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Chapter 12 Decision time

The next day they went on Tristans trip to Skellig. About fifty people lived on the island all year, and there was one hotel and a few holiday cottages. It took them about an hour to walk around the island which, as Tristan had said, did seem to have something special about it. It was difficult to say exactly what it was. Maybe all small islands had it. The far side, away from the coast, was the best.

There was nothing to be seen except the rocks where Anna had been a few days ago. Just ocean, going on forever.

After their walk, they sat on the beach and discussed whether they could live there. This was a game they often played when they went somewhere new. Stephen thought he could, if he had some work to do, but Anna didn't think she'd like it. 'I'd be worried, I might not like any of the other forty-eight people living here. It's not many to choose from,' she said.

About half an hour before the boat was leaving, they saw Tristan walking over the beach towards them.

'It's a beautiful place, isn't it?' said Tristan, sitting down with them.

'Yes,' replied Stephen.

'Stephen thinks he could live here,' said Anna, 'but I'm quite sure I couldn't.'

'Well that's good, because the islanders wouldn't be too happy about outsiders moving in. It'd take about twenty years before you were accepted.'

Tristan sat there for a few minutes. Being in Anna's company again that day had affected him. He remembered last night — the taste of her lips, the smell of her perfume.

He turned to look at them both and said,

'Now, if you really want to live down here how about buying Dolphin Cottage?'

'Are you serious?' asked Stephen. 'Why do you want to sell?'

'I'm going to have to buy a new boat for next year,' said Tristan. 'This one's OK at the moment, but if I'm serious about making more of a business out of the trips, I really need a better boat - and they cost a lot. Selling the cottage would give me the money I need. But I'm not in any hurry to sell — I just thought I'd throw it into the conversation - give you something to think about!' Tristan's face showed nothing of what he really felt.

'Wouldn't it be the same - you know, not being accepted by the locals in Polreath?' Anna asked.

'It would be less of a problem than on Skellig, because there are already one or two outsiders living in the village,' explained Tristan. And of course Dolphin Cottage has been a holiday place for a few years. But it's true, we do have to watch it - you know, make sure the villagers are not pushed out.'

'Hey, wait a minute,' said Stephen with a smile. 'This conversation is going too fast. We live in London, Anna - remember? Your job's there, our friends are there. I don't know about my job, but it's there at the moment. I know I said I was ready for a change but I'm not sure if this is the one I was thinking of.' Stephen's look to Anna said 'I'm interested but we need to talk about it together - later.'

On the journey back, nobody said anything more about the cottage. Anna realised that the possibility of living in Polreath excited her. She started thinking about what work opportunities there were for nurses down here. She also wondered if Tristan really wanted to sell to anyone or justto them as a way of keeping in touch with her. Maybe it was asking for trouble even to think about it.



* * *

A wonderful holiday or a new way of life? That was on their minds for the next few days. For Stephen and Anna there were days when they seemed to do nothing except eat, sleep, read and lie in the sun. There were other days when they were more active: Stephen did some more surfing and became quite good. Anna quietly, without telling anyone, found out about jobs for nurses in the area - just in case. The two of them talked about the possibility of buying the cottage. But if they did, would they keep it as a holiday home or move there to live? Stephen told Anna that after the sale of the company, one of his hopes was that the new owners would not want to keep him. They couldn't make him leave, so they'd have to offer him some money and he could then use that money to start again. The idea of doing something in the Polreath area attracted him.

'Can we afford to buy this place?' asked Anna.

'Yes,' replied Stephen, 'if we sell the flat in London.'

'But what about work down here?' asked Anna. 'You'd have to do something, we can't live off one salary.'

'I know. That's what I've been thinking about. I want to see if I could work in advertising down here. I'd even be interested in possibly starting a small agency of my own.

Or perhaps I could do something with Tristan – possibly get a new boat together or something. What do you think?'

Stephen felt quite good about this idea.

'Find out about the advertising world in this area first, because that's what you know about,' said Anna. 'But if you meant what do I think about me and my life, well to be honest I've already got some information about nursing around here. There's a hospital about fifty kilometres away and there's a health centre nearer, in Kingham, so I could work from here.'

'Ah ha! You're a quiet one!' Stephen said. 'You never told me you were doing that! But seriously, what do you think about leaving London, and everyone there?'

'A bit nervous, but definitely interested,' replied Anna. 'I think I'm ready for a change, too.' She remembered she had thought this on her last day at work. 'And this place has become special, hasn't it?'

They went on talking like this for the next few days.

Tristan didn't ask them anything about their plans, but they did ask him if he was serious about selling Dolphin Cottage.

'Yes,' he replied, 'but only to the right people. Either a local person or, as I've said before, you two.'

In the middle of the last week of their holiday they felt they'd reached some sort of decision. They'd ask Tristan if they could buy the cottage. Other decisions were going to take longer to make, and even longer to organise, but this was a start.

They met Tristan that evening in the Fisherman's Arms and told him they wanted to go ahead.

'Great,' said Tristan. He and Stephen shook hands, and

Tristan kissed Anna on the cheek. He smelt a little bit of fish, which immediately reminded her of his car and their evening together.

Are you going to live in it all the time?' he asked.

'Eventually, yes,' said Anna quickly. Stephen looked at her in surprise. 'But we've got a lot of things to do first, like sell the flat in London and sort out our jobs . . . and things.'

The three of them said goodbye, promising to discuss the details the next day.

'Why did you tell him we were going to live in it all the time? I thought we hadn't really decided that,' said Stephen.

'I had the feeling it was the right thing to say. He doesn't really want it to be just a holiday place. I think he feels better about not selling it to a villager if he knows it's going to become someone's home.' They walked slowly up to the door of Dolphin Cottage. 'In any case, I think we had decided in our own minds,' she added.

***


Date: 2015-04-20; view: 714


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