A Life Afloat (Maybe)

Chapter 18

After his evening as a kitchen porter, which he had thoroughly enjoyed, mainly because it was filled, not only with a lot of laughter but also a lot of joy. It was a long time since he had felt this good and after he said his goodnight to the girls, who were actually over the moon with the help he had given them and had all waved a furious goodbye to him as he headed back to the boatyard in the hope that his trusty rusty machine was still there. It was his lucky day or evening he thought, for even though it was on the dark side, what little moonlight there was shone on his machine, good job there is some white on the frame, he muttered, I might not have seen it otherwise but as he started to walk out of the yard he realised that he had taken his cycle lights off the bike the other day and had forgotten to put them back on.

Going to be a long walk home he thought, on the back roads, even though it was quiet and he could see where he was going, just!, to cycle without lights in such dark conditions would be madness, at this time of night a great number of motorists took too many chances not only breaking the speed limit but many other motoring laws as well. His one consolation was that he could walk beside the main road, having some quite reasonable lighting, the other bonus for him being that, even though he preferred to use the back roads, the main roads were in fact the shorter distance. It would be a little quicker using the main roads, time to get a move on, best foot forward, quick march, he had realised that for him it was now quite late, around one thirty in the morning, with another quiet chuckle to himself, he realised that he had not been out this late since he had retired. 

It was with no little relief that he realised that he had reached the dirt road leading to the field where his 'van was parked, his major concern now, was to avoid tripping and falling into one of the very long and very deep pot holes filled puddles of dark, dank, muddy rain water, a major hazard for any pedestrian who dared to tread this path in the dark of night, just like he now had too. He could see, though very faintly, where the potholes were and did indeed manage to successfully navigate his way around them and reach the relative safety of the caravan park. Where he plodded down the site's track, traversed the grass to where his poor old 'van stood waiting for him, heaved a great sigh of relief, parked his bike and went indoors. Tired as he felt, he still had to get on and convert the sitting area into his bedroom, he felt so tired that within ten minutes of his arrival home, not even be bothering to make himself a hot drink he crashed out and fell fast asleep.

It was not a very bright and chirpy Peter who crawled out of his bed the following morning, he ached in both his arms and legs, he also had a deep throbbing headache, it truly was a long, long time since he had walked such a distance, with cycling to and from the boatyard so often, it had become to him, no distance at all, the walk however had put it into perspective, he now knew that it was a lot further than he had thought. Moving around his 'van very slowly, he managed to swallow a couple of painkillers, ibuprofen he read on thee packet, he didn't really care what they were so long as they took the aches and pains away, while he was feeling sorry for himself, his cell phone gave a couple of ping's, a text he muttered who needs a text, some perishing seller of pensions or funeral plans was his only thought so he ignored it. It was only later in the morning, much later, when he remembered the text message on his phone and he opened it, much to his dismay, when he read it, it was from Alec, it simply said, 'can you meet me at my cottage at about ten thirty tomorrow morning please, I will be back by then', frantically he replied, 'sorry for the delay Alec, see you in the morning, good to hear from you' pressed send and hoped his friend would forgive him for his tardy response. Peter then passed a very slow day, wondering nervously all day long as to what had happened, not only to Alec but also to Mary, was she getting any better or more poorly, how was Alec, still suffering greatly or coming to terms with the position he found himself in. I hope and pray, he thought to himself, that I never have to suffer the anguish that he must be suffering, simply pottering around the park area of site, especially when there were only a couple of 'vans here for the long term was somewhat boring, some of his time was spent just watching the birds and squirrels, a bit of time taking photos on his cell phone of the blossom that was beginning to show on bushes like the hawthorn which normally had a really heavy head of flowers, judging from the numerous flower heads that he could see it was going to be a bumper season for the blossom, which always brought in the bee's and their familiar buzzing, it was good to hear them when they came, almost made everything in the world seem right he said smiling to himself as he wandered back, as the brief sunshine faded and replaced by grey cloud, Peter strolled back to the 'van glad of his jumper because the breeze had picked up and turned the air a little on the chilly side. Once again having a very quick meal, a simple pork pie and salad, not very healthy but filling, after clearing up and washing his dirty dishes, Peter settled down for a quiet evening, no studies, well not really but it was another Alexander Kent book about a nineteenth century Admiral of the Red and his escapades in the Mediterranean but it did contain many nautical expressions, which, because of his recent studies he now had a greater understanding of, some parts dealt with serious issues and others were extremely funny, with quite a few sad moments as well, finally putting the book aside and preparing his sleeping area and after a final cup of tea, he slept long and deep.