On Saturday afternoon Viv Hickey went down to the north pier at Newlyn and searched for the Sunrise amongst the rows of moored luggers. After the intimacy she had shared with Daniel last week, her adoration for him making her overlook the fact that he had more or less forced himself on her, she had taken it for granted he would come to see her at the boarding house. When there was no sign of him by four o’clock, she decided to look for him.
She was dressed in her best outfit, which was third-hand but not as shabby as the rest of her clothes, and she had left off her hat to display the combs Daniel had given her. As she tried to read the names of the boats, she wished her mother had not kept her away from school so often to work in the boarding house. She felt conspicuous wandering about the harbour; few women went there, and those that did were usually morally loose. She only had a rough idea what the Kittow lugger looked like.
Mitch Spargo had just left the Misty and was watching her. He tidied his dark hair with his fingers, straightened his jersey, threw back his broad shoulders and went up to her.
‘Hello, are you looking for someone?’
‘Yes, the Sunrise,’ she replied, not paying him much attention.
‘You’ve passed it. It’s two rows back, the boat nearest the pier.’
‘Silly me,’ Viv coloured, hoping this man whom she recognised as one of Daniel’s acquaintances did not realise she could not read. She gave her attention to two young gulls fighting over a titbit a few yards away.
‘Are you looking for someone in particular?’ Mitch asked, putting his foot up on an iron mooring cleat, hoping to keep her talking.
‘Yes, Daniel Kittow. Do you know where he is?’
‘He’s gone home for the weekend.’
‘Oh.’ Her face dropped.
Mitch’s hopes rose. He was greatly attracted to Viv Hickey. With Daniel out of the way, he might just stand a chance.
‘He wanted to check over his cottage, make sure all’s well. I’ve heard you singing in the Crown,’ he went on. ‘You’ve got a lovely voice. I really enjoy listening to you. I’m Mitch Spargo. I live in Porthellis too but as I’ve no wife or girl friend there I usually stay over at Newlyn for the weekend. I believe your name’s Viv.’
‘That’s right,’ she said tightly, turning back towards the town, her head downcast. Now she had at least another week to wait before seeing Daniel again. She realised Mitch Spargo was walking at her side.
‘Did Daniel leave a message for me with you?’
‘No, nothing.’ Mitch plucked up his courage. ‘I was thinking, would you like to—’
‘I have to get on,’ Viv said sharply, in no mood for company or conversation, certainly not another man’s approaches. ‘Thanks for the information.’
Mitch stood alone and dejected on the pier but told himself he must take a leaf out of Matt’s book and not give up on a woman he was interested in. No doubt Viv would sing in the pub tonight and she might let him walk her home.
Hannah had Saturday afternoon off and was on her way home, eager to impart all the news of her first week at Roscarrock. Daniel was waiting for her at the top of Porthkilt Hill. She waved to him and speeded up her steps. He tossed his cigarette away and ran to her, lifted her high in the air, swung her round and round then let her fall giddily into his arms. They were both laughing with sheer delight.
He kissed her cheeks again and again, finally planting a firm kiss on her lips.
‘Goodness,’ she laughed breathlessly, hugging him, ‘what a greeting. Oh, Danny, I’ve had such a wonderful week. I’ve got lots to tell you.’
‘First tell me if you missed me.’ He gazed deeply into her sparkling blue eyes.
‘Of course I did. I always miss you when you’re away.’
Putting his arm round her, he held her close as they started down the hill. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I heard you’d taken the job. So you like it at Roscarrock then?’
‘It’s such a beautiful place, Danny. It’s not at all creepy – well, just a tiny little bit, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. The Opies and Angie Miller, the maid, are very kind to me. I feel as if I’ve worked there for ages. Did Matt tell you I’d taken the job? How is he?’
‘All right, I s’pose,’ Daniel said, looking her up and down and seeing the lovely young woman his workmate and partner had fallen for. ‘Was a moody bugger most of the week. Can’t make him out some of the time.’
‘Matt was moody? I wonder why. He was in very good spirits the last time I saw him.’
‘Never mind him’. Tell me all about Roscarrock.’
Hannah filled him in on everything from the size of the rooms and their contents, her own room, Mrs Opie’s wonderful clothes and her painting – omitting Patrick Opie’s lie – to the week’s delicious menus, the ominous looking picture beside Gregory Opie’s study and Mr Patrick’s beautiful gardens.
‘You have to call him Mr Patrick?’ Daniel exclaimed. ‘It’s archaic.’
‘It sounds friendlier than Mr Opie and that would be confusing when Gregory Opie comes home,’ she said, keeping her eyes on Daniel. She had looked forward to the familiar sights and smells of the village again, the bark house, bakehouse, carpenter’s shop, net machines and the sea at close quarters but she was so taken up with Daniel she didn’t notice them at all.
‘Well, it sounds like paradise up there. I’m glad for you, Hannah. You deserve it.’ He kissed her cheek again. ‘Hope it makes your old man happy too. So you haven’t met the third Opie yet?’
‘No, but I soon will. Mrs Opie is expecting him down from Oxford any day now. He’s been researching for a stage play there. I hope he’s as nice as she and Mr Patrick are.’
