Chapter 9

"No, Phil, he hasn't done anything wrong," 'except not be in love with me' Linnet thought, "it's ... personal. Ted's an excellent skipper, a skilled seaman and, I think, an honourable man."

Phil shrugged. "Have it your way, Lindy. I know he goes through girlfriends like ... I don't know ... a gannet eating fish. But none of them complain about him. I wish I could understand."

"One other thing," Linnet said, pausing thoughtfully, "Cherry Thornton wants to have a try at Third Hand for a few weeks at least, perhaps until September. I think she'll do quite well."

"She seemed a little ... stroppy," Phil commented.

"She's mellowed. Or perhaps matured. I'm happy to take her under my wing, so to speak."

"Well, I don't mind. Who did you have in mind as Skipper? It'll be up to him in the end."

"I wondered about old Bert, and Thistle. Ted would be alright, actually. Bex would be fine and Jenni, of course. I thought Thistle because Bert's mostly Skipper on her, it'd be easier to adjust. And perhaps an all female crew might not be the best thing."

"I'm not so sure about that. But of course Jenni has that husband of hers as Mate most of the time. Bex would be okay, I think. But you say Ted would be okay?"

"Yes. I've nothing against him. If you want to split us, I'd be happy for her to go with him or Jenni."

"Very well, then. Bring her in so I can have a chat with her, but don't go far."

Cherry was in the office for maybe ten minutes and bounced out, smiling. "Phil says, 'tell Lindy, take me down to Thistle and introduce me to Bert'. Linnet, why does Phil call you Lindy and Ted call you Linnet?"

Linnet couldn't help blushing. "Ted started calling me Linnet..."

"Daddy and I know why!"

Her colour got much brighter. "Before, most people called me Lindy. I don't really mind."

"You've ... broken up with the Skipper, haven't you?"

"Yes, Cherry, I have."

"But don't you mind being called Linnet, since it was his pet-name for you?"

Linnet shrugged. "I hadn't thought about it. Would you rather call me Lindy?"

"'Linnet' is different, isn't it?"

"True."

They made their way to Thistle, where a small, wiry man with a very brown, very wrinkled face, white hair and several days' growth of white stubble was working a piece of white rope into a Turk's Head knot whilst sitting in her large, open cockpit. He looked up. "Well, well. Lindy Masters. You've come on a lot since you sailed with me round to London. And you've brought me another lovely young lady?"

"Skipper Bert, this is Cherry Thornton. She wants to try sailing as Third Hand and Phil sent us down to you to see what you think."

Bert was rising to his feet even as she spoke and held out his hand to the younger girl. "What do you know, Cherry?"

"Not very much, Skipper," she said, eyes down, "just what I picked up over the last week with Linnet and Ted."

Bert looked at Linnet. "Would you mind making some tea, Lindy?"

As she nodded and went below, Bert was already leading Cherry forward; she could hear their voices on deck until the kettle began to sing. By the time Linnet was back on deck with the tea (and a packet of chocolate biscuits) Cherry and Bert were obviously on good terms.

"Good girl," Bert said, looking up as Linnet arrived. "I'm assuming the two of you come as a pair?"

"For the time being," Linnet agreed.

S.B. Thistle is a steel barge configured for day trips and events such as wedding receptions; she can accommodate about fifty passengers when sailing, up to a hundred for events alongside the quay. The crew were not really needed for the quayside bookings, though Linnet and Cherry, attractive young women, were often pressed into service to help the caterers; apart from anything else they were able to answer the, usually superficial, enquiries about the vessel. But Cherry did get a grounding in the management of a spritsail barge.

A couple of weeks after introducing Cherry to Thistle and Bert, Linnet was summoned to the office; Phil asked her to bring Cherry with her.

"Firstly, Cherry, I need to ask you if you'd be comfortable staying on Thistle with Bert without Linnet. If a Mate is needed, I'll ask Tom Carmichael."

Cherry shrugged, "Sure. I trust Bert, and Tom's a decent sort."

"It's just that Linnet may be unavailable for a few days and I wanted to see how you felt about that."

Linnet was a little surprised and puzzled that Cherry just smiled slightly and said, "No problem." Linnet frowned and looked at her, but Cherry smiled and said, "It's okay. I'll go back to Thistle – it's time for Bert's afternoon mug of tea."

Linnet suppressed a desire to swear and just looked at Phil as Cherry left, waiting for him to explain. The thought came to her (she smiled a little) that it was like being back at school with two kids trying to out-stare each other. Phil eventually folded.

"You have an appointment on Thursday. I should say, a provisional appointment. The idea, and the finance came from Dennis Thornton, though I think Cherry had something to do with it. Ted was involved, too. If you're agreeable, you'll take a Day Skipper practical assessment on Thursday and a written exam on Friday. Ted is convinced you'll ace it. Then you have a place on the Coastal Skipper course in the autumn, once the main season is over."

