by Lynda Page
Dan had grown into a handsome, capable and popular young man who had stolen Artie’s daughter’s heart and married her two years ago. He had discovered the truth about his parentage at the same time, on being named sole beneficiary of Joe’s estate. Michael had vowed revenge on him, and had been determined to gain possession of what he saw as rightfully his. Dan, though, a young man of high principles, had insisted on signing over his inheritance to Drina, feeling it rightfully belonged to her. She had only accepted his generosity on proviso that she, Dan and Rhonnie became equal partners in the holiday camp, and had stipulated that on her retirement or death the estate would be passed lock, stock and barrel back to Dan and Rhonnie and any children they may have by then.
Dan’s shocking and untimely death had deeply affected everyone who had known him, but life went on. There was a demanding business to be run, but Rhonnie would play no part in it.
Her grief at her loss of her soulmate was as all-consuming now as it had been the moment she had first cradled his crumpled body in her arms. From that moment on she had no choice but to accept that something inside her was dead, and nothing either her father or her surrogate mother Drina had tried had succeeded in making her reconsider. From the night of Dan’s death Rhonnie had not left the cottage, except to attend the funeral where she had to be supported throughout by Artie and Drina. Immediately it was over she had insisted on returning to the cottage and nothing had persuaded her to venture out of it since.
After the funeral she had stripped off her clothes and redressed herself in a pair of Dan’s old pyjamas and his dressing gown. Drina managed to coax her into taking the odd bath, but Rhonnie had refused to allow Dan’s clothes to be washed, no matter how much Drina pleaded with her. Nor would Rhonnie allow her to launder the bedclothes. The clothes and the bedding still smelled of Dan, and for as long as that lasted Rhonnie felt he was still with her.
If she wasn’t in bed, weeping into Dan’s pillow, Drina or Artie would find her huddled in his favourite armchair, clutching the teddy bear he had won at the fair on their very first date together. She spoke very little; conversation was limited to barely more than yes or no. It was doubtful she would bother to eat unless Drina stood over her and bullied her into at least a mouthful or two of the tempting meals that were made for her. Rhonnie had lost more weight than her previously slim figure allowed; she was beginning to look gaunt and hollow-eyed. She was locked in a deep, dark hole of despair. After a month of trying everything they could think of to help, the people who loved her had begun to despair of ever finding a way to rescue her.
Tears were glinting in Drina’s eyes as she uttered, ‘Oh, Artie, why did Him up there have to pick on Dan when he had such a bright future ahead of him? It’s said God moves in mysterious ways but I defy anyone to understand just why, in His infinite wisdom, He saw fit to end the life of a good man like that. Dan will be missed dreadfully by all who knew him, and Rhonnie’s life is shattered into the bargain. Why couldn’t He have chosen any number of those who are nothing more than a blight on society?’
Artie gave a shrug and sighed, ‘I don’t know, love. Only He can answer that, and I’m sure you’ll be tackling Him about it when your time comes.’
Drina responded with conviction, ‘I certainly will be. I hope he’s got a good answer for me or else I will be questioning His so-called wisdom.’
They both lapsed into silence for a while, each willing themself to think of something they hadn’t yet come up with to help Rhonnie on her road to recovery.
Finally Drina said, ‘I think the time has come for us to be cruel to be kind, so to speak.’
Artie frowned at her quizzically. ‘And by that you mean …?’
She heaved a sigh. ‘Well, I very much fear that if we don’t take matters into our own hands, force Rhonnie into doing something by not taking no for an answer, we’ll end up burying her too.’
His face ashen at the very thought, he said vehemently, ‘We can’t have that.’ He then looked dubiously at her. ‘So you’re suggesting we drag her out of the cottage bodily, are you?’
‘Yes. Unless you can come up with another way to get Rhonnie dressed and out of the house? Even a walk round the garden would be a start.’ Drina frowned worriedly. ‘But that’s just it, isn’t it?’
