack, but also how Jack was spoiling their relationship or, more to the point, their what-had-been burgeoning relationship.
Philip nodded. “It isn’t you Elizabeth, it was that wretched French woman. Her comment made Jack feel that I was forgetting Helen, which of course is untrue. Helen will always have a place in my heart.”
The Portuguese House Page 10
