Frank seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he sat in the wheelhouse staring out over the sea, his broad shoulders drooping as he cradled a tin cup in his large hands.

‘Everything all right with you, wee boy?’ asked Ron, clambering on board.

Frank was startled out of his reverie and almost dropped the cup. ‘Sorry, Da,’ he muttered. ‘I was half asleep and didn’t hear you coming.’

‘If you were out all night you should be in bed catching up on your sleep,’ replied Ron, helping himself to a mug of tea and lacing it with whisky. He jerked his head towards the cottage. ‘How are things?’

Frank heaved a sigh. ‘Quiet for now. She’s gone back to work.’ He regarded his father from beneath his thick brows. ‘She’s not well, Da, and it worries me.’

‘Aye, it would.’ Ron had always suspected that Pauline had a screw loose, for no sane woman would carry on as she did, and this latest bout of illness was no doubt her way of seeking attention. ‘What’s the matter with her this time?’ he asked neutrally.

‘She’s been suffering from sick headaches which have affected her eyesight, giving her blurred vision. I told her to go to the doctor’s, but she refuses to listen, and blames her bad heads on the stress everyone has caused her lately.’

Frank heard his father’s soft grunt and met his cynical gaze. ‘I know what you’re thinking, Da, and I agree that she has only herself to blame, but I really do believe she isn’t putting it on this time.’

‘If it’s as bad as she says, then she’ll do something about it,’ said Ron, adjusting the straps of the hessian bag to a more comfortable position on his shoulders. ‘Pauline has been running back and forth to that doctor for years. I don’t see why she should suddenly change a habit of a lifetime.’

‘Aye, you’re right.’ Frank brightened and ran a gentle hand over Joseph’s head. ‘I’m going over to see Brendon and Betty later. They actually asked me to move in with them, you know.’

‘Why didn’t you?’ asked Ron flatly.

‘I couldn’t leave while Pauline’s feeling so ill. Besides, they’re newly-weds and don’t want me playing gooseberry.’

Ron sipped the stewed tea and came to the conclusion that Pauline’s illness was very timely – but then that was entirely predictable. She certainly knew how to keep Frank under her thumb, and it made him dislike her even more. But Frank was a middle-aged man, and his marriage was his own business. It was just a pity he didn’t have the gumption to see his wife for what she really was, and leave her to stew.

He decided to change the subject. ‘Have you managed to find enough crew to man the boats?’ he asked.