‘He can’t fail to like you, me girl.’ Daniel hugged her.
They had reached the houses fronting the quay and Hannah started forward at seeing Janet, Roy, Jowan and Ned outside the house waiting for her, but Daniel kept her in his grip. Matt was with them.
Janet left the group and pulled her niece away from Daniel. Unperturbed, Hannah kissed Janet’s warm cheek. Janet took off her glasses and wiped them on her apron, a sign that she was displeased, then she glared at Daniel.
He grinned broadly. ‘I’ll see you later, Hannah.’
‘She’ll be busy all weekend,’ Janet snorted, propelling Hannah towards the menfolk.
Hannah knew she had made a mistake, forgetting Matt would be here to meet her, but she ignored the niggle of guilt and kissed her uncle and two cousins, then gave Matt a lingering embrace. He crushed her to him and his lips were persistent on hers.
‘Well, then, let’s not stand out here giving the village something to talk about. Get inside and I’ll make the tea,’ Janet declared.
When they were all sitting round the kitchen table, Hannah repeated everything she had told Daniel, ending by telling Janet that Mrs Opie had said she could use the sewing machine to continue her previous work.
‘That’s very kind of her, I’m sure, but you’ve got enough to do,’ Janet said importantly. Hannah could tell that despite her misgivings her aunt was proud of her new position and that she was getting on so well; if she could soothe Prim’s feelings about it, her happiness would be complete.
‘But I’ve got plenty of free time,, Aunty,’ Hannah assured her. ‘I’m not exactly rushed off my feet and I bet you’ve got more work than you can manage.’
‘In that case I’ll sort out something to take back with you. Well, I’m sure Matt doesn’t want to sit in here all day. There’s two hours till teatime. Why don’t the pair of you go for a walk or something?’
Although Matt hadn’t taken his eyes off Hannah, he had said very little. They made their way up towards the cliff path and he didn’t take her hand until they were tramping the narrow path out of sight of the village.
‘Where do you want to go?’ he asked quietly.
‘How about Hidden Beach? You can just about see it from certain windows in the big house.’ She squeezed his hand to show she was glad to be with him. ‘Did you have a good week, Matt?’
‘Not bad.’
‘When are you going to work on your allotment?’
‘This evening, after I’ve seen you back to Roscarrock. Why?’
‘Just wondering. You’d love the gardens at Roscarrock, Matt, especially the walled garden. When I’ve been there a bit longer I could ask Mr Patrick if you can look over them. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. He’s so proud of all he’s done. Would you like to?’
‘Yes, anything that would bring me closer to you.’
Matt held back the gorse bushes that hid the way to the beach so she could slip past them and they walked without speaking on to the dark golden sand. Three small children were playing on the shore and after waving to the couple they went back to their game. Matt led the way to the rocks and sat down with his back against them.
Hannah knelt down in front of him. ‘Matt, you’re difficult to hold a conversation with today. Is anything wrong? Danny said you were moody all week.’
He reached forward and pulled her into his arms, speaking over her lips. ‘I don’t like seeing you close to him like that and I don’t like you talking to him about me. Actually I haven’t been moody, he’s just a damned troublemaker.’
‘Danny is not!’ she protested, struggling to free herself. ‘You’re just jealous.’
‘Too damned right I’m jealous,’ he said angrily. ‘You’re my girl. That’s agreed by both of us, remember? Would you like it if you saw me armed up with another woman for all the village to gawp at?’
‘No, I suppose not.’
She turned her head to the shore and was relieved that the children, probably annoyed they hadn’t got the beach to themselves any more, had gone. The tension went out of Matt’s hands and he held her gently. No longer his prisoner, Hannah allowed her body to sink against his. ‘I don’t like it when you get so intense, Matt.’
‘Sorry, darling, but it was hard wanting to be with you so much. You may have had a good week but it dragged like a year to me. Then seeing you like that…’
‘I’m sorry, Matt.’
They kissed and Hannah felt his hands sliding over her, caressing her, then as he nestled his mouth hungrily in her neck, one hand crept over her breast. She pushed it away and put her burning cheek to his chest. He cuddled her tightly and didn’t try to get familiar again.
Hannah had been too absorbed to think much about Matt in the last week but she considered her relationship with him now. They had only spent a few hours together during their three-week courtship but Hannah felt she was beginning to sift through his unreadable exterior. He could be moody, there was no mistaking that, but she didn’t really mind. A thrill shot through her when she realised he could probably be every bit as ruthless as Daniel and she knew that under his apparent calmness, his passions ran as high as the seas.
She looked at him. He smiled and squeezed her possessively. Hannah was beset with mixed emotions. She wanted to continue as his girl friend and she wanted to stay close friends with Daniel, feeling she had the right to do so, but if she tried to have both, there would inevitably be friction.
Daniel was up on the cliffs further upcoast that afternoon. He was looking down on Gorran Haven, a fishing village famous for crabbing. A man who did not bear the stamp of a fisherman scrambled up to meet him. Both men looked furtively about then the man, small, pale and foxlike, passed Daniel a fat parcel which he put inside the canvas bag slung over his shoulder.
