Chapters (50)
Down in the boatshed, Joseph placed a hand on Hamza’s arm. Gestured upwards to the cliff-top. Hamza stopped working as the light breeze carried voices their way. They had finished the boat. She was ready, but they had to repair the trailer that would carry her down the beach. The man turned.
‘I’ll just go down,’ the Lieutenant Colonel said. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
‘I wouldn’t if I were you.’ He looked back at her uncertainly. ‘It’s too dark. The path’s too steep. You won’t get back up before the tide comes in.’
The Lieutenant Colonel looked out to sea. Even though he had lived here for years, he relied on data to tell him about the tides. He had thought that maybe it would become second nature to him, but it hadn’t. He looked out again. Couldn’t be sure. Nefyn smiled.
‘It’s dangerous, that’s all.’
The Lieutenant Colonel nodded.
‘You haven’t seen any strangers around, have you?’
Nefyn tilted her head. He found her unnerving. Her stillness.
‘I mean, someone you don’t know?’
Nefyn smiled softly again.
‘Only you.’
The Lieutenant Colonel laughed.
‘Of course. I’m sorry to have disturbed you. I really don’t know what I was thinking.’
Agitated, he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. Peered into the cottage, saw the fireplace in the gloom. The chair. A compass on a small table. ‘Have you always lived here?’ His question seemed sincere. Nefyn nodded. He laughed, shook his head, trying to order his thoughts. ‘Perhaps she’s right …’ he said. Nefyn waited. ‘My wife, she was saying that she’d like to stay in one place for some time, see what it’s like.’
Nefyn thought he suddenly looked a lot older, the colour in his cheeks gone.
‘We’ve always moved, moved and moved so we don’t really …’ His voice fractured. ‘It’s the great lie, isn’t it? The race to the top, when there isn’t one really.’ He smiled sadly. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he apologized.
Nefyn looked at him steadily. His face unsure. Lost.
‘I’m so sorry.’
Then, he started walking away. Nefyn turned. Watched him go. His shoulders curved now. Soft. His head looking downwards. She watched his figure grow smaller and smaller before he disappeared into the dunes. She turned back to the cottage, and her eyes alighted on Hamza’s compass on the table by the fire.