A Life Afloat (Maybe)

Chapter 12

For Peter the next few days went rather slowly, not because he was concerned about time passing but he was concerned for his friend Alec and his wife Rose, he had not had much contact with people who had succumbed to that terrible disease, 'Dementia', it sounded awful, just hearing the word made him cringe, back in the days when he was active in the community, he had come across wives who had lost husbands to it, husbands who had lost wives, sons and daughters who had lost one or sometimes both their parents to it. Peter had never thought about it directly, indirectly or consciously, apart from in the last few days, when he had really come across it in Alec's life and had seen in him and the devastating effect that it had had upon him, it seemed to Peter, that the way it had affected his wife, was beginning to destroy Alec from the inside, one could say his very soul was in danger, if one believed in them he thought, he also felt that Alec was being slowly ground into little pieces. It was a very sobering position that he found himself in he mused, how was he going to react when he next saw his friend, that is what worried him most as he sat there on Alec's yacht.

He had not been able to stay away from the small boatyard, even though he had tried to, he felt as if he needed to be there just in case Alec came round and went aboard his little yacht to look for the peace of mind he seemed to find when out on the water, Peter had to agree with those feelings, thinking back to the afternoon when Alec had motored them down the river and out into the bay, he knew that it had been by far the best day that he had had in many a long year. He had felt at ease and comfortable within himself, just as his friend did and a free and clear mind for him, now that really was a very rare feeling these days, it made him feel so good within himself and it was then that he had really and truly known that living aboard a small yacht on a river, almost any river, somewhere like here would be best, this small, fairly quiet, friendly and almost gentle environment were more to his liking, just his cup of tea.

Sitting there allowing his mind to wander, he started to drift off into a gentle sleep and was shaken into life when something or someone bumped into the side of the yacht, somewhat startled, Pete jumped up and went over to the side of the yacht from where he thought he had heard the noise come from, as he peered over the side he at once saw that it was not an intruder but Sam the marine engineer. Gleefully laughing at Pete's reaction Sam called up 'woke you up then did I, saw you dozing off and thought Alec might be on board', ' sorry Sam, only me I'm afraid, I think Alec is still working hard on trying to solve his dilemma over Rose, I only came over today to check that all was well with the yacht as Alec suggested I did' he said stretching the truth a little. 'So sad about his Rose, worships her he does' was Sam's response, as if taking it for granted that Pete would be there, 'he brought his outboard over the other morning asking for it to be serviced, said I might find you here, quite taken to you he has', 'feelings mutual, I feel as if I have known him all my life', replied Pete, 'anyway when you see him next tell him that his outboard is fine and he can collect her any time', a pause, 'time to go' he said as he pushed his tender away from the yacht, pulled the line the engine bursting into life and he sailed off on his merry way, he called over his shoulder, with a big grin on his face 'becoming a right little sailor you are, so they say' another deep laugh, 'don't fall in and mess things up' followed faintly by 'Ha! Ha! Ha!' From the boat workers who were gathered in the yard opposite moving a fairly large cabin cruiser from one side of the yard to the other, it seemed that he was now an accepted part of local life as he was rapidly becoming the butt of their jokes, with a beaming smile he said to himself, that I can live with, to be accepted by this small community is terrific and it makes me more than happy.

Deciding that it was time he had something to eat, for some reason he had not brought anything with him, maybe it was because deep down he did not expect Alec to be there, so once more taking his life into his hands, he clambered down the rope ladder into the tender and rowed back to the jetty, instead of dragging the tender out of the water, he just tied it too a small bollard and climbed out on to the jetty, stretching himself to ease a bit of an ache he wandered over to where the yard workers were still having problems with the cabin cruiser and asked Nobby, the foreman, if it was all right to leave the tender tied to the jetty, 'sure, no problem, I assume you are coming back', 'yes, I'm off for a bite to eat down at the bistro', chuckling to himself Nobby said that 'some people have all the luck, all his wife gave him was a cheese and pickle sandwich', 'don't have a wife so I get to choose to eat or not to eat', was Pete's reply, said with a wry smile, 'see you later' as he took his leave.

