“Lovely, thanks. Can I order some milk and a loaf? I’ll pop in later and buy some salad.”

“Great. And we have some really lovely strawberries just arrived; do you want me to put some aside for you?”

“Oh yes please.”

“Well, I’ll leave you in peace. I’ll be in the vegetable shop until about six tonight. I’ll see you later on then.”

As the other woman trudged away through the soft sand Pauline was suddenly swept up by a feeling of loneliness. She had said she was used to being alone and this was true, but that didn’t mean that she was always happy about it. However it was easier than pretending all was well when it was far from being so. It was easier than making up stories about falls that hadn’t happened and cupboard doors that were in fact innocent of causing anyone any harm. To have someone though, who you could trust to chat with, was such an innocent thing and she wondered how she had allowed herself to become so very cut off from all her old friends. A bubble of panic roiled in her stomach. She was going away to a country where she knew no-one and where, though she felt confident in her language skills, she would be unfamiliar with the customs of daily life. Had she made a stupid mistake? Had the desperate need to escape led her to flee too far and too fast?

Chapter 8

“Hello, Pauline. I’ve finished now. You didn’t really need me to come in did you? There was nothing out of place. Three days already and the place is as tidy as it was when you arrived. I’m not going to charge you for today.”

“Oh no, that’s not right! I asked you to come. To be honest I didn’t realize how much I’d be out. I’ve been at the beach so much and I’ve had lovely long walks so I haven’t been around enough to trash the place.” Pauline smiled at Dolly across the room. “Do you want a cup of coffee? I was just going to make one. Do you have time?”

“Oh lovely, yes. I usually have one when I get home anyway so that’d be great. Look, I’ll tell you what, I usually charge for an hour, so why don’t I come in for half an hour on Monday and I’ll lump the two together. Then we can decide what to do for the next couple of weeks. I don’t want to take advantage. Usually people who come down with children have all sorts of mess to clear up, sand everywhere and toys, you know. I don’t mind it at all, it’s important people enjoy their stay.”

“Oh Dolly, that’s very kind of you. You know when I leave here I’m going to be running a holiday place myself. More of a bed and breakfast to start with, but then I’m hoping to have a barn converted into flats.”

“Oh well, the best of luck. It’s hard work but it’s lovely when the people are nice. Some of them are quite difficult to deal with mind you. Is it in Cornwall your place? Are we going to be business rivals?” Dolly winked as she pulled a chair out from under the kitchen table and snagged a biscuit from the plate.

“No, I’m buying a place in France.”

“On your own?”

“Yes,” Pauline grimaced as she nodded her head. “Eeek and all that!”

“Wow! Well you’re very brave.”

“My granddad left me some money and I thought, well, if I don’t do it now I never will so there we are. I have to say I’m nervous but excited as well.”

“So… when is this happening?”

“The house will be mine in about another month and I'm planning to be there for a couple of weeks before that.”

“Are you selling up here then?”

Oh why had she blurted out the information? Now she was going to have to back pedal and smudge the truth again.

No she wouldn’t.

“Actually my ex-husband has the house here. He’s keeping that.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, it’s fine.” She leaned forward and touched a finger to Dolly’s hand where it curled around her steaming mug. “Really, it’s fine. All that is in the past and I’m moving on.”

“Well good for you.”

A knot of nerves fluttered deep in her belly as the words rolled from her lips. On the one hand it was all true, but in reality George didn’t even know that she’d gone yet. What would his reaction be, as the days and weeks rolled on? She couldn’t think that far, couldn’t even guess what he would do. Maybe in the dim and distant future, when she was strong and secure, she could get a solicitor and arrange a divorce. For now it was enough to be away from him. She pushed the darkness aside and smiled at Dolly. “Anyway, that’s why I’m spoiling myself a bit. I think it’s the last chance I’ll get for a while.”

Dolly smiled gently. “So then. Are you enjoying your stay so far?”

“I am. I’m going out for another long walk later and then tonight I have a treat planned.”

“Oh right, are you going into the village? To the bistro? You need to book on Saturdays you know, I can give them a ring if you like?”

“No, nothing like that. I’m going to take a bottle of wine and go down on the beach and walk in the surf in the moonlight! You’ll think I’m mad but ever since I saw the silver glow on that first night I’ve wanted to do it.”

“Down on the beach? At night on your own?”

“Yes, you like the beach don’t you? I bet you’ve done it loads of times!”

“Well yes, I love the beach, certainly. And I go down there every day if I can. I missed it so much when we lived up near London and now I can’t get enough of it. But not at night.”

“Not at night?”

“No, not me.”

“It’s not illegal or something is it?”

“No, no of course not. It’s just that we don’t. Nobody does, not at night.”

“But why; it looks beautiful.”

“Yes, from here, from a distance I dare say it does but… well you know Cornwall, these beaches, this coastline. It has a dark and violent history. Things have happened over time that have left a mark on the land.”

A mark on the land. If it hadn’t been for the serious, almost fearful expression in the other woman’s eyes Pauline would have laughed, but as it was she simply tipped her head to one side and waited for more information.

“Well, I know it sounds melodramatic and everything. It’s probably just old wives’ tales and stories to frighten children but…well… we just don’t. Now and again people have done and then they just stopped.”

“Why? Why do they stop?”

“Oh look, I’m being silly. If you want to go down on the beach then that’s what you should do. Thanks so much for the coffee.  Enjoy your day my dear. Take care.”

Well that was odd. Pauline had taken the landlady for a level headed, down to earth woman and the strange conversation left her puzzled. Her nerves were on edge anyway; tomorrow George would be home and she couldn’t help thinking about what his reaction was going to be when he found her gone.

She shook her head, rinsed the mugs, and then turned to pick up her shoulder bag. She strode out of the house and off towards the cliff top walk. Maybe she would just stay in the cottage tonight and read her book. Tomorrow night she would go to the beach. Yes, she’d leave it until tomorrow.

Chapter 9

Sunday morning. Warmth oozed into the bedroom and outside the window birdsong and distant squeals of children on their way to the beach told her it was not early. Pauline pulled the duvet over her head and squeezed her eyelids tightly together. It was Sunday. Today George was to arrive home. She played the scenes through in her mind.

He would come in through the front door and throw his case down in the hallway. There would be no greeting, no friendly call out to her for he hadn’t ever expected she would leave what she was doing to greet him. He would fling his keys into the brass bowl in the hall. In the past that would have given her an idea of his mood. If they slammed against the metal causing it to ring and chime then she would take herself through to the lounge and curl into the chair in the corner, giving him space. If they jingled gently as he lowered them into the basin then she would put the kettle on for a cup of coffee and thank her lucky stars that the meetings had gone well or whichever woman he had been with had been pliant and undemanding and left him satisfied.