‘I’m in,’ Lynne said before continuing, ‘she’s right, between us we’ll come up with something to rival the letter, or at the very least make it really clear how you feel.’
‘Oh, thank you. You’re the best friends a girl could have.’ The relief was written clear on Pippa’s face. She knew this should be an intimate thing, but her head was such a whirl since receiving the letter that she was struggling with rational thought. With her girlfriends to ground her, keep her focused and hopefully stop her making a complete twit of herself, she should be able to right this wrong in the best way possible.
‘We are,’ Lottie nodded, ‘and don’t forget you have the best family too. We’ll get everyone involved. This is going to be the most romantic Feast Week Penmenna has ever seen. Trust me!’
Chapter Forty-six
The most romantic Feast Week ever was shaping up nicely and Pippa hadn’t had a minute to spare, with all the plotting and then the Flora Dance on Wednesday. Now Thursday had arrived and it was carnival day: the day when the traffic in Penmenna was diverted and the schools, local businesses, scout and guides troops, in short anyone with any connection to the community, dressed up in themed costumes and paraded through the streets, finishing up in the school field where there would be judging for the best dressed.
Pippa had lain awake all night trying to work out what she was going to say to Kam when she saw him today, despite Lottie and Lynne’s insistence that she say nothing. They argued that the carnival procession was a school related activity and both she and Kam would be there in a professional capacity so she just had to carry on as normal, not slip up by letting him know she now knew about the letter, and then they could do a big romantic reveal on the Saturday. They had also drafted in her mum and dad, which meant Pete and Polly (and Tatters) were now involved, and Pippa had a feeling that the whole village probably now knew the ins and outs of her private life. Lottie’s reassurances that they always did anyway was not much succour.
She was going to find it hard to keep this to herself. Words were constantly burbling over the curve of her lips every time she thought of the letter. Words like ‘Sorry,I’m an idiot,’ and ‘Marry me’. Those, she needed to keep in; it was just that silence wasn’t her natural state of being.
As she approached the school, she saw him wandering down the road towards the building, dressed as Neptune and complete with fork and wavy sea hair made of blue and green crepe paper. Her heart swelled so big with love she didn’t know what to do with herself. With any luck she’d lose the power of speech once they came face to face, otherwise she’d blurt out all of the secret plans that her family and friends had already cobbled together.
‘Hey, you look great. You were obviously born to be a mermaid,’ Kam grinned at her as they reached each other. She had forgotten for a moment that she too was in costume, and up until the revelations on Sea Shanty night she had been really excited about wearing the most beautiful iridescent tail that her mother had managed to make. Today it seemed unimportant and she tried desperately to find her tongue and keep it appropriate, whilst forcing phrases from the letter – now memorised – out of her head.
But it was difficult.
I love the way you light up every room when you enter it.
I love the way you crinkle your nose when you laugh.
Really difficult.
I love the way you have no qualms about being true to yourself and cherish those around you.
‘Are you okay?’ Kam raised an eyebrow and she realised she hadn’t answered him.
‘Fine, just mermaid brain I guess. You okay? Right let’s go find our babies… um… class. Let’s go find the class. They should be milling about on the field.’
She walked beside him, desperate to reach out and grab his hand to give it a little squeeze just so he knew she was here at his side and willing to be so forever. Instead she walked next to him with eyes fixed firmly on the floor, reminding herself that everyone else was on board with the plan and that she should be too.
The children were beyond excited as the two of them walked onto the field and her heart stopped melting over Kam and began to melt a little with pride at how well everyone had done. All of them were in costume: some shopbought, some homemade but all had put in a real effort.
Lottie was darting about the field with her face painting kit adding details to the faces of the children who wanted it, whilst shooting looks at Pippa that very clearly stated, ‘Don’t you dare spoil the surprise!’
Alice was trying to calm a gaggle of children who were running harum-scarum across the field, toppling each other over, and whose parents had disappeared, a common occurrence with The Smuggler’s Curse being so close. Other parents, the ones who had stayed, were taking photos with their phones, and photographers from the local paper and the local news were also swirling around the field snapping images and having mini interviews. Pippa saw Hugo Sweetling from the local news chatting to Rosy in front of the cameras.
The whole field was alive with celebration and, as it had for all the week so far, the sun shone bright with no hint of rain to spoil the fun. A klaxon sounded to request that people got into their groups and lined up in order. The procession was about to begin. It was then that Pippa realised that Marion was nowhere to be seen, not pushing Rosy out of the way to ensure more TV coverage for herself, not sounding the klaxon and shouting orders at anyone in the vicinity, or circling with a scary predatory look trying to see what Neptune had under his scaly tail. This was odd. Where on earth was she?
‘Have you seen Marion?’ she whispered out of the side of her mouth to Kam as they queued up by the gate ready with the others.
‘No. Is she not here? Maybe she had something important on, or they’re all on a family holiday.’
‘Hmmm, you have met her, right? This is her thing, her biggest event of the year. She’s normally reduced at least five children and three sets of parents to tears by now. I’m worried.’
‘Well, don’t be. There’s not a lot you can do right now… Okay, Billy, looking great there… she’ll be okay. She’s Marion. Maybe she’s decided to go sort out Parliament, or Windsor Castle. You know, bigger and better things.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe I should whizz around and check on her.’
‘And leave me here to deal with this great gaggle of monsters? Please, don’t. Look the parade is about to begin. If you’re really worried I’ll come knock on her with you afterwards. But I’m sure she’s absolutely fine.’
‘Okay, good point. We’ll do that.’
Her voice was drowned out by the cheers that erupted from parents and all the visitors who had turned up to celebrate with Penmenna, as the children turned the corner and started off down Fore Street.
There was music blaring from many of the floats. So many community groups had got involved and Pippa thought this year might be the biggest, brashest and most colourful turn out yet. She couldn’t stop the beam of pride she was feeling towards her community right now.
