The third piece of good news in a week

(Have been away seeing friends. Back today and I find two more of my pieces hanging up on the web and I am on another competition shortlist that is still being judged. The number of competition hits for the year is almost at my best yet. And I have another children's novel making a noise in my head...

Here's the next bit of Port Brokeferry.)

KERRY’S BETTER DAY ALL ROUND

There were three sailings scheduled for the Saturday, and it was busy at the harbour with the extra visitors just off the bus and more expected later in the day when the train came in. Edwin got Mad Martin and Bran to hand out leaflets advertising the boat trips out to The Snag and back. ‘One leaflet per group,’ he told them. No point in throwing good money away, and the leaflets cost money.

‘Tell about the mermaid, Finn,’ said Mad Martin. ‘Or what was found in the belly of a whale. Or the one about the fisherman that married a fish.’

Edwin promised to tell Mad Martin a Finn story later in the day, if he had the time.

‘The story of the lost boat and the starfish compass?’

Edwin said again, ‘If there’s time.’

And Mad Martin told everyone about Finn’s stories and how there’d be one on the boat if there was time and how Finn told the best stories.

Kerry came down and offered to help too, with the leaflets. It was the least she could do, she said. She was in better spirits, seeing a way forward for herself, a way to stay where she was in Port Brokeferry. Sad for Ward and she’d heard about old Tom, as well; but better in herself.

‘There’s a new picture in Mhairi’s shop window.’ Mad Martin told everyone about that, too. ‘And Martin is in the picture and Col is not there. Have you seen Col?’

Kerry smiled at the visitors who looked funny at Martin and what he said. And she directed them to the ticket office where they could book a trip out on The Silver Herring. And she told them about the seals on the rocks and assessed the weather for them and promised them a good sailing. ‘Not so good yesterday,’ she said. ‘But today is a brighter day.’

There’d been another letter for Kerry. From Ward’s woman. She’d written how sorry she was and how bad she felt about everything. She said she couldn’t think straight, not with him gone, even though she’d known she’d face the loss one day. It was sooner than she had expected and now there was the funeral to arrange. Her brother was helping her, she said. Then she’d written some words from Ward. Things he’d asked her to pass on. Ward’s words written in this woman’s hand – that was strange. And she’d enclosed a cheque for Kerry. Ward’s woman could have torn it up, Kerry knew that. It was not a small cheque and tearing it up would have been easy and no one would ever have known. She hoped that Kerry would be at the funeral, this woman who had taken everything from Kerry and here she was giving something back.

‘Mhairi has a new picture in her window and it is Martin with no shoes and no socks and no Col. Have you seen it yet, Kerry?’

Kerry told Martin that she hadn’t but that she would.

‘Better hurry,’ said Mad Martin. ‘It won’t be there long. Mhairi is almost giving it away. That’s what Col would say if he saw it. Almost giving it away it costs so little. And Mhairi laughs at Athol Stuart, the policeman, when he says it, too.’

And there is a queue at the ticket kiosk and the music from Berlie's reaches down to where they are and there is the sound of laughter hanging in the air and a girl with a balloon on a string smiles up at Kerry and it feels like a better day all round