‘My cut?’ Daniel asked, lighting a cigarette and offering the man the packet of Player’s Weights.
‘A good haul this time, thirty-five quid.’ The man took a cigarette and lit it off Daniel’s.
‘Fine,’ Daniel handed the man an envelope. ‘I’m glad to hear things are so good at St Austell.’
The man stuffed the envelope in his jacket pocket without looking in it. He trusted Daniel not to cheat him. ‘You sure it’s safe?’
‘Yeah, I pass on goods from all over, my contact’s good. I’ll shift this as soon as I get the chance,’ Daniel blew smoke in the air, his face grim, ‘but no one would dare go through my things on the boat.’
‘Nice doing business with you. I’ll be in touch.’ And the foxy little man took himself off down the cliff and into a waiting van.
Leah Spargo made a rare appearance in chapel that Sunday. The desire to see Hannah had overcome her fear of being seen out with her scarred face. Hiding under a large brown felt hat, she sat at the back. When the service was over, she made a beeline for Hannah who, snatching a few words with Prim, had not realised she was there, but Leah was waylaid by the Reverend David Skewes who good-naturedly admonished her for her poor attendance. When she managed to wriggle free from him, Hannah was walking up the hill with Matt and Mrs Penney for dinner.
‘Hannah, wait for me,’ Leah shouted, hanging on to her hat.
‘Leah!’ Hannah’s heart went out to her little sister, remembering how she had shouted to her and the children in Rufus Kittow’s tosher to stop for her and Edwin ten years ago. She pulled her arm from Matt’s and ran down the hill towards her. She hugged Leah and they both started talking at once.
‘I hear you like it at Roscarrock.’
‘You must come up and see me. I’m allowed to have family visits. You’ll love the house and Mrs Opie’s dear little dog. I’ve got a lovely room and we could have tea there together.’
‘Leah!’ The shout echoed furiously over the cove. ‘What’re you wasting your time talking to that bitch for? Get home at once.’ It was their father.
Hannah choked down a painful gulp and Leah turned tail and ran. Matt stormed towards Jeff Spargo and did not stop despite his mother calling after him. Hannah, Mrs Penney and others who were in the vicinity watched horrified as Matt clutched Jeff by the collar and rammed him against the wall of a house.
‘You may not want her as your daughter, Spargo, but she’s my girl. Make one more remark like that and I’ll spread your bloody rotten face all over Porthellis.’
‘Stop it, Matt!’ Hannah shouted.
‘Matt, leave him be,’ Mrs Penney appealed in a wail. ‘It’s Sunday. Remember where you’ve just come from.’
Jeff wasn’t strong enough to push Matt off him but he spat in his face. Enraged, Matt shook him and slammed his head against the wall. It was John Jacobs, Lizzie’s husband, who intervened.
‘He’s not worth it, Matt. He may hate Hannah but everyone in Porthellis despises him for it, including his own family, all except his spiteful mother.’ John pulled on Matt’s stranglehold. ‘Come on now, leave him go like your mother and Hannah said.’
Matt conceded to the quiet argument. He let Jeff go with a violent shove and the older man fell to the ground. Matt wiped the spittle off his face and walked to Hannah who was as pale as sea foam. She turned on shaky legs and walked on with Mrs Penney. By this time Leah had scurried all the way home and had shut herself in her room.
Hannah was quiet as Matt walked her back to Roscarrock in the evening.
‘Don’t stay angry with me, Hannah,’ Matt appealed as they closed in on the gateway of the big house. ‘We won’t see each other all week and it’s unlucky with me going to sea.’ He looked about for some iron to touch to ward off bad luck.
‘I didn’t know you could be like that,’ she muttered, adding another passion to the list she’d made on the beach. She took his arm at last.
‘Like what, for goodness sake? I was only standing up for you.’ He sounded genuinely surprised.
‘There was no need to be violent.’
‘Violent?’ He was amazed. ‘Huh! I bet you wouldn’t have minded if Daniel had smacked your old man against that wall.’
‘That’s not true, although I’d have expected it more of him than you. Did you hit my father the day before the pilchard drive started? I noticed his face was bruised.’
‘No, I did not.’ He stopped walking and took her by the shoulders. ‘Do you want Jeff Spargo to go on calling you vile names for the rest of your life? Well, I don’t. Asking him to stop wouldn’t do any good and the only thing he understands is what I did to him. I can’t stand anyone hurting you, Hannah. I’d never hit a woman and he hits your mother, don’t forget. What do you think poor Leah’s had to put up with for the rest of the day? And just for speaking to you.’
‘I just don’t—’
‘For goodness sake, the man’s a bastard!’ Matt was getting exasperated.
Hannah was furious. ‘If you’re going to swear and shout at me, Matt Penney, you can leave me here. I don’t want you to walk on any further.’
Matt’s heart sank. He knew he had gone too far. Jeff Spargo was still her father.
Sighing, he dropped his arms. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, Hannah. I’ll see you next week.’
Hannah accepted a goodbye kiss from him but there was no warm reciprocation on her part.