Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van

by Ali McNamara

  I had no idea what a matinee jacket was, but Doris seemed pleased with them.

  ‘So,’ Doris asks, shaking herself from her baby thoughts. ‘Do you think you’ll take the cottage?’

  ‘Oh yes, it’s lovely. It will be perfect for me.’ I just hope it’s not too expensive, I think, as Doris gathers some of her cleaning equipment. I had some of Daisy’s money to tide me over if I should need it, but I got the feeling most of that was going to be used up on the camper van the way Malachi was talking.

  Doris nods approvingly. ‘Good. I’ll be in to clean for you weekly and change your sheets and towels. I’m almost done here, so if you pop over to the shop and speak to Poppy, you can move in later today if you like?’

  ‘That sounds great. Thank you for showing me around, Doris. You’ve been very kind.’

  ‘No trouble at all, my dear. Just let me know if you need anything, won’t you, while you’re here. My number’s on the board down in the kitchen, but I only live up on Lobster Pot alley, a couple of streets away.’

  ‘I will.’

  We make our way back downstairs, and Doris sees me to the front door.

  ‘I almost forgot to ask,’ she says, as I’m just about to leave. ‘Are you here to paint like the person who fell off the ladder? If so I can find you some old sheets and stuff to put on the floors upstairs?’

  I shake my head. ‘No, I’m not a painter. I’m a graphic designer. I’ll be doing work while I’m here, but only on my laptop – so no mess!’

  ‘Ah, good – that’s what I like to hear!’ Doris nods approvingly. ‘I’ll see you very soon then, lovey. Goodbye!’

  ‘Bye and thanks!’ I call, as I set off happily down the street.

  This was all going very well. I almost felt pleased that the renovations on the van were going to take so long now. I hadn’t planned on staying in St Felix this long, but now I was going to, Snowdrop Cottage would do very nicely indeed.

  I walk straight to the flower shop and pull open the door of The Daisy Chain; as I do a small brass bell rings above my head.

  ‘Won’t be a minute!’ a voice calls from the back of the shop.

  I take a look around while I wait. Aside from the usual buckets of fresh flowers, this florist also sells some other interesting bits and pieces like pottery and colourful items of jewellery. They’re displayed on whitewashed dressers and the whole effect is very shabby chic and eclectic.

  ‘Hi!’

  I recognise the young American woman from our encounter outside the bakery as she appears from a room at the back of the shop. ‘We’ve met before, haven’t we?’ she asks, looking at me with recognition.

  ‘Yes, outside the bakery,’ I tell her. ‘And you were right, it was worth the wait!’

  She laughs. ‘Indeed it is. It’s much easier on us in the winter months when it’s not so busy. We can go straight in then and get what we want in no time at all. In the summer we have to wait in line like everyone else! So what can I do for you?’

  ‘It’s actually Poppy I’ve come to see. It’s about her cottage – I’m going to be renting it for a few weeks.’

  ‘So you’re Ana,’ she says, nodding. ‘I’m Amber. Poppy isn’t here at the moment as she’s had to pop out, but I’ve been left with instructions.’ She rummages under the desk and produces several pieces of paper. ‘Here,’ she says, passing them to me. ‘It’s mainly just the terms and conditions of hire. If you could fill in the form, sign it and give it back to me, that would be wonderful.’

  I take the paper from her and read. If I was lucky, what money was left from the renovations on the van might just cover the rent for the cottage, which was actually very reasonable for such a nice place. ‘That all seems fine, thank you. Here’s my credit card to pay for the rental.’

  Amber takes my card and passes me a pen, which I duly use to fill in and sign the form while she swipes my card.

  ‘There, all done,’ she says, when we’ve completed all the necessary paperwork. ‘Now, let me just find the keys for you.’ She reaches under the counter again and passes me a small bundle of keys. ‘There are instructions everywhere in the cottage so you shouldn’t have any problems,’ she adds. ‘Poppy and Jake are very organised. I hardly recognise the place these days as it’s changed a fair bit since I lived there with Poppy.’

  ‘You’ve lived there too – it’s a popular place, isn’t it? Doris the cleaner was telling me a few things when I was there earlier.’

  ‘Ah, good old Doris, I do love her. Yes, Poppy and I lived there when I first came to St Felix and we set up this shop together – it’s quite a long story,’ she explains. ‘I live with Woody, my fiancé, now. He’s the local policeman. You’ll no doubt see him around while you’re here.’ She turns away for a moment to speak to a customer who’s just come into the shop. ‘Just let me know if you need anything in particular – the lilies are beautiful right now.’ She turns her attention back to me. ‘Three weeks is quite a long time for a holiday,’ she says, without seeming nosy. ‘Any particular reason you’re staying that long?’

  ‘Another very long story.’ I grin. ‘Let’s just say I’m involved in renovating an old vehicle.’

  ‘Really?’ Amber sounds genuinely interested. ‘Is Bob helping you with that?’

  ‘Bob’s away at the moment. He has someone in to help him out, though – Malachi? Do you know him?’

  Amber shakes her head. ‘No, I can’t say I’ve seen him around. But it’s good that Bob has got someone in – that place is always so busy.’

