Chapter 11

Phil Morton arrived as they were doing a harbour stow.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming home," he said to Cherry.

"Long story," she smiled.

"Oh? Anyway, are you up for a weekend on Repertor?"

"Sorry, Phil. There's some stuff I need to sort out. Should be available from the middle of next week, I hope."

"Hmph. What about CC? Do you think he'd be up for Mate?"

"I should say so. He's been a tower of strength. You'd better ask him, though; the last three weeks have been a little intense."

"I can't get over Ted letting Serendipity loose without him..."

"No..." Cherry smiled, "it was a shock ... and I consider it an enormous compliment."

"Quite right. Mind you, I'm not sure about over-running your charter by a week."

"Ah ... yes. That's part of the long story. Part I'm not yet at liberty to discuss, if I ever am."

"Where did you get to, if I may ask?"

"No problem with the itinerary. We got as far north as Stronsay in Orkney, and came back in one leg."

"You must have been at sea in that gale?"

"We were. Not a problem; Serendipity is a good sea-boat and Miss Henderson and her friend were getting good by that point."

"Is that so?"

"Indeed. In fact, I think there may be a couple of recruits for you. When the dust has settled, that is."

"I'd better have a word with CC, then, for now."

CC was oddly restrained in his response to his promotion. Phil could see the excitement in him, but also a reluctance to leave Serendipity.

"He and Miss Henderson got quite friendly during the cruise," Cherry divulged quietly in his ear as he was leaving.

"Might that become a problem?"

"I think they're both quite mature about things. Of course, they are still in their teens..."

He laughed. "I see. I could see taking the girl as Third Hand, if you think she's up to it..."

"Oh, no doubt. But I think she has things to sort out this weekend – her parents are coming, for one thing."

Two pairs of eyes watched CC leaving with his dunnage. Pippa didn't notice the regret in Nadiya's eyes that matched her own...

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and tidying, dealing with laundry and so on. In the evening, the three young women sat with glasses of wine in the cockpit, only half aware of the noise from the crowd sitting outside the pub. Pippa yawned.

"I'm for bed. Got a lot of catching up to do!"

"Go ahead," Cherry smiled, "I'm going to sit a little longer."

"Pip-pa, may I come with you?"

"Sure! I'd like that."

Pippa, who had put on t-shirt and panties to sleep, was a little surprised when Nadiya stripped naked and got in to bed with her. Having her snuggle up was pleasant, her slim, lithe body a contrast to CC's. The soft kiss was also surprising, but equally pleasant and Pippa saw no need to protest, even when a small, soft hand crept under her t-shirt to cup her breast. In fact, very shortly, neither girl was thinking much beyond the mounting pleasure their hands were giving each other. Their sounds of pleasure reached the cockpit. Perhaps fortunately, the noise from the pub customers prevented anyone outside the boat from hearing. As they were coming down, Pippa sleepily heard Nadiya say,

"I love you, Pip-pa."

And managed to whisper back, "I love you, too, Nadiya."

In the morning, after a light breakfast, Pippa and Nadiya went off to shower. The dye Cherry had used on Nadiya's hair was fading and that gave Pippa an idea. She told Cherry what she had in mind.

"Oh ... wonderful, Pippa. I should have thought of that myself."

The result was a walk up the high street to find a hairdresser who would accept them without an appointment. Somewhat later, just in time for lunch, they returned to Serendipity. Nadiya was back to blonde and her short hair had been transformed into something feminine. In fact, she looked elfin. Pretty, petite, and barely her true age of fifteen. Pippa had, for the first time in her life, had her hair styled. She hadn't lost a lot of weight, but she was more toned and much more confident; she held herself straighter and walked with a graceful assurance that would have been foreign to her just a few weeks previous.

Her parents were waiting in Serendipity's saloon. Her mother opened her mouth to complain about waiting, but the words that emerged were, "Philippa, dear, you look wonderful! I take it you've had a good time?"

