Beyond a Misty Shore (32 page)

He considered this. ‘You could, it would gain interest in time but would it not be better to put some of it into a . . . venture that would provide you both with an income to live on?’

Sophie too was interested in his advice, after all she herself
had the money Hetty had left her. ‘You mean some kind of business?’

‘But Hans only knows about farming. Do you mean see if we can rent some land and keep animals and grow crops?’ Maria didn’t think this was very feasible. Manx farmers passed their lands down through the generations and, as she well knew, working on the land was far from easy. It was seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year in all weathers.

‘You’d be hard put to do that, Maria. Maybe you could buy shares in the fishing fleet and in the nets,’ Sophie suggested.

‘You know as well as I do, Sophie, that fishing isn’t doing as well as it used to. The fleet is small now; there aren’t nearly as many boats as there were when we were children. Mam says the days of the fishing fleet are numbered and she should know.’

Sophie nodded, biting her lip.

‘But what I did notice on my very short visit and before we received the telegram was that there were quite a lot of people who were obviously on holiday or having a day out, the beach was quite crowded.’ Arthur mused.

‘Perhaps I could open a shop,’ Maria wondered aloud. ‘But selling what?’

‘Things holidaymakers would want to buy,’ Sophie suggested.

‘They always want to have a cup of tea and something to eat, perhaps a café?’ Suddenly Maria clapped her hands together. ‘I know what I’ll do! I’ll open a tea shop, selling
sandwiches, cakes, scones and maybe even ice cream. I’ve always been good at baking. I enjoy it.’

‘You could do Afternoon Teas, that kind of thing,’ Arthur suggested. ‘On my walk around the harbour and along the quayside I didn’t see any sign of such an establishment.’

‘If I could find the right premises, somewhere with a nice view of the castle and St Patrick’s Isle and near to the beach, I’m sure I would do well,’ Maria enthused.

‘Of course you would have to be open long hours and probably seven days a week, it would be hard work, and you would have to make enough money through the summer to see you through the winter months when there are few holidaymakers,’ Arthur pointed out.

Maria nodded slowly. It would be hard work and what part could Hans play in this venture? ‘I’ll have to think about it carefully, Arthur, and discuss it with Hans, of course. It’s his future too.’

Sophie smiled at her. ‘So, when do you think you’ll be leaving us?’

Maria smiled back. ‘Just as soon as I can. In fact I think I’ll go and write to Hans now, telling him the good news. That I’m coming home and that we can be married and that all our worries are over.’

Sophie got to her feet as Maria left the room and turned to Arthur. ‘Shall I make some tea or would you prefer something stronger?’

‘Tea will be fine, Sophie, thank you.’

‘Do you really think a tea shop would be successful?’

‘There isn’t one in Peel and if she found the right premises, in the right spot . . .’

‘I didn’t give a thought to it being seasonal though,’ Sophie said.

‘It need not be. If they have a good reputation local people might come in through the colder months, especially if she then considered serving homemade soup and a bread roll as well.’

Sophie looked at him with admiration. ‘You have some great ideas and you know you could be right, Arthur: things are getting better now on the island.’

He smiled but then looked serious. ‘And what about . . . me, Sophie?’

She was puzzled. ‘What about you?’

‘Well, this is your house now. You might want to . . . change things and I might not . . . fit in.’

Understanding dawned and she crossed and put her arm around his shoulders. ‘Arthur, this is your home and it always will be. It’s what Hetty would have wanted, you know it is. How could you even think that I wouldn’t want you here? What would I do without you?’

Arthur let his breath out slowly and with great relief. ‘Thank you, Sophie. Thank you.’

I
T WAS OVER A
week later when Maria got off the bus in Peel to find Hans waiting for her, his face wreathed in smiles. He looked well, she thought. His shirt was clean, his jacket had been brushed and pressed, his boots polished and his hair had been cut. His bruises had disappeared and the cut above his eye had healed. It would, however, leave a scar and his nose would never be totally straight, although Dr Franklin had done a good job. But it didn’t matter to her; every time she looked at him she knew those scars would remind her of what he had suffered to be with her.