Wandering down towards the bistro, he noticed that Alec's car was not parked in its usual place, which simply confirmed that Alec was not around, As soon as he entered the bistro he received a really warm welcome from the girls who seemed to make a bit of a fuss of him, they noticed his reaction and with a smile, they told him that as Alec was not with him, it was his turn to be spoiled, smiling they told him not to get used to it and asked for his order, 'same as before, that quiche if you have any left and a coffee', 'five minutes and we'll try not to burn it' Sandy said, sitting at the table they had used the last time he came in with Alec, he sat there gazing out at the river as if he had been doing it all his life. Bringing his meal over, Sandy who he thought was the manager, asked if he wanted his coffee now or later, with his best smile he said, 'later, if you don't mind', 'that's fine' after a small pause, with quiet voice she asked 'is there was any news on Alec and Rose', 'sadly, I've heard nothing, Alec's car is not in his drive so I think he is still out of town', Pete told her, 'such a sad, sad thing, they are a really lovely couple, why do these things always happen to the nicest people, such a shame, they are loved by everyone in the village' Sandy said to him as she returned to her place behind the counter. Tucking into his meal, which was every bit as good as he remembered, he thought it was the tastiest quiche he had ever had, the flavour was exceptional, I don't have the most educated taste buds he thought but they enjoyed that meal, if it didn't make a pig of me I'd have another portion, smiling to himself, must tell the girls just how good it is, just then his rambling thoughts were disturbed as he realised that Sarah was talking to him, she said that she had noticed that he had finished his meal and asked if he was ready for his coffee, 'sorry, I was miles away, you must think me mad and yes! I'd love that coffee and can you please tell the others that that quiche it terrific, never tasted a better one' with a really brilliant smile, 'one coffee coming up and I'll tell Amy, she's the cook, you'll make her day, she doesn't know how good she is' taking away his dirty plate Sarah quickly  returned with his coffee and with another brilliant smile she said 'Amy thanks you very much', 'enjoy your coffee' and as she walked away she laughingly said to him 'a little madness goes a long way in this place'.

It's amazing how pleasant and welcoming these people are he thought, I wonder why I didn't find them in the bigger towns and cities I've lived in, probably my fault, to busy running and rushing around for no reason, other than trying keep up with my so called friends, who are missing now and with a gentle chuckle to himself, no longer have a car to give them free lifts, if they cannot scrounge off you, you are no longer any use to them, what a world I used to live in, I didn't really realise until recently was a miserable life I lead, again, that's nobody's fault but mine he said to himself, looking around somewhat sheepishly thinking someone may have heard him but he was on his own, finishing his coffee quickly he made his way over to where Sarah was waiting patiently, 'sorry if I'm making you late as he handed over the cash for his meal, telling her to keep the change', 'thank you so much' she replied, carrying on with 'we put all the tips into a big pot and have ourselves a real party at Christmas' 'don't worry, you're not making us late, we stay open until about nine, quite a few tourists and some locals pop-in later on' chuckling, she said 'if you ain't open they can't cross your palms with silver, so we stay open'. 'Right then, time for me to go and put the world to rights' Pete said, I'll be in again soon, take care' and as he opened the door, with his own chuckle said 'don't work too hard' and went on his way.

 Walking back towards the boat yard he noticed that Alec's car was still missing from his drive, still not back he thought, then, when he walked into the boat yard he noticed that the lads had finally managed to manoeuvre the damaged cabin cruiser on to trestles at the end of the yard and Nobby was giving it a final check over, looking down at him Nobby said that the assessor was supposed to be coming later in the week and from what he could see, there was a fair bit of damage internally, nothing they could do, it would have to go to a bigger yard where they had the fibreglass and fitting out specialists it would take to make her seaworthy again, it's a pity he said, not a bad little cruiser, must have cost a fortune when it was first built, with a chuckle, it will cost another fortune to make her right and sea worthy again as he climbed down to join Pete, 'well that's me finished for the day, took your time over lunch didn't you', Nobby noticed Pete's surprise, 'too busy having a good time were you', 'no' was Pete's surprised reply, I just hadn't noticed the time, must have been doing a bit of daydreaming while I had my meal'. 'Lucky you' was Nobby's easy response, 'I'm off home now then, don't forget to move Alec's tender', 'Not a chance, I'm off to pull it ashore now, Alec would never forgive me if I just left it there' 'me too, not only silly and disrespectful but dangerous' 'Make sure that you do, I'll have your guts for garters if you don't' was Nobby's parting rebuke as he walked away, properly chastised, Peter immediately went down to the jetty untied the rope holding the tender, pulled it on to the jetty and with a bit of a struggle over to the place where Alec normally left it, turned it over so it's keel was uppermost and making sure the oars were safely hidden, took a final look around the yard, walked over to where he had left his bike and began to make his way home.