Clouds Below the Mountains

by Vivienne Dockerty

  “That must be them. I’m impressed, Lucy that you are taking the trouble to get to know a little about each of our clients. Many rep’s can’t be bothered to do that.”

  “I only know them, because Emily always says hello to me when she and her parents are passing our desk, on their way through to the foyer,” said Lucy, flushing at her supervisor’s praise. “They introduced themselves one day and we had a little chat.”

  “Good girl, anyway,” said Kath, patting Lucy on the shoulder. “ So, we’ll go up to Reception now and see if there is anything we can do.”

  They arrived at Reception to see a very worried Steve Golland, pacing up and down whilst waiting for the doctor to come. He seemed glad to see the two rep’s and hurried over to speak to them. “I’ve put Emily into the Kid’s Club,” he explained anxiously. “I couldn’t leave her in the room with Fiona, because the poor child would have been frightened sick.”

  “Yes, yes,” said Kath soothingly. “That’s what I would have suggested. If you have to go to the hospital with your wife, Lucy will pick Emily up and look after her until your return. Is that all right with you, Lucy?”

  “Of course it is. I can take her for some lunch and if she wants to go to the afternoon session, I can take her back again.”

  “Now, Mr. Golland, we don’t know if your wife will be taken into hospital, but usually the doctor insists on an overnight stay, just to be on the safe side. I believe your wife is expecting, so I think we can assume he will. I hate to ask you at this time about your insurance, but the doctor we deal with belongs to a private hospital. Your wife would only go to the General Hospital if you weren’t insured.”

  Kath looked at Steve expectantly, praying that the man had taken out the Periquito insurance, as it covered hospital stays up to a thousand pounds.

  Steve nodded in answer to her question, then shot her a look of relief as a tall thin man with gold rimmed spectacles came into the foyer, with a medical bag in his hand. He walked up to Maria behind the reception desk and after speaking a torrent of unintelligible Spanish, he came over to Steve and the two rep’s and shook them each by the hand.

  “Doctor Vaqueros,” he said. “ Come to examine a Senora Golland.”

  “I am her husband,” Steve said. “Thank you for coming out so promptly.”

  “No problem, can you show me the way to your room?”

  The two men walked off together to the lift and the two women chatted briefly to Maria, before manning the rep’s desk for another hour or so.

  ***

  “I was thinking, Mavis, that tomorrow we could have a walk over to the Antilla, if you’re up to it,” said Fred, as they sat on a settee in the foyer digesting their lunchtime meal. “ I thought seeing we’re going home on Tuesday, I’d treat yer to summat. What about us going to that little cafe on the front, where they have them smashing cakes and a proper English cuppa, then we’ll nip up to the Antilla and see if any of the staff remember us from before? How about it love, are yer game?”

  “Aye, I suppose so Fred. I’ve been resting me leg as you know and it would be best if we went tomorrow, as I’ll be busy packing our stuff on Monday.”

  “I’m ready for home, aren’t you, love? It’s not been the same somehow, this holiday, without George and Ethel. I was thinking that maybe I’ll ask t’management at the Antilla if they’re full in October and if they’re not, when we get home we’ll ask if George will be up to it and mebbe we’ll book another holiday.”

  “If you want, Fred, I’m not bothered, but I must say I prefer the Antilla to here. The guests that go there are more our age group and it’s nearer to the front where the shops are.”

  “Well, we’ll see about it then,” said Fred, pleased with himself that he had taken the trouble to think of a treat for his wife. She wasn’t a bad old stick if you knew how to handle her and she was handy to warm the bed at night.

  “Eh, Fred,” said Mavis suddenly. “I wonder what’s going on over there? That looks like a doctor’s bag that man’s carrying and look outside the hotel, isn’t that an ambulance that’s just drawn up?”

  They both stood up to get a better view and watched as a woman walked slowly along the foyer, supported by her husband who was carrying an overnight bag.”

  “It’s that couple who sit with Evan and Jack’s families. You know, those sweet little boys and I made an aeroplane for Evan,” said Mavis in a worried voice. “ I thought I hadn’t seen them in the Sunlight Bar last night, looks like she’s been taken badly.”