‘Maria! Is it all true? We can be married now?’ he asked as she threw her arms around his neck, still careful of his arm and ribs, and he had kissed her.

‘It is, Hans. Let’s get to Mam’s, I’m starving and I can tell
you both everything then,’ she urged. Sophie had persuaded her to work her week’s notice, telling her she couldn’t afford to waste money. She would need every penny for whatever venture she and Hans decided upon.

Sarah had the pot of tea ready and hot meat and potato pasties she’d baked that morning. ‘It’s good to have you home, Maria,’ she greeted her younger daughter.

‘Oh, Mam, it’s good to
be
home.’ She smiled at Hans who was deftly tending to the fire with his good hand.

‘I still can’t get over that Miss Foster leaving you all that money and her house to Sophie and neither of you any kin at all,’ Sarah said, indicating that they both sit down at the table.

‘It is wonderful to know that there is still kindness and goodness in the world,’ Hans added.

Maria nodded sadly. ‘She was lovely and she
was
kind and good. Do you remember, Hans, on her birthday she wished for us to have a long and happy life together? She knew then that she’d left me the money in her will, even if we didn’t.’

‘And what are you going to do with the money, girl?’ Sarah asked. She’d never had as much money in her entire life.

‘Use some of it to get married—’ Maria replied.

‘I hope you don’t intend to waste it on a big fancy wedding?’ Sarah interrupted.

‘No, it will be quiet, unless you want something more . . .?’ Maria looked questioningly at Hans.

‘I wish only for a quiet service, Maria. I have no family here, no friends,’ he replied.

‘You can ask Maude Sayle to come and perhaps her husband Edward could act as best man for you,’ Sarah suggested, then, seeing the look of mystification in his eyes, she amended it ‘to be your witness’.

‘And I’ve had a wonderful idea. Arthur Chatsworth suggested that we go into business of some kind, Hans and me, and I think we should open a tea shop. There isn’t one here and he noticed that there seemed to be more people on holiday these days who would patronise it,’ Maria informed her mother and fiancé.

Sarah nodded. ‘There are, people seem to like the beach here and St Patrick’s Isle and I hear there is a shop opening soon to sell ice cream and sweets.’

This was certainly news to Maria. ‘I think we should look for a place with a view and near to the beach and sell sandwiches, cakes, scones and “Afternoon Teas”. It will be hard work and we’d have to make enough during the summer to keep us through the winter months.’

Hans was trying to look enthusiastic but was wondering what there would be for him to do in this tea shop? Would he be expected to wait on the tables with trays of tea and cakes? ‘So, you have decided, Maria,’ he said quietly.

‘No, I wanted to discuss it with you. What do you think about it, Hans?’

‘I think that it is good . . . for you, Maria, and I know how to make strudel, my mother taught Ingrid when she was a small girl and I watched,’ he smiled. ‘I have always a good appetite for strudel.’

Sarah nodded her understanding. He wasn’t cut out to work in a tea shop, cooped inside all day waiting on tables or in the back, boiling kettles and washing dishes. ‘It’s not really the kind of thing you’d want to do, Hans, is it?’

He looked uncomfortable. He’d come back here with nothing and he still had very little to offer Maria and he didn’t want to appear difficult or ungrateful.

‘I couldn’t manage a tea shop all on my own,’ Maria said quietly. ‘Perhaps we should think of doing something else.’

‘We could run it together, Maria,’ Sarah suggested. She would enjoy it, she wouldn’t have to stand on the quay in all weathers trying to cajole the best price she could get for the catch out of reluctant and notoriously parsimonious buyers, who wanted the cod and whiting and herring at rock-bottom prices so they could make a handsome profit.

