Chapter 11

“What about Katie... ?” I asked.

“Oh Owen. Katie has been devastated from the beginning. Mind you, young Kaye coming along forced her to get her act together. But she’s always blamed herself for, as she puts it, driving you away. She’s here now, down by your boat, waiting to apologise to you.”

“It would seem that I owe Katie an apology for leaving her alone to bring up Kaye.”

“Owen, Katie has never seen it that way. Even when we were all ranting of about you doing a runner, Katie was always reminding us that she started the trouble between the pair of you. She doesn’t even try to lay the blame on that bitch of a sister of hers, although Kate has disowned her, and the rest of that insane family.

“Katie didn’t come to the bar with me this morning, because she thinks that you two need to meet in private. Bill suggested your house, but Katie ... well, she wanted to see Cassandra.” Jean’s expression grew very serious. “Owen, Katie said that it might be the only chance she gets to see your boat.”

“Yacht!” I corrected her.

“Alright, your yacht.”

“For Chris-sake, it’s a bleed’n’ schooner out here!” Jimmy commented; I had no idea he was still earwigging. “Tom can be a right cantankerous old fart when he wants to be, Mrs Jean. He always has to be right!”

“Don’t I know it Jimmie; I worked for the bugger for long enough!” Jean grinned at the man and then turned back to look at me. “Anyway Katie went down to your ... yacht with Kaye and Amanda this morning. They should be waiting for you there.”

“Sounds like you’d better get your skates-on, boyo.” Sis called from the kitchen door.

Seemed that it hadn’t only been Jimmie’s ears that had been flapping.

I finished my beer and asked Jean if she was coming along with me. She declined explaining that she was meeting Dee and Bill at Jimmie’s place shortly.

As I walked away from the bar, the thought struck me that Katie and my meeting wouldn’t exactly be private if the two children were there to witness it. But then I figured maybe their presence was designed to keep our tempers in check. However when I thought that I hadn’t taken into account the ... foresight (I have to wonder if that is the right word?) of my crew.

As Cassandra’s mast came into view, I caught sight of Donny shimmying down it and I suspected he’d been up there, watching for my arrival. Sure enough, when I eventually made the little jetty, I saw that he had the Rib in the water and Amanda and Jaz were already sitting in it. Kaye ran down the jetty, gave me a hug and kiss, then ran back to join the other three in the inflatable; Donny waved, then revved the outboard and took off at an impressive lick.

At the same instant, I noticed Katie’s head appear over the edge of Cassandra’s cockpit as she watched them go.

Actually, I’d got to the boat’s side and was climbing aboard, before Katie appeared to realise that I was there. Still watching the receding rib, Katie was taken by surprise as I stepped down from the jetty; she spun around to face me.

“God Owen its you; Christ, you scared the life out of me!” she gasped and then added, “My God, what’s happened to your face?”

I instinctively put my hand up to my chin and didn’t feel the beard I’d been sporting for God knows how many years.

“Sorry Kate. Didn’t Donny tell you I was coming? Oh, I shaved my beard off this morning.”

“No, Jasmine said something about beating the tide. But your face, its all red down one side.”

“Oh that. That was the ever loving Jean demonstrating her affection for me.” I replied smiling, while moving my hand to my cheek, where I could still sense the fallout of Jean’s ... frustration.

And kind-a wondering, whether Katie was building up to making the other side match, but she was sounding very ... concerned, I suppose you could say; I was expecting her to be ... Well pissed to hell with me at least.

I was somewhat amazed that -- visually -- Katie didn’t appear to have changed at all. She didn’t look a day older than she had when I last saw her. I’ll go further she looked better for the time she spent away from, but that’s possibly because of the happy expression she had on her face. Not much smiling had go on during the last week or so we were together.

“That tide thing’s nonsense, Kate” I explained. “The Rib can get in and out no mater what state the tide and if push comes to shove, so can Cassandra. I suspect Donny and Jaz just wanted to get the girls away before...”

“Before what?”

“I don’t know really, Katie. Possibly the youngster’s feared there might be bloodshed or something.”

For some reason Katie looked away. I can’t be sure, but I do think she was trying to hide a smile.

I believe, to change the direction of our conversation; I picked up the radio’s microphone, pushed the transmit button and asked.

“Donny, where’re you heading?”

“West Quay boss. The girls can have a nice swim out there.” Jaz’s voice replied.

“We’ll see you off the point, about one then.”

“On your own, boss?”

That might sound like stupid question, because Jaz was aware that Katie was onboard. However Jaz was actually enquiring whether I intended to be under sail. It was Jaz’s ‘Chief Steward duties’ coming to the fore; that would materialise again later that day.

“I’m not alone Jaz! Besides I’ll be running on the engine, Katie’s not used to sailing. We’ll anchor off the point when we get there and bring the girls back onboard, okay?

“Aye aye, Skipper!” she giggled.

“And Jaz.”

“Yes boss?”

“Don’t come the smart-arse with me young lady, or I’ll tan your ... backside for you.”

