Katie Fforde - Going Dutch

‘Well, he shouldn't have left you alone, pretty girl like you.'

'He had stuff to organise.'

‘Stuff to organise, huh? Want to organise it for yourself?' Dora would have dearly liked to have organised stuff for herself, but as she didn't know what Tom was up to, she couldn't. She decided she wouldn't wait for Tom indefinitely. In a minute she'd work out how long she'd been waiting and decide how much longer to give him, then she'd make her way back to the barge. 'It depends what you're talking about,' she said.

‘Well, is there anything you need?’

By now, Dora's need for a drink had increased consider ably. 'Have you got any water?' He had a large canvas bag with him, so it was possible.

‘Water?' He looked at her curiously. 'No, I haven't got water. But I have got coke.’

Dora had just worked out what he was saying when Tom appeared from nowhere, took her arm and swept her into the crowd that was going through the entrance.

‘I think he was trying to sell me drugs!' she said. 'Too bloody right he was. Sorry I was so long.'

‘What were you doing?'

‘Getting these.' He produced a pair of tickets just as they reached the man who was checking them.

‘Where did you get them from?' Dora whispered as Tom held his wrist out to have a band put round it.

‘A tout. Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with them.' Dora held her hand out and had a plastic bracelet snapped on.

‘They must have cost a fortune!' she went on as they walked. 'How did you pay for them?'

‘Spent my wages, not that it's anything to do with you.'

The time Dora had spent on her own, worrying, and then

being picked up by a drug-dealer, had made her anxious

and therefore shrill. 'Of course it's to do with me! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have to pay! Here.. She fumbled in her wallet, which was in the front pocket of her jeans. 'Have my wages. At least I can pay for my own ticket.'

‘Nape. It's my fault you're here. Now put your money away before you get hit on by more people trying to sell you stuff or someone nicks it.'

‘No! Tom! That doesn't make sense. If I hadn't been here, you'd have gone over the fence and got in for nothing.'

‘If you weren't here neither would I be. Now come on. I want to find the others.’

As Tom wouldn't let her pay, all Dora could do was trot along beside him hoping to goodness 'the others' weren't too terrifying.

But as they walked her anxiety subsided. Most of the people weren't off their heads on drugs, although there was one man staggering along, his eyes rolled back who Tom explained had probably taken ketamine.

There were stalls selling everything, including, in spite of Jo's predictions, useful things, like blankets and soap. There was a stall selling knickers with slogans on them that was doing excellent business and another painting on temporary tattoos and bindis. There were lots of places selling food – no culinary taste was left uncatered for. There was even a stall selling champagne and Pimm's which was a bit of a surprise to Dora, unlike the myriad tents selling what Tom described as Health Burgers.

When Tom finally said, 'There they are! By the Hexagon, like they said,' Dora's growing enjoyment diminished a little. She had quite enough to do getting comfortable with her surroundings without meeting a lot of new people who might well be more scary than her drug-pusher had been.

‘Hi! Tom!' A girl about her own age flung her arms round Tom and hugged him. 'It's so great to see you again! It's been ages. This must be Dora! Hi! I'm Lizzie! I was so pleased when Tom said he had a girl with him.’

Some of Dora's anxiety faded. Not only did Lizzie seem perfectly normal, she and Tom were obviously platonic friends only.

‘Hi, I'm Matt,' said a tall boy with short hair and a very wide smile.

‘And I'm Dave,' said another, smaller this time, and blond. 'We were at college with Tom. So, Tom!' They hugged. 'How's it going, mate?’

The greetings went on and another girl appeared bearing a carrier bag. 'Look what I've got!' she said when she'd said hello. 'Juggling balls.' To everyone's amazement, she took them out of the bag and instantly began juggling with them.

‘I didn't know you could do that!' said Dave.

‘I'll teach you. But come and get settled into the tent first. It's massive – or it was when we put it up. It might be a bit of a squash with us all in it.’

Dora didn't know if she was disappointed that she and Tom weren't going to be sharing a two-man tent, or relieved. She tried to decide all the way to the camping area.

‘Go to the loo now,' said Lizzie as they passed the toilets. 'It's still quite early and they'll be really disgusting later.' Dora took her advice.

It seemed to Jo that one minute they were arriving, tying The Three Sisters up outside the dry dock the barge was due to enter, and the next it was only she and Marcus, left alone in a space that suddenly seemed far too big for two. And this in spite of the fact that until quite recently, she had lived on The Three Sisters all on her own.

‘I can't believe they all disappeared so early. It was as if the ship had the plague or something,' she said to Marcus when he found her clearing up in the galley.

‘They all had places they wanted to get to in a hurry.'

‘I know and I perfectly understand. I just think it would have been nice to go out for a celebratory meal or something.'

‘We can still do that.’

Jo mentally kicked herself. She'd more or less invited herself out to dinner with Marcus. How embarrassing! 'It won't be quite the same.'

‘It'll be better,' said Marcus.

‘What?’

He ignored this. 'The first thing we should do is get you established in the back cabin.' Before she could faint with shock at the thought that he was inviting her into his bed, he went on smoothly, 'I'll move into your cabin.' He was apparently unaware that Jo's perimenopausal symptoms had shot off the scale and back again.

‘Um, it's hardly worth it, is it? It's only for about ten days to a fortnight, isn't it?'

‘Nothing to do with boats and dry docking is ever set in stone. It could be a month, it could be a week. If you find me some clean bedlinen I'll put it on for you.’

The thought of Marcus wrestling with a duvet cover, stretching across the bunk so he could tuck in the sheet and putting pillow cases on was beyond the limits of her imagination. 'It's all in there, in the cupboard.’

He smiled a little apologetically. 'I'm very domesticated when I have to be, but I think I'll need you to come and find it for me.'

‘Of course. I'll strip my bed first.'

‘Don't do that, I don't mind your sheets. Just come and find new ones for your bed.'

‘It would really be a lot easier if we both just stayed where we were,' she said. Now she'd got over the shock of being invited into the captain's quarters and the realisation that he wouldn't be in them at the same time, she sounded perfectly rational.

‘I insist. I need to be there while we're on passage, but there's no need for it now, until we go back.’

These words pierced a bubble of denial that Jo had kept intact until now. She'd spent so much energy thinking about the journey to the boatyard, Holland and across the sea etc., she hadn't made herself think about the journey back. It was probably just as well. If she'd thought of herself being alone with Marcus, with nothing much to do for over a week, she'd have been chewing her nails with anxiety.

‘Ed and Tom are coming back, aren't they? And Dora?' she said feebly.

He laughed softly. 'Don't worry, Joanna, I'm not planning to train you to be my first mate while we're here so we can bring her back alone.'

‘Thank God!' she murmured, feeling sick. She knew perfectly well that a first mate did what Ed did, but the terminology was unfortunate just then.