Artie pushed aside his half-eaten dinner. Drina had barely touched hers, he noticed. ‘What is, dear?’ he asked.
‘Well, everywhere she looks there are happy memories of Dan, aren’t there? Constant reminders of her loss. The cottage where they lived together; the garden where they sat on a warm evening after work; the camp … well, every corner of that place holds memories of Dan for Rhonnie.’ Drina paused for a moment before she went on, ‘I think we need to get her well away from these constant reminders. It’s not that I expect her to forget him for one moment, but at least freed from memories of him around her she’ll be able to concentrate on accepting that there is a life for her without Dan in it.’
Artie remembered his own loss. He nodded and said grimly, ‘When I lost Hilda, I faced the same problem. Rhonnie insisted that me moping round the house wasn’t helping me to pick up my life again so I agreed to go out for a pint. But I couldn’t face the memories the local held of my wife and the many good times I’d had with her there, so instead I opted to go to another pub nearby. Had I known what that decision would cost me, I would never have gone.’ He added ruefully, ‘I met Mavis there that night.’
Drina smiled affectionately at him. Artie was well padded and ordinary-looking, but to her he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. She leaned forward and tenderly stroked his hand. ‘Yes, well, my dear, there is another way of looking at it. If you hadn’t met Mavis that night then you wouldn’t have arrived here in search of Rhonnie after Mavis had driven her out of her own home – and then you and I would never have met and been living happily together now. So, for you, Mavis was in fact a blessing in disguise! I know I’ve a lot to thank her for. I never thought I would know what it feels like to be loved and cherished, but since you’ve been in my life every moment is a joy to me. When Joe was alive things were very different.’
Artie looked at her in surprise. ‘I’ve never looked at it like that. I really do have a lot to thank Mavis for, don’t I? So what’s the plan for getting Rhonnie away from here? Only God knows how we do, considering that we’ve already tried everything we can think of to get her up and dressed, let alone out of the house.’
Drina gave a secretive smile as she pushed back her chair and got up, saying, ‘I’ll make us a cup of tea and then I’ll tell you what we’ll do.’
The small kitchen in the two-bedroomed white-washed cottage Drina now lived in with Artie was a far cry from the four-bedroomed, lavishly furnished Victorian villa in its acre of grounds that she had lived in with Joe. This was definitely not the sort of dwelling where people would expect the owner of a thriving business to live, but Drina didn’t care what others thought – she wouldn’t swap her little cottage for the world. Unlike her last husband, Artie adored Drina for herself … not her money.
She had met him when he’d arrived at the camp in a terrible state, in search of his daughter Rhonnie. Mavis, the woman who had taken the place of his dead wife Hilda, had totally fooled Artie, playing the part of the loving, dutiful wife while he slaved away as a long-distance lorry driver in order to keep a roof over her and his step-daughter’s head. Rhonnie had known what Mavis was doing but had been unable to break her father’s heart by telling him so had left home in disgust. Then Artie had discovered that Mavis was deceiving him with other men while he was away working, and had arrived at the camp in search of his daughter, a broken man. Dan had given him a temporary job on his maintenance team while he recovered from his ordeal, which was made permanent when he decided to stay on.
What had started out as a friendship between Drina and Artie had developed into deep love, which would have remained unrequited on both sides had Joe not died. After her husband’s death, though, havin
g been deprived of love for so long, Drina hadn’t wanted to risk losing this chance of happiness. Not caring what others thought of her, she did nothing to hide how much Artie meant to her, and he’d been only too happy to go along with her wishes, barely able to believe that after his recent disappointment with Mavis, this wonderful woman was his.
