They fell into an uneasy few days after their visit with Harry.
Billy, hidden safe in his lighthouse and caring for Snodgrass, left them free to return to Devon. It was a Wednesday, and half term was beginning on Friday. They had promised the children a trip to the island, but as Jenna had once described in her diary, waiting for news was like walking around under water, pressure hurting their ears and muffling sound.
Aleksey checked his phone constantly. He was expecting a message to be left one way or another. Even he was surprised when all he was sent was a link to an article in a newspaper. It required translation, so he put the kettle on. He was getting too English for his own good. But he reckoned it was better than reaching instinctively for vodka.
Ben came in from a visit to the garage, where he’d presumably been saying a fond farewell to his new beloved. They were planning to take the train to Penzance. With the prospect of a whole week away from each other, Sunny Boy was clearly suffering. He came over and flung himself into the chair next to him with a theatrical sigh. When this got no reaction, he pointed out a little wistfully, ‘We could still drive down instead.’ Not getting a reply, he put his palm over the screenhewas studying intently. ‘What’s up?’
‘Make some tea. I’m reading something.’
Ben got up dutifully.
‘Simon Raiden is dead.’
‘What? Is that good or bad? Will that affect the deal?’
‘I think the deal is done—and this was my notification of it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘It’s an article in a newspaper about a traffic incident concerning a foreign national.’
Ben came and sat back down. ‘Accident? So not complications from his arm?’
As far as Aleksey was aware, Simon’s arm was still fastened to the old sea tractor, but he knew what Ben meant. He leaned back in his seat, tapping his fingers slowly on the table. ‘No. It was a crash—he was a passenger, but the driver was killed as well.’
‘Jesus.’
‘Probably not. They just sent me a link toLe Parisien. It happened late at night in thePont de l’Almatunnel, apparently. Police are treating it as not suspicious. The driver had been drinking.’ He stared out of the glass into the beautiful manicured garden. ‘Failure is not acceptable, I suppose, and they have just taken out the trash. So, I believe we are back where we started. Status quo has been maintained.’
Ben rested his chin on his hand, studying his face. ‘You’ve spent your whole life since I’ve known you wanting to bring down the heir to the throne, thinking about him, annoying him, getting little digs in where you could. I sometimes wondered whether I should have been jealous. But now you had your chance—and you just threw it away.’
‘Thank you, Benjamin. I do see the irony of this situation myself—but I appreciate you pointing it out for me. I always value your input. Make the tea.’
* * *
It was excessively annoying being demoted on your own island, or being out-ranked, anyway. On the last day of their holiday, they threw a party. The entire family attended. It wasn’t an official coronation, because the recipient of the presents and the attention would not have wanted that or have understood it had they thrown such a celebration for him. No, it was just the family on the hillside beside the lighthouse with a huge picnic and games and later, when it got dark, fireworks, and Billy centre of attention, wrapped up warm, and sitting in a lawn chair which could be said to be a throne if you had a vivid imagination. It was a good time to be on holiday away from it all. There had been sad news on their last trip to St Mary’s for grocery shopping. They’d known as soon as they approached the harbour. The flags had been at half-mast. You didn’t have to lower a pirate flag, but on their return they’d done it anyway as a mark of respect. Enid had shed a tear. It was the first emotion Aleksey had seen slip through her habitual emotional control. It made him feel melancholy and nostalgic. Which was excessively annoying, because despite the tea he now consumed in vast quantities, he wasn’t actually English!
But the queen was dead, so long live the king. Billy was King of Light Island at least, which outranked the lord and definitely the lord’s lieutenant and even the Keeper of the Kibble, but as most of this nonsense was only inside Aleksey’s head anyway, only he suffered from the loss of status, and he was more than happy to take the hit.
Not only was the lighthouse restored, they had refurbished Harry’s destroyed shed as well. He was guest of honour at the coronation, also in a lawn chair, and also well wrapped against the November chill. He had Miles’s Big Book of British Seabirds spread open on his lap, and he was pointing out the ones they could see to his avid audience, Miles on one side of his chair, Billy on the other. The bird-watching wasn’t especially challenging, as the cliff dwellers were wheeling constantly over their heads, crying raucously at being disturbed.