  That’s funny, Malachi had said he didn’t have much to do right now. Maybe he’d meant he hadn’t much to renovate and the sales side of things was still ticking over nicely.

  ‘St Felix is such a great place for renovation,’ Amber muses. ‘Not just for physical things like vehicles, but for the soul too.’ She looks meaningfully at me. ‘That’s an interesting name you have.’

  ‘Ana?’

  ‘No, your full name, I couldn’t help but notice it on the form – Anastasia. It means “resurrection”, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I believe so – yes.’

  ‘Well, if you need resurrecting, or any sort of restoring, St Felix is the place to come. It’s been helping people for years like that. Me included.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it,’ I reply lightly. I used to get enough of this sort of mystical nonsense from Daisy, so I tried to avoid it now if I could, and Amber, lovely though she seemed, looked like just the sort of person that would be able to spout this particular type of nonsense for hours. ‘Thank you for these,’ I say swiftly, holding up the keys as another customer enters the shop. ‘I won’t keep you any longer – I can see you’re getting busy. Thank Poppy and Jake for me, won’t you. They’ve really helped me out.’

  ‘As you have them, Anastasia,’ Amber says, as I open the door of the shop to leave. ‘As you have them.’

  Eight

  I wait a little while before moving my things out of The Merry Mermaid and into Snowdrop Cottage, just to make sure Doris has finished cleaning.

  Rita is surprised to see me going so soon. ‘I’m amazed you managed to get anything around here at such short notice,’ she says, as I hand back her room key. ‘My contact didn’t have anything, that’s for sure. Snowdrop Cottage is lovely, though – you’ve fallen on your feet there.’

  ‘I know. I think someone must be looking down on me.’ I smile, but Rita considers this.

  ‘You’re probably right. Finding accommodation at the last minute in peak season is surprising enough, but to do it twice! You must have the luck of the Irish on your side.’

  ‘There’s no Irish in me. Perhaps I’m just in the right place at the right time.’

  ‘Perhaps. You’ll pop in and see us again while you’re here, won’t you?’ Rita asks. ‘We’re having an Indian night next week. Richie makes a mean masala.’

  ‘Definitely. I’ll look forward to it, and are you sure you don’t want me to pay for tonight? I did book three nights with you.
’

  Rita waves me away. ‘No, it’s fine. Any friend of Noah’s is a friend of mine. Lovely boy, that one.’

  ‘I thought I might pop up to his shop later and say thanks for helping me out.’

  ‘You should. He has everything up there – a real Aladdin’s cave, it is.’

  ‘I thought it was Noah’s Ark?’ I wink at her.

  ‘Ah, very good, very good. Now, be on your way. My Richie’s jokes are bad enough, I don’t need two of you in here!’

  I wave to Rita as I leave the pub, pulling my suitcase behind me, but as I trundle my case along the cobbles, it suddenly dawns on me that I’ve only brought enough clothes for a few days, and I’m now committing to spending a few weeks here.

  I spy a familiar face walking towards me along the street. ‘Hello again,’ I say to a deep-in-thought Jess just before she passes me.

  ‘Wha – Oh, hey,’ Jess says, jumping with surprise. ‘Sorry, in a world of my own there. Whoa, not leaving us, are you?’ she says, looking in horror at my suitcase. ‘So soon? But I thought you were going to be staying now?’

  I wonder for a moment how Jess knows this. Surely even Noah hadn’t heard I’d taken the cottage yet? But word seemed to spread fast on the St Felix gossip network, so I don’t dwell on it for long.

  ‘I am. I’m just taking my stuff over to Snowdrop Cottage. I’m going to be renting it for a while.’

  Jess looks relieved. ‘Phew! I mean, that’s good. Good that you’re staying here a while longer.’ She grins a bit manically.

  ‘Yeah… Actually, you could be just the person I need.’

  ‘Really?’ Jess looks happy to hear this. ‘What can I do for you? I’m here to help!’

  ‘Yes… Well, I was just thinking that I’d only packed for a few days and now I’m going to be here for a bit longer I’ll need to buy some more clothes to tide me over. Any ideas of the best places to go locally?’

  ‘Clothes… right. Er, to be honest, unless you want to dress like a fisherman or striped tops are your thing, there’s not too much around here.’

  I’m quite partial to a striped Breton-style top, but I don’t say anything.

  ‘Oh, that’s a shame. Where do you get your clothes then?’ Jess seemed to have a wonderfully eclectic taste. Today she’s wearing blue denim dungarees with pin badges attached haphazardly all over them, a silver lamé vest, silver DM boots to match and her short hair is tied up with a red polka dot scarf.

  ‘Here and there. I pick up bits and pieces wherever I go really.’ Jess looks me up and down. ‘Perhaps you’d be better off trying the internet? Most of the more traditional stores deliver all the way down here.’

  I grin at her. Jess had a wonderful way of putting her foot in it without actually realising what she was saying.

  ‘Yeah, maybe I’ll do that, thanks.’

