It is a blustery day. A bouncy castle boat ride over to St Mary’s to catch the flight, which means they won’t fly over Tresco on the way back to Penzance. When the helicopter takes off, Kit doesn’t look back. He has the feeling that he’ll not return to the island.
The wind makes the helicopter lurch as it lands at Penzance, making him feel queasy.
He nods to a couple who’d been staying at the Old Ship as they disembark, but he can’t face the small talk.
He fusses over Primrose when she’s released from her cage. She gazes up at him with trusting eyes the colour of chocolate drops. She seems to be in a trance. The dog remains quiet in the taxi to the station. She sits on his lap and doesn’t seem entirely present. The new vet gave her some calming tablets before the flight and she didn’t make a sound on the way over. Kit wouldn’t mind some of those tablets himself. 386
He needs a coffee before he can brace himself to get on the train back to London. He needs a moment.
He walks slowly at the dog’s pace, hauling his one wheelie case behind him. He’ll have the rest of his things sent over later. They make their way inland, away from the harbour where a wind with the taste of winter is cutting across the water with malice. Primmy squats for a wee, then sits in the puddle, perplexed. He has to tie her up outside Boots and buy some baby wipes to clean her up. When he comes back out she is staring up at the sky, watching the gulls making lazy loops above despite the force of the wind.
He sits in a café which welcomes dogs. Messages a few friends. Charlotte’s Insta is now labelled Charlotte’s Journey and she’s gained several thousand more followers, rebranding herself as a Mental Health Advocate/Survivor. Good for her.
Earlier this morning, Sergeant Jack Moore came over from St Mary’s with a detective from the mainland to take his mother into custody. She went quietly, as they say.
The last thing she said to him was, ‘It was an accident, darling,’ her face a pantomime of grief.
She never told him what really happened. He guesses she never will.
He has no idea what will happen to her next, or where he’ll go, what he’ll do. At some point he’ll need to try and unravel his emotions, but he is unable to do that right now – it is too raw. He has the responsibility of the dog, that’s as far as he can 387think. He’ll try and do what Hannah did, live in the moment, wring every last drop out of life while he can.
By the time they head to the train, Primrose is trotting once more, her head held high.