The old man had spent his first days out of hospital, the start of a long recuperation, walking briskly between the two locations: garden and lighthouse. It had not taken him six months, as Ben had predicted, to overcome his psychological wobblies and be able to enjoy the latter location, but apparently just a broken arm and a consequent bit of physical wobbling. Possibly this emotional recovery was more down to the almost constant presence of his son in his life since the incident on Benhar, who, with his characteristic yet dubious ways of expressing love, relentlessly mocked his father for any show of incapacity, real or imagined. It could have been the covert care the moron gave him too, although Aleksey didn’t call Ben’s friend on this. Most likely, Aleksey reckoned, Harry’s swift bounce out of the hospital bed and back to duty was due to the very strong pain-killers the hospital had put him on, and which Aleksey improved upon for him—he had made promises to Ben; he didn’t see why other people needed to abide by them, however. This small act of rebellion seemed only fitting, as he seemed to recall that this whole island adventure had only begun because he’d wanted to buy one as the base for a new drug-smuggling operation.
When the spring came, Aleksey was going to get the old man into the pond anyway. Possibly Billy as well, although he reckoned he’d met his match with His Majesty. He’d suggested it one day when Billy had seen him and Radulf swimming, and had been given the inevitable rejoinder:you’re just being silly.
Yes, well, prosaic rationality was all very well. But he’d reverted to his earlier belief that this islandwasspecial. As he lay on the grass of the headland alongside the lighthouse with his family surrounding him, he’d have gone as far as to award itmiraculousproperties once more.
Besides binoculars and book, Harry and Billy were now sharing Snodgrass. Radulf would have been more than willing to offer his services for petting and treats and attention, but he was taller than Billy, and Aleksey could only imagine what it must be like to view his muzzle from beneath when you were actually standing up. Besides, He Who Guards Against the Wolf in Man seemed more than content where he was—upside down in a curve of bliss alongside him having his belly scratched. His jowls had flapped open and his teeth were exposed, so it looked as if he was finding something in his dream utterly hilarious.
Aleksey could never be sure whether Billy had worked out that Harry and William were actually two separate people or not. The little man still appeared to think his mother was coming back for him, so it was possible that in his mind these two old men had merged, and that one had seamlessly taken the much longed for place of the other. Harry, of course, merely said that he was braving the lighthouse in order to occasionally see his dog—Snodgrass had taken his duties as Officer of the Pantry a little too much to heart and consequently barely fit inside the tiny cupboard where Billy kept the food. But by taking Snodgrass out for some much needed exercise every day that week, Harry, by default, had also encouraged Billy out of his sanctuary. So besides being King of Light Island, he was now also Under Gardener—or as Harry pointed out by lifting his cast,Acting Head Gardenerfor a few months yet. Which was fine, as Aleksey had recently promoted Harry anyway—he’d won the auction and Harry was now Admiral of the Fleet. To be sure, a small fleet compared to the one he used to command, but little steps…
Enid also had a chair and a blanket, but everyone else was sprawled on the grass or sitting on the base of the lighthouse. There were only two family members missing. Emilia was apparently digging up Roman coins somewhere or other. A text which had highly amused Aleksey. He looked forward to reading her analysis of their provenance. And, of course, the Queen of England had not been able to attend this coronation—she was attending her own. But Ben’s offer of sanctuary had been heartfelt and now, given the precariousness of it all, possibly necessary. Time would tell.
Ben wasn’t dwelling on her absence. He was a little too busy to give Billy’s present opening or even the food as much attention as he usually would either. They were at the cliff edge. He had a nippy four-year-old daughter. But perhaps more concerning, she had her kitten with her. The entire family had come for the holiday and she’d tearfully refused to leaveGingernutbehind with Sarahand Daniel—although they’d volunteered for the duty. But Ben had insisted, therefore, that the cat wear a harness, andhewould be the only one to hold the leash, not Molly. Aleksey had genuinely foreseen the kitten going over the edge, then Molly to catch her beloved, and then Ben to save her. And then him, he supposed, to be with Ben. So harness wearing it was. And Gingernut was enjoying this experience even less than any of them had predicted she would.
He and Ben kept knowledge of Billy to themselves. That was the whole point of his deal with The Family after all. It was a party. Billy was centre of attention, and that’s all anyone else knew. Genuine names and ranks and titles were all irrelevant on Light Island. He’d had a present for Billy as well, and when he’d handed it over and the little man had opened it, you would have thought he’d been given the kingdom itself, which in a way, Aleksey supposed he had. MacArthur had been sent to the same restorers he and Enid had used for Molly’s dolls’ house, and they’d professionally reattached his head—something many historical figures might also have appreciated after their attentions from other kings of England. He’d been washed and brushed and re-stuffed as well, and other than his missing scarf was entirely as he had been when he’d first been presented to Billy for his christening.
Aleksey rolled onto his side and propped his head up on one hand watching the moron and PB chasing rabbits, Tim taking photographs of everyone, the little group in chairs, and Babushka knitting. Aleksey suspected MacArthur might be getting some very fetching outfits quite soon.
