The Broken Man Part 9

Just then a couple of middle-aged men sauntered by. They glanced at the two young women, then looked away. Then one of them glanced back to have another look as they wandered on. Unfortunately, Sally was still in fighting mood after the caterpillar ride.

'So what are you two staring at?' she snarled.

'Hey!' Anne calmed her down. 'Don't take it out on strangers, just because that ride-owner got the better of you.'

'It's not that! Did you see them, turning round to stare at us? Did he think we were on the lookout for a couple of paunchy, middle-aged men, or what? b.l.o.o.d.y cheek of it! And anyway, that boy on the ride told us a lie, so the ride-owner should have given us our money back.'

'Forget about it.'

'Am I being a pain?'

'Yes.

'Sorry,' Sally apologised. 'It's just that I always panic if the roof comes over.'

'Yes, I got that one.'

'I'll shut up about it, shall I?'

'Might be an idea.'

'Not another word, I promise.'

'Good.'

'We can still have a good time, though, can't we?'

'Course we can!'

'D'you want an ice cream?'

'OK, I'll take the bears back to the car, and you get the ice creams?'

'Good idea!' Sally's sour mood quickly disappeared. 'So, what kind of ice cream do you want?'

Anne didn't have to think too hard. 'A double dollop of vanilla ice cream with a chocolate flake on top.'

'Right! It'll be my treat.' Sally's mood brightened. 'You can get the fish and chips after we've been on the other rides, and no more mention of the caterpillar. Deal?'

'Yes, deal! And you can stop apologising. To tell you the truth, when I saw that cover coming over, I didn't like it either.'

'Ah! You didn't kick up a fuss, though, did you? In fact, you never seem to get het up about anything. I remember when you first started at Woollies and the manager piled more work on you than any of us. And you just got on with it, without a word of complaint. If he'd done that to me, I'd have been up in arms!'

Anne had her reasons for keeping quiet, but she kept them to herself. 'In my experience it pays not to make ripples.'

'Even when you're being taken advantage of?'

'Yes, even then.'

Anne's memories carried her back over the bad years, when she'd been unafraid to speak out. But then she'd been made to pay dearly for her boldness. 'Sometimes confrontation can lead to more trouble than you can handle.' Her answer came in a whisper, almost as though she'd forgotten Sally was there.

'Anne?' Sally had a feeling that something was wrong. '"More trouble than you can handle"? What's that supposed to mean?'

Lost in the horror of her past, Anne did not hear.

'ANNE!' Sally raised her voice.

'Oh ...' Anne took a deep breath, 'I was just ... oh, sorry.'

In her mind she could see the baby, small and vulnerable. Her baby. Her own flesh and blood. She shut it from her mind. But she could not shut it from her heart.

'You'd best queue up for the ice creams. I'll only be gone a few minutes.' Grabbing the two bears, she hurried away, while secretly wiping away the tears.

Seeing the stranger earlier had really shaken her and now she could not get Edward Carter out of her mind. She could see his face, angry. Hateful.

She could hear his voice, so refined, so wicked.

Shivering, she quickened her steps, silently praying, Dear Lord, will I ever be free of him?

At the car, Anne retrieved from the boot two brightly striped shoulder bags, each containing a towel, swimsuit and sunhat. She then climbed into the front seat of the car and sat for a time, her thoughts covering the years before she sought refuge with her beloved aunt Ada.

You're free of him, Anne, she felt the need to rea.s.sure herself. He hasn't found you all these years, and he won't find you now. Besides, he's probably found some other poor woman to terrorize. With luck he's forgotten you ever existed.

Feeling calmer, she hoisted one bag onto her shoulder, and carried the other over her arm. As she walked back, there was the tiniest of smiles on her face. When she caught sight of Sally, she waved and grinned, and for the moment all seemed well with the world.

'Where the devil have you been?' Sally had expected her back ages ago. 'It's a good job there was a long queue at the ice-cream van. What took you so long?'

'It only took a minute to leave the teddies and collect the bags, but I sat inside the car for a minute or two ... had to think.'

'What about?'

Anne shrugged. 'Just something and nothing.'

'Is everything all right?'

'Yes, everything's fine.' She reached out to collect her ice-cream cornet. 'Thanks, that looks good.' She licked the trickling ice cream from the sides of the cornet. 'What next then?' She sat down next to Sally.

'What d'you mean?'

'Well, we haven't been on any other rides, and we said we'd spend some time in the amus.e.m.e.nt arcade trying to win a bit of spending money. Then there's the beach. We promised ourselves a swim and a lie on the beach to try and get a bit of a suntan. But I was thinking, it might be best if we leave that till last. What do you think?'

Sally was in agreement. 'But don't forget, we'll need to get something to eat along the way.'

Anne chuckled. 'You're always hungry.'

'I know.' Sally made a face. 'I reckon I've got worms.'

Anne laughed again. 'What do you want to do next?'

Sally had it all worked out. 'I know I said I was hungry, but I'd rather not eat till later. And anyway, it'll be quieter in the cafe later on. If that's all right with you?'

'I'm easy.'

