The other man turned to him with a broad smile on his tanned, weathered face. ‘Well, he’s a rare one.’
‘In what way?’ He was fairly sure this old man couldn’t see Ben’s unique qualities in exactly the same way he did.
‘He said I would be at the top in no time. Six months, he reckoned.’
They both glanced up together to survey the glass dome, even now catching the sunlight and appearing to wink at them.
‘Did he happen to say how?’
Harry chuckled. ‘Something to do with maple syrup. I didn’t quite catch the whole point, but it sounded very encouraging.’
Aleksey actually snorted. He knew exactly what Ben had been trying to say. ‘Six months sounds about right. So? Will you take the job?’
Harry took a breath. ‘My acceptance would come with certain conditions.’
‘As does my offer. Go on.’
‘I suspect you and I have similar feelings on privacy, although perhaps for very different reasons. Michael told me you were…well, he actually used the wordparanoidabout such things, but in his deep affection for you passed this off as evidence of your loyalty to your friends and care for your family. However, I believe you also understand the benefits of being dead. My wife has remarried and is happy and receives my pension. I wish to remain just Homeless Harry, if that is acceptable to you.’
Aleksey glanced across. Paranoid? Harsh, although probably true. ‘I keep nothing from Ben.’ He managed to say this with a straight face, and continued, ‘Michael, I suspect, will want to tell his partner also. But Harry it is to everyone else. Although, I dispute the homeless part if we can come to terms.Light Islandwill be your home.’
‘Well, I thank you for that. It’s very generous of you. But it leads me onto my second condition. I must decline the cottage to live in, although I would very much like to help Michael plan any work on it. I was thinking thatch. It’s a wonderful lost art, and I have always wanted to try my hand at it. I would be grateful if Snoddy and I could have the use of the shed though. Just the ticket for us.’
‘You want to live in a shed?’
‘Oh, you have no idea how comforting a robust shed can be to a chap.’
‘No. I became acquainted with a hunting one once, and didn’t find it comforting at all. Go on.’
‘When you and Ben come here, I feel the island should be entirely yours. So I would hand over the watch to you when you arrive, and Snoddy and I would sail off and have a new adventure around the islands until you were ready to depart. If that would be agreeable to you.’
Aleksey nodded. The old man’s terms were to stay anonymous, live in the shed, but fuck off when he and Ben were there. Strange, but true.
‘Well, my terms would be firstly that you make a weekly report to me from St Mary’s.’
‘Oh, yes, excellent idea. We enjoyed our hunts for telephone boxes.’
‘I will give you a phone.’
‘Oh, well, that might make it easier, yes.’
‘My only other stipulation might be more difficult for you to accept.’
‘Ah.’
Aleksey fished in his pocket and pulled out a card. ‘On the assumption you would accept my offer I have opened an account for you. I would insist that everything you need is purchased with this money. There is no limit, and I demand that you spend at least a thousand pounds a month.’
Harry lost his composure for a moment and repeated in a faint voice, ‘A year. Surely you mean a year, sir.’
‘No, you have food expenses. I want the plants all restored—tools to do that, whatever. You must have everything you need for your accommodation—even if that is in a shed. Make it comfortable. The dog must be registered at the vet on St Mary’s. He needs a bed. You will need one too. You will want to buy books, things for your boat. Clothes? I don’t know. Anything left over you must keep.’
‘A thousand pounds though, son! It’s far too much! Could we start out with a little less and perhaps, as with the lighthouse, I might come to this great sum in smaller stages?’
‘Well how much do you think you need a week?’
‘Oh, five pounds has done us quite well for years.’
Aleksey stopped walking. ‘Five pounds. A week?’