  “Fancy that, being taken ill on yer holidays,” Fred commiserated, as he pulled his wife back onto the settee, as he felt that gawping at the scene was a bit unseemly.

  “She’s pregnant, you know,” Mavis said in a loud whisper. “ I’d say she was at least six months gone.”

  “Hush,” said her husband unkindly. “ Someone will hear you and it isn’t a bloody freak show, yer know.”

  ***

  “What are you doing back so early?” asked Greg, as Sonya walked towards where he and Kate were sitting at the pool bar, sipping their after lunch drink. “ I thought you were making a day of it and wouldn’t be back until around six.”

  “We caught the little train back,” Sonya replied, in a weary voice. “ Evan was tired after all the walking. He actually fell asleep as we were travelling back and I’ve had to carry him here.”

  “So are Paul and Cheryl still at the park with their kids?” asked Greg, puzzled that Sonya hadn’t waited to be driven back with them, that would have seemed more sensible to him.

  Sonya nodded, but didn’t go into any detail, so Greg took his grandson from where he was slumped over his mother’s shoulder and suggested he take him to bed.

  “You sit with your mother and get your breath back,” he said kindly “ and I’ll put Evan down on our bed. I can read my book while I’m up there. Kate can you pass it over to me?”

  “Thanks Dad, I’ll tell you all about our trip to Loro Parque later, but for now I could do with a glass of chilled white wine and then I’ll feel human again.”

  “That bad?” murmured Kate, as Greg took off with Evan in his arms and Sonya was served with her drink.

  “You wouldn’t believe it, that Cheryl was such a cow,” exclaimed Sonya, leaning toward her mother a little to speak to her confidentially. “ I don’t know how Paul puts up with her. I didn’t think to take Evan’s push chair with us and after a couple of hours of him trying to keep up with Jack and Annabelle, he was absolutely knackered. Cheryl seemed to take exception to Paul offering to help me carry Evan. You know, take it in turns until we went for a rest. Anyway, she suggested I went to the booking hall and got one of those push along cars, you know, like the ones they have in Bolton shopping centre, so they looked after him while I ran back and hired one. But when I went to catch up with them all later, I couldn’t see Evan anywhere.”

  Sonya’s eyes began to fill, as she related the terror of seeing Paul and Cheryl totally absorbed in one another and no sign of the children.

  “Oh, I’d have been petrified if that had happened to me,” said Kate sympathetically, offering a paper napkin to her daughter, in case her tears should spill. “ So, go on what happened then?”

  “Well, it seemed that I overreacted, because the kids were in a gated playground nearby, but the place was virtually out of sight from where they were sitting. Cheryl got uptight because she thought I was accusing them of not watching out for Evan, which I was, but realized just in time before things got out of hand. Anyway, later when we went to the restaurant, I overheard her telling Paul that he wasn’t to fork out for food for us. I had no intention of letting him pay. Luckily it was self service and I already had my purse out in readiness, so I managed to ignore the nasty madam and we sat down to eat. Then Evan and Jack started messing about, kept throwing bits of their pizza around and Cheryl started tutting saying couldn’t we eat our food in peace. But she didn’t do anything to stop Jack from misbehaving, but expected me to have a go at Eva
n. So, after I had eaten my salad, I decided enough was enough. I finished my juice, grabbed hold of Evan and said that we were going back to the hotel.”

  “And what did they say to that?”

  “Oh, Paul was sweet and anxious about how we were going to get back here, but Cheryl got her guide book out and told me the times of the train. Anyway, I’ve had it with them, Mum. I’d rather stay in my room at night than let Evan play with Jack in future. She’s a two faced cow , that’s all I can say about her!”

  “I hope you don’t mind me interrupting you, my dears,” said Mavis, as she made a point of passing where Kate and Sonya were sitting, on the way back to her sun lounger, “ but I thought you’d like to know that your poor friend has been taken into hospital.” Mavis waited for their reaction with relish, as she watched their faces take on looks of concern.

  “Who’s that?” said Kate and Sonya in unison, with Sonya feeling uncomfortable in case it was Cheryl in a crash.