'OK. So, how does this sound? We'll finish our ice creams, then we could go on a couple of other rides. After that we could spend an hour on the machines in the arcade, and maybe win a fortune. Then we can go for a swim, and spend an hour or so on the beach, to maybe get a tan before we clean up and finally make our way to the cafe on the promenade. We'll relax and enjoy a leisurely meal, before setting off home. How's that?'

'Perfect!' Anne clapped her hands in agreement. Whenever she was with Sally, she always felt lighter of heart.

They sat awhile on the beach wall, chatting and finishing off their ice-cream cornets.

'Right!' Having nibbled the small remains of her cornet, Sally wiped her face with a tissue and threw the tissue in a bin. 'Time for action.' She set off down the promenade.

Anne quickly finished her cornet and set off at a run to catch up with Sally. 'Wait for me!'

By 4 p.m., they had seen and done everything they had wanted to. They rode in the flying aeroplanes, and went mad in the crazy b.u.mper cars. They went round and round on the waltzer, and had a wonderful time.

Afterwards, they spent a full hour in the amus.e.m.e.nt arcade, where between them they won the amazing amount of six pounds.

They had a leisurely swim, and after they had dried themselves off, they persuaded the donkey-man to let them ride on his two biggest donkeys.

'There you go.' He smacked the donkeys' rumps and set them off at a good pace. 'Enjoy yourselves.'

Sally and Anne laughed and squealed as they bounced up and down. Then the donkeys got spooked and took off down the beach with Sally and Anne hanging onto their manes for dear life.

'Help! Get me off!' Sally's cry caused other holidaymakers to laugh at their antics.

Eventually, the donkey-man came to their rescue. 'That's never happened before,' he said breathlessly. 'I never knew they had such spirit in 'em.'

Scrambling off the donkeys, the two women were stunned into silence as they made their way up the beach. Then Anne started giggling, and soon they were both helpless with laughter.

Sally's hair was up on end as though she'd been in a hurricane, and Anne's legs were raw on the inside where she'd gripped the donkey's belly.

'Well, that was fun!' Sally remarked wryly. 'It's the first and last time I ever get on a donkey.'

Anne agreed, but added that she had never laughed so much in all her life.

Afterwards, sore and exhausted, they lay on the towels on the sand, and lapped up the sun.

'This is the life! I could lie here all day, every day, and never do another day's work as long as I live.' Sally sighed.

Anne was also loving the feel of the sun on her bare skin, but time was ticking by, and they still hadn't eaten.

'Sally? I thought you were hungry?'

'I am.'

'So, do you still want to go to the cafe?'

'Course I do!'

'Do you realise what the time is?'

'No, and to be honest I'm so comfortable, I don't care.'

There followed a short span of silence before Sally asked, 'So what time is it then?'

'Half-past four.'

'Oh, crikey! We'd best get packed up and go, don't you think?'

'What, go home, you mean?'

'No, to the cafe. We've still got time.'

'I'm a bit peckish,' Anne admitted.

'Me too.' Sally groaned. 'I'm surprised you can't hear my stomach rumbling.'

Anne made the first move. She stood up, brushed the sand from her body and, wrapping the towel around her, she skilfully removed her swimsuit without displaying her attributes to all and sundry.

Sally, though, standing some distance away, was not so careful. Her towel kind of slipped, and when the two young men playing football along the beach wolf-whistled at her, she gave them a quick flash of her b.u.t.tocks.

'Hey, I reckon he fancies me,' she told Anne, with a naughty twinkle in her eye.

'Behave yourself.' Anne knew only too well what her friend was up to. 'I'm beginning to think I daren't take you anywhere.' She had to laugh, though. 'What would Mick say if he saw you flirting like this?'

'Mick knows I adore him,' Sally said dreamily. 'No one could ever replace him in my heart. And he appreciates my sense of mischief.'

Some ten minutes later, as they were trudging along the beach, the football came bouncing their way and landed at Anne's feet.

'See, I was right!' Sally was delighted to see one of the men come running towards them. 'They did that on purpose, just to get our attention.'

As it was in her direct path, Anne stooped to collect the ball and had her arm raised to throw it back, when the fairer-haired fellow of the two bounded up and reached out as though to take it.

'Sorry, I hope it didn't hit you.' His smile was friendly.

'No, it didn't.' Anne thought he was about to take the ball and leave. Instead, he took the ball with one hand and suggestively slid his other hand down her bare arm. 'I don't suppose you and your friend would like to couple up with me and my brother. We could have a bit of fun ... if you know what I mean?' His knowing wink left nothing to the imagination.

Anne shook her head. 'Sorry. We're on our way to get something to eat, and then we're starting home.'

'Ah, well, me and my brother could do with a bite to eat, so why don't we make it a foursome? It'll be our treat.' Gripping her wrist, he gently drew her towards him. 'Please, say yes.'

From a short distance away, Sally witnessed the exchange between Anne and the stranger.

Moving closer, she was surprised to hear Anne say, 'Thank you, but we haven't actually decided whether or not we will go to the cafe. We've got a two-hour drive before us, and we have to get back.'

Stepping away, she tried to release herself from his hold, but when he gripped her wrist all the tighter she began to feel threatened. 'Please ... I have to go now.' Making a determined effort, she pulled free from him.

As she made her way to Sally, her heart was pounding. Then she was panicking. Was he behind her?