  ‘I mean obviously you’re not traditional or anything like that,’ Jess says hurriedly, suddenly realising she might have offended me. ‘I didn’t mean you were dull or anything.’ She raises her eyes up to the sky as she feels herself digging even deeper. ‘But there’s just more choice – you know?’

  ‘Of course.’ I smile at her. ‘Thanks for your help.’

  ‘You’ll still pop in and see us at the shop though?’ Jess asks keenly. ‘I’m sure Noah would like to see you again.’ Her hand goes to her mouth and she stamps her boot on the ground. ‘I mean we’d both like to see you.’

  ‘Of course. Perhaps later today? Let me get my stuff moved in to the cottage first.’

  ‘Later would be great! Right, bye for now then,’ Jess sings happily as she heads off down the street. ‘Happy moving!’

  I grin as I set off in the opposite direction. Jess did make me smile, and that was a very good thing these days.

  I reach Snowdrop Cottage, and I’m about to put the key in the blue front door when I suddenly realise how impulsive I’ve been in making this spur-of-the-moment decision to stay here in St Felix. It wasn’t like me at all. Usually I liked to plan things, to turn over every eventuality before I made any decision, big or small.

  ‘Are you proud of me, Daisy?’ I ask, glancing up at the sky as I turn the key and open the door. ‘It used to be you who was the spontaneous one!’

  I pull my case into the kitchen and up the stairs, then I go about unpacking the few things I have with me.

  ‘Right,’ I say, when I’m finished. I look around the empty house. ‘Now what?’

  I think about heading to Noah’s shop, but I decide I’ll walk up to the garage first and see Malachi. I had a feeling I was going to have to keep a tight rein on him if the van renovations were going to be complete in the three weeks I had in St Felix. I’ll pop over to see Jess and Noah later.

  The garage is quiet as I walk through the gates. I’d assumed on a Saturday it might be busy with people wandering around browsing the old vehicles, but it appears I’m the only customer as I walk through the yard.

  ‘Malachi!’ I call, as I walk around the back. The camper van is still in the same place I saw it yesterday. It looks in slightly better condition than it had then, but that might just be the bright sun shining down on it today – everything always looks better in the sunshine. ‘Malachi, are you here?’

  But it’s not Malachi who comes scurrying out of one of the sheds; instead I see a large golden Labrador.

  ‘Hello!’ I say, as it bounds over to me. ‘Who are you?’

  ‘Woof!’ The dog licks my hand.

  ‘I see you’ve met Raphael,’ Malachi says, following the dog out of the shed. He’s back wearing his navy overalls and wiping his hands on a rag again.

  ‘Raphael? That’s quite a name for a dog,’ I say, ruffling his head.

  ‘Yeah, I call him Ralph. It’s easier.’

  ‘And much better. Is he your dog?’

  ‘We sort of got thrown together. But we’ve been with each other a fair while now, haven’t we, boy?’

  Ralph barks.

  ‘So what can I do for you today?’ Malachi asks. ‘You don’t expect me to have made much progress since I saw you last night?’

  ‘No, of course not. I thought I’d just pop over and tell you I took the cottage, and I’ve already moved my things in. So you’re stuck with me now for a few weeks.’

  ‘Not at all, we’ll enjoy showing you how we turn this lady into the beauty she deserves to be – won’t we, Ralph?’

  Ralph shows his support by cocking his leg against one of the van’s tyres.

  ‘Ralph! That’s no way to treat a lady!’ Malachi admonishes.

  ‘How do you know the van is female?’ I ask. ‘Men always call vehicles “her” and “she” – what’s that about?’

  ‘She told me,’ Malachi says seriously.

  ‘She told you?’

  Malachi nods.

  ‘The van did?’

  ‘Yep. Anyway, can’t you tell just by looking at her?’

  I look at the battered old camper van. I could barely tell what shade of red it was, let alone what gender it wanted to be.

  ‘Her only problem is she doesn’t have a name yet,’ Malachi says, moving towards the vehicle.

  ‘She can tell you she’s female but not what her name is? Contrary, isn’t she?’

  ‘She is that,’ Malachi says, rubbing his overall sleeve against the bonnet in an attempt to add a bit of shine, but all he does is make his sleeve even dirtier. ‘It’s camper van tradition that the new owner must name her.’

  ‘Is it?’ I ask, wondering if he’s making this up. ‘Do I have to?’

  ‘Ana, Ana,’ Malachi says, shaking his head sadly. ‘Could you at least try to make out you’re enjoying being the owner of a classic VW camper van? People pay a lot of money for these vehicles, and they’re very sought after and much loved. I’m sure your friend must have wanted one dearly. To leave instructions in her will for you to have it in the event of her death – it must have meant a lot to her.’

  I begin to nod in agreement. ‘Wait, how did you know t
hat?’ I ask, looking at him accusingly. ‘About Daisy’s will?’

  ‘You told me,’ Malachi says, without hesitation.

  ‘No, I didn’t.’

  ‘Yes, you did – yesterday.’

  I think about this. ‘No, I didn’t, I’m sure of it.’

  ‘All right, I guessed,’ he admits. ‘You mentioned something about wondering why someone had left you this when you came here the first time. Then last night you mentioned a friend and then you looked sad. I just put two and two together.’