The long drive from Dover to the Quantocks takes six hours including all the stops for refreshment and Reggie’s needs. By the time they reach the caravan site, Tommy is aching with exhaustion and he can see the others are feeling the same, apart from the baby who is chuckling and trying to grab handfuls of Tommy’s hair as he lifts him from his seat.
‘It’s alright for you, my little mate,’ Tommy says, wincing as Reggie manages to bop him on the nose with that pesky wooden bird he’s still hugging, ‘you’ve been napping on and off all the way from Dover. The rest of us are ready for a shower, a beer, some chips from that wonderful van parked over there, and an early night.’
‘A chip van? I haven’t seen one of those for years,’ Polly says. ‘We used to get one round our village when I was younger. I was allowed to take my sister with me to get some if she’d been good. She wasn’t always.’
Tommy looks down at Polly, noting once again the deep sadness in her eyes. He thinks it must be progress that this sister of hers is being mentioned more and more often but each memory takes its toll on the girl.
‘From what I can gather, brothers and sisters can be a real mixed blessing,’ he says. ‘I never had any, neither did Isaac, and Peter’s younger brother’s long gone. He was neither use nor ornament by all accounts, anyway, was he Pete?’
Peter turns from his task of getting the chairs out of the van. ‘Archie? No, I’m afraid he was the black sheep of the family. What point are you making, Tommy?’
‘I was just thinking aloud. It’s an interesting subject. Let’s get set up and we can talk about it some more.’
There’s a pause while the team make camp. They’ve done this often enough now for it to be easy, even though they’re all shattered. Lucia goes to check in at the reception room taking Reggie with her in his buggy and by the time she’s back with a carrier bag full of steaming packets from the chip van, everything is in place.
‘It’s getting like home from home, isn’t it, this camping lark?’ says Tommy with satisfaction, as they sit around the picnic table in the gathering gloom. Dusk is falling at the bats are starting to wheel and swoop overhead. An owl calls and another replies. Isaac passes around the beer and conversation ceases while everyone tucks in. Even Reggie is quiet, sitting in his buggy with a tray clipped in front of him. He sucks each chip before he finally swallows it, looking around at the trees blowing in the light breeze as he eats. Occasionally he rejects one and throws it over his shoulder.
‘Reg is going to wonder what’s hit him when we go home,’ says Polly. ‘He’s got used to this new sort of life, moving from place to place, settling down in his travel cot full of food and fresh air, and having this big family round him.’
‘Ah, that’s what I was talking about earlier, sort of,’ Tommy says, batting away one of Reggie’s cast-off chips before it can hit him in the face. ‘I think we’ve got the basis for a very sound family support group here, us six, don’t you?’
‘I’ve been mulling over what you were saying too,’ says Peter. ‘I reckon you were suggesting we’re all brother-and-sister-less so we need to up our game and look after each other as if we really were what we’re starting to feel like, one big family?’
Polly looks across at Peter, raising her eyebrows. ‘A baby covered in chips, a flaky twenty-something, a reclusive computer-game buff and his mother who thought she didn’t want adventures, an extrovert re-born adventurer and an aristocrat? We’re a mixed bunch.’
‘But that’s what real families are like. They rub along together even though they’re all different kinds of people. Sometimes they argue. Sometimes they infuriate each other. But one thing they should always do is have each other’s backs.’
‘Is that us then?’ Isaac asks.
‘Do you want it to be?’ Lucia can’t imagine the Isaac she used to know being up for being absorbed into a brand new extended family, but he’s surprising her every day at the moment in all sorts of ways.
Tommy waits, astonished at how much he wants everyone to agree with his idea. If he can’t have Lucia for himself, the next best thing will be to be properly part of the inner circle surrounding her. He’s pretty sure Des isn’t coming home, and he knows Lu will be absolutely fine without him. What sort of idiot leaves a woman like this one?
‘I like it, Tommy. We’re a gang of six. All searching for something new and better in our lives. And all on the way to finding it, if I’m not mistaken.’
‘We’ve got a good big age range between us,’ Peter says, nodding. ‘Eldest eighty-six, youngest not even one year old yet. We should be able to tackle most things. Let’s shake on it.’
A round of rather sticky handshakes follows, with Polly insisting on cleaning Reggie up before anyone touches him ‘It’s time this chap was in bed,’ she says. ‘And by the look of you lot, we should all turn in now. All that travelling and then Tommy’s emotional stuff on top of it. No wonder we need to sleep.’
It’s not long before everyone is tucked up in bed. As Tommy drifts off to sleep, his last waking thought is that tomorrow he’ll be able to show his all-time favourite lady one of the most atmospheric places he’s ever been to. If he plays his cards right, this road trip could be the first of many. And if it’s a gang of six involved rather than a romantic adventure for two, so be it. Compromises aren’t always a bad thing.
The said gang toil up a very steep hill from the tiny car park the next morning, already far too hot. Reggie is in his sling on Isaac’s back because Tommy knows part of the walk is way too rutty for the buggy. Isaac doesn’t seem to mind having his head patted continuously, which is lucky, but the sweat is already trickling down his back, Tommy notices, relieved he didn’t offer his services for that job. He offers Lucia a hand on the steeper slopes but she shakes her head each time, drinking copious amounts of water but managing fine without his help.