“Ears boss, ears!” Jaz replied. In effect, chastising me because Amanda and Kaye could obviously overhear us. I might have said backside, but what Jaz had heard would have been my more usual expression.

It was obvious that Jaz hadn’t sussed out young Kaye yet.

As I’d picked up the radio’s microphone, I’d noted -- by means of the temperature gauge -- that Donny had already warmed-up Cassandra’s engine. That boy was always surprising me, he knew that I wouldn’t want Katie and my discussions witnessed by all and sundry. And it certainly would have been if we remained moored to the unusually (and inexplicably) crowded jetty.

Katie watched in bemused silence as I asked one of the local fishermen who – also unusually at that time of day -- was hanging around, to handle the lines for me. Although it is a possibility that they had been requested to stand-to by Donny or Jaz.

But the presence of all those people on and around the jetty got me wondering just how many folks on the island were aware of what had been going down during the previous few days. Keeping secrets in that place had always been difficult.

Reversing Cassandra away from the jetty, I turned her bow out to the open sea.

“Where are we going?” Katie asked, possibly a little nervously.

“Just away from prying ears. I have to live amongst these people.”

She appeared to accept that without need of further explanation, I figured Katie had noticed how busy our tiny harbour appeared to have become that morning. I’d even noticed that Rev Killjoy had been wandering around on the beach; although I doubted Katie would have any idea who he was.

“It’s a very nice boat you’ve got here. It looks the same from a distance, but I think I like her more than I like Craig’s.”

“You’ve seen my brother’s yacht?” I asked in surprise.

“Yes, we went down there a few years ago and sneaked up on him.”

I thought that an odd thing for Katie to do and commented as much. Katie smiled and informed me that she had been looking for me, and she hadn’t fully believed my stepsiblings protestations that they knew not, where I was.

“I was worried about you Owen, and you had set out for the South Seas.”

“Oh, you worked that one out, did you? I never made it though.”

“Bill found out, eventually. Anyway, I like Cassandra.”

Katie was still sounding ... well, remarkably conciliatory under the circumstance. Inexplicably to me, she appeared in no hurry to tear me a new anal opening, if you get my drift. I figured that it was Kate’s ballpark -- well game anyway -- we’d play by her rules for the time being.

“Don’t speak too soon, girl; you haven’t tried her loo’s yet.” I grinned back at her, trying my damnedest to keep the conversation light hearted.

I really didn’t want our discussion to degenerate into a slanging match, and I was beginning to get the message that Katie didn’t want that to happen either.

“Yes, they look pretty complicated, Jasmine and Kaye showed me around first thing.”

“I’m not being a very good host without my crew to help, come here Kate and hang on to this wheel, and I’ll go fix us a drink. What would like coffer or beer?” I said and showed Katie how to steer and where to keep Cassandra’s bow pointed.

Katie asked for coffee, only turning her nose-up a little when I told her it would be instant coffee and powdered milk. So we both went for beers. Then I went bellow to discover that Jaz had left the water boiler on, just in case. Okay, both my young crew surprised me that morning.

I could actually hear Kate humming to herself even above the sound of Cassandra’s engine, while I was digging around in icebox. I thought about glasses but then discarded the idea.

Katie’s general demeanour had not been what I’d expected, I had sort-a envisaged more than a little hostility from her, but there was none discernable in her voice. I think I decided to let Kate’s ... I don’t know, her general demeanour I suppose, lead the conversations direction. Honestly, what would be the point in arguing about things that happened all those years ago.

“You sound remarkably happy, considering.” I commented as I handed Katie, her beer.

“I am happy. At last I know that you are safe and well. Owen, you have no idea how worried I’ve been about you.”

“I think that’s been made clear to me by just about everyone, Kate. I’m sorry, but I was angry when I took off. I needed someone to blame for my troubles, and you could say that you well and truly, stuck your head over the parapet.”

“I was bloody stupid, Owen. When Bill Cartwright came to me ... well I don’t know, I kinda lost all sense of reason. And for the life of me I can’t understand what I was trying to achieve on that Saturday evening; some kind of revenge I think. You know, that I never...”

“I know Katie. You know, I think I might have known at the time, but everything was so screwed-up back then. I just didn’t want to know, if you understand me? The more folks tried to convince me, the angrier I got.”

“So what do we do now ... Tom?”

“I don’t know Kate. I’d like to see a lot of Kaye in the future, if I may? I’m really sorry that I wasn’t around to see her growing up.”

“Would you come back to the UK?”

“To visit, yes. But this is my home now Kate. I have folks here who depend on me for their living. Besides the tax guys in the UK would have a bloody field-day if I moved back there permanently.”

“Yeah, I gather that you’ve got more than a finger in the local hotels here.”

“Christ who told you that? It’s supposed to be a secret.”

“Owen somehow someone at the hotel worked-out who I was this morning. And possibly why I am here I suppose...”

