‘I’m not an idiot.’ Archie’s tone had changed and the vein tensed in his forehead.
The man crouched down in front of the wheelchair. ‘I never said that you were, Archie. We don’t want your tea to go cold before you’ve drank it, do we?’
‘No.’ Archie gripped the beaker and sipped from the cup.
‘I’ll leave you to talk. Just come out and grab one of us when you’re ready to leave.’
‘Thank you.’ Natalie turned her attention to Archie. ‘How are you, Archie?’
‘Very good. Who are you?’
‘Natalie, from the ice-cream shop.’ It was going to be a long chat.
‘Ahh, I remember Alan. Handsome chap.’
He was handsome and Mary had thought that too. Natalie wanted to say something, to agree but the words stuck in her throat.
‘How is he?’
‘He passed away.’
Laura cleared her throat.
‘Tell ’im I says hello.’
‘Will do.’ Natalie pressed her lips together in a forced smile.
‘Is this your friend?’
‘It’s me, Laura, from the shop. You used to come in and say hello. You brought me that lovely spider plant when I opened it and you gave my Bethany a teddy bear when she was a baby. She used to coo at you.’
Archie looked blank and stared through the windows beyond them. ‘Do you hear the crying? The water babies cry at night. It scares me. Can you hear?’
Slowly, Archie’s expression changed. A stark look flashed in his eyes followed by the contortion of his mouth as he tried to say things that his brain was no longer wired to allow him to say.
‘What babies, Archie?’
‘Can you hear the baby?’
Natalie couldn’t hear a thing but playing along might just bring something out of Archie, something that would make sense. ‘I can. It’s like a sadness. What do you think it is?’
‘The little baby.’ His chin began to shudder until a sob came out of his mouth. Laura leaned over and took the beaker of tea from his trembling hand. ‘I want it to stop.’
Natalie leaned in a little closer. ‘It’s okay, Archie. It’s going quieter. The baby has stopped crying.’
‘Yes, yes it has.’ The man exhaled and wiped his crêpe-like hand over his brow, sweeping his white hair back.
‘Tell me about the baby.’ Silence filled the air and Natalie’s heart beat so fast, she was sure that Laura could feel it booming through their shared seat.
‘I once saved a baby from a car.’
‘You are such a hero. But do you remember the other baby?’
‘What baby?’
‘The baby you hear crying in the sea.’
‘I don’t hear a baby crying in the sea.’