Drina was astute enough to know that once Artie was legally free from his marriage to Mavis, he would not necessarily ask Drina herself to marry him. He would consider it a comedown for the widow of a successful businessman to attach herself to an odd job man. But Artie’s love for her had boosted Drina’s low self-esteem, and her newfound self-confidence gave her the courage to tackle him about the situation. She left him in no doubt that she was perfectly willing to give up all she owned and live in a shed with him. This gave Artie the courage to return to his home town of Leicester. With the help of a solicitor he got Mavis and her latest man out of his house there and sold it, enabling him to buy this cottage. The merciless Mavis, though, would not agree to a divorce unless he settled a sizeable amount of money on her. She wasn’t entitled to it and Archie did not have it, but pride would not allow him to accept Drina’s offer to pay his ex-wife off, so until either he had the money or Mavis relented Artie and Drina were content just to live together, not caring that some considered it a sin.
Drina happily sold the huge house that held so many miserable memories for her, and the money from the sale was put towards the building of an indoor swimming pool for the campers to enjoy when the weather wasn’t being kind. Providing a roof over her head, paying the bills and putting food on the table was enough to satisfy Artie’s pride. He wasn’t averse to Drina using money she earned from her job heading up Jolly’s to pay for extras for them. This enabled the two of them to live together in perfect harmony, outsiders remaining unaware of their turbulent background and assuming they’d been together several decades.
Having made the tea, Drina put the pot and cups, milk and sugar, on the table. As she poured, she told Artie how she planned to aid his daughter.
After she had, he looked at her askance. ‘Getting Rhonnie back in the land of the living is the most important thing to me, but can we just go swanning off on this so-called holiday like you’re proposing? After all, you’re the boss of a very busy holiday camp. Without Dan and now Rhonnie to fall back on, who will look after the business while we’re away? I’m in charge of maintenance and we’re coming up to our busiest time with the start of the summer holidays just around the corner.’
She petted his hand. ‘We’re lucky enough to have good staff working for us. I’m sure the main day-to-day running of the business won’t suffer in the slightest while we’re away … not with the likes of Jackie in charge of the office. Nothing gets past that young girl. If she sets her mind to something, she sees it through to the bitter end. She can be impulsive at times, she can forget to keep her thoughts to herself, but I have great faith in her. As for someone to stand in as figurehead for me … well, as he’s the next in seniority, I have no choice but to put Harold Rose in temporary charge. He’s got his faults but he’s honest and reliable. At least the company’s finances will be in safe hands while we’re away.’
Artie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Harold Rose was the very last person he would consider putting in charge of a firm like Jolly’s, but as Drina had said the man had been there a long time. Artie just hoped she didn’t live to regret her decision.
Drina was asking him, ‘Have you any idea who you will put in charge of maintenance while we’re away, dear?’
He thought for a moment. ‘Sid Harper is the obvious choice. He’s been on the team the longest and he has the men’s respect. This ought to make up to him for having his nose put out of joint when Dan made me his second-in-command last year. Sid always thought I was given the job out of favouritism. He thought he should have had it because he’d been employed by Jolly’s for longer.’
Drina said with conviction, ‘Dan gave you that job because you were the best man for it. Favouritism or family connections never came into it.’
‘Well, I could see why Sid might think so. Dan was married to my daughter and it was public knowledge then about my relationship with the boss,’ said Artie, winking cheekily at Drina before carrying on, ‘but thankfully, over time, Sid’s accepted I got the job on my own merits and we’ve a good working relationship now.’ He then eyed her keenly. ‘So now we’ve sorted out who will step up in our absence, are you going to let me in on this miraculous plan you’ve come up with to get Rhonnie to come away with us?’
Drina heaved a sigh. ‘Well, it’s obvious desperate measures are called for. We’ll make sure we’re ready for the off, then go and see Rhonnie like it’s just a normal visit. I’ll make her a cup of tea and something to eat, like I usually do, while you chat away to her whether she’s listening or not. When she drops off to sleep, you carry her out to the car and I’ll make her comfortable in the back with a pillow and blanket. Hopefully she’ll stay asleep for a good while, at least until we’re well on our way to … well, I actually have a fancy for somewhere in Devon. I’m sure we’ll have no trouble finding a place to rent in a little village somewhere for a couple of weeks. But hopefully, with the two of us to hand, coaxing her along … like she did with you when her mother died … she’ll get sick and tired of being nagged into going for a walk or whatever and do what we’re encouraging her to, just to shut us up. Once she’s taken that first step, she’ll soon be back to her old self again.’