  “The young woman who sits with you in the Sunlight Bar, the one that’s expecting and she has a little girl. Well, Fred and I were sitting in the foyer after our lunch and an ambulance come. Took her off in it. Her and her husband went past us, with a man who looked like a doctor. There was no sign of the little girl. I’d just thought I’d let you know seeing you were friends of hers.”

  “Oh, poor Fiona,” said Kate, after Mavis had hobbled off to sit in the sun again. “They must have made some arrangements for Emily, they wouldn’t have gone off and left her.”

  “I’m sure they did,” said Sonya, beginning to relax now that her wine was kicking in. “ Tina or Anna were probably asked to keep an eye on her.”

  ***

  “It’s your day off tomorrow, isn’t it, Susanne?” said Mikey, as he came into the locker room that the Animacion team used to store their equipment.

  “You know it is,” Susanne answered tersely, from where she was about to change into her track suit bottoms, as a chill had descended now that the sun had gone in. “ You’re the one who does the rota, so you’ll know. Why are you asking anyway?”

  “I thought I’d bring me washin’ over to your place in the mornin’ and you could take it to the launderette for me. I’ve piles of washing mountin’ up.”

  “I suppose you would like me to iron it for you as well,” she said sarcastically. “ Don’t you think I have better things to do with my day off?”

  “Why no,” Mikey said acting surprised. “ I thought that’s what you judies do on their day off. Clean their rooms, do their laundry, wash their hair and paint their toe nails.”

  “Get real,” said Susanne in an exasperated tone. “ You’ve obviously not got any sisters back home, there are other things that girls like to do on their day off.”

  “Ah yes, shopping. Judies like to go shopping and for your information I have two sisters at home and that’s what they like to do.”

  “I pity them having a brother like you then.”

  “Hey, whoah, hang on, what’s brought this on? You’re not usually so ill tempered, is it the time of the month?”

  “Do you mind? I was just about to get changed when you walked in and while I have got your attention, I am sick of you and Damion treating me the way you do. Before you two came, I was a valued member of the Animacion team. I got on very well with the others and I wasn’t given all the boring jobs.”

  “Must be the time of the month,” said Mikey, turning on his heel and walking away. “You should be grateful you’ve got a job, there’s plenty of others out there who would love to do the hours you do”

  He walked away to get a drink at the pool bar, while Juan was clearing up before putting up the shutters for the night. “Women!” he said angrily, pouring himself a beer from a bottle he took from the chill cabinet. “You too?” asked Juan, then crossed himself.

  Mikey took his glass of beer into the Sunlight Bar, where he found himself to be alone. Moodily he stared into the contents, then lit a cigarette to calm himself down. Why was he such a turn off to women? Any woman? You would think as the head of entertainment at the hotel, they would be falling over themselves to get at him. But it was quite the reverse. Oh, he’d had lots of one night stands, especially the young tarts who came on holiday looking for a leg over, but decent girls such as Lucy, Tina, Anna and Susanne, wouldn’t give him the time of day. He didn’t think he was bad looking, when he didn’t have his hair in spikes he looked quite normal. He wasn’t fat, he wasn’t skinny, his teeth were good and he used a nice smelling deodorant. He thought he might have been in with a chance with that innocent looking girl called Jenni, but Lucy had warned her off him. Maybe Lucy wanted him for herself.

  ***

  “I don’t know what it is with you women,” said Greg later, after Kate had told him what had gone on between Sonya and Cheryl, “ you’d start a row in a nunnery.”

  “That’s a bit unfair, Greg, Sonya was their guest. They shouldn’t have invited her and Evan if they had wanted to be alone. According to Sonya, when she went back with the push along, they were all over each other on a bench, instead of keeping an eye on the children.”

  “But the kids were only a few feet away and Annabelle is a capable little girl,” said Greg, turning over a page in his book and only giving his wife half his attention.

  “Well, there was no cause for Cheryl to make a fuss over Paul paying for Sonya and Evan’s lunch neither. I feel like giving her a piece of my mind when I see her this evening.”

  “That you will not,” said Greg, putting down his book and giving Kate a furious look. “You’ll pretend that nothing has gone on and you’ll be polite to Paul and Cheryl. We’re on holiday for heaven’s sake, not in the middle of a battle in Beirut.”