"Thanks, Mum! Yes. We've had our moments, but, yes – it's been a good time." She turned to Nadiya, and smiled, pulled her forward. "Mum, Dad, this is my friend Nadiya..."

Pippa's father was cautious and stayed back, but her mother stepped forward and took the younger girls hands in hers. "My dear, you are so cute!"

"Spasibo, mem. YA rad vstretitʹsya s vami. Thank you, Mrs. Hen-der-son. Your daugh-ter has been very kind to me."

Pippa's mother's eyes flicked to her daughter's for a moment, then back. "I'm glad – but it looks as though the time has been good for her as well."

Her father broke in then. "Are you ready for lunch now? We've already invited Captain Thornton."

"Can Nadiya come too? I don't want to leave her here alone."

"Certainly. I don't think there'll be any problem."

The two girls led the way along the plank to the shore, followed by Pippa's parents and then Cherry. Mr and Mrs Henderson looked at each other with raised eyebrows when Nadiya slipped her hand into Pippa's, but they didn't say anything.

Lunch – they all had locally sourced, beautifully prepared and presented Sea Bass – was too good to spoil with talk, but as they were waiting for their dessert, Pippa's mother looked at her daughter.

"Well, Philippa ... I had reservations, but you seem to have enjoyed yourself, and you certainly seem ... changed..."

"Oh, yes. I want to carry on. I feel I could cope with courses, now. But the cruise, now, that was an experience."

"Oh? Do go on..."

Pippa hesitated, looking at Nadiya, unsure how to go on.

Nadiya spoke up, looking straight at Mrs Henderson. "I ran away from ... a very bad ... place. I hid in this boat and Pip-pa protected me, the Skip-per got help, and Pip-pa and the Skip-per and C-C kept me safe until the ... bad men ... were dealt with."

"Some people are getting Nadiya proper documents..." Pippa looked at her mother and father, "but she's got no-one to go to now..." She paused, "Anyway ... we cruised around, got to Berwick and the Orkney Islands. The sailing was ... thrilling. Living in this boat was fun, and visiting places by sea ... it was better than I imagined. Now, Cherry says I can go sailing on some of the charter boats as crew; including the barges. I really want to do that."

"Sounds as though you had a rewarding time..." commented her father. "Well worth the time and money." Then the desserts arrived and they were silent again though there was clearly some thinking going on.

"Mr and Mrs Henderson," Cherry said as they were leaving the pub, "would you mind very much if I took your daughter along to the office? It will keep 'til Monday if you prefer, but I'd like to get it out of the way."

They looked at each other, then Pippa's mother spoke for them both, "No, I don't think we mind. We were going to walk up to have a look round the church, but I don't suppose Philippa would mind giving that a miss. Shall we meet you back at the quay?"

Phil Morton interviewed Pippa and Nadiya; he was most impressed by both the technical knowledge Pippa had acquired and Cherry's observations about her. Nadiya he was less sure of, partly because of her uncertain English, but he was willing to let her take a berth. They made their way back to the quay, where Cherry was talking to Pippa's parents. Her father stepped forward.

"Pippa, dear ... can I have a word?"

"Sure, Dad. What is it?"

"Let's walk." He led Pippa away from the others, along the quay. "You like Nadiya?"

"Yes, Dad. I've only known her a bit over two weeks, but she's like a sister already."

"You say she has no family?"

"No. Nobody. She'll be found somewhere – a foster family, I suppose."

"Your mother is very taken with the waif, Pippa. How would you feel about having her live with us?"

"Mother is? What about you?"

"I think she's delightful. But even if she wasn't, I wouldn't stand in the way if you wanted her in the family. It's up to you, Pippa."

"Dad ... I'd love to have her living with us. I'm a bit worried Mother will smother her, though."

He laughed. "Yes – that's a danger we'll have to watch out for. But seriously, I think right now she could stand some smothering, don't you?" He stopped and turned back the way they'd come. "Do you want to invite her, or shall I?"