“That might explain the crowd on the jetty, folks aren’t usually so industrious around here.” I commented

“Well, when I got to the hotel this morning the staff were ... well one guy called the receptionist away while I was booking in, then my room is mysteriously upgraded to a very swish suite. Even the Cartwright’s and the girls have been upgraded and our bills have been ... well, the manager said that our stay is complementary. And then they have been running behind me like blue-arsed fly’s, ever since. All that, just on the strength that I told the taxi driver that I was a wayward wife, here to visit her long lost husband.”

“Oh bugger, keep it under your hat will you, about financing the hotel that is, my business associate and I ... well, we like to keep our heads down, if you know what I mean. We prefer to appear as just another couple of locals, not bloody public-spirited philanthropists to be kowtowed too. This bloody island was almost broke when we arrived here.”

“So you built a couple of hotels to bring in the tourist trade?”

“Bugger me, no. The hotels were half-built, not far off complete in fact. But the international concern building them had gone to the wall. Probably one of those bleeding tax fiddles those bloody moneymen work out. But the local authorities here, well they might have been boracic themselves, but weren’t going to fall for the bankruptcy get-out. They took possession of the buildings in lieu of unpaid local land taxes or something, but they couldn’t raise the cash to complete the schemes. All those money people like to keep it in the club so borrowing through the usual channels proved to be a problem. There were a couple of big outfits who were showing interest, but they trying to drive a very hard bargain and didn’t really have the local populace in mind, if you know what I mean.

“Then, just at the opportune moment and within months of each other, my associate and I showed up-on the scene with a load of spare readies; mainly care of Bill Cartwright as far as I’m concerned. I can’t say where my associate got his cash from, and I don’t really think I want to know.

“Whatever, we both needed to keep our heads down, so we did a deal with the local bigwigs. They leave us alone and their hotels got finished. My associate and I have an eighty percent share in them and we have a policy of employing mainly local staff. The two hotels were a big boost to the local economy, by far the biggest employers on the island.”

“Quite the entrepreneur on the quiet, aren’t you?”

“You could say that. But it had the advantage that a lot of my cash disappeared off the face of the earth. I doubt that even Dog could find it.”

“He couldn’t, and yes he did look. Christ Dog was really frustrated. You know what he’s like, he saw nothing but his percentage for the cash he thought he was going to manage for you. You moving most of it out of his control; well, I think he was disappointed.

“So anyway, what do you do with your time, besides laying all those dolly bird tourists and taking them on cruises and things.”

“What...”

“Owen, don’t try to deny it. As I understand it, that bar you seem to spend all your free time in, has a bit of a reputation around here. And my sources tell me, one ‘Captain Tom’s’ name appears to crop-up quite a frequently.”

“Who told you that?”

“Your daughter, if you must know. She’s made friends with some of the local children.”

“Precocious child; takes after her mother.” I replied, wondering exactly what the local kids had been saying about me.

“She told me that she was doing some background research on her father. Kaye thinks that you might have questionable morals. But she loves you anyway!”

“Charming!”

“All too often, the truth comes out of the mouths of innocent children, Owen.”

“And your opinion.”

“I have none ... at this moment. When you left the UK you knew nothing of Kaye. And as far as you were aware, Jenny Rose was organising our divorce. As a single man, you can sleep with whoever you wish, whenever the fancy takes you.”

“Katie, I haven’t slept with anyone since the Cartwright’s told me the divorce didn’t go through.”

“And, just how long ago was that?”

“Er ... well two, three days.”

Katie laughed out loud.

“Yeah well, I thought.”

“It doesn’t mater Owen. It’s been a long time I haven’t exactly been a nun either you know. I’m just so pleased that you’re alive and well, and that we’ve found you. You’ve moved on with your life and I’ve moved on with mine. However you should not read into that, that I haven’t worried about you everyday in between.

“I’m really here to see for myself that you’re safe and well, and find out if you want make arrangements to see Kaye regularly, somehow. There’s no point in arguing about the past, because there is nothing either of us can do about what happened back then.”

“My thinking exactly, Kate. But I’ll always regret not being there for you and Kaye.”

“Of course you will, but there’s nothing we can do about that either, is there? Owen we can live the rest of our lives being angry with each other and regretting the past ... or we can live for tomorrow. We have to look to the future and your relationship with Kaye. If you wish I’d be happy for her come out here and stay with you during the school holidays. But you will of course have to curtail your philandering ways while she’s out here.”

“Kate, I would never...”

“Of course you wouldn’t, Owen. Or should I call you Captain Tom, like everyone else does?”

“Kate, I assume you’ll be coming out here with Kaye anyway.”

“No Tom, I doubt I would be able to find the time. I’ve a business to run at home, I’m the proud proprietor of a lucrative little art gallery, you know. That’s another reason for me to come out here now, I have to make sure that my daughter will be properly looked after whilst she is out here.”

“No, I didn’t know about the gallery. No one thought to tell me.”

“I had to live, Captain Tom...”

There was something about the way Katie had said Captain Tom, that I found upsetting. Possibly because Captain Tom side of me I suppose; he certainly was a bit of a philanderer.