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‘It was. I don’t know if I told you, but I only found out on the plane. We were just about to go to the airport, when the mail came. We were already out of the door, so I stuffed it in my carry-on and forgot about it until one of the kids went in my bag. I nearly howled when I read it.’
‘But what about all your things? Your furniture? Your clothes? The kids’ toys?’
Annabelle thought about her daughter wanting Ron to win her the little dog rather than the great big one, and the reason why, and a knife twisted in her heart. ‘We had to leave everything behind. My neighbour had a key to the house, and as soon as I got to the UK I rang her and told her what had happened, and asked her if she could let herself in and box up the personal stuff – things like the kid’s birth certificates, and other important documents. She also rescued my jewellery – not that I have a lot – and stuff from when the children were little that are precious to me. She posted it all off, bless her, and the parcel arrived a couple of weeks ago.’
Annabelle was still tracking Ron and the children, and she noticed that Sam and Jake had gone for a swim. Izzie was holding Ron’s hand and the two of them were up to their knees, the buckets and nets on the sand behind them.
‘Have you thought about where you’re going to live?’ Beverley asked, adding, ‘I know you’re welcome to stay with May and Terence for as long as you need, but I get the feeling you’ll want a place of your own sooner rather than later.’
‘Too right! Mum and Dad have been fab, but it can’t be easy for them to suddenly have their adult daughter and her two kids living in their house.’
Beverley patted her hand again. ‘It will sort itself out. You’re still in shock, so be kind to yourself. You don’t have to do everything at once. One step at a time, eh? At least the children are enrolled in school, so as soon as the term starts you’ll have a bit more time to yourself to decide what you want to do. And if there’s ever anything I can do to help…?’ Beverley left the sentence hanging.
‘Thank you; I really appreciate it.’ Those treacherous tears were close to the surface again, and Annabelle blinked them away.
She was about to pour them another cup of tea, thinking that after the conversation they’d just had they could do with one, when a scream made her drop the flask on the towel.
Dread surged through her when she realised the sound had come from one of the children. Without stopping to think, she leapt to her feet and raced down the beach, fear lending speed to her legs.
Sam was lying on the sand, Ron crouched next to him. Jake and Izzie were standing, watching. Jake had his head bowed.
Oh, God…
She skidded to a halt, her feet making trenches in the sand. ‘What happened?’ she cried, then she saw what her son was doing and she immediately knew why he was doing it.
Sam had been stung by a jellyfish.
Suddenly, a small black form rushed past her, aimed itself at Sam, and before she realised what was happening Pepe had cocked his leg and was contributing his watery offering by weeing over Sam’s leg, too.
Sam leapt to his feet with a shriek, and danced around, his expression one of horror.
‘Jellyfish,’ Ron said, confirming her suspicion. He stood up slowly.
‘Oh, my God, has he definitely been stung?’ A bolt of fear struck her in the chest. Please no, not a jellyfish… It could be fatal.
‘Thankfully not, but it came close enough to give him a fright,’ Ron said.
‘Are you sure? Jellyfish stings can—’ She stopped abruptly not wanting to scare the children any more than they were already. Jake and Izzie were aware of how serious a sting from certain species of jellyfish could be, but Sam probably wasn’t.
Then she caught herself, remembering that they were no longer in Australia, where being stung by a jellyfish could have very serious consequences indeed. They were on a beach in South Wales, and the odds of being stung by that kind of jellyfish were very slim. The wave of relief which washed over her made her feel weak and slightly shaky.
Sam abruptly dropped to the ground again, grabbed a handful of sand and began scrubbing furiously at his leg.
‘It’s all right, Mum – I peed on it.’ Jake announced.
Annabelle swallowed and took a deep breath. ‘You know that’s a myth, right?’
Izzie slipped a hand in hers, her little face white, and said, ‘It didn’t really sting him, Mum. It swam close to him, and he got scared. He shouted, and Jake thought he’d been stung so he peed on him.’
Sam stopped scrubbing and turned a disgusted face towards her. ‘Jake peed on me, and so did Pepe. Ew.’ He made retching noised and grabbed another handful of sand.
‘Why don’t you wash it off in the sea?’ Ron suggested.
Sam looked even more horrified. ‘I’m not going inthere. There’s a jellyfish.’
‘There are loads, probably,’ Jake told him. ‘They swarm, like bees.’
Sam backed away from the water, shaking his head.