Both Maria and Hans looked at her hopefully and then Hans spoke. ‘But what of me, what can I do? How can I make money for us? I have to help too. I cannot depend on Maria.’

Sarah smiled at him; it was understandable that the lad had his pride and he’d been humiliated enough without having it said he was living off his wife’s inheritance. ‘You’ll think of something, Hans.’

He nodded. He’d worked on the land all his life. The one thing he knew best was farming. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. ‘I have thought what it would be best for me to do. I will buy a tractor. There are not many tractors on the island – they are too expensive. I will hire myself and my tractor out to do ploughing, harrowing, sowing – anything that needs
doing. A tractor is much faster than a pair of horses: the work would be done in no time at all and people will have much pleasure.’

Sarah beamed at him. ‘That’s a wonderful idea, Hans. Why don’t you go up and talk to Edward Sayle about it? And, the Commissioners might even be glad of you and your tractor when the lifeboat needs to be launched.’

Maria laughed delightedly. ‘Oh, Hans, you’re wonderful, you really are! I would never have thought of that and it will be perfect for you! And Mam and I will run the tea shop together. Now we can start to plan the wedding and look for suitable premises and a place to live when we’re married.’

‘And I will go to visit Mr Sayle and we will talk about tractors and which one is best and how much to pay,’ Hans added, taking Maria’s hand and smiling excitedly. Thanks to an old lady whom he hadn’t even known very well their future now looked very bright indeed. It had been the right thing to do to come back to the island and he felt that all the hardships, sacrifices and beatings had not been in vain.

The house seemed very quiet now, Sophie thought, with Hetty gone and Maria and Hans back in Peel. Bella was at school for most of the day and so there were just her and Arthur and Arthur was often out too. He loved to walk and now that the weather was warmer and the days longer the time he spent away from the house had increased. Of course it gave her the much needed time to get on with her work, for as April had turned to May so the orders had increased. She
was aware that now she really didn’t need to work but as she’d said to Arthur, ‘what else would I do with myself all day?’

Her thoughts turned to Frank as she made her way to Lizzie’s that sunny afternoon. There had been a long letter from Maria in the lunchtime post, which was the reason she was on her way to see her aunt. She didn’t know what Martha had said to Frank when he was last home but he hadn’t come to see her, not even to offer his condolences. Even though she knew seeing him was pointless and would only have increased her dejection, she felt upset that he hadn’t come. There were nights when she didn’t sleep well and then, during those long hours, she had even begun to wonder if he still loved her or was he becoming so despondent, feeling everything was so hopeless, that he was wondering if it would be best if he tried to forget her. She couldn’t blame him; sometimes it was so hard to cling to the hope that one day they could be together that she came close to despair herself. But then she would remind herself that she had once thought that Maria would never hear from Hans Bonhoeffer again and now they were full of plans for their future. Looking back she acknowledged that she’d been wrong to try to persuade her sister not to give up on Ben Seddon. Maria had never loved him, she’d given her heart to Hans.

Lizzie was standing on her front step talking to Martha. It was obvious from the cloth in her hand and the bucket at her feet that she had been attempting to clean the windows. Catching sight of Sophie she beamed and waved.

‘Sophie, come on in and we’ll have a cup of tea. I’m
wasting my time with these blasted windows; they’ll be as bad as ever by tomorrow morning there’s that much soot and muck in the air. Come in and join us, Martha,’ she invited her neighbour.

‘I bet you’re finding that house very quiet, you must miss everyone, Sophie,’ Lizzie stated as she filled the kettle.

‘I do. I seem to spend a lot of time on my own now. I suppose it’s one of the drawbacks of working from home.’ She smiled: ‘But the advantages do outweigh that.’

‘And isn’t it a grand “home” too? I still can’t get over the old lady leaving everything to you, Sophie.’

‘How is Maria getting on?’ Martha asked, changing the subject. Hetty Foster’s decision had provided Lizzie with hours of speculation.