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That Kind of Campsite
‘Idon’t understand. What exactly do you think’s going on?’ Amy asked.
‘I think you understand perfectly,’ James said. ‘Harry has seen things he should never have been exposed to, and then you allow your new boyfriend —’
‘He’s not exactly my boyfriend!’
‘— to hurt Harry like that? To lose his temper with Harry?’ There was an icy pause.
‘Hurt him? What are you talking about?’ she asked, voice faltering. ‘What exactly has Harry been saying?’
‘I’m taking him home with me now.’ James took hold of one of Harry’s hands.
‘No!’ Amy gasped, reaching out to grab hold of the other hand. ‘You can’t! I won’t let you!’ It was what she’d feared ever since the divorce; James would want to take Harry away from her, and with his legal expertise and connections, if he fought a case against her he’d probably win.
Caught between the pair of them, Harry looked up from one to another as they glared over the top of his head. ‘But Dad it’s not that bad, it only seemed bad when it was raining. And the sheep poo was stinky,’ he said, wriggling out of their grasps. ‘I’ve changed my mind, I want to stay here now.’
‘Go and sit over there with Laurie. I want to talk to your mother,’ James commanded, and obediently Harry went over to sit on the folding chair next to Laurie.
This was more than James’s normal complaints about her lack of discipline. Was he jealous? Or had Matt said or done something she didn’t know about? Amy couldn’t believe it, didn’t want to, but she wouldn’t take anyone’s side over Harry — not even Matt’s.
‘So would you like to explain exactly what you think is going on?’ Amy demanded, once Harry was out of earshot.
‘Now I know what kind of campsite this is, I don’t want Harry staying here.’ James drew himself up to his full height so he towered over her, where she sat in the camping chair.
‘Look, I know it’s a bit rough around the edges, and the toilets could be cleaner, but it’s where I used to come and stay when I was little. I wanted to remember Mam here, that’s all. If it’s about the trainers getting muddy …’
‘He’s got his trainers muddy? What, the new white ones for America? You’d better be joking.’ James’s face turned even redder than it already was.
‘As for … the other thing … it was one kiss, that’s all!’ Amy protested, ‘And it won’t happen again.’ She couldn’t let him take Harry, no matter what she had to sacrifice.
‘What seems to be the problem here?’ said Matt’s voice from behind her, and her heart sank. He had been in the campervan the entire time. How much had he heard?
‘Oh! James, this is —’
‘I can guess who this is.’
‘Can we talk about this, mate?’
‘Don’t call me mate!’ James snarled, squaring up to Matt, who took a deep breath and stepped backwards, hands spread in an apologetic gesture.
‘Okay. There’s something going on here I don’t understand. I know she’s your ex, so I guess this is about your feelings for Amy. If you don’t want to talk to me then perhaps the two of you need to work this out. I’ll stay here with the kids if you like so you can talk about things.’
‘You think I’d let you within a mile of my son? You can think again. I’m taking Harry away with me right now, and you’ll be hearing from me in my legal capacity tomorrow.’
Matt ran his hand through his hair.
‘Harry’ll be fine —’ he began, sounding perplexed, but he didn’t get to finish whatever he was going to say because, out of the blue, James took an almighty swing at him, punching him in the stomach.
Matt staggered backwards, gasping for breath. He didn’t even attempt to retaliate but grabbed onto one of the camping chairs for support.
‘Oh, my God!’ Amy put herself in between Matt and James. What was James playing at?
‘Don’t you dare tell me anything about my son!’ James roared.
Laurie’s hand flew to her mouth and she screamed.
‘No! James! What the hell are you doing! You hit him!’ Amy yelled, squaring up to her ex-husband. She turned to Matt, who was breathless and gripping the back of the camping chair. ‘Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I’ve no idea what is going on in his head right now.’