Artie looked impressed. ‘Well, as you said, it worked with me. It’s certainly worth a try.’ Then he eyed her quizzically. ‘But how can you guarantee that Rhonnie will fall into a deep sleep?’
Drina grinned mischievously. ‘With a couple of crushed sleeping tablets in her tea, I can! Come on, you wash and I’ll dry. Then we’ll go and see to our packing so we’re ready to leave about mid-morning tomorrow.’
CHAPTER THREE
Jolly’s Holiday Camp was situated on what had once been farmland about six miles from Mablethorpe, edging a wide beach of golden sand. Holidaymakers came there from every corner of Great Britain, travelling by coach, train, car, some even on pushbikes, excited at the prospect of escaping their regimented lives in the concrete-and-brick jungles of England’s towns and cities, to spend their well-earned, painstakingly-saved for two weeks of freedom breathing in the fresh air of the countryside. They enjoyed taking advantage of the fun-packed programme of events Jolly’s offered or else just relaxing in the warm sunshine. The choice was theirs. The camp could accommodate up to ten thousand people in its colourfully painted wooden chalets edged with beds of summer flowers and shrubs. An army of four hundred or so staff were kept busy from morning until night, their mission to ensure that the campers went home after their stay having had a holiday to remember. Foremost among the staff were the Stripeys, named for the striped blazers they wore. They organised all the entertainment in the camp.
Among its array of facilities were an outdoor and a heated indoor pool, plus a huge dance hall called the Paradise. This had three bars, one of them a carousel, and its own resident band, the Paradise Boys, catering for the older campers. In the basement was a separate discotheque, Groovy’s, catering for teenagers and people in their early twenties. It had its own resident DJ and pop group. There was also a cinema styled in the fashion of an old theatre, which had three showings a day. There was a session for children in the morning, an afternoon matinee of vintage films for the older generation, and a recent release in the evening. Adjoining the ballroom were two quiet lounges with their own separate bars, also offering coffee and tea; a games room with pool tables, dartboard and table-tennis tables, and a television room. Sports contests were held on a large playing field, and nearby were several tennis courts, bowling and putting greens, and a roller-skating rink. Dotted around the camp were several children’s play areas with swings and slides. Down by the beach was a funfair with an assortment of stalls and fairground rides. A team of
ten donkeys provided rides on the sand, while a miniature railway skirted the perimeters of the camp.
A nursery gave hard-pressed mothers a break from their youngsters for up to four hours a day, and two qualified nurses provided a twenty-four-hour medical service for the camp, soothing fevered brows and dressing cuts and grazes. Anyone needing hospital treatment was quickly despatched there. A camp photographer captured special moments, the prints being displayed for sale from a small kiosk. There was a hairdresser and a barber; gift, sweet and ice-cream shop, a cigarette kiosk, further kiosks for fish and chips and hamburgers, and a launderette.
The flat-roofed administration building adjoined the Paradise. Downstairs was the reception area where staff checked campers in and out and dealt with any problems they encountered during their stay. A booth held the Radio Jolly equipment and several times a day forthcoming events would be announced. On the floor above were the offices, which were accessed through a door inside reception. The general office was a large light room which held two desks, one for the office manager, the other for the junior and switchboard operator. There was a row of filing cabinets and a large metal stationery cupboard, plus a table with a printing machine on it. A door at the back of the room led into a corridor from which two further offices could be reached: a side room for the accounts manager, and one off it for his two assistants and the toilet facilities. At the end of the corridor another door led out on to the fire escape up to the roof. In warm weather the reception and office staff would sometimes sit up there during their dinner break.