Linnet just gaped at him. "What... ?"

"A 'yes' would be good, and perhaps a 'thank you' to Mister Thornton and his daughter. Not to mention Ted, who praised your ability to the skies. And Bert."

She was stunned, but managed to get out, "Yes; of course yes. And thank you, too, Phil."

Her first stop after leaving the office was Serendipity, but Ted was not there. She found him aboard Thistle, talking to Cherry and Bert; they turned to face her as she landed on the deck. After standing for several seconds, she marched up to Cherry and drew her into a hug, whispering, "Thank you, my friend. And thank your father when you see him, won't you?"

She whispered back, "He's coming down on Friday, staying at the Anchor. You can thank him yourself then."

Turning to Bert, Linnet simply said, "Thank you, Skipper."

"It's nothing; you deserve it."

Which just left Ted. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek, but he captured it in both his. "I hate you," she said without heat, "I dump you then you go and do this for me."

He smiled, "And it gets worse. You need me to run you down to Bradwell on Thursday. They'll keep you overnight, and I'll pick you up Friday afternoon. I've borrowed Phil's old Fiesta."

He could see Linnet tearing up, so he turned to the others and said, "Anyone for beer? I'm buying."

That gave Linnet time to take a deep breath and blink rapidly before they all followed Ted along to quay to the Queen's Head, where he and Bert told tall sea stories over their pints, Linnet sipped cider and under-age Cherry drank ginger beer.

The drive to Bradwell Friday morning was mostly silent. As Ted drew up on the gravel outside the sailing school, though, she said, "Thanks, Ted." The words themselves were not much, but the emotion behind them was very evident.

Ted responded lightly, "It really is my pleasure." But similarly, there was emotion behind the words that said far more.

The next day, as she emerged from the building and slid into the worn passenger seat of the scruffy little car, her expression said it all.

"I don't need to ask, do I?" Ted grinned.

"Nope!" She waved the log-book open at the certificate page, but turned serious, "I want to do some theory courses this winter for the coastal ... or perhaps the offshore yachtmaster qualification. They suggested a diesel engine maintenance course and some others, too."

"Good for you, Linnet."

The last few weeks of the school summer holiday might make a story of their own, except there were no dramatics. Cherry took the offer of a cruise aboard S.B. Reminder, with Jenni Peters as Skipper and Tom Carmichael as Mate. She was rather taken with Tom, but he steadfastly maintained his professional distance; friendly, supportive, helpful, but a little remote.

"He's still in love with his school girlfriend, though he always says he's not good enough for her, which is a nonsense. Actually, I rather think it's the other way round. She went off to Music College and he's not had a peep out of her since. She's..." Jenni trailed off. "I'm not going there just now. It's their story, anyway. I've lost count of the young ... and not so young ... women who've hit his wall and bounced. He's a born seaman, though, and you won't find a better teacher."

September arrived. As sometimes happens, it was the best weather of the year, with warm sun, steady winds, and a steady stream of visitors wanting a taste of traditional sailing. For Cherry, it was a mixed blessing. She would have loved to stay on for some of the best sailing of the season, but she was happy to be going home to renew her relationship with her father, who was due to collect her a couple of days before the start of term.

When he arrived, though, he didn't pack her into the car and carry her straight off home, but had a lengthy conversation with her. As a result, he sought out Linnet.

"I ... have a proposal for you," he began.

"I..."

He held up a hand. "Cherry is quite capable of looking after herself, but she's going to be alone rather a lot. I was wondering ... whether you'd consider ... when the sailing season has wound down ... keeping house for us through the winter. Company for Cherry, some cooking and cleaning, in return for bed, board, some pocket money and the shore-based yachtmaster courses..."

"Oh..."

"You know about Cherry ... and me. I couldn't introduce just anyone into the situation."

"Um..."

"We live in Brookman's Park, it's a sort of dormitory town on the commuter line into London. It's a large house, plenty of room. Please come."

"It'll be a few weeks at least, I think."

"That's okay. Can you drive?"

"As it happens, yes. My father had me learn as soon as I turned seventeen so I could..." she cut off, not wanting to get into why she'd left home. She had been going to say, 'so I could drive the van for the shop'.

The autumn is an odd time in the heritage sailing world; many of those involved have other commitments; work, or education, and a small core group take care of the occasional surges of work when the weather is good. Linnet talked to Phil.

"We're winding down now. Stay to the end of September, please. You may like to come back in late October for a weekend when we lower the gear on the barges, that's experience you should have. I'll let you know when; bring your pretty young friend."

Linnet laughed at that. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Do I need to have a word with Carmen?"