Tommy is leading the way now, striding out ahead. Every step is taking him further back into his memories. Lucia is clutching a couple of his old photographs of the wood, some of the few that don’t feature past girlfriends. This is somewhere he’s preferred to visit alone prior to today. Like an ancient village church or an art gallery, time to think in peace is needed to appreciate an atmosphere so rarefied.
The deep silence hits them all as they stop for a drink of water. Once catered for, Reggie slurps juice from his feeder cup enthusiastically and Isaac shouts when some of it runs down his neck but when those sounds die away Tommy realises that it’s not quiet because the birds are twittering even more loudly than the ones in Lu’s garden. The shade from the twisty ancient oaks is dappled, and the narrow lane winds upwards underneath the strangely contorted branches.
‘How old must these trees be?’ Polly wonders aloud. ‘They look almost timeless. Like guards protecting the land.’
They trudge on, listening to the birdsong and Reggie’s happy gurgles. Suddenly, Tommy holds out a hand to stop Lu, who’s the nearest person to him. ‘This is it,’ he breathes, ‘this is the spot. Could you pass me the photographs? Yes, we’re in the right place. Look.’
Lucia leans over to see where Tommy’s pointing. He shows her a glimpse of bright blue sea and church steeple through a gap in the trees. The land drops away here and a path weaves through the oaks down towards the nearest village. The same one is in the pictures, from three different angles.
‘Bingo,’ he breathes.
Lucia hands Polly her phone. ‘Quick, record the moment. We’ve completed another challenge. Well done, Tommy. You’re very good at showing us your world.’
Polly grins and does as she’s told, and the others pose under the trees, making sure the church steeple is in the background. ‘One more for luck,’ Lucia says, swapping places so Polly can be in the picture.
‘Right, that’s the photo quest ticked off, and we’ve still got the rest of today to play with before we head home in the morning. What do you all want to do next? Any ideas?’ Lu asks as they meander back down the hill to the van.
‘Picnic lunch on the nearest beach, a paddle, bit of a drive to see some more of this lovely place if you’re all not too tired. We could pick up a takeaway on the way back and have a glass of wine when Reggie’s asleep?’ says Polly decisively. She looks round, suddenly anxious. ‘Is that okay? I didn’t mean to sound bossy.’
‘Perfect,’ says Tommy. ‘I like a person who knows their own mind. Let’s do it.’
Much later at the campsite, Polly takes Reggie into the washroom and bathes him thoroughly in the sink while the rest fall into their usual pattern of getting ready to eat. There is no take-away nearby but luckily Tommy remembered just before they reached the site that there used to be a very good local delicatessen and luckily it’s still there, so he stocked up with what he calls party snacks. He sets out a range of cold meats, salads, a roasted vegetable quiche and (what Isaac comments is) enough olives and similar treats for the whole campsite.
‘Wow, what a feast,’ breathes Lucia, opening the wine. ‘It’s just as Polly said about Reggie, we’re all going to find it hard to go back to living a normal life after this, aren’t we, Peter?’
‘You’re so right. Far horizons, exploring new places. I’ve quite got the wanderlust back in my bones.’
After dinner, when Reggie’s tucked into his cot and fast asleep, exhausted by all the fresh air, the others wrap blankets around their shoulders and sit just outside the van with their wine in plastic goblets.
‘It doesn’t have to end here, you know,’ says Tommy.
‘I know it doesn’t. We haven’t finished this trip yet, Polly and Isaac get their turns next,’ Lu answers, topping up everyone’s glasses. She glances down at the compass in the bag at her feet. The leather flaps have fallen open and she can see the needles clearly. Should she tell the others what they’re pointing to? She hesitates and Tommy carries on.
‘No, I mean even after we get home. This is only the beginning. We’ve got so many other places we could explore, and most of them are much nearer than France or Cornwall. I think we should plan ahead.’
‘Definitely. But for now, which of you two is going to choose first?’ says Lu.
Polly is busy unfolding one of Tommy’s less tatty maps. ‘This is South Wales,’ she says to him. ‘It doesn’t look as if you went there as much?’
‘I did more touring in North Wales, but that’s the map with Cardiff, isn’t it? I had a great time there.’
Isaac joins Polly to look at the map. ‘Are you thinking of us going here next?’ he asks, running a finger along the coastline.
‘Yes, I think it’s something I need to do. One of my sister’s best friends, Sheena, lives somewhere near Barry Island and she’s always asking me to visit. I think she wants to talk. I’ve been putting it off. They were very close. It’ll be hard.’
The others wait. After a few seconds, Polly nods briefly. ‘Well then, decision made if everyone’s okay with South Wales. It’s quite easy to get to from here, across the Severn Bridge. Sheena’s got rooms over a pub in a little village by the sea. I’ll check the postcode and text her when we get closer.’
‘Great! I’ve never been anywhere near there. Let’s do it!’ Lu says. ‘Yes?’
The others all raise their glasses to Polly. ‘This trip is the best thing that’s happened to me for years. Maybe ever,’ Tommy says thoughtfully.
Nobody answers, but their faces tell him they agree. Polly and Peter deserve to have more good times and Tommy’s not about to let Lucia and Isaac get away with digging themselves back into their old rut when they get home. No way is that going to happen.