  “Well, we’ll see,” said Kate, still feeling annoyed on behalf of her daughter. “I’ll wait and see how she treats our Sonya tonight.”

  A similar conversation was going on in Paul and Cheryl’s quarters, with Paul taking the same tack as Greg, though he had to be more diplomatic.

  “She as good as accused us of being bad parents,” Cheryl railed, as she laid out her cream trousers and peach georgette top on their bed, as she was going to wear them that evening.

  “I don’t think that’s true, Darling,” said Paul, daring to say what he was thinking, but wishing that his wife would calm down a bit. “Think about it. If you had been in her shoes, a single mother who has to be constantly on the lookout for her child, wouldn’t you be protective as Sonya is?”

  “Oh, so you’re saying that I’m not protective of my children now? Trust you to always take some one else’s side.”

  “No, Cheryl, I’m just pointing out how it must have seemed to Sonya, when she came back and couldn’t see Evan.”

  “Well, I think it was very rude of her to rush off like she did,” said Cheryl, feeling the rug being pulled from under her argument. “We had taken the trouble to invite her, or should I say you invited her and then she throws our kindness in our face.”

  “I can’t win, Darling,” Paul said helplessly. “ Go and have your shower and forget about it.”

  Chapter Twelve.

  Lucy and Jenni, sat with Emily at their table later, trying to cheer the little girl’s spirits up, but not having a very successful time.

  “I’ve told you, Darling,” said Lucy, “ in a short while, Daddy will be back and he’ll let you know how Mummy is then. Now, eat up those lovely sausages. You know, I should have had them instead of this chicken curry, your dinner looks much nicer than mine does.”

  “Will Daddy be bringing the baby back with him from the hospital, Lucy?” asked Emily hopefully, “ though we haven’t any clothes to put on it, because we only brought our clothes to wear.”

  “I don’t think the baby is ready to come yet, Pet,” said Lucy, trying to be careful in what she said, as she wasn’t sure if the child knew where babies came from. “ But when Daddy comes, I’m sure he’ll put your mind at rest about Mummy. Now, do eat up your sausages, there’s a goo
d girl and then you can choose a yummy pudding. I’m going to have chocolate profiteroles when I’ve eaten my dinner.”

  “What are you going to do with Emily later?” asked Jenni quietly, having been filled in earlier on about Fiona being taken into hospital.

  “I’ve asked Tina if she’ll baby sit, if Steve doesn’t come back. She said she would take Emily to the Mini disco later on.”

  The two girls carried on making small talk and watching over Emily, then suddenly they heard a loud shriek coming from a table, in the direction of the patio doors.

  “Oh, no!” cried Lucy, standing up, in preparation to dash across to where a young woman was looking in horror at her plate. “I’ll be back in a minute, Jenni. It’s our honeymooners and she looks in a bit of a state.”

  “Calm down, Tracy,” Gary was saying in an embarrassed voice to his wife, as he looked around at the other diners, who were staring over curiously. “ Now look what you’ve done, Darling, the rep’ is coming over, sit down and take some deep breaths.”

  “Is there a problem?”, asked Lucy, as she came over to where Mrs. Greenfield was still trembling, but had managed to get a grip on herself.

  “Look, there,” Tracy pointed with a shaking finger at a lettuce leaf, her Brummie accent more apparent as she spoke. “ Look what’s been sitting in my salad. A caterpillar! I nearly ate it, I nearly ate a caterpillar! I wouldn’t mind, but I’m a vegetarian!”

  ***

  “Do you mind if I sit with you again, ladies?” asked Mr. Wilkinson, as he spotted his three favourite women sitting near the buffet in the restaurant.

  “Not at all,” simpered Doreen, pleased that he’d made an effort to come over. It was obvious that out of the three of them, Harry was attracted to her, because he had pulled up a chair especially to sit beside her.

  “Did you have a nice day?” asked Jean, who was sitting at the other side of him, though she immediately regretted asking him, when a shadow came over his previously smiling face.

  “You could say that the day was nice, when you think that I had the opportunity to think of cherished memories. My wife thought the views from the top of Mount Teide were breathtaking and I stood in the same spot as we did before and felt her presence with me.”